Nineteen Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 4 hours ago, L_W_P said: I thought at the time it was going to be either Lashley or Bray Wyatt. Minoru Suzuki was in the crowd too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DangerMark Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 We could be here all year trying to list all the people who would have been better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DangerMark Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Where's the DO NOT LIKE for that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 Man, Nakamura's entrance was really, really awesome to see live. Loved that version of it though it kind of bummed me out that it was pretty much the swan song for that theme and his face run. But I'm glad that it's been since brought back. As for the match I agree in that it was a really good WWE match but I set myself up for disappointment by expecting something like one of their NJPW matches. And I liked the heel turn as he really leans into that quite well. But it just never hit the potential it could have had. And I'll admit that it was kind of humorous live seeing Braun pick a kid. I get the story of it but looking back it was really dumb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 15 hours ago, Nineteen said: Minoru Suzuki was in the crowd too! I think he left immediately after the Nakamura match. Which probably was for the better as if he stayed and saw that, he might have either killed himself of someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 DAY 114 So here we are, the 4th time in 4 years Roman Reigns headlines WrestleMania. This time he's in a rematch for the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar. The main difference now is that no one has a briefcase, and Roman is literally re-doing John Cena's lines against the Rock. (Only Brock doesn't give a fuck about any of that.) Roman's leading a Raw roster revolution against Lesnar and looks primed to win his 4th championship and *once again* be crowned as The Man. Or Guy.  Boy were we in for a surprise. And see, when you run a match like this as the main event for the second time in 3 years, you have to do something different. Not a gimmick match per se, but definitely you have to tell a different story than what we got last time. Aside from the tepid build up, they just didn't do that. The match is actually a shocking bore to re-watch and even the crowd wasn't getting into it. They alternate between complete silence and chanting "This is awful." My thoughts as I'm re-watching is, what is Roman thinking here. I know Brock could give two flying fucks what anyone thinks, but Roman is not at that point in his career. He's the comedian who's spent his whole life being told by everyone he's great, but just chokes when it gets to the big stage. I mean, I know he's good. He's huge, fast, agile, smart... But he just keeps doing the same shit over and over.  Like the Superman Punch. Oh my god the Superman Punch. He hits like 10 of them in this match and clearly Brock is Psychic type, because that move is Very Ineffective. And he has to load up his fist before every time he does it too. Some spots are lifted directly from the Mania match a couple of years before and oof the crowd isn't having it.  He has to know he's bombing. Again. He never betrays whatever he's feeling, but it seems like more and more in his body language, he knows the finish and he knows what to do. But he just seems defeated before it even happens.  20 long, agonizing minutes later, one of the worst matches to go on last ends with Roman Reigns covered in blood on a nasty blade job. Brock kicks out of a second Spear, Roman goes to that well again... only to be caught and F5'ed. Brock retains and the crowd goes quiet.  This whole match was a giant red flag indicating "Something is very wrong here." At the time, I seem to remember the thinking was they'd just do the switch at the Saudi PPV that was coming up in 2 or 3 weeks. Then they didn't. In fact, for whatever reason, Roman didn't actually win the championship until SummerSlam.  Then his leukemia returned...  --- This definitely ranks in the lower third of Manias. There were two matches I'd go so far as to call "good", and depending on how cheeky you want to be... three or FOUR squash matches. Honestly, this was a chore to sit through again.  When and if @RIPPA ever decides to start writing again, I'm making him watch this show. Though I might have to pay him double the normal fee because.... well, I'm mean, but I'm not a monster. Most of the time. Now, back to Jersey.  1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 25, 2021 Author Share Posted January 25, 2021 Oh no wait... before we leave New Orleans!  Bye Roman. You choked. Again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 See I smartly stopped watching this show live after the Bryan/Shane vs KO/Sami match For the record - the main event was only officially 15 minutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 On 1/18/2021 at 10:51 PM, Eivion said: I loved Taker squashing Cena. I actually really enjoyed this too. Especially because I thought it was gonna be a 26 minute match 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 (edited) That main event was rough. All that time with Brock holding the belt hostage and all that time waiting for them to pull the trigger on making Roman the guy properly again led to this. The action is incredibly dull and repetitive, even by the standards of the Suplex City template. The crowd isn't there for it at all. And worst of all, Brock wins and I come away thinking they're wasting my time and Roman's peak years. Just a trash match. You're not exaggerating in describing it as one of the worst to go on last. Edited January 25, 2021 by Andy in Kansas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikoBaltimore Posted January 25, 2021 Share Posted January 25, 2021 15 minutes ago, RIPPA said: See I smartly stopped watching this show live after the Bryan/Shane vs KO/Sami match For the record - the main event was only officially 15 minutes 15 minutes? Cool. It took us maybe two minutes before we realized it's time to GTFO as we were not feeling it. But while we were hoping to get a head start on leaving there were quite a few people that had the same idea. But while the show itself was not one of my favorites I still liked the experience of it all anyway. I will say that after the show we hit Bourbon Street again which had a big crowd of not just usual tourists but wrestling fans going about. I saw Mojo leaving a bar and we did a blurry selfie. Then we're passing the place where Buff Bagwell is throwing out beads like nobody's business. One of my friends was obsessed with getting one for some reason which he never did. But it was still really fun to see him. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 26, 2021 Author Share Posted January 26, 2021 WRESTLEMANIA XXXV (or Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves, also What If Sarcasm Was A Crowd?) So, 2019. The weirdness of seeing something that happened only a year and a half ago is just odd. I missed out on being in this crowd because... and believe me, I understand the ridiculousness of the following sentence... the wi-fi on the cruise ship I was on in the Caribbean crapped out when I was in the ticket queue. I'll tell you right now, I'm tentatively hoping I can get to next year's Mania. But there's about 20,000 steps between now and then.  Let's get started as this one is yet another long ass show...  First of all Mania host, Alexa Bliss is out to talk. She snaps her fingers and Hulk Hogan appears. This is the culmination of his PR return to regular life after he'd been caught making some... REALLY unfortunate (read: racist) remarks on tape. I don't remember the crowd being quite so enthusiastic about this, so I'm guessing they sweetened or just overdubbed the crowd. Meh. They're interrupted by Paul Heyman.  "If Brock Lesnar isn't going to go on last, he's going to go on first."  Well, this seems like as good a time as any to mention that the women of the WWE have had quite the year. Getting mainstream attention via the rise of "The Man" Becky Lynch, the huge presence of Charlotte Flair, the incredible work being done by the NXT women's roster, and of course, the new, dominant champion, Ronda Rousey. The huge question was whether or not Vince would relent and put the (pseudo-) unification match for both women's world titles on as the main event of his signature PPV. The word came down a few days before... Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Ronda Rousey would indeed be the final match of WrestleMania XXXV.  The vast majority of the wrestling world met this news with great praise and acclaim. There were, of course, the type of wrestling fans who uses "cuck", "SJW", and "beta" in their vernacular who were vocally opposed to this. Thankfully, they were mostly shouted down.  Of course, Brock Lesnar gives a flying fuck what anyone thinks. Though in this case, it seems he wants to get the hell out of East Rutherford ASAP. Probably because the outlet malls in Seacaucus close at 9.  Regardless, his opponent is Seth Rollins. Because he was there, I think. Or because Brock is still pissed about the cash in.  Well, then. I still can't believe this is the first time the "BURN IT DOWN" version of Rollins' theme is at Mania. I'd thought it was around a lot longer than that. Brock attacks before the bell, but one well placed nut shot turns the tide. Seth repeatedly curbstomps Lesnar's head into pudding, and wins his 3rd world championship. The crowd is shocked and delighted.  Seth celebrates, and we are off and running.  Not me though... we're done for the day.  End of Day 114. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 DAY 115 Jerry Lawler is here for some reason. Probably to see if he or Corey Graves can annoy me more. Speaking of annoying... here's Randy Orton! He's facing AJ Styles in their first ever WWE match. In a familiar bit, they feuded because Orton has been in WWE forever, and AJ has been everywhere else, so of course, that is not worthy of respect. The match is a fun little bit of almost nostalgic storytelling. Randy's very clearly trying to crush this guy who he doesn't respect, but AJ has an answer for basically everything. Orton eventually gets frustrated and makes mistakes. AJ, being as good as he says, makes Orton pay for his mistakes. The main issue was the crowd... they were completely dead for almost everything.  It was weird.  So, the end completes the story. AJ knows exactly what's going to happen if he flies in with the Forearm, so, he pumpfakes Orton out of his shoes, makes him commit to an RKO, and then forearms the fuck out of him for the victory.  It's a totally inconsequential match, but for what it was, it was much, much better than I remembered.  Lawler contributed nothing to the commentary. This is a good thing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 29, 2021 Author Share Posted January 29, 2021 It's weird. The last 8-10 Manias have been a bunch of long matches where the aspiration at least was to tell a story in some way. This Mania seems to be built around a couple of stories, and then the rest is just stuff that happens. It's kind of like one of the much earlier Manias in that respect.  I say that because it's now time for the Smackdown Tag Championships to be defended in a Fatal 4 Way. The Usos are rolling in as champs, yet again, this time in a SWANK all white ring gear outfit. They're facing The Bar, the oddly paired Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (I'm going to go on record here and guess that Nak definitely has a clause in his contract that says Vince can never shorten his name.), and the even odder pairing of the new NXT call ups, Ricochet and Aleister Black.  Those two along made their debut along with the team I'm sure Vince actually wanted for this slot, Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa (who is bald and a fuck), #DIY. But apparently, no one told him they were about to blow off a year-long blood feud between those two, so their roster call up was weird, and then got delayed and then blown up completely and they got moved back to NXT. The match is all over the place. Rusev and Nakamura just don't look like they want to be there. The Usos are there and just excited they're finally going to win. Cesaro & Sheamus are fully in put over the new guys mode as they're beating down Black & Rich, but selling all their stuff like crazy.  The absolutely best spot of the match comes as Sheamus gives the 10 Beats of the Bell to all 5 of his opponents, which Cesaro is spinning Ricochet into an aneurysm. Like I don't know how Cesaro is still able to stand after that, but god damn was it impressive. The end came as the Usos do their Young Bucks Tribute and repeatedly superkick Sheamus into oblivion. They follow it up with the double splash, to retain.  The match was good fun, but only a step or so above the standard multi-team tag title defense that you'll see on Raw or SmackDown every other week.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon Bones Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 On 1/2/2021 at 2:58 PM, Eivion said: So what are Seth's best singles matches in WWE, and are any them designed so he doesn't get all of his shit in? I recall liking the Reigns & Styles matches all, but both guys still worked those matches out so Seth could get all of his shit, just in a sensible way. I really think the world is sleeping on Rollins’ match with Neville.  I love that match. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 3 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: Tommaso Ciampa (who is bald and a fuck) Great, so what did he do that I haven't heard about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 30, 2021 Author Share Posted January 30, 2021 24 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said: Great, so what did he do that I haven't heard about? I never forgot and I never forgave.  3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Haha! Glad it's just that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Cincinnati Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 21 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: Speaking of annoying... here's Randy Orton! He's facing AJ Styles in their first ever WWE match. Not quite. They clashed once before on TV in 2017 in a match to determine who challenged Bray at that year's Mania. 21 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: The match is a fun little bit of almost nostalgic storytelling. Randy's very clearly trying to crush this guy who he doesn't respect, but AJ has an answer for basically everything. Orton eventually gets frustrated and makes mistakes. AJ, being as good as he says, makes Orton pay for his mistakes. The main issue was the crowd... they were completely dead for almost everything.  It was weird.  About that: Anyway, I just figured out how to break up quote posts without copy+paste. So I'm quite pleased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 And we're going to finish the ride with the 2019 Hall of Fame class.  This was the year of "How Do We Put In Person X". Also, you may remember, this is the year when some idiot rushed the stage and actually tackled Bret Hart during the induction ceremony. I'm guessing he was from Pittsburgh. I still don't know how they could have fucked up with The Revival so badly.  Anyway, the inductees are: Harlem Heat (I cannot find it anywhere, but I distinctly remember the origin of Stevie Ray's "Fruit Booty" catchphrase - which, if he'd have been in WWF at the time, would have made him a fucking millionaire - being in a promo with Mean Gene. Gene exclaimed "FRUIT BOOTY?! WHAT'S THAT???" in the funniest segment he'd ever done on the air.), The Hart Foundation (Jim Neidhart had just passed away, so WWE put him in), The Honky Tonk Man (because Vince didn't care what Lawler thought any more), Brutus Beefcake (because Vince DID care what Hulk Hogan thinks for some reason), Torrie Wilson (congrats on hooking up with George Clooney, I guess?), and D-Generation X.  DX is the sideways version they used to get Chyna into the Hall of Fame. Chyna 100% merits entry on her own work, but if Vince is too much a chickenshit to put her in on her own, this is enough I suppose.  The WWE lady in charge of charity outreach won the Warrior Award (Which should be renamed.) for her work with Make A Wish. (TWO (2) out of four stars on Charity Navigator! Mazel!) The Legacy side is as always the fun side - Luna Vachon, Prof. Tanaka, Bruiser Brody (in what I'm guessing was Vince trying to get out ahead of the Vice documentary), Buddy Rose, and Jim Barnett. Proving Vince doesn't hold grudges, so long as he outlives you. Next up... the end of one of the longest, and most beloved friendships in the WWE ever. End of Day 115. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 A-Rod, not Clooney. Stacey is George's ex. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted February 1, 2021 Author Share Posted February 1, 2021 DAY 116 To pretend that Shane McMahon is "best friends" with anyone is a bit of a stretch. The Miz, who is among the most punchable faces in WWE, is cast in the role of "best friend" and gets betrayed because... well just look at him. You'd think this match was a god damned year long epic that they'd built up for years and was finally being blown off.  The crowd gives as fucking sarcastic a pop as I've heard in any WrestleMania ever for any match as the two of them come in. It's palpable how little regard they have for this. Frankly, I'm just annoyed by everything that's going on here. Except Shane doing the Bugs Bunny vs Opera Singer announcement bit. To clarify: Anyway, the match starts in earnest as Shane, the heel, gets a face pop for attacking Miz's dad, who's sitting at ringside. A little bit after this, they decide -- for the better -- that this match needs to be absolute garbage. They start throwing each other around the ringside area and eventually make it out into the crowd.  The crowd is still not really buying this... but they're not disliking it either. They're actually mirroring me.  I seem to remember this being a dinner break match or I wasn't paying attention the first time, but it's actually turning into a watchable garbage match.  The crowd, and I, actually start cheering the match on when one-by-one they go through and destroy all the foreign language announcers' tables, in what had to be a rib on all of them.  They eventually get into the camera rig and start climbing up and up and up on that thing. They actually have the crowd at this point because everyone knows what a fucking deathwish-having psychopath Shane is, but this is a year or two after Miz had been berated on Talking Smack by Daniel Bryan. The Miz has never done this kind of thing before, so they're all clearly wondering what the hell is up with them going up that high.  Well, sure enough: And though Miz delivered this Superplex (Ultraplex?) Shane actually ends up on top. Little Naitch is in the right position and counts out the victory for Shane... clearly to the shock of the crowd. And look, yes, I know they didn't jump into a vat of used lightbulbs or through 20 flaming tables... and yes, you can see the crash pad below.  But this whole match was building to that big spot and it actually delivered. The crowd and I went from "Why is this happening" (at all) to "Why is this happening" (Shane winning). That's a big leap and an overall very good job done by these two.  Definitely falls into the "much better than it has any right to be" category for me. Good start to the day.  5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarrie Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 21 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said: DAY 116 To pretend that Shane McMahon is "best friends" with anyone is a bit of a stretch. The Miz, who is among the most punchable faces in WWE, is cast in the role of "best friend" and gets betrayed because... well just look at him. You'd think this match was a god damned year long epic that they'd built up for years and was finally being blown off.    It almost sort of was, though, if you consider that they clearly (IMO) just slotted Shane into a storyline originally planned for Daniel Bryan. And they had in fact been building Bryan-Miz for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 God, I still can't believe how badly they botched Miz/Bryan. Every bit of angle they did to build on top of what was already there made it less over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolfan in NYC Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 So the creation (or more accurately re-activation) of the Women's Tag Team Championship was one of those "Very Big Deals" when it came to WWE's women's division. It showed they had essentially too much talent for just World-level titles and frankly they just needed to get more of that talent on TV. It supposedly came at the lobbying of several of the talent, notably Sasha Banks and Bayley. Eventually, they were crowd the inaugural women's tag champs and defended across all three main WWE shows, including NXT. All that said, at some point, Sasha and Bayley apparently forgot what company they worked for. We enter WrestleMania with three teams challenging the "Boss & Hug Connection" (a name that totally sounds like Vince pitched it and no one ever bothered coming up with anything better). The challengers are Nia Jax and Tamina (The Micronesia Maulers?), Natalya and Beth Phoenix (Team Me-ow!), and The Iiconics.  Now, here's the thing about this match, I remember at the time people being very upset that they moved the titles of SERIOUS COMPETITORS!!! like Sasha & Bayley and shat all over it because of that. I was lukewarm at the time, but knew the Iiconics were good. But yeah, on re-watch? This match is actually great. Basically all of the non-Tamina parts are very good to great, and even she's doing well by her standards. It is, of course, next to impossible to tell a larger story during a multi-team match, but the Iiconics did a very good job at playing sneaky comedy heels, getting one over on everyone. They pull off the upset of the night as Beth Phoenix has Bayley up for the Glam Slam (but Billie Kay has made a VERY well hidden blind tag). She tosses Beth to the outside and steals the pin and the championships in true ICONIC (sic) fashion. 2 years forward I can absolutely say a few thoughts: 1) The Iiconics earned their title reign. Period. 2) This is a very good match that gets overshadowed by what follows. 3) If Sasha actually did take time off because she was upset about this, then she was being a petulant baby.  This is definitely one of the best rides I've had match-quality-wise in a long while. And it just gets better from here.  End of Day 116. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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