Fantastic

I know some rather 'purist' Puro aficionados who despise most of the guys who came in from MMA and pan their matches for the shoot style elements... ... Seriously, there's people out there like this. They mocked me for rating it as my favorite match of the card.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kazushi Sakuraba at Wrestle Kingdom 7. Most of my fellow Puro fans aren't keen on it. A lot of that might have to do with their staunch aversion to non-wrestlers having a presence on cards in exhibition matches. The recent hate for the Gracie's has been unreal, although that's to be expected, since they are incapable of performing a wrestling match! Sakuraba on the other hand is excellent, the crowd through his contest with Nakamura at 7 were on fire. Every submission attempt, every time Sakuraba got the advantage, people were cheering. They really bought into his MMA history and disbelief was suspended, because on more than one occasion, it seemed Nakamura might actually lose. The respect shown by Nakamura in that match, his incredible selling for a non-wrestler was magnificent. On this side of the globe, I'm partial to Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show at Survivor Series 2002. Even though the match was pretty sucky and ended screwy, it gave Lesnar an opportunity to show just how strong he really is. The sight of Lesnar suplexing the very, very heavy (he was easily over 500lbs at this time) Big Show over his head, catching him with German's and executing the F5 was one hell of a showcase.

Yeah, this is a good one. I think the feeling behind this outcome was that Del Rio hadn't taken off as WWE had intended, and with Miz retaining in the main event, they perhaps thought that at least one face needed to leave as a World Champion? That's my theory anyway. Had Edge not retired, I could see Christian turning on him at Extreme Rule and allowing Del Rio to capture the title. This would then set up the much anticipated feud between Edge and Christian.

Although the result wasn't in doubt, Austin beating The Rock at Wrestlemania X-7 by turning heel and siding with Vince McMahon, is up there for me in terms of surprising finishes.

Bob Backlund? This may sound odd, but I'm reminded of a young Kenta Kobashi when Daniel Bryan does his thing in the ring.

He's said some pretty shitty and stupid things in the past, but I don't think any of that really matters, he seems to have let go of his eccentricities and I can only go on what I've seen from him in the present. I think we saw Jim Hellwig for who he really was deep down during his HOF speech. A guy who absolutely adored his family, loved the time he spent in the wrestling business, was fond of his time on the territories and respected those who trained him, and a wrestler who seemed to genuinely care about every single one of his fans. It's shocking how sudden and terribly timed his death was, but if we can take anything good away from this, it's that he got a chance to let everybody know that he was a decent guy, that he truly believed in the essence of professional wrestling, and that he buried the hatchet with so many people and finally made amends with WWE. In his HOF speech, Warrior talked about wanting an award for the behind-the-scenes guys who make the magic of Wrestlemania happen. I definitely think this should be implemented and named for the Ultimate Warrior in tribute.

My god... This is shocking, what cruel timing. I am absolutely devastated for his family . Yet, at the same time, I'm glad he finally buried the hatchet with so many people and made peace with the WWE and Vince McMahon in the last few months.

It's a tough one, because we all know how dedicated Taker is (at least in recent years) to ensuring he has excellent matches. He rehearses the Wrestlemania matches for several weeks prior to the event at his home. Even though he should probably never set foot in the ring again, I feel as if he'll be tempted to redeem himself for the match going to shit because of his concussion. I guess if he plans to just do one more match and then call it quits, then that's OK, but he should never, absolutely, never, get back into the ring with Lesnar. Even working with less intensity than usual, Lesnar is still an incredibly physical performer that a guy of Taker's age and physical conditioning cannot hope to match. Triple H barely got through three very physical matches with Lesnar. Cena was ripped to shreds in that Extreme Rules match, and Punk got through it because of his conditioning and the fact he isn't carrying as much weight as the others.

Cesaro vs. Lesnar would be a very good match. Both men are gifted athletes and freakishly strong individuals that aren't afraid to work stiff. The thought of Cesaro giving the 300lb freak of mass that is Brock Lesnar a Giant Swing, is one awesome prospect!

Cesaro has all but officially turned face with the audience, it makes you wonder why they paired him with Heyman when they could capitalise on the crowd love. Still, if anyone can bounce between portraying heel and face and make it work, it's Heyman. IT would be incredible if this was what they were going for. I'm thinking that we're probably going to see Evolution and Kane vs. The Shield and Daniel Bryan in some kind of Street Fight style tag team match at Extreme Rules.

Excluding the meaningless one-off short reigns of: The Mountie Dean Douglas There isn't really anybody else that I can think of that sucked more. Heck, even Albert, Ahmed Johnson and Billy Gunn had passable reigns. Zeke was one of those guys that triggered Vince's rampant muscle worship and the quest to get him over as a star. Most typically, it failed, because Zeke was passable in ring and had no character or charisma going for him outside of being protected within a stable in the enforcer role (much like Mason Ryan before him). Also RE Evan Bourne: He's still recovering from a pretty complex foot injury. WWE has had some serious backlash in the past when they've released employees who are on the shelf. Even still, Bourne has something, he might even be a future Sin Cara portrayer if they intend to continue the character. Hunico is pretty old after all.

Big Zeke is done with WWE... Worst. Intercontinental. Champion. Ever.

I'd give Brock Lesnar whatever he wanted if I were running things, the guy is a phenomenal athlete, and more than capable of drawing continual big numbers for WWE. You could pretty much build the company around him, hell they were planning to once upon a time! Even doing a RVD style contract of 3 months at a time, with reduced house show dates, they could really utilise Lesnar to his full potential.

Did a report not emerge a while back that Taker wanted Daniel Bryan this year? (presumably before Lesnar/Taker was set in stone) I'm kind of getting the feeling Taker was planning to go out this year and insisted on putting somebody over, as old tradition goes. Evidently, D Bry has done fine without the kind of massive rub ending the streak would get him. I'm now musing on whether WWE has plans to make Lesnar the quintessential box office smash athlete they always wanted? There is no way in hell they'd have him go over Undertaker if he wasn't planning on staying around long term. Where does Lesnar go from here? Well he needs a win back from Cena, and he must do it in a decisive fashion, if they intend to keep Lesnar on a high. I'm thinking a submission victory over Cena would be just the ticket to further cementing Lesnar as a conqueror What next for Taker? I'd like to think we haven't seen the last of him, but if the reports of his neck injury and concussion are accurate, I'd rather he never set foot in the ring for the sake of preserving his legacy and for his family.

I never saw the streak ever ending... Speechless, well done WWE! Even if it the intitial reaction was utter disbelief and hatred, it does pose an interesting possibility: Did they end the streak to make the outcome of a Sting/Undertaker or subsequent Taker-mania (if he's not actually done) match(es) unpredictable?

A surprise finish doesn't always have to mean the actual result or home straight of the match itself? Could it not mean any time from the go home sequence up until the end of the victor celebrating? Taker is going over, without a shadow of a doubt, ending the streak at this stage of the game, would be bullshit. WWE knows this better than any of us, it's a continuous selling point for Wrestlemania, and Undertaker will keep doing it until he's physically unable to, because regardless of his physical limitations and the injuries, the recovery time and all the other stuff, he loves wrestling and the massive pay off sweetens the deal too. At whatever point he is told to never wrestle again, he'll simply retire undefeated and WWE will still have a marketable mythos with which to produce numerous DVDs and merchandise throughout the years.

Show's probably going to win for obvious reasons.

From there, you have Bryan feud with Batista or Orton over the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Cena feuds with the Wyatts and does some starmaking (hopefully) with Bray. Despite the fact people are crying out for the return of Punk (as evidenced by the weekly chants), the only way I think he'll come back is if Vince basically bows to his demands, gives him a limited date contract (Michaels/Flair style), promises him the main event for the Summmer (without being buried and curbatailed by Triple H) and the headline of next year's Wrestlemania. Stranger things have happened, after all, Vince is paying Brock Lesnar to show up less than a dozen times a year and wrestle 3-4 matches with a $5 million pay off.

If Austin is right about Punk returing, the only way it can go down without overshadowing Daniel Bryan is something like: - Triple H comes out and decks the in-control Bryan with a Pedigree, places Orton or Batista over Bryan and demands the referee counts the fall. After arguing, the referee has no choice, but Bryan kicks out at two. Triple H KO's the referee, dons a referee shirt and goes to fetch his Sledgehammer, presumably with the intent of destroying Daniel Bryan. - Punk runs in through the crowd and beats the holy hell out of Triple H, taking him out of the equation and allowing Bryan the chance to have his moment. A new referee runs out as the three men in the match recover., Orton decks Bryan before falling victim to a Batista Spinebuster. Batista makes his typical comeback and sets the weakened Bryan up for a Batista Bomb. - Bryan turns it into the YES! Lock whilst Triple H tries desperately to get into the ring (held back by CM Punk) to prevent Bryan from getting the win. Batista taps out, Bryan is the champ, he and Punk hug, Punk leaves the ring and Bryan celebrates leading the crowd in a unison of Yes! chants.. ...Or something to that effect. The main point I'm making is that it would be shitty for Punk to return during Bryan's victory celebration. Everybody knows Triple H will interfere in this match in some fashion following his inevitable loss to Daniel Bryan in their match. The perfect comeback moment for Punk to return and for Daniel Bryan to get his big moment would be in the situation where he is preventing Triple H from manipulating the match and thus setting up a big feud between Hunter and Punk for the Summer.

I don't know what to make of this....

Undertaker is looking a lot leaner than he was last year. It makes me wonder how a guy of his age and history of injuries is able to workout, let alone stay in respectable shape. Furthermore, doesn't he swear by Crossfit? A type of training in itself which carries a high risk of injury... Wonders never cease!

This was one of the last times that the Tombstone Piledriver was perceived as a One Hit KO. That delay was Edge's saving throw. Now pretty much every Wrestlemania you can expect Taker's opponent to survive at least one Tombstone without any delays (or two if your Michaels and or Triple H). I'm on the side of protecting finishers generally speaking, but the Tombstone at Mania is something that makes perfect sense to me. The story of the Streak matches since the first Shawn match has been built around the mortality of the ageing WWE Legends involved. They're all getting older and getting closer and closer to the end, to retirement, and in the case of Taker, to the Streak being broken. His entire mission as a wrestler now is the preservation of the Streak, the one remaining part of his in-ring legacy, but as he gets older it is slipping out of his grasp and that task gets more and more difficult. Flair was the first to fall, he hung on well into old age and was "put down" by Shawn at WM24. Shawn, Mr. Wrestlemania and now the "1A Greatest of All Time", tried to cement his own legacy by doing one last big thing: ending the Streak, and he pushed Taker further than he ever had been before by kicking out of the Tombstone, but in the end he succumbed. Then Shawn faces his own mortality ("without the Streak, I have no career") and was in turn "put down" by Taker at WM26. But still those matches took a gigantic toll on Taker himself in the process. The first match with Hunter is one that Taker wins but barely survives, and The Undertaker actually does a stretcher job to sell it, while Hunter, the loser, walks out under his own power. Taker is getting weaker, one more match could do him in, and Hunter with his typical delusions of grandeur thinks that HE is the next man in the cycle, the one who is going to "put down" the Undertaker at the end of his road, just like Shawn and Flair before. BUT, he can't account for the power of Undertaker, the power of the Streak. Taker isn't just another old timer Legend who needs to be put down, he's the God damn undead zombie UNDERTAKER. He don't get put down. So he still, somehow, pulls it off. But God damn does it take a toll, and he keeps getting older. Then it's Punk, not a Legend but a younger guy in his prime, coming off a year-long title reign. Again, it takes a gargantuan effort from Taker to protect the Streak. One Tombstone just doesn't do the job anymore. Not because LETS KICK OUT OF FINISHERS, but because Taker is older and weaker, and holding onto his powers with his last gasp. And he's in there facing guys who have basically made it their life's mission to End the Streak. They go above and beyond during the match to get it done, wrestling the matches of their lives. They're not kicking out of the Tombstone at Backlash, but here, at Mania, with the most fantastic and impossible-to-achieve prize dangling in front of them, they go the extra mile. They force Taker to do the same, to dig deeper, to find some other way to win. And so far, he has done just that. But really, for how much longer will he be able to? That's why I don't mind the Tombstone kickouts. I love this post. In terms of The Undertaker gradually weakening yet still finding a way to win at Wrestlemania though, how long before it becomes ridiculous? What is Brock Lesnar (and any following opponents) going to have to do in order to continue the method of storytelling you described in your post? The only way kicking out of the Tombstone can be topped now is for somebody to no sell it Puroresu style. Would that really be a good thing? It would work if Taker was the guy doing it, after all, he no sold the GTS last year, and then immediately Tombstone'd Punk for an ultra near fall (which was awesome by the way!) Would it not be extremely hammy if Brock Lesnar were to get Tombstone'd and immediately stand up and do his Pterodactyl scream? There isn't much left in Taker's arsenal that is a definitive match ender. Shawn Michaels was the first person to escape from the Hells Gate, by reaching the ropes whilst in a hold that typically immobilised and always resulted in a submission victory for Taker up until that point. Triple H then ebcame the first person to reverse it when he powered Taker up into a Spinebuster. After this, it was all pretty routine, Punk simply rolled over into a Jacknife cover when Taker slapped the hold on last year.

Immediately I thought of WWE's incessant labelling of Shawn Michaels as "Mr Wrestlemania". Surely, the only contender viable for this title is The Undertaker?

Now WWE has this medical clearance policy thingy that's stopped Hulk Hogan (among others) from being able to get into the ring again, presumably The Undertaker is in a much better condition than people assume he is, despite the usual talk of injuries surfacing following his annual match and during his off season. Didn't Jim Ross give the opinion recently somewhere that he wasn't sure whether Kurt Angle would pass the medical assessments if he wanted to return to WWE? There is no way Taker is in better shape than Angle.

This was one of the last times that the Tombstone Piledriver was perceived as a One Hit KO. That delay was Edge's saving throw. Now pretty much every Wrestlemania you can expect Taker's opponent to survive at least one Tombstone without any delays (or two if your Michaels and or Triple H).