WWE WrestleMania 2019 Results: Matches Fans Will Be Rewatching for Years
One of the trademarks of WWE WrestleMania is iconic matches with high rewatchability rates.
Over the years, fans have been treated to unforgettable bouts that remain staples of 'Mania marathons.
Sunday night in East Rutherford, New Jersey, The Showcase of Immortals added to its incredible legacy with a few matches destined to join Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior, Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat and Steve Austin vs. The Rock, among others, in WrestleMania watch-a-thons.
Which matches are they and why will they ultimately take their place among the best and most memorable?
WWE Championship Match: Kofi Kingston vs. Daniel Bryan
KofiMania ran wild Sunday night as 11-year veteran Kofi Kingston challenged "The Planet's Champion" Daniel Bryan for the top prize in all of sports entertainment.
Arguably the most anticipated match on the card, the fans inside MetLife Stadium were red-hot from the moment Kingston made his entrance through the Trouble in Paradise that earned him the WWE Championship.
A drama-filled match, with several near-falls that had some thinking Bryan might dash Kingston's dreams and retain the title, the bout was a roller-coaster ride of emotions.
The climactic spot of the match, which saw Big E and Xavier Woods wipe out Rowan at ringside and clear the path for Kingston to focus exclusively on defeating Bryan, was phenomenal and hammered home the realism of the moment.
A virtuoso performance by the great Bryan, the best showing of Kingston's career and a red-hot atmosphere made this the best match of the card and one of the most memorable feel-good moments in recent WWE history; the epitome of what makes pro wrestling special and a reminder of why we love it so much.
Triple Threat Winner-Take-All Match
For weeks, fans listened as WWE hyped up the Triple Threat Winner-Take-All match for the Raw and SmackDown Women's Championships as the first time in history that women would main-event WrestleMania.
Sunday, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair took to the squared circle for the highest-profile match of their careers—and looked like they had been there before.
The women delivered strong, confident performances in a match so hard-hitting that Rousey actually broke her hand in the process.
With cool spots like Flair's figure four to Rousey around the ring post and a double hiptoss by Lynch and Rowdy to The Queen, through a table, the match felt like a main event on wrestling's grandest stage.
Even the finish, criticized by some, worked.
Lynch goaded Rousey into throwing fists and the minute the Raw champion began striking and went for her Piper's Pit setup, The Man countered into a good, old-fashioned crucifix rollup for the win. A wrestler used a wrestling move to beat a fighter.
The grandeur of the match, the historical significance and the actual in-ring quality combined to create a memorable presentation the likes of which will join the annals as one of the more unforgettable main events in WrestleMania history.
No Holds Barred: Triple H vs. Batista
The crowd may have been exhausted from the exhilarating ride Kingston and Bryan took them on, but Triple H and Batista still went out Sunday and had a solid, creative No Holds Barred match that may have strayed into the realm of ridiculousness but was still a ton of fun.
From The Game attempting mangling The Animal's fingers with a wrench to forcefully removing his nose ring with a pair of pliers, the match featured some over-the-top scenes of violence that somehow fit the tone of the rivalry.
The physicality was there, as were the high spots. What was met with a lack of excitement, a heavily gimmicked bout between two guys on the wrong side of their primes, wound up an exercise in the wild and chaotic contests that used to capture the imagination of fans during the Attitude Era.
Was it a classically good match? Absolutely not. Was it almost comical in its attempt to present violence? Hell yes, but it was also a damn fine time that lends itself to multiple viewings.
