Paid Members JNLister Posted April 5, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2020 Kind of hoping that after going with western/horror for Undertaker-Styles, they do Cena-Wyatt as full-on slapstick. Ends with Wyatt on roller skates clinging on to the back of a bus and they cut to the front to reveal Cena is driving and it's heading to WrestleMania in Hollywood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members FLips Posted April 5, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2020 I just can't get behind the no crowd thing at all. It completely takes me out of the matches to the point that I took very little enjoyment in Rollins/Owens or the Ladder match. The rest of the card was shite anyway. Who opens a Mania with a women's tag? Fucking hell. Boneyard Match was ace though, and I was chuffed it was only 3 hours long. Imagine the usual 5 of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snitsky's back acne Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 I'm in two minds about that being Taker's swan song too. I'd have been fine with Undertaker having his last arena match v Roman [complete with that ending] and than, as has been said, The Undertaker existing in this kind of parallel universe where people call him out and he wrestles in the Boneyard environment. Agree that he looked fucking bad ass in that though and Sting v Taker in that kind of match would be a great end for both [as has been said]. Couldn't buy it as a WrestleMania due to the setting but what really showed was those who have worked the indies extensively in front of different crowds and with different styles [Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens etc] and those who haven't [Braun, Goldberg etc]. It's just the little things and the ability to adapt to their surroundings. Enjoyed it overall and, as has been said, it didn't drag. WWE take note.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWOLeN Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) Main event saved Day 1. On the plus side it gave me enjoyment before the show as something to look forward to in this Corona mess. I’m also looking forward to tonight. However...Overall, it felt like another weekly episode of Smackdown/RAW in an empty arena. It was very underwhelming. Goldberg looked like my 72 year old dad. Bald with a full grey beard. Not the ‘killer Goldberg’ look they still promote in the posters. Why didn’t he bother to look like his old self somewhat? I don’t think Becky vs Shayna did them both any favours. Becky is a very awkward wrestler in silence and Shayna’s heat is all gone now. She will never recover from this in my perception. She didn’t win the Rumble when we all believed she would and she didn’t win at Mania when we all believed she would. They completely Samoa Joe’d her now. A dirty win would have elevated Baszler and gave Lynch some sympathy and time to recharge. I’m expecting a better card for today. I hope Bayley screws Banks and Flair wins the NXT Title. Plus a Drew Edge/win. I miss the crowd. Edited April 5, 2020 by LWOLeN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westlondonmist Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Part of me is wondering if this is too late for Strowman, something that should have happened 2 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Matt Hardy on Twitter trying to take credit for the Boneyard Match. Â He really is delusional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wideload90 Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) The boneyard match was 100 times better than anything they could have achieved in a traditional mania match. Everything about it helped reinforce that this wasn't a traditional wrestlemania and I loved it; the trash talk, the entrances and the pacing made it better than it had any right to be. Easily the most entertaining Undertaker performance since the Michaels/Triple H matches.  I'd be happy to leave that as the ending to his career. No point flogging a dead horse (man) again. Edited April 5, 2020 by Wideload90 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ReturnOfTheMack Posted April 5, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2020 This was the first wrestling I have watched in the last year (well, bar the odd old match). Loved the Boneyard match, utterly insane spectacle. On the other hand the pre match promo for the woman's championship match made Lynch look like a really irritating wanker, when last year she seemed a full on bad ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LWOLeN Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 9 minutes ago, westlondonmist said: Part of me is wondering if this is too late for Strowman, something that should have happened 2 years ago. I don’t see much aftermath hype for Strowman. The headline on Forbes is ‘Braun Strowman saves his career’. Not so nice of them. The main story on WWE.com is also Taker vs Styles.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted April 5, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2020 The Boneyard Match was a MASTERPIECE! Utterly ridiculous but I absolutely loved it. Exactly the crazy sort of stuff they couldn’t get away with in any other circumstances. I was laughing out loud in the best possible way. Amazing! The rest of it ... I found the first half hard to get into. Why do they keep playing to the audience when there is no audience and refuse to acknowledge the camera when literally everyone watching is doing so via the camera? I don’t know. Someone somewhere’s bound to do an edit where crowd noise is included, that’d help so much. Every one of those matches, I couldn’t help but think they’d have felt so much better in front of a stadium full of people. It’s a shame these matches will never get that. But since our honeymoon to California isn’t likely to happen this year... LA for WM37? I might ask... Owens vs Rollins was a good match with the above caveats, probably the first time I forgot about how weird these PCentre shows are. Goldberg vs Braun was BRILLIANT. It was like playing SmackDown with your finishers on max and is exactly what I want a Goldberg match to be. The Boneyard though. *kisses the air* Beautiful. I didn’t think this Mania would have any replay value but I would happily watch that again and again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Butternut Squash Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 Not much to add about the Boneyard match. Awesome stuff and the first time this empty arena era delivered a match that truly washed away the weirdness in this world. There were points in this where I just laughed and laughed.  Ridiculous match but utterly spot on at the same time. Taker's trash talkin was top tier and brought some hate to the absurdity. It probably would have died playing at a real arena but this is definitely a potential option they have to preserve The Undertaker and the other real stars without embarrassing them in a live setting. Best Mania main event since the first Brock vs Roman. Couldnt bare to watch Corbin/Elias, the ladder match or Owens/Rollins but the other stuff was like a good episode of Raw. I get why they did that finish but I can't help but feel bad for Baszler. She's a lost cause on this roster and the Becky character continues to go down a dreadful, dreadful path without a single intriguing feud in sight. Goldberg looked terrible and I was glad to see him squashed. Hollow victory for poor Braun though. With Roman gone for the foreseeable, I'm guessing he's keeping the belt warm while they try scramble back together The Fiend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyUK Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 I really enjoyed it and the Boneyard match was utterly brilliant. The lack of a crowd was distracting at first but once we got past the first couple of matches and to stuff I actually wanted to see I kinda got used to it. Didn't give a flying fuck about the Womens Tag Title match or Elias/Corbin but they got them out of the way early. Was surprised Becky beat Shayna and Bryan/Zayn had a short but fun, stiff match before things really kicked into gear with the Ladder match and Rollins/Owens both being very good. Goldberg/Braun was another sprint, and it's funny that they've finally given Braun the title now, at literally a time where he couldn't have any less momentum but I'm still chuffed him.   That Taker/Styles match though. Bloody hell. A reminder of how good this medium can be. I hope the Funhouse match was done in a similar fashion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted April 5, 2020 Awards Moderator Share Posted April 5, 2020 On the Becky finish, I like that Shayna still hasn’t figured out how to stop the Clutch being countered like that. It’s how Ember Moon and Kairi Sane beat her as well. Also enjoyed JBL comparing John Morrison to a young Mr Perfect. John Morrison who is four years younger than Mr Perfect was when he died. I might watch the Boneyard Match again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members DCW Posted April 5, 2020 Paid Members Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) I can't be watching the empty arena matches, far too soulless so I skipped the lot of them. But I adored that boneyard match and was grinning like a gobshite all the way through it, so full marks to Taker and Styles. Was half hoping Gallows and Anderson would appear holding McCool hostage or something for maximum hokiness, probably for the best they avoided that I suppose. 10/10 though, if you can't enjoy that you shouldn't be watching wrestling! Also thought it would have been hilarious if Taker showed up with his Kid Rock or Limp Bizkit theme playing or they had one of the Mexicools working the John Deere tractor! Edited April 5, 2020 by DCW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Dem Wanz Posted April 5, 2020 Share Posted April 5, 2020 (edited) If Taker does do another one of these he needs to rock up to that Metallica song again, I thought that was a great choice for entrance music Edited April 5, 2020 by Otto Dem Wanz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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