WrestleMania post show discussion

[Slapnut]

Right I've had time to sleep on the show...

 

It needs another viewing, but I still feel like it was very flat. I did enjoy Edge/Del Rio, and I may have been the only person not surprised in the slightest about Del Rio losing. I'm so used to WWE building people up and making it look like they'll win the big one, only to cut their legs off at their peak (see Wade Barret, 2010). I also don't think Edge came off as much of a cunt as people are making out. Del Rio tried to break his arm last week, if that was me I'd be fucking up his car.

 

Cody/Rey was pretty good, but seriously...Cody NEEDS kneepads! Everybody in my house (most of which aren't even big wrestling fans) was just laughing at him and saying he looks stupid. Nice ending though, and I'm more than happy Rey lost.

 

The 8-man was just stupid. Absolutely fucking mental. Wade Barrett got one move in as far as I can remember, and he didn't even get tagged in! Remember how good he was not just a few months ago? Stupid, retarded.

 

Orton/Punk was too slow for me. Just a flat match with the only interesting thing being Punk sneaking out of the RKO when Orton collapsed on his leg.

 

Cole/Lawler was ok for what it was I suppose. I do agree that the ending was stupid though. The GM HAS to be a heel now, otherwise he wasn't watching when Swagger got involved. Plus, Austin hardly interfered, Cole was in his face so he shoved him, I've seen Earl Hebner do worse than that. The Josh Matthews stunner was a bit stupid too.

 

As for Taker/HHH, I'm one of the people "underrating it" I guess. I thought it had a really got patch of 5 minutes or so near the end when Triple H was fucking Taker up, but as a whole the match just bored me a little. To me, I couldn't see past the fact that they've both clearly aged since last year as well, and so could my mates. Taker looked like he might just drop dead at any minute. Kudos to the ending though with Taker playing dead, almost everyone in my house thought he was actually dying, with a few of them saying things like "But how do they know he's fine?! What if something's gone wrong?!"

 

Can't show any love for the mixed tag. I think everyone is giving Snooki far too much credit. Yes, she did a nice handspring, but surely that's just the "acrobatics" that everyone on here loves so much when it comes to Ring of Honor. Plus, her splash was shit. The highlight of this match for me was Morrison shouting "OOWAY!" and raising his arm just as Snooki got the pin, it just seemed like he had to make a signal to show Snooki they'd actually won or something, pretty funny stuff. Morrison and Ziggler were wasted.

 

2 matches that lasted not 2 minutes, and a U.S. Title match bumped from the card. Absolutely depressing.

 

I don't even know what to say about the main event that hasn't already been said. What possessed WWE to use that as Cena's entrance? There has been no indication on TV that Cena is a member of the God Squad, and even if he is it isn't an integral part of his character so it just seemed completely irrelevant. The Miz entrance, with him storming through the inflatable Awesome, was brilliant mind.

 

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.

 

Quote of the night from my mate - "Is The Miz Hulk Hogan's son?"

[d-d-d-dAz]

On rewatching, the HHH/Taker match was even better. Winner. Though, he botched the hell's gate. How on earth do you forget where the arm goes in a gogoplata? One way helps you perform a brutal choke, the other way precludes it...

[Jas]

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.

 

What was up with him anyway? He looked a bit 'zoned out' and pretty much fed up and was totally dominated by Miz?

A 2nd watch is required I think.

[Slapnut]

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.

 

What was up with him anyway? He looked a bit 'zoned out' and pretty much fed up and was totally dominated by Miz?

A 2nd watch is required I think.

 

I didn't notice that, but maybe the boo's got to him. He always acts like he's not bothered by them, but if you're wrestling the main event of the biggest wrestling show of the year and 70,000 people are booing you out of the building then you must get a bit peeved at certain points.

[bAzTNM Fan]

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.

 

Not really. That's just mongs thinking it's the done thing at WrestleMania. Cena could maybe use a heel turn, but smarks booing him is not the problem.

 

Also, it's the small things in life that people like. I am no fashionista and when I feel the urge to talk about colour schemes than the in-ring action it probably hasn't been a very successful night, but thank God Cena is wearing red now. His purple and orange shirts were nightmarish.

[JNLister]

Eight pages and no love for "Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank"?

[The King Of Swing]

Gotta say that The Miz video and Triple H entrance were both the business imo.

[Slapnut]

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.

 

Not really. That's just mongs thinking it's the done thing at WrestleMania. Cena could maybe use a heel turn, but smarks booing him is not the problem.

 

 

But if the majority of the crowd are booing him then it is the done thing, because they don't like him. Smarks or not, the majority of the crowd were booing him.

[Murtz]

Eight pages and no love for "Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank"?

???

[Daaaaaad!]

It's an Alan Partridge reference but I have no idea why he's brought it up.

[Lawz]

It's an Alan Partridge reference but I have no idea why he's brought it up.

 

There was a sign in the crowd towards the end on the rampway I think which had those words. I mentioned it in UKFF Chat at the time, so random.

[SSJLogan]

A fan had it as a sign which you could see for most of the show.

[Daaaaaad!]

Aha, alright then. Good choice for a sign.

[textonly]

I can't be bothered to rewatch and find it, but I liked the sign that said something like "THIS IS SO BORDERLINE POETIC AND FILLED WITH SUCH SUBTLETY THAT I AM SUSPENDING MY DISBELIEF".

[Carbomb]

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.

 

Was very surprised to see them opening with a World title match, and whilst I understand the need to change things up, I didn't feel this was it. If Del Rio was supposed to "become a big deal very quickly", the positioning of this match didn't help. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the match, thought it was decent, and felt everyone concerned held their own admirably, even if I didn't like the finish - but then, if Miz was going to retain, I suppose Del Rio had to lose. Didn't like the after-match car-smashing; if anything, it made me feel sympathy for Del Rio, but then I haven't seen the whole feud.

 

I thought Rhodes/Rey was a cracking little match. Not the best thing on the card, but definitely worth watching, and a perfect fit for the undercard at Mania. I've always been an unashamed mark for Cody Rhodes right from the bat, and I've always felt he'll one day make World champ - after this match, I think he's still on course to rise through the ranks. He did well with Bob Holly, DiBiase and then Legacy, and now, as a singles, he can clearly hold up his side of the bargain. I reckon we'll see Cody in the main event of Mania at least in two years at latest, and next year at the earliest.

 

Orton/Punk, for me, was a great match. I haven't been watching so much WWE recently, so I still mark out for Orton and his stuff. It saddens me to admit that I can see why he'd get boring if you're watching every week, though. But this match in itself was Mania-worthy, I felt. I don't know if it fits within the context of the feud or storyline, but as someone just tuning in to Mania for the event itself, I thought it was excellent. Amused to see Orton's using the Angle Slam as a sub-finisher (and Lawler calling it a side suplex!). Also, on my wishlist is a New Nexus t-shirt - fucking love that design (even if it does look slightly fascist/white supremacist).

 

The Corre vs. Kane/Show/Santino/Kingston was what it was, a piss-break. I didn't go for a piss, I just watched it. It wasn't particularly offensive, though it was very disappointing to see the talent in the Corre wasted, all of them. I know people hate Slater, but from that brief outing, he came across like he's got a generally decent idea of what's required. Hopefully he'll go on to be a useful heel. I saw criminally little of Barrett in this match, same with Big Zeke - obviously, you'd want to see this guy up against Show or Kane. And whilst I appreciate Kingston works hard, I was disappointed to see him as the replacement for Kozlov when they've got Diesel there; I find Kingston hideously boring, and from the little I've seen of WWE this year (so I could be wrong about this), I don't believe he's done enough to warrant a 'Mania payday.

 

Lawler/Cole was what it was - and for what it was, it was fun, I thought. Cole was a riot, and the first bit of the match using the "Cole-Mine" made it a sort of micro-cage match, which looked brutal and what we were looking forward to. Whilst it's a shame they couldn't keep up that pace and style for the rest of the match, given that Cole's a non-wrestler, I wouldn't say it was an overly awful outing, and I don't agree that it reached Bret/Vince levels of awkwardness. At the time, I hated the GM reversal, but looking at it now, Cole is now 1-0 at WrestleMania - this would be greatness if they keep it up. Incidentally, Lawler's entrance gear was awesome.

 

Triple H/'Taker was great, as I'd expect. Not on the HBK matches' level, but still 'Mania-worthy, and not just in terms of the match: as my mate said as we watched it, it's probably one of the best-produced matches ever as well. Use of props and surroundings, the entrances, the after-match selling and so on, all of it made for a good story, leaving us wondering about all the possibilities for 'Taker leading up to the next WM. I enjoyed it all immensely, and at no point did I find myself comparing it to 'Mania 17, simply because both guys are in such different places in their careers now, and the match, despite being basically the same stip, had an almost completely different feel to it. Also, as a side note, I think it's a testament to the spectacle of WM that 'Taker's entrance was actually underwhelming given what we've had in the past, yet it was a fucking great entrance in itself - any other PPV, I'd have said it was brilliant, and the Johnny Cash music was an inspired choice.

 

The mixed tag again was what was expected, and even as such, I didn't find it offensive. It's good to see Trish again, and I loved that we got the nice bonus of getting a few shots of her builder's bum/coinslot. Snooki was surprisingly OK. Hope JoMo doesn't end up in too many of this sort of match, though - they should be positioning him for a test run at the main event now, really. Same goes for Ziggler as well.

 

WWE title match was OK. I think Miz has come an incredibly long way, and that pre-match promo video was a brilliant summation. Absolutely LOVED his entrance, bashing through the "AWESOME" - I hope he starts using that on a regular basis, at least for PPVs. Cena's entrance, though, was rather emblematic of the sort of thing I've come to dislike about his character: the rather contrived and forced positioning of himself as a "people's champ" or "the good man" - I just can't buy it, and it's part of the whole thing which makes me want to switch off when he's on. This is not good, because I want to like the guy - he CAN wrestle, contrary to the smark chants, he CAN work, he CAN put on good matches, and it's all ruined by the staleness and forced nature of his incredibly lame character, all reinforced by yet another bloody t-shirt (although this one isn't bad this time).

 

The match itself was good - not really 'Mania-worthy, which is why the event probably felt flat, I think, but it was easily worthy of any other PPV. It looked brutal and hard-fought enough. Didn't like the finish, but I suppose they had to have it. Didn't make Miz look particularly good, but at least he came out of 'Mania with the belt - with his promo abilities, he'll be able to make it work, I am very sure.

 

I have to say: I was massively disappointed to hear Bryan/Sheamus had been bumped. You just know that would've been a great little match to watch, and it's even more disappointing when you consider the number of shit skits and the length of air-time they got. I don't want to hate Hornswoggle, but he's been beyond annoying for ages now - he's absolute balls. And I just can't get into anything Snoop Dogg does with WWE - seems a nice enough guy in anything else he does, but in WWE, switch "Snoop" for "Snooze". 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.

 

Overall, I thought this was a very enjoyable Mania, an improvement on the last two, and whilst it wasn't spectacular or amazing, it had some good matches and nothing really offensive. I'd watch Rhodes/Rey again, and Orton/Punk. But they really need to start doing some decent work with the new names - in this respect, I feel they were pretty let down. Miz NEEDED to look better than he did, and Del Rio even more so - that placing of the WHC match as the opener was just a really, REALLY bad idea, IMO.