WrestleMania 33: Five things we learned as The Undertaker retires and the Hardy Boys return in style
On a night of shocks, surprises and highlights there was plenty to get your head around thanked to a packed card and, all told, a show that ran for the better part of seven hours.
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Your support makes all the difference.The 33rd instalment of Wrestlemania is in the history books after WWE's top stars wowed 75,000 fans in Orlando and millions watching around the world.
On a night of shocks, surprises and highlights there was plenty to get your head around thanked to a packed card and, all told, a show that ran for the better part of seven hours.
Here are just five things we're taking from Wrestlemania:
1. Nobody puts on a show like WWE
With countless matched to bring to a head storied fued said, live music, pyrotechnics and the pure energy of a huge crowd, WWE does and always has excelled when it comes to its marquee event. From the elaborate staging to high-quality video production, WWE is pretty much peerless in the live entertainment genre.
2. It's all change for a new year
Wrestlemania traditionally acts as the climax and close of WWE's mammoth annual schedule of events - with the new year starting off 24 hours later with the always-lively post-Mania episode of Raw. This year we're well placed for something new thanks to five title changes in Orlando, not least the top title on each brand as Randy Orton and Brock Lesnar claimed gold. It's also expected that Shinsuke Nakamura could be among the NXT talent to progress on to the main roster so a busy Wrestlemania weekend seems to have stood us in good stead.
3. The Hardy Boys are back with a bang
After departing from Impact Wrestling recently, Matt and Jeff Hardy had been hotly tipped to return to WWE after a few years' absence. While many knew it was coming, the duo and WWE had done a very good job of keeping their return under wraps. Their entrance garnered by far the biggest reaction of the night from the live crowd and their clinching of the Raw tag team titles leaves the tag division on Raw nicely poised. One thing's for sure, the Hardy's will bring along some mayhem.
4. Shane McMahon knows his stuff
Going into Wrestlemania we were confident that Shane McMahon would defy the odds and one or two critics by more than pulling his weight in his Mania match with AJ Styles. I'd rate Styles as the best in-ring talent in the industry right now and while we can understand why one of two eyebrows were raised when these two were paired together, Shane deserved his share of credit. He traded holds with Styles and gave as good as he got with a surprising array of offence - fitting indeed that Styles would need to draw on some of Shane's own trademark of extra-curricular activity when trash cans made their way into the ring. The win for Styles was the only real outcome for this match but kudos goes the way of Shane for his effort.
5. Undertaker is the greatest of all time
As we speculated in the lead up to the event, Undertaker's collision with Roman Reigns was his final match at Wrestlemania and, it seems, in WWE altogether. Despite a rather clumsy performance from Reigns during the match itself, the call for the former Shield member to claim the victory was probably the right one. That said, the emotional farewell that the Deadman gave after the bout - symbolically and ceremonially leaving his trademark coat and hat in the middle of the ring - was pure class. It's hard to believe that we've seen the last of this legendary character after the better part of 30 years, but the man himself appears to have gone out on his own terms. Having the final say after the Wrestlemania main event was an apt and deserving finale for an incredible athlete and the greatest character in professional wrestling history.
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