WrestleMania 30 and Monday Night Raw begin new WWE chapter

By now, you've probably read dozens and dozens of articles about WrestleMania 30, the end of the Undertaker's streak, Daniel Bryan winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and the great post-Mania episode of Monday Night Raw. So you're probably sick of reading such articles.

What's that? You saved mine for last? Well, I'm flattered...

Seriously, though, there's no way I could pass up writing about the events that transpired in the last several days. Firstly, I already wrote something about the Ultimate Warrior's shocking and untimely death, which you can read here. Hopefully this article remains upbeat to take your mind off what happened.

We'll start with WrestleMania 30, which was easily the best Mania the company has produced in years. As soon as the glass shattered and Stone Cold emerged, we knew we were in for a special night, and that's exactly what it turned out to be.

The match between Daniel Bryan and Triple H opened the show and may have been the best one of the night. Stephanie McMahon was in the ring looking like Zatanna from DC Comics and introduced "my husband, The Cerebral Assassin, The Game, The King of Kings, The Lord and Savior, The Eater of Worlds, The Chosen One, The Divine Messiah, Triple H!"*

*Note: I may have made up most of that.

But OH MY GOD THAT ENTRANCE. Triple H came out like a g*ddamn Final Fantasy boss. And it wasn't enough to have just the one entrance where he looked like Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat. No, he took off the skull crown and then went into ANOTHER ENTRANCE, his regular one complete with Lemmy Kilmister's voice blaring over the speakers. It was absolutely amazing and I loved every second of it.

But as expected, Hunter made Daniel Bryan look like a million bucks. Although because Triple H came out like Sephiroth, I expected the match to last about four times as long as it did and every time Bryan pinned him, Hunter would transform into his next phase like a Dragonball Z villain. Sprout wings, grow two extra arms, some sh*t like that. I'm surprised he didn't have a health meter floating over his head. 

Anyway, Hunter's attack after the match only made Bryan's win in the main event that much sweeter. Speaking of which...

"THE MIRACLE KID! THE MIRACLE KID! A MIRACLE ON BOURBON ST." - Michael "Mitchell" Cole

Bryan is the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and we got the WrestleMania moment of the scrappy underdog leading 70,000-plus in a Yes! chant. It seemed obvious, but obvious isn't always bad. Plus, Batista and Randy Orton did a fantastic job throughout the match and created doubt that one of them might steal the win.

Also, I'm amazed Orton was able to walk, let alone finish the match, after he landed back-first on the monitor during that brutal Batista Bomb/RKO table spot. Say what you want about the guy, but he's a tough S.O.B.

Now, for the controversy. Brock Lesnar beat the Undertaker and beat The Streak. Taker is now 21-1 at WrestleMania. I'm going to go through this as succinctly as I can to avoid rambling.

Yes, that was the planned finish of the match.

No, Lesnar didn't decide to break every rule in the book and just win the match because he felt like it.

Yes, Taker got a concussion and we're lucky if he knew what planet he was on, much less if he knew what moves he was supposed to be doing.

No, Lesnar was not the "wrong guy" to break the streak because there is no "right guy" to break the streak. None of the young guys were ready for the responsibility, and no other veteran fit the bill any better or worse than Lesnar did.

Yes, Paul Heyman acted like he saw the face of the Christ child in the manger after the referee counted to three.

No, your TV volume was not broken. The crowd really was that silent. Children were crying. Adults were crying. That one dude's eyes are probably still rolling around on the floor of the Silver...Superdome...after they bulged out of his head. But that was precisely the point: to stun the crowd into silence.

The Monday Night Raw after Mania was, of course, extremely well done and featured a superb crowd. Although I'm a little bit worried about the state of our society when fans start singing "Wyatt's gonnaaaaaaa kiiiillll youuuu" and applaud thunderously when Paul Heyman says Brock Lesnar wants to make little kids cry. But I digress...

The ending set up what is sure to be a war between Bryan and The Shield against Evolution (with Kane playing the role of Ric Flair). There's been rumors of a War Games match at Extreme Rules between the two sides, which would be a sight to behold.

Either way, let's look at our champions right now. Bryan as the top dog, Big E. as Intercontinental Champion, The Usos as Tag Team Champions, Dean Ambrose as United States Champion and Paige (who had a great debut and broke down in tears backstage after her win) as Divas Champion (and NXT Women's Champion). But Triple H buries everybody, right?

It's a great time to be a wrestling fan. It truly feels, for the first time in years, that a new generation is stepping into the spotlight. And we didn't even mention Cesaro, who's one of the best talents and who now has Paul Heyman in his corner (didn't see that one coming).

We might look back on WrestleMania 30 as a turning point years from now but, for now, let's just enjoy it for what it was: a celebration, and a damn fine one, at that.