Greggulator

I wrote that review before I saw the post-match promo. Absolutely fantastic work. Ambrose is at his absolute best in this, trying to talk but selling (I think?) a broken rib and choking when trying to find the words. Reigns kicks some game to Renee. And Rollins brings the fire. I believe, guys. I believe.

This match is SO friggin' great and absolutely nothing like their first two matches. It's worked more traditionally than the other two. The Shield are clear faces in this. Ambrose is an amazing dirtbag Ricky Morton as he works a hot tag for so long and just eats so much stuff from The Wyatts. There's a ton of other great stuff in this. Reigns sails backwards over the announcer's table after Harper dives through the ropes onto him. Rollins has his awesome offense throughout this and hits two beautiful dives. There's just all sorts of awesome. The end sequence is really great. The Shield have had nothing but great end sequences and this is at the top of the list. Ambrose hits the Dirty Deeds (I LOVE that name) for the win on Rowan -- a great touch since he got the crap beat out of him the whole match. I think it's the third of the series. Some of the execution was a bit off -- nothing too bad but slightly noticeable. Also, the crowd was a snoooze for this in the beginning for some reason. But they got super into it by the end since all six of these guys are absolutely fantastic. A definite keeper.

I just hate-watched Jobs. Oh dear lord was that thing a piece of garbage. I have never seen a movie quite like this. It's somehow, all at once, incredibly pompous, cliched, poorly executed and boring. Everything about this is just awful. Must watch.

Because it's what Bray wants him to do.

Interesting reading your thoughts. Bryan vs. Triple H wouldn't crack my top three, it's looking down from that. The advantage the WM Triple Threat match has with me is that it was better than I expected it to be, the interference/stretcher jobs/false finishes helped the match and I had an emotional stake in it because of Daniel Bryan. I am a total mark for when past stories tie into current matches. My favorite match from 2013 was when The Rhodes Boys beat The Shield to win the belts on that Raw. That was because The Big Show got comeuppance against The Authority after months of tormenting him -- and helping Dusty's kids, who he was forced to puch, at once, all while surrounded by the YES! chants since Daniel Bryan vs. The Authority enveloped all of that. That's months of storytelling tied into one match, which was fantastic. We got a measure of that with Scott Armstrong's reappearance as a really fun plot point in the match. But it didn't decide the match. HHH gets some major points for me for doing Tiger Suplexes and stuff like that. He really broke out some strategy to destroy Bryan's shoulder. Anytime anyone reinvents himself like that for a match is awesome. It also never felt like it was a slow-paced HHH affair. I really like HHH and don't hate him like everyone else who has ever used their fingers to type about wrestling. But my thing about him is that he can be sooooooo plodding. He also wrestled this without sledgehammers and the bells-and-whistles. I still think Bray vs. Bryan. The Sister Abigail into the ring railing is so friggin' awesome. That's an all-time great end to a match.

Bryan vs. HHH is my third match of the year so far. The only two ahead are the EC match and Bryan vs. Bray at the Rumble. I could see me correcting that, though, and placing Bryan vs. HHH at my number two. Just awesome dickery from HHH who wrestled so completely different from he ever has before. A supremely impressive performance. I think, though, Bryan vs. Bray was a bit more hate-filled. The WM Triple Threat match was also really good. It was really great but, obviously, it plodded at times when Bryan was sitting out. But Bryan eliminating The Authority from interfering and then coming back from the stretcher job were both really incredible moments.

Wyatts vs. Shield tonight. Not NEARLY enough excitement for this. As great as WM was, I still think EC was the best match of the year (and maybe the decade). Their Raw rematch is still the best free TV match of the year, too. The storyline has changed, though. The Shield are now on the same page and resurgent ass-kickers. The Wyatts set the world on fire last night and looked better than they ever have.

The Solomon Crowe gimmick on paper should be gigantic. But did you all see those leaked NXT promos they did? Dude was AWFUL at the character. A guy with a hacker gimmick who can take over a show via iPad and has A Clockwork Orange look should absolutely have a "Next Bray Wyatt" vibe. The template of the character is that great.

The Cesaro/Heyman pairing also gives Paul something to do in-between Brock appearances. Lesnar's still on a limited schedule, correct? They HAD to have him come out last night to celebrate the ultimate pelt to place on a mantle before he disappears for his next big angle. It'd be pretty lame if he went back to focusing on Rybaxel, who aren't bad but are what they are. Now they have him paired with a guy with an insane amount of potential but is limited promo wise, largely because of language.

Adam Rose's floor with his character is as a face Fandango. The gimmick is super fun and he can work. He really perfected Leo Kruger in the ring down in NXT. He wrestled wonderfully as a hunter stalking his prey. But I think they read it right that the gimmick didn't have much potential on the main roster. If he can get some cool face offense to go along with the character, it could really take off. The Bo Dallas videos were so wonderful. That's the perfect way to introduce him to the WWE universe without having to start his story from scratch. Just make him come in as a total cheeseball who speaks in motivational posters and the audience is going to turn on him right from the get go. The one thing I wish they did in NXT is get over how clever he is in the ring. Turnbuckles always mysteriously get untied and he uses the ring apron and the like. He's pretty devious and they never really put that fact over. Man I really wish they figured out this developmental system years ago. There are so many guys on the main roster who came up in the mid and late 00s that would be so much better if they had that system. Imagine how great Sheamus could have been if he came up in this? Or Dolph? Or Nattie? Or Titus? All of those aforementioned folks are just missing the little puzzle pieces. Sheamus can work but he's just so friggin' awful at the character work. Dolph has never really found his voice as a character. Nattie's all over the map. Titus could be such a huge star, too. I get the opinion that they had absolutely no oversight with the never ending NXT Redemption stuff. There was probably a little bit more with FCW (since Dusty and a few other trainers were down there) but it still isn't what NXT eventually became. Some folks are talented enough that they could overcome a non-existent/crappy developmental system. But there's essentially a lost generation of middling guys who, if they had just that extra tweaking that a really supervised system with just a huge focus on everything that makes a great wrestling provides, could have really increased their stock.

I had great hopes for The Ultimate Warrior last night. I mean, he came out wearing that coat over an already ridiculous suit. And then he took out that mask... but he left me disappointed. I really want an art critic to compare his work against that of George W. Bush.

NXT doesn't also work house shows regularly. They tape a few weeks of shows at one sitting in the old-school fashion. Pretty easy to just get someone to duck out of a house show date to do some NXT work and go back to the roster.

If I only had the power to gloat ala Heyman last night or Heenan after Flair won the Rumble. In all honesty: I don't know if and when Bryan getting his moment last night was the backup plan. But none of us know. Anything that gets reported in wrestling newz~ -- even from Meltzer -- has to be taken with the biggest grain of salt. But either way, Bryan winning at WrestleMania was so friggin' rewarding and awesome and epic. I'd rather have him win the way he did it at WM than if he won it months earlier like some people wanted. Look at what taking it slowly did for other people, too. The Wyatts were the biggest beneficiaries. Those few months with The Wyatts put those guys right at the cusp of the main event, just waiting for the trigger to get pulled anytime they want. It got everyone in an uproar about Bryan being "buried" and he got even more over from it and gave those guys his rub, too.

Good on Rey and Sheamus for doing subtle heel stuff tonight, too. They didn't do a lot -- just a mocking of the Bray pose and a pause on the top to glare at the crowd. But that's all you need.

They fight crime in their spare time and have to hide their identities. No but seriously, those masks are probably the single best thing to come out of the marketing department in ages. Whoever came up with it deserves a billion dollars. It's shit like that which will turn them into huge stars, not by improving their hair conditioning routine (Reigns is obv a H&S guy). Are they on sale yet? Because I will buy those in bulk.

And here I am now tuning into The Network because I need to eat all this up. Also: Shield vs. Wyatts tomorrow night!!! AHHHHHHH!!!

That's an interesting point -- will controlling how the content gets distributed change the content itself? We might start to see that now.

The past two nights were total gamechangers for the WWE. They built up a ton of awesome stars the past year or so by going really slowly. We now live in a world where eight of the ten top guys in the company are Daniel Bryan, The Shield, Cesaro and The Wyatts. Also, Paige. Kudos. Tonight's crowd was awesome, too.

I'm anticipating Paul Heyman to do one of the great heel/manager gloat jobs in the history of mankind tonight. In order to properly compare/contrast, what are some other good ones? Flair's "A tear in my eye!" as Heenan and Perfect cackle in the background after the Royal Rumble comes to mind. I also love Mr. McMahon's antics at Survivor Series and on Raw the next night after they introduce The Rock as The Corporate Champ. What else am I missing?

Can I ban them ceremonially before you delete the account? Also, I forgot who Dylan told me said this (Ryder? Scherer?) but this really makes wrestling unpredictable again. No outcome is safe. Wrestling is best served when there is doubt in your mind who will win and would have done wonders for that Taker match. I think this match has reinvented the "near fall" for the next five years or so.

The streak is one of the most iconic things in wrestling history, though. It's also broken through into non-wrestling fan pop-culture. It was definitely an "oh, damn" moment for me and I'm not a huge Taker or Brock fan. (I get why everyone else loves them, just not my cup of tea.)

Is the show in New Orleans? If so, an entire arena singing The Whole World In His Hands for The Wyatts. I see that becoming the next big crowd thing. I love the post-WM Raw so much. The best part about wrestling is that it's the only form of theatrical performance where the crowd is a character, too. The post-WM shows are usually the most active crowds. It's a blast watching it unfold.

I think everyone's sleeping on Bray/Cena. That match was so great. Those guys really went for a completely different type of match than anything else I can remember seeing in years. The only match I can think of that had such a weirdo structure was Cena vs. Orton in the I Quit match when Orton cuffed Cena and beat the f out of him for 45 minutes. And it totally make sense to do it -- there was the epic HHH/Bryan opener, then I assume they knew Taker was losing and that was going to be a heavyweight battle, and then there was going to be a crazy shmozz-type of triple threat with a table bump. Those two went balls-to-the-wall in trying to tell a psychological thriller. It was such a completely different type of wrestling storytelling and they did it very, very well. As far as Cena winning: 1) Undertaker lost. Obviously Daniel Bryan going home was the huge payoff but The Streak was going to be the story. you can't overload with too many heels winning. 2) The Wyatts continue to chase Cena. This match wasn't about Bray beating Cena cleanly. This match was about Bray breaking Cena's will and making him destroy his image by going to the darkside. Now Bray can focus on just beating the man. 3) What's the percentage of people who order WrestleMania because their kids at Cena fans? It's a gigantic percentage. That dude should win every WrestleMania match just because of that. The show is built around the big moments of the hero walking off triumphant.

Yeah, in retrospect, having Brock beat the streak is great. That's an IMPOSSIBLE mantle for a new guy to work with. I love Bray and Roman and Cesaro and etc. but you can't really top "Breaking the Streak" for a career mark. Brock's the one dude they have who already has accolades of that magnitude. Maybe Cena's the other guy but the backlash if he beat the streak would be terrible.

Ugh, I HATE that crab walk. The more reason you kick him in his fucking face because he's defenseless. Or JYD to headbutt him from that spot. Somebody will some day. It's still a new spot. They can milk the "WTF???" for a bit until someone gets hip to the move.