Host Samurai
Member
Ambrose needs a new gimmick. The Lunatic Cringe ain't marketable and comes off as a low rent Bryan Pillman
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WrestleMania |OT| Look at the adjective,
- Thread starter Sephzilla
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There would have been a better chance of it elevating someone like Mizdow or Ryback instead of someone like Big Show who will probably be retired by next Mania (I hope).
Yeah, it happened almost instantly. He ran into that post pretty damn hard.
Ah. I might watch that match again, it was the best one. As usual for a match that involves Lesnar.
bloodyroarxx
Member
and he hit the rope that was taped down.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
Big Show and Kane will outlive us all.
Host Samurai
Member
We all saw what happened to Cesaro last year. The battle royal doesn't help anybody out
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Just finished watching.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Fantastic show overall. This Mania had absolutely awful build up but oh my god did it deliver. Some great matches and memorable moments, and some real unexpected stuff. Dat ending. So glad Rollins walked out with the title. I think what they did with the main event was the best we could have possibly hoped for. Suplex City Bitch! Loved the ladder match and Orton vs Rollins. That RKO at the end....oh man. Rusev vs Cena was solid despite CenawinsLOL. Bray vs Taker was more enjoyable than I was expecting and I was surprised Taker won to be honest. I was supporting Bray before the match all the way but weirdly enough as the match went on I started rooting for Taker. I don't think Trips vs Sting was a great match but the DX NWO stuff made it a fun watch still, and the Trips Terminator entrance was pretty funny. Plus I'm just happy Trips won, which I wasn't expecting. Even the Divas match was ok. I was surprisingly hype during the Rock segment too.
So yeah I really enjoyed that. Surpassed all expectations. Really looking forward to Raw now.
HOLY FUCKING SHIT! Fantastic show overall. This Mania had absolutely awful build up but oh my god did it deliver. Some great matches and memorable moments, and some real unexpected stuff. Dat ending. So glad Rollins walked out with the title. I think what they did with the main event was the best we could have possibly hoped for. Suplex City Bitch! Loved the ladder match and Orton vs Rollins. That RKO at the end....oh man. Rusev vs Cena was solid despite CenawinsLOL. Bray vs Taker was more enjoyable than I was expecting and I was surprised Taker won to be honest. I was supporting Bray before the match all the way but weirdly enough as the match went on I started rooting for Taker. I don't think Trips vs Sting was a great match but the DX NWO stuff made it a fun watch still, and the Trips Terminator entrance was pretty funny. Plus I'm just happy Trips won, which I wasn't expecting. Even the Divas match was ok. I was surprisingly hype during the Rock segment too.
So yeah I really enjoyed that. Surpassed all expectations. Really looking forward to Raw now.
BFIB
Member
I agree, this WM was way, way better than anything I ever expected it to be.
HHH/Sting was straight out of the early 90's. Still would have liked a longer paced match that told the story in the ring, but I understand why they went this direction.
I also find it funny how WWE is forcing the IC title/US title down our throats as "they mean something!" Neither one of those titles have meant anything in a long, long time. V-Mac tossing the strap on Bryan in the first match to send those goodwill vibes to keep the jeering down to a minimum for his new golden boy.
Wyatt/Taker was pretty good too. Shame that Wyatt just continues to be buried, who's going to take him as a serious threat now that he went through the Cena machine and was Taker's codpiece for WM?
Rusev/Cena. Not even going to bother. Fuck Cena.
Reigns/Lesnar was a lot better than I expected. I have to give credit to Reigns here, as thats the stiffest I've seen Lensar work in a long time. Reigns pulled his usual assortment, but he clearly is not ready for the spotlight.
As for the ending, I'm estatic. Good booking from WWE, which is a rarity these days. No one came out looking "bad", and it gives Rollins a chance to shine. Hopefully WWE keeps it on him for a little bit, but as soon as Vince remotely thinks Reigns is "ready", that strap is going on him.
HHH/Sting was straight out of the early 90's. Still would have liked a longer paced match that told the story in the ring, but I understand why they went this direction.
I also find it funny how WWE is forcing the IC title/US title down our throats as "they mean something!" Neither one of those titles have meant anything in a long, long time. V-Mac tossing the strap on Bryan in the first match to send those goodwill vibes to keep the jeering down to a minimum for his new golden boy.
Wyatt/Taker was pretty good too. Shame that Wyatt just continues to be buried, who's going to take him as a serious threat now that he went through the Cena machine and was Taker's codpiece for WM?
Rusev/Cena. Not even going to bother. Fuck Cena.
Reigns/Lesnar was a lot better than I expected. I have to give credit to Reigns here, as thats the stiffest I've seen Lensar work in a long time. Reigns pulled his usual assortment, but he clearly is not ready for the spotlight.
As for the ending, I'm estatic. Good booking from WWE, which is a rarity these days. No one came out looking "bad", and it gives Rollins a chance to shine. Hopefully WWE keeps it on him for a little bit, but as soon as Vince remotely thinks Reigns is "ready", that strap is going on him.
The Shapesmith
Member
So top 5 things I want on Raw tonight
1. Rollins victory celebration
2. Bray Wyatt to reunite with Harper & Rowan and to viciously attack someone (needs to be bloody)
3. Adrian Neville, Kalisto or Itami debut
4. Cesaro/Kidd tag title defense
5. Brock to destroy people all night long.
1. Rollins victory celebration
2. Bray Wyatt to reunite with Harper & Rowan and to viciously attack someone (needs to be bloody)
3. Adrian Neville, Kalisto or Itami debut
4. Cesaro/Kidd tag title defense
5. Brock to destroy people all night long.
Ban Puncher
Member
Just finished watching six fucking hours straight of Wrasslemania Play Button.
That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
Network subscription retained (for now).
Also, goddamn Dan Ryckert on camera. What a mark. That's the closest he'll ever get to championship gold. RUN GFB
That was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
Network subscription retained (for now).
Also, goddamn Dan Ryckert on camera. What a mark. That's the closest he'll ever get to championship gold. RUN GFB
MisterLuffy
Member
Even though I know Cena was going to win, seeing Rusev's entrance made me wish he won that match. Seth Rollins cashing in his brief case and winning that belt was the greatest part I've ever seen, and I was there.
That1BlackGuy
Member
Obviously not concerning the business side of it and I should've stated that, the event is big for them but the concept needs a shake up because kayfabe is dead and the Rumble's effectiveness relies on suspension of belief. So to my original point I was talking in terms of building/legitimizing whoever WWE picks to win to the Rumble, I can't remember the last time someone benefited from a Royal Rumble win. To your second point, just because something is predictable doesn't make it inherently bad.
BobTheFork
Member
I won't forget this Wrestlemania any time soon. Insane entrances, some crazy memorable spots and an ending that works for booking and kayfabe.
I could have done without the DX/NWO mashup. I would have liked just a good match with Sting (which he was in shape for). The biggest name to never touch your ring.....that's exactly how Paul and Vince were going to book it. I really hope we get at least one more from Sting next year. He deserves to have a huge clean crowd fury for his final exit.
Rusev on a tank should be remembered forever.
Brock is just a fucking beast. This is how he should have been booked all along. I'm amazed people say how careful he is in the ring because after Taken, Cena and now this he looks someone put JBL's tiny, tiny fucking brain in a robot body and it's going to stiff everyone.
I could have done without the DX/NWO mashup. I would have liked just a good match with Sting (which he was in shape for). The biggest name to never touch your ring.....that's exactly how Paul and Vince were going to book it. I really hope we get at least one more from Sting next year. He deserves to have a huge clean crowd fury for his final exit.
Rusev on a tank should be remembered forever.
Brock is just a fucking beast. This is how he should have been booked all along. I'm amazed people say how careful he is in the ring because after Taken, Cena and now this he looks someone put JBL's tiny, tiny fucking brain in a robot body and it's going to stiff everyone.
I still can not understand how people are saying that Wyatt got buried last night.
He went toe to toe with The Undertaker.
At Wrestlemania.
And had him close multiple times.
Shawn, HHH, Lesnar, The Rock.. the is the company that he has been put into now.
He did not just hang, he gave and kicked out of a Tombstone.
He was never going to be the next Undertaker, that was stupid talk.
What has happened is that he has been given the rub, and he has been elevated.
He went toe to toe with The Undertaker.
At Wrestlemania.
And had him close multiple times.
Shawn, HHH, Lesnar, The Rock.. the is the company that he has been put into now.
He did not just hang, he gave and kicked out of a Tombstone.
He was never going to be the next Undertaker, that was stupid talk.
What has happened is that he has been given the rub, and he has been elevated.
I agree, but the stupid ending where he was bickering with Lana and stormed off did not help him.
I guess it was heelish but was generic WWE writer cheap heat.
I think that was more the very stiff shots he took instead.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Nah, after Sting stinking up in TNA for years I have no faith in Sting being able to work a good match. The match needed stuff like that to be enjoyable.
HeisenbergLannister
Member
I wonder if we'll get a "newly debuted Kane" in Brock tonight and just have him interrupt 3 or 4 matches and F5/German Suplex everyone, including refs. Maybe even Lawler, Cole and JBL. Let Heyman do commentary to end the show.
Nemesis121
Member
I don't mind Rollins with the Belt, but having Brock end the streak is the dumbest fucking this ever, Taker's streak was ended by a part timer then you gave that part timer the belt, if you gonna hold the belt you should be wrestling at least once a week..
Did you forget about the crazy year he had? He was a huge draw and was utterly unstoppable. Killing the streak helped.
Nemesis121
Member
Crazy year with what 5 matches? while i got bored of Cena, i respect him more than Brock he was always willing to wrestle for the fans every week....
Brock is the biggest star they have, by a long shot. Going on about "part timers" like they're all the same is silly.
Taker, because it now allows them to have options for next year.
If he lost the only thing that they can do is have him be the tired old man , will he get that one last win?
Now he got his spirit back, Brock's win looks more impressive because of it and next year they can put Taker with whoever they want and have him be a force again.
Wyatt didn't need to win, he got what he wanted he called Taker out and stood face to face and looked him in the eye and he is still there.
Taker did not get rid of him.
I am sorry but there is no way Wyatt deserved a win over Taker, especially at Mania.
That is too huge a deal considering only one other person had one in 22 years.
Who is Bray and what has he done to deserve that.
It was a wasted on Brock, he only showed up for like maybe 4 ppv's all year and yes looked unstoppable but it didn't actually make a difference and killed something that could have elevated someone deserving.
The Albatross
Member
You can't possibly criticize that HHH vs. Sting match, and anybody wanting anything more than a goofy climax to a feud that really doesn't make sense are looking for too much. Heck, before the match, HHH was dressed as the Terminator and locked onto Sting's face and directed him to be eliminated.
I thought having DX and nWo come out was great, and it was a great climax to the "Monday Night Wars" series, which so much of it is the juxtaposition of DX and nWo. You also got to see Scott Hall take a good bump, Kevin Nash is still fit as hell, Hogan was good enough. When you first line the DX that came out against that nWo crew you had:
Billy Gunn vs. Nash
X-Pac vs. Hogan
Road Dogg vs. Scott Hall
That's horribly lopsided, but then HBK's surprise drop in balance that out. I think that the camera man missed an opportunity though because the announcers were talking about him before the camera hit him and then he lands the super kick.
The match was a brilliant fan service match and it was awesome. The wrestling was good enough for a combined age of over 250 in the ring, but to see those stars come out... You had 30 years of head lining talent of professional wrestling in that ring.
My lone complaint in that match was the finish, HHH settles it with a busted sledgehammer shot? I'd rather the sledgehammer setup the pedigree or something.
Brock's reign reminds me a lot of Yokozuna's. Yokozuna held the title for nearly a year (King of the Ring -> Wrestlemania), and defended the belt only maybe.. 4 times? In that time, Yokozuna lost only once, to Lex Luger in a count out. Meanwhile, he squashed Jim Duggan, defeated Bret Hart, defeated Hogan (put Hogan out of WWF), defeated the Undertaker in a casket match, and would only lose the belt after taking on the two biggest faces in the company, Luger & Hart at Wrestlemania. Brock needed something to justify becoming a monster heel, and taking down the Undertaker (which reportedly Taker wanted to lose to Brock) seemed more legit than somebody else... And then it catapulted him into a great monster heel run.
I thought having DX and nWo come out was great, and it was a great climax to the "Monday Night Wars" series, which so much of it is the juxtaposition of DX and nWo. You also got to see Scott Hall take a good bump, Kevin Nash is still fit as hell, Hogan was good enough. When you first line the DX that came out against that nWo crew you had:
Billy Gunn vs. Nash
X-Pac vs. Hogan
Road Dogg vs. Scott Hall
That's horribly lopsided, but then HBK's surprise drop in balance that out. I think that the camera man missed an opportunity though because the announcers were talking about him before the camera hit him and then he lands the super kick.
The match was a brilliant fan service match and it was awesome. The wrestling was good enough for a combined age of over 250 in the ring, but to see those stars come out... You had 30 years of head lining talent of professional wrestling in that ring.
My lone complaint in that match was the finish, HHH settles it with a busted sledgehammer shot? I'd rather the sledgehammer setup the pedigree or something.
Brock's reign reminds me a lot of Yokozuna's. Yokozuna held the title for nearly a year (King of the Ring -> Wrestlemania), and defended the belt only maybe.. 4 times? In that time, Yokozuna lost only once, to Lex Luger in a count out. Meanwhile, he squashed Jim Duggan, defeated Bret Hart, defeated Hogan (put Hogan out of WWF), defeated the Undertaker in a casket match, and would only lose the belt after taking on the two biggest faces in the company, Luger & Hart at Wrestlemania. Brock needed something to justify becoming a monster heel, and taking down the Undertaker (which reportedly Taker wanted to lose to Brock) seemed more legit than somebody else... And then it catapulted him into a great monster heel run.
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
Wonder what your opinion is of Hogan as champ, as, outside of Saturday Night's Main Event once every couple of months, he almost never wrestled on free tv.
Nemesis121
Member
oh i was never a big fan of Hogan, never...
BFIB
Member
I see both sides here. For one, Taker is in no, way shape, or form going to be around much longer. I get that WWE, and mainly Vince, wants to re-establish Taker in an eventual rematch vs. Brock.
However, Wyatt was building solid momentum, until Cena stopped it dead in its tracks. Then they split the Wyatt Family....for some reason, which made Wyatt look even less impressive. He has a solid showing at RR, and beating Taker, or not even beating Taker, but booking it in a way that Taker wins, with Wyatt asking to be tombstoned or something. Then you can have Wyatt "leave" Sister Abigail and do a slow build with Wyatt being obsessed w/ Taker, and wanting to get on "his level".
Different business. It wasn't nearly as streamlined as it is today.
Rodeo Clown
All aboard! The Love train!
He's still super popular and his merchandise does very well. He needs better booking because he was on fire last summer before they fed him to Wyatt.
Hopefully he finds himself in the main event now that Rollins has the strap, since we didn't really get a payoff to that feud.
I think him being injured definitely impacted things a bit.
How much we will never know, but I agree I would have like to see some of the things he did against Cena like "hit me! come for me!" And more laughing while getting beat down.
Taking the IC title pretty much right out from under him because they could not figure out what to do with people really sucked.
His program starting with Barrett looked to have potential with him ending with the belt and then writers got the wild hair up their ass that instead of Ziggs and Bryan at Mania lets give Bryan this belt to shut people up.
Killing_Joke
Member
Guess i'll give my quick rundown.
- Tag match. Fun, nothing great. Too bloated and all the spots were too slow. 2 stars
- Battle Royal. Fucking horrible. The spots were lame as fuck and the Mizdow face turn felt like an hour. And then he loses, so yeah. Big Show in 2015. Jesus. Half star
- Ladder match. Nothing great. Kinda disappointed to be honest. Too bloated like usual and the power bomb spot wasn't even that great. they do it nearly every ladder match. BUT the head butt clash was neat and Bryan wins and continues to prove he's the most over talent. 3 stars
- Orton/Rollins. It was ok but again nothing amazing. RKO spot was neat but i kept on thinkin Rollins is just too good for Orton. He sticks to his 10+ year old move set. 3 1/2 stars
- HHH/Sting. Loved the cheesy ridiculous entrances ( Sting could have been better if daylight was't killing the mood). Sting was in great shape, NWO/DX was fun to watch, that pop for Scoot was awesome. Was it 14 years to late? Sure but still fun to watch. I REALLY thought DDP was going to pop up and give the cutter to HBK. Would have been epic. Fucking HATE H won, but hey if Sting is hanging it up, then at least the crowd gave him a damn great reaction. Still hoping for Taker/Sting next year. 4 stars (solely based on entertainment)
- Divas. Honestly missed like 90% of it. But from what i saw it was horrible. Half star
- Cena/Rusev. 5 star entrance. Half star match. Cena matches have been on repeat for 10+ years. I don't get how ANYONE including kids can find a Cena match entertaining. Talked too much, his STF was god awful, his ONE new move (evolution of Cena LOLFUCKUVINCE) was dumb, and of course CenawinsLOL in the most boring way they can think of. Seriously this match was horrible. But since the entrance was dope i'll be nice and give it 1 star
- Taker/Bray. Eh the day light killed any atmosphere i was looking for in this match. Taker actually looked in great shape compare to 28-30. But Bray was not a good match up. No chemistry, the build wasn't good, looked too much like biker Taker which again kinda killed the mood, and overall the match was identical to 90% of Taker Mania matches. 2 stars (1 star is for the cool sit up spot)
- Rock/H. The fuck? The segment went like 15-20 min. That's insane. No Rock bottom or Elbow either. 0 stars
- Lesnar/Reigns. I loved it. Pretty much perfect. Reigns got the shit beat out of him, the Superman punch spot was dope, crowd was hot, and that mother fucker Rollins wins it. The false finishes were fun too. 5 Stars (again solely based on entertainment)
- Other notes. The stadium is beautiful but the set and lighting was extremely weak this year. It actually looked pretty neat for the 5 mins of night time they had. Not sure if they really fully thought the west coast thing out clearly. 1 star for production
All in all it was a fun show. Had enough moments to make it feel like Wrestlemania but nothing lived up to what could have been besides the main event and to some degree H/Sting. Also a massive decline compared to WM30 but that was expected. 3 1/4 stars
- Tag match. Fun, nothing great. Too bloated and all the spots were too slow. 2 stars
- Battle Royal. Fucking horrible. The spots were lame as fuck and the Mizdow face turn felt like an hour. And then he loses, so yeah. Big Show in 2015. Jesus. Half star
- Ladder match. Nothing great. Kinda disappointed to be honest. Too bloated like usual and the power bomb spot wasn't even that great. they do it nearly every ladder match. BUT the head butt clash was neat and Bryan wins and continues to prove he's the most over talent. 3 stars
- Orton/Rollins. It was ok but again nothing amazing. RKO spot was neat but i kept on thinkin Rollins is just too good for Orton. He sticks to his 10+ year old move set. 3 1/2 stars
- HHH/Sting. Loved the cheesy ridiculous entrances ( Sting could have been better if daylight was't killing the mood). Sting was in great shape, NWO/DX was fun to watch, that pop for Scoot was awesome. Was it 14 years to late? Sure but still fun to watch. I REALLY thought DDP was going to pop up and give the cutter to HBK. Would have been epic. Fucking HATE H won, but hey if Sting is hanging it up, then at least the crowd gave him a damn great reaction. Still hoping for Taker/Sting next year. 4 stars (solely based on entertainment)
- Divas. Honestly missed like 90% of it. But from what i saw it was horrible. Half star
- Cena/Rusev. 5 star entrance. Half star match. Cena matches have been on repeat for 10+ years. I don't get how ANYONE including kids can find a Cena match entertaining. Talked too much, his STF was god awful, his ONE new move (evolution of Cena LOLFUCKUVINCE) was dumb, and of course CenawinsLOL in the most boring way they can think of. Seriously this match was horrible. But since the entrance was dope i'll be nice and give it 1 star
- Taker/Bray. Eh the day light killed any atmosphere i was looking for in this match. Taker actually looked in great shape compare to 28-30. But Bray was not a good match up. No chemistry, the build wasn't good, looked too much like biker Taker which again kinda killed the mood, and overall the match was identical to 90% of Taker Mania matches. 2 stars (1 star is for the cool sit up spot)
- Rock/H. The fuck? The segment went like 15-20 min. That's insane. No Rock bottom or Elbow either. 0 stars
- Lesnar/Reigns. I loved it. Pretty much perfect. Reigns got the shit beat out of him, the Superman punch spot was dope, crowd was hot, and that mother fucker Rollins wins it. The false finishes were fun too. 5 Stars (again solely based on entertainment)
- Other notes. The stadium is beautiful but the set and lighting was extremely weak this year. It actually looked pretty neat for the 5 mins of night time they had. Not sure if they really fully thought the west coast thing out clearly. 1 star for production
All in all it was a fun show. Had enough moments to make it feel like Wrestlemania but nothing lived up to what could have been besides the main event and to some degree H/Sting. Also a massive decline compared to WM30 but that was expected. 3 1/4 stars
The Albatross
Member
This was largely the norm then. The title defense every week idea was a Monday Night Wars construct to get ratings. It was great, but before then it certainly wasn't the norm.
Yokozuna had the belt for almost as long as any heel and I think defended it on only 3 nights in nearly a year.
But this was a different age. It still seems crazy to me when the announcers say Cena is a 15 time champ... When I think back to the 90s and Hogan was, what, a 3 time champ, Hart during his prime was a 3 time champ?
spindashing
Banned
Reigns really needs more moves...
Pop-O-Matic
Banned
The fact that it's so "streamlined" is actually a pretty big problem. Having the champion wrestle every week made sense during the constant ratings battles of the Monday Night Wars, but said war ended years ago and WWE continues to book their shows like it's still happening. All this ends up doing now is overexposing their main event stars so that people get tired of them and turn on them a lot faster than they should, along with devaluing PPVs to the point they basically feel like Sunday Night Raw.
slightconfuse
Banned
Superman punch city BITCH
The Undertaker isn't the Undertaker anymore. After looking super frail and getting murdered by Brock he's become the old dude with the cool entrance. He works better as an underdog fighting time than some measuring stick.
IMO they should have gone two ways. Had Bray beat Taker and then Taker next year would be going for his one last moment of victory before riding off into the sunset. Or have Bray do some weird thing where he welcomes a beating, having Taker squash him while cackling and making Taker madder and madder in some method of leaching his evil/power or some nonsense. Maybe as soon as the match is over Bray could show off a new power by making some of the lights explode or making it rain in the ring or something. Taker would look strong again going pure offense and Bray would remain unique and otherworldly.
As it was, Bray isn't exactly a super threat since being Cena'd and Taker isn't the phenom anymore so having them work a back and forth, okish match just made both look kind of weak to me.
Rodeo Clown
All aboard! The Love train!
Totally agree. Ambrose and Barrett are both great and that could've been really fun.
They seemingly don't know what to do with Dean, though. He's been booked terribly since Wyatt interfered at Hell in a Cell. Although he was in the main event, he was losing every match so they could build Bray up to lose to Taker. Luckily, people still love Ambrose, so I still hold out hope.
They can go a long way to fixing things by reigniting his program with Seth, although there's going to be a lot of people (Orton, Reigns for starters) who want Rollins.
Can everyone stop with this intellectually dishonest line of thinking? How many moves did lesnar exactly use? Hell, how many moves has Lesnar used since summerslam? F5s, Germans, and strikes?
pants
Member
I do not think Bray is worth it.
Bray will not be this monster, he is good on the mic but he will not be that in the ring.
He is Kevin Sullivan of this age. He will not be in the World Title picture in a serious sense ever, at best he will have a stable who will have a contender. Him losing to Taker would have been a joke to all that Taker has been in the last 23 years.
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