DMJ

Current favorite wrestler to watch: Diamond Dallas Page Last fun match you saw: DDP vs. Johnny B. Badd (Halloween Havoc 95') Wrestler you want to see more of: Too many to name - I'm embarrassed how few of the names in the GWE thread I know Last live show attended (if applicable/different from last time you answered): WWE TLC 2014 Match you're most looking forward to watching: See "Wrestler you want to see more of" response Last fun interview/promo you saw: The string of segments from Clash of the Champions 31 featuring a Hulk Hogan promo, "Mean" Gene and Randy Savage meeting the child ambassador from the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a Randy Savage music video, and Hulk Hogan visiting the Dungeon of Doom. It is a string of "Tim and Eric"-level intuitional/unintentional comedy. Last interesting thing you read about wrestling: Chris Jericho's proposed finish layout for his match against CM Punk at WrestleMania 20something. Its in his latest book. Last worthwhile podcast you listened to: Austin's review of WrestleMania. Most fun you've had watching wrestling lately: Partying heavy for WrestleMania 31

90% of all the WWE licensed DVDs I purchased. With the Network, there is zero need for these things as most everything worth having WWE-based is available on there (the little that isn't makes up the other 10%). I also regret not trying to sell them sooner (or, rather, at all - they're collecting dust in my closet and have been for years). 8 years ago, the RVD One of a Kind set seemed like a steal at $10...now, I'm wishing I had that $10 back.

Just watched this for the first time. Good-not-great match, but fun to watch. Page's overselling is cartoonish, but why not? How else can one make a Renegade match bearable? This is a carry job if I've ever seen one as Page essentially just positions himself into bumps, but his energy comes across. It also not-so-subtly makes Page look like a pretty good wrestler when he outsmarts and holds his own against a guy who, with one poorly executed stomp, sends him halfway across the ring. By the end of the match, there's an audible part of the audience that wants to root for Page - probably mostly because of how much Renegade stunk, but giving credit where its due, DDP, in a "Ziggler-esque" performance, gave the crowd the best match he could. As I rewatch all the WCW PPVs/Clashes (started at 92', now in 95') via the Network, this is easily the best DDP match I've seen yet and I'm guessing the best (and hopefully last) Renegade match I will ever see.

Fairly recently, and I know he has lots of fans here, but Mark Henry should've lost to Ryback at WrestleMania 29. Ryback started a feud with Cena the next night (that had actually had some seeds planted at that the 2013 Rumble and even Elimination Chamber) and, from what I remember, Henry actually took some time off. I also once wrote a blog post on another site about why Brian "Crush" Adams was the most unlucky Mania performer ever. At WM10, he lost a Falls Count Anywhere match to a part-timer that was about to leave the company (and, while I'm not saying Adams was anywhere close to the worker Savage was, one can't deny that beating Savage on his way out would've given him at least a little bit of a rub). At WrestleMania 9, he lost to a clown who outsmarted him consistently. But, maybe worst of all, at WrestleMania 7, as a member of Demolition, he lost to two guys that may have been big stars in Japan, but who most American fans (especially kids like myself) didn't know anything about. As far as I know, Tenryu and Kitao never appeared on PPV again. Could you imagine the WWE bringing in two foreign talents, for a single PPV match, and having them beat even the Ascension? Again, I'm not saying Adams deserved better…but, man, WrestleMania was just not his night.

I also like Miz. Part of it is that he's from northeast Ohio (he's from Parma, I'm from the eastern suburbs). Part of it is that, after listening to him on multiple podcasts, I do think he's actually not such a bad guy and, love him or hate him, went through a ton of shit to prove he wanted to be a wrestler (bullying from Chris Benoit, for example, sounds like a legit nightmare in retrospect). Then there was that main event run which featured some excellent promos by him - just nothing I really loved in-ring. Finally, and most recently, the Mizdow stuff. The fans may have been clamoring for Mizdow the whole time, but watching those matches, Miz was in the ring, busting his ass, for the majority of the minutes and I thought he was pretty darn good. It is going to take even more improvement for me to consider him a great worker and, lord knows, that baby face run featured some atrocious matches that are hard to forget, but Miz hate is played out to me (especially when "smart" fans bring up how he was on the Real World and just wanted to stay famous - even though he was on that show like 15 years ago and the MTV/WWE partnership ended like 10 years and, in that time, he's done nothing but work hard and try to do a good job). I can understand not thinking Miz is a great athlete/performer, but to question his dedication to pro-wrestling/WWE is so absurd in 2015. Sorry - had to get that off my chest.

Vince by a country mile. He's played so many roles and had so many great moments, he is really THE all-time great Authority villain. But if the question was which one do I want to see on-screen again, that is Shane all day. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and he's the only one, aside from Linda, who could come in and actually be a fresh character on the show.

That particular item is so ridiculously weird and pretty unbelievable to me. Basically, Afa and Sika, with over 40 years of exposure to the business, are total marks who believe that Reigns winning/losing a fake championship is a legit reason to leave the top wrestling promotion in America? According to wikipedia, they won 21 Tag Team Championships as the Wild Samoans. Did they quit these promotions 21 times when it was scripted that they lost?

I've only seen his WCW work, but is there anything Charlie Norris does/did that was good?

Great point. I was talking to a friend about this very topic. There have been some good characters in the division over the years, but since the departures of Trish and Lita, it has been more common for these "main event divas" to only get 12-18 months on top and then taken off TV/retired/etc.. Off the top of my head, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, and Beth Pheonix spring to mind, as well as Melina somewhat (though, she never really got to the top of the division or was as over as the previous three mentioned). I think Kharma, if she had had an actual run with the WWE, would've had the same 12 months, then would've been beat and that would've been it for her. I don't even view this as a bad thing. As much as Nikki Bella has improved, I'm willing to wager the Bellas are coming to the end of their run as the focal point of the divas division. They've feuded with everyone, including each other, and the next batch of talent (Sasha and Charlotte) are ready for their run. Just like Layla has been transitioned into an ambassador/spokesperson role, the Bellas will be in that spot (though with more of a TV presence due to their roles on Total Divas) sooner than later. As one-dimensional as she is (someone else said it, but honestly, every move she does has to do with her butt), I do like Naomi's energy and eagerness and wouldn't mind her and Paige being used as transitional opponents to take us from the Bellas Era (2013-15) to the Charlotte/Banks Era (2016-2018).

Shifting the conversation back to Rusev, I'm kind of interested in the back-and-forth over whether Rusev is underrated/overrated as an in-ring worker. I haven't seen *every* match of his or anything, but I thought his bout with Big Show at Hell In The Cell 2014 was probably the best Big Show match in a number of years. I also thought his Network special matches with Big E. and Swagger were career highlights for those two. Throw in his matches with Cena, which I enjoyed, and, in terms of consistency, Rusev has a really strong body of work already. I don't think he's wrestled any masterpiece yet, but I also haven't seen him wrestle a dud and, for a rookie, that's very promising. Gimmick aside, if the WWE fails to find a way to keep him relevant and fresh, they're missing out on a guy that shouldn't be too hard to keep as a threat in upper mid card for years to come (in the vein of Umaga, for example).

"There were two Ultimate Warriors. The first one died." "I used to watch it when it was good and they had guys like The Godfather."

My thought is that they purposefully tanked hour 3 of this show, not necessarily to hurt Reigns in particular, but just to get through it. Let's be honest, we all love wrestling, but if you weren't at least a little sick of pro-wrestling by 11:15 PM on Monday Night, your appetite has no end. After a well-received WrestleMania and a great first half of RAW, the writers/bookers knew that the crowd (who "behaved" well during the 4-hour Hall of Fame ceremony and Mania and the first half of RAW) was getting restless. This resulted in a 2-segment divas match and a 6-man main event that was eerily reminiscent of the same 6-man tag matches we've seen countless times over the past few months. The last hour of RAW was the pedestrian, store-bought vanilla ice cream (no sprinkles, no fudge) you serve as a dessert after serving several much better, much tastier appetizers and entrees. It was the WWE, having given all it could, asking, "You're still hungry?" and realizing that the punch drunk crowd just needed to be put to sleep. WrestleMania weekend was over and the last hour was just a formality. Cue Big Show and Kane. It was also telling that they stuck Orton and Reigns in that dead spot too. We know they were protecting Reigns from getting booed even more than he did (imagine how much more heat he might've got in a different position), but I also think there was some hesitance with putting Orton in front of that crowd. Was it last year or the year before when he and Sheamus got massively booed in the first match of the show and Orton looked legit pissed?

I wasn't bothered with Reigns taking such a beating personally - but what is more confusing to me is that people are calling this a MOTYC. I just don't see it, unless those same people would call Cena/Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014 a MOTYC too. To me, they were almost the exact same match, only SummerSlam ended with a clean finish. Also, I'd have to rewatch, but did Reigns bust out any new moves? I'm not saying he needed to change his arsenal or anything, but I was really hoping that, in preparation for the biggest match of his life, against a former UFC Champion, part of Reigns' "training" was that he was going to utilize a move or two that his opponent (and the audience) wasn't expecting. For example, Cena busted out a springboard neckbreaker that I don't think I've seen him pull out before in the 100s of Cena matches I've watched over the years. Another example would be Bryan debuting a new finisher at SummerSlam '13. I was pretty drunk at the time, but aside from the superman punch and the spear, did he do anything else?

I'm another one that wants to say "not HBK," but its just too hard. Without Hogan, we wouldn't have WrestleMania, but if you go down that rabbit hole, you might also argue, without Hogan, we wouldn't have the modern WWE, so, is he Mr. WWE too? I'm not against giving him that name, but it is so all-encompassing, it kind of defeats the purpose. To me, the Mr. WrestleMania moniker (as the WWE uses it) is supposed to be the guy that stole the show at WrestleMania year after year, but more than that, its the person who embodies the spirit of the night. Savage is a very close second for me - vs. Steamboat, at WM4, vs. Hogan, vs. Warrior, vs. Flair...all classic moments/matches. Bret and Austin are similar to me in that they are almost tied for 3rd. Austin's trilogy against The Rock (especially WM17 and WM19) are two amazing matches. Bret's matches against Owen (WM10) and Piper (WM8) are two personal faves as well. WM13, well, enough's been said about that. One almost has to put The Rock and Cena in there as well as guys that have had absolutely phenomenal matches at Mania. But where Shawn is different is that Shawn, to me, has a body of work that represents everything that IS WrestleMania. Zip-line entrances. Tag team wrestling, singles matches, and triple threats. Streetfights. Boyhood dreams. "Passing of torch" moments. Retirement matches. Ladders. Celebrity tie-ins. Guest referees good (Tyson) and bad (himself). Shawn Michaels' WrestleMania body of work is representative of the show's extravagance (or bloat, depending on how you look at it), in a way that the "lunch pail" work of Bret Hart doesn't embody. Similarly, while Taker's streak puts him in the running, his morbid gimmick takes him out of the equation for me - WrestleMania is not about death and destruction, its about the brightest lights shining and Vince McMahon's booming voice welcoming the world to his yearly blowout celebration of wrestling. Shawn Michaels is that celebratory character that also benefitted from not leaving and being a part of so, so many Manias.

Alex Wright vs. Brian Pillman - Great American Bash 95' - Easily the best Wright match he had had (on PPV at least) so far and a very good effort from Pillman as well. I've been going through the WCW PPVs and Clashes from this era via the Network and what really surprises me, after more research, is that Pillman was around for most of 94'-95', but hadn't been featured in any major storylines or matches for several months. This match shows just how much he still had in the tank, but for whatever reason, WCW thought it best to give PPV time to Evad Sullivan and Road Warrior Hawk instead. What I really like about Pillman here is that he doesn't ever outright cheat, but there are not-so-subtle heel tactics in his offense that allow him to play the crafty vet that has been around the block too many times not to take advantage of his opponent's inexperience. There are moments of real sloppiness (Wright botches a surfboard, for example), but there are also moments that look astonishing (when Wright comes off the top at one point, Pillman catches him with a dropkick that looks like it should've disconnected Das Wunderkind's head from his body), making it an exciting watch. Also, unlike the other Wright matches I've seen from this time, this one isn't bogged down with never-ending restholds. Instead, the submissions and side headlocks are usually kept brief and often come before or after a good exchange of offense. I wouldn't call this a "hidden gem," but relatively speaking to what else WCW was putting on PPV that year, this one is pretty darn good.

Various outlets reporting that Lesnar has re-signed with the WWE. And, once again, the WWE has booked themselves into a corner that everyone else in the world saw a mile away. Had they actually had Bryan win the Rumble, like the fans wanted, they could have easily had Lesnar defeat him at Mania and I don't think even the mega-Bryan supporters would have been TOO bothered by it. I mean, we're talking about a guy who beat Taker, who manhandled Cena, who made Big Show and Jericho look like nobodies. The fans wanted Bryan to get his shot and, had he received it and lost clean in a heroic effort, I don't think the company would have *lost* much (especially when you consider the longterm plan seems to be to make sure Bryan isn't a main eventer anyway). But, no, they got nervous. They said "Reigns is the man and he's going to be the man NOW." Sunday night, we're going to see 1 of 2 two things - (1) Reigns is going to win the title and Lesnar, who might've just got one of the biggest money deals in company history, is no longer The Unstoppable Beast that they spent a year creating. Essentially, they're back to where they were after his first match back - the loss to Cena - where the WWE just paid a large sum of money for something they plan on instantly devalueing. Or (2) Lesnar retains and the Roman Reigns Era is put on hold indefinitely. This means the idea of Reigns being "The Next Cena" would no longer be guaranteed as all sorts of things could happen before Reigns got his redemption. I could easily see the same company brass who were 100% behind Reigns last week ("Fan response be damned! We need to take the belt off Brock!") change their tune now that the safe money is obviously to keep the belt with Lesnar ("We can't take the belt off Brock - listen to the fans!"). It has happened plenty of times where the WWE "cooled" on a guy believing they could always recharge him and strap "the rocket" back on later (as one could argue they'd do with Reigns) only for them to realize that its not that easy. Sunday's main event just got a ton more interesting - but only because its fun to watch the WWE try to book themselves out of yet another shitty situation they put themselves in. Oh, and to make things even shittier, this news story broke on ESPN. Not the Network. Not WWE.com. Not Monday Night RAW. Even in the Reality Era, the WWE failed to capitalize on the realest, most important storyline going into their biggest show of the year.

You could say the same about the Sting/HHH and Reigns/Lesnar matches too. The only feud that has been developed adequately for Mania, by my estimation, is Cena/Rusev and Miz/Mizdow.

In other news, Ziggler and Bryan had a pretty good 10-minute match to cap off a Gauntlet on SD last night. I didn't see the full gauntlet, but one thing that immediately came to mind after watching Ziggler/Bryan tear it up and then the post-match was that the WWE really should've just set up Mania this way - Ziggler vs. Bryan vs. Barrett (Intercontinental Title Match, ladder or not) Harper vs. Ambrose in some sort of "hardcore-lite" match similar to when Big Show was holding the Hardcore Championship in 01'. What I mean by that is, it doesn't have to be bloody or full of crazy high spots, but a basic brawl with a couple of weapon shots and a clear story of Harper being a monster lunatic and Ambrose being a reckless loose cannon - you give em' 10-12 minutes. Maybe Falls Count Anywhere ala Savage/Crush at WM10? You give me those two matches in the undercard, this card looks significantly better just because it would've given me the sense that more is happening on the show. One complaint I had about last year's show was that it was essentially a "2-match" show split into 3 matches (Bryan vs. Evolution and Lesnar/Taker). This year, it's a 3 match show with two clusterfuck multi-mans thrown in. For a four hour show, I wish there were more threads worth following and caring about.

I kinda liked this. To start, if you include the pre-match promo from Flair and Vader and video package (which I do, even though I can't really defend it), the entertainment value starts pretty high. The stage is set thanks to providing context. Then, the match begins, and you get the Renegade in all his cartoonish, over-the-top awfulness. Basically, from that moment on, there is not a single second when there isn't someone on screen doing something absurd/entertaining/interesting. Highlights (or lowlights, depending on your view) include Renegade's entrance (which gets a huge pop because the fans obviously thought the "Ultimate Surprise" would be Warrior, even though Renegade had been seen before in the background of a Hogan promo and looked nothing like him), Flair bouncing inside and outside of the ring in fear of the Renegade, Hogan getting chokeslammed, Vader running full steam into a ring post to try to add some sort of brutality to a very "soft" match, the Vader Bomb, the ridiculous arrivals of not only Jimmy Hart but also yet another "Masked Man," and then one of the most ridiculous, nonsensical endings imaginable. After the bell, things get even more ridiculous, with Arn Anderson waddling down the aisle, and the Macho Man and Hogan embracing and running the heels out. This match is at the Three Stooges-meets-Marx Brothers level of lunacy. This is not an exhibition of any sort of quality wrestling in the athletic, competitive sense of the word and I can understand people hating the heck of this. I totally get that to some this unwatchable. To me, though, it does have that "So Bad, It's Good" quality with just enough good work out of Vader and Flair to make it pretty hard to turn away from. Meltzer gave this 3.5 stars and so would I.

I would be genuinely shocked if Lana is not at Mania. I'm guessing they'll fly her in. While Mania itself is not lacking "star power," it has been mentioned many times by many people that the real problem with the show is that the "stars" are all part-timers. Even in the Divas division, AJ Lee seems to be on her way out and the Bellas, who I'd say had a great 2014, are losing steam now. Creatively, they have peaked and, in terms of wrestling ability, after much improvement, they're still not good enough to carry the division. Lana is the right female talent in the right role to be spotlighted moving forward and there's no bigger spotlight than WrestleMania.

I actually really hated the burial and would've much preferred Lawler and JBL play it a bit straighter. If you are going to present Wrestlecrap, let the audience find the humor in it - don't beat us over the head with how terrible the actor is. By ragging on the accent so much, it came off to me like "meta snark," which gets annoying when you're trying to enjoy the show and suspend your disbelief and when Cena and Rusev are playing it straight in the ring. Its one thing if this was a low-in-the-card comedy angle, but this is supposed to be a major, important storyline. Its like the commentators are so quick to say "This is cheesy in a good way!" that they're not letting anyone actually enjoy it that way. Say what you will about the hokeyness of pre-nWo WCW or pre-Attitude Era WWE, but at least the major angles, no matter how ridiculous, were played straight and the commentators bought in. This is why you can go back and watch and enjoy the Wrestlecrapiness of the Dungeon of Doom, but a segment like this has no replay value.

I had to go back and look at the previous post about the Middle 10 to see where my beloved WM22 sat. I still think that is a top 10 Mania and would feel totally comfortable putting it above WM28 and WM14, which I was surprised to see on this list. That one might need a rewatch from me becase I don't recall it too fondly. Were the HHH/Owen, Rock/Shamrock, and Kane/Taker matches better than I remember them? I know HBK/Austin is not a match either guy is particularly fond of (they've both gone on record saying they had much better matches on the house show circuit).

I think, on a personal side, McMahon might regret the falling out with Randy Savage. From everything that I've read (and I'm not sure how much if it is true), that split started out respectfully, but over time, almost became more personal and bitter on both sides. Maybe it was one of those cases where the longer they were not in communication, the bigger the divide became, to the point that neither guy was willing to pick up the phone?

I have a feeling that most of Tenta's WCW run is better than remembered. It needs re-watching. I've been slowly working my way through 90s WCW on the Network and I'm up to winter/spring 95. It is not saying much because, well, look at his company, but in regards to the original Faces of Fear (Tenta, Beefcake, Sullivan) stable, Tenta is consistently the only guy who is entertaining/remotely good in any of their matches. Whether its his singles matches or the multi-mans, compared to Beefcake and Sullivan, Tenta is a wrestling god.

Voted "Low Enthusiasm." Won't bother with the HoF ceremony live, though I may watch clips of it on Sunday. Will be watching with friends and while I'm sure that'll be fun, I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy the show itself too much. Oddly, I think the casual fans I'm watching with will like it significantly MORE than I will. They will love Sting probably. They like Roman Reigns while I'm indifferent at best about him. They think Orton is an all-time great and one of the best wrestlers of the decade while I think he's supremely overhyped by the WWE machine. They respect Taker so much, they wouldn't dare criticize the man or his matches. They are far less jaded on the "Cena Wins" tedium. They aren't offended by Daniel Bryan being put into a midcard clusterfuck match. Basically, this card looks awesome to them, while I'm pretty unimpressed. Still, as a mostly WWE fan, I can't miss a Mania - especially one I've already paid for with the Network (I had no problem missing PLENTY of them in the past when they were $60 bucks).