WWE: Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles retain world titles at WrestleMania 34

Michael Bueza

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WWE: Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles retain world titles at WrestleMania 34
Undertaker and Daniel Bryan make successful comebacks, Ronda Rousey shines in her WWE in-ring debut, while Asuka's undefeated streak ends

MANILA, Philippines – The wrestling frenzy went all night long in New Orleans on Sunday, April 8 (Monday, April 9 in the Philippines) as a loaded parade of historic and controversial moments at WWE WrestleMania 34 came marching in at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. 

At the main event, Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns went toe to toe for the Universal Championship.

No strangers to each other, Lesnar and Reigns went back and forth with spears, suplexes, and Superman punches. Ultimately, Lesnar prevailed with a sixth and final F5 on Reigns to retain his title.

Earlier, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura had a stellar match that saw Styles retain his WWE Championship after a Styles Clash.

The celebration turned sour, however, when Nakamura suddenly hit a low-blow on Styles. The 2018 men’s Royal Rumble winner then delivered a Kinshasa kick on the champion at ringside.

Meanwhile, in a highly-anticipated bout, former mixed martial artist Ronda Rousey and RAW General Manager Kurt Angle bested WWE chief operating officer Triple H and his wife RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match.

This was Rousey’s WWE in-ring debut. She forced McMahon to tap out to an armbar.

Night of comebacks

A rumored match between John Cena and The Undertaker also came true at WrestleMania. Cena originally planned to sit out the event among the audience, after failing to lock in a match with Undertaker. Cena later got a go-signal for a match, but Elias was the one who emerged to mock Cena’s WrestleMania quest. 

After Cena dispatched Elias, the Deadman made his return after a year of absence. Undertaker made quick work of the 16-time World Champion for his 24th WrestleMania victory.

Another comeback happened in the next match, when the medically-cleared Daniel Bryan teamed up with Shane McMahon to kick Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens out of SmackDown Live.

Bryan returned to in-ring competition for the first time in two years. He persistently sought to overturn the decision to have him retired due to a history of concussions.

Women’s, tag title matches

Also on the SmackDown side, Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defeated 2018 Women’s Royal Rumble winner Asuka via the Figure 8 submission to keep the title on her waist.

In the process, Charlotte ended Asuka’s long undefeated streak. 

Over on Team Red, Nia Jax taught RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss a lesson in respect and captured the belt.

The tag titles of both brands were also defended at WrestleMania. The SmackDown Tag Team Championship was up first, and the Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) seized them The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) in a triple threat match that also involved The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston).

Meanwhile, the RAW Tag Team Championship match got an interesting yet head-scratching twist. Without a partner going into Sunday, Braun Strowman handpicked a kid named Nicholas from the New Orleans crowd.

Strowman battled champions Sheamus and Cesaro on his own, and finished it off with a running powerslam on Cesaro to win the titles for him and Nicholas.

Other matches

At the show opener, Seth Rollins became the newest “Grand Slam Champion” after he defeated Finn Balor and defending champion The Miz to win the Intercontinental Title.

In another multi-man affair, Jinder Mahal surprised the audience with a United States Championship victory over champion Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Rusev in a Fatal Four-way Match.

At the kickoff show, Matt Hardy got a huge assist from former nemesis Bray Wyatt to win the annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Hardy last eliminated 2016 victor Baron Corbin.

Meanwhile, in the first-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, Naomi last threw Bayley over the top rope to take the win. 

Finally, Cedric Alexander defeated Mustafa Ali in a tournament final to take home the vacant Cruiserweight Championship. – with reports from JR Isaga/Rappler.com

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Michael Bueza

Michael is a data curator under Rappler's Tech Team. He works on data about elections, governance, and the budget. He also follows the Philippine pro wrestling scene and the WWE. Michael is also part of the Laffler Talk podcast trio.