WrestleMania post show discussion

[Surf Digby]

Awesome Video Package Introduction

The Rock opening the show like only he can

Best opening match to a WrestleMania ever

Solid Rhodes/Mysterio match

William Regal rapping

WrestleMania-sized Cobra followed by a hilarious Knockout Punch

A Stone Cold/Rock Staredown

A mid-air RKO

HBK getting his standing ovation

"Jerry!" *smash* "Jerry!" *smash* "Jerry!" *smash*

Three Stone Cold Stunners

19-0 (complete with top rope suicide dive, never thought he'd do it again)

Trish Stratus.

Miz's rise to fame video

Cena's epic entrance

Rock Bottom to John Cena

 

WrestleMania was awesome. You people suck.

 

After re-watching it, I'm going to agree with this. It was awesome.

No love for Jerry's dropkick and Cole's bloodied teeth?

 

Genuinely thought HHH might best Taker at one point. Taker not staying down and HHH yelling at him to 'die' and 'stay down' while pelting him with a chair, Pedigeeeing and Tombstoning him reminded me of when Flair refused to quit and HBK 'pulled the trigger' in his 'retirement match' a few years ago.

Undertaker staggering to his feet and raising his fists was almost a parallel to how Flair went into the finish of his match with Michaels. Then straight into the Tombstone.....

[pol_pot_rick]

[Lawz]

I understand why WWE do the stadium show, it makes them a shitload of cash, but if this event was in MSG, you gotta think the atmosphere would have been ten times better. In my opinion stadium shows for wrestling just come across on television as extremely flat and quiet, which takes you out of things much moreso than a poor match.

 

I agree with this, it really does hold it back when there's not much of a crowed, and the stadiums make it harder to really feel the atmosphere for me.

 

HHH - Taker was weird. There was zero zero planning out of the match, didn't really tell a story at all.

 

Fuck off, it put across what it needed perfectly, it made me believe HHH was set for a win, it drew me in and it still made HHH look like a hard case even in defeat. It was clearly very well and very selectively planned and did tell a story

 

Towards the end it did, but the match was oddly planned. It never really built up, it just seemed to go from finisher, kickout, finisher, kick out. The only way WWE seem to create tension in a match these days. They over did it on that aspect, it only picked up when HHH nailed the Tombstone for me.

[firstnameunknown]

Lovin' the combination of this with your avatar...

[Gordon_The_Gopher]

Genuinely thought HHH might best Taker at one point. Taker not staying down and HHH yelling at him to 'die' and 'stay down' while pelting him with a chair, Pedigeeeing and Tombstoning him reminded me of when Flair refused to quit and HBK 'pulled the trigger' in his 'retirement match' a few years ago.

Undertaker staggering to his feet and raising his fists was almost a parallel to how Flair went into the finish of his match with Michaels. Then straight into the Tombstone.....

 

They did everything that told us (based on HBK and Flair's retirements) that Taker was done. I thought it was quite brilliant and, like most other people on here seem to be saying, I thought the Tombstone was it for the Streak.

[bobby dazzler]

Is it just me or did Austin come REALLY close to running Swagger over??

[Bus Surfer]

Is it just me or did Austin come REALLY close to running Swagger over??

 

Running Swagger over then nearly going off the ramp at the same time.

 

Anyone else catch Austin Smiling while Cole was giving Lawler some of the worst offence known to man? He looked like he was going to burst out laughing.

[steve.vai121]

I'm gonna do a blog about all this later I think but some thoughts:

 

- Did anyone else feel Rock's promo seemed a bit scripted?

- Why did a non-wrestler get the better of the WWE champion? A better finish would have been Rock costing Cena, Miz and Riley taking out Rock, then Cena/Rock going at it once they got up to end the show. Doesn't 'send them home happy' but neither did WM2000, and that lead to one of the hottest years in the company's history...

- Where do they go from here with the Streak?

- Without knee pads and in those generic trunks, Cody Rhodes looks like a 1920s wrestler superimposed onto modern footage

- It's a real shame Santino will never get a 'proper' run

- Lawler's dropkick was great, but no piledriver? Surely Cole could've pulled off a Kaufmanesque neck injury for ages and got others to do his bidding against Lawler for him?

 

Overall pretty average I felt. Shame.

[Carbomb]

Rock's not really a non-wrestler, though - the crowd knows he can still go with the best of them, plus, as I mentioned before, Miz had just been through a gruelling match, so it's not like he was bitched out.

 

I think Lawler/Cole is going to continue, with Cole getting more obnoxious than ever, culminating in a piledriver for Cole at the next PPV. Wouldn't swear to it, but there's a chance it could happen that way.

 

Cody Rhodes needs to make a decision. I like that he's shown a bit of initiative in adopting an old-fashioned look, but he doesn't have the tree-trunk legs necessary to pulling off the no-kneepad look - only other way to make it work is to get Ronnie Garvin-style long boots. But he needs to make a choice: either get kneepads, or get rid of the moonsault, because the way he's doing things at the moment, his knees will be going the way of Jasmine St. Clair's virginity.

[JohnnyChimpo]

I agree with most that the show was a bit meh, saved by Triple H v Taker.

 

Things dont look good for Del Rio. Jobbing him out to Christian several times in the run up, and then losing clean on the opening match of the show, isnt exactly a ringing endorsement from the powers that be. Even if they pull the trigger on him at the next PPV, he has been hurt too much at this stage. Couple of years ago, Randy Orton was white hot at the Rumble, then they had him running scard from Shane, then losing clean at Mania, only to give him the belt a month later, when his momentum had gone. The Orton case was more high profile, but it has the same hallmarks. If Del Rio does the title soon, it wont mean as much as it would have, had he been protected since the Rumble.

 

Orton v Punk was a good bout. Nice RKO, even though you could see it coming a mile away.

 

Corre have really dropped off the face of the planet, havnt they? Nexus went from being the hottest angle they have done in years, to Nexus now being a stable of just Punk, and these guys being jobbers. Here is Wade Barrett, the guy we all thought was going to face Cena at Wrestlemania in the main event, in the midcard of the B-Show, getting beaten in about 2 minutes at Mania. Did he even get any ring time. Crazy.

 

Skipped the Snooki match.

 

Lawler v Cole was hilarious. Cole carried the whole thing. Has Michael Cole always had this in him? Whoever had that lightblub moment of turning him heel is a genius and deserves a pay rise. His facial expressions, his body language, his wrestling attire, everything about him is top notch. The guy gets it. He gets what pro wrestling is about, way more than any of those ROH work rate pervs. Cole knows how to play a character and be hated. Lawler smashing his face off the Cole Mine again and again, while Cole shouted "JERRY! JERRY! JERRY!" in between each one was a thing of beauty. Match did go on way too long though.

 

I thought Cena v The Miz was dreadful. In every way. Cena is a real big time player, but The Miz just doesnt feel main event. It has to be Cena's poorest PPV outing in about 5 years. The ending made no sense either - keeping in mind I havnt seen Raw yet. Why would The Rock restart the match just to cost Cena the title, seen as The Miz had just retained anyway? The ending just felt damp. Raw last week should have ended with Cena giving The Rock the AA, but with no Rock beat down on The Miz and Riley. We'd already seen the People's Elbow a couple of days earlier, so it felt a bit anti climatic.

 

Anyway, the real main event. Triple H is a one man show. Played the part to perfection. Pure perfection. Everything in the match was perfect. Right from the opening exchanges in the corner, where normally Taker would be pounding his opponent, Trips was ducking and weaving, connecting with all his punches. Kayfabe wise, Trips was on his game tonight. His selling, not just of Takers offense, but Taker refusing to stay down was textbook storytelling. Come on, hands up, how many people bought it when he nailed that Tombstone and stuck out the tongue ala Taker? When he scooped Taker into the Tombstone, I thought they were going to do the reversal into Taker doing the Tombstone to end the match, when he actually hit it, I was convinced, CONVINCED, that Trips has won it. For me, and I know its personal preference, that was better than either HBK match. Cause I actually believed that Triple H was going to win it, I never once thought HBK was going to win. This match actually made me suspend my disbelief.

[jonnybgoode82]

I watched Mania yesterday and contrary to the reports really enjoyed it, outside of the main event.

 

The problem with the main event for me was that they pigeonholed themselves into a position where whatever they did would have been met with criticism and by the looks of things they paniced and tried to keep everybody happy but ended up doing the exact opposite.

 

In retrospect I can see why they didn't put the title on Del Rio, purely because I think they have bigger plans for him in the future on the RAW side of matters.

 

Rey/Cody surprised me and I was shocked to see Cody go over. He really impressed me and I want to see his character develop further.

 

The 8-man served its purpose in getting guys out there and having a match go at a quick pace.

 

Orton/Punk was a good match. Punk is so intense and one of the best things about WWE at the minute and has been for a good 18 months.

 

Cole/Lawler may have gone on too long but it was cracking fun from Cole's ridiculous get-up to Austin's stunners to end it all with Lawler and JR back on commentary. The only thing missing for me was some interjection from JBL for what Austin did to him a few weeks back.

 

Taker/HHH was amazing because they went full pelt, wrestled for the moment and had enough spots in there that made you think the streak was coming to an end. Better than Taker/HBK last year for me, the tombstone from HHH and the subsequent cover sent chills up the spine.

 

Again the six-person tag served its purpose and am sure the Snooki thing will garner them some PR. I can see why some people are upset about Sheamus-Bryan being bumped but those two will have their day in the Mania sun for sure. There's a lot of criticism at the backstage segments and long entrances taking up time but they are a part of WrestleMania as well.

 

The backstage segments throughout were pretty funny and it was nice to get the Rock/Austin interaction. Strangest part was having the Divas Champion on there all pumped for Mania despite not being on the card. The Miz promo was brilliant and reminded me of something off a Vitali Klitshcko boxing match about 3 years ago, which I always said would transition well to wrestling.

 

Don't really know where to start with the main event. Cena looked lost out there. I don't know whether he took an early whack to the head or whether they'd simply rewritten the script so many times that he didn't know what was going on or whether he just had a beef with the finish but it felt like Miz was the one on top of his game with Cena lagging behind.

[tiger_rick]

I quite enjoyed it. None of the matches were particularly good but all worked in the environment. I didn't see the main event, I was running out of time so I hit FF but otherwise, it was a bunch of matches that achieved their aim and a bunch of entertaining bits of pieces in between. Michael Cole was fucking abysmal and the match was slow even in 2x. Otherwise, pretty solid.

 

I agree with Lawz on Taker/HHH. It wasn't bad but it was way too spotty to be really good. It took them a loooooong while to drag the people into it too.

[Carbomb]

Orton v Punk was a good bout. Nice RKO, even though you could see it coming a mile away.

 

A million miles away, OHHHHHH-OH-OHHHHHHHHH

[RJ Impact]

Not sure if its been mentioned yet but did anyone notice Orton had his right leg taped up & worked but it was left leg that was hit with the wrench on Raw?!

[Baz Windham]

I'd echo those that said Wrestlemania felt odd or strange as I too didn't know what to think afterwards which was odd because nothing really out of the ordinary happened. I'd also agree with those that said it had buzzkill moments throughout, there were quite a few frustrating bits that made me question the booking which isn't something I normally do when watching a PPV. In many ways it mirrored some of the build-up in that more often than not a dissapointing match/moment/segment was around the corner following on from very good stuff, which was a shame.

 

The crowd, whether it was because of how they came off on TV or not were a night long dissapointment and they play a big part, well for me anyway. It made matches seem slower paced and lacking that certain something to take them to another level. These past few years has been the same in the massive stadiums so it's likely it is how it comes off on TV.

 

The Rock's promo was certainly the first buzzkill for me, it was wayyy too long when you want the show to get going. The main thing that made it a buzzkill though was the way Rock has delivered stuff since his return. For me it's very obvious he's acting and reading a script, that might sound daft but the way he delivers his promos and mentions of the people sound forced and very over the top with how hey says it. It's hard to really put my finger on it but it's almost like someone doing and over the top impression of The Rock. I think talking as 'Dwayne' when he first returned and then going "Right, now I'm The Rock, Candy ass etc" has always been in the back of my mind when trying to get into the character again. Anyway...

 

I knew we were in for an odd one when the WH Title opened the show, it didn't bother me but again there's that word, odd. Very good match in it's positon as lesser title match, great action most of the way and the corner people were used well. At the time the post-match stuff with the car didn't bother me but on refelection is was a bit unnecessary.

 

Rey vs Cody was the first where I really noticed the crowd's low noise level and it hampered the match slightly in that it made Cody's methodical pace seem a little too slow and the match was a little disjointed with Mysterio never getting a full flow. Having said all that it was still very good action and unique spots. The match told a good story with the knee brace and face mask, good to see Cody win too

 

The Corre vs Show's team match was a massive dissapointment and I wasn't expecting the world from it. I really can't fathom the thinking behind this one, it screamed we are shoehorning these people on the show for the sake of it. If that's the case why spend a good couple of months building it? bizzare. Surely 5 minutes could have been found? why it was so short I haven't a clue. The result was also dissapointing.

 

Punk vs Orton, much like there build up was the most 'normal' of all the matches. Very good story throughout and the end result was a very entertaining match to match an entertaining feud.

 

Lawler vs Cole was like a Turd sandwich, the middle was horrible. The start was perfect with Cole being smashed against the glass and then Swagger intervening but then Cole's abysmal (understanably so) offence killed any interest the crowd had mustered. The end was again fine and what I'd expected, although a piledriver would have been lovely in an ideal world. It was good to see Cole get his comeuppance and I thought the GM thing wasn't a bad way for Cole to carry on his character, although I don't know where to and what's next, mystery GM looks likely.

 

Taker vs HHH was brilliant. The start was frantic and some nasty stuff that made me wince, particularly Taker doing his dive again, the nutter. Some good other spots too (table etc). I'm also with air raid in that then I thought it was going into overkill with the pedigrees etc but then it went to a whole new level and the story became apparent and was a masterpiece. Out of nowhere with the Tombstone I was actually thinking the streak was over, there was still the doubt but the thoughts of it being over were more prominent. After that I knew Taker would win but I just didn't have a clue how considering he was half dead, so that was more intrigue. Dropping the sledgehammer was a nice touch too. So yeah a wonderful match that managed to be 'epic' without looking like HBK/Taker again.

 

The 6 person was another dissapointment, again too short for me. Celebrity involvement is good for them but it would have been nice for Morrison/Ziggler to have had at least a few minutes to show their stuff, rather than looking like compelte afterthoughts making up the numbers.

 

Main event always suffers a bit becuase it's been a long show but it was good, without being or feeling that special. Some good stuff and nice back and forth action towards the end but was all a little basic. Didn't mind the Draw then Rock re-starting it stuff but something about Rock standing tall didn't sit well, probably becuase of what I said at the start. Surprised Miz retained.

 

One final point is that the production, staging and all the entrance videos and Miz's build up video was absolutely fantastic. Even if Mania is shit (it wasn't) this is something they get bigger and better at each year. All comes together to make it look a special event and a million dollars.

 

I'll probably need another watch to really rate it but I think Overall a quiet crowd on TV, some frustrating aspects in certain matches and short matches aside it was a very good spectacle as usual with some very good action for the most part. Odd though