The night ended with a moment likely to go down as one that wrestling fans will talk about for years to come.
But, about an hour or so before that, two men that have known each other for decades went to war in an unsanctioned match that should be considered an instant classic.
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn boast one of the most incredible and intertwined histories in wrestling history, vacillating from best friends to bitter enemies in a perpetual cycle that has led to many highs and plenty of blood spilled at each other’s hands.
The two natives of Quebec came up through the independent scene together and have been close friends outside of the ring for decades. They’ve been through thick and thin, inside and outside the ring.
On Saturday night at the Rogers Centre, in front of more than 38,000 fans and streamed live to millions on Netflix, the pair held nothing back.
Both men appeared racked with emotion as they entered the ring for WWE’s first unsanctioned match in five years. There was no rules for the match, with the ref only present to count pinfalls or accept submission. Owens and Zayn truly knew what sort of carnage was to come – and more than delivered.
The pair battered each other with chairs before breaking out a hockey stick and going to town.
They took things into the crowd, with Zayn slamming Owens through two different tables, sending the drinks and food on top them flying.
After returning to the ring, both took turns putting each other through tables with Zayn being sent through two stacked on top of each and to the floor.
A chair wrapped with barbed wire then entered the picture, with Owens being tripped face-first onto it and then Zayn hitting a Blue Thunder Bomb onto it.
The match mercifully ended after Owens hit several Zayn with several powerbombs onto the ring apron on side — a deliberate callback to his first night in WWE NXT, when he did the same manoeuver to Zayn after the latter had captured the brand’s championship.
While the bell may have rung and Owens had his hand raised, that wasn’t the end of things. The victor looked to inflict more damage on the fallen star by exposing the cement flooring outside the ring and attempting a package piledriver before another former friend of Owens – a returning Randy Orton — made the save.
The crowd exploded after Orton’s music hit and he gave the fans exactly what they wanted – a series of RKOs to the poor security guards that attempted to hold him back from punting Owens in the head.
After staring down the Wrestlemania sign, it appears that the Orton and Owens are on a collision course for the biggest event of the year.
The legend’s surprise return was the perfect cap to an emotionally charged matchup – that only adds to its impact.
At the post-event press conference, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque touched on the match, saying that Owens and Zayn are “another level of competitors.”
“They’ve been the best of friends, they’ve been the worst of enemies and it’s always incredible,” said Levesque, the former champion turned WWE Chief Content Officer. “Tonight was one of the most incredible matches I’ve ever seen between the two of them.”
“No matter what you do with them, it delivers and it delivers beyond.”
Of course, after the way that the night ended with John Cena turning heel – a shift that fans have been clamouring for for decades – Owens-Zayn won’t be receiving the big headlines after an amazing night of wrestling. But the match was just another reminder that when the stakes get personal and you have so much history between two competitors, some real magic can happen.
TIFFY TOPS TRISHY
Usually, the hometown stars get the biggest reactions for the crowd and that goes double when it’s a living legend stepping between the ropes.
But to the crowd on Saturday night, Canadian wrestling legend Trish Stratus got second billing to her own tag team partner – and with good reason.
Yes, it was Tiffy Time at Rogers Centre.
Tiffany Stratton proved to be the biggest star in the tag team matchup between herself and partner Trish against Nia Jax and Candice LeRae.
Stratton been partners with Jax and LeRae until she cashed in her Money in the Bank contract earlier this year to capture the WWE Women’s championship from Jax after having helped her defeat Naomi.
Since her callup from NXT, Stratton has had a proverbial rocket strapped to her back and the crowd has been eating it up.
Her strength and athleticism was on full display, pulling off several powerful moves on the much-bigger Jax and finishing things up with her “Prettiest Moonsault Ever” – a double-springboard variation of a backflip off the top rope – which certainly lived up to its name.
Of course, Stratus didn’t look rusty at all either, especially considering her age, but the next generation of women’s stars is in fine hands with Stratton leading the way.