WrestleMania 16/17

[C-Rock]

I really like the big extravagant (if thats how u spell it lol) sets like WrestleMania 17, 18 and 26.

 

Who designs and decides on how the set will look? and once Mania is over do they just tear it down and bin it? I'v wondered that for a while same with other PPV sets, or does WWE have like a massive warehouse were they stock stuff like that? if they do I'd love to visit it and see all the stuff they have kept over the years, I can imagine now its different because I've noticed the sets are very similar these days for different PPV's, must be a cost cutting measure to make them more simple and less expensive.

 

I also liked they Invasion entrance way as well with the seperate entrances for WWE/the Alliance. I also miss the walkways that led all the way to the ring apron like was used in early WCW and often in ECW. I can't ever see WWE having those again however. I'd like to see for a complete change, the entrance way involving stairs at WrestleMania, the superstars walk down a flight of stairs and then onto the stage.

[Reznor]

I don't think there's any doubt that the ordinary arena, poor setup and lack of colour hurt the feel and atmosphere of WM2000, but I do disagree with almost everyone with regards to the show itself. I thought it was cracking show at the time, mostly because I loved the main matches I was interested in, those being the IC/Euro 3way, ladder match and main. I could probably nitpick with the filler matches, but you're never going to get a show full of back to back classics.

 

I imagine looking at it today is probably different from watching at the time, because it all felt so fresh back then. Almost every match at least had some intrigue with loads new faces/teams all over the place. The two throwaway tag matches could possibly have been condensed into a 4 way but I guess it's hard to put over two (heel) teams that way. The DX/Kane/Rikishi tag was nothing either, but it was just an excuse to get those names on the show, and it's placement on the card never exactly required anything too thrilling.

 

Contrary to probably everyone, the main event was practically ideal for me. I didn't like Rock enough or hate Triple H enough to be all that excited about a one v one match, but I realised that was a big deal at the time so it would be fitting to see them go at it. And they did. I was really enjoying Foley at that time too, so him being brought back after thinking we had saw the last of him, was a very cool bonus. And Big Show belonged in the mix too due to his unsettled Rock feud. Throw in plunder, all the McMahon soap-opera shenanigans which were always entertaining, and it just added up to the perfect main event for someone like me who probably wouldn't have been all that excited about any singles combination - unless they held back the career match from No Way Out. The elimination rules helped too, as it probably would have sucked if it was done like a fatal fourway.

 

I'm exactly like SoC with rebooking Wrestlemanias (especially those 3hr ones from 93-99 where i give myself an extra hour!), but I probably wouldn't have done anything drastically different from what they went with in 2000. I never even noticed the lack of singles matches until I read it years later. The biggest disappointment was the setting, although the logos and graphics all looked great.

 

If I was going to absolutely butcher a Wrestlemania lineup from around that time, it would be the turd that was XVIII in 2002. XV sucked balls too, but with the style of the day back then, I don't think any rejigging would've made a huge difference.

[ratedrpoed]

A Big Show/Austin main event was the long term plan for Mania 16, I understand. Not sure at which point they realised Austin wouldn't be around but I doubt they'd have made it to April without switching to something else. Probably would've ended up with the Austin/Rock rematch a year earlier or had Austin challenging Triple H one on one.

 

Am sure the original plan was Rock/Austin with the same finish as the WM 17 main event + Taker/Big Show.