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Daniel Bryan has finally bested The Authority, and in convincing fashion. In the end, there were no shenanigans. Bryan got ganged up on by Batista, Randy Orton and Triple H, but forced Batista to submit to take the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
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Bryan earned his way into the main event spot earlier in the night, pinning Triple H after hitting his signature flying knee. America's bearded hero went into that match with a bum shoulder, then got beaten down with a chair by The Game. They played up the injury angle hard heading into this triple threat match.
Orton and Batista were probably set to main event WrestleMania by themselves until the Royal Rumble, when WWE realized how much that would piss everyone off. The crowd tormented Orton mercilessly during his title match with John Cena, then booed Batista out of the building when he won the Royal Rumble even though he was supposed to be a face-leaning tweener. To WWE's credit, they called a perfect audible and refined the characters of Batista and Orton into heels that are just as good as foils for one another as they are for Bryan.
It took less than 10 minutes for the match to turn into an overbooked mess, though it fit the story perfectly. Bryan had Orton in the Yes Lock and Orton was set to tap out until Triple H appeared out of nowhere and pulled the referee out of the ring.
Trips then installed a new referee: Scott Armstrong, the ref who screwed Bryan out of the title at the Night of Champions pay-per-view and was subsequently fired in storyline. But, because this was a no DQ match, Bryan punched him in the face. Then did his stage dive into all of Trips, Armstrong and even Stephanie McMahon. Then he hit Triple H with his own signature sledgehammer.
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Batista and Orton eventually got Bryan down and had a chance to fight one another, but decided to team up to take out Bryan for their boss. This led to an absolutely glorious combo finisher spot where Batista stood on the English announce table and Batista Bombed Bryan into Orton, and an RKO through the Spanish announce table. And with God as my witness, he was broken in half.
Bryan's injures were played up big time, with JBL proclaiming that Bryan hadn't moved. He was put into a neck brace and onto a stretcher, leaving the former Evolution stable mates to fight each other briefly. Bryan called off the doctors and got off the stretcher because this is pro wrestling and pro wrestling is always cooler than real life.
The false finishes started when Orton dodged a spear attempt from Batista, allowing him to barrel into Bryan. That stunned Batista long enough for Orton to hit an RKO, but Batista kicked out despite the insistence from the announcers that it would be the end. Orton then ate a flying knee and a Batista Bomb, ruling him out of the finish.
It took a double finisher for Bryan to win the title, but he hit them back to back without any shenanigans. Batista ate a knee, then ended up in the Yes Lock and was forced to tap.
The underdog everyman stands tall at the end of WrestleMania and everyone is happy. Confetti, the YES! chant, the whole shebang. It was a perfect ending to a brilliant story.