Wrestlemania 38 - A Stupendous Weekend in Dallas

[Keith Houchen]

3 minutes ago, Supremo said:

There were rumours of a Pat vs. Vince match, coming off the back of Vince appearing on Pat’s podcast, where an angle was expected. Instead, it was a long, drawn out, “why are you so amazing?” interview. I never finished it. Maybe they shagged there and then.

Blimey! Sounds like when a Tory asks a question at PMQs. 

[Loki]

If Cody Rhodes does bottle it and not turn up to Mania, I’m going to make a wild prediction and say that Seth’s opponent will be Bray Wyatt… the OLD Bray Wyatt, original music and hat and apron.

[Keith Houchen]

It’ll be Bossman if anyone. It’s his year. 

[IANdrewDiceClay]

@Andrew the Giant

[Kfogg1991]

I genuinely cannot find the words to explain how amazing this first night was overall. 

It wasn't perfect the entire way through there were some off bits but quite a few of the matches went out there and tried to steal the show. 

Cody coming back against rollins got a huge pop from me and that match was really fucking good. 

Becky vs Bianca was a very very very good women's match (out of the 2 women's title matches this one shat on Charlotte vs Ronda)

But that main event.....when can we say honestly wwe went into the main event of the first night of wrestlemania and they under promised with this is a version of the KO show with stone cold.....going into a no holds barred match with a returning Austin for the first time in 19 years!!?? Was the match a 5 star classic no absolutely not. But it was so fucking special too see it because it looked like it just wouldn't happen again and Austin looked like he was having a blast.

Overall this was so so so entertaining and enjoyable I can't believe how much I was into some of these matches and how much I enjoyed it.

[CTXRussomark]

I skimmed through it this morning, mainly just skipping to the finishes for most matches. For the matches I did watch in full:

I thought Logan Paul looked an absolute star out there and definitely didn't feel like just a celebrity appearance.  Him hitting the 3 Amigos and then doing the Eddie shuffle on the top rope were top level cheap heat shithousery.  Not sure if the turn at the end was a way of shifting the focus back onto Miz or if they'll go down a Miz/Paul feud route, but they could do worse than to throw some money at him (and his brother if he's interested) to do more in the future. 

Charlotte/Rousey was good, if a little clunky at times (though that actually added to it in places).  Charlotte really overdoes the pantomime facials which stands out even more against someone like Rousey.  Thought the crowd were a bit flat at times but this was towards the end of the night and they still had Austin to go, so understandable. 

I can completely understand why they didn't advertise the Austin match, and I have no doubt it was 100% Austin's decision.  This was not a Shawn Michaels or Edge type comeback where you think they have another run in them.  Austin looked great aesthetically in the sense he's looked the same for the past 25 years, but he looked pretty slow and as limited in the ring as his 19 year absence would suggest.  None of that mattered though - this was great for what it needed to be.  I thought the talk segment at the start was a bit lacklustre and the eventual "ok let's have a match" was anticlimactic, but by the end of the night none of that really mattered.  Let this be it for Austin physically and hope the Saudis didn't watch the show. 

In terms of everything else:

The stadium looked great, as you'd expect. 

Was the injury in the opener a work?  Certainly looked like it from the replays they showed at the end, but then I caught the announcers talking later about Boogs needing surgery. 

Drew's sword spot with the ropes was cool. 

Didn't watch anything of Becky/Bianca. 

Cody's entrance got a great reaction but zero interest in sitting through the match.  Finish seemed to be hot so I assume it went well. 

[air_raid]

Absolutely pissing myself at the AEW fans either reacting smugly to how much a star reaction Cody got compared to before he left, or wetting the bed about it.

This is what you wanted. Everyone whined for near two decades that with a monopoly on big time US wrestling, with nowhere else to work, wrestlers had nowhere else to go, so couldn’t leave if they got stale, refresh themselves and come back. They just stayed in WWE for 15 years, stale for 10 of them. AEW have been the beneficiaries of guys hopping the fence to reinvigorate themselves since the start. But it works both ways. It has to. Everybody wins longer term.

Edited April 3, 2022 by air_raid

[FLips]

The dog woke us up in the middle of the night and I figured might as well watch the back end of the show. Ronda vs Charlotte was pretty decent.

KO vs Austin i’m split on to be honest. I can absolutely understand why Austin wanted to go out with a win in his home state on his own terms and fair play to him because he seemed to have a blast and for what it was it was a pretty fun brawl.
Selfishly though as a fan during his peak years, the bittersweet retirement against his greatest rival is one I would have preferred to keep over a t-shirt on brawl with a million camera cuts during a time I don’t have any attachment to the product. That’s purely selfish though and fair fucks to him for looking as good as he did and still being as over as he is and putting on the match he did. Certainly more respectful than HBK, Bret, Undertaker and other peers of his who came back and stunk the place up.

I’m not going to start watching again cos the weekly product is pish and the camera was knocking me sick, but they still know how to put on a spectacle for Mania.

[AnotherCrapUsername]

Whilst the main event won't be discussed as one of the great Wrestlemania main events, that was everything I wanted.

Of all the nostalgia acts over the years that have slotted in to a Mania main event has anyone deserved it more than Austin?

I'm really happy that he's hopefully been able to finish his career on his own terms in the place it all started for him.

From hearing how much of a massive Stone Cold fan Kevin Owens was and how he took the advise of talking shit when in the ring, to be able to say that he had Austins last ever match and in the main event of a Wrestlemania must be incredible and certainly shows why he signed a new contract a while back.

[d-d-d-dAz]

I think 3 star Cody might have had his best match ever. 

His return literally couldn’t have gone better. I’m sure it’ll be downhill from here, but they gave him the platform to look a star from the entrance and then the match - solid, hard-hitting and scruffy but in a way that helped - was as good a wrestling match as Cody has ever had.

I was surprised they played up how he’d been gone for a long time and in other companies (‘welcome back to the big leagues, bitch’) and then still let him win clean as a whistle. Not a very WWE choice.

’The Prodigal Son’ would be a superb extra nickname for him.

I was surprised how deft his performance was, to be honest. It was note perfect, with clever nods to his past and dad at just the right time without being cloying.

Great job. Top marks.

I absolutely think they could have got away with advertising that Stone Cold match as a match. They’ve advertised far worst.

It was a fun way to end the show, because for a while it felt depressing that Mania would end with a chat show.

[Kfogg1991]

27 minutes ago, CTXRussomark said:

I skimmed through it this morning, mainly just skipping to the finishes for most matches. For the matches I did watch in full:

I thought Logan Paul looked an absolute star out there and definitely didn't feel like just a celebrity appearance.  Him hitting the 3 Amigos and then doing the Eddie shuffle on the top rope were top level cheap heat shithousery.  Not sure if the turn at the end was a way of shifting the focus back onto Miz or if they'll go down a Miz/Paul feud route, but they could do worse than to throw some money at him (and his brother if he's interested) to do more in the future. 

Charlotte/Rousey was good, if a little clunky at times (though that actually added to it in places).  Charlotte really overdoes the pantomime facials which stands out even more against someone like Rousey.  Thought the crowd were a bit flat at times but this was towards the end of the night and they still had Austin to go, so understandable. 

I can completely understand why they didn't advertise the Austin match, and I have no doubt it was 100% Austin's decision.  This was not a Shawn Michaels or Edge type comeback where you think they have another run in them.  Austin looked great aesthetically in the sense he's looked the same for the past 25 years, but he looked pretty slow and as limited in the ring as his 19 year absence would suggest.  None of that mattered though - this was great for what it needed to be.  I thought the talk segment at the start was a bit lacklustre and the eventual "ok let's have a match" was anticlimactic, but by the end of the night none of that really mattered.  Let this be it for Austin physically and hope the Saudis didn't watch the show. 

In terms of everything else:

The stadium looked great, as you'd expect. 

Was the injury in the opener a work?  Certainly looked like it from the replays they showed at the end, but then I caught the announcers talking later about Boogs needing surgery. 

Drew's sword spot with the ropes was cool. 

Didn't watch anything of Becky/Bianca. 

Cody's entrance got a great reaction but zero interest in sitting through the match.  Finish seemed to be hot so I assume it went well. 

Mate it is super super rare I would say this about anything wwe related however you really are missing out not watching the becky vs Bianca match and the same for rollins vs Cody. They were very very good.

In terms of the injury in the opener it seemed legit he was in alot of pain and the update afterwards way way into the show once you would have more than likely forgot about it made it seem very real and legit which Is a huge shame for boogs in his first mania match.

Another thing I forgot to mention is how sad it is and it must have been another level of disappointing and gutting for the new day, warmed up, dressed ready to go out there for their match only for it to be cut because they had run over and there wasn't enough time. You would severely hope they get moved to tonight if nothing else but respect for those guys and what they do/have done for the company. 

I also forgot to mention how fucking irritating and annoying the constant barrage of adverts/replays after every fucking move and camera angles at times became the more the show went on. 

Also several times the feed cut out and just went black from when the undertaker came out and the last time was during the Charlotte vs Ronda match which was very fucking irritating during the biggest show of tbe year and the first time in years I paid for a show on box office 

[I Bent My Wookie]

Torn quad and torn patella for Boogs, surgery next week, likelyhood at least 6 months out. 

The finish did seem mad rushed once he went down. Its a shame as well as he had been one of the better parts of SmackDown in recent months and was developing as a talent himself. 

 

I absolutely loved Dominics Los Gringo Locos gear too.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Shy Dad

[Hannibal Scorch]

46 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Absolutely pissing myself at the AEW fans either reacting smugly to how much a star reaction Cody got compared to before he left, or wetting the bed about it.

This is what you wanted. Everyone whined for near two decades that with a monopoly on big time US wrestling, with nowhere else to work, wrestlers had nowhere else to go, so couldn’t leave if they got stale, refresh themselves and come back. They just stayed in WWE for 15 years, stale for 10 of them. AEW have been the beneficiaries of guys hopping the fence to reinvigorate themselves since the start. But it works both ways. It has to. Everybody wins longer term.

I’m glad he’s back. I think he is where he wants to be. That said… The camera work for the entrance was awful. The camera work throughout wasn’t great either missing the barricade spot completely. The fact Cody hat to hit his finisher 3 times to beat Rollins I thought was poor booking that made him look weak. Felt the match overall was overbooked. As an AEW fan I’m not miffed at all he left, he had got proper stale, so I hope this works out, but thought it wasn’t great. 
 

Austin vs KO will be considered a match, but it was just a slightly bigger version of his beat downs from other events over the years. And he’s certainly not Sting in the ring. But if that’s what he wanted, fair play to him

Hang on @Kfogg1991 you actually paid for the event?

Edited April 3, 2022 by Hannibal Scorch

[WyattSheepMask]

9 hours ago, IANdrewDiceClay said:

@Andrew the Giant

The 10th Wonder of the World

[d-d-d-dAz]

There’s so much saltiness about Cody’s return from some quarters. It’s so weird.

He was a square peg in a round hole in AEW and his act got lost, now he’s back where I suspect he feels more at home and has a chance of winning the big one. I’m not sure what the problem is.

The fact that competition can go both ways and find success is good for everyone. Literally everyone should be happy right now. A guy who didn’t fit in one place and was having a negative effect has been shifted to a place where he may fit in and have a positive effect. That’s great news.