Wrestlemania 41 Discussion Thread

[Daaaaaad!]

4 hours ago, Wideload90 said:

Is this the worst mania build? I'm sad after last years superb buildup and payoff. That said, I'll check results and catch highlights because there's no way I'm wasting time on some of this tripe.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this show will be a 'Mania 31 to WM40's XXX. Crap build, only one or two matches you even have an interest in watching, yet against all odds they pull out a cracking show that turns out to be brilliant.

I'm not naïve enough to be confident it'll happen though.

[air_raid]

10 hours ago, Statto said:

But he had NO CLEAR PATH TO WRESTLEMANIA, Raid!

That's the badger. Utter nonsense. Of course, Cena and Rollins doing those (risible) quests in years past make plenty of wrestlers look silly for not embarking on their own right now - Sami Zayn being the most obvious. Want to get squeezed into a match for the biggest two whole full fucking length PLE shows of the calendar year? SPEAK UP, LAD!

[BomberPat]

the "no path to Wrestlemania" stuff is always hilarious, they did it with John Cena the year he ended up wrestling The Undertaker. As if they just hadn't thought of a match for John Cena at Wrestlemania. Bobby Roode, Jinder Mahal and an actual child all got spots on that show, but there's no way they could have found room for John Cena.

[tiger_rick]

On 4/12/2025 at 10:45 PM, Supremo said:

Plus, maybe we can take comfort from history. If we accept that this is this boom’s Wrestlemania 2000, it’s worth remembering that what followed in the Summer of 2000 was arguably the most creatively satisfying period in the history of the company.

Who's arguing that? I'd like a word. (Apologies for derailing the thread but like everyone else, my interest in this show is only Supremo's write-up.)

Backlash 2000, I'd give you. The proper end to Mania that The Rock needed, on a great show. He then loses the belt only weeks later at Judgement Day but it gets a pass because the match is great and Taker's return was brilliant, timing issues aside. From there, the shows were good week to week but the big picture creative was horrible. Rock winning the belt back in that tag match at KOTR. Fully Loaded (I think) where Taker, Rock and HHH went 3-0 over Angle, Benoit and Jericho to put them losers in their place. The dreadfully unsatisfactory end to the HHH/Steph/Angle threesome and then Austin coming back to kick off the worst whodunnit known to man.   

Am I forgetting some stuff? I've just remembered that the most brilliant mid-card they'll ever have set out in the KOTR tournament and the PPV semis involved Val Venis and Crash Holly. Jesus Christ.

[air_raid]

4 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

The dreadfully unsatisfactory end to the HHH/Steph/Angle threesome

He knows exactly what he's doing, don't encourage him.

[Ro_y Disco]

I'm not sure I'd agree with creatively satisfying, but it was creatively... creative. It helped that it coincided with WWF being on C4 over here, but the storylines felt big time and there were so many memorable angles all running at the same time. The Love Triangle was extremely engaging and the 'Who ran over Austin?' storyline was hot at the time. Even mid-card stuff like Crash Holly's Hardcore title run was tons of fun.

[Supremo]

I don’t include the conclusions of either the, “Who Ran Over Stone Cold?” or the the Angle-Stephanie-Triple H angles when I praise the Summer of 2000 because it was clear that creative teams/direction had changed by then. The Love Triangle in particular. This brilliantly soapy, well-built story that was so obviously leading to Stephanie turning on Hunter and going with Kurt, then she just doesn’t. It was like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book, and you picked the shit, nonsensical option.

Maybe I’m misremembering and should go back and watch it, but the Summer of 2000 always feels like when they peaked. All the workrate guys came in from WCW, combined with great writing from that Chris Kreski fella. Everyone had a character, stories made sense and were cleverly interconnected. And the Mean Street Posse were chasing Crash Holly around Soft Play Centres.

[LaGoosh]

Real ones know the best romance angle of 2000 wasn't Steph/Kurt/HHH but Eddie and Chyna.

[Daaaaaad!]

4 hours ago, BomberPat said:

they did it with John Cena the year he ended up wrestling The Undertaker. As if they just hadn't thought of a match for John Cena at Wrestlemania.

Not to rush in and defend them here because the build to that show was notoriously awful, but Cena explicitly said in the lead-up to that show that he wasn't willing to take any other spot away from other talent - it was 'Taker or nothing.

[air_raid]

32 minutes ago, Daaaaaad! said:

Not to rush in and defend them here because the build to that show was notoriously awful, but Cena explicitly said in the lead-up to that show that he wasn't willing to take any other spot away from other talent - it was 'Taker or nothing.

I don't think you're remember this correctly. The month before he was in a multi-man clusterfuck trying to win the WWE title from AJ so he would get on the show. Unless you're just talking about after that PPV.

[Daaaaaad!]

1 hour ago, air_raid said:

Unless you're just talking about after that PPV.

I think I am! But clearly I have misremembered, or at least omitted part of the build. I also think I could be confusing it with a later WrestleMania where Cena said he wouldn’t take someone’s place - maybe 35?

EDIT: It's all gone completely Pete Tong here, lads. @air_raid is, unsurprisingly, absolutely right - I dug around and it seems what I'm remembering is this promo before WrestleMania 36, in which Cena refers to his 'path to WrestleMania' but says he won't be there. Sincerest apologies @BomberPat, I've waded in too deep in 'Mania's mid-thirties and muddled myself right up.

Edited April 14, 2025 by Daaaaaad!

[Supremo]

The Rock posts a cryptic clue wearing a New Japan T-shirt. The next day Jeff Cobb leaves New Japan for WWE. What other promotion has Jeff Cobb worked for, that The Rock is a fan of?

I have CRACKED THE CODE and it spells disaster for Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania.

[tiger_rick]

Wrong Underground, mate.

Here comes the moneeeeeeeey.

[Merzbow]

Now how is he going to link a lad from Guam to the Bloodline's... bloodline?

[Arch Stanton]

1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

Now how is he going to link a lad from Guam to the Bloodline's... bloodline?

That fat Aussie lad got into the Bloodline just by looking vaguely islandy.