Nerd Watch Wednesday - Wrestlemania 33

Jun 10, 202025 min read

This week it was Ro Ahmad's turn to pick a show for the WSBF boys and here is why he picked it...

"Well mainly because I've been watching the Taker series on the network and want to rematch the main event to see if it really was that bad. Let's see what the nerds thought of Wrestlemania 33."

SHANE MCMAHON vs. AJ STYLES

By Rob Armstrong

'Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight.

Never running from a real fight.

He is the one called Shane O Mac'

There's a theory around Wrestlemania that if you aren't closing the show, you want to be opening it. It's a compliment they give to someone who is guaranteed to get the crowd going crazy. And that my friends, is Shane 'O' Modus Operandi.

Notoriously the best in the world, and the best pure striker in the business; Shane McMahon could have a five star match with a broomstick.

And AJ Styles must have used some really lovely shampoo on Mania morning.

The entrance ramp was so long I had time to quickly read through James Joyce's seminal stream of consciousness classic 'Ulysses' before the action got under way.

Shane moved round the ring using his star power to get the better of AJ every now and then. Yeah, sure AJ could jump and flip and do moves called Hoshi Giroshi or something, but he didn't have anything to match the shuffling feet and rapid piston-engine-like fists of Shane.

The match was full of actual genuine highlights. If my memory serves me correctly it was probably the match of the night. Some great counters got the crowd going inShane in the membrane. A cool Styles clash spot, a countered coast to coast, a real coast to coast, and a trademark Shane falling through the announce table got the Mania marks frothing at the mouth.

But plucky young upstart AJ would eventually get the rub from Shane after the sack-of-simoleons stud did an outrageous shooting star press, missing his target and leaving him open for the phenomenal forearm.

Shane took the forearm to the million-dollar mooey and did the favours for AJ, allowing Styles to walk victorious back up the 1900 mile ramp until he fell off the end of the Earth.

WINNER - AJ STYLES BY PHENOMENAL FOREARM

WWE UNITED STATES TITLE MATCH: CHRIS JERICHO (C) v KEVIN OWENS

By Brum

“Favourite wrestler” is a strange thing. For some fans, they have their fave since they were a kid and that’s them for life. Take my WedHead2Head brethren JCH and Matt Connolly.

JCH has loved Taker since he was kneehigh to a grasshopper and still thinks he’s the best bell-to-bell wrestler in the world. Matt Connolly has one favourite wrestler too, but that’s just because he thinks that Cara Noir, Kane, & Ryback are just different personalities of Greg Valentine, Mick Foley style.

I’d love to have that zealotry as supporting a wrestler like a football club has its advantages. Alas, I’m like that kid in a Man City shirt who you knew supported United as a kid: I’m FICKLE. My loyalties have jumped from Warrior to HBK to Raven to Dragon to McGuinness to ZSJ with other detours in-between.

Two of those detours were in 1999 and 2011 when I got mega stonk-ons for Y2J and Kevin Steen respectively. A 14 year-old me fell for the lad I liked in WCW becoming the coolest bloke in the world in WWF. It was a lovely relationship to tie me over between Raven going posh & HBK coming back.

In 2011, a 26 year old me was trying to find his feet after it looked that Nigel was done. Fortunately, Kevin Steen started terrorising Cornette & being the new coolest bloke in the world. I loved him before, but his unstable invader face run in ROH made him my new no. 1 for a while.

With that said, picking this match from the card was a no brainer. However, in hindsight, it was a tad masochistic as it brings up a bunch of bad memories.

For the bulk of my life, I’ve been mostly a lurker of WWE main roster programming. I’ll always keep half an eye on what’s going on & then different things will drag me back in from time to time. The Owens & Jericho bromance-cum-feud was one of those cases. Their chemistry as mates was great & then (warning: least hot take ever) The Festival of Friendship was excellent.

Unfortunately, less than 3 weeks after maybe the best segment on WWE TV for 5 years, they pissed on their hottest feud by having KO drop the title to some old boring cunt who can’t wrestle. I wish, I was reviewing a Jericho/Owens Universal title match right now, but instead I’m reviewing its much uglier sister.

But you get what you’re given & I’m still looking forward to this. I think I’ll enjoy this more as I’m not scowling at the TV like Miz Girl as I was a few years ago. Here we go…

During KO’s entrance, we get a video package. For such a hot feud; on such a large stage; and by WWE’s usual standards, the package is average. More a recap piece than a hype inducer. Jericho’s gets a big pop for his entrance.

The match starts in earnest with both men throwing bombs at each other. KO looks like he has the better of it until he finds himself in a Walls of Jericho. He gets to the ropes straightaway, but Cole mentions how that must be now in his head. Good work, Cole. Jericho is straight on Owens though and takes him out on the outside of the ring. Good opening gambit.

Jericho remains on top for the next minute until KO cuts him off with a very nice looking superkick. Owens controls for a few minutes with the highlight being a cannonball on the ring apron. It spills back outside where there’s a bit of back & forth & Y2J reclaims the advantage.

The next ten minutes is the bulk of the match and it sees both wrestlers take turns in having periods on top. There are nice sequences dotted about but nothing feels particularly intense or urgent as it did at the start and as the feud demands. There’s a lot of good wrestling but not really enough hate.

14 minutes in, KO hits the pop-up powerbomb which gets a 2 count. Owens is frustrated and is screaming at Jericho whilst punching him in the face. This is more like it. Another pop-up powerbomb attempt is reversed into a Codebreaker! Nice. Y2J crawls over and hooks KO’s leg. 1..2… KO gets a finger on the ropes before the 3!

KO is now on the outside with Jericho on the apron. Before Y2J can get to him, KO superkicks him from the floor to his shin. Straight into a powerbomb onto the ring apron! Rolls him into the ring and it’s good for the 3! KO is still US champ.

No real post-match here as Jericho sells in the ring whilst KO parades his title up the entrance ramp.

Summary: This started well and had a decent finishing stretch but the meat of the contest felt more like a TV match than a blow off to a heated rivalry. I don’t blame the guys involved as the juice of the match was sapped weeks before by regressive booking decisions. In retrospect, with those constraints, this match may have suited being an 8 minute sprint war rather than what it was.

WINNER – KEVIN OWENS WITH A POWERBOMB ON THE APRON

WWE RAW WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH: BAYLEY (C) vs. SASHA BANKS vs. CHARLOTTE FLAIR vs. NIA JAX

By Nineties Mike

So Bayley and Charlotte had been feuding pretty much since Bayley was called up to the main roster. The Hugger won the Raw Women’s title on the RAW prior to WWE Fastlane, defeating The Queen. She was also able to keep hold of the title at Fastlane and end Charlotte’s mental PPV streak.

Sasha Banks inserted herself into that match, however, to help her best friend Bayley to the win. As you will be well aware, Sasha and Charlotte’s rivalry has an even longer history than the Bayley-Charlotte, with the two playing hot potato with the title for the majority of the second half of 2016.

Originally this was due to be a 1-on-1 affair between Bayley and Charlotte. On RAW four weeks before WrestleMania, Sasha was able to defeat Bayley in a friendly rivalry match to win her way into the title match. However, two weeks away from WrestleMania, after standing up for the fired general manager, Mick Foley, the champ was put into a non-title match with Nia Jax.

As punishment for disrespecting The Authority, Stephanie McMahon added the stipulation that Jax would win her way into the title match if she could defeat Bayley. Inevitably, Jax dominated Bayley, got the win and here we are.

The match begins with everyone targeting Jax, but she starts dominating almost from the word go. Showing her power, Jax sends Charlotte into Bayley, and Banks into a senton from the ring apron. Having had enough, the trio unite against Jax on the apron. It doesn’t last long, and Jax destroys the girls once again, tying Charlotte in the turnbuckle. Big punches connect, but Charlotte, with the assist from Banks and Bayley, connect with a triple powerbomb. They all scramble to cover Jax and she is eliminated.

Charlotte attempts to make peace with Bayley and Banks. Eventually, she backs down and goes outside. The two in the ring go after one another, but Charlotte grabs Bayley’s foot from the outside and drags her out the ring. Charlotte moves out of the way as Bayley, with a flying flip senton, clatters into Banks. Charlotte goes up top and executes a stunning corkscrew moonsault on her opponents.

She now goes after Banks, trying to lock in Natural Selection, but Banks counters into the Banks Statement. Charlotte is able to escape the hold and the two women go into an exchange. Banks rolls up Charlotte, but she counters sending Banks into the middle turnbuckle she exposed earlier in the match. Charlotte covers, gets the three count and Sasha is gone.

We get a stare down now between Bayley and Charlotte, the pair who possibly should have been having a 1 on 1 match. Charlotte has the advantage and goes to the top turnbuckle, attempts a moonsault, but Bayley moves and The Queen crashes to the mat.

Bayley covers Charlotte for a two count, but Charlotte manages to counter and apply the Figure Eight. Charlotte has Bayley tied up, but she is somehow able to wriggle free. Charlotte gets Bayley stuck in the tree of woe, goes to the apron and climbs to the top turnbuckle. Bayley is able to fight her off, and she connects with an elbow drop and the three count! Bayley retains!

SUMMARY: With all four of the (at the time) dominant female WWE superstars, this had promise of something special. And while the match was good and had some great spots and moments, it felt a little rushed at just shy of 13 minutes. There are better singles matches between these 4, but this is a great advert for the Raw Women’s title picture in 2017.

WINNER - STILL RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPION, BAYLEY BY TOP ROPE ELBOW DROP

WWE RAW TAG TEAM TITLE LADDER MATCH: THE CLUB (C) vs THE BAR vs. BIG CASS & ENZO vs. THE HARDY BOYZ

By Josh Headey

So I have the match that followed a proper WrestleMania moment. I'm sure you all know, but: the three teams are in the ring, Mania hosts New Day come out, and they do the big reveal of The Hardys! But after watching it back for the 100th time I'll now go into the match that followed The Hardy Boyz legendary return to WWE.

After a big brawl we had Jeff hitting Poetry In Motion to Luke Gallows and then to Karl Anderson, Matt and Jeff then combined taking down Enzo Amore and then Big Cass, before Sheamus and Cesaro were knocked down by Jeff's Whisper In The Wind.

Matt got another ladder and smashed anyone in sight, before Jeff was stopped climbing a ladder by Gallows. The champions took Matt then Jeff out, but as Anderson climbed up Cesaro springboarded off the ropes onto the ladder, knocking him down to Sheamus who hit a rolling senton.

Cesaro stood on Gallows' SHOULDERS and stomped down on Anderson, Sheamus then dropped Gallows on to his partner as Cesaro began to climb. Big Cass hit big boots to Sheamus, the ladder and Cesaro, sending him out the ring, and then the same to Matt and Jeff.

Enzo and Cass went and got more ladders, as Matt and Jeff set up ladders on the other side that balanced between the apron and the barricade. The Hardys were crushed in between those ladders by Gallows and Big Cass, with Cass then launching Enzo into Gallows. Sheamus did his 'beats to the chest' spot on Gallows, just as Cesaro swung round Anderson in the ring.

Sheamus powerslammed Anderson before Cesaro hit a SWISS-ONE-NINE to Gallows. Big Cass reappeared and hit a boot to Cesaro, and then again used Enzo by throwing him to the outside. After Jeff sent Cass outside Sheamus booted Jeff the same way before getting another ladder.

Sheamus climbed the ladder and grabbed at the titles by the time Gallows came, and the pair punched away before Enzo shoved the ladder down. Enzo (with help from Cass) went for the titles, only for Sheamus and Gallows to powerbomb Cass into a ladder and both hitting kicks. Gallows took Sheamus over the ropes, Anderson ran up and eventually threw Enzo right into a big uppercut from Cesaro.

Gallows and Anderson then took out Cesaro and Sheamus, Matt hit a Twist of Fate to Gallows before Anderson threw him outside, who climbed the ladder but Matt got back up and hit a Twist of Fate off the ladder.

Meanwhile Sheamus was set across one of the ladders outside, Cesaro on the other... Jeff hit a Swanton Bomb from the top of a ladder that was nearby. An insane looking spot where he sent Cesaro crashing through one ladder, and Sheamus just rolled off the other as he couldn't quite hit him.

As this was happening Matt was climbing, and to a mass of DELETE chants and hand gestures, grabbed the belts for the win.

WINNERS - NEW RAW TAG CHAMPIONS, THE HARDY BOYZ BY LADDER MADNESS

JOHN CENA & NIKKI BELLA vs. THE MIZ & MARYSE

By Pete Hitchcock

Well, we are back to Shootdown Live early 2017, home of mediocre wrestling, hyped to high heaven by pseudo-intellectual stan twitter. Expect me to change my twitter profile picture to Becky Lynch and only tweet about basketball and call people "folks". Might even make an account on Cageside Seats.

Miz and Maryse have a cool entrance, but their matching gear doesn't work for either of them. Al Roker is the ring announcer? OK! Nikki makes her entrance to boos and stops halfway down the ramp for her boyfriend to make his entrance and this is gonna be awkward in hindsight. The terrible run they do together to the ring doesn't spell well for this pairing.

Commentary referring to them as a Hollywood power couple as both give Cena's mom a hug at ringside. Funnily enough, since the action is pretty bog standard, I called that Cena would propose at Mania about 3 months earlier when I listened to Bryan Alvarez's 2017 predictions show and thought "what would I predict?"

Didn't predict their opponents and definitely did not predict the break-up. Maryse floors Cena with a weak slap, man is a crazy bumper. "Miz is awesome" chants as Miz goes for a terrible boot. Why did I agree to this? I'm desperately trying to write sentences tangentially related to the match to occupy myself during Miz's heat segment but my command of the English language is not strong enough to defeat my boredom.

Maryse's hair looks really good in the windy Mania 33 stadium? Nikki Bella is unbelievably beautiful? This is the last era of classic Cena hair? Miz hits a DDT. The world turns. Miz does yes kicks because he is trying to get the bad match he will have with Bryan a year and a half later and Bryan is married to Brie...see, I'm smart! Basketball! Folks!

Nikki immediately in with a spear on the hot tag, the tag is not especially hot but compared to the heat segment before it's fucking Vesuvius. She also trusts Miz to catch her on a dive! BIG PURO NIKKISAWA WITH A BIG RIGHT YAAS SLAAAY FOUR PILLARS OF HEAVENNNNNNN.

Double five knuckle shuffle and double finishers as both pin the heels for 3...as Jerry Lawler screams "A DOUBLE COUNTOUT!". WHAT THE FUCK, JERRY.

Post-match, Cena gets the mic in wrassling moments that have aged like milk #4, the crowd are very audibly chanting "No". Florida is clearly the land of the clairvoyants. Cena telling a sweet story about Nikki's neck surgery and this is Peep Show now, I can't watch.

Down on one knee with LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT THING, that must have cost a lot. The answer as we all know is yes, but the conclusion is nope. Mania 33, a snapshot in time.

SUMMARY: The real moral of this story is God bless Artem Chigvintsev, the only man to beat Cena and Triple C Henry Cejudo in a feud. And fuck Shootdown Live.

WINNERS - JOHN CENA & NIKKI BELLA BY DOUBLE COUNTOUT FIVE KNUCKLE SHUFFLE

NON SANCTIONED MATCH: TRIPLE H vs. SETH ROLLINS

By Ross Casey

This is classic student vs. teacher bout with a years built backstory on the grandest stage of them all. It is everything I love about the graps and I jumped at reviewing it when Ro picked this PPV.

HHH says that Seth Rollins was a failure as a protege and Seth says that he Triple H made the biggest mistake by betting against Rollins. Add in the story that Seth is injury prone and battling back against the odds to even make Wrestlemania after another knee injury and you have a fantastic recipe for success.

Both wrestlers have magnificent entrances here - Triple H has a police escort for his motorbike as Stephanie rides backseat whilst Seth sets the ramp alight as he looks to BURN IT DOWN. So good. So hype.

We reinforce the story of the match right away as Seth jumps over the ropes into the ring during his entrance and gingerly sells the knee. As a lot of bitter feuds should - this one starts with both wrestlers running at eachother and throwing hands.

Almost immediately we get a brawl in the crowd which Seth has full control of, showing lots of fire and charisma until Triple H successfully strikes the knee and spike DDT's Rollins on the commentary table.

They don't call Trips cerebral for nothing and almost every move and strike he hits for the next stretch of the match is aimed at the surgically repaired knee. The work and psychology is really good, but the crowd seems subdued, not really getting behind Rollins to make a comeback.

I enjoy that when Seth finally finds some respite that he goes up top using just one leg. He then goes for the sunset flip off the top - which was the move that caused his ACL injury the year previous - and he sells the pain brilliantly when it doesn't come off again.

Later in the match, Seth again goes up top using one leg and hits a crossbody to the outside. All heart and zero brains. Classic babyface - I love it. The biggest pop of the match comes when Rollins introduces a table.

We then get a large heat section, where HHH uses a chair to rip apart the knee of Rollins. Seth sells great throughout before hitting the top rope superplex falcoln arrow combo. Love that transition.

Stephanie McMahon trips Seth up which allows her husband to lock in a submission that finally the crowd wake up for and urge him out of. There's some great strategy where HHH squirms out of a crossface by kicking at the knee of Rollins.

The sledgehammer makes an appearance from under the ring, but it is Seth who ends up in possession of it until Steph again intervenes and HHH hits a Pedigree for 2. We get a Pepsi Plunge tease before Seth hits a top rope Phoenix Splash. Shit for brains lands on his knees of course and is unable to get the pin.

The crowd absolutely goes bananas when we get a MALFUNCTION AT THE JUNCTION and HHH hits Stephanie through the table. Assuming this is because he watched PROGRESS a few weeks previous where TK and Dahlia did the same spot?

Ultimately, that distraction culminates in Rollins hitting his own version of The Pedigree for the win. Bloke loves landing on that bad knee!

SUMMARY: This match was massively underrated at the time in my opinion and it stands up today. I love the slow pace of the match, the simple story told and the pupil finally beating the teacher with his own move.

Brilliant stuff. Much recommended. The only thing missing is a hot crowd as they were lukewarm at best until the table spot.

WINNER - SETH ROLLINS BY PEDIGREE

WWE TITLE MATCH: BRAY WYATT (C) vs. RANDY ORTON

By Matt Connolly

So for Nerd Watch this week I am revisiting a match that is often thought of in a negative light. Bray Wyatt's title defence against Randy Orton riles fans for a number of reasons with the main one being the controversial decision to project pictures of bugs on the ring mat at random intervals.

Let's see if this viewing three years later can improve my opinion.

The rivalry felt a bit more convoluted than it needed to be but it hit all the main points. In late 2016 the two men feuded with Orton eventually taking the "if you can't beat them, join them" attitude. A successful few months featured a tag team title run before Orton wins the Rumble and Wyatt wins the Title.

Orton appears to relinquishes his opportunity because his new bezzie mate is champion but of course there are greater plans at work here. He turns up at the Wyatt compound and Bray is forced to watch on the big screen as Randy burns it to the ground. As this is wrestling Wyatt is the heel for being mad about this.

There are two parts of this story that I left out there. One is AJ Styles and Luke Harper fighting over the number one contenders spot during this period where it appeared Bray had no opponent for Mania. Once Styles went through hoops to get his opportunity Orton beat him in a great encounter on Smackdown to get his shot back. The other is Orton turning Bray and Harper against each other which was pretty well done but saw no major pay off.

So to the match...

The entrance ramp is a monster so the ring walks take a minute. Already feeling sorry for Ro covering that Taker entrance later on. Wyatt has nothing particularly fancy about his entrance but the sight of the fireflies in the crowd is all the more spectacular with a crowd this size. Orton's walk takes so long we get to a bit in his theme song that we rarely hear.

The opening exchanges see both men fired up and ready to fight. Orton hitting his trademark powerslam early. Wyatt manages to unnerve Randy with his first projection of Maggots on the ring mat. In fairness, the crowd react to it with some shock. Wyatt is in control and his second projection about four minutes in is of some worms. The novelty has worn of a bit with the crowd already but still there is a reaction.

The middle section is essentially just a beat down of Orton. He only manages one dropkick on the outside during this but almost straight after is caught with a Sister Abigail into the barrier. Bray tries to roll Orton into the ring to end this but the savvy veteran rolls all the way to the other side of the ring.

When Wyatt approaches him the classic "RKO outta nowhere!" catches Bray. Two finishers hit on the outside. Time constraints maybe making these two cycle through all there bits early here.

Orton has control and hits that draping DDT amongst others things as we enter the finishing stretch. His attempts at an RKO end in him eating a second Sister Abigail but he kicks out! We all have our opinions on finisher kick outs but it's Mania so if it's going to happen then here is fine I guess.

Bray does his creepy pose and the third projection is of cockroaches but as he stands up a second RKO of the night is enough for Orton to win and become a thirteen time champion.

SUMMARY: The story here isn't the worst. Wyatt taking Orton out of his comfort zone and trying all his tricks but in the end the power of the RKO is stronger and if he gets the opportunity it's curtains. The crowd quickly lose interest in this one though and it feels rushed. I wouldn't say there is anything to go back and see in this one unless you are a die hard Orton fan.

WINNER - NEW WWE CHAMPION, RANDY ORTON BY RKO

WWE UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH: GOLDBERG (C) vs. BROCK LESNAR

By JCH

I remember being severely unhyped for this match. In the crowd, drunk and annoyed that I had to watch a Goldberg match, but this was absolutely perfect for what it was.

Goldberg had destroyed Lesnar in a minute at Survivor Series. Goldberg cannot go, I don’t think he ever could. So they just hit finishers.

This is literally the move list...

Suplex

Spear

Spear through the barricade

Spear

Jackhammer

Leapfrog of a Spear

Suplex

Suplex (to a massive 10 chant, remember when people thought he was under pushed)

SUMMARY: 10 German Suplexes 4 Spears 1 Jackhammer 1 Leapfrog 1 F5. Game over. I loved it at the time and it was funny to watch now.

WINNER - NEW UNIVERSAL CHAMPION, BROCK LESNAR BY F5

WWE SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH: ALEXA BLISS (C) vs. MICKIE JAMES vs. NATALYA vs. BECKY LYNCH vs. NAOMI vs. CARMELLA

By Ro Ahmad

These poor women were given the dreaded graveyard spot on the card sandwiched between Lesnar/Goldturd’s spot fest brawl and the main event. The show was already running long by this point, so they were not given much time.

They all make their entrances. Naomi gets a cool neon entrance and huge pop as this is not only her return to action from injury, but Orlando is also her hometown. They start brawling as soon as the bell rings and soon some of them are thrown outside the ring.

Becky and Mickie remain and exchange some decent offence. James ends up outside and it’s Carmella and Becky left to brawl in the ring. Becky goes up to the top rope but the pointless and annoying James Ellsworth gets involved, allowing Carmella to attack and she goes for a cover, but Bliss breaks up the pin and they trash talk.

Nattie gets back in but runs into a DDT from Bliss who goes for a cover but Mickie makes the save. Becky then runs wild on all the women. Ellsworth tries to interfere again but Becky hits a BEXEXPLODER on him and the crowd love it. Micky hits the seated senton on Becky and goes for the cover but Bliss again breaks it up.

Nattie back in the ring and Bliss bails. Natty and Becky go at it but Naomi makes it back in the ring to take them both out. Natalya hits a double sharpshooter on Naomi and Carmella in a cool spot. Mickie hits the DDT for 2. Naomi is back in, hits the rear view and then a plancha over the rope onto everyone outside.

Naomi tosses Bliss back in the ring but Bliss cuts her off with a forearm smash. Alexa goes for a cover but Naomi counters it into a submission and Bliss taps. Naomi wins the title at around 5 mins via submission in her first match back after recovering from injury and in front of her hometown crowd for a feel-good Mania moment.

SUMMARY: All six women worked well with the time they were given but were obviously rushed. Some decent action here so I’ll give it 2 stars.

WINNER - NEW SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S CHAMPION, NAOMI BY SUBMISSION

NO HOLDS BARRED: THE UNDERTAKER vs ROMAN REIGNS

By Ro Ahmad

This is the reason I picked this PPV for NWW as this match featured heavily in the awesome Last Ride network special about Undertaker winding down his career over the last few years. In the doc he mentions how disappointed he was with his performance in this match so I wanted to go back and rewatch to see if it really was that bad?

I do actually remember watching this Wrestlemania with the nerds in the Clapham Grand and by the time we got to this match I was only really thinking about two things... firstly why the actual fuck did I not take the next day off work as I needed to be in the office in just a few hours and it was already almost like 4am and secondly will I ever be able to feel my arse again as we'd been sat down on those super “comfy” Clapham Grand chairs for about a decade.

We get a promo package showing us how basically they got here... with Roman eliminating Taker from the Rumble and then these two arguing over whose yard it is… not a great build for such a big match in my opinion.

JR is here as guest commentator which I remember being surprised at back then as I didn't realise he was still working for WWE.

Roman is out first to a chorus of loud boos and he has his mean Khal Drogo look on already. GONG!!!! and lights out... crowd POP. It's on my bucket list still is to experience Taker’s entrance live one day but not sure if that will ever happen now if he retires .

The ramp from the entrance stage to the ring was about 80 yards (240ft) and thankfully they had him rise halfway through the ramp on a mobility lift as even a Taker mark like me did not want to see him walk for 10 mins to the ring… it was still almost 5 minutes long though! You were right, Matt...

The bell FINALLY rings and Taker is already sort of limping... not a great sign. Taker takes first offence and throws Roman outside the ring and shouts "MY YARD!". Roman comes back in and they exchange blows but Taker gets the upper hand and throws Roman over the ropes again and this time shouts "STILL MY YARD!".

They both are moving super slow and Taker already looks gassed and is visibly limping. I actually remember noticing his limp back when I was watching this live, but back then didn't know how bad shape he was in and it makes so much more sense now after the Last ride network special.

They exchange offence again with Taker getting the upper hand as he hits snake eyes and a running big boot... leg drop... cover... 2 count! Back outside they go and roman goes for another drive by but taker punches him mid-air. Taker clears the announce table. Taker hits a chokeslam onto the table which does not break. Taker clears the Spanish announce table and gestures the throat slit for the tombstone but Roman suddenly hits the spear driving taker through the Spanish announce table!

Roman slowly gets back in the ring and waits and Taker sits up and makes it back into the ring. Roman lays into taker in the corner of the ring and climbs up and goes on a punching melee... Taker suddenly hits the last ri.... no sorry he hits a horrible looking powerbomb (announcers still call it the last ride though) as he can barely get roman up and falls into roman for the cover.

Taker goes outside and grabs a chair and throws it into the ring but Roman grabs it and taker kicks him in the face, Taker grabs the chair and lays into Roman with some stiff shots. Roman keeps trying to get up... Taker signals for the chokeslam on the chair but Reigns rolls outside. He comes back in and hits a superman punch. He hits a second superman punch... he goes for a third, but taker hits a chokeslam onto the steel chair and goes for a cover for the 2 count.

Taker hits a tombstone... cover and Roman kicks out at 2 and the announcers cant believe Roman kicked out... Taker tries to do his OMG he kicked out of the tombstone face but it's will never be the same as when he did it at mania 25 against HBK. “He’s tougher than a $2 steak" VINTAGE JR on Roman and I love it! No but realty where does one gets a $2 steak as I for one would love to try one!

Taker slowly picks up Roman and they both can barely even move... he finally gets him up and sets him up for another Tombstone but Roman reverses it to lift taker up... no wait they both sort of collapse awkwardly on the mat...Roman hoping nobody noticed the botch again tries to get taker up for the tombstone only for Taker to not have the strength to get his legs up and they once again collapse awkwardly on the mat.

Both times the crowd sort of gasp as they know that was two major Botchmania moments. I remember back when we were watching this live feeling sorry and sad for taker as it suddenly dawned on me then that maybe he just could not go anymore and so should call it a day. Had the same feeling watching it now even though I knew he came back after this match.

Roman looks pissed at the botches and tries to get a limp and exhausted taker up and even has trouble doing that and goes for I guess an improvised superman punch and covers him for a 2 count. You can see the disappointment on Romans face here. Roman measures taker up for the spear and hits one. He goes for a delayed cover but SUDDENLY OUTTA NOWHERE taker pulls him in for a weak looking hells gate.

Roman reaches the ropes with his leg but it's no hold barred so it doesn't mean taker has to release the.... oh no wait JR says the ref has to break the hold... ummmm but it’s no hold... meh I don’t think anyone gives a shit at this point... this needs to end like yesterday!

Taker slowly crawls to the chair but roman stands on it and picks it up to hit taker with some brutal chair shots to the back.... I mean HE'S A 52 YEAR OLD MAN WITH AN INJURED HIP FOR FUCKS SAKE ROMAN!!!! Roman hits another spear and covers for a near 2 fall. Taker uses the ropes to slowly... oh so slowly pull himself back to his feet.... taker is actually shaking here but gets up for Roman to do his Shield OOOOAAAHHHH scream and hits another spear and goes for a cover for another near fall.

Crowd are loving the near falls and cheer hard for taker. Taker sort of does his sit-up but he just can’t stay up and sort of sits up and slumps back down to the side. Taker manages to get up and trash talks Roman to piss him off and Roman runs into the ropes and then runs into Taker and awkwardly stops dead in his tracks then grabs Takers arm... not sure what that was but definitely another Botchmania moment.

Roman sort of hesitates and doesn’t know what to do so looks like he improvises again and throws some punches to get taker in the middle of the ring and Roman runs into the ropes a few times to gain some momentum and hits a SUPER SPEAR and goes for the cover for the 1... 2... 3! for the win at around 23 mins. And with that roman becomes only the 2nd person to beat taker at Wrestlemania basked in a chorus of loud boos from the audience.

Roman walks up the ramp and poses with fireworks going off behind him and leaves to loud boos.

His music stops and camera pans to taker lying in the ring. After a good few mins Taker slowly sits up and looks like he's about to keel over any second. They run replays of the match which gives Taker time to sort himself out and when we come back Taker is back in his leather coat and hat with his music playing and the lights dimmed. As he looks around the crowd this very much looks like his post final match farewell moment (well at least we all thought at the time).

The crowd and announcers team give him a standing ovation with chants of "thank you taker" He looks like he is about to climb out of the ring only to stop and come back in and then he starts to remove his gloves... removes his coat as the camera pans to audience members in tears as they also are realising this was his final match.

He removes his hat and places it on the gloves and coat and then walks out of the ring. He then goes over to his wife Michelle McCool and breaks character properly for the first time ever and gives her a kiss which verifies this is the last ride for the Deadman.

He walks up the ramp to chants of thank you taker. He stops in the middle of the ramp and with one final look back he raises his hand as he slowly descends down into the ramp on his special mobility lift... sorry I mean down to hell?!? We hear 3 final gongs as the lights go out fully and Mania 33 ends.

In The Last Ride doc we found out that WAS meant to be his final match, however we all know that was not the case as he was so disappointed it was not how he wanted to go out.

SUMMARY: Unfortunately, this match was just as bad as I remember and has not aged well at all. It just was far too slow moving and a lot of major botches and it is obvious that he just should not have been out there in the main event of the biggest wrestling show of the year in a 23 min match in the shape he was in.

I can see why Taker hated the match and wanted to come back to redeem himself as he did not want that to be the last memory, he leaves us with. The match wasn’t a dud but was not great either, so I give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars.

WINNER - ROMAN REIGNS BY SUPER SPEAR

That's all folks!