The actual proper Wrestlemania 29 Thread

[visitor from another forum]

The guy in the letter is only saying what countless fans the world over are thinking.

Except of course those on here who appreciate Cena for what he is.

[Devon Malcolm]

Piss off you gormless shitbag.

[visitor from another forum]

Piss off you gormless shitbag.

 

Jings.

 

How to respond to such anger...

[The King Of Swing]

I hope Cena stays on top for another ten years.

[Mr. Seven]

The guy in the letter is only saying what countless fans the world over are thinking.

 

He's deranged. Fair play to him for advising WWE on their business strategy though. The move to PG really has seen those sponsors run for the hills.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

This bloke sums it up:

[Ronnie]

We had a bit of a Wrestlemania party after work last night, having stayed offline to avoid spoilers. Four hours was a long time to sit through, but on balance we enjoyed most of the spectacle. Ronette was brilliant, the churchgoing, non-swearing pacifist being suckered in a bunch of times by the heels.

 

Orton, Sheamus, Big Show - The Shield

 

Orton looks massive! I thought he was taking the piss a little bit with the 80s happy-clappy babyface stuff and wasn't buying that we were supposed to forget that Big Show stabbed the fans in the back not long ago. I think the commentary mentioned something about SmackDown referencing unease about his character though. The Shield looked like a solid unit, carrying out very effectively the role of united team against three individuals that JBL was putting across on commentary. The most memorable bit for was Rollins hitting Orton with a flying kick to prevent the tag, which was picked up by some brilliant camera work, which brought Ronette to life as soon as Orton went flying: "Did you see what he just did?! That cunt!"

 

I liked that the key part of the match was Orton taking a tag that was meant for Show, since Show had done the same thing earlier in the match. Show's assaulting his partners at least underlined that he was still a villain and relieved me of the earlier complaint that we were just supposed to accept he'd become a nice chap after last year's machinations.

 

That was a solid opener and I was pleasantly surprised by the result. The new boys more than held up under the spotlight.

 

Ryback - Henry

 

Henry impresseed me again from the outset. That camera shot where his back blocks out the camera's view never fails to get the point across. I thought Ryback looked a bit nervous when making his entrance. I'm not on the Ryback bandwagon; I don't see any dimension to his character and so am not invested in him at all. I suppose he's similar to Goldberg, who was massively over in spite of not having any depth either, so that could well be just me being old and jaded. The finish surprised me - I initially thought it might have been a head bump and the ref counting three because a shook-up Ryback didn't kick out. Shame about the postmatch cutting short Henry's celebration, though I understand why, given the surprise result, it was important for them to position Ryback as standing tall afterwards.

Team Hell No - Ziggler and Big E Langston

 

I was surprised that Ziggler got kicked when parodying last year's opener, thinking that he'd have known it was coming and so ducked. That sucked me in and I thought it was going to be a shock finish. Big E looked very impressive with his simple, one-dimensional approach of using power moves. I was thinking just the other day (having watched Barbarian and Haku against the Rockers from WM7) that we haven't seen backbreakers in years ... and then Big E delivers three in a row, paced very deliberately, to a man who's not far off seven feet tall! All four men worked their socks off in their respective roles and I thought Ziggler's facials when getting slammed for the finish made for a great replay. Bryan clearly has the crowd lapping up his act, just the same as last year.

 

Jericho - Fandango

 

I didn't have any doubt about what the result would be prior to the the match just on the basis that you can't have the new star trip over the first hurdle but they did a good job of making it look extremely unlikely during the match itself. Fandango's entrance was grand, presenting him as a big deal, which was sort of at odds with the way that Jericho schooled him throughout. Had Fandango not got the pin then this would've been a squash and I caught myself thinking midway through that I hope Fandango doesn't get binned for "not knowing how to work" because his offence was non-existent. I liked his style, which reminded me of the Genius's during his short-lived in-ring run. Ronette wasn't impressed, calling him a terrible ambassador for gay men, totally oblivious that whilst she was trying to champion challenging the wider perception of gay men (by advocating that Mark Henry, for example, come out as a tough guy who just so happens to be gay) she was guilty of it herself by assuming Fandango to be on the other bus just because he's a dancer! The finish was probably all they could make it to be if they were dead set on not having him wrestle as Jericho's equal; Fandango really had to win and he did it with a counter after Jericho tweaked his knee following a Lionsault. It didn't look smooth though.

 

Del Rio - Swagger

 

I really like Swagger's repackaging (complete with instahum theme) but I'm not buying Del Rio's "I was made in the USA" after his long-time portrayal as a member of the Mexican nobility. Ronette demonstrated her envious ability to switch between knowing the nature of wrestling and believing in what she sees on screen at the start of the match, when she was trying to balance who she could cheer for: "They can't let a fascist win. It's their big show, so the storyline can't end with the fascist winning. Think about the message that would send. You never see things like that on TV." When I pointed out that villains exist all over TV, murderers and rapists too, she responded "Yeah, but that's TV and this is real." I don't know how she does it but I wish I could too!

 

I thought Swagger looked good on offence and Zeb ratcheted up the racist overtones on the mic to dissuade those who might otherwise agree with elements of this new direction from cheering. Lilian looked convicingly upset by his polemic. Zeb's fingers getting stomped on and the way he sold it were great. The match was better than I thought it would be.

 

Undertaker - CM Punk

 

I didn't think this stood much of a chance. Punk doesn't have the believability that Undertaker's opponents in the previous four WMs have brought with them and Undertaker himself looked below his normal standards because of his pudginess. There was a reasonable near-fall where they parroted a false-finish from X7, Punk escaping the Last Ride with a strike to the head from the urn, but other than that I thought it was lifeless. Points to Heyman for his excellent facial expressions, blocking the teased dive over the top rope, and eliciting an angry "cunt!" from Ronette, though I can't remember what he did specifically to draw it, probably because some more of Ronette's insight during the match took precedence for me. Cole pointed out how long Punk had held the title and she hastily corrected him: "By cheating! See, that's the thing with the Hall of Fame. In 50 years' time people will be saying that Punk was great because he held the title for 400 days and no-one will remember that he only managed that because he was cheating for all of it. It's the same with these old people. They always go on about how long they had the belt for but no-one really knows what these old people used to get up to. Especially because they didn't have cameras." I think she buys wholeheartedly into the revised "took it out of smoke-filled bars and put it into arenas" history that WWE DVDs can portray.

 

With the exception of the urn shot I didn't buy any of the trading of finishers toward the end. It all seemed a bit samey from previous years. Undertaker incorporating his sit-up spot into actually being standing out of the Anaconda Vise whilst staring at Punk, trapped by his own hold, and leading him to the corner was a sweet spot. I suppose I was hoping at the end that we'd complete the homage to Paul Bearer that Punk interrupted on Raw by having his graphic on screen.

 

Triple H - Brock Lesnar

 

As always, Lesnar looked so "real" coming out; a genuine threat and packed with solid muscle. I pointed out to Ronette how, Mark Henry aside, he looked to be the biggest man there. Silly me; I apparently forgot the Big Show and was chastised for it. Triple H's set-up looked great. There was something about him that didn't look quite right though, and it wasn't the hair; were his boots shorter than usual? The bottom half of him didn't look quite right at any rate.

 

I think I'm well past the point of enjoying Michaels' returns. He was my favourite for two decades but the site of a poorly dressed grown man, half the size of everybody else, prancing about has been needling me on the last few occasions, as has knowing he'll somehow be involved in the match. It didn't bother me when he was a flamboyant wrestler and packed to the gills with muscle, usually winning after taking a kicking, but those days are long gone and I don't feel he belongs at all.

 

The match had become fairly good by the time it ended, though not so much as Lesnar's two previous bouts, and it took a while to head to any drama. Heyman was cracking again in his role of generating boos for his client: "Can't somebody do something about that ugly toad? Can't someone in the crowd come out and kick his head in? I would if I were there." Bless her.

 

Some things didn't add up, though, such as when there was a prone Triple H with Lesnar standing over him and a sledgehammer in the ring. Given Brock's character and the stipulation, I found it a bit hard to overlook the fact that the sledgehammer wasn't used to brutalise Triple H, similar to how the Rock was assaulted mercilessly by Austin with a chair at X7.

 

That sort of thing aside, I was happy at some smart storytelling later in the match, with Triple H's decision to steal the extremely effective kimura and immediately go for the approach of straddling Brock to ratchet up the effect and the fact that it looked as though Brock would have to tap. Brock's counters to it were impressive, as was Triple H's learning what to expect and using the third instance to trick Brock into DDT-ing himself on the steel steps.

 

I could've done without Michaels's involvement though. He seems to dilute everything he touches since his retirement.

 

The Rock - John Cena

 

I haven't read anybody else's comments yet so don't know whether I'm the odd man out or parroting convention, but I didn't enjoy this and I don't think it's down to the length of the show. The video packages and Cena's facials during the intros and early portions of the match were sending me the signal that he was going to cheat to win at some point, so I was disappointed when that didn't happen. My early thoughts were that the match between the two was exactly the sort of thing that wrestling's detractors would point to; notably phony, two people playing at pantomime, and both of them shoulder the blame for it.

 

The flashback sequences were fair (Rock moving out of the way of the legdrop, Cena playing off last year's finish to taunt Rock into making a mistake) but I think I'm long tired of the trade-finishers sequence that punctuates the end of the main-event matches.

 

Still, Cena's victory at the end meant that all four of the results in my accummulator came up, so I've made a little bit of money. And even though I struggle to concentrate for the whole four hours, Ronette is brilliant company because she gets so into it and it's something we've been looking forward to for weeks, so I can't really complain about the show. Most of the matches were enjoyable and even those that fell short of what I might expect at least were still part of a spectacle. It seemed far from as fun to me as the shows I remember from my childhood, but then I'm no longer the target audience. I might rewatch the final three bouts later to see whether I get a more favourable impression without having already sat through two hours of wrestling beforehand.

[wandshogun09]

Triple H/Brock suffered from not having a buffer match which is a shame as it really built well and the kimura stuff was great. I was hoping Brock would tap just to see the MMA fans weep.

 

I, for one, wouldn't have wept. I think Brock getting his arm mangled by the steps, chairs, the sledgehammer or whatever, and then Triple H beating him with the kimura, would have been a good finish and would have made sense given their history. I liked the kimura bit but after a while it did feel like it dragged on to me with them both breaking it and re-applying it over and over again.

 

I really liked the match though. I agree the crowd killed a lot of the atmosphere. Maybe if it had been on earlier in the night or had a women's match or legends segment or something before it the crowd wouldn't have been so dead. Going straight from Taker-Punk to Triple H-Brock to Rock-Cena was overkill and burnt the crowd out.

[air_raid]

The most memorable bit for was Rollins hitting Orton with a flying kick to prevent the tag, which was picked up by some brilliant camera work, which brought Ronette to life as soon as Orton went flying: "Did you see what he just did?! That cunt!"

"They can't let a fascist win. It's their big show, so the storyline can't end with the fascist winning. Think about the message that would send. You never see things like that on TV." When I pointed out that villains exist all over TV, murderers and rapists too, she responded "Yeah, but that's TV and this is real."

Points to Heyman for his excellent facial expressions, blocking the teased dive over the top rope, and eliciting an angry "cunt!" from Ronette

 

 

She's a fucking keeper.

[Murtz]

After going to Miami to watch WM28 in person, it was slightly depressing to be watching WM29 in Leicester on TV. What made it even more depressing is that the show was just so average. I kept thinking that the below par/predictable build up will end up in a cracking show that we didn't see coming.. but the whole thing just ended up reflecting the build up, half arsed, nothing over the top, just played safe.

 

Some thoughts on the matches;

 

Shield vs Orton/Sheanus/Big Show

 

This ended up being just like the build up. Big Show punching his teammates, Shield winning against main eventers. There was no Orton heel turn (to be fair, I got excited about that purely from talk of it on here), nothing really different to what we've already seen. If anyhing though, it makes the Shield look like even more of a force. Lets hope they don't go the way of Nexus.. getting ruined by Cena.

 

Menry/Ryback

 

I didn't understand the finish to this at all. Why the hell would you have a finish where Henry just lands on Ryback? If anything, at least him hit the World's Strongest Slam to finish him off! For me, it made Ryback look piss poor getting pinned just because Henry landed on him. We see Big Show doing that to people all the time and it hardly ever leads to a win.

 

Tag Title Match

 

Loved the rehash of AJ's kiss of death. Bringing back moments from the past is one thing WWE have been doing brilliantly as of late.

 

Anyone else hoping that once Ziggler cashes in his MITB and it leads to a HHH/Batista style storyline with him and Big E?

 

Fandango/Jericho

 

Fandango is really growing on me. Loved the new attire. Loved the grand entrance. Even loved the finish to the match. Its amazing what a good gimmick can do to even the biggest no hopers.

 

Del Rio/Swagger

 

The thing I was looking forward to the most here was Swagger's entrance in the Wrestlemania set up and a possible Ziggler cash in. We got neither. It was shit.

 

Taker/Punk

 

Loved this. Match of the night for me. Its amazing how you can be as sure as you want that the Streak will stay in tact, yet you still get duped into thinking it could end. The GTS/Tombstone spot was beautiful, and Anaconda Vice/Sit up spot was even better. Did anyone else notice Taker a bit teary at the end before he paid homage to the Urn?

 

A special mention must go to Taker's entrance. My favourite entrance of all was the shadow entry against Batista at WM23, but this has now taken over by a country mile. I'm also completely used to and sold on his new haircut too, to a point where he just looks odd when I see him with long hair. Speaking of haircuts...

 

HHH/Lesnar

 

HHH looks frigging awesome. Like a grizzly old dude that you just don't want to fuck with. When they showed flashbacks of him with hair he just looked like a bit of a wuss compared to now. Brock though, damn! He's been hitting it hard in the gym hasn't he? He looked a lot bigger and toned than Summerslam. Definitely back to his best WWE shape (upper half only).

 

The match itself was slow, methodical, hard hitting.. everything I expected it to be. Like others have said though, it really needed a piss break match before it. The crowd looked spent during the entrances and the first 15 minutes. The last 10 minutes though were great. It's not that often someone can look good in defeat when beaten clean, but they managed that in buckets with Brock. He didn't tap out to a move that could have broke his arm, took a hammer to the head (which he STILL got up from) and took a Pedigree on the steps to get pinned made him proves that he's one tough fucker.

 

Rock/Cena

 

After 3 videos hyping up this match throughout the show, I was gob smacked that Cena's music just randomly hit without any promo video, no 'coming up next' graphic, nothing. The crowd sounded like they were not prepared either. IT was just so random. Surely if they were running out of time they could have cut some other meaningless promos out?

 

The match itself followed the same pattern as HHH/Brock. The first 15 minutes were just there, but the last 10 minutes or so were great. Loved all the nods to last year's matches, especially Cena's People's Elbow spot. It was just genius. Maybe they could have ended the match there, and I'm not too bothered about the few minutes that followed, apart from the AA that finished the match. It was a bit shit really, after all the counters and AA's before, you would have thought a little extra would be needed to get the 3 count, instead we just got the same move that had already been hit.

 

The thing that pissed me off about the whole show was the ending. I fucking HATE handshakes after a heated rivalry. Hogan/Rock did it, Kane and Orton did it, and now Cena/Rock. Funny that 80,000 people showed how fucked off they were by it too. I was so convinced Cena was going to lamp Rock with the belt, but again, that was due to talk on here and what I personally wanted to happen.

 

 

Overall, like I said earlier, it was an average show. Some great parts, some shite parts. Hopefully like someone said this was like 27 was to 28, building up to something much more awesome next year. It better be, cause I'll be there!

[King Pitcos]

Kane and Orton never did it. They had a handshake after a random Smackdown main event when they were both faces.

[C-Rock]

For me the show seemed really rushed and very run of the mill which for me was very disappointing especially when I saw the size of the stadium and how fantastic it looked in regards to the production. I started excited but steadly it went down hill. I kept thinking something exciting is going to happen at some point but alas nothing did. It feels like for me WWE are scared to take chances and instead settle for the safe and easy option. Its almost like WWE are getting strong support from its fans but are giving us little in return in regards to entertainment value. The fans in attendance and the millions around the world who parted with their money to watch Mania deserved so much more. Its very disheartening to see WWE produce such a bland WrestleMania, it doesn't fill you with a lot of hope for the future. Ive only ever paid to watch WrestleMania live and never bother with other PPV's because theres no guarantee i'm going to get my moneys worth and in hindsight for the first time I regret paying for Mania

[Mr Butternut Squash]

Watching it back, Sheamus and Orton looking on with shit eating grins whilst Show is slapping the stuffing out of Ambrose may have been my favourite mania moment.

[Shovanist Pig]

Fandango has star written all over him hasn't he? Just by watching his Mania entrance you can tell he's got 'IT'. Cracking look and he carries himself like a proper fucking superstar. He isn't too shabby in the ring either.

 

I think a nice little feud with a someone like a RVD (if he returns) to put him over would be a good next step to take with him.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think everything profound or new that needs to be said has been said, pretty much.

 

But, i'll recycle someone else's thoughts for you if I have to.

 

It wasn't a dreadful show, but it was bogged down by a top heavy card that didn't give you a moment to breathe and left you begging them to just close the show.

 

I've since gone back and watched the main matches individually, with time between, and they are actually quite good matches.

 

CM Punk/Taker was great. It opened really well, suffered from a noticeable sag in the middle (that keeps it away from the HBK and HHH matches in terms of quality) but ended really well. CM Punk's mannerisms are great. I think it's important for WWE to try and convince him not to take time off right now, even if it means given him a house show free schedule for 6 months. After the year he's had he's the only full time guy who comes anywhere near Cena in terms of main event aura and quality (and he doesn't come that near, really) and the product isn't ready to be without him.

 

I'll be fair, and say that any of the three matches would have benefitted from Punk/Takers position on the card. That said, regardless, they played the hands they were dealt and it was match of the night.

 

Lesnar/Triple H was slow and plodding. As a wrestling match it wasn't any good, really. The only thing that shone through, for me, was the power of the Brock Lesnar character. I'd had a few shandies by this point, and when he came out I was bouncing around the room near enough shouting 'LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THE FUCKING GEEZA! HE'S FUCKING TERRIFYING!'. Or words to that effect.

 

Then when he started screaming and shouting and chucking Triple H about, I was at near full-on mangasm.

 

I fucking love Brock Lesnar.

 

He was great, utterly convincing in his role but I don't think as a match it came together. Partly due to chemistry not being there, and partly because as much as I like Triple H, I don't think he's ever going to be the guy who can guide someone to a great match when they wouldn't otherwise have that ability. I'm not saying Brock's not AMAZING (see above), i'm just saying that after his years off (and the relatively short period he spent at the top anyway) and being part time, I don't think his match building is fantastic. But it doesn't need to be. He's a killer beast man.

 

The main event was really, really good.

 

I didn't think that on first viewing, but on second viewing I really enjoyed the match. The spot which played on last years finish was just superb and, in reality, the match should have ended there, on a high. That's my only criticism though.

 

Still think handing the spotlight over to The Rock was a bit naff. Fuck that. I wanted Cena basking in the, ahem, glory of the rabid crowd and his moment.

 

But, yeah, show suffered greatly from poor timing.

 

I'm not buying for ONE FUCKING SECOND that Rock is injured. Or at least not the injury he's saying he has. Torn an ab and adductor muscle off the pelvis? Are you shitballs carrying on wrestling for 15 minutes without any REALLY noticeable side effects. And, then, after the match he didn't seek treatment. He just chatted casually with Cena.

 

I doubt if he had that injury he'd have even be able to raise his arms at the end. Nevermind without even wincing.