Roundtable: WrestleMania 35 Reaction

What was your favorite entrance at WrestleMania 35?

Jenna Leigh: Batista. Getting to see the classic “machine gun” entrance with awesome pro was rad!

David Gibb: You mean trips to the fridge? The only one that stood out to me was Triple H’s, and momma always said…

Juan Bautista: Charlotte Flair via helicopter. Out of all the special entrances, this one was the best. While being a throwback to her dad, it added to moment, build up and suspense of her match. It was actually a good thing that she landed outside the stadium – the visuals before and after the landing let you know we here and it’s time.

Chad Gelfand: Charlotte’s. There’s not much you can do to top entering in a helicopter.

Anthony Mahalis: The entrances were down from last year’s, none were especially great. I would go with HHH by default, though. The Mad Max thing was kind of cool.

John Corrigan: Charlotte entering via helicopter because she is a Flair.

Steven Jackson: I didn’t/couldn’t watch WrestleMania as it happened, but checking social media Drew McIntyre’s entrance looked great!

Jack Goodwillie: Not Charlotte’s. WTF was that? Added an unnecessary 10 minutes to the show that I did not need, and remember, I live on the West Coast! Think about the people who had to sit through that live! That’s why you can’t pay me enough to be in attendance for one of these. Best entrance, I gotta give it up for Hollywood Batista. One final walk to the ring for the Animal, with the subtlety of the movie star limousine. It was different enough to be memorable, yet not too over the top. I’m also always down for the live band performance, which we got with Ronda Rousey. Joan Jett’s still got it.

What was your favorite match?

Leigh: This is tough, but KofiMania running wild took the top honors for me. It was such a fantastic match, and both guys worked their butts off. The last couple of Manias have had so many matches that just felt like Raw main events – this FELT big.

Gibb: Daniel Bryan vs Kofi. This match had that perfect main event pace and intensity. It belongs on the short list of all-time WrestleMania matches.

Gelfand: My favorite match is going to be pretty obvious. Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan. The match was built perfectly, it struck all of the right notes and it was one of the most emotional experiences I’ve ever had watching a wrestling match.

Mahalis: Kofi vs. Bryan. It wasn’t as good of a match as I had hoped, but the ultimate hope was Kofi coming out the champ, and that he did. The last ten minutes or so of the match were very good.

Corrigan: Kofi vs. D-Bry stole the show. I’m inclined to agree with Gibb that it was better than Steamboat vs. Savage.

Jackson: I’m most excited to watch Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan.

Goodwillie: Best match was Kofi vs. Daniel hands down, but Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano? Match of the weekend and an earlier contender for Match of the Year. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, those two go out there at Takeover and give the fans a special, unique moment and match, even without Tomasso Ciampa able to compete. They still found a way to put a bow on the best wrestling storyline of the last three years and that was fun to watch. I will also say, I have a feeling that a lot of people are going to shit on Triple H vs. Batista, but for a 2019 Triple H match that was pretty darn good, just a little long to my liking. Same with the Miz vs. Shane, much to my surprise.

What was your favorite moment?

Leigh: The EPIC Kofi celebration! Seeing him get his own title, then his precious little boys joining Dad in the ring, and Big E and Xavier presenting Kofi with his own shirt…the crowd was with Kofi and you could FEEL it. Like I’ve said before, when WWE does get it right, you remember why you love wrestling. This was one of those times.

Gibb: Kofi’s WWE Championship win. His fire-up-and-end-the-guy was perfect and the emotions felt realer than anything else on the show.

Bautista: Elias’ performance and John Cena returning to proper Doctor of Thuganomics. The crowd made Elias’ performance feel special and not just a dead spot. At one point, Elias’ name is lit by the crowd and we almost got a Seven Nation Army cover.

Gelfand: Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship. The significance of Kofi’s title win cannot be overstated. What Kofi did tonight is open the door for more people that look like him to succeed in WWE and professional wrestling in general. Kofi’s win could be the spark in a black or brown child’s mind that drives them to pursue pro wrestling and shows that they, too, can reach the top of the mountain.

Mahalis: Has to be Kofi and the New Day celebrating his victory. Always have to love when wrestlers bring their kids in the ring to celebrate with them. I have to be honest, I never thought Vince would ever give Kofi the title. Well deserved, Kofi.

Corrigan: Paul Heyman marching past Hulk Hogan and Alexa Bliss like they’re nothing. Enough with the gaga, let’s get to the action! The Beast is hungry!

Jackson: KofiMania running wild!!!

Goodwillie: Too many to pick. Seth Rollins is going to go down as an afterthought with it being so high up on the show. Then again, I loved the move because when are you ever going to get that caliber of a match as an opener? Then again, the Becky Lynch match will go down as an afterthought, in a sense, because of the weak finish and rush to get off the air. They have only themselves to blame for that. The agents took a nap for that one and if they didn’t want to rush off the air, they shouldn’t have made the show so goddamn long. It was unbearable this year. I want to say the main event is the latest ET wrestling match to ever go off in North America in the 200-year history of the sport. EVER. So what was my favorite moment? Ask me in a week, because how they follow this WrestleMania up will define the way we think of it.

Who was the MVP of the night?

Leigh: I’m gonna throw a curveball and say the fans in attendance are the true MVP. To sit through that show, and not be drained takes energy and stamina!

Gibb: Becky Lynch. She made this show, from a promotional perspective. KofiMania caught fire over the winter, but if you asked me on January 1 who or what I was looking forward to at WrestleMania, Becky would’ve been the only person I could’ve named. Her crowning was the perfect conclusion to the show.

Bautista: I have to make the co-MVPs of the night Shane McMahon and Miz. This match surpassed expectations. This was only supposed to be a Shane death spot match, but there was great psychology throughout and George added a completely new element to the match.

Gelfand: KOFI KINGSTON. There’s no question in my mind that he won the night. Daniel Bryan is my second place finisher for his phenomenal performance in the match, but WrestleMania 35 will be known as the night Kofi Kingston finally achieved his dream.

Mahalis: Was there one? I don’t think there were any great matches on the night. So I guess I will go outside the box and go with Mustafa Ali. If Ali never gets hurt before Elimination Chamber, he is probably the darling going into WrestleMania and Kofi doesn’t get his moment. So it was a blessing for Kofi.

Corrigan: Beth Phoenix deserves recognition for giving a tremendous performance, Kurt Angle deserves praise for trying one last moonsault and the commentators deserve credit for lasting 7.5 hours without a piss break, but WrestleMania 35 will be remembered for Kofi Kingston.

Jackson: Kofi Kingston. Eleven years of hard work led to a beautiful babyface win for the gold! As WrestleMania should be!

Goodwillie: Again, probably a hot take here, but I’m gonna go with the New Daniel Bryan. Yes, Kofi Kingston got his WrestleMania moment, and the timing couldn’t have been better for it. But this storyline? This moment? It had more to do with Bryan than Kingston. Remember, the reason it worked so well calling Kofi a B+ player was because Bryan was essentially looking into a mirror of himself from WrestleMania 30. The promo work leading up to the match? Daniel carried that, too, and none of that is to say Kofi is, in fact, a B+ player. He delivered for sure in that spot, but even though they telegraphed the hell out of the way that match would end, it was Bryan who managed to suspend everyone’s disbelief with an A+ performance of his own. I also think Kofi getting the belt has more to do with Daniel’s reluctance to go to Saudi Arabia. When they return, I hope he gets the belt back, but Daniel and Kofi were probably 1A and 1B for my MVP.

Overall, how would you rate WrestleMania 35?

Leigh: A. A 9/10. Only deducting for the ref ruining the main event for the women. This may stand as the ONLY Mania where literally every overwhelming fan favorite won. Just a well booked, outstanding show, and the entire roster should be proud of themselves.

Gibb: I don’t want to assign this show a letter or a number because I don’t think I understand what WrestleMania is supposed to be anymore. As a wrestling show, it was pretty ponderous much of the time, although there were several excellent matches; as a spectacle or whatever, it was cool in terms of scale and fireworks, but I’m glad I was watching at home with no sense of obligation to keep my eyes glued on things.

Bautista: 7. A solid show that didn’t suffer from dead spots and did what it needed to do.

Gelfand: The show was excessively long, but at the same time, it was enjoyable and almost everyone who needed to win won their match. So, with that said WrestleMania 35 gets a 7.5/10 from me. One of the better WrestleManias over the past few years.

Mahalis: This is tough. On one hand, I don’t think any of the matches were all that good, but on the other hand, Seth, Kofi and Becky all came out champions, which was the best outcome for the fans. So because of that, I will give it a 6 out of 10. I would have probably gone 7 if Kurt didn’t lose his farewell match to BARON CORBIN, and if the extremely hyped main event didn’t end on an inverted backslide.

Corrigan: Obviously it was too damn long, but I enjoyed it until the Triple H-Batista snorefest. For having a bunch of fun matches and a couple historic moments, it cracks my top 10 of greatest WrestleManias ever.

Goodwillie: It was a good show if you look at the whole body of work. There were… maybe a small handful of bad matches and a lot of the matches were kind of irrelevant and could have been thrown out. But this show was not short on WrestleMania moments and I know the WWE likes to get off to those, but they were also genuine enough to be made possible: Becky, Kofi and Seth’s title victories, Batista’s end and Kurt’s retirement all come to mind. I’d give the show a 7.5 out of 10 and is probably just on the outside of the top-10 Mania’s of all time. I can even go to an 8 with that rating. But make no mistake, it’s time we, the fans, have a real conversation about taking over and forcing WWE’s hand to make WrestleMania a two-day event, because tonight was just a new level of absurdity. If you remove all the WrestleMania host segments, a couple of matches and Charlotte’s awk “entrance,” you could at least maybe get the show down to an 11:30 p.m. end time, which is good enough for me.