Wrestlemania 41 Discussion Thread

[air_raid]

Booking Travis to get involved without The Rock showing up was certainly a choice. In the long history of celebrity involvement, far less “Mr T tagging with Hogan” and more “Jon Stewart interferes in Cena vs Rollins.” What was the point in Dwayne being integral to the turn if they couldn’t secure him for any of the rest of the storyline??

[SuperBacon]

Again, I pretty much enjoyed all of that.

Yeah the Travis Scott bit was unnecessary but the main event was about as good as I thought it would be, with the right outcome.

The triple threat and four ways were brilliant. Every performer was over, the crowd were hot and the finishing sequences spot on. You felt like any one of them could win.

The rest was decent to good, the only really shit bit was Austin being a complete tool on that bike. Oh and the comms was dreadful as per.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Anyone left defending The Rock's involvement?

What an absolute cunt. Seriously, what an absolute, business-hating cunt. Turns up for no reason, fucks up the stuff you might actually like, and then doesn't even see any of his shit through.

I wrote a review which I'll copy below, but who cares when the main event was that? Fucking awful. Made everyone look a cunt and they got Cody, an actually over babyface, booed.

This company and Triple H can sod off. Their starfucking is completely ruining the actual product. Waste of time. There was no plan when The Rock came out at the Chamber, no big idea.. just a company prioritising social media moments at the expense of everything else.

Review for anyone that gives a shit now...

 

Stephanie out first? This couple, man. Jesus christ. I wish Steph and Triple H would stay off camera, as they make the whole thing feel like a victory lap for people who, at best, enabled a sex trafficker through barely feasible ignorance.

Bianca and Rhea are absolute stars. Baffling they didn't just do a straight singles match, as Iyo Sky is absolutely not a star. A well booked Bianca v Rhea could easily have headlined a night in its own right.

They love putting, as Wade Barrett phrased it, 'the third wheel' over in these Triple threat matches don't they? Good match, though.

Drew Mcintyre's entrance SPONSORED BY DOOM. Fuck sake. Still, a new entrant to the Wrestlemania entrance ouvre: standing next to the costume. 

It was very funny how cross he got with the bits he was wearing once he got to the ring. Poor bloke. He didn't even want this match and then he was forced to wear daft shite he didn't want.

Damien Priest is too old to be doing devil horns. Skin crawlingly awful. 

Good silly fun, though, I thought. Easily the best of the non-main event matches so far.

Fatal Four entrances took too long. Penta and Dom looked great. Finn Balor looked  like a hipster binman. Bron Breakker looked like WCW as a man, so obviously he's destined to become my absolute favourite.

Loved this match. A million stars. Fatal Four Ways are so much more fun than Triple threats. Best match of the weekend so far immediately following what was the best match of the weekend so far. Wrestlemania is cooking now. 

I love these announce tables. They look like murder to be put through. Also, ten stars for Dom running back to the ring to celebrate more.

Honestly, if anyone tries to tell me that Punk/Rollins/Roman is a 'match of the year candidate' (which I saw a lot yesterday), when it appeared on the same weekend as this I'll lose my mind.

Really nice video for Orton. He's become such a company man, willing to do anything at any place on the card, you forget how much of a whopping great big star he is. 

Did they bill Orton at 290lbs? Good grief.

Monster pop for Joe Hendry. Good for him. They handled it fairly well, I think, without humiliating Hendry too much. I thought at first it was just going to be an RKO and done, so fair play for giving him a bit. I guess it makes sense not going with Rusev or Black, as they clearly didn't want Orton losing. 

Orton having the time of his life, too. Love to see it.

Fairly standard match, but it was a bit of a comedown after the street fight/fatal fourway/Orton section. Poor AJ Styles. He'll go to his grave waiting to have a great Wrestlemania match.

It wasn't bad by any stretch, I just wanted it to be over. It also left me with a weird feeling that Logan Paul was being underused. Nice to see Karrion Kross though.

I enjoyed McAfee actually just calling it a Buck Shot Lariat, rather than fumbling around for a different name like Michael Cole.

Fast forwarded the tag match, who cares.

All went a bit awkward when Austin nearly killed that lady with a quad bike and she was furious didn't it? They had to send fucking Nick Khan out to apologise.

Clever to bring Austin out when they did though to kill the assumption he was coming out in the main event.

Phenomenal video before Cody/Cena. It still didn't make any sense but it felt epic. WWE at its best, taking something with little substance and giving it enough sheen and polish to make you forget.

I loved the concept of John Cena's entrance, but they should have gone the whole way and not done the music, and had him in equally plain clothing.

Cody's entrance was shit. The entrances have all been shit this year, really. What the fuck has Cody got to do with motorbikes?

A 'drumstick cone zone' before the night 2 main event? Fuck sake. Nothing is sacred.

Completely mixed reactions in the main event so it sounds like no one really likes anyone? Great. Like the shit old days.

Gorgeous tights on Cody. Best gear of the weekend.

Really weird match. Fascinating to see Cena working the other side of a match; even little things, like how odd it was to see him use stomps or big boots.

Terrible match, Cena looks completely shot and the final sequence was an actual insult. I don't say that lightly. That was an absolute insult to anyone who actually, for whatever reason, likes this stuff.

Fuck The Rock. Honestly, fuck The Rock.

But yeah, didn't enjoy the build, didn't enjoy the match really and don't know how it can be considered a positive that we turned Cena a heel for this only to end up with Cody getting booed anyway. Their biggest babyface since Cena, only one who's been getting the right reactions; and yet we're back in the bad old days of contrary crowds.

Oh well, we'll always have the Fatal Four Way.

Edited April 21, 2025 by d-d-d-dAz

[digforvictory]

Quite possibly the worst PPV/PLE main event match since Bray Wyatt vs Seth Rollins Hell in a Cell all those years ago.

I haven't seen them all to be fair but I'd be surprised if anything else was worse than that last night. The match itself was  a boring slow slog where it was clear Cena has not just lost a step, he's lost fucking lots of steps. He looked like he was moving underwater he was so slow and sluggish.

And then you add a terrible finish that made Cody look a moron, Travis fucking Scott being involved and The Rock nowhere to be seen. The initial heel turn at Elimination Chamber was great and everything since then has been rotten. The Rock not being involved, and barely fucking mentioned, since then has been hilarious.

The opener was fantastic though, best match of the weekend by miles. Total classic.

[LCJ]

6 hours ago, SpiritOfTheForest said:

Speaking of Stone Cold though.....oh my word, best moment of the show. Funnily enough, I was just thinking how I had never seen him or the Undertaker crash their vehicles when driving around ringside when it actually happened. Hugely funny but that lady will probably get a big payday if she's so inclined.

The lady didn’t look happy at all. I think Nick Khan went over to her (probably to check that she was OK and to try to talk her into not suing the company).

[thatvinylgeek]

I think the main thing I'm disappointed about is they messed up the timing of the RKO for the finish. That would have been epic if they'd hit it as soon as Hendry turned. 

Also wasn't mad on the fact they used the same finish in the fatal fourway as the opener...do people not discuss what they are planning any more. 

Other than it was another night of WrestleMEHnia (yes I'm sticking with it). 

Opener was good, happy for Iyo she deserved not to be overlooked after the recent weeks.

Drew continued to be great, good hard hitting match. 

Is Dom a face now? Was feeling like it, he chucked his JD stuff off at the end as well. 

My girls were happy to see Becky back, she looked decent enough and looked like she'd put some mass back on. I guess they drop the titles fairly quick and she'll be back in singles. 

AJ v Logan was decent enough, but not mania worthy, I guess it makes sense for logan to get a fairly clean win if they want us to start taking him seriously. 

Not sure what they are doing with the main belt now, is Cena booked for the next couple of PLEs? What does Cody do next...the obvious choice is a rematch at Backlash. 

Hopefully we get back on track for Summer. 

[Sphinx]

They mentioned Travis Scott gave Cody a black eye and a burst ear drum. Is he harder than the rest of the roster?

The belt used as a weapon never looks good. I get it's meant to be symbolism but it never looks like it's going to hurt that much.

Nothing about the Cody v Cena story has been good.

Austin was the best moment of the night.

Also, I thought Punk came across as a proper star on Night 1 in his video package and entrance.

 

 

[The King of Old School]

Was hoping Travis Scott was going to lead to The Rock coming out.

Didn't think the main event was too bad until he got involved.

Rest of night two was decent though.

[Callum1993]

Thought night 2 was much better than night 1. The Women’s Triple Threat really delivered. I assume this will lead to Belair going fully heel and reuniting with Naomi.  Priest and McIntyre was exactly what it needed to be with the right person going over. Great to see Dom getting his moment and Breakker being booked as an absolute monster. Strap the rocket to him and have him be the one to retire Cena. 
 

Orton vs Hendry was fun for what it was. Better that than for Orton to beat Rusev on his first night back. AJ and Logan was fine but never seemed to really get going. The poor build didn’t help this one in making it feel of consequence. You have to feel for Bayley being shunted out in favour of Becky. A good moment though. 

Agree with the majority on the main event. Cena’s slower style fits the heel character but the match never felt like it got out of first gear. Could have really done without the Travis Scott involvement as well. If The Rock is never seen on WWE TV again that would be ideal. Absolutely pointless and has just muddied the waters with the Cena story. Could have done the turn without him and Travis being involved. Overall a middling Wrestlemania and not one I’d revisit in its entirety anytime soon. 

[johnnyboy]

Watched the Cena match, which is time I could have spent raiding Aldi for reduced Easter chocolate.

[Lorne Malvo]

I'm no John Cena fan anyway, but jesus christ he was fucking awful here.

[DavidB6937]

Generally Night 2 was really enjoyable and going into the main event I was feeling pretty positive overall.

But fuck me. I'm not sure I even have the words for how bad that was. Utterly baffling how they managed to book that finish so badly.

Twats.

[thatvinylgeek]

Watching the ending of the main event again the match booking felt a bit illogical. 

From the ref bump on it got a bit messy and nonsensical for me, maybe it's just the way modern booking works but the story got a bit muddled. 

Exposed turnbuckle into AA for 2.99 count makes sense...decent enough false finish...but then

The heel has attempted to cheat, the babyface kicks out, then out comes somone to help the heel, but they plod so slowly to the ring that it surely has to end up backfiring. Then Cena helps him up on the apron and again surely it has to backfire. It kind of does, but they almost made it look like Travis would turn on Cena (I thought). Anyway, Travis eats a crossrhodes, that's your point for the low blow and AA surely, but nope, they try to throw in another hope spot and the belt tussle...then Cody is conflicted which makes no sense in the circumstances, so then the most predictable thing happens, the heel hits a low blow and his finish...if anything Cody should have kicked from that one..but no..this time he stays down. 

Maybe it's just me, but it feels like they were trying to reverse every step just to make the crowd keep guessing, but it didn't work at all. Made it all feel really flat, after all the shenanigans the babyface win seems right to me. 

Edited April 21, 2025 by thatvinylgeek
Spelling

[PunkStep]

Sometimes a celebrity getting involved can add so much, with their (to quote the kids) 'aura' giving a big time feel. At Elimination Chamber, The Rock did this perfectly while Travis Scott was a million miles away from getting anywhere close and one slap aside was a complete waste of space.

Last night was worse- his appearance didn't add anything other than making me think he was purely there as a pre-entrance for The Rock. And when it transpired he wasn't, he killed any momentum the match had. He didn't carry himself like the huge star he is, he just looked like a typical fan with a shitty custom belt. I hate full entrances during matches at the best of times, but this was a horrendous mood-killer. If you're going to get one of the biggest names in music for the younger generation involved, by god do it much better than this.

Women's triple threat was outstanding, exactly what a triple threat should be rather than the usual formula of 'one takes a move, unnaturally rolls to the outside for a couple of minutes, breaks up a pin, wash rinse repeat' for the entire match. Much better than the men's main event from night 1, which was very good other than the protracted dramatics with Heyman at the end. Not sure why he was wanking off Roman after the low blow.

IC four way was decent and glad Dirty Dom got the win, I think he's awesome. He was super over too.

Becky Lynch saved the women's tag match from being pointless filler, so that was quite good. As a lapsed viewer I don't have much investment in Hendry but it was OK for a bit of filler.

Drew VS Priest was pretty good, Drew usually bores me and Priest doesn't really stand out for me.

Logan Paul VS Styles was good and what impressed me most was how Paul managed to lead and control this match. He's not just someone who can bust out moments on a big stage, he can work. As others have said, he pretty much has it all.

Night 1 recap (which wasn't as good): Uso/Gunther was fine, New Day/Raiders was a bit pointless, Stratton/Charlotte was ok (TOO SIMILAR RING GEAR). Fatu VS Knight was pretty good- I like Fatu a lot but don't get why Knight is popular. I think he's a bit shit, like a Mr Kennedy that smiles more.

Jade Cargill looked great. I've heard she's not great in the ring yet, but she held her own here and has fantastic presence.

Really enjoyed Fenix vs Grande Americano. It's great to see Gable finally get some recognition because from the moment he started in NXT he looked like he'd go far.

Overall, it was OK. I didn't pay for it so that's a boon innit. Anyway, I'll probably forget about wrestling now until next year's Royal Rumble as usual.

[Merzbow]

The only way they could make Cody look like a bigger idiot wanker..