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


Dolfan in NYC

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If you weren't entertained by pretty much everything from when Becky's music hit until the show went off the air, you have no love in your heart.

 

That might be WWE's best show in a LONG time.

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I enjoyed the show. Interesting twists and weirdness and fun matches.

I marked out so much for Cody. Cody and Rollins match was super good. Lot of callbacks and shocks. I knew Cody would win. He won't be the only ex AEW guy to appear in WWE in the future.....

The crowd was weird for Charlotte vs Ronda.  Swap their heel and face roles next time. Well they main evented in a way before the KO Austin skit.

SCSA in action in 2022 was surreal but fun.

Great crowd.

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The first few matches didn't have any type of big show feel to them and would have been just as at home on any episode of Raw/SD. I don't know much about Logan Paul's background but he had the best physique out of anyone in the ring and even though he got a bit gassed and looked lost in spots, he did better than just about any other celebrity having a match that I can think of.

Bianca/Becky came off like a big deal as soon as Bianca came out with her marching band intro. The story they were telling with Bianca wasn't that dissimilar than last year, but this time it had the added oomph of her wanting to get her belt back. Both women did their best here and it was probably one of the best matches I can recall Bianca having.

Is it possible to have a ton of anticipation for a match even though you aren't at all invested in it? I admit Cody coming out was surreal, even though I'm indifferent to him as a wrestler. They put on a great match even though it was wrought with finisher killing. I'm wondering what Cody has to say for himself come Monday/Friday as I can't see them oking any mention of AEW.

Charlotte/Rhonda was good but the finish was shit.

The Austin/Owens segment involved more of a "match" than I actually thought it would. I figured Owens would do little more than eat a stunner or two, but I was surprised at how mobile Austin actually was, though a lot of that was Owens making him look good.

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THAT was a really great show.. 

I was stressed after the first two matches but business picked up with Rey and Logan Paul who was a great fucking heel btw.. 

Bianca over Lynch was fantastic! And my MOTN. 

Cody surprise was well done.. a great moment for him they put him over huge. 

Then we got a real match out of Stone Cold Steve Austin! Really fun brawl so happy for him and Kevin Owens who bumped his ass off.. Stone Cold actually took a bump on the fuckin concrete people... wow 

Night 2..   You're up. 

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I started watching the card just before the Mysterios/Miz&Paul match so I have nothing to say about the first 2 matches

Logan Paul knew what he was doing out there. It was nice to see ringside fans at a WWE show actually reacting to stuff. So the forces of evil win, and then Miz takes out his partner because yeah sure. Logan Paul showed enough in his first match to suggest he could be somewhat good at this, provided the heat he gets isn't "go away" heat.

Becky/Bianca was a good time in the style of how these matches seemingly go in the WWE. Having the women's title switch happen here instead of in Rousey/Charlotte was sort of a surprise. The matching band was a cool intro too. It was a good way to sorta make up for the Summerslam match and a satisfaction that didn't happen in other similar situations.

Seth vs Cody was a very WWE main event sort of match. The response to Cody probably dispels some concerns even if this Wrestlemania audience might watch more non-WWE wrestling than the average WWE crowd. Having him as the surprise debut here probably worked better than debuting him a few weeks ago? That tattoo is fucking stupid, but the only way he can make it better is to add more stupid tattoos around it.

Charlotte vs Ronda was a bit odd with stuff like Charlotte hanging around in shooty grappling situations and the various timing peculiarities. The general concept of the finish was good although having Ronda lose to getting kicked while distracted was a decision. Ronda seems surprisingly good at selling. But who knew that Charlotte Flair could hang with an Olympic Gold Medalist Judoka?

Was there any moment where Austin/Owens didn't seem like sort of a contrived setup? There probably wasn't a natural way to get Austin back to do something like this without it being a bit of a deus ex machina. I didn't notice how much the camera angles switched for no good reason until the they started switching on every fucking punch during the open of the match. Not sure if it's sad or not that we were robbed of seeing more old man Stone Cold matches where he played the hits. On one hand, we didn't get a "Flair in ECW" run or "Old Man Goldberg" run from Stone Cold. On the other hand, his neck/health meant he understayed his welcome by not working after 2003. A lot of people in his generation of workers aren't around right now and Austin got out early instead of ignoring heart attack scares and other problems.

Austin/Owens was more of a mid-90s ECW/late-90s WWF type of brawl than the 2010s WWE match with 20 different nearfalls. Barry Bonds isn't gonna show up during the 2022 All-Star Game to hit some home runs (and Bonds retired 4 years after Austin did) but you can watch someone work their first match in 19 years and have a good kind of nostalgia trip without it seeming sad.

Hopefully the Undertaker doesn't get any ideas about trying to do what Austin did tonight. Would it be fair to say Austin did this sort of match better than all the Saudimania matches where somebody in the Saudi royal family got an old guy to come out of retirement?

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Just now, cubbymark said:

Kevin Owens is a very smart man. He bumped his ASS OFF for Steve.

As someone who has been apathetic to Cody after he initially left WWE, his return felt like a BIG FUCKING DEAL. 

WWE has to get it right with Cody Rhodes as he's the first AEW wrestler to jump to WWE, the money paid for him and bigger still AEW wrestlers looking on as prospective signings.

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Usos vs. Nakamura/Boogs was pretty decent until Boogs's injury. Nakamura and the Usos covered well, but that really sucked to see.

Drew/Corbin was alright though felt kind of small.

Mysterios vs. Miz and Logan Paul was shockingly good. Paul was off a few times, but pretty athletic and nothing super embarrassing. he embraced the situation pretty well too. Surprised he and Miz won though Miz turning on him post match was hilarious and practically a face turn for Miz.

Bianca/Becky was fantastic and probably WWE MOTY right now. Glad Bianca won. This definitely should have been in the main event spot if not for Owens/Austin.

Cody/Seth was solid-good. Was nice seeing Cody treated like a big deal by the audience.

Charlotte/Ronda was good even with the finish. That isn't the type of finish they should be using at Wrestlemania but at the same time I think it not being the real main event helped them get away with it. The reactions were about what I expected. Charlotte isn't hated right now, but she isn't really loved either. Same with Ronda. Neither should probably be face right now, let alone wrestling each other if they want the audience to care.

Austin/Owens was way more of a match than I ever expected including a couple of the bumps Austin took. That was super fun. It was just wonderful seeing Austin finally get the retirement match he deserves. You know that had to be a wonderful moment for Owens, especially working the main event. Even the post match stuff with Saxton taking a stunner had to be a dream for Saxton.

Damn good show overall. Definitely the best main roster show in some time.

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Interesting that taking a suplex on the floor is how these old guys seem to test themselves when they’re first coming back.

I expect to see Austin doing balcony dives in Saudi Arabia within a year.

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at least from what I remember, tonight was a heck of a night for high risk vertical suplexes outside of the ring

also perhaps Logan Paul got booed like he was peeing on Eddie Guerrero's grave for using the Three Amigos and the Frog Splash but fortunately Eddie's son Dominik got to even the score there.

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