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WrestleMania XXXVIII - 4/2 & 4/3/2022


Dolfan in NYC

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6 hours ago, Cristobal said:

This show was good and I was pondering why, given what unwatchable dreck their TV shows have been leading up to this, and I'm thinking it's because I haven't been watching those shows.

Instead of weeks and months of terrible scripted promos, nonsensical BS angles, and the same people wrestling each other seventeen times on the "Road to Wrestlemania", I just dropped in to watch the wrestlers wrestle matches and it turns out WWE's roster is by and large pretty good at that.

I felt similarly by the end, though tuning in for the last 15 minutes of the pre-show (followed by McAfee on the announce table) I was scared that barely watching any of their TV since the Rumble had worn down my immunity to their presentation so much that I wouldn’t be able to stand it for the whole show. And jesus fucking christ, the video packages; the match previews for night 2 are long enough, you’re also throwing in random packages for individual wrestlers (some of whom, for example, you have in a 4-team scramble tomorrow)??

That said, the last 4 matches were a good time (the Cody/Seth match isn’t exactly my cup of tea as a match, but obvi a fun moment).

Happy to see most folks here don’t hate the Charlotte/Rousey match, as I was kinda getting that vibe off Twitter yesterday. Aside from the weird do-si-do before the tornado flatliner (?) and the miss on the Andrade moonsault spot I thought this was firmly on the side of looking cool because it doesn’t look every other wrestling match (as opposed to looking bad because one of them’s not a real wrestler or whatever). Not actually sure which one of the two title matches I preferred, though obviously Bianca/Becky leaves a bit of a better aftertaste considering its more satisfying finish (though the Charlotte kick was a hell of a kick).

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I went to bed five minutes into Cody vs Seth. Overall I was bored watching Mania night one, and would say this week’s Dynamite was a better show.

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2 minutes ago, AxB said:

I went to bed five minutes into Cody vs Seth. Overall I was bored watching Mania night one, and would say this week’s Dynamite was a better show.

alexis-rose-schitts-creek.gif

 

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Really enjoyed the show and seeing Cody in WWE was quite something else. But as others have eluded to, I think his whole presentation just fits better within the WWE Universe - however even in saying that - it IS really weird to see THE GUY who essentially helped spearhead AEW rising from the floor like an episode of Dynamite. That being said, I LOVED that they kept his presentation, music, even the entrance the same. It sucks too, because I see that stuff and think to myself "Hmm, maybe WWE does have a good idea of what they're doing" and then I realize in 6-12 months he could be going by "Code" and being a small snack for the head of the table. Regardless, Cody got the fans admiration that he wanted. I will say, I do think the WWE fans "appreciate" Cody more than the AEW fans did, so maybe this is the right place for him to be.... until Vince wants to turn him heel ?

Logan Paul impressed me in the ring and it feels like every year at Mania now we have a celebrity stepping through the ropes and just doing some good shit. Back to back years Miz gets trusted with helping a celebrity through a match and proves why he is such a savvy veteran. Don't care about a storyline between the two if it turns Logan Paul face, but I'm thinking (and hoping) that was a Miz face turn. Face Miz would be wayyyyy more sufferable than face Logan Paul (I also caught Jake sitting behind Corey Graves front row for the match. How long til he joins the fray). Really gutted for Boogs getting hurt in a primetime spot at WrestleMania, hope he gets better soon. Lots of charisma in him.

Stone Cold did about as well as I could've ever imagined a 57 year old Austin doing. Seeing him go out there made me wonder if we were robbed of a potentially good Austin/Punk match about 11 years ago. He would've been 46 at the time - and if that was current day I think we'd all be thinking he could make a little comeback. It's kind of sad to look back in retrospect and realize that he retired at the age of 37... That's not exactly young, but by no means is it OLD in the industry today. I mean for comparison, Roman and Cody are both 36 right now. AJ is 44. Last night really made me wonder "damn, if only time could've been frozen for 10 years, I think Austin could've had a little run".

How long until Drew McIntyre gets charged for attempted murder? This is like the third person he's tried to cut with his sword. Is his new gimmick Wally Yamaguchi?

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So Cody left his old company, spent years touring US territories developing a new persona, and returned as a huge star on their biggest show of the year. I take it this means his excursion was a success?

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1 hour ago, ThatTCGuy said:

WWE signed a guy who made his name elsewhere, didn't try to change or diminish anything about him and he felt like a big star as a result. There's a lesson Vince and Pritchard could take from this that I doubt they will.

It's WWE, they are convinced that if it doesn't happen in their Universe,  it doesn't count. He's just making his Triumphant return after 6 years is the narrative. Especially after this Week of Wrestlemania crowds is over with. 

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Rollins and Becky are examples of guys dressing and acting elaborately as a poor substitute for actual charisma (unlike Austin).

 

Cody returning was a cool moment, though them burning through all of his finishers in his first match back was less so.

Rousey vs Charlotte wasn't awful, but it certainly wasn't good. And that finish - yeesh. Ronda gets beat with a run of the mill boot?

 

Main event was realistically as good as it could have been. Props to Owens for busting his ass and hell that suplex to the floor Austin took was a surprise too. God bless Owens for getting this moment and glad for Austin that he got this closure on his career that he's happy with.

 

 

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Lesnar/Reigns has never come close to recapturing the magic of WrestleMania XXXI (*****) in all their rematches and Brock Lesnar's Suplex City formula is stale as shit. For those reasons my expectations are very low.

Night 2 doesn't look as good as Night 1. Night 2 last year was bad compared to Night 1.

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It is a shame Sasha Banks is stuck in the multi-tag this time around. I really wanted her in one of the two women's championship matches which she'd win, her first at a WrestleMania. I'd save that for next year.

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I can’t believe the Sheamus and friend vs New Day match got cut because “Video Package” went over his time. I don’t watch WWE TV any more, so I’ve never seen him wrestle, but Video Package sounds like the most overpushed worker ever! Multiple segments over every show! What happened to the brand split?

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It had probably been mentioned but seriously over 77K attendance for Night 1.  ?? That is so much BS that Bix is going to stop talking about WM 3 attendance finally and deal with this shit.  They easily hit 60K which given that most had it projected at 50 was very impressive but come on.

Speaking of delusional apparently Rousey is pissed she isn't in a main event.  Maybe they told her that 2 months but yeah Steve Austin changes shit quick

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5 minutes ago, hammerva said:

It had probably been mentioned but seriously over 77K attendance for Night 1.  ?? That is so much BS that Bix is going to stop talking about WM 3 attendance finally and deal with this shit.  They easily hit 60K which given that most had it projected at 50 was very impressive but come on.

Speaking of delusional apparently Rousey is pissed she isn't in a main event.  Maybe they told her that 2 months but yeah Steve Austin changes shit quick

Steve Austin vs. Kevin Owens had to go on last. Nothing was topping one of the biggest stars in wrestling history first match back in 19 years. Crowd will have shit on Charlotte Flair vs. Ronda Rousey either through apathy (Triple H vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania XXV, Triple H vs. Roman Reigns from WrestleMania XXXII) or both unlikable (Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, WrestleMania XX).

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Haven't had a chance to read the reactions here yet but I will say that Cody was always meant to go back to WWE.  Much like Drew he had to step away to find himself and for better or worse this is the version that he was always aiming for.  He helped a ton with AEW but somewhere along the way it was obvious to me he was getting things right so he could head back to WWE.  I'm honestly happy for him as he managed to create his own destiny even if AEW was unfortunately a stepping stone for him.  My hope is with how they tend to micromanage things it'll help to rein in some of his dumber tendencies.

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Why did drew almost kill Andrew Battle Royal? If the bloke hadn’t moved, that sword could have done some real damage. 

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I haven't read through yet. Want to get my real thoughts out of my head without being influenced by other's thoughts. Boy did Night 1 over deliver for me. Was not expecting that.

Now there were some typical boring WWE stuff for me. Love The Usos, and an injury changed how that match could have played out. But that was some filler ass shit that didn't belong on Mania in the first place. Same with Corbin v Drew.

The Mysterios vs Logan & Miz was fucking solid man. I don't give a shit about any of these guys but Rey and even still they were able to draw me in and impress me. Very very good match. Also pleasantly surprised by the post match. Was totally logical and surprising at the same time. Have no interest in Logan Paul vs Miz next month. But well fucking done.

Becky v Belair was match of the night for me. They fucking went in. Very good match and real surprised that Bianca was able to keep going after that top rope front flip missile coppo kick. Super tight match with a fast pace and absolutely delivered.

Cody's debut was about perfect. Presentation was perfect t lest. Still hate all the AR graphics, and Cody's neck tattoo graphic is up there with the worst. The match was a little sloppy. And a little too forced epic. But you can't deny Cody & Seth have chemistry together. It took 4 Crossroads to beat Seth. On night one of Cody's return. Idk if that was a well thought out idea lol.

Charlotte vs Ronda was a little underwhelming. I wonder how much of it being off was due to the wardrobe issues. Like in that falsey with the figure 8 that they had to go real tight because a titty was out I was looking at the audience. And they were all mouth opened shocked that they were working a hold with a tit out instead of breaking the hold and fixing the wardrobe issue.

Austin vs Owens was fine. It was a feel good moment having Austin get one last match. The match it's self wasn't important. I wasn't a fan of the setup here with the talk show BS lasting so long. But you can't deny it was the right call to end Night 1 with this one. Wrestle mania 19 was 19 years ago. Fuck did that realization make me feel old tho.

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After catching up noticing that no one else mentioned the wardrobe issue. Does that make me a settle down whatever guy now? lol

The back of the top for Charlotte came undone. I guess that made it loose or whatever because multiple times she was exposed. Peacock even blacked out the screen because of it. When she arched up in the Figure 8 near the end she was exposed the whole time. The camera zoomed into Ronda as to not show it but I had noticed and was looking at the audience reactions and it was wild.

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I’m not a Rollins guy at all, but I think he deserves a lot of credit for how the Cody debut came off (specifically, the crowd being wildly pro-Cody). Going in, I thought there was at least some chance of the crowd splitting, but Rollins worked his ass off to be as obnoxious and uncool as possible in the build-up. You might not like Cody, but Rollins made sure you weren’t going to cheer for HIM.

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You can't do anything with Cody other than slot him in the main event scene at this point. Roman Reigns has NO ONE, literally no one, to face and and to challenge him right now. Cody Rhodes is the only guy legitimately who can challenge and unseat Rhodes right now. It has to be Cody.

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