The Wrestlemania XXII Thread

[The Thread Killer]

Or they could bring Chyna back, and she could try and apply it to her, only to find out the horrible secret that Sean Waltman found out...

 

The horror...

[Guest Primo Matarazzo]

I don't think Cena's problem is so much the "wigger" thing as much as he's getting the Blue Chipper Rocky push and the people don't like it. WWE has to turn all their champions into grinning idiots (like Diesel and Brock) and people are getting tired of it.

I'm with Sek. Months ago, they were eating up his gimmick with a spoon so it's not the "wigger" thing. It's the "We'll TELL you what you're going to like!" mentality that's hurting him right now.

[Guest SweetMama Scaat]

Looking at that gif....It looks like that REALLY was her intended counter .She jammed her in the cooter.

 

If I were Trish Id have a problem with that.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

WWE has this weird way of going about things when it comes to turning their red-hot heels into faces. The thing that made guys like Diesel and Brock so over was they were relentless machines that plowed through anyone in their path. When they were turned face, they lost their edge. Diesel became this lumbering bafoon with a constant smile and gayed up theme music. Brock wasn't as bad, but he just became more vanilla upon his turn.

 

Cena's problem isn't so much his gimmick, but that's a part of it. When it first started to get over three years ago, I never thought it'd become a credible gimmick. And all things considered, it didn't. He's sold merch and built a fanbase because of it, but it still doesn't feel like a natural fit.

 

People complain about him, but what other face is going to slide into that role?

[Guest DylanWaco]

RVD is the most over face on RAW.

 

I'm not arguing for him to slide into that role neccesarily, but it's not like they don't have an uber-over face. Hell Flair is over also, but I can see the reason for not wanting him near a role like that.

[Guest SweetMama Scaat]

Um, werent they chanting boring during RVDs first match back?

 

I would love to do a POLL~!OMGROXXORMYSOXXORS for the people who dont like cena and WHY? But I think most of the net as a bias due to yalls "watch for wrestling" affection...I wonder what the crowds that boo him would say. Our oppions are one thing but the demograpic thats detremental to his run is a complety different animal.

[Loss]

I would agree that the reaction Cena is getting has nothing to do with his talent in the ring. Batista is no better than Cena, and he doesn't get that reaction. The difference is that Batista doesn't seem like he's playing a part.

[Marty]

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.

Two heels went over (James, JBL). You sure about that?

 

Other than that, agreed, and I really like your idea of the complete scrapping of faces and heels, which makes me think that Cena admitting the booing isn't him being weak, but him doing something pretty different. He not only sells merch, but he could, in a way, change the face of the industry. We'll see if it leads up to that.

[Guest Benjie]

Even though there wasn?t a great match like last year in Angle vs. Michaels on the show, I still enjoyed it a lot. The crowd was fantastic and made the show feel as though it was Wrestlemania.

 

Big Show/Kane vs. Carlito/Masters: I wasn?t surprised this was the first match as I doubt it would?ve got near the kind of heat it got had it been placed later on in the show. It served its purpose as an opener but I?d never watch it again.

 

Money in the Bank: Not as good as last years match as it didn?t have an as good flow, story or spots but it still was entertaining. Benjamin?s somersault and the springboard onto the ladder was the highlights of the match for me, especially the latter as he came from no where.

 

Benoit vs. JBL: Even though they are capable of so much more, I wasn?t disappointed because it was a solid match. It started out really good but then the momentum just seemed to die out as the match progressed.

 

Edge vs. Foley: I liked this match a lot and up until this point it was my favourite match of the night. It featured a lot of nice spots and the finish was crazy. I didn?t actually think they?d set the table alight. There was never a dull moment in the match.

 

Boogeyman vs. Booker/Sharmell: When Booker walked to the ring I was laughing so hard that I was looking forward to be entertained even more, but when the match came on I couldn?t believe this was the result. Complete waste of time.

 

Henry vs. Taker: If there was a better big man working with Taker and a guy who the crowd actually cared for then this would?ve been really good because a lot of the spots needed heat to make them better. All I could think of when it was on was what match was next.

 

Michaels vs. Vince: It was fun for what it was and was to be expected judging from the storyline. One of the better squashes that I?ve seen and the spot at the end was brilliant. They should?ve ended it there.

 

Angle vs. Mysterio vs. Orton: Another entertaining match. There was nothing deep at all, just all out action. I don?t really mind that the time given wasn?t that long because they managed to use the time well and it didn?t feel rushed at all. Had Angle won then the only person who could take the title off him is Batista because the way the match was booked it was obvious that he was the man. I?m glad that Rey won, but wouldn?t be surprised if he lost it this week.

 

Cena vs. HHH: The match completely exceeded my expectations and is easily my favourite from the show. I hadn?t seen the build up so I didn?t know what to expect when it came to fan reaction, but this has to be the first Wrestlemania in ages where the fans were still electric for it. The heat generated by the crowd made a lot of average spots a whole lot better. There was nice simple psychology like a few revenge spots and nice near falls. I didn?t like the entrances at all. Especially Cena?s. He just looked like an idiot shooting in the air and all blacked out. All it did was manage to fuel the haters.

[Guest Benjie]

sorry double post

[Guest savagerulz]

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.

Yeah, that's the sort of flip-flop that ensures the company will never be booking for the Internet.

[Guest savagerulz]

double post

[Guest savagerulz]

It's been announced: Rey defends the World Heavyweight Title against Randy Orton this week on Smackdown.

[sek69]

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.

Yeah, that's the sort of flip-flop that ensures the company will never be booking for the Internet.

They should never book for the Internet anyway. Booking for a small subset of the crowd was one of the millions of problems WCW had.

[Guest Mike Campbell]

Except that it's not so small and minute anymore.

[anarchistxx]

Right, here is my fairly brief thoughts on Wrestlemania.

 

The Tag Title match up first wasn't bad, and did a decent job. Carlito and Masters looked pumped, but Kane and Show looked like they couldn't give a damn. **

 

The MITB Ladder was disapointing, but still a reasonable match with some cool spots. **1/2

 

JBL/Benoit was really dispointing, and I didn't really enjoy it at all. I don't think it was the time constraints either, as I've see both men have good matches in under 10 minutes. Maybe it's the fact that JBL isn't all that good after all. The Guerrero stuff was awful, Benoit should lay the three verticals spot to rest. **

 

Foley/Edge was MOTN, but lacked the charm of the Foley/Orton match. Still good, though things like tghe thumbtack bump didn't get me excited as they should have. Styles was awful on commentary, not hyping any of the weapons up at all. Ross should have called the match. ***1/4

 

Booker/Boogeyman was abysmal, and one of the worst matches in Wrestlemania history. It was shockingly bad. 1/4*

 

Trish/Mickie was very flat for the most part, and I couldn't get into it. The botch at the end didn't help matters. *1/2

 

Undertaker/Henry was pretty dire. Infact, it was awful. Slow, lacking in energy, just a total borefest. *1/4

 

Michaels/HBK could have been a lot better. The first half was pretty bad, up until Shane came in, and we got about a brilliant 5 minutes up to the chair shot. HBK should have just ended it with the chin music there, but instead they go overkill. The ladder spot was nice, but after over 5 minutes of setting up wasn't worth it. **

 

The Triple-Threat wasn't hyped up at all. Total go-go-go spotfest, I didn't like it that much. Entertaining stuff, but the fans turned on Rey and Angle really should ahve won it, as Rey's title win certainly wasn't a special moment at all. I enjoyed it, but certainly wasn't blown away by it. **1/2

 

The main event I was really hyped for with the backstage stuff, until they announce a fucking pillow fight. Totally sucked it out of me. The fight got 1/4* by the way.

 

The main event was decent in parts, average in others. The crowd reaction certainly helped my entartainment, and the first 5 minutes of HHH embarrasing Cena were great. I'm still so pissed off Cena won. I was so sure HBK was going to come down and reform DX as well. The match was decent, but the finish was a poor end to Wrestlemania. **3/4

 

Poor Wrestlemania without a doubt. The MOTN wasn't anything special, and I was highly disapointed by many matches.

[sek69]

Except that it's not so small and minute anymore.

As a percentage of the WWE fanbase, you're looking at 10% tops.

[Guest KingPK]

Except that it's not so small and minute anymore.

As a percentage of the WWE fanbase, you're looking at 10% tops.

I'd put it higher than that, actually. Especially in the US, where I'd say about 25% or so of the audience is the so called "IWC" nowadays. As much as WWE wants it to be true, they aren't nearly as mainstream as they were 5 years ago.

 

I checked out RAW a few times tonight, just to see where they are going, but I chose the worst possible times to do so:

 

1) During Vince's "Me vs. God" promo

2) Flair and the Cuban Kamala

3) HHH (big shock) putting himself over to end the show

 

Oh well.

 

EDIT: Since the gif isn't working anymore here's a YouTube link to Mickie's counter.

[sek69]

I'd say 25% might be right for the people who read WWE.com and maybe check out a few of the markish message boards. People who know HHH's real name but think that him and Steph are still divorced because that's what the storyline was. I'd stick at around 10% tops for the limousine-ridin', dirtsheet-buyin', Observer Live-listenin', tape-collectin' sonsaguns like us.

[goodhelmet]

Who still collects tapes?

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Is HHH a face? If not, why was he playing to the crowd during his comeback like one?

[Loss]

Because he's insecure.

[kjh]

I enjoyed the show a lot, but it came across more as a nostalgia stunt show to put over Foley, Taker, Shawn, Vince and Hunter, than a show that set the company up for the year ahead and made any new stars. Putting over Cena was a good short term move though, as WWE has fucked up his babyface push so much that there is probably more money in Hunter chasing Cena for another month than vice versa.

[Mad Dog]

So Misterio is supposed to be defending the belt against Orton on Smackdown. I wonder if they do the lame heel wins right after the event kind of thing.

[Loss]

I actually got the opposite feel from the event as kjh, as Cena and Misterio really appeared to be two of the three biggest stars in the company, with HHH obviously being the third. No one else had entrances anything like those three -- it foreshadowed Rey winning the title in his case. This was a case where I felt like they toned down on the nostalgia, as Edge got more out of the NHB match than I think Foley will at this stage, there was no Austin or Hogan segment where they got to beat up Simon Dean or Stevie Richards or someone like that and Shawn/Vince was pretty self-contained.