The Wrestling Thread

[Keyser Soze]

That was a cool looking RKO.

[Keyser Soze]

The DX vs NWO malarkey

[MrMichael]

Errrr, the NWO helping Sting, lol wut?

Will have to watch tomorrow due to working but that sounded like a bit of a cluster****, doesn't surprise me they had run ins but I hope it wasn't as messy as the live reports made it sound.

[MrMichael]

Not sure if this really qualifies as a spoiler.....

[Keyser Soze]

Perfect ending

We have a NEW Word Heavyweight Champion.

Seth Rollins

[Alex]

That Wrestlemania might have even topped last years for me. Superb ending.

[MrMichael]

Called it. Think that was inevitable as soon as Reigns got rejected by the fanbase, no way could they continue to hotshot him to the belt and have him go over Lesnar clean so Rollins gave them the perfect get out, particularly as he didn't have to pin Brock to win

I hear they turned off the crowd mics for Reigns entrance etc, that's very amusing.

[MrShawnMichaels]

That was a phenomenal show. I was down on the card beforehand - no real blowaway matches or instant classics but it was filled with action and some real talking points and hopefully generates some buzz going into Raw tonight.

[MrShawnMichaels]

Errrr, the NWO helping Sting, lol wut?

Will have to watch tomorrow due to working but that sounded like a bit of a cluster****, doesn't surprise me they had run ins but I hope it wasn't as messy as the live reports made it sound.

It was a bit overbooked but from a historical element, that didn't make sense lol.

It's a mixture of smoke and mirrors because Sting is 55, a lot of those fellas being Triple H's mates and Vince's insecurity about WCW.

[Alex]

Meh it was cool. DX vs NWO. 14 year old me would have been doing backflips. What's the point in treating it as anything different. Was a little jarring at first that it was NWO saving Sting, but other than that it was cool.

[MrShawnMichaels]

Meh it was cool. DX vs NWO. 14 year old me would have been doing backflips. What's the point in treating it as anything different. Was a little jarring at first that it was NWO saving Sting, but other than that it was cool.

Flair needed to be out there if anything!

If it was truly following the storyline, it would have been DDP and Arn. Whilst the DX and nWo look old, those guys are even older lol.

[MrMichael]

I would have marked for DDP or a vague group of Horsemen.

Or Goldberg

Having watched that match specifically now, I honestly thought it was bull**** (and 14yr old me would have thought the same), from the commentary burying WCW and Sting through the whole match to a **** ton of ****ery at the end that just made no flipping sense whatsoever.

More than anything though you just cannot put Sting with the nWo, that's wrestling heresy. The nWo who were of course presented as WWF invaders trying to kill WCW so it doesn't even really make sense to have DX v nWo aside from "it being cool", but I could get past that without Sting in the middle.

I tend to agree with MrSM that it seemed like an excuse for Hunter to get all his mates a payday and for Vince to once again bury WCW's legacy.

[Alex]

I think wayyyyy to much attention is paid to backstage stuff now. It was just a nice moment they tried to put together. Landed for 95% and the other 5% cant look past what they think it is. Trouble is the 5% are just as loud as the other 95%

Its no different to arguing in the football forums about player contracts. No one knows the full extent of things, so why concern yourself with them.

I get more bothered by people booing John Cena and stuff. The guy clearly has put hard hours in to entertain people. But the 30 somethings in the crowd who dont like him skew the reactions for him. Wrestling Crowds can elevate a show like Wrestlemania which I thought they did on Sunday. But sometimes they can totally ruin the story that is trying to be told.

I think that Main event was always going to happen like that, its had seeds sown for months. But I have read things online where fans are saying 'We made that happen' Just because they pushed it to happen last year, they now think they can control the story.

Also. Rollins = Edge and I like that tremendously.

[MrShawnMichaels]

I think wayyyyy to much attention is paid to backstage stuff now. It was just a nice moment they tried to put together. Landed for 95% and the other 5% cant look past what they think it is. Trouble is the 5% are just as loud as the other 95%

Its no different to arguing in the football forums about player contracts. No one knows the full extent of things, so why concern yourself with them.

I get more bothered by people booing John Cena and stuff. The guy clearly has put hard hours in to entertain people. But the 30 somethings in the crowd who dont like him skew the reactions for him. Wrestling Crowds can elevate a show like Wrestlemania which I thought they did on Sunday. But sometimes they can totally ruin the story that is trying to be told.

I think that Main event was always going to happen like that, its had seeds sown for months. But I have read things online where fans are saying 'We made that happen' Just because they pushed it to happen last year, they now think they can control the story.

Also. Rollins = Edge and I like that tremendously.

Are you Paul Levesque?

[MrShawnMichaels]

My thoughts on Mania

The overall show was from back to front a fun and entertaining watch. There was no clear classic Savage/Steamboat, Bret/Austin, Michaels/Angle, Michaels/Taker match, which sometimes elevates a particular Wrestlemania to a higher regard.

Fatal 4 Way Tag Titles was exactly what you would want from an opener. All four teams worked very hard and almost trying to prove a point that they deserved to be on the main show. Considering what was happening later, difficult. A fun match with deserved winners

Andre The Giant Battle Royal had the main story of Miz and Mizdow going into this. From being an event last year, this is the jabroni payday opportunity. Hideo Itami facing off with Big Show smells of WWE booking of small guy unable to beat a big guy. In the end, we had an anti climactic win.

Intercontinental Ladder Match was good and intense. Not like a lot of other spot fests we've had in Money in the Bank PPVs and matches. Some really cool stunts and sick bumps. All gave a good account of themselves here, no real notable botches. A worthy winner here too.

Seth Rollins v Randy Orton had a lacklustre build but the narrative weirdly here was with two guys having a mechanical and solid wrestling match. If anything, I think they could have done with a bit more fire in this match to match the heat apparently going into it. A phenomenal finish with Randy seemed very pleased with.

Sting v Triple H was a bit meh at the end of it. On a script, having the DX and NWO face off is a cool concept despite the massive plot holes. The smoke and mirrors were placed probably because they didn't trust Sting to go on for so long. The only interferences which would have been good possibly are Michaels and Flair. Not sure about the finish unless Sting has another match to avenge this defeat because his stock is worth nothing now. In the grand scheme of things, HHH couldn't lose because of the plan next year.

AJ and Paige v The Bellas wasn't as bad as other matches they've had on TV. The correct result here because we need a fresh opponent for Nikki Bella. Decent story in the match too.

John Cena v Rusev had the best entrance of any man in any sport in the history of the universe. Rusev showing up on a tank was brilliantly creative and the production was big time and big stage for him. These two delivered a solid match, not as good as the previous and again, a winner with hopefully good booking to elevate that particular title - it does need it. I hope Rusev and Lana don't break up.

The most (or second) newsworthy segment of the show. The Authority trolled the crowd like it was the opener of Raw. Out comes The Rock and he cut down the silly lines and wanted a moment for the archives v Triple H. Rock was appearing in two forms for the event - either in the main to set up Brock or to set up Hunter - and press row had broke the story earlier that it was going to be Triple H. It's needed because of the big gate they have to achieve for next year. Stephanie slapped Rock and goaded him into hitting her. He left like a wimp and walked to where Ata Johnson (his mum) was sitting instead there was the Four Horsewomen and Ronda Rousey. This was brilliant. The crowd felt the buzz and clearly the best people to do this in front of. A lot of staring and stalling directed by The Rock, which led to a well delivered line by Rousey about owning the ring and some physical between all four people, teasing the armbar finish for next year. Hopefully a mixed tag is in the works, depending on Dana White. This smells gorgeously of money.

Undertaker v Bray Wyatt marked the return of the Undertaker of two years ago. The drama in this was good with a good pace at the start, Bray slowing it down and some good false finishes to close the match. Taker losing last year really did bring life to the Sister Abigail pinfalls. Crowd was dead for the first half, picked up in the second.

Brock Lesnar v Roman Reigns was beautifully brilliant from start to finish. Brock was strong over, showed good colour from an elbow or knuckle, which I'm sure Reigns got a good receipt for. The crowd were into this like it was a fight. Great noise around this. Reigns looked fine, hokey in some mannerisms. The final sequences were fantastic. I loved the Superman punch to F5 pick up. Then

The Rollins cash in was the only logical and best way to finish the show. Two curbstomps, Lesnar is protected from the finish, Reigns got screwed and the best (or second) worker in WWE is the champion for an explosive finish.

A great crescendo to an easy viewing Wrestlemania. Barring a few booking decisions, this was better than anything they've cooked up in years for a Wrestlemania and certainly unexpected after the months of rubbish served up on Raw. As close to Wrestlemania X7 as they could get - that WM probably had better match quality with the roster they had then. This roster and creative team massively overachieved here.