The Official Wrestlemania XXVIII Thread

[SHOGUN]

Liked Punk/Jericho.

Really liked Undertaker/Triple H.

Heath Slater stole the show in his small ass segment.

The rest was a waste of time.

My nigga AmDrag got did dirty. 18 fucking seconds.

Final Grade: C-

[Guest]

Considering I watch WWE about once every six months (and I seriously had nothing better to do) I tuned in for the final two matches.

Punk and Jericho was surprisingly good. I already heard from Facebook about HHH and Undertaker. What is all the talk about the end of an era though? I'm assuming all three are done with in-ring competition. I knew HBK retired, knew they inserted HHH into some story lines but that's it.

[EmpireWF]

Punk and Jericho was surprisingly good. I already heard from Facebook about HHH and Undertaker. What is all the talk about the end of an era though? I'm assuming all three are done with in-ring competition. I knew HBK retired, knew they inserted HHH into some story lines but that's it.

Just for marketing. HHH and Taker are almost definitely going to be back for next year's show. A very slim chance Shawn could be, too.

[Pills]

Shocked that Vince had Cena do the job.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Need to see television version of Undertaker/H's and Punk/Jericho...both looked good but cage matches are nearly unwatchable live in a stadium like that and you couldn't pick.up.on the nuances of the Punk/Jericho from my seat (which was good, but still).

Rock and Cena had a good sports entertainment from my seat.

Livid about Sheamus/Bryan. Awful booking.

[dave]

Livid about Sheamus/Bryan. Awful booking.

Agreed. That sucked. If you need to cut matches short, do it to the divas match and Orton/Kane.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Agreed. That sucked. If you need to cut matches short, do it to the divas match and Orton/Kane.

It wasnt a time issue. Meltzer said this finish was planned for months. This was done for two reasons. One, to embarrass the arrogant heel champion. Two, to stick it to the internet fans. Vince gets off on things like that. The whole idea behind Bryan being a geek and winning via fluke all of the time is Vince having fun with the internet.

[EmpireWF]

The whole idea behind Bryan being a geek and winning via fluke all of the time is Vince having fun with the internet.

When they put the belt on Mysterio in 2006, Vince had him job all the time and look like a fool out of spite since he was a small guy. Best way to explain it I guess.

Point being, no matter what, politics trump guys who can make boatloads of money.

[Warner2BruceTD]

This was the best WM lineup in many years, and it failed to meet expectations.

-Taker/HHH was ok, but I hated the booking, the finish, and the post match stuff. HHH throwing in the towel and giving up was, for a lack of a better word, stupid. He should have fought to the death. Shawn stopping HHH multiple times from fnishing Taker off made no sense. The three way post match love fest also made no sense. Match wasn't particularly great anyway. It was an ok brawl. El Generico & Kevin Steen had a much better brawl two days earlier (but to be fair, their finish was even worse). Fans ate it up, so that's all that matters I guess, but I just hated the story.

-Punk vs Jericho was very good. Crowd killed it. Part of the problem was everybody was ready for The Rock by that point. But it was a better match from a technical and story standpoint than HHH/Taker.

-For the three of you who listened to the podcast, I nailed the finish. Once it became clear Rock would be doing dates beyond this show, you had to know he was winning. There was no way a WM in Miami was not ending with Rock on that middle turnbuckle with his hand raised, especially since he's coming back and Cena will eventually get his win back. The match itself was slow, old school, and kinda funny at times (three bearhugs? BEARHUGS? 2012??!!). It was no masterpiece, but it was fine, and the last 5 minutes were very good imo. I liked it more than I thought I would. The finish was awesome and exactly the right way to book it.

Overall, meh show because the rest was trash. From the "fuck you internet" Bryan squash, to the GOD AWFUL Orton/Kane match, everything else was instantly forgettable. Probably in the bottom half of all Manias.

[Warner2BruceTD]

When they put the belt on Mysterio in 2006, Vince had him job all the time and look like a fool out of spite since he was a small guy. Best way to explain it I guess.

Point being, no matter what, politics trump guys who can make boatloads of money.

Yup.

Bryan was super over. Fans were into the YES YES YES, and there wasnt really a pop for the title change.

They kept chanting for Bryan during other shitty matches (Orton/Kane).

Doesnt matter, Vince gets off on stuff like this. People need to accept that Bryan Danielson is dead, Daniel Bryan is just the same guy doing a parody of the old guy.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Just got home.

Bryan/Sheamus result is insulting not only to the fans (btw - Bryan gets huge pops and the YES! chant is amazing and is a new crowd favorite at all four shows I was at this weekend, and it overtook a stadium of 75K multiple times throughout the night)...but to the two performers. Damn. These two got booted from the main card last year at WrestleMania. Now, Bryan's the champ, Sheamus is the Royal Rumble winner, and they curtain jerk the match and they end it in 18 seconds. That's not good for anybody's business...I know they need to leave time for The Hell in a Cell match, Punk/Jericho, and Rock/Cena and we all knew this one was getting cut short, but 18 seconds? That is just insulting and puts no one over and devalues a whole lot. Awful. Vince can fuck right off.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

It wasnt a time issue. Meltzer said this finish was planned for months. This was done for two reasons. One, to embarrass the arrogant heel champion. Two, to stick it to the internet fans. Vince gets off on things like that. The whole idea behind Bryan being a geek and winning via fluke all of the time is Vince having fun with the internet.

Vince's idea of the "the internet" is still stuck in 1997 where "internet fans" occupy 500 seats in a Bingo Hall in Philly or something. Internet Wrestling Fans are all over and occupy over half the damn building in any building the WWE goes to, in any city. YES! YES! YES! went on throughout the pre-show and the first half of the pay per view.

You stick a guy as good as Bryan Danielson is with a shitty gimmick and if you let him run with it, he'll get himself over.

Vince did it with fuckin Dusty Rhodes...throw some polka dots on'em and make him a joke...but Dusty was too good to not get over with that dumb gimmick and when they made him even worse with Sapphire (just some old bus driver lady), he got himself over doubly in the WWE and got this little old black lady over in the process.

Dumb ass Vince just don't get it...if a dude is a good enough (and when you are working with high level workers like Danielson and Dusty Rhodes and others) you could strap him up with a pedophile gimmick and he'd get over.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Big winners tonight: Kane, Undertaker, Big Show, The Rock

On the night where tons of casual fans are watching, and the company has the attention of everybody, you would think they would take that opportunity to create new stars.

Personally, I would have booked a double turn in the Bryan/Sheamus match. The irish guy is better as a heel anyway, and Bryan has superstar potential as a face. The turn would have been easy. Irish guy goes after AJ, Bryan sacrifices the title to protect the girl that nobody thinks he cares about to begin with. A star is born.

[EmpireWF]

The first half of the show sucked balls. But with the HIAC, it changed sides. A very good 2nd half of the show with a fan friendly finish (I wasn't a huge fan of the main event live before the finish...though I was happy Cena lost, confused but happy, maybe that'll change with a rewatch). All of the recent WMs are sort of one blob together but this WM was DEFINITELY better than last year's albatross.

This was the best WM lineup in many years, and it failed to meet expectations.

-Taker/HHH was ok, but I hated the booking, the finish, and the post match stuff. HHH throwing in the towel and giving up was, for a lack of a better word, stupid. He should have fought to the death. Shawn stopping HHH multiple times from fnishing Taker off made no sense. The three way post match love fest also made no sense. Match wasn't particularly great anyway. It was an ok brawl. El Generico & Kevin Steen had a much better brawl two days earlier (but to be fair, their finish was even worse). Fans ate it up, so that's all that matters I guess, but I just hated the story.

Overall, meh show because the rest was trash. From the "fuck you internet" Bryan squash, to the GOD AWFUL Orton/Kane match, everything else was instantly forgettable. Probably in the bottom half of all Manias.

Loved the match. Better than last years, which I liked. Felt the addition of the special ref in Shawn would just convolute the match and give a way out for when HHH lost. But he added a lot.

Don't remember much of the specifics in the heart of the match, but they did a lot. Built on some of the stuff from last year and even previous stuff. The spot of the match was the superkick-pedigree nearfall....outstanding. Shawn's facials as Taker kept getting up, scared for his buddy was great. HHH going all out with the chairs, the sledgehammer, pedigrees and still, Taker whooped his ass. Just battered him. To the point that HHH was a broken man, in one final FU gives the chop and goes out.

If the postmatch ends in the ring, Taker helps him up gives him a quick hug and leaves on his own...it's sick. But it was a bit weird having all three go up the aisle together and embrace for what seemed like an eternity.

Of the past 4 WMs, I'd rank them:

1. Taker/HBK 1
2. Taker/HHH 2
3. Taker/HBK 2
4. Taker/HHH 1

[Warner2BruceTD]

Vince's idea of the "the internet" is still stuck in 1997 where "internet fans" occupy 500 seats in a Bingo Hall in Philly or something. Internet Wrestling Fans are all over and occupy over half the damn building in any building the WWE goes to, in any city. YES! YES! YES! went on throughout the pre-show and the first half of the pay per view.

You stick a guy as good as Bryan Danielson is with a shitty gimmick and if you let him run with it, he'll get himself over.

Vince did it with fuckin Dusty Rhodes...throw some polka dots on'em and make him a joke...but Dusty was too good to not get over with that dumb gimmick and when they made him even worse with Sapphire (just some old bus driver lady), he got himself over doubly in the WWE and got this little old black lady over in the process.

Dumb ass Vince just don't get it...if a dude is a good enough (and when you are working with high level workers like Danielson and Dusty Rhodes and others) you could strap him up with a pedophile gimmick and he'd get over.

I've said it doezens of times...

Vince is the least successful, really successful person of all time. I challenge anybody to find me a multi millionaire who has left more money on the table.