Wrestlemania Triple X! - Thread 2

[Brian Fowler]

I'd say 19.

[Jimmy Trump]

If I have 1 disappointment about WrestleMania weekend, it's the missed opportunity of the greatest 'Mount Rushmore' picture they could have ever taken.

Just think of everyone that was all assembled in one location...

 

Bruno

Backlund

Flair

Hogan

Warrior

Bret

Michaels

Austin

Rock

Taker

HHH

Cena

 

Also the likes of Orton, Batista, Hall, Nash, Brock, Booker, Piper, Dusty, Steamboat... just depends where the cutoff is on what level of Superstar is allowed in the pic.

[Jimmy Trump]

Weakest Undertaker WrestleMania match since? Like the above post said, it can be explained by Undertaker's apparent concussion and age also. The finish is what will be remembered more than the actual match.

 

I'd say 22.  23 to 29 was a pretty stellar run if you don't mind the masturbatory drama stuff in the HHH match at 27.

[Fallacy!]

Weakest Undertaker WrestleMania match since? Like the above post said, it can be explained by Undertaker's apparent concussion and age also. The finish is what will be remembered more than the actual match.

 

Their styles just don't and never did match up. A big power guy is not the right opponent for Undertaker at this point. A smaller, quicker guy like Punk and Michaels really suit both men much better, as their respective matches over the last few years proved. I thought both Undertaker and Lesnar's series' with HHH suffered for these same reasons.

 

I still think 'Taker can put on a show-stealing match with the right guy.

 

And on another note..

 

[peterien]

Ive slept on it, well kinda (was thinking about that ending for a long time) and that maybe one of the best Manias ive ever seen, I remember being disgusted at shelling out for last years event but I would've paid twice for this.

HHH/Bryan was fantastic, ill have to watch it again later but right now its up there with Shield/Wyatts as MOTYC. HHH deserves enormous credit for his work last night, did everything the right way.

I wish The Shield got a more important spot on the card as a unit but I guess they'll get their big moments individually down the line sometime. The masks were boss!!

Liked the story of Cena/Wyatt but it was awfully executed IMO.

Stephanie looked amazing last night.

Taker/Brock was a very poor match, you're watching the match and you're thinking that this has to be the last one because Taker looked awful (whether that was the intention or not) and you guys are right the novelty of the Streak wore off a long time ago, peaked at WM27, but ill admit that the Punk match is one of my all time favourites.

Brock winning and the reaction was surreal,the way they shocked everybody needs to be applauded, no one saw that coming.

My wording of this is going to be awful but stick with me here, Brock is a great choice to end the streak because as mentioned-he'll be able to carry the "burden" it wont affect him like it might a younger/inexperienced wrestler. I mean, if Taker somehow got past Lesnar and then was booked against Cesaro/Reigns/Ambrose/ whoever next year then you would know that its gonna end, this way the shock value is there and you cant buy that, hell nothing will top that in terms of shocking IMO.

Cesaro lifting Show got a legit Holy Shit from me.

The main event was awesome,nothing was overbooked and all the red herrings were very well done. As a 26 year old I never thought id be hopping around my kitchen with joy because of wrestling again but my god it was awesome seeing Bryan get the big win and the big stage, from ROH to the main event of WM30. Well deserved. I can't imagine there are many moments like that left in wrestling for me and if thats the last one then WHAT A MOMENT!!

MVP of the night is D Bryan without doubt, but HHH is a close second and Randy Orton deserves major props too.

[J.H.]

I don't think such a shocking ending to a major match (Taker/Brock) has had that kind of reaction since Koloff beat Bruno. 70,000 people just in utter shock and disbelief.

 

Well done WWE

 

James

[Lee]

So many knee jerk reactions out there but honestly, it wasn't really that great a show. A good one, sure. A very good one at times. Maybe a top 10 'Mania so far, but certainly not a patch on X-Seven. Needs some hindsight and clarity before making a claim like that though.

Cesaro winning the battle royal with a bodyslam on Big Show was my favourite thing of the night, but that match sucked until the Fandangoing, got good with the Kofi non-elimination and was pretty great once they got the dead wood out of it. I wish we'd seen the entrances though.

 

I loved how entertaining Hogan, Austin and Rock doing practically nothing was. I did suspect Ric Flair or Shawn Michaels might come out too but I guess if you're going with the big three, that's it. Shame there wasn't a super shot at some point with Bret, Bruno, Dusty, DiBiase, Warrior, Jake, Cena, the Kliq et al in there, but I loved the Hogan/T-Piper/Orndorff callback. And DANNY DAVIS~!

Stephanie was a terrific heel all night long but I just can't bare to look at her or listen to her. She's good but, ugh, just go away.

Shield six-man would have been better with the Wyatts, but I can't complain about the Old Age Outlaws putting the young guys over like that.

I like the Bray Wyatt character but I'm not sold on him in the big matches yet, he's only really been good against Bryan and in Shield six-mans. Cena was his usual self, getting his head smashed against the ring apron then later coming back with headbutts. No words.

Undertaker-Lesnar was mulch but fuck, the post-match reaction was astonishing, like Koloff beating Bruno. Not sold on people saying it was a great finish because nobody expected it, but that's a generation of kids growing up on Vince Russo's booking for you. Obviously we don't have the details yet and presumably it was Undertaker's last match, but man does that finish ever make Brock jobbing to Triple H last year look beyond dumb. I figure their hand was forced here but yeah, there were so many better choices to end the Streak. Roman Reigns, Cesaro, Bray, hell, Cena... Davey Richards... so many choices.

Oh, and Bryan Danielson won the title in the main event. So that's good. Hoping for a SummerSlam double-header with The Shield vs. Evolution and Bryan vs. Lesnar now.

[RIPPA]

BTW - if any of you are on Team "I AM DONE WITH WRESTLING BECAUSE THE UNDERTAKER LOST!!!!" just let me know

 

I will gladly help facilitate that by deleting your account

[The Comedian]

 

Weakest Undertaker WrestleMania match since? Like the above post said, it can be explained by Undertaker's apparent concussion and age also. The finish is what will be remembered more than the actual match.

 

Their styles just don't and never did match up. A big power guy is not the right opponent for Undertaker at this point. A smaller, quicker guy like Punk and Michaels really suit both men much better, as their respective matches over the last few years proved. I thought both Undertaker and Lesnar's series' with HHH suffered for these same reasons.

 

I still think 'Taker can put on a show-stealing match with the right guy.

 

And on another note..

 

 

Apparently even Mickey Rooney did the job for Bryan last night.

[LooseCannon]

Man, Daniel Bryan completely stopped selling the shoulder after the last match was over. I mean, come on, he was lifting up both belts, one in each arm. If HHH really was a "cerebral assassin", he would have given Daniel Bryan a piledriver on the floor after losing. If Cena was being stretchered out and came back into a match that way, there would be a monstrous bitchfest on the internet, but because Daniel Bryan is a special snowflake, it's ok.

But seriously, great show.

Coming late to the discussion, I'll try to highlight some other things.

Ziggler's elimination was actually my favorite of the battle royal.

I felt like the Cena-Wyatt match could have been better if they had pushed the idea that one of Wyatt's weaknesses is concern for his "family". That's where I thought they were going part=way through the match, but the finish didn't go there like it could have. It also felt like they didn't want to blow their wad on this, knowing they couldn't compete with the other matches on the card. Maybe this is Act I in a storyline that keeps Cena away from the title picture through Summerslam and culminates in an epic Cena-Harper match that improves upon their Raw match from a few weeks ago and leads to Harper being the guy to emerge from the Wyatt family with a strong singles push.

Maybe that reddit dude will be so pissed that he outs his source and gets someone fired.

[Matt D]

I am not touching the dropping of the shoulder sell.

[Greggulator]

I think everyone's sleeping on Bray/Cena. That match was so great.

Those guys really went for a completely different type of match than anything else I can remember seeing in years. The only match I can think of that had such a weirdo structure was Cena vs. Orton in the I Quit match when Orton cuffed Cena and beat the f out of him for 45 minutes. And it totally make sense to do it -- there was the epic HHH/Bryan opener, then I assume they knew Taker was losing and that was going to be a heavyweight battle, and then there was going to be a crazy shmozz-type of triple threat with a table bump.

Those two went balls-to-the-wall in trying to tell a psychological thriller. It was such a completely different type of wrestling storytelling and they did it very, very well.

As far as Cena winning:

1) Undertaker lost. Obviously Daniel Bryan going home was the huge payoff but The Streak was going to be the story. you can't overload with too many heels winning.

2) The Wyatts continue to chase Cena. This match wasn't about Bray beating Cena cleanly. This match was about Bray breaking Cena's will and making him destroy his image by going to the darkside. Now Bray can focus on just beating the man.

3) What's the percentage of people who order WrestleMania because their kids at Cena fans? It's a gigantic percentage. That dude should win every WrestleMania match just because of that. The show is built around the big moments of the hero walking off triumphant.

[BillThompson]

The one thing that concerns me with Bryan is how heavily they sold his win last night as a miracle, both of them. If he's going to have a long run as a main eventer and be taken as a serious champion I think they need to move away from the miracle stuff and just focus on him being great, tough, and winning all the time. There's nothing wrong with highlighting how tough he fights to win, but I can see the miracle stuff sinking his title run/main event status eventually.

 

Otherwise, decent show from what I watched. Loved the Cesaro moment, wish Wyatt had won, don't really care about the streak ending, and outside of the German Suplex segment in the middle I really loved Trips/Bryan.

[StretchMediatedHypertrophy]

The one thing that concerns me with Bryan is how heavily they sold his win last night as a miracle, both of them. If he's going to have a long run as a main eventer and be taken as a serious champion I think they need to move away from the miracle stuff and just focus on him being great, tough, and winning all the time. There's nothing wrong with highlighting how tough he fights to win, but I can see the miracle stuff sinking his title run/main event status eventually.

 

John Cena is still the Being John Cena Champion. I think the way they sold it was fine given HHH is HHH and the 3 way was his second match and HHH was running interference, but it would have been better if the John Cena story arc had moved somewhere last night. But alas, not to be.

[Matt D]

It's interesting that so many of you were so moved by the streak ending. Maybe it was due to the really flat build but it felt like such an after thought to me last night in the face of all the Bryan stuff. It feels to me like the main point to it being broken was to set up Brock as a challenge for Bryan.

[Ultimo Necro]

Was thinking during HHH's grandiose entrance how great it would have been if Daniel Bryan just got jobber intro'd and was just standing in the ring waiting for HHH.

 

Stephanie doing the ring announcing "King of Kings, yadda yadda yadda... and his opponent, Daniel Bryan"

 

Also, the Orndorff / Hogan / Piper / Mr. T skit was incredible.

 

"Be a man Piper, bury the hatchet".

 

 

[Raziel]

I can go with Bryan's win in the end being a miracle last night because, really, he had to go through Evolution minus Flair in two seperate matches, with all the outside factors plus a shoulder injury.  Above anything else, they went and finished turning him into Austin 2.0, and I never thought I'd end up saying that.

[Matt D]

One of my favorite parts was when Batista and Orton just stopped. They stopped everything. They looked at each other. Then at the fallen Bryan, and there was this implied moment of "We are Evolution. He's some little jerk. They care about him more than us. This was supposed to be our night. We're going to end this, together." 

 

Then Orton kills himself on a video monitor. 

[Playa Shunna Ver 3.0]

Orton looking over the apron tight after Bryan won was great too. A look of utter disbelief and shock. Great Mania all around. Half way through the the Taker match I got a strong feeling the streak was going to end. It felt like a big deal, but not a tenth as big as the title win.

[goc]

I guess I could be wrong depending on his injury situation, but I felt like that match and the execution of it was all Taker's idea. I kind of think he WANTED to look old and done so when he lost no one would clamoring for him to come back.

[offspring515]

What a show. Most fun I've had watching a Wrestlemania in a long time.

The Taker/Brock match had lost the interest of the people at my party. When Brock hit the 3rd F5 I thought "man they are really killing off Brock's finish" and then....wow. my cousin hates Brock with a vitriol usually reserved for murderers and politicians. He was sooooo pissed. Everyone was sitting in gape jawed silence for about a minute. Then there was much wailing and moaning.

Daniel Bryan winning was amazing. Also fuck off with that "Bryan/HHH was just ok" nonsense. That match was killer. Best Mania match since Taker/Shawn 1.

[w. josh]

I think someone already said this, but watching Cena-Wyatt again this morning, it would be a great match if it was the second or third in the feud. If Wyatt had already beaten Cena last month, the whole "Cena can't win unless he embraces the eeeeeeevil" story would have felt like it meant a lot more and maybe justified the goofy "Nope, Vanilla 4 Life!" stuff. As it is, i think I still liked the match more than a lot of y'all, but it definitely feels like they skipped a step.

[Greggulator]

It's interesting that so many of you were so moved by the streak ending. Maybe it was due to the really flat build but it felt like such an after thought to me last night in the face of all the Bryan stuff. It feels to me like the main point to it being broken was to set up Brock as a challenge for Bryan.

 

The streak is one of the most iconic things in wrestling history, though. It's also broken through into non-wrestling fan pop-culture. It was definitely an "oh, damn" moment for me and I'm not a huge Taker or Brock fan. (I get why everyone else loves them, just not my cup of tea.)

[Cobra Commander]

considering the Daniel Bryan shoulder injury, and the crux of Brock's offensive arsenal... that'll make that match lots of fun.

 

Although it wouldn't surprise me if Daniel Bryan has a Rey Mysterio type of reign

[Matt D]

 

It's interesting that so many of you were so moved by the streak ending. Maybe it was due to the really flat build but it felt like such an after thought to me last night in the face of all the Bryan stuff. It feels to me like the main point to it being broken was to set up Brock as a challenge for Bryan.

 

The streak is one of the most iconic things in wrestling history, though. It's also broken through into non-wrestling fan pop-culture. It was definitely an "oh, damn" moment for me and I'm not a huge Taker or Brock fan. (I get why everyone else loves them, just not my cup of tea.)

 

I get the why. I just didn't feel it. It felt sort of hollow to me, especially after the match they worked. To me, the biggest thing was the fact that they killed the crowd so dead. I wasn't sure anything could bring them back to life and I think it honestly and truly might be Hunter's finest moment in wrestling when he came out and woke them back up.

 

Re: Brock/Bryan, the key thing is to keep them apart until Summerslam. I'd do Henry vs Brock next month if they want to give him another PPV match. Do Bryan vs Batista or Orton in a gimmick match. Do Bryan vs Hunter again in a submission match. Toss Kane at him in an inferno match. Just keep Brock away until it's time. 

 

To me, this doesn't feel like it's going to be a Rey run. There's just too much momentum and there was nothing fluky about last night. It was definitive. Bryan was presented as a worldbeater.