It feels weird to call a match this big and this good underrated, but due to it taking place at a point in time where many fans had tuned out of wrestling, primarily because wrestling with no crowds was simply too weird to stomach, this match doesn’t get as much love as it should. That’s a shame, because for my money, this probably ranks somewhere in the top ten when it comes to ranking the best WrestleMania main events in history.
Thanks to Triple Threat matches having no disqualifications, this match starts as if it’s been shot out of a cannon. All three men bullrush each other, and when either Daniel Bryan or Edge land on the outside, Jey Uso is there to meet them with a Superkick. Roman Reigns and his main event-ready cousin direct traffic on the outside, and even though only minutes have gone by, the announce desk has been stripped, and the ringside area looks like a tornado just ran through it as bodies, chairs, and steel steps are spread out everywhere.
When the action does eventually get in the ring, all three men play their roles perfectly. It’s hilarious to think that Bryan was so mentally checked out at this point in his WWE career that he felt so empty he thought he was going to die, because he is on fire in this match. Balancing the face and heel dynamic where he has the majority of the fans on his side while being vicious enough to get some heat in the process. Edge is the clear fan favorite, a sentence that’s very strange to write all these years later, but the people really wanted him to a feel-good moment to close out the show.
However, it’s “The Tribal Chief” that really steals the show for me. It obviously helps that he’s in there with two guys who he has great chemistry with, but he really comes across as if he’s reached his final form here. He bullies Bryan by throwing him around, Powerbombing him through the announce table in the back half of the match. His selling is also fantastic, particular in his exchanges with Edge as he looks genuinely terrified when he’s locked in a Crossface with a piece of a steel chair in his mouth, and he sounds like he’s going to cough up a lung after taking a Spear on the outside.
The interference from Uso in the closing moments does lead to the finish feeling a bit flat for the live audience, but this plays into what Reigns had talked about leading up to the show. Edge gave Bryan a Conchairto, Reigns gave one to Edge, and “The Tribal Chief” stacked both of his opponents’ lifeless bodies on top of each other to get the emphatic victory. This match runs as fast as it can, and even though it’s over 20 minutes in length, it flies by and is one of the most entertaining WrestleMania main events you’ll ever see.
