WrestleMania post show discussion

[ColinBollocks]

I actually quite enjoyed the show. Sure, it was messy but by far the biggest criticism I can level at the show is that every booking decision seemed to have been made in neither the long, or short, term interests of the company.

I must admit, I'm a little dismayed by the general tone of the comments, not because they're necessarily wrong, but just because they contrast so much with my own thoughts on WM. I honestly thought this was one of the best Manias they've done in a while. It wasn't stand-out great, but considering the generally dire offerings of the last two, I'd say it was overall a return to form.

 

I'm glad some agree. I came in this thread all happy about the spectacle that I just watched, only to see everybody shitting on it. Bizarre.

 

First off, the production was top rate. I think this was the best looking 'Mania ever. The huge screen, the big fuck off 'WRESTLEMANIA' sign at the entrance and the Dome looked great on camera.

 

For me, WWE did the right thing putting on The Rock first. Lets be honest everybody wanted to hear from the guy and I really didn't mind him milking his ovation. It's always great to hear a wrestling crowd genuinely passionate about a superstar/performer/entertainer.

 

I was baffled when they announce their Royal Rumble winner was opening. Sort of hurts the Rumble and Del Rio as much as his loss did. The match was a good opener, just a bizarre decision to keep the belt on Edge, after all the work they've put into Alberto Del Rio.

 

Rhodes/Rey was alright. Was a bit standard Raw match though.

 

I loved the Orton/Punk match personally. The crowd were into it and CM Punk is amazing at playing his character. The RKO out of nowhere was excellent and only enhanced with WWE showing a fan looking like he seen the greatest thing ever. Clever finish too, Orton wins but the nature of the win was a bit flukey so Punk still looks strong.

 

The Corre match was a burial. I wasn't arsed though, I had ZERO interest in watching this.

 

Lawler/Cole was the second best thing on the show. The tease they did with them announcing Booker T first and every fan shouting "Oh, for fuck sake!" at their TV as they realised it's Booker T/Josh Matthews, only to slightly swerve us by having JR announced soon after. I was made up, always great to have JR back - even if it did take him a few minutes to get the wheels turning again.

The Cole-mine stuff was excellent and the visual of Cole getting his face bashed into it was excellent. Coles offensive was too long but it was worth it in the end. Nice comeback. I love that Cole 'won', now he is going to be an even bigger cock.

 

Triple H/Undertaker was the match this event needed to make it stand out. Yes it got a bit mental with all the kick outs but the crowd was into everything and so was I. I thought Triple H had him a couple of times.

I loved the story the match told, Triple H being the man to take The Undertaker the limit like no one before. Yet 'Taker refusing to die. I think it's a nice tie in for next year as you can say 'Taker maybe doesn't have it anymore, as Triple H beat him to death. 'Taker seems less invincible now.

The pace they cut at the start and the bumps they were taking were mental, given the rumoured state of 'Taker.

JR was hit and miss in this, he had a couple of epic sound bites though. I enjoyed the one about them being two pieces of granite and who was going to crack first.

 

The Snooki match was short and featured Snooki doing a Muta springboard elbow. So all's good.

 

The main event is the part where I'm a little meh on the show. Cenas epic entrance (although excellent, production wise - ditto with The Miz) seemed to kill the crowd as they were into The Miz when he came out. The match featured nothing of note as the crowd refused to get into it. Then that shit finish happened - just made it seem like a 'B' show. The Rock coming down was expected but the execution left the show ending flat. The Rock Bottom was anti-climatic and The Miz beatdown a re-run. I'm in two minds really, the ending was lame but the match that proceeded it was going nowhere and was the worst 'Mania main event in years (you may argue ever). So it's a small mercy that The Rock came down and made the main event at least somewhat memorable. I'm not a Miz fan in the slightest but he had to win that match, Cena doesn't need the title and the only two feuds of note he has left is 'Taker/The Rock.

 

I am gutted Bryan/Sheamus didn't even happen. IMO that match given 10 minutes would have made the undercard so much better. It's a shame WWE don't utilise Bryan (or even Sheamus) like they should as he's perfect for fitting that Kurt Angle/Shawn Michaels role of people buying an event because they know he'll have a great match. Such a waste.

 

The only other thing of note was Zack Ryder getting a big pop for his awesome singing and Roddy Piper bashing him with a coconut. Oh and The Rock/Austin staredown was nearly the highlight of the night (top three anyway).

 

It was an odd show, in that they resolved nothing and we've got more to come.

[JV John Vollman]

Unless The Rock is going to be involved for a few months longer at least, having the show finish with him dominant is incredibly short-sighted. Granted I'd take that over a Cena party though.

 

It didn't really feel like a WrestleMania, I watched it with a few mates and we had Mania X7 on before hand and the contrast of the power of the cards/build-up to matches/decisive endings was incredible.

 

On the other hand HHH Taker was immense. Such a different story to that of the Shawn Michaels matches. Anyone else expecting the usual, Taker win, on his knees, tongue out, blue lights finish?

I was shocked by how close HHH came, and the whole thing that the Undertaker is weakening is a compelling story, I wonder where they'll go after this?

 

Overall, not a great Mania, but Taker HHH was truly world class in my book.

[Mr.Showtime]

Just read through some of your reviews of the show, some of you are spot on. Especially whoever said Cody Rhodes needs kneepads.

 

When a video package for The Miz is possibly the best thing on WrestleMania you know it's a weird show. I was happy with Triple H v Taker but I think Jim Ross spoiled the Trips tombstone pin with his words (I can't remember what he said as Trips went for the pin but he spoiled it that it wasn't gonna get the job done). In fact I remember JR doing it in the main event too.

 

I had my eyes on the television screen during the entire Corre v Team Kane match and still missed it.

 

Sheamus v Bryan was one of the matches I was most looking forward to, instead we got an hour of entrances, possibly the worst in-ring Rock segment of all time, and Taker playing dead for twenty minutes until the medical team decide they should maybe do something.

 

I'm not sure why some of you say the crowd was awful - from what I could tell they were pretty noisy and there were lots of chants, but unfortunately it just doesn't come across as well in such a large arena. I do prefer the MSG-style places, and of course we'd have shorter entrances and more time for bloody matches.

 

For me, the Cole/Lawler match was one of the biggest let-downs in WWE history. Michael Cole has been a prick for months and months, and hadn't so much as had his face slapped for it. Most of us could not wait for Cole to get his head kicked in. He finally gets put in a match at Mania and, despite a promising start where Cole is hiding, it soon turns into garbage. How simple a job would it have been to keep Cole hiding/running for longer while Lawler gets beat up by Swagger instead, Austin is not there yet because Swagger took him out beforehand, Cole begins to get cocky and gets too close, then Austin arrives and destroys Swagger, Cole has nowhere to run, and Lawler gets the job done in brisk fashion. And I don't even care if Jerry was instructed not to - he should have given Cole a fucking piledriver!!

 

Me and my mates cheered when Cena got Rock Bottomed and were still surprised when Miz won it there and then but were very glad. Like some others have said I wasn't expecting more than a Rock Bottom so that didn't bother me. However there was no need for the champ to get battered by The Rock too. No need.

[BionicRedneck]

A mixed bag of a show, really. Mania is nearly always entertaining because of all the pageantry and stuff, but this one was a bit of a chore to get all the way through.

 

Generally, I hated the commentary. Michael Cole is excellent in the role he's in, but was quite distracting. The bigger issue with the commentary is that 'telling you that the match is definitely over in such a way that means you KNOW it definitely isn't' thing they do. It kills the drama, because you know it's not the finish, so the near falls have much less impact. They did this pretty much all night. Might be on my own on that one, though.

 

Undertaker vs. Triple H was a weird one. You've got to admire the effort, but I think they worked harder than they needed to. You would hope two guys as strongly pushed as them wouldn't need to take that many big bumps in order to pop the crowd. At first I thought they were working quite smart by using shitloads of shortcuts so early because physically they both look pretty bad. Taker especially looks just about ready for the knacker's yard, and Trips has got a lovely pair of tits. 30 minutes was probably overly ambitious. It was basically spot-walk-spot-walk for the first half and then just kicking out of each other's big moves (which didn't work for me as well as it should have because of the aforementioned commentary issue). I didn't really get what story they were trying to tell. I mean, they kept telling us how ruthless and remorseless HHH was, but his actions didn't match that. Then it got a bit soap opera-y and, as these two don't have the on-screen history to make it work, it all just seemed a bit weird.

 

John Cena is still really annoying. With his shit entrance and his rubbish ring attire and his shitty-looking punches and that legdrop/fameasser thing that he never seems to hit right. Basically, from the second he walked out, I was just thinking 'oh fuck off'. The match was totally devoid of any drama, because everyone was just waiting for The Rock to show up. And, by the time he did, the crowd didn't seem to care.

 

Punk-Orton was actually pretty good but the problem was that Del Rio and Edge had a better, similarly-worked match earlier in the show. ADR destroying Edge's arm was always going to work better than Punk going after Orton's knee, because of Del Rio's cross armbreaker finisher (which they've done a great job of getting over) and because Edge is a better babyface than Orton (Edge's post-match antics aside). I'm not surprised the crowd were quiet during Punk-Orton, because you weren't really given a reason to cheer for either guy. The pre-match video made them both seem like sick arseholes, but that Randy Orton started it. It's hard to get behind Orton's comebacks when you are kinda thinking he deserves to be getting a beating. Pretty strange to see the Royal Rumble winner losing clean in the opener.

 

Lawler and Cole was just too long. Obviously there was going to be stalling, and Swagger interference to make it competitive, but I don't think we needed 10 minutes of Michael Cole on offense. In fact, a lot of stuff seemed dragged out longer than it needed to be, which makes it even stranger that they bumped the US title match from the show, especially as they found the time for several shitty comedy segments.

 

Oh, and fucking Tinie Tempah.

[ajmcstyles]

did triple H damage his wrist/arm in that match?

[JV John Vollman]

did triple H damage his wrist/arm in that match?

I think he landed on it funny after taking the bump off the table.

[Surf Digby]

Something about John Cena needs to be changed. I'm not necessarily asking for a heel turn, just please change something. Another Wrestlemania where he's got the most heat in the entire show is a sign that something needs to change.

He needs a week locked in a room with a Shawn Michaels DVD and learning how to sell with his whole body. He's far too inanimate.

 

The obligatory Mae Young skit was crap as usual, but I did love Rock's annoyed "Frisky Mae. Inappropriate Mae." Also, as my mate pointed out, it's likely that WWE want to keep involving Mae in Mania because she could pop her clogs any day now, so it's probably only the right thing to do to keep giving her a few decent paydays.

WrestleMania with Mae Young just wouldn't be WrestleMania for me.

 

Taker selling at the end just totally made him look weak espessially after he came in looking so strong. If the Undertaker is like that after a short dragged out match then maybe he isn't as Indestructable as we thought. He looked like the loser of the match.

Yeah, he only took a dive onto his head, a spinebuster through the Spanish announcers table, three Pedigrees and a Tombstone. What was he even selling for?

 

No mentions for how tremendous Sunny was looking again? For shame.

I did mention it in person. It's your own fault you weren't here to hear me say it.

 

Just watching the Snoop Dogg thing back, Zack Ryder seemed to get a massive pop when he appeared on the screen. Looks like his youtube stuff is gathering momentum. Stick him in the ring with Daniel Bryan I say and see what he can do.

Zack probably got my biggest laugh out loud moment. I do like Zack.

 

From my limited knowledge on Snooki, I was aware that she used to be a cheerleader, so the backflip wasn't that unexpected.

[JV John Vollman]

Something about John Cena needs to be changed. I'm not necessarily asking for a heel turn, just please change something. Another Wrestlemania where he's got the most heat in the entire show is a sign that something needs to change.

He needs a week locked in a room with a Shawn Michaels DVD and learning how to sell with his whole body. He's far too inanimate.

 

 

He landed on his arse when he took that Rock Bottom. He really is woefully bad.

[JNLister]

I'm not sure why some of you say the crowd was awful - from what I could tell they were pretty noisy and there were lots of chants, but unfortunately it just doesn't come across as well in such a large arena

 

Notable how in the "Michaels watches HHH-Taker from the top tier" video on WWE that the pop for the finish, presumably recorded by a mike in his section, seems far far louder than on the TV broadcast.

[textonly]

Just watching the Snoop Dogg thing back, Zack Ryder seemed to get a massive pop when he appeared on the screen. Looks like his youtube stuff is gathering momentum. Stick him in the ring with Daniel Bryan I say and see what he can do.

 

I quite like Zack Ryder, but I'm pretty sure the pop was more for 'Friday' than it was for him.

[RepoMan]

OK I'm at home ill all day so I gave it a little time to all sink in, just in case it was clouding my judgement.

 

However, after reading so many negative comments on here, I feel quite justified in my disappointment. Now, don't get me wrong, there's been SO many Raws and Smackdowns and PPVs that I've enjoyed from WWE when the majority on here haven't. I'm not usually swayed by majority opinion, and I'm usually pretty easy to please. Yet last night, I felt after all the good work they had done building a lot of it up, so much of it fell completely flat.

 

I'd say for such a long PPV, it had a remarkable knack of cutting stuff short and not letting matches deliver to their full promise. If you can't go all out on the biggest PPV of the year, then when can you? I don't mind the odd backstage segment here and there, but there's no excuse for having such short matches, or ones that are bumped off the entire PPV broadcast.

 

Newer guys that were given a chance to shine on paper really got a raw deal. I'd defended the Rock's involvement in Cena/Miz, but that ending was absolutely awful, regardless of Miz retaining the title. Cody Rhodes, Albert Del Rio, The Corre .. the list goes on of guys who were there yet got screwed out of having their moments.

 

Maybe after a while I'll be able to look back and enjoy a couple of matches individually, but as a whole PPV I don't think I could sit through it again. The Miz video at the beginning of his match was tremendous, but why build him up like that only to bring him back down after? Pointless, just like so many things.

 

I usually have one or two 'wow' memories from WM, but this time it's all 'wow, how they fucked THAT up!' ..

[Magnum]

I have to add that I think Michael Cole was absolutely tremendous in the build-up to his match. Loved him going mad about Edge smashing the car - 'How's Del Rio going to get home now?' conjured up some hilarious images of him driving all the way from home in his wrestling gear - and the Scrappy Doo shadow-boxing routine inside the Colemine to wind Lawler up.

 

Much as I like the Miz, I don't think he had any business being in the Wrestlemania main event at this point in his career. The 'Hate Me Now' intro was great, but I think some of the footage of him as a skinny little nerd playing at being a wrestler in Tough Enough and his reality TV shows didn't really help with how hard it is sometimes to take him seriously as a credible threat to the big lads.

[MinceMcMahon]

Pretty poor show apart from Undertaker vs Triple H. Loved 'For Whom The Bell Tolls' ... I've always thought that would make an awesome theme. Undertaker's new music is brilliant too.

 

Can't believe what they did with Alberto Del Rio vs Edge. They totally fucked that up.

[The Gaffer]

I loved that show, it was fun, exciting, and it was everything that we were realistically going to get.

 

And how much does Vince pay you to suck him off Dill?

 

I'm still not sure what to think of the show, and I'm halfway through watching it for a second time now. One thing I find that is starting to happen every year with me is that I get so pumped for the big event that by the time the main event comes on at half three in the morning I'm so sick and tired of the overbearing pageantry of it all that I'm really looking foward to the next nights Raw and even the upcoming B-Show so that a sense of normality can ensue. Another sad thing is that the company went all out to be EntertainmentMania this year. As some people are more than willing to point out I know that it's been sports entertainment for years now but they really, really hammered it home this year with all the little things. The use of certain phrases was more noticeable than ever - even this time last year. Cole's show opening introduction went something along the lines of 'this is the epitome of Americana, the epitome of pop culture and entertainment'.

 

The desperate thing about all of this is not that it's so shameful and heretical etc that they are shunning our glorious wrestling it's just the fact that it's totally, ridiculously unbelievable. It's a wrestling entertainment event that people bought for their hard earned dollar because they like that particular medium of entertainment. WWE are now past treating it as a medium. It's just entertainment. They have not actually got an adjective to describe what the contents of a match are. No real word to describe what happens from bell to bell. It's just so hysterically unreal because for all the grandstanding about it being an entertainment phenomenon let's face it ... it's just a very well advertised wrestling event with a smattering of celebrity. It's going to get a small box on the bottom corner of disposable celebrity websites - and that's if they are lucky. It's not an entertainment phenomenon. It's a really well known wrestling PPV that gets massive attention in wrestling circles, a healthy amount of attention in the host city, and a smattering of attention everywhere else.

 

The show itself was just all over the house pace wise. I can only assume the script went through endless screenings and redrafts by a small army of people who all had conflicting ideas. It's become a major problem with WrestleMania over the past few years that was exposed at it's worst here and it really needs to be addressed next year. The show was four hours long and managed to look both too full and too empty. Every year they try and do so much with video packages, silly celebrity bits and airport runways masquerading as aisleways that some of the matches appear tragically short or even cut altogether. The old three hour shows compared to last night managed to seem far longer, more enjoyable and flowed better. I'm not complaining about the length, celebrities or entranceway just the clearly horrible execution of it all that leaves the show looking as if it was organized by a child with ADHD.

 

The opening video was gash, but that was expected. Black and white images, Freddie Blassie, and orchestral music is wrestling. Throwaway cock rock and CGI is entertainment, brother. The Rock's segment went on far, far too long and he really didn't work around the crowd and the massive dead air that exists in these stadiums. Waiting for a fruity pebble chant to take off was painful to watch and like the rest of his segments that night he didn't really do much, didn't really host much, and just sounded like he was Dwayne Johnson playing The Rock in a movie about the WWE. I expected him to bump into a myriad of stars and take the piss out of each and every one of them. I did expect Mean Gene and Moolah to crop up somewhere in that but by christ did I expect more.

 

I can see where they were coming from positioning a main event match as the curtain jerker but sorry, no. It doesn't work. I enjoyed the match a lot for what it was though. Don't see the big deal in Edge banging up Del Rio's car as a face. Certain faces can get away with that and it's not as if he is white meat anyway. The problem was it dragged out for far too long and the car didn't sell a bit of it. I really wanted a Christian heel turn here because I honestly don't see much value in him being the short haired, less charismatic counterpart to Edge.

 

Cody and Rey was just fine. The mask spot was interesting even if Rey's intent on continuing with his tradition of having headgear trouble at WrestleMania. I was looking at the UKFF chatbox for the duration of The Corre's match but I despair for Wade Barrett. I really hope he is not ruined. Given the WWE's booking these days he could easily fuck off for six months, come back, win the title for six minutes, and end up wrestling the exact same match at next year's WrestleMania.

 

Punk/Orton was a bit boring. Generic grudge match and Punk didn't do any wonders in making a Randy Orton match seem in any way dynamic or interesting. Michael 'Rick Steiner' Cole Vs. King was great apart from a dud bit in the middle that reeked of Hart/Vince from a year prior. Still I love that he won and I love that he was dressed like he escaped from Wrestlers Prison. HIS NOT READY YET!

 

Triple H and 'Taker ... that took awhile to get going, didn't it? It started so fast that it managed to burn me out in just the complete opposite way anything is meant to burn anyone out. I can see what they were going for though to be fair to the lads. Triple H isin't Michaels and this match was never going to top the previous two years efforts. Just get outside the ring and fuck things up straight away. The last ten minutes were fantastic though. The Triple H piledriver was absoloutely awesome and the count got me big time. 'Taker almost killed himself to get the match working and Triple H was no slouch either. He sold the entire story of it brilliantly.

 

Snooki needs to be a diva. Like ... now.

 

The main event was absoloute pants. The DQ finish was both unnecessary and highly awkward.

[RepoMan]

I loved that show, it was fun, exciting, and it was everything that we were realistically going to get.

 

And how much does Vince pay you to suck him off Dill?

Was that seriously even worth quoting to do? Dill loves 99.9% of what WWE does. He seems quite incapable of acknowledging the issues that they have.