WRESTLEMANIA 36 Post Match Thread

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I fucking loved the Boneyard match.  That shit was exactly what I wanted and I hope the firefly funhouse match is even more over the top and crazy.

[ReiseReise]

It seems a lot more like a clear indicator for Stockholm syndrome to me. 

But maybe I'm off and the announcement and execution of that thing turned into a major Hit with people investing money into WWE because of it (subscriptions, likes, whatever makes money these days). Right now, yeah, I don't see that. 

[Curt McGirt]

12 hours ago, Brian Fowler said:

Philistine. 1992 Taker had grey gloves. It wasn't until he came back at SummerSlam '94 that purple era Taker started.

Yeah, I couldn't remember. I knew someone was gonna jump on me for that.

[DJ Hero Morganti]

I didn't watch any of the build, other than the video package they ran during the preshow.  I just enjoyed the absurdity and action/drama movie violence of the match. Honestly the only real complaint I had was that taker needed to watch some of the old Sting beats up the NWO scenes for when he was punking the OC Druids.

[odessasteps]

Or, people just like different things and their tastes dont need to be insulted?  

[Curt McGirt]

4 hours ago, Rev Ray said:

By the way, you all realize we missed out on having mark Henry working a match in these conditions.   Mark was a king of in match banter.

Speaking of which, it really amused me to hear either Anderson or Gallows yell "OOOF" every time he stomped Taker like he was in a real match. 

[Brian Fowler]

So, if WWE insists on keeping doing shows and can find a state that lets them, replace MITB with Boneyard Brawls in May. Pls thnks

[Niners Fan in CT]

I felt The Boneyard Match was produced A LOT better than those previous Wyatt segments with Orton and New Day.  The cinematography last night was a lot better, you could actually see what was going on and the score was good too.  Plus,  you had two characters that play their roles perfectly.  

I don't think it works as well if it's not Undertaker vs. AJ Styles.  It played to both of their strengths as characters and ended up playing out like a cross between horror and an old western where a grizzly old bastard saves the town from the obnoxious young gun.  

[EVA]

28 minutes ago, ReiseReise said:

It seems a lot more like a clear indicator for Stockholm syndrome to me. 

 

With the exception of like one person, this board is not exactly known for giving WWE the benefit of a doubt.  And we’ve all pretty much spent the better part of the last month shitting on their feckless attempts to put on entertaining shows in the midst of this pandemic.

I think maybe the people saying they really liked it just really liked it.

[For Great Justice]

My only issue is that, after being traumatized for 30 years due to the Warrior angle, 6 year old me discovered the truth about Santa Claus last night when AJ no sold being in the casket during his entrance. That wasn't cool.

[ReiseReise]

I've been on different incarnations of this board since I believe 2004 at least. The board is not pro WWE and not anti WWE, it has a load of opinions. I would say I am more pro WWE for most of the time. 

Maybe my interpretations or memories are wrong, but House of Horrors seemed hated because of the concept, not because of bad cinematography. That's why I'm kind of surprised. That's what I stated before. 

The cinematography and script (not a format in this case, sorry, Mr. Cornette) might have been better than that Orton v Wyatt fiasco, but it still looked like Asylum on a budget. I have seen way too many Asylum movies to not make that association. 

If it provided distraction to cope with an immensly difficult situation, I'm really happy for everyone.

But if it gets discussed here, I'll continue stating the above. 

Re: People feeling insulted - within the first few posts of the Matches getting discussed sb brought up to ban everyone not liking that Boneyard thing. I took it as a joke, I'm sure I'm not off. The Stockholm Syndrome was in that very vein. 

Edited April 5, 2020 by ReiseReise
Autocorrect

[Brian Fowler]

I can only speak for myself, but I was really excited for House of Horrors as a concept. Then it just wasn't good.

[Spontaneous]

I have a feeling it's a love it or hate it situation. People either liked it for the cheesiness or hated it for the same reason. I am curious how tonight's match plays out given things like House of Horrors and Wyatt's match at Wrestlemania 33 failed to illicit anything but scorn. But I can't imagine I'll get much out of it since I didn't like Styles-Undertaker.

[Greggulator]

I loved every single second of that show. It was so much fun. Also, you really got to see a lot of artistry in how the performers were all adjusting in their own way to the new setting. I think it also showed in a lot of ways how the WWE live audience can be totally worthless. So many times it just takes away from the show instead of adding on to the show. Having no audience really just let everyone lean into what they wanted to do the most.

Kabuki Warriors vs. Nikki/Bliss was great since the KWs and Nikki just did their usually shtick. That actually make a lot of sense to their characters since they're all off to various degrees. 

Corbin vs. Elias was the most "whatever" match to me but Corbin's a really good heel. He's the one guy I think all night who clearly works better in front of a live audience since he does not care about being a heel at all. 

Bryan vs. The Great Liberator was so enjoyable. You an tell those guys had a great time putting it together. Sami's new act is pretty brilliant, if you asked me. There's no way I would have ever thought he'd be an excellent wormy cheapshot heel after his outstanding run as a babyface in NXT. But he's found a way to be uniquely irritating but still entertaining. 

Rollins vs. KO was my favorite match (non-Boneyard division) of the night. I don't hate Rollins at all. He's especially good as a grating self-absorbed heel. I think this felt like a really great comic book fight since it was so heavy on dialogue. Both guys really know how to use their voice during matches in front of live audiences better than anyone else. One of the more stand-out moment last decade was when Rollins left his brothers in the rematch against The Wyatts on that one Raw and said "YOU NEED TO WORK THIS OUT!" and the like. KO is also really great at talking in matches and making himself heard. They both really leaned into that so much. Rollins saying stuff like "YOUR MOUTH ALWAYS GOT YOU IN TROUBLE KEV" and the like was really good. But KO screaming "HOW'S THIS FOR A WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT?" before his huge dive was a really great iconic moment.

Becky vs. Shayna was super snug and felt like a real fight. It was the same thing they did in NXT where Shayna lost the women's belt and went off by saying "I wasn't beat. I lost. And you'll never understand the difference." It's a great way to continue the feud some more since Becky's clever way to pin Shayna wasn't a decisive tap-out win. I'm hoping they get into a submission vs. submission match.

The ladder match was a fun spectacle. Kofi's one of the all-time great in any setting they put him in. That hurricanrana spot was mindboggling. I also loved the "I KNOW YOU GOT HEART!" before laying in a boot into whatever Uso that was. My only problem with the match is JoMo. He's such a fun and singularly unique wrestler with his parkour stuff. But wow does he not do anything fun character wise. But that was a great car wreck.

I will fess up to not paying attention to Braun/Goldberg.

The Boneyard Match was just everything I (and a lot of other people I've talked with) need wrestling to be at this really horrible point of time for people. This is such a fucking stressful moment for a lot of people -- myself included. But having something that was just pure, unadulterated fun and silliness was a perfect read on what to do. Great commitment from everyone around and buying into the magic tricks.

A+ all around and a really great distraction from what we're all enduring.

[John from Cincinnati]

Boneyard was fine for what it was at the end of a sterile empty arena show. I can also see the arguments against it.

I want to see Undertaker at this point about as much as I want to see empty arena wrestling. So it's the best possible use of him. Also, he should stay home. 

[DreamBroken]

Loved the women's tag title match, great stuff. Kabuki warriors can do no wrong and I always liked Alexa and Asuka as opponents. Favorite match.
Elias and Corbin working WrestleMania in their merch shirts. Very indy.
Fuck the rest shitty ass braun sucks ruined everything, now we'll never get Goldberg/Roman what an utter waste of shit this was. Lame nonsensical shit.
Came back later for the Boneyard and absolutely loved it. Taker's Metallica entrance and exit was the best.
Don't have much enthusiasm anymore for night 2, just wanna see Charlotte/Rhea and then I'm back out on weekly viewing.

[EVA]

I think 2 key things played into the success of the Boneyard match:

1.  The sheer competence of the production.  From the staging to the blocking to the lighting to the editing, you name it...It was very easy to follow the who/what/when/where/why of what was going on. It was simple to track the logic of the action as they moved around the set.  That sounds really minor, but shit falls apart when you don’t have it, and most wrestling angles shot like this don’t.  Good mise-en-scene is essential to telling a good visual story, and (by wrestling standards) this was very good.

2.  They structured the match the same way they would have if they were in the ring.  Taker got the shine right off the bat, AJ cut him off and gets heat, Taker makes a comeback, heel chicanery ensues, etc.  All building toward a big spot that takes you to the finish.  Just a really solid foundation that let both guys’ characters shine through.
 

 There was a world of difference between this and the House of Horrors match, which was basically Randy stumbling from room to room being attacked by Bray repeatedly with little rhyme or reason, while being filmed and edited by someone doing a bad Rob Zombie impression.

Edited April 5, 2020 by EVA

[Go2Sleep]

7 hours ago, John E. Dynamite said:

People are acting as if Lucha Underground's in-ring product wasn't wrestling matches in front of a cheering crowd. Their cinematic indulgences were for backstage segments only, if I remember correctly.

Yeah, but they did quite a few extended fight scenes backstage that advanced stories. The fans were seeing matches way out of context a lot of times.

[odessasteps]

Remember, LU was a TV show that featured wrestling, not a wrestling show on TV. 

[Tarheel Moneghetti]

Y'know, since Vince didn't bother to try and explain why Roman was suddenly off the show and Braun was his replacement in a world title match, I kinda wish they had just leaned into it and pretended Roman was still in the match.  Just announce Braun as "Roman Reigns", have him come out dressed in Roman's gear, and instruct Cole to no-sell the idea that the dude wrestling Goldberg was not Roman Reigns.  Can Braun do a passable spear?  If not, do a quick edit of Edge spearing Goldberg while wearing a black wig, then cut back to Braun.

[John from Cincinnati]

2 minutes ago, Tarheel Moneghetti said:

Y'know, since Vince didn't bother to try and explain why Roman was suddenly off the show and Braun was his replacement in a world title match, I kinda wish they had just leaned into it and pretended Roman was still in the match.  Just announce Braun as "Roman Reigns", have him come out dressed in Roman's gear, and instruct Cole to no-sell the idea that the dude wrestling Goldberg was not Roman Reigns.  Can Braun do a passable spear?  If not, do a quick edit of Edge spearing Goldberg while wearing a black wig, then cut back to Braun.

I thought you wanted a passable spear.

[odessasteps]

 

[Niners Fan in CT]

I am just explaining Braun being #1 contender because he won the Greatest Royal Rumble belt.  Roman got pulled because of injury.  Let's just imagine that as the reasoning. 

[Eivion]

36 minutes ago, West Newbury Bad Boy said:

I thought you wanted a passable spear.

So Charlotte in a black wig then?

[(BP)]

23 minutes ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I am just explaining Braun being #1 contender because he won the Greatest Royal Rumble belt.  Roman got pulled because of injury.  Let's just imagine that as the reasoning. 

Whenever Bill has the strap, WWE institutes a shadow super heavyweight class that moves to front of the line because they know only a king-sized megahoss can beat a guy in his mid 50s who’s had 8 matches in the last 15 years and doesn’t have the upper body strength to hit his finisher anymore. It adds up.