WRESTLEMANIA XL - 4/6 & 4/7/2024

[Lawful Metal]

Man, I'm not really feeling Mania this year.  I mean, I'm more off than on, but I've generally been pleased with their big shows (and even the NXT big shows).  But this card ain't doing nothing for me, even with the Rock around. 

I think my main problem is that I'm just done with Roman, Seth and Cody and more importantly the WWE style.  All the matches feel pretty same-ish (maybe not Gunther matches, but the result is almost never in question), the promos are next level cringe usually.  I don't know.  WWE doesn't feel fresh.  Maybe when Tiffy Time, Ilja, Trick, Melo et al take over it'll be cool again, but I'm kinda done with it. 

[zendragon]

52 minutes ago, Log said:

I don't think they did that on purpose. I think they thought fans would be ok with Rock taking Cody's spot and were very wrong.

its almost like The Rock has some of the best instincts in Pro Wrestling and saw which way the wind was blowing and went full heel

[Log]

1 hour ago, zendragon said:

its almost like The Rock has some of the best instincts in Pro Wrestling and saw which way the wind was blowing and went full heel

I do think they corrected pretty well, but I don’t buy that this is a “this was the plan all along” from anyone involved. I think it started with Cody as the plan (which was obvious at the Rumble) but then when the Vince stuff blew up, it was a “Hey! Stop talking about that! It’s The Rock! Look!” And they just inserted him in the laziest possible way and it backfired. 

[TheVileOne]

I think Gunther vs. Sami Zayn is a fine match and all, but it really does nothing for me. That match really could've made and cemented Chad Gable. I think Sami and Gunther will have a good match though. Considering they just forgot about Gable for a while after his loss to Gunther, they actually did a pretty brilliant job building him back up again for the Gauntlet only to have him lose. Like if Sami Zayn wins and ends Gunther's streak, who does that really elevate?

Even Sami Zayn has cooled significantly from his days when he turned on The Bloodline. I'm not really enthusiastic about him ending Gunther's streak.

Making a six-team tag team title ladder match for this show is stupid. They've been building this R-Truth feud with Judgment Day for months, and it feels like they are throwing it away just so they can shove as many teams on the card as possible. The right outcome here is a win for Awesome Truth, and it should've just been Judgment Day vs. Awesome Truth.

[RazorbladeKiss87]

I wonder just how many tags and multi-person matches they'll have this year. Feels like it could be somewhat excessive.

[The Natural]

3 minutes ago, RazorbladeKiss87 said:

I wonder just how many tags and multi-person matches they'll have this year. Feels like it could be somewhat excessive.

Still remember WrestleMania 2000 doing that. One singles match only. Ironic that in ring 2000 was one of WWE's best years ever but WrestleMania 2000 was not one of the worst PPVs that year, one of the worst WrestleMania's as well. One of those years when Backlash was better than WrestleMania like in 1999.

[The Natural]

1999 was a hot year for WWE like 2000 was but 2000 delivered in the ring unlike 1999. Only great 1999 PPV were Backlash and No Mercy. WCW with a few exceptions stunk on PPV. ECW was better on PPV with the odd exception. Anarchy Rulz was the best PPV that year.

Edited March 16 by The Natural

[The Unholy Dragon]

On 3/12/2024 at 10:02 AM, TheVileOne said:

Making a six-team tag team title ladder match for this show is stupid. They've been building this R-Truth feud with Judgment Day for months, and it feels like they are throwing it away just so they can shove as many teams on the card as possible. The right outcome here is a win for Awesome Truth, and it should've just been Judgment Day vs. Awesome Truth.

I agree, but I'm also positive they're going to have two teams grab a different set of titles each and use that to split the belts again. 

Not sure why *that's* the approach they're taking, but hey.

[TheVileOne]

18 hours ago, The Unholy Dragon said:

I agree, but I'm also positive they're going to have two teams grab a different set of titles each and use that to split the belts again. 

Not sure why *that's* the approach they're taking, but hey.

They don't really need to split the titles, just like we don't need split world champions. 

WWE booking has made it clear we know who the real world champion is, and it's not Seth Rollins. Even when they revived the World Heavyweight Title, they at the same time branded Roman Reigns' belt with UNDISPTUED on it.

It's the same with the women's division. Rhea Ripley is treated like the true star and face of the division. Iyo Sky is not treated with the same prestige. WWE worked just fine with part-timer Roman Reigns as the undisputed champion for over a year. It proved we didn't need two world champions. And if they wanted split tag titles, they never should've unified the belts in the first place. 

[Ziggy]

On 3/15/2024 at 10:20 PM, The Natural said:

Still remember WrestleMania 2000 doing that. One singles match only. Ironic that in ring 2000 was one of WWE's best years ever but WrestleMania 2000 was not one of the worst PPVs that year, one of the worst WrestleMania's as well. One of those  when Backlash was better than WrestleMania like in 1999.

Because it was one of the first Wrestlemanias that had over a hand full of matches felt like it was put together solely to get guys on the card. Alot of the late 00s early 10s Manias felt the same way with Men's and Women's Battle Royals and MitB matches and Triple threat matches 

[Phantom Lord]

I'm all for a tag team ladder match. Three teams would have been fine. Six is just asking for a train wreck. I just hope somehow Truth ends up with the MITB briefcase and he tries cashing it in. Possession is 9/10th's of the law. Seriously though I can't see Priest trying to cash it in at Mania. I'm hoping Drew wins and I don't want to see Priest cash in on him. But should Seth somehow retain again, cash in that sucker as fast as you can on him.

[Dolfan in NYC]

8 hours ago, Phantom Lord said:

I'm all for a tag team ladder match. Three teams would have been fine. Six is just asking for a train wreck. I just hope somehow Truth ends up with the MITB briefcase and he tries cashing it in. Possession is 9/10th's of the law. Seriously though I can't see Priest trying to cash it in at Mania. I'm hoping Drew wins and I don't want to see Priest cash in on him. But should Seth somehow retain again, cash in that sucker as fast as you can on him.

I wonder if Priest would try a cash in on Seth at the end of the tag match.  Then lose to Drew the next night.   Two birds, one briefcase. 

[Iron Moose]

With apologies for putting this into the universe: what if he cashes in during the tag?

[Dolfan in NYC]

If he brings Finn or Dom along, it becomes a triple threat for the World Title.  Whoever pins Seth is the new World Champ. 

[The Unholy Dragon]

On 3/18/2024 at 6:23 PM, TheVileOne said:

They don't really need to split the titles, just like we don't need split world champions. 

WWE booking has made it clear we know who the real world champion is, and it's not Seth Rollins. Even when they revived the World Heavyweight Title, they at the same time branded Roman Reigns' belt with UNDISPTUED on it.

It's the same with the women's division. Rhea Ripley is treated like the true star and face of the division. Iyo Sky is not treated with the same prestige. WWE worked just fine with part-timer Roman Reigns as the undisputed champion for over a year. It proved we didn't need two world champions. And if they wanted split tag titles, they never should've unified the belts in the first place. 

It's an issue with trying to do two things at once, having 'WWE' as a brand but also trying to maintain a brand split while also kinda not. 

It feels like all the unifications were a Vince thing and H wants to do a firmer brand split but he needs to get stuff back in place to do it that way. 

I'm not saying it's the right call, necessarily, but it sure seems like what's on the table. Especially with new broadcast deals for each show by January.

[The Natural]

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/slammy-awards-returning-during-wwe-wrestlemania-40-weekend

Slammy Awards are back!

[Dolfan in NYC]

2 minutes ago, The Natural said:

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/wwe/slammy-awards-returning-during-wwe-wrestlemania-40-weekend

Slammy Awards are back!

Well, the 4/1 week thread title just got decided. 

[Iron Moose]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:06 PM, tbarrie said:

That reminds me - I saw part of last year's match and wasn't sure how to react to the finish. I meant to ask here for some context but never got around to it.

Specifically: had Roman been relying on copious interference to retain his title in previous defences? Or was he just mowing opponents down prior to 'Mania? If it was the latter, then I think the outcome was fine, because having to resort to means he hadn't before at least represents a progression in the story. But if it's the former, I think doing a "same old same old" finish in the Wrestlemania main event is pretty bad writing, at least when it's not the result the fans wanted.

pre-Mania, he beat Sami after a bunch of bloodline melodrama at Elimination Chamber.

pre-Elimination Chamber, he beat Owens at the Rumble with some distractions from Sami, and then we got some bloodline melodrama after.

pre-Rumble, the bloodline won war games at Survivor Series.

pre-Survivor Series, he beat Logan Paul after Bloodline interference at Crown Jewel.

pre-Crown Jewel, he beat Drew at Clash at the Castle when Solo debuted.

pre-Clash at the Castle, he beat Lesnar at Summerslam after a whole lot of interference (Bloodline and Theory)

Very much same old same old.

 

[The Natural]

Sami Zayn:

"I think it's pretty big for sure. Coming off of last year where I found myself in a really just - you know, let's call it right place, right time. But I caught a lot of steam and a lot of momentum heading into WrestleMania over the six months or so leading into it and ended up in the main event. And any time you do something big, you know, I think in anything, I think in any field, not just as a wrestler or an artist or a whatever, but when you're able to accomplish something, there's always sort of like, 'Oh, now what' on the other side of it.

It's hard to sometimes keep that up, or wonder what's next, what could you do to top it, or anything like that. And if you watch WWE, you see how fast things move. And I'm just - I feel very lucky to be in a pretty good position a year later challenging the longest-reigning, most dominant Intercontinental Champion of all time. And if you're not in that top, top match with, let's say, Cody and Roman or The Rock or whatever, now I'd say this is the biggest match outside of that that you could possibly want to be in. So I'm pretty grateful to find myself in that spot, and I'm excited about it."

Edited March 23 by The Natural

[ChesterCopperpot]

 

The main story so far 

[peterien]

6 hours ago, ChesterCopperpot said:

 

The main story so far 

Cody/Roman can end so many different ways and they’re all quite interesting. 

Cody wins and Rock turns sets up Roman/Rock nicely or Cody wins and Rock stays heel taking over the Bloodline also sets up Roman to turn face and reclaim the Bloodline. 

Roman winning is very unlikely but you could have Seth turning on Cody or Drew costing Cody , turning either into the biggest heel ever. 

I see a lot of people fantasy booking Austin or Cena coming out to help Cody but I think that dilutes it a bit whatever the result, just leave the players involved now finish it out, they’ve done a great job so far. 

Roman needs a big moment this week or next, he’s after getting lost in the shuffle because of The Rock which could also have been part of the plan who knows. 

 

[zendragon]

Saw an interesting bit of fantasy booking Drew costs Seth the tag team match, but then comes out to even the score the next night cause he has issues with roman as well

[RazorbladeKiss87]

In an interesting turn of events, Meek Mill is mentioned in one of the P Diddy lawsuits (as Redacted but with a footnote saying something about a rapper from Philly who dated Nicki Minaj). Wonder if they'll have him show up still. 

Edit: I had details wrong and removed them. 

Edited March 28 by RazorbladeKiss87

[Leonidas]

Could the Rock's Bloodline steal Priest's case and cash it in on a newly crowned Cody so we leave WM with the Final Boss as champ? Not that I'm putting that out into the ether or anything, I just wondered if that's a thing that could plausibly happen? I'm not an avid WWE watcher so don't know.

[Dolfan in NYC]

6 hours ago, Leonidas said:

Could the Rock's Bloodline steal Priest's case and cash it in on a newly crowned Cody so we leave WM with the Final Boss as champ? Not that I'm putting that out into the ether or anything, I just wondered if that's a thing that could plausibly happen? I'm not an avid WWE watcher so don't know.

I wanna say the last time the briefcase was switched via a match was Mr. Kennedy losing it to Edge, who cashed in on Taker.   So, while it's not without precedent, remember, they're in Philadelphia and doing something that dumb would cause a riot.