It's Wrestlemania Season

[Chili]

Double pedigrees? Absolutely not.

[Hannibal Scorch]

19 minutes ago, Chili said:

Double pedigrees? Absolutely not.

What Cody did was hardly a Pedigree.

@air_raid definitely a benefit of watching on demand and not having to sit through everything in real time.

Edited April 7 by Hannibal Scorch

[air_raid]

18 minutes ago, Chili said:

Double pedigrees? Absolutely not.

My minor quibble there was the ref starting to count when Rollins didn’t get both shoulders down. But then, double pins are crap anyway. You can’t believably watch two sets of shoulders with one pair of eyes.

Or to quote Mani, “You can’t ride two bikes with one arse.”

[Devon Malcolm]

Night 1!

Becky Lynch vs Rhea Ripley - considering I can't get out of bed, walk, eat, drink, talk or breathe for a week when I have a cold, Becky's efforts in this match can't be understated. An amazing achievement, and a really good match, too. The right result but they have to start building CREDIBLE opponents for Rhea now after this. Otherwise another year will go by and nobody will remember a single one of her matches.

Tag team ladder match - fun, for what it was. R-Truth the clear highlight again and if you didn't smile at him finally winning one then stay away from me you horrible person. God I hate New Catch Republic and I'm glad their intro graphics failed.

Rey and Andrade vs Dirty Dom and Escobar - also fun. I haven't seen much of Andrade at all but what little I have I think he's pretty good. Escobar is also really good and has character. The double crossbody spot was superb.

Jey vs Jimmy - as reported, a turd. One of the worst Wrestlemania matches of all time. Why you wouldn't make this a massive no holds barred brawl? Because by forcing them to wrestle you realise they only have two moves. I really want to like these guys but their matches these days, singles or tags, are always bad. A million superkicks and no selling, what fucking shit. An absolute waste.

Bianca, Jade and Naomi vs Damage Control - Bianca, Asuka and Jade being so miles clear of everyone else of this as stars made it feel uneven and weird. Somebody rescue Asuka from this crappy faction. Jade's the biggest star already.

Sami Zayn vs Gunther - great stuff. As someone who thinks Rocky's crap, I took the nods to it personally. The end stretch and Gunther's heel work were both stellar. The best of the night.

Cody and Seth vs Rocky and Roman - I enjoyed this but I was starting to feel it by the end. Rocky managed to get through it without dying and even managed a bump or two. The stuff with the referee was good and not overplayed. Roman looks like he needs a break and I'm uncomfortable with the 'he's only been on telly twice this year' knobheadery. He's on fucking oral chemotherapy, you twats. Leave him alone.

Overall, pretty good. Not a patch on last year's night 1 but only one dud. Crowd were a bit shit but considering they were freezing their arses off, I'll let them off. What daft bastard thought to do an outside show in Philadelphia in early April? Ffs. Enjoyed commentary a lot too, I like how McAfee and Graves dip in and out of being heels depending on who's on, a much more fluid way of doing things.

[SuperBacon]

3 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

Enjoyed commentary a lot too

Yeah I must say I enjoyed it as well, and usually don't.

Few other things:

Beckys outfit was dreadful. Excerpts of her book on it? Dreadful. Did you know she had a book out?

Please all be kind to my friend Lil Wayne. He has made about 5,000,000 songs in his career, has taken drugs since the late 90s and performs with teleprompters live.

My 11yo texted me this morning to say "Can you get me that special edition Prime?" ffs. 

Jade Cargill looked amazing and performed brilliantly. 

Still think the main event went slightly too long with all the entrances, but it is the main event at Mania, with The Rock. I'll allow it. 

I ran out of Discos at the ladder match which was a disaster obviously. 

Hello Cathy Kelley, do you fancy a pint sometime?

[TheScarlettChad]

Solid enough show. Samantha is dreadful.  I'm glad someone said it. Rock looked good for what he was doing. He was sucking air tho by the end. 

[The Gaffer]

Hopefully Michael Cole buttons up tonight and stops mentioning the temperature every other minute. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Enjoyable for the most part. Rhea and Becky was enjoyable, loved Sami and Gunther. As has been said the big lad needs to move on to the world title scene. The main was everything I expected except that Rock didn't explode in a shower of muscles after 5 minutes. That was a medical marvel. The only dud as has been commented on was the Uso's. WWE learned nothing from that shite Hardy boys match 15 years ago. As Dev says. 

49 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said:

I really want to like these guys but their matches these days, singles or tags, are always bad. A million superkicks and no selling, what fucking shit.

Perhaps they need a repackage. Put them in different coloured suits and get the Rock to make them EVPs. Joking aside put them back together away from Rock and Roman. 

Looking forward to night 2. The main event is going to be an hour of madness. 

[garynysmon]

23 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Samantha is dreadful.  I'm glad someone said it. 

I came home from the pub just as it started and fell asleep during the main event, but that was one of my main takeaways.

I’ve heard people rave about her but being so dreadfully lapsed I was none the wiser. But everything she did sounded so forced. People are really putting her on the same level as Finkel?! Ffs!

Otherwise I enjoyed the show for what it was and was pleasantly surprised how many of the wrestlers I was familiar with. Can’t believe R-Truth is still knocking about.

(I realise I have now become my Dad, “Hey are the Bushwhackers still wrestling eh?!)

Nothing that would make me want to watch weekly TV by any stretch but the production wasn’t as overbearing as I feared though. 

I still find it a bit tough to sit through these shows given EVERYTHING is such a hard sell. Ads and product placement all over the place is definitely too much.

Maybe you get used to it as a regular viewer? I don’t know.

Edited April 7 by garynysmon

[wordsfromlee]

Was it cold there? They didn't mention it.

Rhea and Becky was great.

The ladder match was a by-the-numbers multi man ladder match - they're all pretty much the same these days.

Sami/Gunther was great too. Some real good storytelling.

When they started the video package for the main event and I saw that there was still an over an hour left of the show and my heart sank. Luckily I skipped ahead 30 minutes and the entrances had just finished. Even with that, the start of the match was so slow and boring. Once Reigns got his bloody nose things started to pick up again. The last 10 minutes or so were decent and The Rock wasn't as selfish in the ring as I expected him to be.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

2 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

Ads and product placement all over the place is definitely too much.

Compared to boxing or UFC it's about the same they are just catching up. It's new for WWE but it's hardly new for sports presentation in general. 

[SuperBacon]

I tell you what, the Gang better turn up tonight or there will be trouble.

#TrashManForMania 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

Rhea Ripley and Becky was slow to get going but had a decent final stretch. Ripley is an absolute superstar and, if she's not going on last, it was the right decision to have her on first. Live bands are always crap.

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

I enjoyed the ladder match for what it was. Lots of fun stuff going on, and some decent bumps. The ref trying to get Priest's attention by hooking his ankle as he climbed a ladder was a choice.

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

Didnt really pay attention to the tag match and didnt know who the run-ins were.

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

Jey/Jimmy was one of the worst things I've ever sat through. Horrible. Hope they enjoyed filming the pre-match vignette together, given it's a blood feud. 

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

Gunther/Sami was superb. Sami's entire entrance was spectacularly put together, and the match was a brilliant vehicle for the big babyface win. Everything was expertly done, and the fact they've made this feel like such a big moment for Sami despite him having already been an IC Champion before is a testament to both the booking and the people involved.

I loved the main event (eventually)... that should be the name for Roman's style, the Main Eventually. But yeah, let's talk entrances.

Cody? Absolutely fine. Clearly got more in the barrel for tonight, but plenty of pomp and pageantry.

Seth? He was dressed like a clicker from The Last of Us but people were into it and it was fine.

Roman? Textbook. Plus, he looked in incredible shape.

The Rock? Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

Honestly, I'll spend the rest of my life telling me that Roman politicked to have The Rock come out like that. A flowery waistcoat, flares and a toy belt? It looked like something out of a 2K video game where someone gave The Rock the outfit of Fandango. Absolute aura killer. 

The match itself was a slow start but heated up nicely, and I like that they gave context to the match going off the rails and the ref not calling for a DQ.

It built brilliantly throughout and the end stretch was great. The Rock held up well, too.

My other main takeaways from the main event were;

The fact that the pre-match promo video started from the kickoff show should put paid to the idea that The Rock had this planned from January, or that this was anything but a panicked last minute pivot.

Even slightly split crowd's are a bit frustrating, as it sort of sounds like no one likes anything. They lost themselves in the match by the end and stopped making the conscious 'smart' decision to boo the faces, which is good, but there were times when it felt like we were on the cusp of the bad old days.

Bring on Night 2.

Flares and a toy belt? For fuck sake.

 

[FLips]

It’s 52 degrees but it feels like 48.

Sami Zayn match was decent but if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. The best match he’s ever had was when Kevin Owens never gave him his shine back and powerbombed him into a stoppage. Glad the sad sack finally won one though.

Ladder match was ok. Again, at this stage what is there left to see in a multiman ladder match? Nothing impresses any more. R-Truth winning was ace though, good for him.

Main Event was match of the night for me. Fun brawl that didn’t feel as long as it was. Rock looked a lot better this time around than his previous run. Felt like a Wrestlemania match which is more than could be said for most of the card.

Rhea looked a star and I was glad she won. Becky Lynch’s book reading entrance is up there as one of the worst of all time for me and the match didn’t impress.

Rest of it was completely missable. Jimmy vs Jey was pretty weak and I have no interest in the lucha stuff. Nice to see Jade Cargill get a win but the match wasn’t up to much.

The issue with Wrestlemania these days is it cannibalises itself. You watch Night 1 and it never feels like a Wrestlemania because you know Night 2 has all the big main event matches, but then you get to Night 2 and you’re already four or five hours of Wrestlemania deep and it doesn’t feel as special. They really need to stop just giving everyone a payday and have it on one night at about 4 hours again. 

[Lenin]

Someone on Twitter said that they think Damien Priest will cash in on the The Rock and his "toy belt" and part of me really wants to see it.