I disagree. Moving from traditional PPV to streaming with Wrestlemania 30 meant they were no longer contstrained by the limitations of a TV time slot, which is good since they no longer needed to cut matches for time, but it also caused subsequent shows to run longer and longer. By Wrestlemania 35, the show had become far too bloated for one night to be feasible. The show was 7 1/2 hours from beginning to end, the main event didn’t even start until after midnight Eastern time, and thousands of fans wound up stranded at the stadium for hours afterward because the trains stopped running before the show ended and the taxis and Uber/Lyft were at capacity and charging top dollar in surge pricing. (And I’ve never been stranded in New Jersey at 1 AM, but I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.)
Doing two nights lets them put on a lot of matches and wrap up multiple storylines in a satisfactory fashion without either show going too long or leaving the audience worn out and exhausted by the time the main event comes along. Wrestlemania 36 had a lot going against it due to the entire world shutting down because of covid, but the two-night format was the one good thing going for it, and I like that they’ve stuck with it since live audiences came back.
I do wish they’d go back to having undercard matches on the pre-show instead of the current format where the pre-show is just commentary and promos and video packages. A 2-hour pre-show with no wrestling in it just feels like a pointless imitation of the NFL.
I’m thinking Bobby Lashley will appear in the ring, announce Bray Wyatt is too afraid of him, and declare an open challenge. Randy Orton will emerge and RKO him in 2 seconds.
I’m in full agreement with you. Two 3+ hour shows beats one 7 hour show. I just wish they would ditch about half of the packages. Two 2.5 hour shows with far less time between matches would be even better.
Lot’s of internet sites doing that wishful thinking.
I read that Rousey is pretty banged up, which might lead to them not winning. Letting Rodriguez get the win will solidify her push. They’ve worked hard to protect her even in her losses, and I can definitely see her feuding with Ripley. I’m thinking they do a losers-bracket 3 way to fill the last slot, and to hype the multi-team match.
The build for these two matches has been pathetic. Asuka is still my favorite person on the roster, but I don’t know if she can’t do American-style heel, if she doesn’t want to go full heel, if HHH doesn’t want to pull the trigger on a full heel turn, or what, but the repackaging is just the same Asuka with different facepaint and a disappointment. That said, an Asuka win can have her feud with Iyo Sky for a SummerSlam showdown, and set all the weeabos ablaze. Iyo’s problem, however, is that as good as she is, Iyo doesn’t project her personality like Asuka can. IMO, even Kairi projected more than Iyo. And main roster WWE is as much if not more about character than about skill.
I think this could go either way. Maybe he loses, gets pushed ‘to the back of the line’ by Heyman, wins the MitB, and declares for SummerSlam (versus the run-in win). With the long-term storytelling that has dominated the Bloodline, this feels rushed.
Lastly, as for extra matches, I’m pretty sure LA Knight is going to make his WrestleMania debut somehow. Maybe he’s thrown in with Lashley? Who knows.
if I remember according to what Cornette & last discussed a while back part of this is due to reigns wanting to move to more of a Lesnar-style schedule
Although I wonder if on the booking side if Cody winning isn’t trips way of a polite middle finger to Vince for his treatment of the Rhodes family in the past
The rumor mill has it that Tony Khan has given Christian permission to make an appearance at Wrestlemania. If so, we could be seeing a Brood reunion after all.
“Hey Edge, you live in Asheville, right? There’s where FTR lives, right?”
“Yeah, we’re practically neighbors!”
“Just like we used to be. As well as multitime world tag team champs. Which could happen again, outside the only fed you’ve wrestled for. How’s a few more titles after your name strike you?”
I had to sit on this for days, sworn to secrecy until it was announced. On Friday night the WWE will induct the world’s all time greatest wrestling referee, Tim White into the WWE HOF, and also as the winner of the 2023 Warrior Award. He will be the first referee inducted into the HOF. Tim’s passing last June left a void in the WWE and my own life. Behind the scenes he we was universally loved and respected by the entire company. Tim never had a bad word to say about anyone, and his long experience in the company going back to the start of Vince Jr.'s ownership made him a respected advisor to all within the company. To me he was also a wonderful friend, I cannot find enough words to praise him for that. Hope you will all will get to see the induction Friday night. His brothers, Tom and Pat White will be attending. At one time Tom and Tim looked enough like twins that Tom was offered the chance to play referee twin magic instead of the Hebners but he declined.
Mildly surprised there aren’t any referees yet in the Hall of Fame… Earl Hebner is of course the name that comes to mind, but he’d have to be more distant from his AEW time. Probably too soon for Charles Robinson.
Not covering the whole show this time, but the first two matches provided plenty of fodder. Hope to be less busy next week.
Nick Comoroto vs. AR Fox
Comoroto knocks down Fox, who double sells it with a Bugs Bunny-style midair flip.
Taz: Ah yes, Nicky Boy, like a bus or medium-sized bus, like he’s some sort of bus.
Ex: A bus of any size.
Taz: Yeah, not a short bus, but just a bus.
… After a Boss Man Slam, Comoroto clenches Fox’s waist from behind.
Ex: And Comoroto has got the same idea, going for the midsection, and now has a Reverse Bearhug applied on Fox, but we’ve seen a lot of toughness from AR Fox this match, Taz.
Taz: Yes, absolutely, lot of toughness. By the way, that was a Reverse Gutwrench. I would otherwise never correct you. Ex mumbles an apology.
Taz: You just got put in the Indie Wrestling Hall of Fame, so congratulations to you, my friend. How could I deign to correct you? You win awards on off days, are you kiddin’ me?
Queen Aminata vs. Skye Blue
Taz admires Queen Aminata as she enters the ring.
Ex: Taz, you were looking out for Queen Aminata earlier, because I was going to wear that same cape, and you told me no, leave it back at the hotel.
Taz: Yes. No, I know you love to wear gold capes with beads around your necks. kss kss ksss
Ex: Like most people Taz, I only have one neck.
Taz: One neck. Well I knew a guy who had a liver neck on the side of a fat neck. That’s a whole 'nother story.
Night One was pretty solid. Sami Zayn winning the main event is a complete 360 from last year, when he lost a comedy match to a 50-year-old non-wrestler after being caught in a giant mousetrap. Rey rolling into the arena in a low rider to Eddie Guerrero’s theme was awesome, as was Rhea getting her win back from Charlotte, and I guess nobody told the guys in the four-way that it was a filler match, because they brought out all the stops and put on a great show.
I could’ve done without the impromptu Miz vs. McAfee match, and the finish of Cena/Theory is one that’s been done to death over the years, but this was easily better than, say, Wrestlemania 32.
The matches were good but it felt like a very good SummerSlam than a great WrestleMania so far tho I was tired so ill have to watch it tho cause I kept dozing off and on but that was me
was it me or did charlotte look relieved she lost? i mean she was smiling and everything sitting outside of the ring
Falir had the same look Banks had when Belair won. She knows that they put on a great match, set an incredibly high bar for Asuka v. Belair, and was happy at the performance. Both Flair and Banks would have been better served to keep their game faces until in the back, but emotion took over. It’s a crime that neither women’s title match received the proper story build it deserved. The 6-woman tag match had more build. Hell, the 4-way tag-team match had equivalent build.
Except for Cena laying down for Theory every match was too long. Too many last nanosecond kick-outs. When’s the last time any wrestler kicked out after a count of 1, or just after a 2 count but before the ref’s hand started to descend? What is the use of a finishing move that anyone can kick out from, even when they are exhausted?
I’ve been saying this for years. Finishing moves should be better protected, because in two weeks on Raw we’ll see them working the first time like we are supposed to forget they didn’t work previously. But wrestlers and fans seem to like this much more than I do. I guess it is one of my old-school Jim Cornette moments.
I miss the old school. They had to attempt to make it all look real. It obviously wasn’t, but now no one ever bothers. We constantly see wrestlers waiting around to get hit, or reacting a second or two after taking the hit. Wrestlers don’t even know how to fall over the top rope anymore. And there are so many that seem to be dancing more than wrestling, there’s no snap in their moves. And they all suck at selling. But aside from that and the stupid kickouts, childish storylines, and constantly hawking merch the new stuff is pretty good.
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