Loss Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Let's start off with a little chaos. From Meltzer: --As far as what is going to happen at Mania, just yesterday alone, they changed major match results and finishes five times. It was crazy as Vince just kept changing his mind and the indecisiveness has made any post-Mania planning almost impossible. People involved are "losing their minds" as stressful as it has become. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Some Guy Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 There really is no clear winner, in his mind to the three matches. He loves HHH and Cena and seems to be refusing to give up on Cena. He loves HBK and himself. And I think he's probably torn between Orton and Rey for the title. At this point I'd go with Cena, HBK, and Rey winning to have the ultimate feel good show with faces going over in the big three. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 I wonder if Vince'll step down sooner rather than later due to the political efforts of others. The big show rolls around and the plans are up in the air? Sounds like WCW to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bruiser Chong Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 It's funny they always start promoting the next Wrestlemania before they're even past the current one, yet here we are the day of the show and things are still such a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffey Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 The biggest night in wrestling. I'm looking forward to it. You know, it's funny. I haven't liked hardly any of the build-up to 'Mania. There's several matches that I just don't even care about. Yet, when the day finally arrives, as a wrestling fan, you can't help but feel excited. Well, at least I can't. I know all the workers always try three times as hard at 'Mania, so people actually seem like they're trying to show one another up. It'll be great to see the performances of people like Michaels and RVD on this stage (again). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Meltzer just confirmed that Hogan and Bret both flew out of Chicago this morning. So neither will be on the show. I'm wondering now who they will get to make a shocking appearance. Austin doesn't count IMO but I could see them using him in the Vince/Shawn match ending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cam Chaos Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Maybe Janetty will turn up to make the save. Stranger things have happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bruiser Chong Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 The biggest night in wrestling. I'm looking forward to it. You know, it's funny. I haven't liked hardly any of the build-up to 'Mania. There's several matches that I just don't even care about. Yet, when the day finally arrives, as a wrestling fan, you can't help but feel excited. Well, at least I can't. I know all the workers always try three times as hard at 'Mania, so people actually seem like they're trying to show one another up. It'll be great to see the performances of people like Michaels and RVD on this stage (again). I used to be like that. Of course, I used to really dig most of the builds to Mania. But even as recently as three years ago, I was still amped the day of the show. A friend of mine is getting the show tonight, so there's a chance I'll be stopping over for a bit. But I can't say today has that "Wrestlemania" feel to it, as so many of them used to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Results so far from Meltz: We're opening with Kane & Big Show vs. Carlito & Chris Masters. Masters came off the top and accidentally gave Carlito a double sledge. Kane pinned Carlito after a choke slam. Masters & Carlito argued after the match. There were chants for Carlito early. Decent match. Shawn Michaels vowed violence and said he would not have a five-star match this year. Thanks for the heads-up. Money in the bank is up now. A crazy collection of high spots from start-to-finish, ending with two ladders up. RVD knocked Benjamin and Hardy off their ladder over the top to the floor and grabbed the briefcase to win. Pretty much has to be RVD using it to challenge on the ECW PPV on 6/12. Excellent match. Benjamin in particular did a few unreal spots including a springboard off the ropes onto high on the ladder. Mean Gene was doing an interview. Randy Orton confronted him. Orton was cutting a promo. Batista showed up. Certainly teasing Batista vs. Orton but we've had the fake teases before. They just did the Hall of Fame wave. Howard Finkel nicely said that Bret Hart was uncomfortable about being there. The crowd went crazy for Eddie Guerrero. They brought out Chavo & Vickie Guerrero to make the wave. It really was a great scene. Chris Benoit vs. JBL is up now. JBL won a match that was too short for a Benoit Wrestlemania match. Benoit had the crossface, but JBL turned Benoit over and held the ropes. Nothing wrong with the action but they should have given them more time. It appears JBL will now claim to be the greatest technical wrestler of all-time because he won titles from both Guerrero and Benoit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Edge vs. Mick Foley is up next. They are moving through these matches fast. This was the sick match of the night. Foley took so many sick bumps early. Then they used the barbed wire bat to bloody each other up. Foley used the Mr. Socko claw on Lita and Edge. Edge took a back suplex into thumb tacks. Finish saw a table lit on fire on the floor and Lita hit Foley with a barbed wire bat to the knee. Edge then speared Foley into the table on fire. Both went into the table and Edge pinned him. Fans gave Foley a standing ovation when it was over. Match totally exceeded what anyone had a right to expect from it, in both the good and bad ways. Booker & Sharmell were backstage for a freak show. They found Paul Burchill practicing being a pirate. Ted DiBiase doing a retro Million Dollar Man and kicking the basketball from Eugene bouncing it 100 times. They also had Snitsky sucking Mae Young's toes. Goldust was there as well wearing a dress. No sign of Boogeyman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 The Chicago crowd is setting the tone for HHH/Cena by completely cheering Mickie and booing Trish out of the building. JR's trying to cover by saying they're a "defiant" crowd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James is up. This was the weird match of the night. James won the title which was the only possible finish. But the story was the crowd not caring for a few minutes, then there were light "Let's go Mickie" chants. Then the crowd turned on Stratus huge. The match got pretty hot, but then ended with a horribly botched finish. I think James was supposed to do a Stratusfaction, but it was impossible to know what the plan was as they just collapsed. James then did a weak chick kick for the pin. Crowd would have turned on the finish except they were so happy James won they let it go. Vince has a horrible sunburn from his latest tanning bed escapade. Vince did a funny prayer to God. He told God he was going to send his favorite wrestler to hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Undertaker vs. Mark Henry is next. Uneventful match except for Undertaker doing a running dive over the top where he had to clear the casket. I couldn't believe he did it and he was limping after the match. He did a tombstone, and that takes some trust when you're as big as Henry to allow someone to do that move to you. He rolled Henry into the casket. Henry didn't do a thing. Vince vs. Shawn is up next. Shawn Michaels did an incredible job. The match had, by far, the most heat on the show. Vince did very little on offense, none of which looked good. They used Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon for decoys early. Michaels ran the Spirit Squad off early. He handcuffed Shane to the ropes and destroyed him with a cane. He destroyed Vince, including coming off 4/5 of the way up a 15 foot ladder (soon to be called a 30 foot drop in legend) with an elbow drop on Vince. Michaels pinned him after a superkick. Michaels' facials did a great job of storytelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 The three-way for the Smackdown belts is up now. Very good match but they only gave them 9:00. Angle made both Mysterio and Orton tap, but both time ref Charles Robinson didn't see it. Rey pinned Orton clean with a springboard huracanrana. Fans didn't pop as big for the win as you'd expect. Crowd was booing Mysterio during the match and only cheered Angle, but when Rey won, they did cheer him. But if there's any doubt if this is a vanity promotion or not, Cena vs. HHH and Vince vs. Shawn look to be the two matches given time. Rey broke down and cried and celebrated with Chavo & Vickie Guerrero. Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle is next. At this point in the show, they have no time to give them, not that they would in the first place. They both had their dresses ripped off and Wilson won with a schoolgirl. They gave them more time than they could have afforded given what they cut the prior match to. Cena vs HHH is YOUR WM MAIN EVENT, NEXT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Spaceman Spiff Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Good to see HHH fucking everyone over as usual so he can have his 30 minute matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Cena vs. HHH is the main event. Cena won with the STFU. That was quite a surprise. Cena kicked out of a sledge hammer shot. HHH kicked out of the FU. They had a very good match. Crowd was clearly pro-HHH and there was no hint of a Cena turn. It was clearly positioned as much bigger than anything on the show and crowd was very hot, because of the pro and anti-Cena dynamic. Guess we know what finish Vince changed beforehand, as the Backlash ads seem to imply Cena challenging to get his title back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 I watched the show and I will say this -- this is the most ballsy booking WWE has done (Rey winning the belt, Cena retaining, putting heels over almost all night) in a long, long time. I need to let some more time pass before I comment in more detail on the show, but I honestly think the right person went over in every match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 I also dug that they didn't something shitty like having Austin or Hogan showing up and beating up midcarders. This is the first year in a long time that they haven't had legends beat up a bunch of lower card guys in some part of the show, which is great, considering that I hate it when they do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Cena winning seemed like the right thing for the wrong reasons. Like Vince didn't change the booking because it's the correct finish, he changed it just because the crowds are shitting on his pet project and he's gonna show us who's boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Oh, and Meltzer's recaps I don't think completely do justice to a lot of the matches. I'll try to give my views on the full show sometime tomorrow. In short, no MOTYCs on the show, but even the matches you'd expect to be bad were good, or at the very least were so well laid out that they got a lot of milage anyway. And again, their choices of who to put over all night, save probably the opening match, were all right on the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Cena winning seemed like the right thing for the wrong reasons. Like Vince didn't change the booking because it's the correct finish, he changed it just because the crowds are shitting on his pet project and he's gonna show us who's boss.It's almost admirable just to see them so determined to create a new star, considering how long we went with Vince determined not to make any new stars. In a weird way, there's a charm to the ambiguity of Cena as champ, just because WWE has been trying to force feed guys in such cookie cutter fashion for years now, and it's a fresh point of view, even if it is totally by accident. I really think that in many ways, Cena getting all the boos is him paying for the company's sins of the last five years or so. Again, the finish of HHH/Cena took guts. If Cena retains again at Backlash, Vince truly does have balls the size of grapefruits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 To continue my multi-post point, fans who wanted HHH to win tonight really need to be taking medicine for bipolar disorder, considering they're largely the same group of people who have been begging Vince to cool it on the pusHHH for years. Cena sucks, but he's dealing with it as well as anyone really could. I just hope both he and the company has some ideas up their sleeves for the next few months to turn the backlash into an advantage instead of keeping it a disadvantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 The problem is that WWE is trying force feed Cena on the fans, and he's getting the Die Rocky Die reactions when he's supposed to be the top babyface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 3, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 Maybe this really a blessing in disguise, though. Seriously, everything in WWE is so stale, and crowds these days are just cheering those who they like and booing those they dislike. Maybe WWE should start creating more ambiguous characters and encourage individual fans to make up their minds about everyone instead of pushing a group mentality. Less bias from the announcers and less angling from the company, and make a "you decide" marketing slogan or something. It certainly paves the way for more interesting personalities and great atmosphere. Or maybe it's just one of those things that seems like an awesome idea late at night and I'll be embarrassed I typed it in the morning. I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts