KawadaSmile Posted April 3, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 I think Roman unifying the belts has more legs to it and is 100% the correct decision. I'm totally not biased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kas Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 Caught Night 1 live and they really knocked it out of the park. I enjoyed Corbin vs McIntyre and the Logan Paul tag match way more than I was expecting to, Bianca vs Becky and Cody vs Seth both delivered, and Austin vs Owens was a fun way to end it. Bianca is now 2 for 2 in terms of Mania bangers, I hope they keep treating her well. Probably won't be catching Night 2 live, but outside of Brock/Roman nothing really interests me so that's fine by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed. Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 God damn Becky/Bianca was great. The Raw tag titles is the match I’m really looking forward to tonight, RKbro will be one of the most over things on the show and the other two teams should be pumped for their biggest show ever. It would be nice for Roman and Brock to prove that WM31 wasn’t a fluke. I’ve disliked every match they’ve had since then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 24 minutes ago, El-P said: Plus, let's be real, as much as Cody's debut was a success, it would have been a thousand times better if he had come out full fledge invading dirtbag cutting a promo on HHH like : "Hey you might have seen me destroy a throne some time back, now I'm here to claim the whole kingdom. You heard it right King of Kings. I would gladly rip your heart out but woopsie, apparently life and karma has already taken care of that piece of business." Now THAT would be a Mania Moment tm. The water okay in France? Your idea definitely would have won an award though. The Dave Meltzer Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic of the Year Award. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 14 minutes ago, C.S. said: Your idea definitely would have won an award though. Yeah, the best heel promo of the year. Most disgusting is still putting on two shows a year to promote MBS's regime BTW. Nothing gets even close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 Just now, El-P said: Most disgusting is still putting on two shows a year to promote MBS's regime BTW. Nothing gets even close. Can't argue with this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 These pre-shows are a complete waste of time. NXT Day 1 and Day 2 should be what the pre-show slots are used for. No one even remembers Stand and Deliver, and it was yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMJ Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 Very solid first night. A few thoughts... - I found it interesting that the Corbin/McIntyre match, from the pre-match videos to the Moss interference that basically turned the tide from a dominating heel performance, really was all about Happy Corbin and not at all about Drew. You insert Ricochet or Damian Priest or whoever in that match and its the same match. Going forward, I'm not sure if its not Corbin who gets something resembling a bigger push than Drew but, based on who the match was "about," it was 80% Corbin and 20% McIntyre. - I disliked the Cody/Rollins match. It was 20 minutes of All Ego Wrestling to me. The best part was Cody's return, but from there, it just felt like any other Seth Rollins "Crossfit Jesus" showcase/self-conscious epic, needlessly long and didn't do anything for either guy. There's an old showbiz saying that you leave your audience wanting more, but they opted to give us everything and it was too much for me. This wasn't like Punk or Daniel Bryan's debut in AEW. Tony Khan wisely built - even if just for a week or two - towards Bryan/Omega and Punk's first match. With Cody, we didn't just get a return match, we got a long, back-and-forth match where his opponent, who, in kayfabe would've been completely unprepared for Cody Rhodes, was not only prepared for him and countered all of his signature moves, but initially laughed at him as he made his way down the aisle and then kicked out of his finisher. I get that Cody Rhodes is not the wrestler that's going to come in and steamroll someone like Lesnar or Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania XII, but this match could've been 10-12 minutes, Rollins could've sold being unprepared (which would warrant the continuation of the feud), and Rhodes could've got the big "welcome back" win and that would've told a story that would've left me wanting more. They did the opposite. Another example of why I just don't "get" Rollins. When he's a heel, he works like a babyface that has too much grit and toughness and doesn't act cowardly or cheat enough for me. When he's a babyface, he puts on too much of a showy, "flashy" performance for me to want to root for him. Biance and Becky went 20 minutes because the match warranted it, the "epicness" earned after months and months of build. This match went 20 minutes because they wanted to go 20 minutes to prove they could "go" despite it not serving any purpose. Obviously, it wasn't a "bad" match; Rollins and Rhodes and nearly everyone in the WWE these days are too good to have actively bad matches. But it was the wrong match to have (to me). - ...Which brings me to the crowd. They enjoyed it all. Watching from home, the amount of time between matches feels endless but I'm guessing that when you're there, that amount of time may actually work in favor of the show (especially one where each match goes 10+ minutes). As a guy who went to countless local indie/punk/rock shows from my teens through my 20s and well into my 30s, it was not uncommon to go to a show with 4 bands on the bill. You'd show up at 9 or 9:30 and the first band wouldn't even be on and you'd wait till 10:15 and that band would play for 20-30 minutes. Then you'd wait another 20 minutes, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer and doing whatever else, and the next band would come on and do another 20-30 minutes and so on. This WrestleMania was kinda like that, with a half-dozen segments that went 20-30 minutes. At home, the lack of variety was noticeable to me, but had I been there, I probably would've been much more into a match like Cody/Rollins going long. - Speaking of the crowd, can you imagine Flair/Rousey at a place like MSG? I liked the match more than most - though, I'm way less harsh on Charlotte than many - but this was the biggest genuine heel/heel match since WrestleMania XX and at least that match had Steve Austin in it to get some cheers. People hate Charlotte because she politicks and is sloppy in the ring and also because she trolls the audience with her moonsault and other moves (if you don't think she's fully aware that her moonsault has become a "thing," you should check out some interviews with her where it's quite obvious she's fully aware of her social media reputation). People hate Ronda Rousey because she called wrestling fans "ungrateful idiots," called pro-wrestling itself "fake" on multiple occasions, and we can go on...But this match had "big fight feel" and was worked physically and aggressively and, fuck it, I liked the goddamn professional wrestling finish. Is it enough to get Rousey over as a face? Of course not. But that's basically impossible anyway. I still liked Charlotte beating Rousey because Charlotte knows how to use a ref bump to get a W and Rousey, not being a "real wrestler," doesn't. Unlike Rollins/Rhodes, this match has me interested in seeing the next part of the story. I know I may be in the minority and I'm not surprised that this match has been called "the worst of the night" by nearly everyone, but those poor reviews are also unsurprisingly vague and void of any real criticisms. What about this match didn't work? Was it really 'boring"? Criticize the very idea of booking a heel/heel match as a WrestleMania bout and I'm not saying this was as good as Belair/Lynch, but, geez, if this is a "bad match" then a viewing WrestleMania IV should probably be considered the 7th circle of hell. - Is it just me or did anyone else like the SD Tag Title Match more before you knew that Boogz got hurt? Without that knowledge, what I saw was Rick Boogz attempting a Double Samoan Drop, an inherently risky move, having his knee buckle, and then the Usos capitalizing on his failure to go after Nak, deliver a sick combo of an awesome superkick (with one Uso holding Nak in place by his hair) and then hitting their finishing move. If there was more that was supposed to happen before that, sure, it kinda sucks they couldn't do the full match, but it didn't need anything more than we got. It was a damn good opener that, with Boogz "taken out" by his own inexperience/over-confidence on the big stage for the first time, made perfect narrative sense. On a show loaded with false finishes (most good, even), a straight forward tag match without too many needless false finishes stood out to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 You know, for the first time I don't mind seeing HHH at Mania. Dude took so many L's he deserves a good moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Rock n Roll Express or RKBro, time will tell which tag team was greater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Good Lord, Tez jumped over the post and still nearly overshot the crowd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 This match is super fucking fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Lashley about to earn that Mania payday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Seeing someone as big as Lashley being thrown around like this is disturbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Bro how the fuck is Lashley conscious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Bro this was a HOOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 "That was hard to watch." Shoot commentary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Both Steen and Generico in no dq matches at WM....Steen gets Austin, Generico gets Johnny Knoxville. Lmao. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Lashley/Omos was 2x as long as it needed to be. As someone who has to show up for work before 8PM tomorrow I'd appreciate a little more consideration but not expecting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 This match needs Natural Born Killers playing the whole time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 This is AMAZING shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobogo Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 This is 5 star sports entertainment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Its amazing to think they didn't lean into the Jackass crossover 20 years ago. That being said, the half gallon of milk that is this match is long past its expiration date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KawadaSmile Posted April 4, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 Cole and McAfee losing their shit on commentary is just making this whole thing better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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