Went to my "Big PPV" standard Bristol Street. Excited, Pepi's pizza, and some good fans all pumped for the show!
And it went downhill in record time.
Like, almost literally! It was a weird opening, no huge pyro display, but I figured it's outdoors and dusk, hard to manage. Ooh look, they're starting with my boy Daniel Bryan.
Wait, what just happened? Honestly, I get it, it's not one of the top three matches. Most people have just wanted DB to get beat bad and not weasel out. Crowd pleaser, and that's fine, but what does it say when the "throwaway" match is also the curtain jerker that is supposed to set the tone for the night? I remember other great openers like Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio that really amped up the crowd. Not to mention is ONE OF YOUR PREMIERE BELTS. Fine angle wise, bad booking wise.
(I should mention that the following 3+ hours were filled with comments about how quickly the match was - how bathroom breaks took longer, and such... thanks assses).
Kane vs. Orton - alright, this probably the match I cared least about that didn't include Divas. It was a standard Kane match, same story told a million times - oh god he's a monster, what can stop him, the power blah blah blah. He wins with a chokeslam. Hmm... wait a second, that was pretty quick too.
Hey! Mick Foley's dialing in a paycheck! And yes, the crab legs saw more wrestling than D-Bryan.
Cody and Show: Where does one get robes that draw all attention to your junk? I think Cody has some "Alternative lifestyle" connections. Anyways, this match could be fun, I like Cody too. Nothing special however, some nice acrobatics on CR part. Big show is doing his schtick - I do like the toss over the top rope from outside spot, but it wouldn't hurt as much as just dropping him outside. Big Show wins with the world's laziest finisher, after the only legal spear to the junk in WWE history - shouldn't have chosen that robe I guess Cody. And what's with Big Show crying like Shawn Michaels? "I'm so happy I was competent for one night"?
Diva's match. Fuck it. Best part was guest star girl's white pants looked like she soiled herself after the double stink face caused makeup to rub off on them. Poor choice there Maria. Anyways, bimbo girl beats the only wrestler in the match. An odd spot though, the Referee (my LEAST favorite one btw, he sucks) sees Double D Double Kelly walk into the ring, clearly going to interfere with the two legal wrestlers, and does nothing. Hoeski Eve moves along the ring apron and he runs over to chastise her? WTF? The fact that KK botches something every match, but is famous and rich through WWE makes me feel like I botch life.
For the record, take the total time of that match, divide it by all divas involved - they still got more time than Daniel Bryan.
I think it was around this point we realized, we were three matches in, and like, half an hour to 40 minutes had gone by. Good thing we pay money to see these people work. Also, I'm really enjoying the green shirt guy in the front row, he was hands over the barrier all night! Edge of his seat kinda spectator. Not to mention neon hat Asian guy - he was disappoint.
Next up is Taker's annual beat down. And this year he went with a Super Shredder theme for his entrance.... did he think it'd remind HHH of his buddy Kevin Nash? Wait, now he's taken the hood off, and is reminding me of Road Warrior Animal? Alright... cool.
This match was what I expected it to be. Without going into too much detail, it was over the top violence (for this age WWE). Chair shots, sledge hammers, steel steps - and a lot of them. Only reason this worked IMO is because they DON'T allow that to happen weekly anymore.
I don't quite know what they hoped to accomplish with HBK's interference then concern then screwjob attempt... but the match was still great. Best of the night so far, but that's not been a terribly difficult task. It was a good match, but it couldn't top last year's. Taker kicking out of the sweet chin music / pedigree combo was cool. Line of the night after HHH is lining up the sledge shot to the head a la Gallagher and HBK stopped it, about 2 mins later King says "He looks like he's been hammered". Wow.
HOF people are out... Quite a collection of classy fellas and ladies... and Mike Tyson possibly having a seizure. Nice touch to let Naitch on screen. Kudos to both WWE and TNA.
Hey look! Heath Slater had more time in WM than Daniel Bryan.... that's deserving.
Team Teddy vs Team Johnny's up! This is probably the 2nd least intriguing match for me that didn't involve bleach blonded bimbo. I want team Teddy to win because Johnny Ace is an entertainment black hole, but I can see why this went the way it did. Miz winning is great if they're going to get behind him again. Johnny's suit makes him almost as white as Sheamus - which I think is why DB lost, it was dusk, and Sheamus was camouflaged.
Punk vs. Jericho: This was great. Two guys at the height of their confidence and abilities. I've not been a fan of the cheaper aspects of this feud (Dad's a drunk, Sis's a junkie, and you're a bastard). Y2J broke out the classic "Liontamer" version of the WoJ, Punk sold his role perfectly, and came out looking VERY strong. I love Jericho, always have, and it stuns me that he is still as over as he is after losing EVERY big match he's in especially at WM (HHH, HBK, Punk). I wish he got the same kind of glory a guy like Cena gets, but he's happy and healthy, and I get more Y2J.
Hey! Brodius Clay! Sweet! BC's momma's bridge club gets more WM time than Daniel Bryan.
Rock vs Cena: I don't like this being the last match. I think the belt should ALWAYS be #1. But it is "Once in a Lifetime" so.. ya
The match was good, if not spectacular. It wasn't anything I particularly was crazy for. I don't see the benefit of Duane winning, but we'll see where it goes.
Overall, this WM was great on paper, poor in execution. The first hour sucked. One of the matches I really wanted to see became a running joke. It was disappointing.
Enjoyed the show for the most part, but it may have been partly the company, partly the cake I baked that day (not a Darb version, just good cake) and partly because it was that or sit around being pissed off that one of my friends won the contest on The Score to take him and 3 friends to Mania and we didn't go.
After hearing about the problems they had with their flight down (it was on Friday, when we had a wickedly awesome storm but it wickedly delayed their flight so they got in around 11pm instead of 5pm) and the locals deciding to send them to the wrong part of town, I think we broke even lol. They did have a kick ass time at the HoF and Mania itself though, so that's awesome. In all honesty, I'm glad he won as he deserved it more than anyone else I know, and the people he took would never have gotten that chance at a trip like that in their lives.
But I still wish I could have seen Brodus dancing with his momma's bridge club in person.
As for Mania itself, pretty much on par with Mark. If the cake I was eating wasn't so damned delicious I would have done a spit take when DB lost. Divas match was blech, dug the Cody/Big Show match and the story it told, can't say anything more than what everyone has said about the HIAC (although I did like Michaels' interaction and what it brought to the match a lot more than I thought I would going into it), Jericho/Punk took a while to get going, but they had to if they were going to bring the crowd back after the HIAC, 12 man tag had some cool spots with a terrible finish (not who lost but how).
Rock vs Cena was pretty average to me. Problem is, I'm looking at it as Cena in his prime vs Rock in his prime. Looking at Rock's goatee leading up to this, he is clearly no longer in his prime. He's still damned good, but he couldn't pull Cena's workrate up, which to me says Punk>Rock but Rock is +$ev so I don't blame them for doing it one bit.
The Once in a Lifetime special they did was pretty cool and worth checking out, even after the fact. As for the finish, if the rumour of Rock doing more matches is true, then I'm all for it. It could mean a new direction tonight for Cena's gimmick but I don't know. Honestly, that's the best thing I could say about Mania. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, which is such a chance from previous weeks, months, hell YEARS! Can't wait for Raw
Comments
Is there any way to watch Wrestlemania online ?
1st no pyro for opening and then a 30 second opening match, FFS.
On-line streams usually are . . . and MARK?!? Come down off that ledge buddy . . .
No my cable one. I broke down and paid for it. But it really choppy. I amon hold with Shaw right now to complain.
Me too, maybe the worst wrestlemania ever so far.
yup I think so, ugh!
But big match time at least!
Who cut Edge's hair? Ed Leslie?
He needs the countdown intro again.
Ya that was terrible.
Taker & HHH match was good.
Punk & Jericho was ok.
The rest was terrible.
Went to my "Big PPV" standard Bristol Street. Excited, Pepi's pizza, and some good fans all pumped for the show!
And it went downhill in record time.
Like, almost literally! It was a weird opening, no huge pyro display, but I figured it's outdoors and dusk, hard to manage. Ooh look, they're starting with my boy Daniel Bryan.
Wait, what just happened? Honestly, I get it, it's not one of the top three matches. Most people have just wanted DB to get beat bad and not weasel out. Crowd pleaser, and that's fine, but what does it say when the "throwaway" match is also the curtain jerker that is supposed to set the tone for the night? I remember other great openers like Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio that really amped up the crowd. Not to mention is ONE OF YOUR PREMIERE BELTS. Fine angle wise, bad booking wise.
(I should mention that the following 3+ hours were filled with comments about how quickly the match was - how bathroom breaks took longer, and such... thanks assses).
Kane vs. Orton - alright, this probably the match I cared least about that didn't include Divas. It was a standard Kane match, same story told a million times - oh god he's a monster, what can stop him, the power blah blah blah. He wins with a chokeslam. Hmm... wait a second, that was pretty quick too.
Hey! Mick Foley's dialing in a paycheck! And yes, the crab legs saw more wrestling than D-Bryan.
Cody and Show: Where does one get robes that draw all attention to your junk? I think Cody has some "Alternative lifestyle" connections. Anyways, this match could be fun, I like Cody too. Nothing special however, some nice acrobatics on CR part. Big show is doing his schtick - I do like the toss over the top rope from outside spot, but it wouldn't hurt as much as just dropping him outside. Big Show wins with the world's laziest finisher, after the only legal spear to the junk in WWE history - shouldn't have chosen that robe I guess Cody. And what's with Big Show crying like Shawn Michaels? "I'm so happy I was competent for one night"?
Diva's match. Fuck it. Best part was guest star girl's white pants looked like she soiled herself after the double stink face caused makeup to rub off on them. Poor choice there Maria. Anyways, bimbo girl beats the only wrestler in the match. An odd spot though, the Referee (my LEAST favorite one btw, he sucks) sees Double D Double Kelly walk into the ring, clearly going to interfere with the two legal wrestlers, and does nothing. Hoeski Eve moves along the ring apron and he runs over to chastise her? WTF? The fact that KK botches something every match, but is famous and rich through WWE makes me feel like I botch life.
For the record, take the total time of that match, divide it by all divas involved - they still got more time than Daniel Bryan.
I think it was around this point we realized, we were three matches in, and like, half an hour to 40 minutes had gone by. Good thing we pay money to see these people work. Also, I'm really enjoying the green shirt guy in the front row, he was hands over the barrier all night! Edge of his seat kinda spectator. Not to mention neon hat Asian guy - he was disappoint.
Next up is Taker's annual beat down. And this year he went with a Super Shredder theme for his entrance.... did he think it'd remind HHH of his buddy Kevin Nash? Wait, now he's taken the hood off, and is reminding me of Road Warrior Animal? Alright... cool.
This match was what I expected it to be. Without going into too much detail, it was over the top violence (for this age WWE). Chair shots, sledge hammers, steel steps - and a lot of them. Only reason this worked IMO is because they DON'T allow that to happen weekly anymore.
I don't quite know what they hoped to accomplish with HBK's interference then concern then screwjob attempt... but the match was still great. Best of the night so far, but that's not been a terribly difficult task. It was a good match, but it couldn't top last year's. Taker kicking out of the sweet chin music / pedigree combo was cool. Line of the night after HHH is lining up the sledge shot to the head a la Gallagher and HBK stopped it, about 2 mins later King says "He looks like he's been hammered". Wow.
HOF people are out... Quite a collection of classy fellas and ladies... and Mike Tyson possibly having a seizure. Nice touch to let Naitch on screen. Kudos to both WWE and TNA.
Hey look! Heath Slater had more time in WM than Daniel Bryan.... that's deserving.
Team Teddy vs Team Johnny's up! This is probably the 2nd least intriguing match for me that didn't involve bleach blonded bimbo. I want team Teddy to win because Johnny Ace is an entertainment black hole, but I can see why this went the way it did. Miz winning is great if they're going to get behind him again. Johnny's suit makes him almost as white as Sheamus - which I think is why DB lost, it was dusk, and Sheamus was camouflaged.
Punk vs. Jericho: This was great. Two guys at the height of their confidence and abilities. I've not been a fan of the cheaper aspects of this feud (Dad's a drunk, Sis's a junkie, and you're a bastard). Y2J broke out the classic "Liontamer" version of the WoJ, Punk sold his role perfectly, and came out looking VERY strong. I love Jericho, always have, and it stuns me that he is still as over as he is after losing EVERY big match he's in especially at WM (HHH, HBK, Punk). I wish he got the same kind of glory a guy like Cena gets, but he's happy and healthy, and I get more Y2J.
Hey! Brodius Clay! Sweet! BC's momma's bridge club gets more WM time than Daniel Bryan.
Rock vs Cena: I don't like this being the last match. I think the belt should ALWAYS be #1. But it is "Once in a Lifetime" so.. ya
The match was good, if not spectacular. It wasn't anything I particularly was crazy for. I don't see the benefit of Duane winning, but we'll see where it goes.
Overall, this WM was great on paper, poor in execution. The first hour sucked. One of the matches I really wanted to see became a running joke. It was disappointing.
Mark
After hearing about the problems they had with their flight down (it was on Friday, when we had a wickedly awesome storm but it wickedly delayed their flight so they got in around 11pm instead of 5pm) and the locals deciding to send them to the wrong part of town, I think we broke even lol. They did have a kick ass time at the HoF and Mania itself though, so that's awesome. In all honesty, I'm glad he won as he deserved it more than anyone else I know, and the people he took would never have gotten that chance at a trip like that in their lives.
But I still wish I could have seen Brodus dancing with his momma's bridge club in person.
As for Mania itself, pretty much on par with Mark. If the cake I was eating wasn't so damned delicious I would have done a spit take when DB lost. Divas match was blech, dug the Cody/Big Show match and the story it told, can't say anything more than what everyone has said about the HIAC (although I did like Michaels' interaction and what it brought to the match a lot more than I thought I would going into it), Jericho/Punk took a while to get going, but they had to if they were going to bring the crowd back after the HIAC, 12 man tag had some cool spots with a terrible finish (not who lost but how).
Rock vs Cena was pretty average to me. Problem is, I'm looking at it as Cena in his prime vs Rock in his prime. Looking at Rock's goatee leading up to this, he is clearly no longer in his prime. He's still damned good, but he couldn't pull Cena's workrate up, which to me says Punk>Rock but Rock is +$ev so I don't blame them for doing it one bit.
The Once in a Lifetime special they did was pretty cool and worth checking out, even after the fact. As for the finish, if the rumour of Rock doing more matches is true, then I'm all for it. It could mean a new direction tonight for Cena's gimmick but I don't know. Honestly, that's the best thing I could say about Mania. I don't know what's going to happen tonight, which is such a chance from previous weeks, months, hell YEARS! Can't wait for Raw