I am digging the hell out of these entrances. Bray just let the audience provide all the lighting, and he looked like an evil wizard summoning the demons of chaos. Then Randy comes down the ramp like he’s walking on the back of a giant viper. This WM has exceeded all expectations so far and is sure as hell better than last year.
10:40p (Eastern) and there are still 3 matches left. Goldberg will probably have a 30 second match, ruining another PPV. Please don’t let them finish.
ETA: So far they took the legs from under Corbin, Aries, and Wyatt. WWE booking is insane.
OK, the interactive vermin was a masterpiece. Totally made Bray into a wizard. Grats to Randeh. Not the most active match, but definitely the most mental.
BAH GAWD It was good to hear JR calling a match again.
UT failed the zombie situp for the first time ever. Very symbolic and a clever way to pass the torch. This was his best entrance ever as well.
This was the best WM I’ve seen in years. Every match was a winner.
Now THAT was a viking funeral exit! It was like the afterlife parted its dark clouds and summoned the glorious warrior to his eternal reward.
All in all, I’d say this show wasn’t as good as 'Mania 30, but it was miles ahead of the last two. The last hour and a half was a slog, but less so than last year’s “all the heels win so you’ll cheer for Roman dammit” fest was.
Highlights;
- The Hardys DELETING the Raw tag division (match of the night) and becoming the only duo to ever hold the WWE, TNA, and ROH tag titles in a 30-day span
- Bayley retaining
- Naomi winning the title back in her hometown
- Seth Rollins beating HHH with a Pedigree
- Steph taking a table bump
- The inevitable Cena proposal
- Aries and Neville putting on one hell of an opening match
- JR
- 'Taker’s farewell
Low points;
- Roman winning clean
- Bray Wyatt’s magic insect powers
- The Pitbull concert
- Brock becoming a part-time champ yet again
- Howard Finkel not introducing the HoF inductees
- Lemmy still isn’t in the HoF
- Hunter getting a police escort while Goldberg has to make do with rent-a-cops
- The New Day shilling Final Fantasy and Maggle struggling to pronounce “Moogle” and “Chocobo”
- No Mauro Ranallo
- Yet another celebrity getting involved in a match without suffering any negative consequences
I’ll give it a 7/10, I guess.
I suppose I can take it as a badge of honor that I was sitting in front of the TV live for Undertaker’s first match and for his last match.
At least Goldberg-Brock was a real match, so I’m satisfied. Loved the entrances too.
Liked the musical act too, WM has been doing that for years but this is the first time they made it feel like a Super Bowl halftime show. I still remember Run DMC just setting up in the ring and doing their Wrestlemania rap with horrible sound quality. Made Wrestlemania seem amateurish even in big venues. I’m sure this isn’t the first year they’ve upped the presentation, but being my first WM since 19, it looked every bit as great as the Super Bowl.
Just to vindicate myself for being such a mark, there were some parts of WM I thought were stinkers, but was too buzzed about all the other stuff, and well, was buzzed in general.
I don’t think Mojo is really on “future superstar” level like previous AtGMBR winners, since he’s had very few singles matches in prime time, and those just seemed to be him running and knocking shit over. Corbin used to be in the NFL, and he doesn’t recreate football plays to get heat. Plus, I hate the Patriots in general, and Gronkowski just looked like a tard. At least it got the obligatory celebrity participation out of the way early.
I did like that Killian Dane represented NXT like a champ. He’s another who benefited from somebody else’s misfortune and shot out from obscurity.
I wasn’t into the Brock/Goldberg match at all, even though it was well booked.
Michael Cole’s intro of JR as “having had a rough couple of weeks” was kind of douchey, but I know how awkward I tend to get when trying to navigate around somebody losing a loved one, and at least JR got to do something special in calling UT’s last match.
What’s the story on Roman Reigns being a Holocaust denier? I did a google search this morning and the results are that someone had a sign at WM.
Was so tired, slightly bored and well, sick as a dog and ended up going to bed after the women’s match.
Apparently the WM stage caught fire after the main event due to Taker’s pyro. Or as I like to think, WM was so bad this year the set tried to commit suicide.
Now that I’ve watched the end, some random thoughts.
This show is too damn long. I understand the concession breaks, so I won’t complain about the commercials and selling the angles, though I tire of it. Given the size of the roster, make it a 4-day affair beginning with the HoF on Thursday, the Wrestlemania runner-ups (can even make it an angle to get on the Sunday show during the TV shows) on Friday, Takeover on Saturday, and Wrestlemania on Sunday. Keep it to 4 hours on Sunday and up to 3.5 the other days. Wrestlemania should feature all the title matches and a marquee match or two. No disrespecting ANY title by putting it on the pre-show.
Given how stuffed the show was, I felt both women’s matches and the tag team match were not given enough time to really develop. I’m not knocking the work, which was top notch - they just needed longer especially given the cluster of people in all the matches. And that’s the other problem with these three matches - too many participants. I understand why and I understand how important it is to the talent to be on Wrestlemania, but it is too much too often for my tastes. Telling that only the women’s and tag titles were multi-person matches and that both the primary and secondary men’s titles were singles matches. And did I blink and miss the Smackdown tag title match? I didn’t think so. Tell’s you what Vince and Kevin think of that division.
I liked seeing Goldberg get taken down and going to suplex city. I would have given Lesnar more revenge, but it was still their best showing in this feud.
Orton has been giving his best work in years, but I hope he does not carry the title for long. Hopefully, he transitions it to Styles at the next PPV, barring a trade. And it won’t happen, but I hope the fans start to appreciate the work Reigns has put in both in the ring and on the mic. He really needs a heel run - not a tweener but full-on heel.
The proposal was a sappy, feel-good Wrestlemania moment, so Cena/Bella had to go over. Too bad, because Cena doesn’t need the win as much as Miz, who is doing great work but is just lost. He needs a good feud to get his heat back.
Finn Balor was rightfully held off of Wrestlemania, but I hope he gets a full, big entrance tonight. Would love to see him feud with Joe or Styles (if the latter switches brands) before getting back into the title picture. Lastly, Hardy Boys are too old to repeat their previous schtick. DELETE DELETE DELETE!
And the Hardy’s didn’t go to Jarrett
I wonder if Vince is going to have the match “sweetened” to remove the crowd’s “Delete!” chants, out of fear that Anthem might sue?
And speaking of the proposal, I wonder how many fans got confused why Cena called her “Stephanie” and some last name other than “Bella”? I know he used her real name, but still, why bother with kayfabe if you’re going to break it like that?
A few notes of my own:
I agree that it ran far too long - the Smackdown women’s title match should have been moved to Smackdown.
Did I miss a memo? Where were Rusev and Lana?
How did Charlotte not win? Not only (he’s going to say it again, isn’t he?) is she supposed to get the “WWE Annual Report Cover Push” (and, there it is), but Flairs winning titles at big events right after losing them is a “tradition” - see Starrcade 87 for an example.
And props to Vince for not doing something tacky with Undertaker’s apparent retirement, like when he “ascended to the heavens” at the 1994 Rumble (depending on the version being told, it was either Marty Jannetty or Steve Lombardi).
Speaking of which - well, somebody should say it:
Mark Calaway’s career…
Rest
In
Peace
Speaking of which, what is the shortest amount of time so far between when a WWE Superstar “retired” and his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame?
Edge
Retired April 11, 2011
Hall of Fame March 31, 2012
Sean Michaels
Retired March 28, 2010
Hall of Fame April 2, 2011
Anyone faster than Edge?
Based on this post-match interview, I doubt it! DELETE DELETE DELETE!
WWE could probably buy the Broken Hardy rights from Anthem for as much as their typical catering bill. I’m just amazed at how the Hardys managed to keep their debut a secret for so long. They dropped red herrings here and there about how they were staying with RoH and so forth. They were actually brought in late for the event so no one would see them arrive beforehand.
Ruzev has been out because he had to undergo shoulder surgery.
I think the “Roman is a Holocaust Denier” sign was supposed to refer to him ending UT’s career. Double meaning/Play on words
Just watching the Taker-Reigns match.
When Taker tombstoned Reigns and then pinned him, he teabagged him. Taker appears to very carefully lean forward to put his crotch in Reign’s face.
NXT comes to Chicago on May 20 for the next TakeOver event. I wish I could be more excited about this but it sounds like the roster is going to be gutted again. We’ll have to see what happens in the next few weeks.
As a former frequent visitor to the Madhouse of Extreme (the Elk’s Lodge in Queens was within walking distance of where I lived), I understand how important audience participation is. But unlike when Eddie Guerrero did a very similar interview (which was friggin’ awesome), this crowd was disrespectful. Very different feel and very undeserved.