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WrestleMania XXXI Discussion thread *SPOILERS*


IANdrewDiceClay

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The Bad

 

- The Steph/Rock/Rhonda segment. FUCKING HELL. It went on forever, it was boring and Stephanie should never be on television ever. She's such a terrible terrible performer. They basically booted the battle royale to the pre-show to get this fucking shite on the show.

What are you smoking? Steph has been AMAZING! Her heat is real, no X-Pac heat here. Since her return she has been on fire. Sure, the segment was well over long, that was The Rock's fault.

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My enthusiasm was low going in as this was the first year in ages when the Rumble didn’t engage me enough to watch the Mania build up.

Overall it was an absolutely top notch show! The stadium looked great, the crowd were super into it & the whole show just had a huge sense of fun running through it.

 

Had no problem with the ladder match opener. Was a fast paced affair with a happy ending to get the crowd pumped.

 

Rollins / Orton was a cracker, loved the curb stomp/RKO finish & opens up possibilities for Orton chasing the title.

 

Bryan’s backstage skit with the legends was great. Flair ‘woo-ing’ & chopping Steamboat was amazing. I’ll always fucking love Ric Flair.

 

Sting / HHH was a real Mania match in every sense. I was grinning ear to ear throughout & although the DX/NWO showdown came close to eclipsing Sting’s moment it was just a huge mark out match. I thought Sting looked in great shape & hope the response he got means it isn’t his last ever match.

 

Cena / Rusev was everything I want from wrestling. Rusev is a natural & had the crowd mega hot & in the palm of his hand. Cena (rightfully) getting the win is what Mania should be about & the springboard stunner was an unexpected treat.

 

Thought the Rock & Steph promo was pretty awful tbh. The low point of the show & seemed to go on forever. The only highpoint being HHH nearly corpsing after Rock’s ‘fallopian tubes’ line

 

Taker / Wyatt had me worried beforehand, reports of Wyatt being injured & Taker not being in great shape had lowered my already quite low expectations. What a lovely surprise. Taker looked like he was in really good nick, thought his outfit & understated entrance worked perfectly & again, like Cena, him winning was the fitting finish for the event. Thought Wyatt came out looking really strong too. From what I’ve seen he’s done little wrong since coming in. He’s gold.

 

Lesnar / Reigns was pretty much the perfect match they could have made from the situation they were in. I see absolutely nothing in Reigns, just find him average in every sense. Thank fuck for Brock though! The F5 at the start had me thinking this would be a replay of the Cena beat down. Brock’s ‘suplex city bitch’ line had me on my feet & I imagine the response to the near falls was nigh on deafening in the stadium. Rollins cashing in was the perfect ending IMO. Lesnar still looks like a killer & you have 70k fans who aren’t going home unhappy. Job well done.

 

 

Other thoughts…

 

The entrances really suffered. HHH’s was pure wank & looked cheap as fuck. Have to assume that getting Arnie on board came with the caveat that they’d have to pimp the new (terrible looking) Terminator film. Reigns walking precariously down the steps, one hand holding the rail & surrounded by security guards just made him look like a pisshead getting booted out of the MEN Arena.

 

Someone else mentioned that following WWE by just watching PPV’s might be the way forward. I think this definitely is the best fit for me. 1hr of NXT TV a week & a full PPV each month seems like the best fit for me without getting quickly burned out post Mania.

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What was the point of LL Cool J?

Weird choice to put him in the intro video after building him up as being there , then not have him anywhere else
I thought he would be performing at the very least, even though it's not 1999. On that note, I'm surprised there hasn't been any mention of how shit Skylar Grey was. Up there with the worst live performances ever.

Disagree. Don't get me wrong, I didn't rate the sung much at all, but I thought her performance was alright to be honest. Worst live performances? Pimping Aint Easy from WM16 or anytime R-Truth sings during his entrances.
I actually really like the song which is probably why I hated her performance, out of tune for most of it.
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Sorry if this has been covered, but was Dean Ambrose legitimately injured in the ladder match when Luke Harper power-bombed him on that ladder? Ambrose just folded up like an accordion, feet over his head. He’s lucky didn’t crack his skull open on a rung, or break his neck.

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Sorry if this has been covered, but was Dean Ambrose legitimately injured in the ladder match when Luke Harper power-bombed him on that ladder? Ambrose just folded up like an accordion, feet over his head. He’s lucky didn’t crack his skull open on a rung, or break his neck.

Spoiler:

 

 

He was OK to wrestle on Raw

 

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The point earlier was interesting about them building a super-serious blood feud then changing their minds and doing what was almost a nostalgia comedy match.

 

I don't know if it was my post you were referring to but I made a point about Triple H seeing the Wrestling isn't Wrestling video and then deciding to make it a fun match.

 

Expanding on this: Lesnar is so serious and legitimate then when he wrestles on a card, there's a proper main event to build up towards throughout the night, which is something that's lacking on most WWE shows nowadays. Back when Austin, Rock, Triple H and the rest of them were at their peak, most episodes of Raw and almost every PPV built up to the main event. Wrestlemania 31 was the first time in years that I felt as though I was watching a strong undercard in anticipation of the main event. It's exactly how a good wrestling, boxing or MMA card should be in my eyes.

 

Lesnar re-signing for them could be WWE's biggest coup in a long time. If he can continue having uber serious matches on the big shows, WWE can have more of a variety throughout the undercard. If the Triple H vs Sting match had gone on last, it wouldn't have been half as successful. I don't think Raw would be so tedious if the shows built towards a proper climax in the final half an hour or 45 minutes. But it's just so flat throughout, the same as most of their PPV's.

 

It's why I don't understand why people are complaining about the opening ladder match. It was a four hour show, for fuck's sake. You had Orton, Cena, Triple H, Sting, Undertaker, and Lesnar wrestling later on the show and they expected some sort of classic that would've done nothing but burn the crowd out.

 

I've rambled there a bit but my point is that if you have a proper main event to anticipate, you can half all sorts of fun and a variety of stuff on the undercard. It's when a wrestling show's at its best. The insider/faux reality era we've had for the past five years has run its course.

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What are you smoking? Steph has been AMAZING! Her heat is real, no X-Pac heat here. Since her return she has been on fire.

 

What the fuck are YOU smoking? She is the biggest detriment to the onscreen product by a million miles. Utterly terrible in every way. A heels job is to get over the babyfaces, name ONE, just ONE, single babyface she has helped in the past year! Everytime she appears she kills segments and babyfaces credibility. It's like she's picked up every single one of Vince's bad habits and not a single one of his good ones. Why the fuck is she even on the show? What does she add? If WWE put her, Kane and Big Show and shot them into a fucking volcano the shows would be immediately and significantly improved. I don't see how anyone could deny that.

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- The glorious sunshine and stadium giving the event such a different feel from the same boring steup every other show has.

 

Couldn't agree more. It took a few mins to get used to but I thought it made a nice change since they stopped putting any effort into sets etc. I can't imagine Kevin Dunn would have been thrilled with the choice of venue though, isn't he notoriously anal about things having to look a certain way?

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I was a little peeved that they advertised the champion would be on a TV show the following morning as you knew then there would be a new champion because Lesnar isn't going to do a public appearance, is he?

 

He did the other day.
Fair enough. No complaints here then!

 

  

There's the referee handing the blade over just before the post spot which cut Lesnar open. I thought they'd packed all that in?

Ya48ak4.gif

I'm not saying that a blade wasn't used but I see referees grab superstars' hands like that all the time. I always thought it was a "squeeze my hand if you're ok" kind of deal.
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Really enjoyed the show thought it was solid would have nice to see flair involved with the Sting Trips match bit really no complaints.

 

I read a few weeks ago that they want to make the us and ic titles focal points of TV and house shows with the heavyweight belt remaining an attraction. I guess the results with Bryan and cena are a big step in this direction.

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What are you smoking? Steph has been AMAZING! Her heat is real, no X-Pac heat here. Since her return she has been on fire.

 If WWE put her, Kane and Big Show and shot them into a fucking volcano the shows would be immediately and significantly improved. I don't see how anyone could deny that.

 

I hate Show and Kane, but if you honestly think that removing the three of them will improve the shows significantly, you are missing the biggest problems of the show. Booking, Writing and Time

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What are you smoking? Steph has been AMAZING! Her heat is real, no X-Pac heat here. Since her return she has been on fire.

 

What the fuck are YOU smoking? She is the biggest detriment to the onscreen product by a million miles. Utterly terrible in every way. A heels job is to get over the babyfaces, name ONE, just ONE, single babyface she has helped in the past year! Everytime she appears she kills segments and babyfaces credibility. It's like she's picked up every single one of Vince's bad habits and not a single one of his good ones. Why the fuck is she even on the show? What does she add? If WWE put her, Kane and Big Show and shot them into a fucking volcano the shows would be immediately and significantly improved. I don't see how anyone could deny that.

 

I've not seen much Raw lately, but I thought she was class at 'Mania. The segment was too drawn out, but to me that's nit-picking. It was really good, and to me Steph was the best one out there. She plays a great part and I find her really entertaining.
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