WrestleMania 35 was the longest in history after a SEVEN HOUR, 20 MINUTE show that ended after midnight. Whether you watched the entire thing or chose to bow out, here are the nine things people are going to be talking about today.
9 things everyone’s talking about from WrestleMania
Everything you need to know, in 5 minutes.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
Suffice to say, this is going to contain spoilers for Wrestlemania 35. You’ve been warned.
No. 1 — Kofi Kingston winning the WWE Championship.
This was unequivocally the best moment of the night. Kofi broke a shameful glass ceiling that’s been over the world championship for decades, keeping people of color away from one of the top belts in the company. Fans screamed for Kingston for months in the lead up to WrestleMania, in a homegrown movement which mirrored Daniel Bryan’s ascension to superstardom.
Up to this point the biggest belt Kingston ever won was the Intercontinental title, which he held four times for a total of 266 days — 20th in company history. Despite being one of WWE’s most talented performers and beloved stars, it seemed like the 37-year-old would never get his shot at the title.
Fans rallied around #KofiMania. Begged, screamed and yelled for him to get his shot — and in the end the moment was absolute perfection, earned in the best match of the night.
Kingston’s “New Day” teammate Xavier Woods explained why the move was so important.
No. 2 — Becky Lynch winning the RAW and Smackdown women’s titles in the main event.
This is one of those occasions where you need to step back from the match itself and appreciate how far we’ve come. In five years we went from women being bumped off the WrestleMania card, to having a women’s evolution in the company, to having Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Rhonda Rousey main event WrestleMania.
Sadly everyone was tired by the time the match rolled around, but it was excellent. The match featured some incredible moves like Flair delivering a Spanish Fly.
And Lynch drop kicked Rousey off the apron with a huge shot.
So much violence. It was excellent.
No. 3 — Triple H yanking out Dave Batista’s nose ring with pliers.
Because, after all wrestling is a rich stew of meaningful career-defining moments and also nose ring yanking.
No. 4 — John Cena turning up like your dad after the divorce.
Nobody knew what Cena was going to do for WrestleMania, and while he didn’t save us from Baron Corbin, he did turn up with his almost 20-year-old gimmick to one of the biggest ovations of the night.
No. 5 — The Miz’s dad becoming a meme.
All it took was a dad with a mullet putting up his dukes to make us all fall in love.
No. 6 — Shane McMahon doing something dumb again.
Once again, Shane McMahon, co-heir to the WWE throne, was willing to risk his life for our entertainment.
I know there’s a ton of mats down there, but it’s still scary as hell.
No. 7 — Brock Lesnar losing.
I get why the whole “prize fighting Brock” era had to happen, but, God, I hope it’s over. Seth Rollins won the WWE Universal Championship and now gives us a chance to see the belt defender more than three times a year.
And now, an ad for CrossFit.
No. 8 — Colin Jost and Michael Che ending their beef with Braun Strowman.
I love how nonsensical this beef was. Jost insulted Braun and made him mad. Bought him a Camaro to make up for it. Braun was furious it was too small for him — wanted to kill the Saturday Night Live stars.
No. 9 — This work of performance art.
There’s so much beauty in the world.
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