Wrestlemania 32: A Retrospective Look

Dagger Dias

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Three years ago I ran a thread series on the first 29 Wrestlemania events to look back on each as we headed into Wrestlemania 30. Now that some time has passed I would like to bring it back for the Wrestlemania events that have taken place since then. During this month I will post one topic per week until we have covered Wrestlemania 30, 31, and 32. With Wrestlemania 33 upon us this will be the last of these threads for a while. So, let's start.

In this thread we will be discussing.... Wrestlemania 32!


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Wrestlemania 32 took place on April 3, 2016 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. There were 101,763 in attendance and I was one of them! Here are the results from the matches at this show:




0. Kalisto (c) defeated Ryback in a Singles match for the United States Championship. [8:58]

0. Team Total Divas (Brie Bella, Paige, Natalya, Alicia Fox, and Eva Marie) defeated Team B.A.D. and Blonde (Lana, Naomi, Tamina, Emma, and Summer Rae) in a 10 Diva Tag Team match. [11:25]

0. The Usos defeated The Dudley Boyz in a Tag Team match. [5:18]

1. Zack Ryder defeated Kevin Owens (c), Sami Zayn, Dolph Ziggler, Stardust, The Miz, and Sin Cara in a Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship. [15:23]

2. Chris Jericho defeated AJ Styles in a singles match. [17:10]

3. The League of Nations (Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, and Rusev) (with King Barrett) defeated The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) in a 6 Man Tag Team match. [10:03]

4. Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defeated Dean Ambrose in a No Holds Barred Street Fight. [13:06]

5. Charlotte (with Ric Flair) defeated Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a Triple Threat match for the Women's Championship. [16:03]

6. The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon in a Hell In a Cell match. [30:05]

7. Baron Corbin won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. [9:41]

8. The Rock defeated Erick Rowan (with Bray Wyatt and Braun Strowman) in a singles match. [0:06]

9. Roman Reigns defeated Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon) in a singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship. [27:11]




Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:


What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change anything about Wrestlemania 32, what thing(s) would you change and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in April 2016. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 32 in this thread. Any posts regarding other events but do not address Wrestlemania 32 will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.


Discuss! :)
 
This Wrestlemania really had so much potential to create something special, but ultimately, fell kinda flat (At least, in my opinion).

Here is how I would've booked it.

1. Rusev (c) vs Ryback vs Kalisto for the US title. Have Kalisto "overcome the odds" to become US champ.

2. Jericho vs Styles - Keep it as it was. MAYBE have Styles go over, but not necessary.

3. New Day (c) vs The Dudleys vs The Uso's vs League of Nations (Del Rio and Sheamus) in a fatal four way elimination tag match for the tag straps. With the New Day going over after Barrett runs in to help the LON but ends up screwing up.

4. Charlotte vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch for the Women's title. Charlotte takes this, nothing changes.

This is where things get interesting...

5. Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton - No holds Barred. Move up Summerslam's match by about 5 months and have it at Mania. I know Orton was injured, but let's go along with it. Lesnar wins this after an ABSOLUTE war.

6. Kevin Owens (c) vs Sami Zayn - Ladder Match for the IC title. Owens retains in a 5 star classic.

7. Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt. This is where the streak ends. Wyatt with the win, no outside interference, then, the family proceeds to drag taker to the back, giving off the idea that he is to be sacrificed to sister abigail. Taker is off TV til next Mania season.

8. Cue The intermission show with whatever flavour of the month the WWE want performing at mania.

9. HHH with Vince and Stephanie McMahon vs The Rock with Shane McMahon for control of Monday Night Raw. HHH goes over (So hard for me to type that). Absolute barn burner, sees the usual McMahon family shenanigans that were reminiscent of WWE circa 2000.

10. Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royale. Corbin wins, nothing different.

And finally... The WWE World title Match. A match 3 years in the making, never before, never again....

11. Seth Rollins (c) vs Dean Ambrose vs Roman Reigns for the WWE title. Assume that Seth isn't injured and holds the strap for one year. Assume that they didn't fight at battleground. Here, any of the three can go over. You can have the surprise winner in Dean, have Reigns get his moment or have Rollins win and go on to beat punk's title reign.

I'd go with Rollins winning via pedigree to Dean. Let him hold the title until Summerslam and then have Reigns or whoever win it from him, thus beating Punk's reign and really establishing Rollins as the top dog. Again, all of this is for nothing if Seth can't stay fit.

All in all, I feel that this would've made for a more compelling WM32 and one fit to legitimately sell 100k+ in tickets. I understand that Orton, Cena and Rollins were injured and The Rock wasn't really advertised (Three of their biggest draws in the last 20 years) but lets run with this what if scenario and pretend it were possible :)

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I enjoyed the IC title ladder match. The completely unexpected Ryder victory felt good, but I knew something wasn't quite right. It was a great move to open the main card with a moment to get the crowd hot, but in retrospect it feels forced because they rushed to put the title on Miz the next night.

Ambrose vs Lesnar was disappointing, as are most part-time Lesnar matches that don't feature multiple opponents or The Undertaker. The way they built up Brock as a squash machine, so it's no surprise they booked the match this way. Even Brock felt like he was going through the motions. Unfortunately, booking this match differently requires 4 years of booking changes.

Other thoughts:

New Day's tag titles not being on the line just gave away the League of Nations victory. Why on Earth weren't they? It sucked all the drama out of this match by force. LON had been hired goons for the McMahons and Triple H, it made zero sense that they wouldn't be awarded a title match at Mania.

The match could have ended with a DQ, and the legends could have made the save and the same nothing could have amounted out of this match, but at least it would have made a bit more sense.

The Rock vs Erik Rowan segment was trash for hardcore fans, and an absolute beer spilling thrill moment for casuals. That's kind of been the theme of modern WWE - placing what attracts casuals over what matters to true wrestling fans and logical storytelling.

The Rock puts himself over, then leaves to go back to being a movie star. The next night the Wyatts are still treading water in WWE. The Rock showing up for an impromptu match is something that can sell WrestleManias for years, The Wyatts getting over won't do that.

There must have been a way to put both Rock and the Wyatts over. Rock could have still hit his two moves, but there must have been a way to make the Wyatts look good before the Cena save. To this day the entire Wyatt family is still embarked on their anti-streak, still winless at four WrestleManias, strong chance of that becoming five this Sunday.
 
WWE were obviously backed into a corner in the months leading up to Mania due to the countless injuries, but I think they did a good job with what they had and put forth a pretty good card. Unfortunately due to some questionable booking decisions, a lack of caring from Brock Lesnar and head-scratchingly long matches, it ruined a show that had good potential.


What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most?

There was no real standout but I'll go with the opening Ladder match with the Women's Triple Threat coming in at a close second. Some of the stuff done in that match by Zayn and Owens was really great. Sin Cara had a couple incredible spots and the shock win of Zack Ryder was nice.


What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?
It has to be Undertaker/Shane. Good god was that awful. They had about fifteen minutes worth of match and somehow had to stretch it out into a half an hour. It was entirely too long and although the payoff spot with Shane jumping off the Cell was cool, even Stevie Wonder could see it coming from a million miles away.


If you could change anything about Wrestlemania 32, what thing(s) would you change and why?
I already tackled this in the "Rebook a WrestleMania thread, so I guess I'll leave it here as well give or take a few edits.


Keep the pre-show as is.

1. The New Day def. The League of Nations to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships

This would mean that the post match stuff with Stone Cold, HBK and Foley doesn't happen. I thought it was a big mistake to not have New Day defend the titles even though originally they were supposed to, then somehow the match became non-title. It's obvious why they did it but The League of Nations winning did absolutely NOTHING for them and was a waste.

2. Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens (c) to become the Intercontinental Champion

Yes, Zack Ryder doesn't get his WrestleMania moment, I know I'm cruel but there was no need for a ladder match that year. They had a clear IC title feud right in front of them but opted for a ladder match because, "Hey we did it last year, let's make it tradition!"

3. Baron Corbin wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Nothing about this changes.

4. AJ Styles def. Chris Jericho


Because this is how it should have been.

5. Sasha Banks def. Charlotte (c) and Becky Lynch to win the WWE Women's Championship.

This would've ended Charlotte's PPV streak quite early but a lot of people thought they should've gone with this, and I agree.

6. Bray Wyatt def. Brock Lesnar

I'm not sure why this ended up not happening, did Bray get hurt? Or did they just change plans because of all the injuries?... Nonetheless this would've been better than the Ambrose/Lesnar match we got (almost anything would've been), it doesn't have to be a clean victory, it shouldn't be a clean victory but a victory nonetheless.

7. Throw in The Rock's annual useless promo here. Maybe throw in Cena and the other legends as well BUT THIS TIME HE DOESN'T BURY THE WYATTS!!

8. Roman Reigns def. Triple H (c) and Dean Ambrose to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Yup, a triple threat... and also... not the main event. Ambrose was white hot at this time and the match with Lesnar at Mania and the subsequent pretty bad feud with Jericho had him spiraling downwards for a bit until he won Money in the Bank. He was in the title picture right up until Mania so it's not like this spot is necessarily "out of his league". Also, Triple H vs. Reigns was pretty awful AND WAY WAY TOOOO LONG but Ambrose has great chemistry with both men so hopefully his inclusion could turn it into a pretty good match.

9. The Undertaker def. Shane McMahon inside Hell in a Cell


How was this not the main event? I know they wanted Reigns to have his big WrestleMania moment but it just doesn't work logically. Say Shane won and Triple H was no longer in control of RAW, now you expect him to go out and have a World Championship match? NO! Of course Shane didn't win so it became a non-issue but if you want your product to feel real, you don't have a company altering stipulation that effects someone in a later match greatly go on first, there's no sense behind that. Also cut this match down by at least 10 minutes.
 
1. My FAVORITE match on the show was the AJ/Jericho bout. I am not one who was familiar with AJ's body of work outside the WWE, and I was pleasantly surprised at the veteran newcomer. It was a fun, highly-entertaining match and was my favorite.

Ryder winning the IC belt was a fun surprise, and the women's match was excellent.

2. The worst match of the show, for me, was easily.. EASILY.. Brock and Ambrose. I expected this one to be a little goofy, but honestly it was just boring and terrible and fell far below expectations for me. The Shane / Taker match was also not good at all until the jump spot.

3. If I could have changed anything about the show, it would have been having a triple threat with the members of the SHIELD. I know, I know. Seth was injured. But if I could change any one thing, that would be it.
 
Wrestlemania 32 was one of the stupidest booked PPVs ever, let alone a Wrestlemania one.

After Raw and Smackdown two days later, 90% of what happened at Wrestlemania meant nothing.

Here are four examples:-

-Chris Jericho beats A.J. Styles at WM32. The next night, A.J. is installed as No. 1 Contender to the WWE Title. How did he earn that shot? He didn't beat anyone for it. They should have had A.J. win at 'Mania, and then making him No. 1 Contender would make more sense.

-Zack Ryder wins the IC Title ladder Match. Two weeks later, he is no longer even amongst the contenders for the belt. Miz beat Ryder on SD two nights later, and Zack isn't even in the title picture after that. What was the point?

-Roman Reigns beats Triple H for the WWE Title. Yet Triple H is not seen or heard of for months afterwards. At least have Triple H show up the next night on RAW, and cut a promo with Roman, before leaving for a while. He was never even mentioned for a few months after that.

-The biggest one, though, was Shane McMahon and the Undertaker HIAC. This was an insult. Everyone complains about A.J. this year fighting Shane, saying that he deserves a better opponent. Well, so did Taker, and yet he is relegated to fighting Shane. It made no sense. Why would Taker care who ran RAW? He hates Vince on-air, so why would he agree to fight Shane? Finally, Shane lost, meaning that he can never run RAW, yet he runs RAW the next night, and all is forgotten. Vince admired his guts and gave him being Commissioner, after disowning him leading to Wrestlemania. :banghead::wtf:

However, a bright note was the great Divas match, which I had as my MOTY. Charlotte, Sasha and Becky pulled out an awesome match, which shined like a beacon on an otherwise lacklustre Wrestlemania, and the match still meant something going forward.
 
Brock vs Ambrose was a complete waste of time. The match sucked, the wrong guy lost and it didn't do anything for either wrestler.

I know.

They spent months building up Dean Ambrose. Made him look like a million dollars.Only for Brock to squash him, without using weapons.

This is another reason I hate Brock Lesnar's stinking guts.
 
6. Bray Wyatt def. Brock Lesnar

I'm not sure why this ended up not happening, did Bray get hurt? Or did they just change plans because of all the injuries?... Nonetheless this would've been better than the Ambrose/Lesnar match we got (almost anything would've been), it doesn't have to be a clean victory, it shouldn't be a clean victory but a victory nonetheless.

I believe this is correct: Wyatt was out for a while in the first quarter of 2016, though they still used him as an on-screen mouthpiece for the Wyatt Family. This, coupled with Seth Rollins' injury (had Seth been healthy, we would almost definitely have seen the Shield triple threat) forced WWE to change around a lot of the card
 
WrestleMania 32 was a weird one. It could have been amazing, and it some ways it was, but I also feel like they dropped the ball at times.

Best match on the show was the WWE Women's Championship match. I thought the three women did a fantastic job culminating a generation's worth of work through NXT and onto the main roster to really signal the beginning of a new era for women's wrestling. The match was really well worked for me. Even down to their entrances, all of the women were treated as superstars. Charlotte Flair winning worked for me too, but not the subsequent booking with Sasha. AJ Styles and Chris Jericho put on a close second for me.

Worst match? Does The Rock and Rowan count? I mean, c'mon, what the hell was the point? I would probably have to say Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose purely because this SHOULD have been amazing. They had been building Ambrose up so hard and it fell so flat. To me, this should have been his "Austin" like moment, where he beats Lesnar so hard with a plethora of chairs, trash cans, kendo sticks, etc. and ultimately Lesnar wins, but the point is that Ambrose took The Beast to the limit. It should have been 20 minutes of chaos and was the biggest waste of time ever.

There are some substantial changes I would make...

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Sami Zayn defeats Kevin Owens (c)
The ladder match was fun, but how did they miss this? The personal feud had already come and gone, so adding the Intercontinental Championship as a prize just makes so much sense. It gives Kevin Owens a second personal feud over the belt after Ambrose as well. Zayn wins because he has desperately needed some sort of monumental win in his career and this is the one. Owens losing to Zayn hurts him in no way and the feud goes on. I'd give this at least the 15 minutes it was given on the show, but I'd cut down the entire Rock saga and other matches later, so let it go 20. Let them have it.

Chris Jericho defeats AJ Styles
I change absolutely nothing here. Styles losing was fine because he becomes number 1 contender the next night. No problem with that. Brilliant match.

WWE Tag Team Championship
The New Day (c) defeats The League of Nations
3-on-4 handicap match for the belts. The League of Nations would have defended it using the Freebird rule anyway we presume, so why not throw them all in? A sold 10 minute match where New Day wins. They had to win here. The League got absolutely nothing from winning. New Day gets their WrestleMania moment that they deserve. And the aftermath doesn't happen either.

No Holds Barred Street Fight
Brock Lesnar defeats Dean Ambrose
As I said above, this needed to be a 20 minute battle. Ambrose comes down the aisle with a trolley cart of chairs, sticks, trash cans and other assortments and attempts to destroy Lesnar. Let him throw himself from the top of a ladder ala Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 22, only for Lesnar to roll out of the way, F5 him onto a pile of chairs, and have Lesnar pick up the win. Ambrose did NOT need to win. He just needed to look like a bad ass. No qualms if you let Ambrose win here though, if he takes it to the limit.

WWE Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair defeats Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks
Other than giving the women another couple of minutes in the ring, I would change absolutely nothing about this at all. I thought it was fantastic. Nothing changes.

André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The Miz last eliminates Dolph Ziggler
The Miz and Ziggler are the last two here because I've taken them out of the Intercontinental Championship picture and the reality is that they both deserve something here. Baron Corbin doesn't debut here because it really did nothing for him. At least here The Miz gets some bragging rights. Maryse returns the next night with him but he doesn't win the Intercontinental Championship for another 2-3 months, and then he carries it until late 2016/early 2017.

The Wyatt Family
Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan and Braun Strowman come to the ring. They are a dominant force blah blah (I do like The Wyatts but you get the point). The Rock comes out to confront them. Followed by Austin. Followed by Cena. Three-on-three confrontation leads to an all out brawl. This way, we cut the 2-hour entrance by The Rock and get to the point. I think this is better for The Wyatts than complete embarrassment and a more badass moment to me.

WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Roman Reigns defeats Triple H (c)
Not much I would change here. Roman winning the title was probably the only realistic thing they could have done at the time, which is a shame but what can you do? As I've said elsewhere, I do like Roman, but I struggle because of the way WWE handles him. Roman still spears Stephanie McMahon too because that shit was funny. I'd have this match cut down by at least 5 minutes because it did go way too long for me. Too slow in places. You want a twist? Shawn Michaels comes out of nowhere and super-kicks Reigns, only to then super-kick Triple H.

Hell in a Cell; Shane McMahon gets Raw if he wins
The Undertaker defeats Shane McMahon
No real excuse for this NOT to go last. As others have pointed out, the logic of Shane winning (if he did) and Triple H subsequently defending the title is so dumb. Also, I think this could have been even more effective if The Streak was still in tact. Yeah, Shane gets Raw if you beat The Undertaker, which no one has ever done. Still, great feud and great match. Again, I'd try and cut it down by 5 minutes or so to avoid the 'dead space' that slowed the match down.
 
If I was going to have rebooked WM32 plus I am going with the assumption that all wrestlers who were on the injured list were able to compete plus Sting didn't suffer the career ending injury at Night of Champions. In that case I would have gone with:

WWE World Heavyweight Championship

Roman Reigns vs. John Cena - Reigns wins the title at Survivor Series from Seth Rollins, retains in a rematch at TLC but Sheamus cashes in MITB with assistance from The Authority. Reigns regains the title at the Rumble. Rollins wins a Fatal 4 way to become number 1 contender for Fastlane but Authority are losing confidence in him and add Lesnar to make it a Triple Threat, Roman pins Rollins. Cena Wins the Rumble after returning from his TV show and wrestles Bray Wyatt at Fastlane. Passing of the guard match at WM and Reigns wins.

The Phenom vs. The Icon
The Undertaker vs. Sting - Sting returns at Fastlane and issues a challenge to The Undertaker as he feels it unfinished business in his career. Taker eventually accepts and The Undertaker wins

Non-Sanctioned Match
Seth Rollins vs. Triple H - Rollins and HHH's relationship sours after Rollins loses the title at Survior Series and The Authority tire of his inability to regain the championship, there would be a slow burn face turn for Rollins between Survivor Series and Fastlane before Rollins turning on The Authority. Rollins wins

Triple Threat Match For The WWE Women's Championship
Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch - No change needed, stays as it happened

Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton - Lesnar and Orton have a chance encounter backstage during Fastlane. Orton says he's sick of Lesnar swanning in a getting opportunties. Lesnar pretends to walk away but destroys Orton. At the end of the Triple Threat Match main event Orton runs in an attacks Lesnar RKO'ing him on an announce table costing him the WHC. Lesnar and Orton clash till WM. Brock wins.

Six Man Tag Team Match

The New Day vs. The Wyatt Family - Same storyline as was used for Battleground 2016, The Wyatts (Wyatt, Harper & Rowan with Strowman at ringside) win

Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles - No change needed

Ladder Match For The WWE Intercontinental Championship
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn vs. The Miz vs. Dean Ambrose vs. Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sheamus vs. Cesaro - Pretty much same story as last year but Sami Zayn wins by pushing The Miz off the ladder having suplexed Owens onto the ladder. Zayn takes Ryder's place the next night on Raw with Maryse returning to distract the ref and Owens running in and hitting a pop up powerbomb allowing The Miz to win the IC title. Allows The Miz storyline to happen like last year and allows the Fatal 4 Way story with Miz/Owens/Zayn and Cesaro to build and happen as it did.


Kick Off Show Matches

Andre The Giant Battle Royal - Baron Corbin debuts and wins

WWE United States Championship

Kalisto vs. Rusev - In this build there is no League of Nations, Rusev wins the US title by submission

Tag Team Table Match
The Usos vs. The Dudley Boyz - The Usos win
 
If I was going to have rebooked WM32 plus I am going with the assumption that all wrestlers who were on the injured list were able to compete plus Sting didn't suffer the career ending injury at Night of Champions. In that case I would have gone with:

No, that's not how this works. I literally said in the opening post you may only make changes that were realistically possible. You can re-book the card but all the injured guys are still injured.

I would have had Reigns face Taker while Trips faces Shane. Other than Shane's dive off the cell the Shane VS Taker match was going to be awful no matter what so Taker VS Reigns removes two of the worst matches. Jericho would have lost to Styles and they would be the World Heavyweight Championship match. Becky Lynch defeats Charlotte and Sasha. Rock and Rowan get an actual match instead of a segment. The New Day should have defeated The League Of Nations and the Tag Team Championship should have been on the line.

These are the types of changes that are possible. You have to take the actual roster into account. If you could have booked a better show than WWE did then use the same roster they had for the real show. That's part of the purpose of this thread.
 
It's funny how the women matches weren't even significant for Wrestlemania 30 & 31 but at 32, the women actually stole the show.

They had the match of the night and had everything right other than the lame Flair ending. Also, they were given a opportunity to outshine everyone and they did the best.

AJ and Paige could've had a good match as well but they were stuck in a lame tag match against Bellas.

Worst match? Multiple choices. Roman Reigns Vs. Triple H. Brock Lesnar Vs. Dean Ambrose. Funny how Dean Ambrose Vs. Triple H and Roman Reigns Vs. Brock Lesnar were good, but just interchanging the opponents, we got bad matches. Not to forget Shane Vs. Undertaker as well. So many choices for worst match. All three, I would say.

I would have had Shane Vs. Undertaker short. Same with Roman Reigns VS Triple H also with Roman being the aggressive one. Elongation of Dean Ambrose Vs. Brock Lesnar and also, more work by lazy Brock Lesnar. With so much hype, the match was just lackluster. Also, Styles should have won against Jericho. It was all over Sting again after just an year.

Edit- Also get rid of that dumb Wyatt segment with Rock.
 
I actually thought Wrestlemania 32 was a decent, albeit long, show. I think it will age better as there was some terrific wrestling, but booking decisions let the fans down.
 
Wrestlemania 32 was one of the stupidest booked PPVs ever, let alone a Wrestlemania one.

After Raw and Smackdown two days later, 90% of what happened at Wrestlemania meant nothing.

Here are four examples:-

-Chris Jericho beats A.J. Styles at WM32. The next night, A.J. is installed as No. 1 Contender to the WWE Title. How did he earn that shot? He didn't beat anyone for it. They should have had A.J. win at 'Mania, and then making him No. 1 Contender would make more sense.

bahahahaha Styles actually won a multi man match on Raw to become the Number 1 contender the night after Wrestlemania...research please kids.
 

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