WWE WrestleMania 34: 10 Most Insane Things That Happened!
7. THAT F*CKING Ronda Rousey Match
Holy sh*t: that was f*cking amazing.
The sort of match that compels you to swear involuntarily in a state of pure admiration, this - a match involving the shut-down Wrestling Machine Kurt Angle, non-wrestler executive Stephanie McMahon, nervous new inexperienced signing Ronda Rousey, and a man known to numb on the Grandest Stage, Triple H - this was perfect.
Expectations were cautiously optimistic. WWE shattered them.
Triple H sold, dynamically, like the great worker WWE lore posits him as, throwing himself around and out of the ring to portray the knackered Angle as halfway believable. Stephanie McMahon was outstanding in her facials, timing, and cowardice. The notion of her countering Rousey's armbar was absurd on the face of it, but the entire presentation was so magnificent that the goodwill helped to reconcile it. Of course that's what she was doing in the Performance Center all along.
Ronda entered what was by some distance the best celebrity match in 'Mania history. Her intensity, searing physical charisma, range of facial expressions and high-octane striking game was absolutely astonishing, given her level of experience and the nerves she could barely conceal throughout the televised build. She looked like the most deadly athlete on the planet last night - somehow, as much a natural as her famous fast learner of a tag partner. The entire presentation, bell-to-bell, submission tease to finisher kick-outs to that electric Ronda/Trips showdown, was a masterclass.
Angle told us this would happen. He was telling the d*mn truth.