"What just happened?"
"Did someone screw up?"
"Did the ref wave it off?"
Those were just a few of the things I heard in the seconds after the unthinkable happened at Wrestlemania 30: Brock Lesnar pinned Undertaker cleanly.
Nobody could believe that Lesnar had won that match. I saw one tweet from a wrestler say that it was the most shocking ending to a wrestling match since 1997 (the Montreal Screwjob), and I'm not sure I can disagree. The crowd certainly reacted that way, going from a surprised pop when the pin was made, to a mild confused buzz in the time between the pin was made and the decision was read, to a cry of disbelief when they finally announced Lesnar as the winner.
The result sucked the air out of the building for a while. While the divas match was never going to get a big reaction, it took about half of the WWE World Heavyweight Title match, even with Daniel Bryan involved, for the crowd to really get back into it. There were even some people so distraught over the result that they left after Undertaker's match.
We knew The Undertaker was an old-school wrestler, and that it was likely that he would want to "go out on his back" when he was ready to leave. And quite frankly, it's hard to see him losing, especially to someone like Brock Lesnar, if he intended on wrestling again. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see a retirement segment at RAW on Monday night. It's not definite, but between the result, and the fact that it looked like age had finally caught up to Undertaker, because the match was somewhat lackluster, I'd be a little bit surprised if we see him wrestle at Wrestlemania again.
If that happens, while we've heard the term "End of an Era" thrown around over the years when it comes to wrestling, this truly would be the end of one of the greatest runs in the history of wrestling.
The Rest of Wrestlemania
-- I hate to shuffle Daniel Bryan to this section, but it had to be done. The fans got what they want, and Daniel Bryan stood tall at the end of the night. It was a great scene, as he was clearly overcome with genuine emotion when he was presented with the belts. He celebrated with his younger sister and his niece, and hugged his family at ringside. He posed to the crowd as confetti showered down on him.
In the first match of the main show, Daniel Bryan beat Triple H cleanly in an excellent match, probably the match of the night. The two worked incredibly well together and put on a great story in the ring. After Daniel Bryan won cleanly, with a knee, Triple H and Stephanie attacked him, raising the obstacles against him for the main event.
In the main event, in a fairly brutal affair that at one point featured Randy Orton and Batista teaming up to put Daniel Bryan through a table, Daniel Bryan was not only able to win, but he looked relatively dominant doing so. At the end he was able to take out both Orton and Batista, before forcing Batista to submit. It was a little surprising that it was Batista that took the fall, but I guess this sets up a natural match for Extreme Rules, since Orton lost the title without being pinned.
I give all three competitors in this match a lot of a credit. The crowd was still dead after Undertaker losing, and it showed at the beginning of the match. However, all three kept working, and eventually got the crowd back into it. There are a lot of times that matches can be ruined by a lack of crowd, and at first, I thought this might be one of them. But they were able to dig themselves out and put on a pretty solid match, particularly the second half of it.
-- Besides Lesnar and Bryan, the man who gained the most was probably Cesaro. In the pre-show tag match, the Usos retained the titles, and afterwords Cesaro finally broke away from the Real Americans, giving Jack Swagger the Swing.
Later in the night, he was a surprise entrant in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal, and he ended up winning after slamming Big Show over the top rope. Even though we've become accustomed to Cesaro's feats of strength, this one was incredibly impressive, and, intentionally I'm sure, brought thoughts of Hogan slamming Andre at Wrestlemania III. It looks like Cesaro is in line for a big push now, so we'll see exactly what they do with him.
-- John Cena beat Bray Wyatt in a strong match. Throughout the match, Cena acted like he was on the verge of snapping, clearly selling that Bray was in his hand. The match ended when Bray brought Cena a chair, and told him to use it on him. Cena instead declined, using it on Rowan, then after a quick exchange, Cena blocked a Sister Abigail and reversed it into an Attitude Adjustment for the win. Based on the mind-games going on from Wyatt to Cena, I'm going to assume that this feud will continue.
-- The opening segment was fantastic, featuring Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and The Rock addressing the crowd, and putting over everything about Wrestlemania. It was a great nostalgia moment as the three stood together in the ring for what I believe was the first time.
-- AJ Lee retained her Divas title as she got Naomi to tap out. It will be interesting to see where she goes now, considering she just beat the entire divas roster. Maybe Paige will get a call up from NXT?
-- The Shield won in a squash match against Kane and the New Age Outlaws. I assume that with the late addition of "Stone Cold" and The Rock, that segment ate time from this match. It made The Shield, especially Roman Reigns, look strong though.