The actual proper Wrestlemania 29 Thread

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Like a child Sheamus, Ryback and Orton are 3 of my faves & I was looking forward to seeing them, man, did they ever make them all look like chumps.

 

Taker/Punk was great, I liked HHH/Brock but wanted Brock to go over.

 

The lack of special 'mania entrances was gutting, fandango's was brilliant, CM Punk having Living Color there was great, HHH used the same castle grayskull from last year but came out with spunk all over his tummy, Alberto del Rio had a robe but noone else had anything, swagger didn't even have an entrance.

 

Diddy was dreadful and there was a notable lack of fun stuff like backstage skits.

[Bus Surfer]

I thought the show was solid throughout, but lacked any real surprise or big moment of unpredictability - Take out the glitz and fancy lighting and it was just another PPV. Not really what you want at a Wrestlemania. The crowd seemingly falling asleep after a great Punk/Taker match really dampened the atmosphere even more so. It all went flat after that.

 

My favourite bit of the night was Taker's entrance. The undead hands stuff was an awesome visual. Also Punk's table bump looked hideous. Damn.

[Winston]

Out with the Cena, Lesnar, Rock and HHH. And in with Punk, Ziggler, Bryan.. (Cesaro, Wyatt, Fandango..) Actually have such a talented roster just now but they seem to scared to give these mainly smaller athletes the chance to run with it.

 

I agree, they should push the smaller wrestlers more. Just imagine if CM Punk had gotten a 400+ day reign a WWE Champion...

 

Yeah and then they took if off him so Rock and Cena for the title could headline WrestleMania.

 

And who stole the show? CM Punk.

[andrew "the ref" coyne]

Out with the Cena, Lesnar, Rock and HHH. And in with Punk, Ziggler, Bryan.. (Cesaro, Wyatt, Fandango..) Actually have such a talented roster just now but they seem to scared to give these mainly smaller athletes the chance to run with it.

 

I agree, they should push the smaller wrestlers more. Just imagine if CM Punk had gotten a 400+ day reign a WWE Champion...

 

Yeah and then they took if off him so Rock and Cena for the title could headline WrestleMania.

 

And who stole the show? CM Punk.

 

?!? What's your point ?!? He had a awesome title run, and WWE awarded him with a financially lucrative Wrestlemania main event spot vs one of the biggest names in the business ever. If that's not pushing don't know what is.

[FUM]

It just didn't feel bigger than any other PPV. The crowd was totally fucked after Undertaker and CM Punk and could've done with a break. Don't know why they went straight into Lesnar vs Triple H. Even stick the shite Diddy concert in here to break it up.

[Statto]

Predicted finish.

 

You've said that about a 75% of the matches. Really? You knew weeks ago Jericho was going to tweak his knee on a missed Lionsault, leaving him unsteady when attempting to lock in the Walls enabling Fandango to pull him into a small package for the win?

 

It was totally obvious to you before the night Jack Swagger was going to lose concentration for a few seconds on the outside, resulting in him needing to rush to get back into the ring to avoid being counted out, meaning his was off-balance so del Rio could quickly lock in the arm-breaker for the submission?

 

Daniel Bryan was unquestionably going to pick up the win with a diving headbutt?

 

Send us over the lotto numbers, Nostradamus.

[Warrior]

I enjoyed the first half of the show immensely. The matches were fine, and I enjoyed the lack of backstage daftness. UT/Punk was brilliant, but after that bloodyell...

 

The reason Punk/UT was so good and, in my opinion, better than HHH/UT, is that it became a classic/epic match, rather than thinking it was one from the start. That's also the difference between the two matches last night. What you had was HHH looking for the slow babyface comeback build when really no one is that fussed about him. If that match last night was Brock/HBK, even with the match structure (which seemed to begin where most matches get to after 10 minutes), it would have been more believable and it wouldn't have killed the crowd for the rest of the night. Plus, HBK beating Brock is an upset, HHH beating Brock is not unexpected - we are used to HHH winning all the time.

 

I've never ever been one to moan about HHH, but I have absolutely no idea what the point was in having part-time HHH beat Brock. Yeah, Brock's part-time too, but I would think with his new contract he's going to be a fairly big part of business over the next year, maybe even headlining WM30 against Rock. Baffles me.

 

Rock/Cena I felt sorry for. The end sequence was great, minus the usual ridiculous amount of finishers we've seen in every big WWE main event since 1999. It's a real shame the crowd didn't pick up until the end, as it was a miles better match than last year. The repetition of last year's finish especially, I thought, was really well done.

 

In all, a good Wrestlemania, just blighted by a crowd that fizzled out and what I thought was a bad booking decision.

[Chest Rockwell]

Echo the comments regarding the lack of skits, etc. It was like watching fucking comic relief at times - the inter-match filler was all charity videos and shit. The whole event just felt a bit disjointed.

 

Punk / Taker really was a lot of fun. Heyman should be recognised for his contributions in gurning and urn-ing throughout, basically spending the evening auditioning for the job of Paul Bearer.

 

The only problem with Swagger not getting an entrance is that his music is the best thing about him. Otherwise, who gives a shit?

 

It was a shame that Henry got Shellshocked after the match anyway, but we all thought he was going to lose anyway so.. big deal. I thought this match was as good as it was ever going to be; really enjoyed it. Surprised I'm not seeing more love for it, I can only assume that's because the post-match shenanigans left a sour taste in peoples' mouths.

[Winston]

?!? What's your point ?!? He had a awesome title run, and WWE awarded him with a financially lucrative Wrestlemania main event spot vs one of the biggest names in the business ever. If that's not pushing don't know what is.

 

Don't get me wrong, Punk got a great slot on the card. I'm mainly frustrated with glaring fact that face Cena is back on top and with no new stars looking strong enough to challenge him we are back to square one.

 

Punk should be THE man. And with talent on the roster now like Ziggler, Bryan, Cesaro, Rollins and Ambrose we should be looking forward to better quality matches.

 

In reality though after last night one of the options is probably Cena vs. Big Show. Who just turned heel. Again.

[wh1007]

I must say I enjoyed the show overall but the last two matches did seem to just limp along.

 

Taker Vs Punk was the match of the night for me.Some great near falls and at least one moment where thought Punk would actually end the streak.

 

Lesnar Vs Triple H seemed to plod along although when it did pick up it was very good.I too thought that Lesnar was going to tap out to Triple H which would have been a great finish.I know it was talked about on the Raw thread but Jesus Christ Shawn Michaels looked like a dog's dinner last night.you'd have thought he'd at least make the effort for Mania.

 

Speaking of potential great finishes,that faux People's Elbow into the AA by Cena would have been a terrific ending.The match never really clicked tho and both seemed to be just going through the motions.The very audible spot calling ruined it a tad for me aswell,that and the sat on their hands crowd.I'm not sure if it was WWE's fault for blocking the three big matches or the fact that Cena Vs Rock had nobody excited beforehand.They really just didn't click.

 

The undercard was enjoyable too.Swagger Vs Del Rio was better than I expected,although it was far from great.So much for Ziggler cashing in his MITB contract.The somewhat flet ending to the match seemed to dictate that it would happen.

 

Jericho Vs Fandango was good,slight botch at the end aside.

 

The six man was very good too.Ambrose was very over with the crowd aswell.

 

It was far from the best WM but I still reckon it was far from the worst either.

[ShortOrderCook]

Enjoyed it. Definitely suffered from a few things though. Those being the match order, the commentary and completely sticking to long term plans. Triple H vs Brock was good, I liked it but it absolutely suffered from it's position on the card. The top three matches certainly should have been separated a little and I think Trips-Lesnar would have been a lot better received had it gone on earlier. Totally pointless Michaels being there too. Punk vs Taker was fun, but it wasn't as great as some here are spouting it to be, it certainly wasn't on the level of the first Michaels or the 27 Triple H match and definitely not better as some are saying but enjoyed it. It was exactly as it should be for me and I can't agree with Reznors comments that the possibility of a DQ or countout weren't played on enough nor the urn stuff, thought they were touched upon and used just the right amount. Undertaker is the fucking man, really. My heart fucking jumped when he teased the over the top rope dive, excellent tease.

 

Rock vs Cena simply should have finished a few minutes earlier. The story of the match was decent enough, Rock being sure and confident but Cena having his number this time, countering everything and always managing to pull something out the bag. The role reversals and mirroring of last years stuff was tremendous, but it really should have finished with one of those moments, one of those sequences. The actual finishing sequence was pretty horrible. The aftermath felt very odd, I was half expecting Cena to lamp Rock with the belt to end the show when he was waiting for him at the top of the ramp, which in truth I think would have been a good finish to the show and made sense with their story.

 

It's commendable and understandable that WWE have stuck to long term booking plans when over the last decade that was something they seemed to never do any more. In many ways I think it's a good thing they've done that but other areas have suffered for it. This 'Mania could and perhaps should have been big moments, arrivals for guys like Ryback, Ziggler, Shield, Bryan, Sandow, but have all taken a back seat to the big stories. CM Punk is the only guy who's benefitted from those and he has in a big way. The thing I was most disappointed by though, was the lack of a Ziggler cash-in. It just seemed like the absolute ideal time for it in several different ways. It was the perfect moment for them to do the WrestleMania cash-in, which it's long felt like they've always fancied doing. Ziggler's all about being the 'show-off' waiting for so long to cash in at the biggest stage would have been very apt. Pretty baffled by that one, wonder if they have any plans for it at all. Really enjoyed his tag match and the play on last years AJ-Bryan stuff. I'm interested to see what happens with a lot of the guys outside of the elite group in the coming months. There's usually some call-ups post 'Mania and I expect there to be some this year, some returns too and you'd think they've really got to switch a focus to building and establishing some guys now. Rybacks treatment over the last few months has been pretty baffling, I hope he can recover from it.

 

Really glad Bruno got treated as the big induction for the Hall of Fame.

[sivy]

I do think there building Cena against one of the Shield. Prob Roman Reigns. After last

night the Shield came over as a massive deal in my eyes.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Don't get me wrong, Punk got a great slot on the card. I'm mainly frustrated with glaring fact that face Cena is back on top and with no new stars looking strong enough to challenge him we are back to square one.

What do you mean "back on top"? Did you not see any wrestling in 2012? Cena was on top the full year and that's continued into 2013. A shit piece of tin strapped to a bit of leather doesn't mean anything in terms of who the biggest name in the company is. He's always been on top because he's the biggest full timer in the company.

 

Punk should be THE man.

But he isn't. Get over it.

 

Jesus wept. I was a Bret Hart fan for well over a decade and I got that he didn't have what Hulk Hogan or Steve Austin had. He didn't come close in fact. Why do people do the whole "he should be this, he should be that" shite? Just because you can put out the matches and make wrestling fans (who would have bought the show anyway) believe in what you are doing doesn't make him have the right to be put in main event slots. There are John Cenas, there are Rocks, there are Hulk Hogan, there are Brian Adams' and then there are the likes of Bret Hart, CM Punk and the rest who appeal to the regular "will watch it even if Sir Mo is main eventing" lot. Why can't people just be happy that Punk had a belting match with the Undertaker without going down the "I wish he had the winged belt for 800 days instead" road.

 

I'm starting to like CM Punk the more the months go on, but some of his supporters are just fucking idiots. No wonder he hates his fans.

[Slapnut]

?!? What's your point ?!? He had a awesome title run, and WWE awarded him with a financially lucrative Wrestlemania main event spot vs one of the biggest names in the business ever. If that's not pushing don't know what is.

 

Don't get me wrong, Punk got a great slot on the card. I'm mainly frustrated with glaring fact that face Cena is back on top and with no new stars looking strong enough to challenge him we are back to square one.

 

There's plenty of people to challenge him. Henry and Ryback are fine challengers, yeah they both looked like losers last night, but when has that ever stopped anyone? Jack Swagger has looked like a loser for most of his career and he still challenged for the World Title last night.

 

Punk should be THE man. And with talent on the roster now like Ziggler, Bryan, Cesaro, Rollins and Ambrose we should be looking forward to better quality matches.

 

Punk is the top heel, what more can you ask for? I'm not sure what point you're trying to make about Ziggler, Bryan etc. They have quality matches week in week out.

 

In reality though after last night one of the options is probably Cena vs. Big Show. Who just turned heel. Again.

 

Big Show wasn't a face to begin with.

[Chest Rockwell]

Edit: In response to Ian responding to Winston:

 

 

You're talking to the guy who just read the results the morning and is talking like he knows something.. so him not getting it or knowing what's going on is no surprise.

 

It's so bizarre that people can't just enjoy the fact that Punk is so high profile now and seemingly won't be happy until he's in Cena's position. What's even more odd is that he seems to be one of those people.

 

You know - that Bret Hart comparison is really, really apt, Ian. I've never really thought about it before, but that's spot on.