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Wrestlemania XXXI - The Greatest Show Ever


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  • HHH AND THE ROCK! RONDA ROUSEY! HOLY SHIT! MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING FROM THE EXCITEMENT AND INSANITY! People who think that Rousey isn't as popular as LT are out of their fucking mind. Get the fuck out of the wrestling bubble.

Placing Rousey and LT in the same level of popularity is EPITOME of "wrestling bubble".  No one outside of wrestling/mma circles could pick her out of a lineup.  LT is legitimately one of the most famous athletes of the last 40 years.  I'd say easily top 15 as far as just people knowing who the fuck he is.  You think in 15 years people will remember Ronda tapping out someone like they do  Joe Theismann being crippled by LT?

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Angle vs. HBK was hideous. Worst possible offender in terms of big matches that nerf finishes and lack any consistent selling or storytelling. It's a great example of Angle's flaws and Shawn's ability to be terrible while convincing rubes he's awesome. Orton/Taker was good more than great, as was Eddie/Rey. Cena and Batista's first world title wins are significant but neither match lit the world on fire. MitB was amazing but not as good as Brock/Roman. 21 is very good but still a level below.

23 had Cena/Shawn (which I love and is an amazing Cena carryjob) and Taker/Batista and nothing else. Total two match show albeit two great matches.

10, 20, and 3 have great standouts but a lot of what came between them is mediocre and/or forgettable.

Even 19 has good stuff, but shorter midcard matches and a lot of the big matches (Shawn/Jericho, Brock/Angle) don't hold up great. It DOES have Austin vs. Rock III but it's a poorly aging top heavy show I think.

Honestly from top to bottom contenders are slim. And it's not that everything was a ****+ classic. It's just that everything was at minimum good and served a purpose. Everything was some degree of memorable. There aren't many Manias like that.

17, 24, and XXX probably all decisively beat it. Money in the Bank 2011 too (an all time show for me). But it's definitely on the high end.

 

Angle/HBK was a classic. There's atleast 5 good matches on 21. On this show, there was 2-3ish.

 

23's MITB was a MOTYC along with two very good main events. May be the best MITB they've done. 

 

Most of 31's gonna be forgetable too. The diva's stuff, the ladder match(all MITB's merge together for the most part), Rock's segment, whatever else there was(see, I'm forgetting already..). In 5 years, what will you remember of 31? Everyone's gonna remember Brock/Reigns and NWO/DX. Nothing else. Maybe a Rusev tank(if he is even around) and the RKO.

 

10's stuff in between is forgetable, sure. You can really say that about every show though. Aside from 3, 17, 19, maybe 4, there's not a lot of unimportant stuff I can remember.

 

20, I didn't pimp. Liked the main and trios match only.

 

19 holds up in every way, maybe even better than any other WM because it is so wrestling focused.

 

I didn't like 30, so I'm not going to like 31. I'm in the minority, but it has to do with the year round bad booking and DB storyline, which I will forever think of as people forgetting the details on and not seeing the big picture. DB won, but it wasn't the plan, the fans and other issues forced it.

 

31 did have bad stuff though. That battle royale was an IWC nightmare, Sting/HHH was bad or good depending on your stance on the issues with past histories, the Rock's segment was way too long too and the diva's match was nothing(not that it ever is).

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On second watch, Bray vs Taker was very solid. Wyatt isn't an especially good wrestler but the the finishing segment was really good. 

 

That match was just killed by the placement, though. Rusev on a tank, Cena being Cena and the Rousey/Rock angle would have made it hard for anyone to follow. That really should have been the diva slot and Taker should have gone on after Cena and Rusev. 

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Although you can make the case that William Perry was more famous in 1986 than Rousey is in 2015. Not that Rousey ISN'T a star but at the time Perry passed the Grandma Test more than Rousey does now.

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Question I'd like to pose to you all, WWE Match of the Year so far:

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Royal Rumble.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. Fastlane

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. WrestleMania XXXI

Other.

For me its either the Rumble Triple Threat or Lesnar vs. Reigns from last night. Plan to watch both to decide.

Are you basically saying Roman Reigns is currently the lead candidate for WWE wrestler of the year?

Say it Natural!

 

 

I will.

I know I'm opening up a can or worms but he's been really friggin' good from the jump. He was terrific as the shit-talking arrogant muscle of The Shield. He had some of the best individual moments in bigger-scale events like that Survivor Series and the 2014 Rumble where he just tore through everyone and looked totally fine doing so. One of my favorite little moments of the past few years was when they did The Shield Against The World match on Smackdown and Wade/Alberto said "fuck this" and ran to the back. Roman friggin' hunted them down and obliterated Del Rio with a spear.

He was also so friggin' great in the EC classic with The Wyatts trying to make an impossible comeback. He really sold the "oh, fuck" face when he realized he was the only one of his mates left. And he was even better trying to mount an epic comeback before sleazy ass Bray caught him and put him away. He was also awesome in the build to that match by stepping forward and getting in Bray's face.

Who can also forget how badly the crowd marked out when he had a showdown against total scrub Titus O'Neil.

It sucks he got hurt when he did. He lost a lot of momentum. But he's now been in maybe the two best matches of the year. And he's always done some really great character work since the very beginning of his run. I think it's time people just came to terms with the fact that he's really friggin' good.

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  • HHH AND THE ROCK! RONDA ROUSEY! HOLY SHIT! MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING FROM THE EXCITEMENT AND INSANITY! People who think that Rousey isn't as popular as LT are out of their fucking mind. Get the fuck out of the wrestling bubble.

Placing Rousey and LT in the same level of popularity is EPITOME of "wrestling bubble".  No one outside of wrestling/mma circles could pick her out of a lineup.  LT is legitimately one of the most famous athletes of the last 40 years.  I'd say easily top 15 as far as just people knowing who the fuck he is.  You think in 15 years people will remember Ronda tapping out someone like they do  Joe Theismann being crippled by LT?

 

 

You're so wrong it isn't even funny.

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Question I'd like to pose to you all, WWE Match of the Year so far:

 

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Royal Rumble.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. Fastlane

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. WrestleMania XXXI

Other.

 

For me its either the Rumble Triple Threat or Lesnar vs. Reigns from last night. Plan to watch both to decide.

Its between the Reigns matches for me. Loved the triple threat, but I tend to value straight up tags and single over multi-man matches. Not sure which singles match I prefer. Loved the passion at Fastlane with both men out to prove something, and it was nice having a clean finish. That said I loved last night's main with the crazy amount of punishment Reigns along with the damage dealt to god beast Lesnar. I also dug the hell out of the Rollins interference as it used the MITB briefcase in wway it hadn't been used before and made for a good surprise.

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What exactly was the deal with the Great Muta Blues Band playing out Sting? Not that it wasn't cool, I just didn't get the connection between the two.

I think it was trying to give a nod to the Bay Area's historic Japanese community. You'd think someone on commentary would make a point to point it out.

You expect that out of JBL, Cole, and Jerry Lawler? Well, I'm afraid I've got some bad news...

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  • HHH AND THE ROCK! RONDA ROUSEY! HOLY SHIT! MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING FROM THE EXCITEMENT AND INSANITY! People who think that Rousey isn't as popular as LT are out of their fucking mind. Get the fuck out of the wrestling bubble.

Placing Rousey and LT in the same level of popularity is EPITOME of "wrestling bubble".  No one outside of wrestling/mma circles could pick her out of a lineup.  LT is legitimately one of the most famous athletes of the last 40 years.  I'd say easily top 15 as far as just people knowing who the fuck he is.  You think in 15 years people will remember Ronda tapping out someone like they do  Joe Theismann being crippled by LT?

 

 

You're so wrong it isn't even funny.

 

Good talk.

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I just called my dad, knowing he knows who LT is, to see if he knows who Ronda Rousey is. He is as far out of tune with pop culture as one can be. His response; "you mean the armbar lady?"

 

He may not can pick her out of a lineup, but hes heard of her. And he saw her on ESPN. For WWE, that segment was mission; accomplished.

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More over, how much of a household name is LT at his height compared to Ronda? Maybe if LT had the benefit of social media or having more ways of getting his face out there it would have made a difference, but he was a football dude only whereas Rousey is everywhere at the moment. Indicative of something, but my mom knows who Rousey is and she knows of no one else from MMA.

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  • HHH AND THE ROCK! RONDA ROUSEY! HOLY SHIT! MY BRAIN IS EXPLODING FROM THE EXCITEMENT AND INSANITY! People who think that Rousey isn't as popular as LT are out of their fucking mind. Get the fuck out of the wrestling bubble.

Placing Rousey and LT in the same level of popularity is EPITOME of "wrestling bubble".  No one outside of wrestling/mma circles could pick her out of a lineup.  LT is legitimately one of the most famous athletes of the last 40 years.  I'd say easily top 15 as far as just people knowing who the fuck he is.  You think in 15 years people will remember Ronda tapping out someone like they do  Joe Theismann being crippled by LT?

 

 

FWIW, I'm presumably inside the wrestling bubble and I had no idea who she was.  If they hadn't helpfully identified her by name, I'd have been completely confused.

 

I have heard of Rousey, know she's some sort of unstoppable female MMA fighter, but that's about it.  I couldn't tell you a single thing about her or her career.

 

I'd be surprised if her popularity came anywhere close to LT's.  Or Snooki's, for that mater.

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To be fair, we're talking about an offshoot of an offshoot that has only existed in its present form for just over a decade, and the women's division in any prominence for far less than that. The NFL is the NFL.

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LT was a huge star, Rousey is a huge draw. It's apples and oranges. More people knew who LT was in '94 because football was a hugely popular sport, however more people would not have paid money strictly for Lawrence Taylor in '94 than would pay for Ronda Rousey in 2015. And that's ignoring her cross-over appeal with movies. To put a bow on it, 350,000 people would not have paid the '94 equivalent of 60 dollars to see LT fight (and we know this for a fact because Mania drew 340,000 with LT on top, and you can't even credit all of that to him). 

 

Also, that WM at the time was the lowest drawing 'Mania of all time, and while LT was huge in the Northeast due to playing on the Giants he wasn't Dan Marino or Joe Montana or Jerry Rice. He *might* have been one of the top 15 most famous players in the league. 

 

I've actually lost the point of this argument. What exactly is the main objection with the Rousey/Rock stuff? Is it that it went too long? 

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Question I'd like to pose to you all, WWE Match of the Year so far:

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Royal Rumble.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. Fastlane

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. WrestleMania XXXI

Other.

For me its either the Rumble Triple Threat or Lesnar vs. Reigns from last night. Plan to watch both to decide.

Are you basically saying Roman Reigns is currently the lead candidate for WWE wrestler of the year?

Say it Natural!

 

 

Heh. I wouldn't say the lead candidate though he's in my top five WWE wrestlers this year with Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins and Luke Harper. Cena and Rusev just miss out.

 

 

I will.

I know I'm opening up a can or worms but he's been really friggin' good from the jump. He was terrific as the shit-talking arrogant muscle of The Shield. He had some of the best individual moments in bigger-scale events like that Survivor Series and the 2014 Rumble where he just tore through everyone and looked totally fine doing so. One of my favorite little moments of the past few years was when they did The Shield Against The World match on Smackdown and Wade/Alberto said "fuck this" and ran to the back. Roman friggin' hunted them down and obliterated Del Rio with a spear.

He was also so friggin' great in the EC classic with The Wyatts trying to make an impossible comeback. He really sold the "oh, fuck" face when he realized he was the only one of his mates left. And he was even better trying to mount an epic comeback before sleazy ass Bray caught him and put him away. He was also awesome in the build to that match by stepping forward and getting in Bray's face.

Who can also forget how badly the crowd marked out when he had a showdown against total scrub Titus O'Neil.

It sucks he got hurt when he did. He lost a lot of momentum. But he's now been in maybe the two best matches of the year. And he's always done some really great character work since the very beginning of his run. I think it's time people just came to terms with the fact that he's really friggin' good.

 

 

I LOVE the Wyatt/Shield classic from Elimination Chamber 2014. I gave it the full five, it was also my 2014 Match of the Year and one of the best matches from 2010-2014.

 

 

Question I'd like to pose to you all, WWE Match of the Year so far:

 

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena vs. Seth Rollins. Royal Rumble.

Roman Reigns vs. Daniel Bryan. Fastlane

Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns. WrestleMania XXXI

Other.

 

For me its either the Rumble Triple Threat or Lesnar vs. Reigns from last night. Plan to watch both to decide.

Its between the Reigns matches for me. Loved the triple threat, but I tend to value straight up tags and single over multi-man matches. Not sure which singles match I prefer. Loved the passion at Fastlane with both men out to prove something, and it was nice having a clean finish. That said I loved last night's main with the crazy amount of punishment Reigns along with the damage dealt to god beast Lesnar. I also dug the hell out of the Rollins interference as it used the MITB briefcase in wway it hadn't been used before and made for a good surprise.

 

 

Cheers, Eivion.

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I'm sorry, but "Rousey is a bigger star than LT" is the most absurd thing in this entire thread. Yeah, in 95 he was pretty much done, but you could go out on street and ask 100 people who LT was, and 90 would know him. Do you REALLY think you could say the same for Ronda? Yeah, she's a big deal, but let's reign it in a little.

 

A lot of folks in the wrestling bubble ITT.

 

 

Quoting for relevance.

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