The actual proper Wrestlemania 29 Thread

[LaGoosh]

Judging by their exchanges in the opening match, I think a Sheamus/Roman Reigns singles match would be bloody great. They would just knock the shit out of eachother.

[AshC]

Anyone catch the names behind Cena during the training segment at Wrestlemania? Must be a massive rib! 'Barri Griffiths' is among the names obscured on the right.

 

[Ant]

Anyone catch the names behind Cena during the training segment at Wrestlemania? Must be a massive rib! 'Barri Griffiths' is among the names obscured on the right.

 

 

Google any of those names and I suspect you'll find an FCW superstar, some more familiar than others!

[Callum1993]

Aren't they just the real names of current/former NXT guys?

[AshC]

Of course. Reckon this was a mischievous way to 'get them on the show'?!

[Ant]

So Consequences Creed and Alex Riley made it onto the grandest stage of them all and Damien Sandow didn't.

[Statto]

From what I recall from last year's Wrestlemania build-up videos (the ones where they showed Rock & Cena 'in real life' IE Cena is the great guy who does all the Make-A-Wish, WWE promo work etc., Rock is the Hollywood star who parachutes into wrestling every now and again), doesn't Cena own the gym where the FCW/NXT guys work out, or something?

 

I certainly remember seeing that shutter door with the names on in the videos, and clips of Cena working out with the FCW guys (and them telling the camera what an awesome guy he was & how much help he gives them, of course). I think there was also a board where they had an FCW bench press record thing going on, and showed Big E breaking it.

[DeanoTheGame]

Just finished watching Mania. Great show. I agree with whoever it was who said that people's expectations of Mania are too high - I almost always enjoy it, and then find people bitching about it online. The crowd were shit, but they've been shit at the last few Manias. I think some of the atmosphere must get lost in an open-air stadium as the move to these larger venues seemed to coincide with the crowd getting shit.

 

Punk/Taker was the best match on the card, but Lesnar/Hunter wasn't far off. HBK superkicking Heyman was fantastic too. The main event was completely flat and the whole love affair afterwards was just odd. I'm also pleased we got Henry, Shield and Fandango wins plus that Shellshock moment for Ryback. It doesn't do much for either man, but I enjoyed it.

[buba3d]

- Triple H revealed on Twitter that he suffered second degree burns from some dry ice that got on him during his match. Here is a photo of the burns.

oh his entrance

[PunkStep]

That's not surprising, you could tell he was in discomfort when he was walking to the ring with his cum-tummy.

 

Watched Mania last night and actually I really enjoyed it overall, for three reasons:

 

1) I didn't stay up until 4 o'clock in the bastard morning like I normally do

2) I prepared for the worst by seeing a lot of negative feedback all over the internet

3) Because you can only watch the ppv repeats at four hour intervals (bit archaic), I started watching it past the halfway point and then watched what I had missed when the next repeat started straight after. Thus meant that Brock/HHH opened the show, then Rock/Cena and the last match was Taker VS Punk. I think that helped a lot.

 

Brock vs HHH was alright, bit disappointing to be honest. Triple H looked in great shape, more tanned than I think I've seen him. Heyman was brilliant as usual.

 

Rock vs Cena I thought was quite good, certainly picked up toward the end (the first two thirds or so were drab) and I loved the finish where Cena teased the people's elbow. Very good spot indeed.

 

Taker VS Punk was tremendous. The Undertaker has now wrestled in perhaps the best match for the past five Wrestlemanias now. That's incredible for anyone, especially for someone of his age. Shawn who? He's the real Mr Wrestlemania. Brilliant, brilliant match. If Punk has a bit of time of, it's well deserved. For the past 2+ years he has come such a long way. He won't be a massive franchise player like the Hogans, Rocks and Cenas of this world but I think he's shown he can comfortably sit in the level underneath. When he was in the indies, of all the 'big name' (you know what I mean) indy wrestlers he was the one I was never keen on.

 

Rest of the card was ok, but not special, certainly for a wrestlemania, but enjoyable. Tag match was good, six man very decent but not as good as the previous Shield bouts, Jericho/Fandango was ok, Ryback/Menry seemed pointless at the time and not all that, World title match was ok I think, can't remember that much about it but don't recall being bored.

[FrankCastle]

I've not posted on here for a bit, mainly due to family commitments and such, but I was really, really looking forward to WrestleMania. The only problem I had with it was seeing the finishes coming a mile off. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but I think when you compare it to last year's, then the level of predictability skyrocketed.

 

Shield vs. Orton/Sheamus/Show

 

I missed the beginning of this, as did the guy I was watching it with, but we both agreed we didn't miss much. The Shield looked very coherent and I liked the way JBL emphasised they were a team over the three individuals on the other side. Sheamus and Reigns could easily have a singles feud, and as I'm a Big Show mark I liked the ending. Loved the triple spear, but it looked like Sheamus still got dumped just as badly as a result. My only issues were that it was perhaps a little too short for the star power that was in it (Can you imagine Orton in an 8min opening match two years ago?), and I'm not sure where the Shield go now. I don't want them to get lost in the mix but if Show/Sheamus/Orton is going to be a three way feud, where does it leave the other three?

 

Henry vs. Ryback

 

I tend to like matches like this where a guy who is billed as being a powerhouse comes up against someone stronger than him, and has to alter his strategy. Problem is, Ryback doesn't look like half the monster he's supposed to when up against Henry. That's not Henry's fault, but you can't expect him to sell the Meathook the same way Daniel Bryan would. I would have liked to see Ryback change his game plan somewhat, and would have liekd a few more power moves from Henry, but it was watchable and I too understood the need for Ryback to be the one walking out at the end.

 

Hell No vs. Ziggler/Langston

 

Hopefully this is the end for thrown together combinations of wrestlers challenging for the tag belts. Langston may look the part, but he has less charisma than Greg Valentine's shinpad. I like Hell No, and the fact they've actually gone to some effort to get over as a team, with vaguely matching colours in their ring attire at least scores them some points. Ziggler/Langston was two guys thrown together because neither had anything to do, and they weren't going to win the titles, so what was the point of the match? I wish they would put some proper effort into the tag division, because if the damned Usos win the tag belts then it's time to pack in.

 

Fandango vs. Jericho

 

Surprised me how over Fandango was. I thought his gimmick would mean he would end up being fed to a couple of guys with nothing to do, then disappearing off to Saturday Morning Slam. He's obviously got the look, and he's also over, but I was concerned about the fact he got virtually no offence in at all, and looked like he was surprised to win, which as a heel he should never look surprised at. Overall, I think the result was the right one, but it was a sloppy small package to get the win and the guy's still got a lot more to do to convince me he's going to be anything other than cannon fodder in the next six months.

 

Del Rio vs. Swagger

 

This bored the arse off me. Del Rio is just boring. I can't engage with the guy on any level. He's couldn't do the Mexican Million Dollar Man gimmick, and now he can't do the Man of the People Gimmick. He's clumsy, lacking charisma and not thrilling or creative in the ring. And now he has shoulder blade tattoos like he's off down the market to flog you a dodgy second hand Playstation and hang around with a bird called Sharon. Swagger is also devoid of any interesting traits and now this feud is over, which race is he going to pick on now? There's no mileage in his gimmick and he'll be back in the pack in no time. As for the match itself, it was boring, formulaic and I can't take the cross arm breaker as a serious finisher. Glad this is over with and hopefully Del Rio will be selling ten gas lighters for a pound soon.

 

Taker vs. Punk

 

I enjoyed this. I missed the Raw where Punk had tipped the contents of the urn over Taker, so when I saw that, both me and my mate were surprised that they'd gone that far. As has already been said, the only things to this matches detriment were how out of shape Taker was and the fact Punk was never in with a shout of winning. The Anaconda Vice sit up and the urn shot were my favourite bits, and I think Punk brought the best out of Taker. Heyman was a good foil at ringside, and I kept thinking Taker would clock him at some point and that would lead to an extended period of Punk offence. Shame they didn't make more out of Punk's previous win over him, however dodgy.

 

Part of me, while happy to see The Streak left intact, was actually hoping that Punk won, mainly because it would be the ultimate way to cement his heeldom. Imagine, if he'd ended The Streak, how Punk would use that to his advantage. He'd be the ultimate heel, and would be able to back it up with the conviction that he'd beaten one of the true greats when it really mattered. He could stand in the ring on Raw and not be an anti-hero, or a tweener, he would be a full on nasty piece of work. Shame WWE didn't have the balls to do it.

 

Triple H vs. Lesnar

 

Loved this, mainly because Lesnar came across as being a legit hardman. Say what you want about Triple H, but the guy can tell a story in that ring. How he dealt with Lesnar was superb in terms of ring psychology and technical ability. Lesnar played his part as well, as did Heyman. I did think the repeated use of the Kimura was a bit OTT, particularly the third time, when even a half aware Brock would have had the nouse to get his arm out of the way. The Pedigree on the steps looked very, very real, and the fact that HHH had to go to extreme lengths to beat him kept Brock's aura intact. Well planned out and well worked, the only downside the superfluous presence of HBK.

 

Cena vs. Rock

 

I hope the cacophony of boos that rang out around the MetLife Stadium before, during and after the main event tell Vince McMahon that his supposed "Champ" now garners more hatred than his entire heel roster. Yes it was the right decision to have him beat The Rock, but the manner in which Cena did it - pulling faces, acting like a cocky heel, mocking his opponent - stuck two fingers up at his supposed wholesome image. That would be fine if it were the beginnings of a heel turn, but we all know that will never happen, so why act like that, unless he was in business for himself. His attitude was reprehensible and unprofessional. Couple that with his sloppy moves and audible communication with his opponent, and he is a let down as Champion. He also has no credible challengers, as he's steamrollered every possible threat in front of him. He doesn't need the belt, but I can't see him losing it anytime soon. His timing was off, and The Rock was no better, visibly blowing up and letting the pace of the match drag so much there were at times I was screaming for him to just do something. I also don;t buy the injury angle, he wouldn't have been able to raise his hands above his head had he been injured in that way.

 

The least said about the saccharine ending the better.

 

Overall, I enjoyed most things, apart from Del Rio v Swagger and the main event. I'll be honest, I can't stand Cena, so I will stand by my assertion that he shouldn't be champion, but I'm not going to be a "he needs to turn heel" shouter, because I know that won't happen. What I will argue against is his licence to act like a puerile, immature heel, without actually being one.

[AshC]

Something I just realised - barring Swagger/Del Rio, there was a star established in the 1990s on one side of every match.

 

Show

Henry

Kane

Jericho

Undertaker

HHH

Rock

[Chest Rockwell]

That match too, if you count Zeb. Though you'd probably be stretching the definition of the word "star" he did work for the WWF in the 90s.

 

I think it does count though, because Swagger is nothing without him and he gave the match the only heat it had.

[King Coconut]

Henry established in the 90s?

[AshC]

He won his first title and had the big contract then, coming in off all the Olympics stuff. Though I would agree that his highest highs have came in more recent times. He's been on TV since earlyish 1996.