WrestleMania results: Brock Lesnar pins a bloodied Roman Reigns

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship

An absolutely brutally physical match. Lesnar hit five F5s and five German Suplexes on Reigns, but could never pin him. Finally, he F5ed him through the German announce table, rolled Reigns in the ring and hit him with three hard elbows that opened up a cut. Reigns was bleeding everywhere, but reversed an F5 into a spear, then hit another spear. Lesnar kicked out, hit another F5 and pinned Reigns.

With Lesnar rumored to be leaving WWE for UFC, everyone expected him to lose tonight. He wasn’t scheduled for any appearance after today. Monday Night Raw sure got a lot more interesting.

Braun Strowman and a mystery partner vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

After all the buildup, the mystery partner turned out to be….. a person from the crowd. Strowman said he didn’t need another wrestler as a partner, he could win with anyone. So he walked through the crowd and picked a 10-year-old-boy named Nicholas.

There was a spot in the match where Strowman actually tagged in Nicholas. The crowd went crazy. But before Cesaro could touch him, he tagged back out again.

Strowman pinned Cesaro after a powerslam, so Strowman and Nicholas are the new tag team champions.

Now obviously Nicholas was a plant in the crowd and knew this was going to happen. He may even be a relative of Strowman. And at first I thought this was going to be really stupid. But it was OK. It could lurch back into stupid depending on how they follow up on it.

They announced that WrestleMania broke the record for the Superdome’s highest grossing entertainment event with $14.1 million, surpassing the venue’s previous record of $10.9 million set by WrestleMania 30. There are an announced attendance of 78,133.

A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Title

Styles retained with a Styles Clash. Match was a little disappointing, but the ending wasn’t, because Nakamura went to one knee to give the title belt to Styles, and while Styles accepted it and held it high, Nakamura gave him a low blow and the Kinshasa knee.

Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss for the Raw women’s title

Jax won with a Samoan Drop off the second rope. The story of the match was Bliss continually trying to beat Jax mentally, but Jax wouldn’t listen. It was a good anti-bullying story from the beginning of the feud until the end.

Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Bryan got a ridiculously loud pop when he came out. Owens and Zayn attacked Bryan and McMahon from behind and gave Bryan a powerbomb on the apron, keeping him out of the first few minutes of the match. Owens and Zayn then annihilated McMahon, who kept kicking you out, also making every other wrestler on the roster look comparatively weak by comparison. Finally, on a two-count, Bryan dove in and saved Shane. Bryan ran wild on Owens and Zayn and made Zayn tap out to the Yes Lock.

John Cena vs. The Undertaker

Cena came to the ring and waited, but a ref came down and told him “he” wasn’t coming out. The crowd started booing, but the lights went out and the crowd went crazy. Then they heard the guitar strum. “Hello, I am Elias.” And Elias shooed Cena back to his seat while he sang a song for all of us. He put down Cena, who ran back in the ring and gave Elias the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the AA. Then his music played and Cena walked back up the ramp to leave. Then, the Undertaker’s music hit.

Undertaker moved in the ring like he was 15 years younger. He dominated Cena and pinned him with the Tombstone Piledriver. Cena only got one bit of offense in.

Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

A really good match, much better than expected. Rousey looked like a seasoned pro. The crowd popped big when she was tagged into the match. She dominated McMahon then, when Triple H tried to put her in the pedigree, she reversed it into a huracanrana. Then she locked in the armbar on Triple H, who was saved by Stephanie. Hunter rolled to ringside and Rousey put Stephanie into an armbar, and she tapped out immediately. Looks like they are going to say Rousey broke Stephanie’s arm.

Perhaps the best in-ring debut ever for someone who had no pro wrestling history. The crowd ate up every bit of it. Match layout was perfect. Really worth subscribing to the WWE Network just for this match.

The Usos vs. the New Day vs. the Bludgeon Brothers for the Smackdown tag team title

Bludgeon Brothers won a match they pretty much dominated. Usos are perhaps the most underrated wrestlers in the world right now. It will be interesting to see what happens with this three-way feud.

Randy Orton vs. Rusev vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal for the U.S. championship

A match the crowd treated as a bathroom break. Mahal won when he gave the Khallas to Rusev. Just didn’t match the intensity of the other matches so far.

Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for the Smackdown women’s title

Flair came out sitting on a throne, wearing gold gear and a gold robe. Four helmeted centurions accompanied her. Really cool entrance. They really pushed Asuka’s streak during her intro, making me think she is going to lose.

An amazing series of moves, counters and reversals start the match. They then showed John Cena in the crowd again. Not the best timing for that.

Finishing sequence came when Flair hit a vicious spear on Asuka, but Asuka kicked out. Flair had tears in her eyes, not understanding why Asuka can’t be pinned. Then, like a switch flipped, she got angry and locked on the Figure 8. Asuka struggled in it, but tapped.

After a couple of minutes, with the crowd on their feet, Asuka grabbed a microphone and said “Charlotte was ready for Asuka.” Both women embraced.

Suddenly, a referee ran down and said something to John Cena, who got out of his seat and sprinted backstage.

The timing on that was horrible, as fans still wanted to applaud Charlotte and Asuka.

The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental title

John Cena is sitting in the crowd with the fans. The Miz sends the Miztourage to the back before the match starts, saying he wants to do it alone. Finn Balor came out with his new Rainbow Balor Club shirt, flanked by members of the LGBTQ community. It really looks cool when a sold-out Superdome crowd does the arms up motion with Balor.

The trio traded near falls for the first couple of minutes. Miz then takes over and dominates Balor and Rollins to the confusion of the crowd. Rollins is knocked to ringside and it’s just Miz and Balor. Rollins is back in and gets laid out by a slingblade from Balor. Miz locks Balor into the figure four, and just before he taps, Rollins hits Miz with a frog splash. Great match so far.

All three kicked out of each other’s finishers. Crowd starts a “This is Awesome chant.”

The Miz gave Rollins a bulldog off the top, but Balor broke up the pin with a Coup de Grace on both men. He slowly covered Miz, but Rollins gave both a curb stomp. He then gave another curb stomp to Miz and pinned him.

Rollins wins the Intercontinental title.

Women’s Battle Royal

No surprise entrants. It came down the Bayley and Sasha Banks. They shook hands, but Bayley grabbed Banks by the hair and threw her over the top rope. Everyone celebrated her victory, but it turned out Naomi, who went to ringside earlier in the match, had never been officially eliminated. She hit the rear view and threw Bayley out. Naomi wins.

Cedrick Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali for the cruiserweight title

Alexander hit three spinning back elbows and the lumbar check to win the title. Ali kept kicking out of finishes at two, and Alexander seemed guilty about the punishment he was giving Ali.

Andre the Giant memorial battle royal

It came down to Matt Hardy, Kane, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley and Dolph Ziggler. Kane eliminated Ziggler. Corbin threw out Kane. The last three were Rawley (who won last year), Corbin (who won two years ago) and Woken Matt Hardy. Corbin and Rawley teamed up against Hardy, when Bray Wyatt’s into hit. The lights went out, and when they came back on, Wyatt was in the ring. He threw Rawley to Hardy, who threw Rawley over the top rope. Hardy then threw out Corbin to win. Hardy and Wyatt then embraced.

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WrestleMania, which is the equivalent of the Super Bowl for WWE, takes place this Sunday in New Orleans at 2 p.m. PT with the kickoff show, with the main card starting at 4 p.m. You can watch it live on the WWE Network, which is giving a free month to first-time subscribers.

Here is a preview and some predictions for Sunday’s card. We will also be giving live updates right here on Sunday.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (kickoff show match)

This is the traditional “Let’s get everyone on the show who doesn’t have a match” part of the show. The commentators push this as a big step forward for whomever wins, but the last two winners, Baron Corbin and Mojo Rawley, are back in the match this year, so it’s not really that big of a step. Winner: I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kane wins, but really, it doesn’t matter.

Women’s Battle Royal (kickoff show match)

This will get all the women who don’t have a match on the show. The winner: Becky Lynch. She’s one of the most over women on the roster and it’s time they reinvest in a push for her.

Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali for the Cruiserweight Title (kickoff show match)

The tournament that felt like it started months ago finally comes to an end in what should be a good match. Winner: Alexander.

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship

WWE has been building to this matchup for three years and it seems like the time to pull the trigger on making Reigns the face of the company, especially with Lesnar apparently leaving to return to the UFC. My secret hope is they turn Reigns heel and align him with Paul Heyman. Winner: Reigns

A.J. Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the WWE Championship

A dream match that fans have been hoping for since Nakamura joined the main roster last year. This shoule be the match of the night and hopefully they will be given time to tell a great story in the ring. Winner: Nakamura

The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Title

Are they positioning Miz for a face turn after he and his wife had a baby? I hope not because he is a great heel. But it feels like he has had the title long enough, and Balor is in need of a push right now, so…. Winner: Balor.

Randy Orton vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Rusev for the U.S. Championship

This match became much more interesting with the last-minute addition of Rusev. Will WrestleMania become RusevMania? Let’s hope so. Winner: Rusev

Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax for the Raw Women’s Championship

They have spent a month building up Bliss as a bully who body shames Jax. There’s no way they let Bliss win after that kind of buildup. Winner: Jax.

Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka for the SmackDown Women’s Championship

Asuka hasn’t lost in about a million years and this doesn’t feel like the time to have her end that streak. This should be a great match regardless, and this hopefully leads to a heel turn for Flair, who is outstanding as the women you love to hate. Winner: Asuka

Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Braun Strowman and mystery partner for the Raw Tag Team Championship

Who will end up as Stowman’s partner? Dean Ambrose? Samoa Joe? Rey Mysterio? Bliss? Whoever it is, expect them to walk away as champions. Winner: Strowman and the mystery partner.

The Usos vs. The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship

The question is not whether The Bludgeon Brothers will win, the question is will it be a glorified squash match or not. Winner: The Bludgeon Brothers.

Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon

There’s no way they have Rousey lose her first match. The question is how good she will look in the ring while winning. Winner: Angle and Rousey

Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn

Bryan’s first match back since being cleared by doctors. If Bryan and Shane win, Owens and Zayn are fired. It may be time for a Shane McMahon heel turn, making Bryan the underdog once again, giving him a reason to no longer be general manager but to be a full-time member of the active roster. Winner: Owens and Zayn.

John Cena vs. The Undertaker

This match hasn’t been officially announced, but everyone expects The Undertaker to show up on Sunday. I’m predicting he attacks Cena before any sort of match even begins and leaves him laying in a heap, setting up some sort of gimmick match for a future PPV. Winner: No contest.

Houston.mitchell@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimeshouston