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Wrestlemania XXXI - The Greatest Show Ever


Big Fresh

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I'm not surprise to read some people dislike the Ronda/Rock/McMahon segment in here(i.e. could have given time to something else, it dragged, I hate so and so characters).  I think it's fine not to dig it.

 

At the same time, hearing other people, who really only pay attention to wrestling during this time/event, tell me they loved it and reading people freak out over it on social media keeps me grounded on the extremes of either viewpoint.

 

Of course, the live crowd ate it up too.

Edited by _MJ_
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And Rousey's frankly a bigger star than Taylor.

I was going to say this. LT was well over the hill and out of the NFL by the time he had the Bam Bam match. Rousey is in the prime of her career and one of the top 2 or 3 stars in her sport right now.

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I am not a regular WWE watcher (and haven't been for years) and I didn't see any of the build-up to this year's show, I just heard it was the worst ever. Still, I watched the show tonight and considering the zero expectations I did enjoy the show. I have no idea how it ranks or even how it compares to last year (which had some great matches but Brock vs. Taker was pretty bad and I did not like Cena vs. Wyatt and how it went way too long). It's just a show I enjoyed watching, even with the awful commentary all night long. JBL, Paul Wight HAS won a battle royal before, World War III in '96.

 

I dug the ladder match and the multi tag for its zaniness and wacky spots. Cole continually not knowing which Uso is which made him have even less credibility than usual

 

The Orton match was well worked and what a great ending

 

The Sting match was a nice bit of nostalgia and smoke & mirrors. Watching the replay now I think H got that nasty bruise from the corner bump to the floor but I may be wrong. The winner isn't as nonsensical now knowing they are teasing Rock vs. Triple H for next year. If they want a huge crowd for AT&T Stadium they better hope they can get Ronda to do the mixed tag

 

The ladies match was fun for what it was and at least it was 7 minutes instead of 3

 

I haven't seen much Rusev at all but I was impressed by him. I guess I should watch the Fast Lane match if it was better than this. His entrance was tremendous

 

The Authority stuff looks like stuff that makes me relieved I don't watch Raw. But the segment with Rock and Ronda was great entertainment

 

Taker's match was fine. I was expecting worse considering Bray's injury and how UT looked last year. I am glad it was not bad

 

I did not love the main like most did (it was more like "like" instead) but I'll watch it again and I imagine it'll improve in my eyes. The ending I did think was great.

 

While who went over can be argued at least it was a show I did not regret watching. Those that hated it shows that there are those even more jaded about professional wrestling than I am.

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How much money does WWE even stand to make from some throwaway segment on ESPN, anyway? No one that doesn't watch MMA cares about Ronda Rousey. They put that segment close to the main on a WrestleMania like she was LT fighting Bam Bam. She's nowhere close.

 

ETA: "Indisputably over" because of a crowd chant? Better call up the entire NXT roster!

When have there ever been 75,000 people at NXT?

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-Big Show winning the battle royal was cool with me. he needs to win every now and again.

 

This. As much as we're all tired of Big Show, in order for the "the biggest guy in the battle royal is the odds on favorite" thing to make any sense, the biggest guy has to win one every now and then.

 

 

WWE appearing in mainstream publicity makes it more impressive to advertisers. And Rousey's frankly a bigger star than Taylor.

 

That just isn't true. Again, I feel like we are posting on a message board that tends to overstate the importance of MMA to the mainstream.

 

I don't know that this ESPN appearance has any effect on advertising money. Any figures to back up that sort of thing up?

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Also, I should clarify my stance:

 

I don't disagree with running a stupid filler segment with Rock and Rousey.  What I disagree with is it taking an hour and it teasing Stephanie getting slapped and then it doesn't happen.  Those two issues multiply with each other to make it even worse, too.

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Yeah, throwing a dude or applying an armbar isn't anything she already doesn't do in interviews.

It's not that difficult to believe that UFC contracts make a distinction between physicality at a wrestling show and demonstrating holds on Good Morning Topeka or whatever.

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And Rousey's frankly a bigger star than Taylor.

I was going to say this. LT was well over the hill and out of the NFL by the time he had the Bam Bam match. Rousey is in the prime of her career and one of the top 2 or 3 stars in her sport right now.

 

And her sport, MMA, has a small fraction of the popularity NFL does. Do you see Rousey main eventing Mania 32 going over well? Maybe I'm asking the wrong crowd.

 

 

How much money does WWE even stand to make from some throwaway segment on ESPN, anyway? No one that doesn't watch MMA cares about Ronda Rousey. They put that segment close to the main on a WrestleMania like she was LT fighting Bam Bam. She's nowhere close.

 

ETA: "Indisputably over" because of a crowd chant? Better call up the entire NXT roster!

When have there ever been 75,000 people at NXT?

 

If you think all 75,000 people were chanting or even knew who Rousey is, I'd love to have some of what you're smoking.

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-Big Show winning the battle royal was cool with me. he needs to win every now and again.

 

This. As much as we're all tired of Big Show, in order for the "the biggest guy in the battle royal is the odds on favorite" thing to make any sense, the biggest guy has to win one every now and then.

 

 

WWE appearing in mainstream publicity makes it more impressive to advertisers. And Rousey's frankly a bigger star than Taylor.

 

That just isn't true. Again, I feel like we are posting on a message board that tends to overstate the importance of MMA to the mainstream.

 

 

 

FFS, Rousey was a guest on the Tonight Show, just the other day. She's featured in a film that's likely to gross the highest opening weekend ever. Let's stop pretending she's some sort of unknown.

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Yeah, throwing a dude or applying an armbar isn't anything she already doesn't do in interviews.

It's not that difficult to believe that UFC contracts make a distinction between physicality at a wrestling show and demonstrating holds on Good Morning Topeka or whatever.

A first-year pre-law student would be able to write that clause and make it unambiguous.

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I wasn't thinking "well, this will hwlp with mainstream attention, etc" when it happened. I was just thinking "This is really fucking cool".

I was thinking I really don't want to see a fucking Rock/HHH match next year.

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I think I've watched all of 30 seconds of MMA my entire life. I do know who Rousey is and why she's a big deal and 19 of those seconds I've watched MMA was her last fight. But in all honesty, she could have been sitting in my living room watching the show and I wouldn't know who she is.

 

I really hate when The Rock returns. I do love when he heels up (The "Hollywood" Rock era was great) but in his movie star returns stuff, it embarrasses me to watch him come back and hear the mouthbreathers singalong with The Rock and his awful play on words. It makes my skin crawl.

The promo did take too long and the like. It wasn't a perfect segment.

But I legit marked for it, despite my anti-Rock stance and ignorance about UFC. I was tuning it out until Steph slapped the piss out of The Rock. She's such an awesome heel. The Rock does understand timing and playing to the room like no one else, though. I loved his slow walk to ringside to cue the fans in something was happening, and then he let them put the 2 + 2 with Rousey together. Then the camera gets fixed on her, the crowd buzzes, and you have a good angle.

I thought whatever she did to Steph looked like it was hurting her. Again, I know nothing about MMA and I just thought it was some shoulder popping thing.

Good stuff, though, incorporating the biggest star your company ever produced (with a new movie coming out) and arguably the most famous person in MMA right now into WrestleMania.

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Boy did I have a different opinion of this show than you guys.

 

See if you can follow the story thread in this:

 

  1. Two heels come out and build up some (cheap) heat.
  2. Special attraction comes out to interrupt.
  3. Special attraction wastes an ungodly amount of time.
  4. Heel slaps special attraction.
  5. Special attraction wastes another ungodly period of time teasing a retaliation.
  6. Special attraction introduces section special attraction that can fight back.
  7. Heel begs off.
  8. More ungodly time wasting.
  9. Heel slaps second special attraction.
  10. Second special attraction tugs on heel's arm for ten seconds.
  11. Heel runs off having never been slapped back.

 

 

Special Attraction is Most Famous Wrestler and Most Famous Fighter. So it works fine.

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Steph has X Pac heat with me. Seriously fuck off already she didn't even take a bump or let Ronda lock in an arm bar.

No way in hell Dana White lets her do anything more physical than what she did tonight. Even her armbar finisher.

 

She gave HHH a judo throw Steph could've sold something more. That was a really flat ending for a segment that went on forever.

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You finally get Sting after 14 years and put him into a match where I thought both guys were bringing it then totally ruin it it with 100 run ins.  Nonsensical run ins as is.  NWO helping Sting?  It would have been better for Brett and Flair and maybe Booker T.  Then after all the run ins you have HHH win by hitting him with a sledgehammer and they shake hands??  There has to be more for Sting,or they just made him into the biggest chump ever.

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Ronda Rousey is the new Pitbull I guess.  The last PPV she main evented got 500K+ buys, more than any WWE PPV not named "WrestleMania" in many years.  More people in the US know who Ronda Rousey is than Roman Reigns.  Believe that.

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NWO helping Sting?  It would have been better for Brett and Flair and maybe Booker T.  

For all we know, Booker might've been on his way, he just couldn't get down from the pre-show desk at the top of the damn stadium in time.

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I can't speak for the other people that hated that segment, but I don't care that Rousey was there.  What I care about is how WWE mistold a 5-10 minute segment over 40 minutes.  It's literally heel woman slaps people => heel woman winds up getting slapped.

 

Yes it popped the crowd.  Yes it was an entertaining thing.  Yes it got social media reaction and will probably get traditional media reaction.  Imagine how much better it would be if the WWE could just tell it right and pay it off.

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Because the kids who love Cena got to see their hero triumph over the evil Russian. His win wasn't for nerds like us, but for kids who wear those shirts and hats.

 

 

So your answer to creating new stars is "fuck new stars"? Where do Rusev and Lana go from here?  The finish wasn't booked all that well either. If they were a little more creative in getting Cena the win then I wouldn't have minded so much but it was super anticlimactic.

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Just thinking about the ending again --

Seth probably had more screen time than anyone else on the entire roster since is heel turn. He's been in a bunch of main events in PPV's, has had the opening and end Raw segments a bunch, gets to share promo time with Steph and HHH, etc.

Him being "demoted" to feuding with Orton really just took the focus off of him even though he had the spotlight for almost the entire year. It put our eyes on Brock/Reigns and wondering what was going to happen there. Rollins walking off with the belt didn't feel out-of-place. It felt more like an inevitability we should have realized all along.

What an awesome, ballsy move. I can get why Raz doesn't like it -- I usually prefer clean endings, especially to end epics. But they really ended the storyline of Seth's sleazebag power play in the best way possible.

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NWO helping Sting?  It would have been better for Brett and Flair and maybe Booker T.  

For all we know, Booker might've been on his way, he just couldn't get down from the pre-show desk at the top of the damn stadium in time.

 

Touche.

 

To be fair though that was really my only gripe with the show, but it just had me scratching my head.

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