Childs

Damn.

Jinder's going to win to troll El-P.

I love it that Show and Strowman were the only ones to get entrances.

I didn't watch all of it closely, but Aries-Neville seemed really good and hard-hitting.

Dave using unnamed sources is not a problem, but he is very loosey goosey about attribution in a way that would not be tolerated at most mainstream publications. I don't think it's at all fair to say he practices "wild irresponsible speculation." But he gives his critics ammunition with his sloppy presentation.

My stream has been craptastic for both of the Evolve shows. I'm pretty disgusted with the service at this point.

I don't think he's racist. But he seems--and who really knows the truth--fixated on upholding outdated traditions. That's what I meant with the baseball comment. I don't think Ian Kinsler is racist either. But he, like many, ballplayers, can't let go of a way of thinking that should have died in 1970.

I would be extremely pleased if WWE finally cut the chord with Flo Rida. That said, I still get excited about Wrestlemania, even though I know it's foolish and I'll end up bitching for at least three of the four (four and a half? five?) hours. Even when it's a bad show, it's interesting to see how they design the big matches and what it says about their view of wrestling. It's also a truly communal event.

I do think a substantial part of JBL's rep is that he's a dickhead obsessed with protecting antiquated traditions of "the business." If he were a baseball player, he surely would have said something angry and quasi-racist about Latino players celebrating during the recent WBC.

The only thing I enjoyed about last year's Wrestlemania was the reaction thread here and our increasing punchiness as the horrid beast lumbered on and on.

Taker-Shane was really terrible given the time wasted on it and its position as the "real" main event. Last year's show was an abomination in general.

Did Ali hurt his legacy by hanging on too long? Did Jordan? Did Willie Mays? Almost all great athletes and performers hang on too long. To portray that as some big negative is silly.

Sabre is having a hell of a year so I decided to give this a spin. But I found it pretty tedious. I understood the story, with Scurll trying to show he could outwrestle Sabre hold for hold and going gradually dirtier when he couldn't put the match away. I just didn't find his work on top interesting at all. I also prefer Sabre in shorter, more aggressive matches, especially ones in which he's working as an underdog. They produced a few good sequences toward the end, but I came away thinking Scurll in a long match is a non-starter for me.

There's a ton of WAR stuff in the year-by-year match threads here. Especially from late '92 into '94.

Can't complain about anything much with the chamber match. That gimmick almost always delivers and this was one of the better ones. Thought Miz would cost Cena the fall but at the same time, it made sense for them to book Bray strong. The Corbin stuff was perfect. AJ lived up to sky-high expectations. Good shit all around.

Mysterio was the greatest Elimination Chamber performer ever, but I could see AJ being right there with him.

The first half of Orton-Harper was pretty flat. The finishing stretch, from those superbly timed superkicks on, was excellent.

This is really boring for a supposed grudge match.

Thought the gauntlet was a fun burst of action in general. Not anything I'll remember but an easy watch.

Wow, they treated Dolph like a jobber there. Not sure the purpose of that.

Lynch-James was good. Not your usual splashy opener but hard-hitting and well put together.

Both guys were willing to go too far, in story terms and literally. And it worked to create one of the great spectacles in the history of the company. First off, the intro video was one of the very best ever created by a promotion known for its great videos. Even if you didn't know the whole Foley mythology, they boiled it down perfectly and let you know what Hunter was in for. I guess they lost the crowd a little when they were brawling out of sight, but even that part wasn't exactly lacking in intensity. I'm a mark for the rapid-fire punches Foley threw when he was trying to set the tone for a real fight, and that wound to Hunter's leg looked gnarly. The last 15 minutes were note perfect, from Foley hurting his leg with that nutty bump to Rock's pop-in to Foley staging a rally while handcuffed to the pedigree kickout. I didn't expect to get swept up in it, but I did.

I actually didn't realize this was Tazz's debut. I don't think I was watching the WWF intently at this point, and I had not been an ECW fan in real time. Anyhow, it certainly was an effective way to bring him in, and Angle played a big part in that, between the promo, the way he bumped around and the fact he sold the choke as death. That said, Tazz was never destined for a big in-ring career in WWF. He was a limited worker, and Vince was never going to present him as a long-term monster the way Heyman did.

I tried to watch this without thinking too much about everything it helped spawn. And I have to give them credit for creating something that felt genuinely violent and chaotic. The key was how tight they kept it. I never felt like I was just sitting there waiting for some dude to set up a movie stunt in the middle of what was supposed to be a blood feud. These guys cared more about creating a vibe than about some "moment" that would live on through generations of video packages. All four of them were nuts of course, but Jeff really earned his reputation for being the most nuts. I hate the fact these car-crash matches have become endemic to WWE main-event programs. But if you want to see it done well, here you go.

They told an effective tale of the new-jack thugs taking down the former baddest boys on the block. I do think that story was a little diminished by the fact Kawada was still clearly the best wrestler in the match. Takayama and Omori took him down by fighting dirty rather than outwrestling him. Actually, Taue was the poignant figure in the match, because he desperately tried to fight fire with fire but just couldn't level the odds for his partner. The crowd seemed stunned by how decisive the finish was, which spoke well for these guys achieving their intended purpose. And they did it in unusually concise fashion. One of the best matches of the month.