My Review of "Wrestlemania 35"

I have been an on again of again wrestling fan. I'm definitely a bandwagon fan because I think I only caught the WWE when it was really popular. That's why it was a little different watching Wrestlemania 35 after so many years of not watching. There's obviously the problem of me not knowing some of the wrestlers anymore. I didn't even know the stories that were going on. So sit back and relax, this is what happened during my viewing.

2020 has been a really wild year. Wrestlemania 36 was announced to have no fans in the stands while they continue with their programming. I know, it's going to be weird to see this event without the fans. They're basically an integral part of wrestling. If you think about it, a lot of the story-lines and on air commentating is directly influenced by the fans in the stands. Much of the stuff that goes on in wrestling is pushed by fans.

With this horrible announcement I guess the WWE was smart enough to allow everyone to view Wrestlemania 35 for free. It could be a reminder of better times. My brother is still a huge fan of wrestling so I knew he could keep me up to date as things were going on. I'm sorry to say I became that guy that was asking so many questions as the program was going on. He probably hated me by the end of the viewing.

The first thing I have to say about Wrestlemania is that it is long! It took us 3 days to watch through the whole program. I'm serious too. We had to take a break and then watch it the next day and we couldn't believe we needed a third day.

The first memorable bout was the Kofi Kingston against Daniel Bryan. I kind of remembered these characters and it was a good start to the program. It made an impression as Kofi Kingston was a nice underdog story with a happy ending.

Then there were a number of smaller card bouts that kind of went by in a blur. I didn't find them that memorable but that could be because I didn't really have any vested interest in the characters. I didn't know these characters and I didn't know what the story behind their matches were. They did have a little preview of the matches beforehand so we could understand what was going on in the past few months. Nothing really grabbed me though.

The Smackdown tag team championship was pretty interesting as there were a lot of dynamic aerobatic moves. Although I didn't know who the characters were or what their stories were I did appreciate the athleticism required in the fights.

I started to realize that there are different championships one for their Raw TV program and one for their Smackdown TV program. I couldn't believe how many championships and awards were going around. It's funny that people complain that we give kids awards for everything but then when I saw Wrestlemania I didn't think it was that different. Everyone was winning something in Wrestlemania. I think it kind of diminished the prestige of a championship belt. There were even categories that didn't make sense to me. There was a Boss n' Hug competition, more than one battle royal, and even a hall of fame ceremony.

I couldn't believe the fans stayed for the whole Wrestlemania. They claimed that there was an attendance of 82,265 people at the MetLife Stadium. The whole event was 7 and a half hours long! I don't know how people could stay there watching match after match for 7 and a half hours! This truly shows you how dedicated the WWE fans are.

There were some nice memorable moments during the program though. The Triple H vs Batista match was entertaining. I liked how Batista tripped getting into the ring making us remember that this program is taped live. They had a few pretty good moments in there like Triple H ripping Batista's nose ring out. These are pretty old wrestlers that know their craft. They were able to keep it entertaining without doing anything too crazy.

Then there was the Kurt Angle retirement match. Although it didn't go the way I hoped it would, it was nice to see Kurt Angle one last time. It was a little awkward with his theme song playing and the whole crowd yelling "You suck!" It really didn't fit the mood but oh well.

It was also nice to see Brett Hart and the DeGeneration X all accepting their hall of fame statuses. I guess it was a throwback to the days that I remembered. They have all obviously aged. Oddly enough Billy Gunn still looks the same, did he discover the fountain of youth?

There was also a fight with Shane McMahon and the Miz. It started out super lame and then I don't know why but I got into it. I guess it could be because I never saw Shane as a wrestler. I don't even expect him to perform some of the big stunts that he did. Yeah that's probably it, he was doing some crazy stuff for a guy that doesn't really need to do this. It sort of felt like he was doing it just because he liked to do it.

The surprise for me was how much I got into the main event. It was a women's winner take all championship. This means that they'd take both the Raw and Smackdown women's championship belts. It consisted of Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.

These women oozed charisma and charm. I had heard that Ronda Rousey had joined the WWE but I had never seen her in a match before. She did incredibly well. In fact, she made the match even more interesting as her moves were pretty creative. All of them women were creative. It was probably the best match of the night. I really enjoyed this one.

Overall, I don't think I will have a huge urge to watch another Wrestlemania after this one. My mind might change if I have more interest in some of the characters and story-lines. Still it's a 7 and a half hour affair. I can't deal with programs that are that long. You have to be die hard to watch through the whole thing in one sitting or maybe drunk with some friends. I have to give this event a 6.5 out of 10. There were some redeeming aspects to the event but there was too much fluff for me to stay entertained throughout the show.