Since premiering almost 40 years ago, WrestleMania has expanded far beyond just the biggest night of the year for the biggest name in sports entertainment.
Every year wrestling promotions from all over the world gather in the city hosting WWE’s crowning event to host their own showcases. The biggest international stars and rising stars compete in dream matches throughout the weekend, leading to some of the most compelling moments of the year.
Here’s a look at some of those moments.
First we have the return of Kota Ibushi to professional wrestling. A nagging injury forced Ibushi out of the one true sport and pressure to return to the ring from New Japan Pro Wrestling led to the star speaking out against the company. According to Ibushi, this very public conflict also led to his mother’s attempted suicide.
Now free of his contract and healed up, Ibushi is ready to run wild anywhere he pleases. It’s great to see someone who loves the sport so much return to the ring.
The event DDT vs. GCW featured the tag teams of Bussy (Allie Katch and Effy) vs. Pheromones (Danshoku “Dandy” Dieno and Yuki “Sexy” Iino). As expected, the two duos took things in a rated R direction, locking multiple opponents in a Human Centipede lock. A devastating maneuver.
Ring of Honor’s main event for the weekend featured one of the weekend’s roughest bumps as Eddie Kingston took a gut-wrench from the apron to the floor. There’s no way to fake that level of impact.
Speaking of roughest bumps, El Hijo del Vikingo decided to outdo himself in terms of vicious Canadian destroyers. The first went to Komander from the top turnbuckle.
Vikingo then upped the ante to the corner of the apron — THE HARDEST PART OF THE RING.
Bringing things back to Bussy, the pair squared off against the unlikely but awesome hardcore duo of Nick Gage and “The Cutest in the World” Maki Itoh. Apropos of the moment, Gage supplied Itoh with her very own custom pizza cutter — complete with a bow — to slice up their opponents.
Over at NXT, Axiom delivered the most devastating anti-air I think I’ve ever witnessed.
Back to Ibushi, here’s a look at his pretty-ass moonsault. I’m so happy he’s back.
Members of the Wrestling Club, a group consisting of young NYC students, were lucky enough to attend several shows during WrestleMania weekend. Everybody loves the Wrestling Club, and it’s great to see their reaction to Carmelo Hayes winning the NXT championship.
Effy, host of the annual Effy’s Big Gay Brunch wrestling event, delivered some wonderful remarks on the importance of trans rights during a weekend that was unfortunately marred by a wrestling legend who harassed a trans wrestler at a weekend convention.
John Cena made a rare in-ring appearance during the first night of Wrestlemania. His entrance featured several children from the Make-A-Wish program. I’ll never pass on an opportunity to remind people that Cena has fulfilled more Make-A-Wish requests than any other person in the history of the program.
In the long feud between Rey Mysterio Jr. and his son, Dom, international superstar Bad Bunny appeared suddenly to take a foreign object away from Dom. Bad Bunny remains class in WWE, and I look forward to their upcoming showcase in Puerto Rico.
Also during Wrestlemania weekend, All Elite Wrestling (AEW) officially outlasted the Confederacy.
Night two of WrestleMania was a bit of a shit show. Snoop Dogg had to step in to save a troubled segment after Shane McMahon busted his knee. But the biggest story was Cody Rhodes finishing his story. Maybe.
For those not up to speed, Rhodes is the son of legendary wrestler the American Dream Dusty Rhodes. After washing out in WWE, Cody decided to bet on himself. He took to the indies. He traveled the world and built his reputation.
Rhodes was crucial in the founding of WWE’s only true competition in years, AEW. He was an executive vice president with the fledgling company that quickly became a prime competitor. But then the crowd turned on him, and he signed with WWE after his contract expired.
Cody was all set to overtake the tribal chief Roman Reigns, but then he completely tore his pec AND STILL WRESTLED A MAJOR EVENT against Seth Rollins.
So night two of WrestleMania was all set for Cody to claim the titles his father never won. To finish the story.
And then he didn’t.
We’re still digesting this development.
