WrestleMania 32: Results, highlights, news, more
From Roman Reigns' win to appearances from Rock and Shaq to Shane McMahon's 20-foot dive, WrestleMania 32 had plenty of storylines to follow. If you missed any of it, you can catch up on everything that went down below:
Triple H vs. Roman Reigns
11:45 p.m: New WWE Champion: Roman Reigns—Triple H tries to win with sledgehammer shenanigans, but Roman Reigns ducks them and wins with a Spear. The crowd goes...mild. And that's a wrap. What a WrestleMania. It was about as weird as we imagined it would be.
11:30 p.m.: Triple H has the greatest WrestleMania entrance of all time with this insane, Mad Max oeuvre complete with his wife telling the world how awesome he is. Meanwhile, Roman Reigns just kind of wanders out to boos and murmurs. So far the match is fine in the way that Triple H slugfests are usually fine. It'll likely pick up once we start trading finishers.
11:10 p.m.: Our final match of the night is between Triple H and Roman Reigns for the title. The story here is mostly found outside the show. Roman Reigns has received a massive push from the powers that be, but a lot of older fans have rejected him. Expect a lot of boos when he comes to the ring, and even more boos when he inevitably beats Triple H.
The Rock
10:50 p.m. The Rock is out here to talk about how they broke the attendance record, which is the worst use for The Rock ever. But before I start throwing tomatoes at my TV screen, he’s interrupted by The Wyatt Family. Bray enters the ring and tells The Rock that he’s going to eviscerate him, which is pretty funny. The Rock tells him that he’s a loser stoner. But then The Rock legit puts him over, which I dig. Rock tells Wyatt that they’re going to have a match which would be awesome... but instead of Bray, it's Erick Rowan, which is not awesome. Erick Rowan loses faster than any human being in wrestling history. Six seconds to be exact. Then the Wyatt Family gangs up on Rock, and The Rock summons John Cena like an archangel. Things end exactly how you expect them to.
10:40 p.m. The Rock is here! You know, Dwayne Johnson, the one from the movies. He’s shooting a flamethrower because, well, it's WrestleMania. It’s yet to be determined if he’s actually going to do anything besides be The Rock and say his catchphrases. We’ll see!
Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale
10:30 p.m.: WINNER: BARON CORBIN—The rest of the Battle Royale is not nearly as entertaining as that opening bit with Shaq, but we do get a good Social Outcasts victory lap, a Darren Young taunt, and lastly, a win for NXT up-and-comer Baron Corbin after he tosses Kane over the top rope.
WATCH: Shaq makes surprise appearance, wrestles at WrestleMania
10:15 p.m.: Next up is the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royale, which is an excuse to put a bunch of people on the show so they can get a paycheck. There’s a chance for a few surprise returns though, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled.
Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker
10:15 p.m. WINNER: The Undertaker—So, Shane McMahon climbed to the top of Hell in a Cell and dived 20 feet onto the announce table. Fortunately, he survived. Unfortunately for him, Undertaker got out of the way, which led to a final Tombstone to put him down for good. Undertaker wins, but not before the most memorable spot of the night.
10:00 p.m.:
Quick update over here. This match has gone from a really boring slugfest, to one of the worst submission chains I’ve ever seen, into an awesome, hardcore match. They’ve left the cell and are currently brawling all over the announce table. I smell an interference. We’ll keep you posted.
9:30 p.m.: Alright, here we are at the most unpredictable match of the night. Shane McMahon is a 40-something non-wrestler who came back to the company a month ago to a huge pop. He’s wrestling The Undertaker for control of Raw. Which doesn’t entirely make sense for a variety of reasons I won’t get into now. If Undertaker loses he’s apparently banned from WrestleMania forever. It’s weird. Shane entered with his three kids all doing the Shane dance. Also, it's a Hell in a Cell match and Shane is known for his high spots. Expect some carnage!
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch
9:20 p.m. WINNER: Charlotte — They nailed it. Charlotte hit a moonsault from the top rope to the floor. Becky Lynch nailed Rock Bottom. All three of them worked the same awesome submission chains that made them a big deal in NXT. Charlotte ends up winning after she throws Sasha off Becky, locking in the Figure Eight and forcing her to tap. Charlotte retains, which for those of us really jonesin’ for a Sasha victory, is slightly disappointing. That doesn’t matter though, because it’s the best match of the night so far. Five years ago that wouldn’t have been possible in the women’s division.
Media Circus: Why ESPN is featuring WWE on SportsCenter
9:00 p.m.: Next up is the triple threat match for the new WWE women’s championship. This may be the most important match in the history of women’s wrestling, at least in North America. Charlotte, Sasha, and Becky are three of the women responsible for elevating the WWE’s female division from 2-minute matches and bra-and-panties flotsam of yesteryear into something that stands equal with any of the men on the roster. Let’s hope they tear the house down.
Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar
8:45 p.m.: WINNER: Brock Lesnar—This goes exactly like everyone thought it would. Brock is dominant throughout the entire match except in the moments where Dean takes advantage with a combination of kendo sticks, steel chairs, and even a fire extinguisher. In the end though, after 13 suplexes and an F-5, Brock is too much and overpowers sweet baby Ambrose. Kind of disappointed in the mid-card treatment this was given, honestly. Like, Dean wasn’t allowed to kick out of one F-5? Come on.
8:30 p.m.: Next up we’ve got Dean Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar. The story here is simple. Brock Lesnar is gigantic and destroys everything in his path. Dean Ambrose is not that, but he can take a lot of punishment without faltering and is currently the only guy on the roster looking Lesnar in the eye without fear. This match is a street fight, which means Dean will be able to use whatever he can to his advantage without getting disqualified. I’m particularly excited about this one.
Austin, Michaels, Foley show up
8:25 p.m.: After the League of Nations win their match, they start to cut a promo about how NO THREE MEN COULD EVER STEP TO THEM or whatever. Out comes Shawn Michaels, then Mick Foley, then your boy Stone Cold Steve Austin.They quickly dispose of the League with Sweet Chin Music, the Mandible Claw, and of course a Stone Cold Stunner and it’s hilarious. The New Day join the ring, Xavier tries to dance with Austin and also gets a Stunner. Fantastic segment all around. Rusev’s Stunner sell was a thing of beauty.
The New Day vs. The Leagueof Nations
8:20 p.m.: WINNER: The League of Nations—The League of Nations control the pace of the match in the beginning, because they are big and dumb and heels. Maybe it’s good heel work, or maybe it’s their complete lack of in-ring charisma, but the crowd is pretty much dead until Kofi Kingston starts to put together some momentum. Things really start to pick up when Big E starts to chuck belly-to-belly suplexes and double shoulderblocks. But things break down and The League of Nations pick up the victory thanks to their numbers advantage.
8:00 p.m.: Our primary tag-match of the night features The New Day, the funniest act on the roster, and The League of Nations who are a truly sad, soggy wrestling team. The New Day make their entrance via a gigantic box of Booty’Os cereal, because sometimes WWE gets it exactly right. The League of Nations don’t get a fun, gimmick entrance, but they sure do get a ton of boos!
Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles
7:50 p.m.: WINNER: Chris Jericho— This is your usual back and forth, WWE-style bout. The crowd doesn’t seem to be that into it, which might be because they’ve done this exact match three times now, or maybe they’re just exhausted after that high-octane Ryder victory. Jericho locks Styles in the Walls of Jericho a couple times, the second of which A.J. counters into his Calf Crusher. Jericho hits a Codebreaker, A.J. kicks out (to nobody’s surprise.) Jericho, in his heelish deviance, tries to hit Styles Clash on Styles, but he counters into a weird, botched roll-up thing which allows A.J. to hit his Styles Clash, but Jericho kicks out. The crowd is picking up now. A.J goes top-rope, and gets countered by a second Codebreaker - 1-2-3, and somewhat surprisingly, Jericho wins.
7:40 p.m.: Next up is a grudge match between Chris Jericho and A.J. Styles. A.J. has been feuding with Jericho for more or less the entire time he’s been on the main roster. They had a series of matches after the Royal Rumble, with A.J. taking the series 2–1. Those were with both men working as babyfaces, but Jericho turned full heel a couple weeks back, which set up this (ostensibly final) bout.
The Intercontinental Title Ladder Match
7:30 p.m.: WINNER: Zack Ryder—Stardust pulls out a polka-dotted ladder as a heartwarming homage to the late great Dusty Rhodes, but then proceeds to eat Miz’s Skull-Crushing Finale. Kevin Owens hits a painful-looking frog splash on Sami Zayn, who’s lying on top of a ladder. Zack Ryder hits an el-bro drop on Miz from the top of a ladder. It all builds up to a moment where Sin Cara takes a big dive on Stardust who’s lying on a ladder suspended between the ring apron and the crowd barrier. However, the biggest pop of the night comes when Zack By God Ryder steals the Intercontinental Title after icing out the Miz. This has lived up to all the violent traditions of WrestleMania ladder matches.
7:20 p.m.:The early focus is on Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. Zayn takes a particularly vicious back bump on a ladder balanced on the top rope, but later hits that between-the-ropes DDT on Owens which is still the coolest looking move in the WWE. Sin Cara hits an insane spot where he jumps off a ladder, plants both his feet on the top rope, and immediately transfers into a moonsault destroying the other wrestlers on the outside of the ring. Dolph Ziggler hits Sweet Chin Music for some reason. It’s pure chaos early.
Twitter reacts to Sting's announcement of retirement from WWE
7:00 p.m.: We are officially underway! Fifth Harmony sang “America The Beautiful” on a gigantic star-spangled star in the beautiful AT&T Stadium. It certainly is WrestleMania season y’all. The first match on the actual WrestleMania card is… The Intercontinental Ladder Match. Dolph Ziggler, Stardust, The Miz, Sin Cara, Zack Ryder, and Sami Zayn will compete in a ladder match for Kevin Owens’s strap. Keep an eye on Owens and Zayn specifically, as they’ve been feuding since their long careers on the indie circuit, and this is the biggest moment in both of their careers.
6:50 p.m.
This is a total nothing match. The Usos took control with a Samoan drop and a splash, and Bubba Ray gets quickly put down for a three count with a superkick. The whole match lasts maybe six or seven minutes. After the match The Dudleyz beat down the Usos and try to put both of them through tables, but The Usos counter and do their tandem flying elbows (which are always awesome) into the Dudleyz, and those aforementioned tables. Not the most auspicious beginning in WrestleMania history, but hey, who cares right?
Pre-show: 6:45 p.m.
First up, we’ve got The Dudley Boyz and the Usos on the pre-show, they’ve been feuding the past few weeks, mostly over the Usos putting people through tables which is obviously the Dudleyz’s primary character definition. The Dudleyz start off in control, with Bubba Rae and D-Von putting The Usos in a series of heelish, ground-and-pound submissions and strikes.
