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[Hex]

He's the king of wrestlers and deserves recognition as such. I'd even go so far as to say that he's simplt the most loved wrestler ever. I just... Don't get why or how Wyatt cannot be the next mythological monster. If anyone could replace Taker, it'd be Wyatt, who clearly pours his heart and soul into his character. I'd love for these two to meet again, although I will concede that while Wyatt may be in better condition by then, Taker will probably not. Also, loads of people would complain about a rematch.

... I'm kinda disappointed by the result. This'll probably not be good in the long run.



My original point is that Wyatt is currently better in-ring than Taker, who did improve. All I'm asking is as to why people believe Wyatt won't get better? To be fair, it seemed impossible for Taker to evolve into the most popular wrestler of all time. He was stiff, in an era stuck in the mentality of good always wins in the end. Who's to say that the sky isn't the limit for Wyatt?

... Hmm. Speaking of Hogan... There's some parallel to Taker and Wyatt's careers. At almost the exact same age, they got fed to Hogan/Cena.

I doubt that Wyatt will remain heel throughout his entire career. It'd be weird having him as a face, but possible. He could make it work. He'd be a great motivational speaker...!

They already blew the chance at Wyatt being the next Taker when they had him all over the map early on.
For something like that to happen you would have to have a burial of the Wyatt we know, and a rebirth of a new Wyatt.
The Wyatt we know has been thrown out there to Cena, Ambrose, Jericho, Orton, Show, Usos, Reigns and others.
Taker was Taker from the beginning, even when he lost he was Taker.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Might as well lob in my thoughts on this mania now I've had time to digest it.

FUN, yeah that does me just fine, it was a fun mania that managed to keep my engaged for the majority of the event, while never the best of the best it was pretty consistent and had me both cheering and jeering in equal measure.

Tag Match was a fun if clusterfuck fuelled opener where any legal man logic quickly went out the window in favour of hitting spots, and well that's a nice change from the usual WWE tag formula making this more enjoyable than it had any right to be.
Commentary showed their first signs of sucking horribly by failing to capitalise on the finish where the lone Uso nearly wins by himself but gets screwed out of it, if JR had been commentating he'd have let everyone know how dastardly Cesaro's cheap win was.

I'm thinking Battle Royale was more enjoyable to watch than last years even if the winner is pretty bleh, I'll confess to enjoying watching Show ragdoll some folks but really I would've given this to Ryback.
Sandow almost making me believe was stellar stuff though, I guess eventually Show has to win one of these match types.

Ladder match was reliable fun only hurt by the fact that all the participants have been in numerous ladder matches often with each other meaning that a lot of spots were repeated, it was like a compilation of MitB ladder match spots cobbled together in an enjoyable yet familiar fashion. Did love the headbutt finale and the ladder breaking spot actually looking good for a change.

Orton/Rollins entirely justifies itself with that finish, I thought they might give it a try but I didn't expect the RKO to be executed so smoothly, a great one to witness and makes a nice change from people diving head first into it.

Sting/Trips was a match I had no interest in so thankfully it got hilariously overbooked with the DX and NWO shenanigans that turned it into a fun nostalgia riot, also the salty Sting tears are fuelling me for days, I haven't enjoyed a HHH victory in years but HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sure Sting was fine with this result or he wouldn't have bothered doing the match in the first place.

Diva Match was an acceptable tag match that wouldn't be too out of place on Raw if divas actually got much time on Raw, told a simple story but about as good as it could've been considering the participants. At least its better than the usual divas at WM fare over recent years.

Rusev/Cena was a pretty standard solid Cena match with the inevitable result, not much else to say really.
Okay I was caught off guard by springboard stunner Cena, better than his clumsy dropkick and hurricanrana surprise staples.

It pains me to say this but I no longer look forward to The Rock, dude can still cut electrifying promos but with no real direction each time the novelty has worn off, definitely felt like they were hoping for the sun to start setting in time for the next match with how drawn out the segment was.

Wyatt/Taker was disappointing, neither man looked particularly strong in that match, it just felt like it was there just to be there, Wyatt needs something to give him a second wind and he needs it now.

Brock/Reigns was draining in the best way, preying upon fears of the Reigns comeback alongside his otherwise enjoyable destruction, it may not be a great match in the typical sense but it had me hooked. The cash in was of course a mania moment and ended up with a perfect result that made all the main players come off looking pretty strong.
But crumbs Reigns, get some extra moves in that arsenal of yours.

Too many finishers getting kicked out of across the event, otherwise it was a good recovery from the horrible PPV build and was miles ahead of the likes of WM27 and 29 for recent reference.
Time to anticipate Raw after Mania.

 

[Shadowlink]

Watching Brock Lesnar commit murder live at the stadium was a sight to see.

 

[hitme]

Watching Brock Lesnar commit murder live at the stadium was a sight to see.

Just wait until tonight.

 

[Toki767]

Watching Brock Lesnar commit murder live at the stadium was a sight to see.

Just seeing Brock Lesnar in person is a sight to see. The guy is massive, even from far away.

 

[The Horror the horror]

Correct me if I am wrong but hasn't that been Sting's problem as soon as he began speaking as Crow Sting even in WCW? I always remembered him as having an intense look but always being cheesy on the mic.

Correct. It's been a problem ever since his matchup with Hogan in Starrcade.

He wants to be goofy and don the crow look at the same time, and it doesn't work. It really doesn't work when he toggles personalities.

 

[Vestal]

Just wait until tonight.

They may need to change raw to rated xxx. If they were to follow with a logical Brock reaction we could get into snuff film territory.

 

[Mahonay]

Did anyone notice their announcement last night for several new WWE Network original shows, and the fact they were all TV14 or TVMA? For still being in the PG era of WWE, it seems significant.

I want to believe this opens up the possibility for NXT on the Network bumping up to a TV14 rating. Still very unlikely of course.

 

[TimeEffect]

While I was watching it I was thinking to myself that it was the best match to that point.

Rusev was brilliant from start to end. Dude is a megastar.

The fact that they gave him a huge entrance makes me hopeful that they are evolving his gimmick and keeping his momentum going.

Drop the Russian thing, drop Lana, and be the Bulgarian brute.

 

[JMDSO]

At least they've set it up so that they could run with "the old man doesn't have it" in regards to Sting as a possible rematch angle.. but since HHH got the win at WM, I doubt it'll happen.

 

[zychi]

The fact that they gave him a huge entrance makes me hopeful that they are evolving his gimmick and keeping his momentum going.

Drop the Russian thing, drop Lana, and be the Bulgarian brute.

Or just have him "come to his senses" and become American. Keep Lana please.

At least they've set it up so that they could run with "the old man doesn't have it" in regards to Sting as a possible rematch angle.. but since HHH got the win at WM, I doubt it'll happen.

HHH got a rematch against Taker even tho Taker beat him. Anything is possible

 

[Wreav]

Wyatt/Taker was the worst, most boring match I've watched in years. Felt so forced and awkward. Taker needs to go ly dow.

Next year's match against the Stinger will likely be a hall of fame cringer.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Wyatt/Taker was the worst, most boring match I've watched in years. Felt so forced and awkward. Taker needs to go ly dow.

I thought it was much better than Taker vs Brock.

 

[Mr.Swag]

Wyatt/Taker was the worst, most boring match I've watched in years. Felt so forced and awkward. Taker needs to go ly dow.

Next year's match against the Stinger will likely be a hall of fame cringer.

I feel like Wyatts ankle maybe slowed them down.

Didn't care for the match at all

 

[TimeEffect]

Or just have him "come to his senses" and become American. Keep Lana please.



HHH got a rematch against Taker even tho Taker beat him. Anything is possible

Unfortunately, it seems Lana is splitting. And judging by the audience's reaction, she'll turn face. Which I'd rather not see myself.

What really makes me think Rusev is just done for is that he lost to one measly AA. No near finishes, no Rusev kicking out and looking strong, just Rusev losing pretty effortlessly to Cena's offense.

If Cena is elevating the U.S. title, then that'd be nice, but I dont see it lasting long. I'd rather Rusev get the title back and then have him lose to an NXT guy on the following Raw, like Paige beating AJ.

But then the U.S. title would just go back to being a prop, because we know they wont elevate the title to mean anything if someone like Cena is holding it.

 

[Plinko]

Last night's match really did a good job of building up Reigns, surprisingly. Made him tougher and more likeable.

You could clearly see during his entrance, though, that he knew he was losing. I mentioned it last night but he had that look in his eyes.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Wyatt honestly needs to just go away for like three months. Come back with a new family, new merch, a decent feud lined up. He's just too over-exposed at this point, and Vince is seemingly just oblivious as to how he's hurting young guys by having old fuckers just constantly crush them.

 

[ElectricBlanketFire]

Unfortunately, it seems Lana is splitting. And judging by the audience's reaction, she'll turn face. Which I'd rather not see myself.

Aren't they writing her off tv so she can keep filming that movie?

 

[Toki767]

Last night's match really did a good job of building up Reigns, surprisingly. Made him tougher and more likeable.

You could clearly see during his entrance, though, that he knew he was losing. I mentioned it last night but he had that look in his eyes.

The whole "I was originally told I was winning the title but plans changed" look.

 

[Killing_Joke]

1 star for Rusev...

I must have really missed something because Rusev/Cena was complete shit to me. I'm not dissing Rusev. He looked great. 100% of the blame goes to Cena and whoever helped booking the match.

Rollins is too good for Orton? Orton is one of the best in ring workers on the roster. I mean he carried Reigns last year in their match to make it even bearable. Those two imo absolutely nailed it.

Rollins is leagues better than Orton. I'm not saying Orton is shit or can't work but i can name 10 guys that i would rather see Rollins face in a pure wrestling match. Orton is just too similar to Cena. Repetitive and dull with the exception of the outta nowhere RKO. Which i could of sworn people were hating but now seem to love it again.

 

[Mahonay]

Last night's match really did a good job of building up Reigns, surprisingly. Made him tougher and more likeable.

You could clearly see during his entrance, though, that he knew he was losing. I mentioned it last night but he had that look in his eyes.

I could see that as well. I kind of felt bad when fans kept shoving him as he was coming down the aisle.

But absolutely. That match did miracles for Reigns as a character. Whether WWE is able to capitalize on that going forward, we'll see. I'm very skeptical about them rolling with it.

 

[BkMogul]

Last night's match really did a good job of building up Reigns, surprisingly. Made him tougher and more likeable.

You could clearly see during his entrance, though, that he knew he was losing. I mentioned it last night but he had that look in his eyes.

If so, that's something he needs to work on. He can take a lesson from Cena in that regard.Your mannerisms have to reflect the fact that the audience thinks you know you have a chance.

But to be honest, I did like his flurry of Superman punches and the constant grins as he was getting suplexed. He showed some things there.....some personality things.

 

[Data West]

Wyatt honestly needs to just go away for like three months. Come back with a new family, new merch, a decent feud lined up. He's just too over-exposed at this point, and Vince is seemingly just oblivious as to how he's hurting young guys by having old fuckers just constantly crush them.

They took him away for a while but then rushed him back because they didn't have enough 'main event level' guys. He got a huge pop despite only being gone for a short while, so the doomsaying about his character has always been overblown, but he does need a break for a while until they have something good for him.

Vince has completely forgotten about how to make fans yearn for something. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

 

[BFIB]

This company will be so much better off once Cena and Taker are gone for good.

At what point in having Cena beat Rusev elevate anything? But the same argument can be said for Cena vs. anyone over the last decade.

 

[Mr.Swag]

Last night's match really did a good job of building up Reigns, surprisingly. Made him tougher and more likeable.

You could clearly see during his entrance, though, that he knew he was losing. I mentioned it last night but he had that look in his eyes.

Him laughing while getting his ass whooped was great.
Especially when Brock slapped him and he asked for more.

 

[Plinko]

If so, that's something he needs to work on. He can take a lesson from Cena in that regard.Your mannerisms have to reflect the fact that the audience thinks you know you have a chance.

But to be honest, I did like his flurry of Superman punches and the constant grins as he was getting suplexed. He showed some things there.....some personality things.

Exactly. That was fantastic. I loved it. If they run with it, I think he actually can be a top star. I always thought he could, just needed more time.

 

[Masquerader]

In many ways, Wyatt is far beyond Taker at their respective eras. Takers' feud with Hogan was really an auxiliary to a Feud between Hogan & Ted Debiase, and Jake Roberts & Macho Man. Taker only got involved with Hogan because of a setup between Jake Roberts and Macho Man. Throughout the Hogan/Taker "feud," Debiase, Brother Love, Paul Bearer, and Jake Roberts served as the "heels" while Taker just acted on their diabolical wishes.

Taker didn't evolve into his own talent until his feud with Kamala (or, really, Harvey Wippleman and his stable of strong men).

Wyatt is capable of handling a feud on his own. He can work the mic, he really puts a lot into his character, and its a good character for the time. I don't actively follow wrestling every month, but I was surprised by the Wyatt character last year when I watched a little, and it seemed really well timed with HBO's True Detective and a lot of other pop-culture shows that are depicting cultish swamp people.

Why does Wyatt feel like he's at the end of his career then? He's had no real memorable feuds, which all build up well yet have a rotten conclusion. Undertaker was a rising star, whose feuds near the beginning gradually built up (although as you said, he was already main event, albeit in a lackey way). Wyatt's feuds have been incoherent on behalf of the WWE, who clearly make them pointless in relation to the character.

And Wyatt's clearly got a real shot at being one of the best talkers ever. Good talkers get somewhere. So why not Wyatt? It's baffling how badly WWE have screwed him in a dozen ways, some intentional, some not.

They already blew the chance at Wyatt being the next Taker when they had him all over the map early on.
For something like that to happen you would have to have a burial of the Wyatt we know, and a rebirth of a new Wyatt.
The Wyatt we know has been thrown out there to Cena, Ambrose, Jericho, Orton, Show, Usos, Reigns and others.
Taker was Taker from the beginning, even when he lost he was Taker.

Yeah, the Royal Rumble was a particularly hard stab to him, IMO. Him tossing out lots of people before being dumped by Kane and Show like a sack of potatoes so that Roman became the centrepiece really hurt him more than they realised. I suppose that in order to become big, he'd need to leave and return about a year later. Which is absolutely fucking stupid, but Vince made it that way.

 

[BFIB]

Exactly. That was fantastic. I loved it. If they run with it, I think he actually can be a top star. I always thought he could, just needed more time.

This generation needs another Kevin Nash. I think we've found it.

 

[dakun]

I'm still on a high from that ending last night.

he tried to be a helicopter and fly out of the stadium lol

I'm really happy with how things went last night..

 

[Mahonay]

This company will be so much better off once Cena and Taker are gone for good.

At what point in having Cena beat Rusev elevate anything? But the same argument can be said for Cena vs. anyone over the last decade.

It was simply their plan for the ending of that story arch. It was obvious they was no wiggle room for any kind of twists. I had accepted that Cena was going to win since it was first rumored this match was going to happen. It's your typical meat and potatoes writing for wrestling. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great by any stretch of the imagination. That whole thing is just a symptom of WWE's unwillingness to take risks and do something different with feuds.

I'm just happy Rusev looked amazing. That's all we can really ask to get from this.

he tried to be a helicopter and fly out of the stadium lol

LOL. If anyone could do that, it would be Seth.

 

[JMDSO]

IMO, they need to turn the Royal Rumble on it's head and have someone completely unexpected win it. Like Zack Ryder. Build him up as the underdog and actually try and make people sympathetic for him.

I also think it's easier to do this with a champ like Rollins rather than Lesnar.

 

[Mr.Swag]

WWE stock down 11% today

Dont know why, thought they had a great show, and they brought in like $12 million at the gate supposedly.

Maybe a good time to buy?

 

[Mahonay]

IMO, they need to turn the Royal Rumble on it's head and have someone completely unexpected win it. Like Zack Ryder. Build him up as the underdog and actually try and make people sympathetic for him.

I also think it's easier to do this with a champ like Rollins rather than Lesnar.

Never in a million years will this happen.

 

[Officerrob]

WWE stock down 11% today

Dont know why, thought they had a great show, and they brought in like $12 million at the gate supposedly.

Maybe a good time to buy?

Aren't they announcing new network numbers today? Perhaps not as good as expected?

 

[Kaladin]

WWE stock down 11% today

Dont know why, thought they had a great show, and they brought in like $12 million at the gate supposedly.

Maybe a good time to buy?

Network numbers were released today. While it is 1.3 million, they've had 1.8 million unique subscribers.

 

[Toki767]

Aren't they announcing new network numbers today? Perhaps not as good as expected?

The new numbers are already out. 1.3 million with April being another free month. Makes me think investors are starting to get fishy about all these free months. 3 out of the last 6 months have been free to new subscribers. So that 1.3 million seems kind of dishonest.

 

[JMDSO]

Never in a million years will this happen.

Isn't it basically the build up that they gave Mysterio?

But I do admit that my idea relies on WWE giving a shit, which it's obvious they don't.

 

[Ithil]

November, February and April being free months. They're gonna run that bump that free months get into the ground in record time.

 

[Officerrob]

The new numbers are already out. 1.3 million with April being another free month. Makes me think investors are starting to get fishy about all these free months. 3 out of the last 6 months have been free to new subscribers. So that 1.3 million seems kind of dishonest.

They are padding the shit out of that number with all these free months

 

[Fox318]

Isn't it basically the build up that they gave Mysterio?

But I do admit that my idea relies on WWE giving a shit, which it's obvious they don't.

and Vince was against it and he sabotaged Rey's career.

Take Vince out and most of these ideas work.

 

[BadAss2961]

With his heel run Rollins has surpassed Ambrose on the mic.

Better in the ring, better on the mic and a better look, he's a better option than Ambrose as champion. I love Ambrose but Seth was the right choice.

I like Rollins, he has come a long way on the mic. But you're being fooled by his push, and Ambrose being a face midcarder where it's much more difficult to stay over and get decent material to work with. A heel Ambrose (which is what he should and eventually will be) in the spotlight would blow away any of Seth's work.

 

[OctoMan]

They are padding the shit out of that number with all these free months

It's March. They said they have 1.3 million subscribers after Wrestlemania.

 

[BobTheFork]

Finishers have become signature moves and that's fine if we can still have a finisher somehow. The excitement of a finishing move is that people wait the whole match for it and they KNOW, when that move hits, it's over. It's anticipation for the ending of the match. People don't start popping for 'finishing moves' because they know it could be an easy kickout. It makes matches seem anti-climatic sometimes. People don't start cheering until the match is over, when they should be freaking out just before the match ends.

Hell, when Jake the Snake used to do his short-arm clothesline, people freaked the fuck out because that meant DDT, and the DDT was the END of a match.


Edit: Side Note, I hope we get at least a small follow up with John Stewart. they had a great segment based mostly around the idea that Rollins was a chump who wasn't even in the main match and didn't deserve the MITB case. He came through huge.

 

[Toki767]

It's March. They said they have 1.3 million subscribers after Wrestlemania.

Well this is also the same company that claims over 76 thousand people were at Levi's Stadium yesterday. Being there in person, there wasn't even close to that many people there.

 

[BigMastadon]

I don't really mind the free months as they are for "New Subscribers". Almost every other streaming service offers a free trial to try and get them converted in to paid subscriptions.

I've been a subscriber since the beginning and this doesn't really bother me.

 

[Eidan]

Yeah. I think Rollins is awesome on the mic. But he's not close to Ambrose. The fact that Ambrose has stayed so over with fans while being a mid card face with little to work with is a testament to his skill.

 

[Pavaloo]

Ambrose is boring as fuck. I just don't get it. Oh well, that's why Seth is champ.

 

[Mahonay]

Isn't it basically the build up that they gave Mysterio?

But I do admit that my idea relies on WWE giving a shit, which it's obvious they don't.

Huge difference there is that Rey Mysterio was a wrestler with years of prestige behind him at that point.

LOL Zack Ryder is not even on the same plane of existence. He had a really fun run there before Cena ruined him forever, but that was it. They flatlined Ryder and never brought him back. WWE was unhappy that Ryder built a huge fan base on the internet all by himself and punished him severely for it.

It's too late now. A guy like Ryder can only hope to be an entertaining mid-carder for maybe 3 months culminating in a some kind of PPV match, that is his best case scenario going forward. His ceiling has been reached, even if it's not any fault of his own.

If I had to make an accurate guess, I'd say Zack Ryder is not employed by WWE this time next year.

 

[Fox318]

Ambrose should be a tweener.

 

[Killing_Joke]

April is free? Christ. That's what you get when your main focus is kids. They don't give a shit about the Network. The only chance at decent to good subs is if they get live RAW which will probably happen never.