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April Wrasslin' |OT| 2017 Season Premiere

Ithil

Member
yep and thats bullshit. Seth got several chants even towards the end and the crowd marked out at the Steph bump.

here we are with the hyperbole. already.

The finish was good but the match plodded, the crowd were quiet. For a match with such a long buildup it did not stand out much.

The Wyatt/Orton match, however, good god that was a wet fart of a finish.
 
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I wonder if he's pissed at his poor performance.
 
Everyone's going to say it was better than last Mania, and it was, but daaaaaaaang that was not a good event at all in any other metric

Cruiserweight and tag title were legit great, Cena proposal was wonderful, Goldberg/Brock was well booked at least, and the Big Dog getting another notch was great, but every other match (including Reigns') either sucked (Seth/HHH), was too short to care much (SD womens' title), or abruptly ended (Orton/Bray). I still can't believe how that Raw womens' title match was booked.

One of the more forgettable Manias, no doubt

For anyone thinking I'm being harsh with the "too short" complaint btw:

Matches shorter than Undertaker's entrance (5:25)
Lesnar/Goldberg (4:45)

Matches shorter than Taker's exit (10:37, counted from when the camera focused on Taker's prone body)
Lesnar/Goldberg (4:45)
Smackdown Women's Six-Pack (5:35)
Cena/Nikki vs. Miz/Maryse (9:40)
Orton/Wyatt (10:30)
 
The "Roman is a wank pheasant" thing really escalated with the "Roman is a Holocaust Denier" sign floating around towards the end. I get not being a fan but that's quite a statement to make. surprised WWE officials didn't snatch it up when it first popped up on camera.
 

Tall4Life

Member
As an actual Roman Reigns fan yeah that match was pretty awful. It's strange how poorly booked it was, just looking at the moment to moment stuff. Roman was hit by only one tombstone, a chokeslam on a chair, and a sort of last ride. That's not the kind of Taker match that should be happening after the HBK series, and it's the first of its kind since then. Roman's side was booked relatively ok as he hit multiple finishers, but Taker didn't do much in between those spears to really pace the match properly.

If what they were going for WAS a squash type match, it was too slow to get that fuck you kind of feeling.
 
Matt will as he returns to the midcard

Vince will see Jeff's merch sales and he'll just be regular Jeff

Would not surprise me (assuming you are making reasonable assumptions here).

As an actual Roman Reigns fan yeah that match was pretty awful. It's strange how poorly booked it was, just looking at the moment to moment stuff. Roman was hit by only one tombstone, a chokeslam on a chair, and a sort of last ride. That's not the kind of Taker match that should be happening after the HBK series, and it's the first of its kind since then. Roman's side was booked relatively ok as he hit multiple finishers, but Taker didn't do much in between those spears to really pace the match properly.

If what they were going for WAS a squash type match, it was too slow to get that fuck you kind of feeling.

It started fast paced and hard hitting which it needed to be. I'm glad they did not shy away from the fact that Taker is old. Like, THAT was the story.

The problem I had, booking wise, is around Taker getting speared three times. Like, how does a 27 year vet not learn from the first two and just lift a fucking foot up to your hip to call it a night?

The 3 spears ironically, made Taker look weak and stupid. Not strong.
 

Syder

Member
You know what? Even if Matt & Jeff aren't going to be broken I'm just damn happy they're back.

Matt came up with an amazing gimmick out of nowhere when The Hardys could've just continued phoning it in in the Impact Zone. They deserve to get a final retirement pay day.

Broken gimmick could honestly stand to evolve anyway.
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
Mania was... ok. I guess? Second half was bad, first half was good so, yeah.

Neville/Aries - This was great, and the correct outcome, Nevilee needs to hold on to that belt for a long time.

Mojo Battle Royale - Dud, but all Battle Royals are. Mojo, really? Why?

Ambrose/Corbin - Didnt see it, was on my way to work.

Styles/McMahon - Was good, Shane trying to kill himself as usual and AJ carrying the match as usual. To the people that were like "YEAH EAT CROW", noboy was concerned that the match would be shit, the problem is that its a waste of AJ, and it still was. Also it should have been later, not even just because its AJ curtain jerking, but because it would at least wake people up after those later snooze fests.

Owens/Jericho - Wasnt very good, at least for what we would expect from these two. Could have used with another powerbomb inside the ring to finish.

Raw Women Title - This was good, it was just too short. Could have used at least 5 more minutes. At least Charlotte didnt win.

Raw Tag Titles. - Fun and obviously the highlight of the night because of the Hardys.

Cena proposal - Match was nothing, but that wasnt the point. Miz is amazing, give him the belt. Peple booing when Cena was going to propose, come on marks.

Rollins/H - WAY too long. Should have been 10mins shorter. I didnt care for it either way, and neither did the crowd.

Orton/Wyatt - Bad. I liked the stupid mat projections, because I like carny shit like that. Finish out of nowhere was bad. 1 month reign for Bray was bad. Stop shitting on Bray.

Goldberg/Lesnar - This was what it needed to be, I wish there was a second F5.

Smackdown Women Title - Clusterfuck. Good for Naomi I guess?

Undertaker/Reigns - Horrible, mostly because Taker is just in a sad state. And no turn, lol.
 
Joey Janela's Spring Break is still the show of the weekend for me. I still need to check out the WrestleCon show, I hear that was really good.
 

Pikma

Banned
You know what? Even if Matt & Jeff aren't going to be broken I'm just damn happy they're back.

Matt came up with an amazing gimmick out of nowhere when The Hardys could've just continued phoning it in in the Impact Zone. They deserve to get a final retirement pay day.

Broken gimmick could honestly stand to evolve anyway.
I'm sure they will be full broken in due time, they've just returned.
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
As an actual Roman Reigns fan yeah that match was pretty awful. It's strange how poorly booked it was, just looking at the moment to moment stuff. Roman was hit by only one tombstone, a chokeslam on a chair, and a sort of last ride. That's not the kind of Taker match that should be happening after the HBK series, and it's the first of its kind since then. Roman's side was booked relatively ok as he hit multiple finishers, but Taker didn't do much in between those spears to really pace the match properly.

If what they were going for WAS a squash type match, it was too slow to get that fuck you kind of feeling.

The booking would have been 100% justified if Roman had turned heel after massacring Taker. But nope. He triumphantly raised his hands to his own personal fucking fireworks display.
 

Tall4Life

Member
Yeah I'd be fine with HHH never wrestling again either. His matches outside of the Taker series at Mania have been pretty awful and the same shit

If you're doing a slow match you gotta build up to some bigger shit, not just finishers
 

Tall4Life

Member
The booking would have been 100% justified if Roman had turned heel after massacring Taker. But nope. He triumphantly raised his hands to his own personal fucking fireworks display.

Yep, if it was a faster fuck you squash with tons of heeling and Roman basically pissing on Taker's corpse it would've been fine (but also don't make it the main event)
 
Two things about Roman:

-I have said tis before, but the dude can't control his nerves and lacks creativity. When he hasn't a fucking clue what to do, you can see the wheels turn in his head before he resorts to bullshit undercuts or superman punches as he did after his botches

-He can't carry a match. Juxtapose a match like this against one where AJ Styles gets a good fucking match out of Reigns.
 

Hex

Banned
As good as the story might've been, it was too darn long and the stipulation they had made the whole thing feel underwhelming.

I do not agree.
I think it was great, but people set in their minds that there would be run ins all over the place and all of this other stuff would happen and it didn't. It was just a solid match
 
It's funny. I thought for sure Matt would keep the Broken accent but drop the buzzwords, and he's done the exact opposite

I think regardless of them doing the exact same characters Matt has it figured out and will make it work. He's had a refresh on his career and they're having fun with what they're doing

Here's to hoping we get some insanity in the coming weeks
 

Zach

Member
What did you guys think about the goofy Bray theatrics? I thought it was laaaaame.

(Talking about the maggots and crickets and whatever. >_>)
 
Stop lashing out, SomewhatGravy.

I'm all for people having opinions but not shutting out others' without a fucking shred of discourse.

"I'm dying at fucking classic" is passive aggressive bullshit and I do not fucking tolerate it, not when I take the time to lay out my thoughts.
 

Heroman

Banned
You know what? Even if Matt & Jeff aren't going to be broken I'm just damn happy they're back.

Matt came up with an amazing gimmick out of nowhere when The Hardys could've just continued phoning it in in the Impact Zone. They deserve to get a final retirement pay day.

Broken gimmick could honestly stand to evolve anyway.
Broken * WWE is a recipe for disaster
 

Zach

Member
I'm all for people having opinions but not shutting out others' without a fucking shred of discourse.

"I'm dying at fucking classic" is passive aggressive bullshit and I do not fucking tolerate it, not when I take the time to lay out my thoughts.
But brevity is my bread and butter!
 

Tall4Life

Member
Bray vs Orton should've ended with the burning house or a super dead Sister Abigail appearing on the ring which would lead to Bray freaking out and then the RKO

I liked that carny worm shit otherwise
 

Rhaknar

The Steam equivalent of the drunk friend who keeps offering to pay your tab all night.
apparently the Hardys v Young Bucks match at ROH was very good?
 

LiQuid!

I proudly and openly admit to wishing death upon the mothers of people I don't like
I feel like I'm the only one who liked Seth/HHH. Seth's selling was inconsistent at times but that was the closest Mania had to a New Japan style brawl full of storytelling and those guys did a lot. The pace was languid, but if anything it helped the match that it wasn't a spot fest like AJ/Shane (not a criticism, the curtain jerker should be a fast-paced, crowdpleaser). They used the arena well. Steph took her annual bump, which was better than last year's. And Seth got a much needed win to payoff one of the longest term storylines running right now. I can't think of anything else I would put as my match of the night over it.
 
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