WrestleMania 30 (Yes! yes! yes! Yes!)

[ohtani's jacket]

It was a better show than it looked on paper and was a memorable Wrestlemania at the least. I was surprised by how clean the finishes were all night long.

[Strummer]

RAW is going to be insane tomorrow and not just from a smark crowd perspective. I had thought there was a chance that HHH and Stephanie would be removed from power by Vince or a new authority figure would be introduced to combat them. Still might happen but with how well this stuff has gotten over I think they keep them in charge to throw challengers at Bryan. Hopefully Sting debuts

[cubbymark]

Did everyone else's stomach drop when Lesnar pinned Taker? I'm a grown man, that shouldn't be my reaction to wrestling!

 

 

My jaw dropped. I wasn't expecting that at all.

[MFoy]

This is what a major wrestling show should be. It was an emotional rollercoaster. There were some great matches. There were big highs and big lows. By the end I was exhausted but thrilled. For me, the positive ending supercedes the disappointment in the Undertaker match and the way they ended the streak. It wasn't perfect but it was pretty damn amazing.

 

Seeing Daniel Bryan in that spot is still surreal to me, and I can't express how impressed I am that they managed to get the crowd back so strongly after that Undertaker match.

[NintendoLogic]

For the second year in a row, I had to miss Mania due to work-related travel, so I'll limit my comments to the booking.

 

Like everyone else, I was legit shocked when I heard that Lesnar ended the streak. I guess this means they're not doing anything with Sting.

 

As for the ending, I actually agree with Matt. I'm a sucker for the locker room clearing out to celebrate the big babyface win. When was the last time WWE did that? With Angle at Unforgiven 2001?

[Strummer]

most importantly now on Total Divas they can pretend Bryan never lost that belt back in August.

 

 

also this:

 

 

 

http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4253391/Taker5_medium.gif

[flyonthewall2983]

That was the most surreal 3-count I've ever seen.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Of course, this is the Wrestlemania I do not go to. That's what happens when Orton/Bastista was the advertised main event up until a few weeks ago.

"Silverdome" was hilarious. Hogan was real cool about it. Austin is the man. The Rock gave his best promo since returning.

 

Bryan/HHH was fuckin awesome. I need to see more of the hyped matches, but definitely my MOTY so far. I don't want to debate semantics, but I am 100% with 'ol Timbo Slice that was HHH's match and he was the MVP. I am not saying he carried Bryan. I am saying people who may say Bryan carried HHH are delusional and seeing what they want to see.

Best. Squash. EVER. Crowd seemed kinda dead for it, but understandably so.

 

Best. Battle Royale. EVER. I loved the finish sequence. Tons of great spots. I was marking out for tons of stuff. Kofi should only wrestle in Battle Royals/Royal Rumbles. Cesaro winning was awesome.

 

Cena/Wyatt was the match I thought would be match of the night. It felt way too cinematic to me. The narrative seemed a bit all over the place. I am just tired of these "Cena Embrace The Hate" angles. At least, Cena sold like he might be tempted to go to the dark side in this match. I was surprised Cena won. I don't really dig the Wyatts. The Extreme Rules street fight between these two may be a MOTYC, but this was not.

 

Brock/Taker this was a match I expected I would like, but the internet would pan. I don't it is as bad people are making it out to be. I think it is by far the worst Lesnar match since his comeback, but I enjoyed it more than Cena/Wyatt. I thought Lesnar has absolutely zero chance to break the streak. I was totally shocked. I don't think you could have Cena break the streak because that would only intensify the Cena hate. It would have to be someone that unified the crowd like Punk, Bryan or potentially Reigns. Otherwise, it had to be a heel. I love Brock. I think he is a badass athlete and am a total mark for his matches. That said, I think WWE vastly overvalues him as their Ace Monster Heel. His matches are usually to silence ala this match. I think Brock/Bryan is going to tear down the house and Bryan should keep it from being silent.

 

Divas were pretty good. Alicia Fox delivered the most badass kick to the midsection I ever did see.

The Triple Threat greatly exceeded expectations. Part of me was rooting for a non-Bryan win just to see if they would riot, but by the end I was totally 100% behind Bryan. Once HHH/Stephanie came out, this was just an excellent piece of booking. From Scott Armstrong to wiping out the Authority to the badass RKO/Powerbomb to the best sequence of false finishes they ever had. I think the Taker loss reinforced that anything could happen and I was biting on the false finishes. I thought the false finishes killed Mania last year especially Rock/Cena II, but this year it made the main event awesome. I really think it was the best string of false finishes they ever had. The visual of Bryan with both belts on the announce table with the fireworks and Wrestlemania XXX was bitchin ending to a crazy Wrestlemania.

[Matt D]

Bryan tearing up WAS an awesome image.

 

Also, they played at it a bit, but in retrospect, they really should have worked Taker vs Brock as more of a faux-mma match. I think Taker would have managed it better and it's not like it would have gone over worse than this. It might have stood out as being different and done much better actually.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

What a great show. It had a bit of everything -- unpredictability, good ring work, cluster fuck booking that actually worked, two legit memorable WM moments. I was looking forward to the show going in, was prepared to be let down, and the letdown never came.

 

I did have a few streaming issues at the end of the main event, but not too bad....

[Matt D]

We keep rolling too. Tomorrow we get the Jarrett announcement, the Raw-After-Mania-And-Maybe-Sting and doesn't WWE announce the network numbers?

[Strummer]

Network numbers are announced tomorrow

[NintendoLogic]

Jarrett announcement? What? Did I miss something?

[Strummer]

also worth noting they did nothing to humiliate Vickie on her way out. Unless they are saving that for RAW tomorrow

[flyonthewall2983]

The best Hall of Fame ceremony, followed up by what I must say is the best WrestleMania I've seen since 13. For someone who is as tuned out of the product as I am, there were a few moments where the matches had me completely in awe and leaning in my seat. If this is what usher's Paul and Stephanie (maybe Shane too?) in as the braintrust, I think we're going to see a vastly improved product. I hope so anyway.

[SteveJRogers]

Jarrett announcement? What? Did I miss something?

From a while back, starting up a new promotion.

[Exposer]

 

I tried to tell you guys

Hahaha.. The same source you didn't trust!!!

 

I had a prophetic dream about this. I deserve credit

[anarchistxx]

As a sidenote, some lovely jackets tonight. Bray Wyatt rocked a great one, as did HHH for his main event run in, they should start selling those on WWEShop.

[MikeCampbell]

I give HHH cedit, he really showed his ass for Bryan tonight. First, he layed down for him clean as a sheet in a damn good opener, and then the business later on during the main event, and letting Bryan get another one over on him with the sledgehammer.

 

Quickie thoughts:

 

1. Again, Bryan/HHH was damn good. HHH was the prick heel that he needed to be, and it made Bryan finally going over that much more sweet.

 

2. Short squash, but a damn fun one.

 

3. Fun Battle Royal too, although nothing too shocking up untill the end. We were pulling for Cesaro, but figured Show was a lock. The only thing I wished we got was Cesrao trying an uppercut when the lariats didn't work.

 

4. I actually liked this, although it dragged on. The best part, to me, was Bray bridging up when Cena went for the shuffle.

 

5. I liked this too, but, again, not too much. I really wish Brock could be the guy he was with Cena at Extreme Rules, but UT isn't the guy to work like that with. I thought the finish was lame. Not even that Brock went over, but it seems like he should have tried to take him apart before finally finishing him off, and we didn't get that.

 

6. Diva's match. Harmless fun, but didn't especially do anything.

 

7. To me, this was exactly what it needed to be. Orton and Batista having minimal exchanges with each other, because they want to keep Bryan out, and just when it seems like he's out, he comes back. The onl thing I'm not down with is the finish. I'd have rather seen Orton tap, since Orton has been the thorn in his side.

[The Chief]

I loved this mania. You can nitpick a lot of things, but overall this really felt like an important show where they built to the future. Bryan finally getting his big win was a great moment. Of course it will be interesting to see where they go since he can't be the underdog anymore, but we will always have this night.

 

So Christian has to be done now right? I didn't see him in the battle royal. Somebody told me he's having concussion problems again, but I didn't hear anything.

 

I actually said before that depending how they positioned the matches, this could be the one show where they can get away with ending the steak since they will build tons of crowd good will with Bryan. Still shocked that it actually happened.

 

And I was waiting for Rock to correct Austin saying that Hogan wasn't at Wrestlemania 10!

[Jmare007]

Did match placement hurt Brock/Taker or that kind of match (with such an awful buildup) was never going to get over on this show?

[flyonthewall2983]

The streak ending, and how a lot of us were shocked by it, must have been what it felt like when Koloff beat Bruno. Even if it is just a fraction of what it was like that night in 1971, it was an amazing moment to watch.

[The Chief]

Did match placement hurt Brock/Taker or that kind of match (with such an awful buildup) was never going to get over on this show?

I don't think any outside circumstances hurt it, it just wasn't a good match. They just never kicked it out of first gear. Both guys are capable of great matches, but they're not right for each other at this stage of their respective careers.

[Exposer]

I will say this. Brock was damaged goods before tonight, but I think they wanted a part-timer to get the win in fear that a young guy might not carry the weight of it down the road. More importantly, this sets up Bryan-Brock which should have Bryan pinning Brock clean and further solidifying him as the Man. Plus, the three count and immediate reactions were awesome. I don't give a shit what anyone says.

[anarchistxx]

Did match placement hurt Brock/Taker or that kind of match (with such an awful buildup) was never going to get over on this show?

 

In terms of match placement it was just about right. Cena/Wyatt had been relatively muted, and the crowd had a rest after the amazing first hour. The match just had no build, and nobody really thought anything was at stake because it was assumed 100% that Taker was winning. It was just building to the signature moves and the pop for the tombstone and victory.

 

There weren't even any believable nearfalls, not least the finish which made it all the more shocking.

 

One thing is for sure, wrestling is exciting and interesting again, popularity is going to shoot over the next year or two if they don't mess the booking up. 2007-2011 were kind of dark days for the company, with two belts and a load of nobody wrestlers and title reigns for Swagger, Del Rio, Khali, Sheamus and The Miz. Ever since The Rock came back the product has picked up steam again, with some genuinely talented young stars, great matches and generally a continually improving product. Raw is still too long and the booking can be off, but it is a product on the up. Money In The Bank 2011 was another catalyst.