 |
| Image Source: Smark Out Moment |
Written By: Mark Armstrong
Genre: Wrestling
Produced By: WWE
Format: Pay-Per-View
Date: April 6 2014
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Attendance: 75,167
The thirtieth WrestleMania then; what a milestone in WWE history this was. Every WrestleMania is big, but Mania number 30 immediately takes on a bigger level of importance. All those memorable Mania moments from over the years, from the unprecedented success of WM 1 to the record-setting crowd that saw Savage vs. Steamboat and Hogan slam Andre at WM III, the unforgettable Hogan-Warrior battle from WM VI, the timeless Savage-Warrior Career match at WM VII, two classic matches at WM X, HBK's boyhood dream coming true at WM XII, the famous Bret-Austin double turn at WM 13 and Austin's crowning as WWF Champion at WM XIV, the best WWF/WWE show ever at WM X-Seven, Rock vs. Hogan at WM X8, great matches and historic wins at WM 21, Ric Flair's WWE swansong at WM XXIV, the two Undertaker-HBK classics at WM 25 and WM XXVI, the Undertaker-HHH battles at WM XXVII and WM XXVIII, and the amusingly-dubbed "Twice In A Lifetime" meetings between Rock and Cena at WM XXVIII and WM 29, and countless other memorable Mania matches and moments (some remembered for the wrong reasons) - WrestleMania has an incredible legacy, and it was widely predicted going in that WM XXX would be another standout night in WWE's illustrious history. However, few could have predicted just
how memorable WM 30 would turn out to be.
It was expected that this would be Daniel Bryan's night of glory. Having won the WWE Title from John Cena at SummerSlam 2013 only to have it taken away from the newly-formed Authority, Bryan's chase against the modern-day Corporation had an abrupt end, and once WWE positioned Batista and not Bryan as the man to face Randy Orton for the top prize at Mania (via Bryan's non-entry into the 2014 Royal Rumble match), fans rebelled. As WWE wondered how to fix this problem, another big setback occurred when CM Punk unexpectedly walked out of WWE the night after the Rumble, torpedoing a potential Punk-HHH match at Mania before the feud had really gotten off the ground (Punk had been involved in scraps with Authority members
not named HHH before he left). With a real quandary on his hands, WWE ultimately decided to listen to the fans and reignited Bryan vs. The Authority in the form of Bryan vs. HHH, with the winner being entered into the Orton-Batista main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. After the bumps en route to Mania, surely WWE wouldn't have Daniel Bryan fail on the grandest stage of them all ... would they?
As well as the hugely-anticipated pay-off to a long-running storyline, we had another defence of The Undertaker's Streak against Brock Lesnar, an intriguing if slightly odd meeting between relative newcomer Bray Wyatt and John Cena, and the WrestleMania return of Hulk Hogan as the host of the show. Add to that the announcement of some decent under-card matches and some rumoured appearances by certain legends (as well as The Ultimate Warrior's first appearance on proper WWE television since 1996 when he would be introduced as the star inductee of the 2014 Hall Of Fame class), and the table was set for a pretty damn fun four hours of WrestleMania.
Before the main show began proper, WWE presented its Kick-Off preview show, which this year lasted two hours to make the most of the WWE Network. Oh, yes: the WWE Network. This online subscription service had been in development for years and finally launched on Monday February 24, the day after Elimination Chamber. The big draw from WWE's perspective was that the WWE Network would host all PPV events including - yes! - WrestleMania. Therefore, WM XXX was the first major supershow to be broadcast live on the WWE Network, preceded by the Kick-Off and followed by a Post-Show. That in itself made this a historic night for WWE, as the perception of Pay-Per-View as WWE's key financial stream changed forever with the Network showing of WM XXX. It is hoped for WWE's sake that fans do indeed begin watching PPV events on the Network in big numbers, otherwise this is a gamble that WWE may not be able to recover from should it fail.
The Kick-Off show also had a match: a Fatal Four Way tag team elimination match with the WWE Tag Team Titles at stake, with The Usos defending their recently-won straps against The Real Americans combo of Jack Swagger and Cesaro (managed by Zeb Colter), Los Matadores (backed up by El Torito) and RybAxel (Ryback and Curtis Axel). Phew!
This was a really good tag bout, enhanced by the generous time allocated to it. The crowd was well into it, and the performers seem energised, making this have a grander feel than your typical pre-show match. Jack Swagger eliminated Los Matadores following a Patriot Lock, then Cesaro eliminated Ryback following a Neutraliser. Finally, Cesaro took a double Superfly Splash to give The Usos the win. Afterwards, in an eagerly-anticipated development, Cesaro finally appeared to split from Jack Swagger, and had the New Orleans crowd on their feet with a Giant Swing to Swagger.
WrestleMania XXX officially kicked off with an elaborate, party-themed introduction video and the usual, stunning firework display. Hulk Hogan then came out to properly open the show, although in the same host role that The Rock was in at WM XXVII, which ended up being a bit underwhelming, I wondered whether this would be memorable solely for the fact that Hogan was here. Hulk's promo began by being memorable for the wrong reasons as he twice called the New Orleans Superdome the "Silverdome", the second error being the one when fans began reminding Hogan of the venue name. Hulk was midway through saying "You never know who could show up at WrestleMania" (he should have been allowed to finish that sentence), when ...
CRASH!
Stone Cold Steve Austin had arrived and the audience went positively apes--t!
Austin hadn't been on WWE TV properly since mid-2011, which made this surprising enough. Even bigger, though, was the fact that Hogan and Austin were about to face off at WrestleMania! The biggest dream match that never happened, fans were unexpectedly getting to see The Hulkster and Stone Cold face-to-face to kick off WM XXX. Austin began by joking that "It's good to be back in the Silverdome!" and initially threatened to beat Hogan up, but instead praised the red and yellow fellow for his incredible contributions to WrestleMania, and began reeling off Hogan's Mania main events as only he can (although WM X was incorrectly included), as fans chanted "What!" This in itself was a great moment, and had the segment ended there, fans would have loved how WM 30 kicked off.
Instead, out of nowhere, The Rock's music hit, and it's clear that fans were not expecting this surprise cameo either as some spectators suggested some were on the verge of damn near having a heart attack. The Rock was indeed in the Silverdome (sorry, Superdome), and he joined Austin and Hogan in reeling off catch phrases and jokes with the audience clenched in the palms of their hands. All three ended with their biggest lines, with Hogan hilariously emphasising "Superdome", and the trio of icons all shared beers to cap off an incredible opening segment. Not much happened, but it didn't have to: the historic significance of seeing the three biggest legends ever sharing the ring to kick off WrestleMania together was phenomenal. I was shaking with excitement watching this, an experience that only happens once every couple of years or so when watching wrestling (as it turned out, that feeling would return later on in the show). Unbelievable, and a perfect way to begin the thirteith edition of WrestleMania.
In the ring, the show began logically with Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H, since the winner would have to wrestle twice (meaning that someone would need sufficient time to recover, especially since their second match was the WrestleMania main event). WWE screened a superb video package beforehand, showcasing Bryan's highs and lows in WWE, his feud with The Authority, and the backing of the Yes! Movement as Bryan found a potential route to winning the World Title at WrestleMania. HHH had a grand entrance, as he usually does, being presented as a truly evil yet powerful king (of kings). Bryan had his regular entrance, but "regular" does not describe around 75,000 fans screaming "Yes!" in unison. Bryan's shoulder was taped off from a HHH chairshot attack on Raw a few weeks back.
Triple H humorously wanted to shake Daniel's hand at the start, despite everything that had transpired between the two. Not having any of it, Bryan swatted HHH's hand away with a kick, and they tied up to open the match with some chain wrestling. This lent itself to further Bryan kicks and a big sequence in the match, where Bryan hit HHH with a Tornado DDT to the floor and a big flip from the top rope crashing to HHH on the floor. HHH then went to work on Bryan's arm, driving it into an announcer's table and then stretching it further with a Crossface Chicken Wing. A HHH crossface applied further pressure, but Bryan hit back with German Suplexes, but HHH avoided a third and after a devastating clothesline, The Game surprisingly hit a reverse Dragon Suplex.
After escaping an attempted Yes Lock, HHH countered with a spinebuster and a Pedigree, but Bryan kicked out. HHH tried to go for his finishing move again, but Bryan avoided contact and rebounded with a Running Knee to pin HHH clean as a sheet for a massively popular win. There was no other possible result to a great opening match, as Bryan had earned membership to the main event of WrestleMania. On another night, this would have been a little bit longer to truly reach Match Of The Year status, but with Bryan having to save something for the headliner, they still packed in enough action to ensure that from an in-ring standpoint, fans were far from disappointed. But Bryan's journey would face one more obstacle: after the match, Stephanie slapped Bryan more than once, and HHH then attacked Bryan from behind and once again whacked Bryan's shoulder with a steel chair, leaving him potentially unable to compete or at least weakened if he were to compete alongside Orton and Batista. This was a nice twist by WWE to cast some doubt over whether Bryan would indeed achieve the unthinkable later on. As far as the first hour of WrestleMania goes, this had to be the best ever.
Match number two on the main show pitted The Shield against Kane and The New Age Outlaws. The Shield have recently been turned babyface by not siding with The Authority, although it has been left to the Authority's second string (namely, Kane and The New Age Outlaws) to hand out their own corporate brand of justice on Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. A Shield win seemed likely against what appeared to be a representation of the Attitude Era.
As it turned out, the match didn't last very long; less than three minutes, to be precise. The Hounds Of Justice interrupted Road Dogg's entrance and quickly went to work on the villains. The Authority side had some spots, but this was nearly all Shield, and after simultaneous topes by Rollins and Ambrose to The Outlaws, followed by a Reigns Spear to Kane and a double Spear to Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, the Outlaws took a simultaneous Triple Powerbomb (I was going to write "a Double-Triple Powerbomb" but that didn't sound right) for The Shield to pick up the win. Over and done with quickly, then, and whilst it wasn't really memorable by any means, The Shield were nevertheless enhanced, and it should be interesting to see how a babyface Shield squad are handled, especially since the initial plan seemed to be for The Shield to implode before or at this event.
The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal followed, with the prize being a statue topped by a mini figure of Andre. There were 30 entrants here (or so we'd been told), so it would take too long to mention every elimination here; therefore, I'll just point out key aspects. Amongst those were JBL on commentary expressing shock that Yoshi Tatsu was even in the match when he was ousted, the almost-indifferent response to Rey Mysterio (who won the World Title at WM 22, don't forget), and the audience Fandangoing with, erm, Fandango. We also got to see Kofi Kingston pull off another miraculous elimination escape after he landed hard back-first on the ringside floor, only for his feet to remain on the steel stairs, and the image of Big Show wearing an Andre The Giant-inspired singlet.
After Kingston and Dolph Ziggler were eliminated, it came down to Big Show, Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio and, in an unexpected entry, Cesaro (who, of course, wrestled earlier in the night). A double elimination between Sheamus and ADR saw it come down to Cesaro and Show. Cesaro had big support here, since fans suspected his Mania moment might still be to come, but Show was the sentimental favourite given his similarities to Andre. Few could have envisioned the finishing sequence, though: demonstrating his immense power, Cesaro dropped jaws as he lifted Show surprisingly easily and bodyslammed him over the top rope and out of the ring to win the ATGMBR. This was a huge moment for Cesaro, as it marked his breakout from the pack and signifies that a well-deserved hefty push awaits for him. The push for this match in the build-up suggests an equally big push for whomever won, and combined with his earlier split from Swagger and Colter, Cesaro's career should take off from this point on.
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt was next. I still felt this was an odd pairing: coming off two consecutive Mania main events against The Rock, was Bray Wyatt truly a suitable opponent for Cena? Meanwhile, Wyatt had become a big part of WWE television since his debut, but I felt that pitting him against Cena on a stage like WrestleMania may have been too soon. Their build-up was showcased well in a very effective promo video, backed by the Eminem song Legacy, and which included the sight of the Wyatts having forced their lamb mask on Cena after a Raw attack. Wyatt's entrance included a live rendition of his theme by Mark Cozier, which mixed with tribal dancers and masked guitar players, made for one of the coolest and creepiest WrestleMania entrances ever. Cena had his usual entrance, which was a surprise and suggests that the days of extravagant Cena entrances may be over after his standard arrival at WM 29 as well.
The early exchanges relied mainly on headlocks and stiff shots like clotheslines and punches. The story of this match was that Wyatt was trying to convince Cena to go to the dark side (didn't Kane also try to get Cena to do this in 2012 with the "Embrace The Hate" thing?), and whilst a Cena heel turn seemed unthinkable, the idea was that Wyatt wanted to destroy Cena's legacy by having him go against his moral code and be a nasty fighter, or something like that. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper were stationed at ringside and occasionally made their presence felt to distract Cena, but more off-putting to Mr. Hustle, Loyalty and Respect was when an attempted Five Knuckle Shuffle was interrupted by a Wyatt spider walk pose, which was an unexpected treat to see.
After a Cena Tornado DDT, both men began exchanging some really big moves, but the crux of the match was whether Cena would resort to Wyatt-style tactics. Cena did take out Harper by sending him through the barricade, but it was when Wyatt tried to convince Cena to use a steel chair that the moment of truth would occur from a storyline perspective (which fans largely ignored with a wave alongside a chant-along to Wyatt's war cry of "He's got the whole world in his hands". Cena used the chair on the interfering Rowan instead, and then hit Bray with an Attitude Adjustment to win. It seemed like Bray should have won here, and hitting Sister Abigail after Cena was distracted by whacking Rowan with the chair would have been the perfect way to achieve that. Instead, WWE decided that Cena needed to triumph, which could potentially hinder Bray's momentum. This was a pretty good match, if a little on the long side, but it's what Wyatt does next in his ongoing feud with Cena that will determine whether he was enhanced by the match alone, or if he needed to pick up the win at Mania to truly benefit from the rivalry.
Before the next encounter, the 2014 WWE Hall Of Fame class was honoured: Razor Ramon, Carlos Colon, Jake Roberts, Mr. T (celebrity inductee), Lita, Paul Bearer (posthumously inducted) and The Ultimate Warrior. It was surreal to see Warrior at WrestleMania after the years of animosity between Warrior and WWE. But it was nothing compared to the sense of tragedy when after Warrior also appeared at Raw the following night, Warrior sadly passed away on Tuesday April 8. Such an eerie situation, and obviously a devastating one for his family, as well as his legion of fans.
The build-up to The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar followed the standard formula once Taker had made the challenge, as Lesnar (through his vocal agent Paul Heyman) vowed to end The Streak, which going into WM 30 stood at 21-1. Before the match, Undertaker showed a display of caskets, each with the names of previous Streak victims (which included CM Punk, by the way), and ended with a casket that had Lesnar's name written on it, which Taker ultimately caused to explode via his own magical powers. The two had a square-off to open the match.
During the early going, as both men took it in turns to control the action, you got the impression that something wasn't quite right, and as Lesnar began to dominate the action with his physical style in the form of German suplexes and dropping Taker hard on the ringside floor by grabbing his leg to slam it down, it was more noticeable. The crowd had strangely switched off. It's hard to figure out why: were they recovering from an admittedly exciting first half of WrestleMania? Were they uninterested in Lesnar (his WM 29 match with HHH also largely played before near-silence)? Or were they disappointed by the action on display, compared to the faster pace of Undertaker's recent WrestleMania encounters? The idea that they weren't invested because of the predictability of the result was illogical since Undertaker
always wins at WrestleMania, and his victory here was not only a foregone conclusion, but fans wouldn't have wanted him to lose.
Whatever the case, had the fans reacted more strongly, the action definitely would have seemed more exciting, as the story of the match was that Lesnar was finding a way to weaken Taker enough that The Streak may very well be in doubt. JBL expressed words to that sentiment, and was suitably interrupted by Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler wondering why you would write off Taker so early. Lesnar continued to control the action, though, and his Kimura Lock was a possible yet unlikely method of winning. Undertaker escaped, though, and locked in a Kimura of his own. Following an F5, Lesnar zoned in for the unexpected win, but Taker fought back, yet an attempted Old-School led to a second F5 and another close call. The fans began to finally make some noise as Undertaker hit a Last Ride and then a Tombstone Piledriver, but Lesnar kicked out to the surprise of Taker and the audience (even though Taker's opponent hasn't lost to one Tombstone at WM since Mania 23). No worries, though: the next Tombstone would be the decider, as the Dead Man went to hit it once more. But instead, Lesnar turned it into a third F5, as the referee counted one, two, three ... Three.
Three?
THREE??????????????????
Three.
There are no words to describe the feeling of this moment. Surreal. Shocking. Stunning. Sad. Neither them nor any others could convey the significance of what had just happened.
The Streak was over.
The almost-stuck gasps of horror on the faces of the spectators embodied the emotion inside the Superdome, and everywhere else around the world. Only Paul Heyman could break the mixture of stunned silence by loudly reacting, as only he can, to the fact that his client had won. There was an initial feeling that maybe something had somehow gone wrong, given the delay of Justin Roberts' official announcement of the outcome and of the long wait before Brock's music played, but the big screens displaying a graphic that said "21-1" suggested otherwise. Lesnar really had done it. WWE had just delivered the most shocking moment in its history.
Nobody saw it coming; anybody who says otherwise is lying. Neither the hype nor the body of the match truly suggested that a Brock win was on the cards. As Brock left with a smile on his face, winking at his opponent, Undertaker slowly rose to his feet, and besides one ignorant fan heckling him, the previously-quiet audience stood as one to provide a standing ovation. Contrary to what everyone expected to see, spectators had actually seen the end of a 23-year undefeated record, and perhaps the end of Undertaker's career too.
After all, it was always assumed that if the Streak ever ended, it would spell the end of The Undertaker as well. If not, why end this record? In fact, some believed that The Streak shouldn't have ended ever, even after Taker retired. It must have been done because Undertaker is calling it a career, and with Lesnar apparently being considered the right man to end it.
Personally, I wish Undertaker had remained unbeaten at WrestleMania forever. Indeed, this was the first match result in decades which truly had an impact on me, such was the allure of The Streak. It is also a shame that the match which saw its demise wasn't anywhere near as good as many of the recent WM matches involving Taker. Few will remember the match for anything except its result.
By not telegraphing the result as WWE often does, the shock impact of the outcome was spectacular. Let's face it, if the Streak ever ended, it would have lost some of its power if there were hints that it would be terminated. By not doing this, we witnessed the most shocking result ever, more so than when Bruno Sammartino's original eight-year run as WWWF Champion ended in 1971 (hey, someone had to beat Bruno eventually, which wasn't the case with The Streak).
If this was the end of The Undertaker, it is a sad yet fitting way for him to go out, having put over the dominant phenom of the future and having not compromised his gimmick in the process. As for Brock Lesnar, his stock has reached an all-time high: WWE now has to push him as something truly special for accomplishing a victory that nobody ever has, ending a winning streak that seemed unbreakable.
We may never know whether it was the right decision to curb The Streak at 21 victories, regardless of the reasons why it was ended. One thing is for sure: fans watching WrestleMania XXX live witnessed a truly historic moment, one which will enhance the legacy of this event as an unforgettable night. With the three-count that snapped The Streak, the most shocking result in wrestling history was recorded. The Streak is over; it remains to be seen whether The Undertaker's career has now ended too.
The Divas were in a tougher spot than usual by their match being up next. WWE often places the female matches on the card as a sandwich between the bigger attractions, so that the audience can catch their breath and recover for the next major match on the show. On this night, though, having to follow the bombshell of The Streak ending gave them, without exaggerating, one of the toughest spots in wrestling history: how do you possibly follow a moment like that, with the venue now possessing an atmosphere akin to a funeral? But the 14 women in this contest pulled it off ... kind of. It wasn't a memorable match, but it was no worse than expected, and the girls did their best to provide something for fans to take their mind off Brock Lesnar's jaw-dropping victory.
Each lady had a signature spot at one point, with the best being a double tope to the floor by The Bellas. As it turned out, it was one of those twins, Brie Bella, who ultimately succumbed to AJ Lee's Black Widow submission hold. This got a decent pop from the crowd, despite AJ's heel status, but due to the bout it followed and would be followed by, it will still be a struggle for fans to remember the match or all of its entrants (AJ, Brie, Nikki Bella, Natalya, Emma, Tamina Snuka, Eva Marie, Summer Rae, Layla, Naomi, Cameron, Aksana, Alicia Fox and Rosa Mendes). It will be even more difficult to recall that this was officially the Vickie Guerrero Invitational, and Vickie was ringside for the bout (and was distraught that her nemesis AJ won).
Before the main event, there was a backstage reunion of sorts between WM 1 headliners Hulk Hogan, Mr. T, Roddy Piper and Mr. Wonderful (Piper had said online prior to WM XXX that an idea he had proposed would either be used or, if it wasn't, he wouldn't appear on WWE television again; presumably, this was his idea), and several big name Hall Of Famers (including Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Bret Hart) were introduced at ringside, which was a nice touch to enhance the importance of the main event.
And so we come to the main event of the evening, with Randy Orton defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Batista and, of course, Daniel Bryan. Orton had Rev. Theory playing his entrance theme live, Batista had his regular entrance (to the expected loud boos) and Bryan's injury from earlier on in the night meant he could only do a one-armed "Yes!" chant as he came down the aisle. The crowd responded, but not as loudly as they had for Bryan's first match. As a matter of fact, they were quiet for much of the early going in this bout; the audience was still stunned by the end of The Streak, as acknowledged on commentary by Michael Cole. Cole also correctly noted that Randy Orton, the defending champion, had become something of an afterthought in the midst of all the craziness leading up to WM. He reminded everyone of his presence by controlling the early going, but Bryan mounted a comeback by hitting both former Evolution members with his top rope missile dropkick, at which point the crowd finally began to show signs of recovering from Undertaker's defeat.
The Authority reared its ugly head by preventing Bryan from winning and re-introducing their crooked referee Scott Armstrong to try and count Adan's shoulders down. But Bryan fought back, drilling Armstrong, clocking HHH with a sledgehammer and sending both men and even Stephanie McMahon flying with a tope. The crowd was really into this now, as Bryan was showing that he could defeat The Authority group as a whole (during the initial interference, hopeful fans were chanting for CM Punk; as great a moment as this would have been, it was never happening). But Bryan's momentum took a big hit when he tasted a simultaneous Batista Bomb and reverse RKO through an announcer's table in the spot of the match (which for Orton was very painful; his back was sliced open because he landed on a television monitor). Surely WWE wouldn't end Bryan's tale with a defeat on the grand stage?
Bryan was loaded onto a stretcher as Batista and Orton began battling it out in what was the original plan for the Mania main event, and their exchanges were pretty good (just like their show-closing brawl on the pre-Mania episode of Raw). But fans wanted Bryan, and after expertly teasing his removal from the match, Danny Boy came up from the stretcher to re-enter battle. After some heart-stopping near-falls from various finishers, Bryan managed to lock Batista in the Yes Lock and with the crowd close to fever pitch, Batista tapped out as the New Orleans fans went mental. Daniel Bryan had done it; against all the odds, he had become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion in the main event of WrestleMania XXX! Fans and Bryan turned the show into YestleMania, to quote Jerry Lawler, and they chanted together loud and proud to the falling confetti and the huge, colourful pyrotechnics to close the show in a major way.
There aren't words to emphasise why this moment was so special. Two months prior, such a scenario seemed unthinkable, especially in the aftermath of Royal Rumble with Batista being destroyed by jeers, CM Punk having walked out and Daniel Bryan having been shafted from the main event scene. The most turbulent Road To WrestleMania ever had ended in grand fashion, as WWE listened to the fans 100% of the way and provided the most popular ending to a Mania in many years. Arguably, you would have to go back to Steve Austin's first WWF Title win at WrestleMania XIV to find a Mania title coronation which the fans demanded so much. And even then, Austin was being groomed for the title for months; Bryan was never in WWE's plans to main event Mania, and to win. When Bryan told the fans that his big moment had happened because of them, it was completely true.
That being said, Bryan had earned his night of glory. Years of proving that he was one of the world's greatest wrestlers on the independent scene, a plethora of unforeseen highs and ridiculous lows in WWE, and his massive popularity and humble approach to fame had all formed the most unusual yet unforgettable path to the WrestleMania moment of a lifetime for Daniel Bryan. His prophecy on the first episode of NXT in 2010 had come true; Bryan had become the Champ, and The Face Of WWE, in the biggest match of the year. Plus, both his performances on this night were great, and the story-based main event was perfectly executed. Credit too to Batista and Orton who also shone on the night, and who gracefully allowed Bryan to have his moment regardless of what might have been planned for them before DB was added. It's a testament to Bryan's appeal that his defining victory ultimately stood out over the death of The Streak and the coming-together of the three biggest icons ever. What a moment.
So, wow. Just wow.
What a WrestleMania! In addition to the usual glitz and glamour and the superb spectacle, the high quality in-ring action and the mostly productive results to set up the 2014-5 season in WWE, we had a memorable gathering of the three biggest legends ever; the unthinkable and historic end of The Streak; and the long-awaited, hugely enjoyable crowning of Daniel Bryan as the face of WWE in the main event. Had the show boasted a genuinely classic match (although Bryan vs. HHH came close), this would have been considered the best Mania ever, but even without that, WM 30 was exceptional, and is a definite top-five WrestleMania, with historic Mania moments aplenty.
One thing is for certain: nobody will ever forget WrestleMania XXX.
Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding
