WrestleMania 38

[DA Baracus]

28 minutes ago, Stellaboz said:

Lad had a heart attack and won't be wrestling again. Hardly ruined the event to give him a little moment.

Ruined the whole weekend.

[Stellaboz]

2 minutes ago, DA Baracus said:

Ruined the whole weekend.

No, Japan did that. 

[Mark Connolly]

1 hour ago, Stellaboz said:

Lad had a heart attack and won't be wrestling again. Hardly ruined the event to give him a little moment.

I didn't mind it tbh. I would probably not have noticed really if they hadn't wasted so much other time showing constant promo videos and recaps.

He'll be in the HoF next year I'd imagine - wonder if he'll get the both nights presentation that Undertaker did?

[forameus]

All in all, far from the worst WM we've had in recent years, but far from perfect too.  Given how absolutely shite WWE have been recently, you'd probably put it as pretty good, but it's a low bar.

Hard to say which night edged it - night 1 probably just about, but only because it looked like 2 would be waaaay better, and never quite managed it.  

Pros

Hot start to night 1 with Creatine Freddie Mercury Boogs starting things off.  Unfortunate that his knee couldn't muster the same energy. 

Charlotte/Rousey was a good watch.  Really should be making more out of Rousey, always find her brand of slightly rough sports entertainment thrilling to watch.  Assume she takes the title at Summerslam and we start the long build to her and Becky again.

Austin/Owens was brilliant.  Can't help but feel like they could have built it slightly better than the bait and switch about a match, but once it got started, you can't really fault it.  Was a bit worried at the start as Austin looked noticeably slower (fair enough, he's been away almost 20 years) but he fair warmed up, and Owens is one of the best you could put in that spot.  He deserves it and must have fucking loved it.

I might be in the minority, but I liked the whole Theory/McAfee/Vince part.  It got a bit hairy during the "match" as McAfee channeled HBK against Hogan with his selling, but I said before WM that everything looked like it was just going to blend into one, just wrestling matches one after the other.  The dessicated corpse of Vince playing to the crowd, and then ultimately having a match was the sort of mad shit something like WM needs (along with other spots).  And of course the traditional Vince not going over with Stone Cold coming down.  But Jesus Christ...that stunner.  Ooft.  Worth it though for Austin absolutely pissing himself laughing for a good few minutes afterward

Knoxville/Zayn was brilliant for similar reasons.  It was always going to be a bit of a car crash, but I think they booked it quite smartly to just make it fun, start to finish.  So often WWE's idea of fun or funny is a million miles from where it should be, but this one they got just right.  And massive credit to Sami for his spot-on performance, especially in the Wee Man spot.  He made you believe that he was actually getting slammed for real.  Really hope he gets to do a lot more in WWE in the future, just like Owens he massively deserves it.

Both nights the crowd seemed really into everything, which made a big difference.  So often the punishing schedule of WM means that after the decent. match in the middle, everyone is just completely fucked.  If they were, you couldn't really tell, and they actually managed to structure a card in a decent way for once.

Cons

I know you're supposed to, but I can't fucking stand Logan Paul appearing in any sense.  I'm not some Da that thinks anyone who is a YouTuber is a c**t - I watch plenty who are engaging and seem like nice people.  This guy is nothing but a c**t, and I assume Miz's post-match stuff and the way it was framed means he might be back at some point.  Shite.

What is Omos? I get he's new, he's still learning, not expecting great things, but you've got guys down in NXT where so much is made of how they've only had a tiny amount of matches on TV, and several of them look more believable in the ring than Omos does.  It's a throwback to the past in the worst possible way, just a lumbering guy bellowing around the ring.  Lashley tried his best, bless him, but you're fighting a losing battle. If they really want him to work, send him down to NXT where the whole point seems to be getting guys to do better.  

New Day/Peaky Blinders and Friends...what's the point?  Match wouldn't have looked out of place on RAW, so why not just put it there?  Or not at all?  

The new WWE trope of putting recaps or introductory promo videos like it's fucking X Factor is really grating.  I can get it on NXT, you're trying to get these guys over.  Do we really need to see that same Lashley video again?  I get that they use stuff like that to disguise them clearing up the ring etc, but they've always had to do that, and they were always a lot better at putting promos or backstage segments in those spots to take attention away.  Where's the traditional Ron Simmons DAMN skit?  Where's the legends trying to hawk some shite WWE toy?  Where's just your standard promo from someone like Paul Heyman about the main event?  Surely that's a better use of time than reminding people at length about a match they watched 24 hours earlier?

Seth FREAKIN Rollins.  Sick of hearing that after the first couple.

The branding.  Similar to above, but you can definitely hear "stupendous" too much, and if you keep telling people how they should feel about matches and how important they are, it's going to start sounding a bit ridiculous.  Build matches to where you want them to go, then let them actually reach that point.  And on that note...

Reigns/Lesnar.  Just fell flat unfortunately.  Before it started, to their credit it did feel big.  They've built it quite well, so perhaps no surprise.  But even comparing this to their match at 31, it just never really clicked into gear.  Maybe the dynamic just isn't there with Reigns being the heel, maybe Reigns just isn't good enough to play that kind of role, maybe Lesnar isn't booked in such a way to make the match work, or maybe he just doesn't want to be booked any other way.  But the match just devolved into big move, pause, oh no he's up, big move, repeat.  And can only assume they called an audible with Reigns' shoulder to end it when they did, as if that was the planned finish...not good.

Overall, as others have said I think they had the makings of a brilliant one night WM.  A few of the weaker matches lopped off, a few on the pre-show, get rid of a lot of the recap stuff, you've probably got a 4+ hour show you could be really proud of.  

[cb_diamond]

35 minutes ago, forameus said:

All in all, far from the worst WM we've had in recent years, but far from perfect too.  Given how absolutely shite WWE have been recently, you'd probably put it as pretty good, but it's a low bar.

Hard to say which night edged it - night 1 probably just about, but only because it looked like 2 would be waaaay better, and never quite managed it.  

Pros

Hot start to night 1 with Creatine Freddie Mercury Boogs starting things off.  Unfortunate that his knee couldn't muster the same energy. 

Charlotte/Rousey was a good watch.  Really should be making more out of Rousey, always find her brand of slightly rough sports entertainment thrilling to watch.  Assume she takes the title at Summerslam and we start the long build to her and Becky again.

Austin/Owens was brilliant.  Can't help but feel like they could have built it slightly better than the bait and switch about a match, but once it got started, you can't really fault it.  Was a bit worried at the start as Austin looked noticeably slower (fair enough, he's been away almost 20 years) but he fair warmed up, and Owens is one of the best you could put in that spot.  He deserves it and must have fucking loved it.

I might be in the minority, but I liked the whole Theory/McAfee/Vince part.  It got a bit hairy during the "match" as McAfee channeled HBK against Hogan with his selling, but I said before WM that everything looked like it was just going to blend into one, just wrestling matches one after the other.  The dessicated corpse of Vince playing to the crowd, and then ultimately having a match was the sort of mad shit something like WM needs (along with other spots).  And of course the traditional Vince not going over with Stone Cold coming down.  But Jesus Christ...that stunner.  Ooft.  Worth it though for Austin absolutely pissing himself laughing for a good few minutes afterward

Knoxville/Zayn was brilliant for similar reasons.  It was always going to be a bit of a car crash, but I think they booked it quite smartly to just make it fun, start to finish.  So often WWE's idea of fun or funny is a million miles from where it should be, but this one they got just right.  And massive credit to Sami for his spot-on performance, especially in the Wee Man spot.  He made you believe that he was actually getting slammed for real.  Really hope he gets to do a lot more in WWE in the future, just like Owens he massively deserves it.

Both nights the crowd seemed really into everything, which made a big difference.  So often the punishing schedule of WM means that after the decent. match in the middle, everyone is just completely fucked.  If they were, you couldn't really tell, and they actually managed to structure a card in a decent way for once.

Cons

I know you're supposed to, but I can't fucking stand Logan Paul appearing in any sense.  I'm not some Da that thinks anyone who is a YouTuber is a c**t - I watch plenty who are engaging and seem like nice people.  This guy is nothing but a c**t, and I assume Miz's post-match stuff and the way it was framed means he might be back at some point.  Shite.

What is Omos? I get he's new, he's still learning, not expecting great things, but you've got guys down in NXT where so much is made of how they've only had a tiny amount of matches on TV, and several of them look more believable in the ring than Omos does.  It's a throwback to the past in the worst possible way, just a lumbering guy bellowing around the ring.  Lashley tried his best, bless him, but you're fighting a losing battle. If they really want him to work, send him down to NXT where the whole point seems to be getting guys to do better.  

New Day/Peaky Blinders and Friends...what's the point?  Match wouldn't have looked out of place on RAW, so why not just put it there?  Or not at all?  

The new WWE trope of putting recaps or introductory promo videos like it's fucking X Factor is really grating.  I can get it on NXT, you're trying to get these guys over.  Do we really need to see that same Lashley video again?  I get that they use stuff like that to disguise them clearing up the ring etc, but they've always had to do that, and they were always a lot better at putting promos or backstage segments in those spots to take attention away.  Where's the traditional Ron Simmons DAMN skit?  Where's the legends trying to hawk some shite WWE toy?  Where's just your standard promo from someone like Paul Heyman about the main event?  Surely that's a better use of time than reminding people at length about a match they watched 24 hours earlier?

Seth FREAKIN Rollins.  Sick of hearing that after the first couple.

The branding.  Similar to above, but you can definitely hear "stupendous" too much, and if you keep telling people how they should feel about matches and how important they are, it's going to start sounding a bit ridiculous.  Build matches to where you want them to go, then let them actually reach that point.  And on that note...

Reigns/Lesnar.  Just fell flat unfortunately.  Before it started, to their credit it did feel big.  They've built it quite well, so perhaps no surprise.  But even comparing this to their match at 31, it just never really clicked into gear.  Maybe the dynamic just isn't there with Reigns being the heel, maybe Reigns just isn't good enough to play that kind of role, maybe Lesnar isn't booked in such a way to make the match work, or maybe he just doesn't want to be booked any other way.  But the match just devolved into big move, pause, oh no he's up, big move, repeat.  And can only assume they called an audible with Reigns' shoulder to end it when they did, as if that was the planned finish...not good.

Overall, as others have said I think they had the makings of a brilliant one night WM.  A few of the weaker matches lopped off, a few on the pre-show, get rid of a lot of the recap stuff, you've probably got a 4+ hour show you could be really proud of.  

Not arguing with the vast majority of this, but having the Ronda/Charlotte clusterfuck as a pro ahead of Becky/ Bianca (which was match of the weekend by a fair distance IMO) is surprising.

[forameus]

4 minutes ago, cb_diamond said:

Not arguing with the vast majority of this, but having the Ronda/Charlotte clusterfuck as a pro ahead of Becky/ Bianca (which was match of the weekend by a fair distance IMO) is surprising.

To be fair, I was watching the whole thing pretty broken up.  Night 1 I had to watch in bits, night 2 in slightly less but still similar.  Also probably wasn't giving it as undivided attention as it perhaps could have.  Also, in the severe minority, but I don't quite "get" Belair in the way that most do.  She's obviously really good, but I wouldn't say I'd put her way up on the list of personal favourites.  

[cb_diamond]

41 minutes ago, forameus said:

To be fair, I was watching the whole thing pretty broken up.  Night 1 I had to watch in bits, night 2 in slightly less but still similar.  Also probably wasn't giving it as undivided attention as it perhaps could have.  Also, in the severe minority, but I don't quite "get" Belair in the way that most do.  She's obviously really good, but I wouldn't say I'd put her way up on the list of personal favourites.  

I think Belair is still.in the position where who her opponent makes a huge difference to the match quality. She was great with Sasha and with Becky (who she has great chemistry with) but when she has to do the leading it's not the same.

[forameus]

2 minutes ago, cb_diamond said:

I think Belair is still.in the position where who her opponent makes a huge difference to the match quality. She was great with Sasha and with Becky (who she has great chemistry with) but when she has to do the leading it's not the same.

I think bits that stuck out with Belair was their big desire to show just how strong she is.  In true WWE fashion it was subtle as a brick to the face when she was first brought in.  The bit that sticks out was in her WM match last year with Banks when she walked up the ring steps with her in the suplex position.  Endlessly impressive, absolutely, but it kind of takes you out of it in the context of a wrestling match to just have her slowly move her opponent around like that while she holds on.  I know it's nitpicking, but it's something that stuck out with her.  Maybe I'm just being a contrarian dickhead!

Rousey's kind of the opposite, and I've really enjoyed a lot of what she's brought since she started.  There's a certain roughness to the way she works that makes her a bit more exciting.  Probably not as naturally good in a lot of areas as Belair is, but her weird mix of janky wrestling and legitimate judo is exciting to watch for me.  Granted the newness of it all has pretty much worn off now.

[cb_diamond]

1 hour ago, forameus said:

I think bits that stuck out with Belair was their big desire to show just how strong she is.  In true WWE fashion it was subtle as a brick to the face when she was first brought in. 

It's the trope that Vince loves the most isn't it.

[Ludo*1]

6 hours ago, Stellaboz said:

No, Japan did that. 

Hiya Jim Cornette.

[Ludo*1]

Do WWE not do little segments anymore to further storylines during PPVs? Just seems to be match, recap, match, recap.

My favourite thing about WWE as a kid was the drama and stories being told!

[forameus]

5 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:

Do WWE not do little segments anymore to further storylines during PPVs? Just seems to be match, recap, match, recap.

My favourite thing about WWE as a kid was the drama and stories being told!

It's a fairly recent thing but was really noticeable for WM.  They were usually quite good at having backstage segments while they (I presume) wiped up whatever bodily fluids were spread around the ring and rejigged the announce table or whatever.  You were watching something that usually furthered the show or the story.  Now they seem to want to throw to pre-recorded filler.  I mean, it's a lot easier and less prone to go wrong than doing a live promo, but it makes the show much worse to watch.

[DA Baracus]

Was surprised by how out of shape the Gable Steveson lad look.

However, he's not really started yet. I have no doubt he'll be in great shape when he debuts. Seems like he could be a top star one day.

[djchapsticks]

Ezekiel. FFS.

Vince must be watching Still Game on Netflix cos this is like when Stevie the bookie shaved his head and kidded everyone on that he was his brother Frankie the bookie to stiff Winston.

[Scotty Tunbridge]

23 hours ago, djchapsticks said:

Ezekiel. FFS.

Vince must be watching Still Game on Netflix cos this is like when Stevie the bookie shaved his head and kidded everyone on that he was his brother Frankie the bookie to stiff Winston.

You can imagine him getting an idea for a future Raw using the  bit where; The cubicle door opens and Tam has been sitting there the full time.

”This is such good shit”

[#Gary]

This is almost a yearly post for me now...

 

Don't watch wrestling regularly anymore but always tune in to Wrestlemania and Royal Rumbles.

I made it through the whole 8 fucking hours of this but it done absolutely nothing to make me want to start watching again. The best bit was watching Stone Cold drinking beer. The stunner on Vince should've been great for nostalgic reasons but it was just a bit sad.

 

Garbage.

Edited April 6, 2022 by #Gary

[Cptn Hooch]

Isolating due to covid so thought I'd watch this on catch up. I can't stand Logan Paul but he didn't look out of place in that match. Wasn't revolutionary or stand out by any means but he certainly did better than I expected. Heard a lot of stuff about Austin etc so I'm looking forward to seeing this unfold

[Jeff Venom]

I generally can't be arsed with wwe anymore but I thoroughly enjoyed this Mania, way more than in recent years.

[Cptn Hooch]

Stone Cold Steve Austin himself is STILL better than anything WWE has done in a long time. That was a fantastic ending to Wrestlemania Saturday!!! Imagine how good WWE would still be had Austin been there over the last 19 years