Dylan Waco

Honestly none of these guys are a good challenger for Del Rio. Swagger might have been if they had started to build him up a month ago. This Mania is really shaping up to be a show I do not give a fuck about at all.

And just like that I have no interest in the World Title match at Mania

Henry is getting the elimination push which means he's not winning.

The crowd shitting on Orton is classic

Henry should just rip his pod apart.

Cesaro might be the best wrestler on earth right now. And this is coming from a guy who really didn't like Claudio all that much on the indies. I was hoping Zeb would make Anti-federalist argument against LA Purchase, but no such luck.

The Lawler match was the best Miz match ever. That match was on the road to being better, but the finish fucked it.

I get that they are trying to rebuild Miz as a credible face and they are trying to protect Cesaro too, but that means you should separate them, because that finish cheated us. The match itself was really awesome with Miz working your fast babyface spots and Cesaro targetting the arm to a fault (literally). Loved the leap frog shoulder breaker spot. Seriously that was on route to being one of my favorite matches of the year when they went with that bullshit finish.

Positives of Del Rio v. Show I liked the fact that Del Rio went over strong. Del Rio is getting over very well as a face. Match wasn't bad. Negatives Easily the worst match of their series. That spot with the bucket was cringeworthy. I didn't like Ricardo being okay after the asskickings he's gotten

There are four guys on the roster who do the Vader Bomb now. That's a bit much

Punk will be midcard anyway at Mania - third or fourth match at best, so it isn't a problem is he is working Sheamus or whoever. His act at the top of the card is getting really stale, he needs some time in the pack to get fresh again. Exactly. Punk is Jericho. After over a year as champ, his Mania payoff will either be an after thought in a Triple Threat, jobber fodder for Ryback, or the worst challenger Taker has had to the streak in ten years. He's the new Jericho. Opening tag was decent enough.

If they blow off Punk v. Ryback, Punk needs to take several months off after Mania if they want to save any sort of face with him. Also I don't think they are worried enough about the Mania buyrate to worry about tag v. singles with those guys

It's probably the best available option, but I'm not sure it is even on the table for consideration.

Punk is fucked. For all the claims from some that Rock v. Punk was a glorious finish and anyone who didn't like it was just whining, it seems evident to me that the last several months of booking, combined with the finish of that match, have put him in a position where there is really no one on the roster he can work a meaningful, compelling, storyline heavy match with at Mania. At least not one that is going to have any long term effect. Punk went into that long title run as the new Jericho and he's come out of it basically as the new Jericho. A triple threat spot at Mania is probably the best that can be done, but I'm not sure that really helps him all that much other and it's a match I have no interest in.

I don't think it's quite as bad as you state, but it's a problem. To me it's not so much that they've spread the title around, but that they've spread the title around and made no attempt to keep former titleholders credible.

For years I would have gone with Clash at number one, but a couple of years back I watched them all back to back and came away thinking Chi-Town Rumble was clearly the best match. At this point of the tv matches from 89 I'd go Chi-Town, Clash and then Wrestlewar

Ratings

Jay Strongbow sucked shit for a long time, though some swear he was good early in his career

With the amount of tv these guys had if that was the way every loss worked the roster would be filled with zombies after week two

I am a big WWE fan, but Loss is right about the booking. Me and Exposer were talking recently about how if Cena were to get hurt the WWE would be totally fucked as there is no other full timer on the roster who has any sort of aura as a transcendent, all time, star.

Rey is the god of Chamber matches and he's not in one this year which I think speaks to the fact that he's basically done. I am still really interested in this show, but the loss of Rey in a match he is the king of does hurt my interest a bit. I can't imagine Ziggler cashes in tonight. He's been treated as a guy who cannot beat anyone for the last several months, so the idea of him being the champ coming into Mania just seems ridiculous. If Orton wins the EC I'm going to be pissed. Henry is the logical pick because of how he's been presented the last few weeks. I think it's too early for Swagger thought it's obvious he is being groomed as a Del Rio opponent. I hope they aren't stupid enough to have Cesaro drop the title. The Shield probably should win, but this is about the only babyface team they could lose to where I don't think it would totally kill them. I also think the Rock v. Punk match is a terrible idea. At this point I think the smartest thing to do would be a disputed finish leading to a triple threat at Mania though I have zero interest in seeing that. If Punk loses he has no logical opponent at Mania and the idea of chickenshit Punk coming off two losses to Rock v. Taker is so laughable I assume no sane person would treat it seriously as a match up. I do think there is a chance Lesnar gets involved in the finish here.

Carlos Colon v. TNT - 11/86 This was a follow up to the tv match I watched the other day. El Profe is suspended above the ring in a cage. A rare match from this era where Colon does not build to or go to the figure-four at all. He's actually on the defensive a ton early, with TNT attacking his arm relentlessly. They do some really good spots off of rope running exchanges, including a really great looking hooking clothesline from Colon and an awesome kick from TNT. Later Carlos sold the fuck out of a back kick, going totally dead legged but staying on his feet and getting caught in the cobra clutch. Colon is awesome here desperately trying to escape by wildly kicking off the ropes, but TNT won't let up. Finally Colon goes to old faithful - the back kick to the nuts. From there this really escalates into a wild brawl, with TNT taking some nice bumps. TNT blades himself dangerously on a posting and the match ends on a countout as they brawl wildly on the floor. Really good match.

Texas Hangmen v. Bronco 1/Invader 1 - 1991 Good example of how to build a solid match on fundamentals with all the big spots crammed in toward the end for maximum effect. I am not sure I like the Hangmen as cowards/stooges, but it's PR and that is expected of heels and they put in the effort. The face control is all armwork and the heel control is all clubbing/cut off the ring spots on Bronco. Bronco comes back with these really wild, full body lariats than the Hangmen sell the fuck out of. The Hangmen take some really big bumps toward the end of this and they do a good job mixing things up as there are about four different points where it seems certain the finish is coming and then it doesn't come. I also thought the Hangmen's stomps down the stretch looked really brutal. Pretty sure this is early stages of this feud and it was a solid match for what it was. Carlos Colon v. Savio Vega - 2/10/13 I have not been following PR tv, so my knowledge of the angle involved at the end of the match is limited, but basically Invader 1 turned on Colon and helped Savio win and now (I think) Savio has partially control of the company. Anyhow if this is the match Rob is talking about it is actually really good considering the age of the guys involved. Colon is obviously slower than he used to be, but his timing is still there and his selling was really good in this. Plus he looked like a retiree. Savio is awesome both with his facial expressions, his selling and his body language. The whole match is built around two guys stabbing each other with Colon eating most of it, before escaping from a Cobra Clutch with a string of nut shots, before getting his licks in. This isn't a MOTYC or anything like that, but it was a really cool brawl. Invader 1 v. Leo Burke - Taped Fist Match 1990 Kind of a strange match in that you expect this to be two guys teeing off on each other and instead it's a match of Burke working the arm and trying to avoid shots from Invader 1's taped fists. In a strange way it kind of works because you can buy Leo trying to weaken the punchers weapons and the way he cowers and retreats every time Invader cocks his fists is great. They really milk the few taped fist shots that get thrown and the first one that hits a jaw is a knockout blow. On the other hand, this is an odd PR match not to include blood and if they were going to go with the theme they went with it needed longer than six minutes to develop fully. Victor Jovica v. Abdullah The Butcher - Chain Match I thought this was pretty great. I had absolutely no expectations coming in which may have helped this, but they had me from the jump as Abby is wearing an executioner hood and ambushes Jovica at the bell busting him open. Jovica works the whole match covered in blood, but the most amazing thing about this is how much Abby gives him. Abby takes a couple of really awesome slow mo bumps in this, and even spills out to the floor at one point. I loved the transitions here as Abby was on the defensive a ton, but would come back with a well placed boot, or a shot with the fork, or cut off Jovica trying to get to the corners by falling to the floor. Jovica for his part made great use of the chain, whipping the shit out of Abby with it, chocking him, smashing him in the face with it, et. You could argue that the attempts at the end of the match were a little "your turn, my turn" but I really bought them and Abby sprinting with forearms to keep Jovica down ruled. I also loved the finish with Abby almost getting to the fourth corner, when Jovica pulls the chain up and wallops him in the nuts and then runs around to smack all four corners. This was some good shit right here.

I can't get either of those sendspace links to work

Fun match, but watching the faces eat up so much of this reminded me of why I don't like a lot of 80's WWF as much as others. That's not to say the heels didn't get there shit in, but it felt like those moments were just blips in a sea of face domination. I did love Andre's big bump, thought Arn looked really great and will never tire of Heenan's cheapshotting wrestler/manager act though. Worth watching, but it didn't knock me off my feet