RingoPlaysDrums

Very good title match. The first 10 minutes or so of Satomura decimating Io are just fantastic. Io's bumping is something else. Made sense how the tables turned when Io took things into the crowd and hit that crazy moonsault over the stairs.. I wasn't so keen on the middle section where Io hit a load of moves and got a series of run of the mill two counts but things come together again for a hot final few minutes and a big moment for Io Shirai and Stardom as a whole.

A pretty great old school cage match. Simple and effective use of the cage. Excellent bumping and selling which really makes the match. Memorable moments include the way Savage stumbled back and falls over Garvin, Savage's desperate crawl across the ring to cover and the piledriver finish.

2015 was much worse than 2014, as I recall. 2014 had a fair bit going for it until it was all completely overshadowed by Bryan's non-appearance and the crowd's response. 2015 felt like more of a deliberate fuck you to fans. Bryan being eliminated so early, "shattered dreams", other fan favourites being unceremoniously dumped and Kane & Big Show dominating. Climaxing obviously with the cringeworthy Rock & Reigns celebration.

Surprised by the extent of the backlash to this show. This is the first WWE PPV I've watched in full since Wrestlemania last year and my affection for the company is at an all time low but I enjoyed it a fair bit. Reigns/Rollins was a blast. Seth's Shield entrance was class and I thought the match told a solid story. Rollins was loving himself for pulling off that entrance, getting into Roman's head. He started off super hot and got a couple of big near falls. Then with the second curb stomp he came as close as can be but Reigns still kicked out and his confidence just suddenly evaporated. Finish kind of worked for me. I thought the women's rumble was perhaps the best one they've done (not saying a huge amount, sure). Melina's elimination was super awkward and Sasha's early nothing elimination was really deflating but other than that I thought it was good. A number of memorable spots and exchanges - Deville & Naomi, Molly & Nikki, Mickie & McCool, Rousey & Baszler. Mickie James coming to the ring with the Knockouts title was something. A couple of fun surprises. I've avoided WWE news lately so I didn't know Rousey was going to be there. She did look a bit off at times but I'm still glad to see her back. Should be fun to see her decide between Flair & Lynch. Hopefully we'll get the latter. The match we never got to see. GREAT video package for Lesnar/Lashley. I was really looking forward to this. It didn't reach the level I'd hoped but it wasn't too far off. Some good work and I found it all pretty engrossing. That finish was inevitable if you believed the reports that they've always been going with Reigns/Lesnar at WM. Crowd wasn't into Lynch/Doudrop and nor was I but it looked fine enough. I tuned out completely during the mixed tag. I can't stand this version of Edge. A heel turn would be most welcome. Men's Rumble was pretty rotten, although I don't know if it's the worst of all time as seems to be the consensus. The crowd didn't completely turn on it like we've seen before. Lesnar coming out at 30 and winning was so obvious you might have hoped they'd have done it just a bit differently but hey ho. "Depressing" is a good word to describe the whole thing really. Tired booking and an unwelcome reminder of just who Vince actually sees as the real stars.

William Regal, Road Dogg, Dave Kapoor (Ranjin Singh), Ace Steel and Ryan Katz are all gone apparently. I believe most of those guys were pretty high up in creative either on the main roster or on NXT. EDIT: and Scott Armstrong

Dynamite in a few weeks time will be in Johnny Gargano's home town. Could be him.

Call talent up to the main roster from NXT, see if Vince takes a liking, release them if not. Leaving them with 90 day no compete clauses rather than 30.

Worth noting that the Dynamite after Full Gear is in Page's home state of Virginia. Personally I don't really see the issue with Page dethroning Omega before Danielson and Omega have their rematch.

Hopefully Page. I feel like Full Gear could be the right time, although I wouldn't necessarily object to it being strung out until Revolution. Either way, damn good Dynamite. Guevara's win felt a bit sudden but he deserves some shine and I expect Miro will continue to look dominant.

Love Roman's new entrance. Song reminds me of the Succession theme, at the beginning anyway. Makes sense given that show is about seizing control over a family dynasty.

Well, Samoa Joe on the other hand...

Billie Kay's a surprise. Doesn't feel deserved at all. Guess that would be Johnny Ace's influence. Chelsea Green had some bad luck with injuries. The others? Probably overdue because they haven't done anything in ages.

It was fantastic. I love listening to these two talk about wrestling. This format is especially great because you get to see them watching footage and commenting on it. I love Austin's enthusiasm when he shows his interviewee the clips. There's a bonus clip on the YouTube channel where Jericho is talking about Eddie. Calls him one of the greatest all rounders ever and mentions a great little tag match he had with him against the Faces of Fear on Nitro in 1997. Neat because that was one of a handful of Faces of Fear TV matches I remember really liking when I watched '97 Nitro.

I didn't watch the show but I did listen to the Post-Wrestling podcast review of it and wow, the finish to the Rose & Brooke/Jax & Baszler match sounds like an all timer.

It was especially bad during some of the entrances because the pirate ship was so tall that you couldn't see the fireworks going off behind it so they kept cutting to a different angle that took in the fireworks and then back to the wrestler ridiculously quickly so that you couldn't take anything in. Edge stood out as being an impressive entrance that was almost entirely ruined by like 10 camera cuts in half as many seconds. I hate the CGI too but I don't think it's *TOO* bad for some entrances. Roman Reigns' with the big Roman statue thing kind of works. Most of it only serves to detract from the live action visuals which are one of the obvious things that WWE has going for it. I just have no idea who it's for. They must be convinced that young people or kids like it? I don't know. It's shit.

This started super hot and didn't let up for it's duration. Pretty much nonstop action for almost 22 minutes and the crowd was as into this as anything else on either night. Edge got rid of Jey Uso for the majority of the match with an edgecution on the steps which looked sufficiently devastating. The double spears cancelling each other out was an obvious but necessary spot and they pulled it off well. Bryan had his moments with the kicks, double flying headbutts and yes lock. The "grabbing the hand to stop one wrestler submit" spot is usually a bit dumb but this was a bit better because Reigns had the chair leg in his mouth and Bryan quickly used his arm to lock in his move rather than just holding his arm and making a silly face for too long. Bryan took a couple of big bumps from Reigns - the suplex on the outside and the powerbomb through the table - before Reigns himself took a spear off the steps from Edge. Chairshots in modern WWE are probably better when the wrestler is lying on the mat because it's less obvious that they are positioning themselves to take it safely. All the stuff with the conchairtos is all the more impactful when you remind yourself of Bryan and Edge's history. The finish is memorable too, as Reigns capitalises on Uso's interference to finish off Edge and pin both opponents at once which leaves him looking very strong. I'd quite like to rewatch this alongside the triple threat main events from 20 and 30 to see how it measures up but I thought it was a very good showing.

Good stuff here with a particularly strong last few minutes. Cesaro busting out that UFO move was a great moment. So impressive, including the way he got out the way when he let go of Seth. As was the curb stomp into the uppercut which was somewhat reminiscent of the stomp/RKO at 31. People can't count swing rotations can they. I think this could've done with a few more minutes. It was memorable enough though and felt like a big, well deserved victory for Cesaro.

I thought this was great and it was my favourite match from either night. Probably my second favourite when you take into account the Takeovers as well. Sasha was great as usual and put Bianca over huge. There were a number of creative, memorable spots which showcased Belair's strength and athletic ability. The gorilla press slam walk, the standing SSP, the 450 attempts and the delayed vertical suplex spot. Then of course you had the great work around Belair's hair and the fantastic pay off with the whip in what has to be one of the spots of the year. For me this delivered in spades when expectations were high and it was a genuinely satisfying Wrestlemania main event - something which has become increasingly rare in recent years. Unfortunately the first women's main event, the triple threat at 35, isn't particularly well remembered for a number of reasons. This one was everything that should've been. Great match that ticked all the boxes.

What I would've done is switch Orton/Fiend and Ripley/Asuka. And given Ripley/Asuka like 5 or so minutes from the women's tag. I'm sure the crowd would've been more into it and it would've got the show off to a much stronger start. Also some nice symmetry with the men's and women's title matches bookending both shows.

I thought this was really good and both guys worked their asses off. Perhaps a little too long as I thought they briefly lost their way on a couple of occasions late on but it was still an excellent battle. Drew's big dive was the first big holy shit moment of the night. Drew did look like an idiot getting distracted by MVP on the claymore attempt. Lashley retaining was a welcome surprise. I think he deserves more than a short transitional reign just so Drew can have his coronation in front of an audience.

Everything it needed to be. I don't care if Omos won't have much staying power in modern WWE. He's been booked great so far and I've loved it. He looked fantastic throwing Woods & Kofi around. AJ hitting that phenomenal forearm off of Omos's shoulders was nuts. I loved AJ calling for the one foot cover with such confidence. Nice visual post match.

Buckets of fun. Plenty has been said about Bad Bunny's great performance already. I liked the headscissors and armdrag just as much as the canadian destroyer. The duelling falcon arrows were great too. Priest looks the part and fits right in on the main roster. He's got a cool aura. I think he'll benefit from this angle and match. Credit has to be given to Miz and Morrison as well. Morrison especially impressed me, trash talking constantly and taunting Booker with the spinaroonie. A proper Wrestlemania match that wouldn't work as well on another show.

This was a blast. Big match feel in a great unique setting. This really moved up a gear the moment Barnett fell out the ring and Moxley just launched himself at him. Barnett then cuts Mox open with repeated elbows. The DDT and whatever move Barnett did (DVD?) looked great and felt like big moments. Great visuals at the end as Barnett just stomps a bloody Moxley into the mat for the victory. Brief and brutal, I loved it.

So we got a 3 hour show with each hour feeling quite distinct for me. The first was dreadful but the second really good. I was ready for the third with it's two high profile matches to be something special but I came away thinking that it didn't reach that level. I had kind of had enough by 3am though so that probably played a part. Orton/Fiend was so so shit. I've paid zero attention to this feud until the video package they showed and you know what? By the time this began I was kind of ready for something completely wild and ridiculous. The Fiend's entrance was brilliant, including that little tribute to Brodie Lee. But then they kept that fucking red light on and had a completely unremarkable/dull 5 minute match. Bliss did something, Orton wins, then... nothing, as everyone is teleported away and the audience boos. It just felt completely lacking as a match, angle or spectacle. The only positive was that the match was over after 5 minutes rather than 15. Women's tag title match was another terrible choice to go on second. To go from that Orton/Fiend finish straight into Natalya & Tamina's entrance was such a downer. They had a 15 minute match for some reason. They probably had a decent match here and I noticed the crowd were genuinely getting into it but I didn't care at all. I loved seeing KO & Zayn have a condensed indie bombfest sprint in front of Logan Paul in a Wrestlemania setting. It's not my favourite kind of match by any means but it just felt kind of appropriate for Owens and Zayn to have a match like this after finally getting a spot at Wrestlemania one on one. Ended quite suddenly. I wondered why the women's tag title match got almost 15 minutes if this couldn't even get 10. Then Sami just kind of fucks off but we did get the stunner on Paul. Enjoyable. Feel like a pop up powerbomb through a table would've been a more satisfying pay off though. I found the Riddle/RVD/Khali segment amusing, sue me! Sheamus & Riddle had a banger. They beat the piss out of each other and there were a handful of memorable and great looking spots including that fantastic finish. I thought this match probably had the right amount of time but I wouldn't have been opposed to more. Big E's entrance was money and he looked like a superstar. This match was lots of fun with some brutal bumps and shots. I popped for Dabba Kato. Surprised this only went 7 minutes. They really should have incorporated the drums more. I think Apollo needed the win more than Big E who can hopefully move on to bigger and better things now. MITB? Ripley's entrance didn't exactly snap, did it? I heard her on a podcast and she was so excited about Ash Costello playing her to the ring - oh well. I thought this match was good but once again ended too soon. The crowd actually appeared to be losing interest as it went on. Rhea should absolutely not be heel. Didn't buy it at all and I don't think the crowd did either. I really like Rhea but I felt like this was missing something. Hated the whole tone of that Bayley/Bellas/hosts segment. Reminded me of that awful post-match beatdown of the League of Nations at Wrestlemania in Dallas. Really thought the pay off was going to be Becky Lynch so when it turned out to be the Bellas I was disappointed. Then they ran off Bayley and celebrated with Hogan and Titus and it was rubbish. Main event was mostly a blast but I was having a real hard time staying awake by this point so probably didn't enjoy it as much as I should've done. I'll watch it again. The crowd was really into it. Bryan and Reigns impressed me but I really can't stand Edge right now. Great finish with the BIG DOG going over huge. What a superstar he is. Not as good as night one. Match order and lengths probably the biggest reason. Pretty enjoyable after that first hour though.

BIG DOG. Right man won I think.