WWE WrestleMania Vegas (42) Discussion

[TheScarlettChad]

Loved the zoom in on his crotch for no reason when they showed the green trunks 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

I thought it was decent for what I watched (went to bed after Rollins/Gunter)

Happy for Paige and she looked good for the limited time she had in there 

Had to laugh at Becky getting the big live performance of her theme, only for the singer to miss his cue and had to lip sync the whole thing, hope they do a match with her and Jess Carr after all the stuff with her matches

Rollins looked less like a straight Liberace and more like his Beast/Kingslayer mode and he and Gunther had the best match of the night, just a pity Bron botched the second spear at the end cos visually it would have looked unbelievable 

[Statto]

58 minutes ago, johnnyboy said:

It sounded like they were playing "Walking in the Air" from The Snowman under that part.

Yes! Was trying to place it last night and couldn't quite.

My major takeaway from last night was that everything in ring felt notably rushed, until the main event, in a way I feel I hadn't experienced before. As a mostly lapsed WWE watcher (PPVs only if i can be bothered) I'm now confused as to if this was genuinely unique to last night or just the WWE style now.

When the opener was (mercifully) short it hit me that it must have been because that 1st hour was on actual linear commercial TV and came with those restrictions (which made me fear for Drew/Fatu, the match on the first night I was most interested in by far) but it was basically all like that.

The agenting for every match must have been "you're only getting 12 minutes and that includes entrances, so whatever time's left after those just get as much shit in as possible and get out."

I know all modern wrestling is pretty spotty, but this felt on another level - in every match there were massive moves being hit within 60 seconds (often by both participants within that first minute) and it just never let up until the end. Lacking any kind of psychology in matches seems exactly the kind of thing tribal WWE fans/executives would accuse AEW of, but... j'accuse, WWE. At least in AEW (where if anything the problem is most matches are over long) you'll get a couple of restholds a night. Not a sniff of one here until the main event (insert decade-plus old Randy Orton joke).

There was a time not that long ago I'd wake up buzzing after staying up for Wrestlemania and watch it all again the next day. Now I'm not even looking forward to watching a different second installment the next day.

Oh yeah, and "Here comes the Nia, here comes the Lasher"? Jax and Lash is right there, Wade.

[simonworden]

13 minutes ago, Statto said:

 

My major takeaway from last night was that everything in ring felt notably rushed, until the main event, in a way I feel I hadn't experienced before. As a mostly lapsed WWE watcher (PPVs only if i can be bothered) I'm now confused as to if this was genuinely unique to last night or just the WWE style now.

 

I didn't watch properly as working (was morning here). I felt like it was one of the Mania cards from around 2011-2013 where they really did speed run through everything until the big 2 or 3 matches but then they didn't come until the main event?

Overall it felt like a really worthless night as if they're bored of booking two nights now and just gave this one a bit of effort for the sake of it. 

From my glasses at the entertainment news though. Wrestlemania so far has matched most large entertainment spectacles this year. Expensive, overly hyped, lackluster performances and a lot of negative feeling when all said and done. The only real thing I hope for in wrestling and music is somewhat of a potential indy boom coming soon as masses begin to reject the mainstream. I'm buying my son plaid shirts and black hoodies as we speak. 

[CavemanLynn]

Watched the highlights posted by WWE to see what they wanted to draw attention to.

Cena looking like his work dad, talking about the "time to deliver," like a project manager at a quarterly update. That's it, isn't it? The business is the most important thing to Triple H, so we get angles about the business and promos for the business. We are putting on Wrestlemania. No, not them in the ring.

The only entrances in the highlights were the Vision and Paige's return. Have the Vision always had that quantel four-splitscreen on their entrance? Awful. Four different angles of guys looking awkward, shuffling their feet, standing and waiting for their cue, tripping over curtains, and stopping again to hit their marks.

You can't blame HD for everything looking sloppy and floppy. Uso missing the cutter on the 1D (ironic name) by a foot and a half. Alexa squatting on the top rope for an hour watching her tag partner get leathered on the outside. Drew jerkily poking Fatu with a wrench. Logan Paul shuffling into position on the announcers table, then McAfee doing a herky-jerky comedy sell in the same place later. Everything Becky doing being a flailing mess of limbs because she's not strong enough to slow things down and give them some weight.

That punt really was the nail in the coffin for Cody. I expect he at least gets some time away to do the Street Fighter press junkets. The week that the vault showcased the greatest IC match of all time is not the week to try to recreate the "don't hit him with the weapon" spot. Deathly silence.

What struck me most throughout is how small everyone looks. Just normal sized people doing pretend fights smothered in staging and crowds. I like to see a time lapse of similar entrance shots down the years, to see at what point they decided shooting your talent from a low angle out of a small set so they looked MASSIVE walking down a plain aisle through a sea of tiny "mortals" wasn't the one. Nope. The stage, the pyro, the moments. WE are putting on the show.

Edited April 19 by CavemanLynn

[CTXRussomark]

I skipped through the whole thing in less than an hour this morning, and most of that was trying to find some action in between the adverts.  Nothing really captured my attention.  I thought McAfee getting taken out at the start of the main event was them admitting defeat and Debra'ing him from the whole angle, but we shall see.  The only other thing that really stood out was how all over the place some of the production felt.  Maybe I just got really unlucky with the parts I stopped on, but there were various missed shots, weird camera angles, the announcers mixing things up, etc. Just felt unusual for what is usually such a slick production. 

[BarryOVega]

Biggest news coming out of the show is it’s actually possible for Cena to look alright in a suit, still talks like an alien robot when he’s being his ‘real’ self though

Montez’s unborn kid getting on the show but him not is pretty depressing 

AJ’s little helpers slapping hands with grown men at ringside was creepy as fuck

Some matches happened 

[d-d-d-dAz]

That main event, if anyone is keeping score, was Triple H throwing a massive tantrum in the arena where he has total control, wasn't it?

They basically ran the ending they'd planned originally, I think. Orton and Cody were to have a Master/Pupil feud with no heel turn, simmering tension and then Orton turns after the main event. That's what they've worked themselves back to, despite it now making zero sense.

The McAfee stuff was a non-sensical side show and I genuinely wouldn't be surprised if it's never mentioned again now that TKO are due their 9 month hibernation. Triple H was just trying to make McAfee look as much of a cunt as he could.

Rubbish, rubbish match. The person who tried to start a 'this is awesome' chant should be found and deported to somewhere that doesn't have wrestling. A bit of blood and doing each others finishers does not 'awesome' make.

If Orton isn't genuinely injured, a pox on the house whoever decided it was a good idea to run an Orton main event and have him play it slower than he usually would.

Seth/Gunther was probably the best match. Bron was very funny glitching like a 2K game after his spear.

Drew/Fatu was a bit naff. They've sanctioned far worst than that.

But yeah, that main event. Absolute nonsense. Why even send McAfee back out as a comedy referee?

Edited April 19 by d-d-d-dAz

[SpykeDudlei1]

4 hours ago, JLM said:

John Cena slowly morphing into Vince McMahon. Quite unsettling.

Ahhh I’m glad it wasn’t just me who saw that 

[Callum1993]

Has to be the worst Mania ever. Hopefully night 2 can rescue it. There were so many issues with the show but one of the biggest for me is the lack of video packages now. If you’re a non-fan or someone watching Wrestlemania without watching much of the weekly TV you’d  have no idea why wrestlers are feuding. It’s now just Match-Sponsors-Cut to Celebrities in Crowd-Advert. WWE has always been a corporate shell but it’s now a completely gutless corporate shell. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

Oh, I forgot. The highlight of the show was the Stardust mannequin having a sad face.

[TheScarlettChad]

Orton rkoing him feels like they're writing him out. Which begs the question. WHY include him? It's obviously not leading anywhere if Orton took him out. The punt was great. As was the crowd cheering for it and wanting him to it again. Your top face everyone. They want the heel to punt him twice. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

3 minutes ago, TheScarlettChad said:

Orton rkoing him feels like they're writing him out. Which begs the question. WHY include him? It's obviously not leading anywhere if Orton took him out. The punt was great. As was the crowd cheering for it and wanting him to it again. Your top face everyone. They want the heel to punt him twice. 

I suspect the answer to this is 'the people involved with booking the match didn't make the call.'

They've opened the trap door labelled 'The Travis Scott Door' and let Pat fly the minute Ari and his mates backs were turned.

I'd be fuming if I was McAfee. He's not my cup of tea, but he's had his perfectly serviceable 'recurring wally' WWE career sacrificed at the altar of TKO.

Edited April 19 by d-d-d-dAz

[TheScarlettChad]

Yeah I can't deny, he wasn't put in a win/win situation. What was everyone's thoughts on Cody acting heelish?

[Chili]

Dead racist with a documentary out had more screen time than all their female and black talent. It's what he would have wanted.