WWE TV 4/1-4/7 Biggest week o the year

[Ricky Jackson]

I may even try to watch some of this stuff

[KawadaSmile]

The Rock lost a promo battle to Jinder Mahal and now he's in the run of his career.

[sek69]

2 hours ago, KawadaSmile said:

The Rock lost a promo battle to Jinder Mahal and now he's in the run of his career.

In my headcanon, that sent Rock on a quest to reclaim his mojo leading to this run.

[sek69]

Is it me or is this the first Mania in a long time where pretty much the entire card from top to bottom was well built? Cody/Roman/Rock is on another level of course, but Rhea/Becky, Seth/Drew, Bayley/Iyo and Gunther/Sami have all been great as well. Even Lashley's crew vs Karrion Kross and Pals had a pretty good build even if I'm not exactly clamoring to see the match.

[TheDuke]

4 hours ago, sek69 said:

Is it me or is this the first Mania in a long time where pretty much the entire card from top to bottom was well built? Cody/Roman/Rock is on another level of course, but Rhea/Becky, Seth/Drew, Bayley/Iyo and Gunther/Sami have all been great as well. Even Lashley's crew vs Karrion Kross and Pals had a pretty good build even if I'm not exactly clamoring to see the match.

Yes, I feel like in other recent years WWE didn't really care about the WM under card so I didn't care, but this year it looks like they have been building all the stories. 

 

I really feel like they missed a chance on an interesting dynamic by not having Fantasma del Legado in the Tag Team ladder match leading us to wonder if they would help Judgment Day or try to win the belts for themselves, which could tie into the story of where Dom's loyalty lies.

[Ricky Jackson]

It's almost like Vince was detrimental to the booking of the product for the last several years of his reign

[NintendoLogic]

26 is the last Mania I can remember with this many well-built stories going in. That fact seems have been largely forgotten in retrospect because of how the show underperformed on PPV. When you take into account both strength of stories and business being on fire, this is probably the best build for a Mania since X-7.

[sek69]

Ariana Grace has crossed the "so bad it's good" line for me and I am unironically a fan.Also why is Wren Sinclair wearing the Zack Ryder one legged pants?

[El-P]

10 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

this is probably the best build for a Mania since X-7.

Well, hopefully for them it's not actually gonna be X-7 (which I thought last year was, the day after Vince came back and Cody lost, how wrong I was). The mix of the creative being much better and the comeback of the Rock makes it gigantic and the hottest since the early 00's, for sure. Dwayne's comeback worked beyond all expectations, including as a distraction. 

[Big Pete]

18 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

26 is the last Mania I can remember with this many well-built stories going in.

I'm curious, what angles stood out to you in particular? Obviously Michaels/Taker was well done, the Punk/Rey stuff was really good as well but otherwise it's a Wrestlemania that doesn't get brought up all that often.

[Jmare007]

 

4 hours ago, Big Pete said:

I'm curious, what angles stood out to you in particular? Obviously Michaels/Taker was well done, the Punk/Rey stuff was really good as well but otherwise it's a Wrestlemania that doesn't get brought up all that often.

Batista vs Cena was nicely built. I don't think Bret vs Vince had anyone excited about it, but it was a natural feud and "logical" matchup. And the Legacy match was also a natural conclusion to a long term angle/stable.

MITB didn't really need booking effort and sadly the women were still "book them for the piss break" status. 

Don't really remember if HHH vs Fella had a real build. I just remember me thinking HHH was going to put his protege over and he won

[NintendoLogic]

The only thing I remember about that MITB match is the crowd booing the shit out of Drew when it looked like he was going to win. His chosen one gimmick was so wretched he had to go to TNA to wash off the stench.

[Big Pete]

7 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

Batista vs Cena was nicely built.

Can you give me a refresher? My only recollection is that they had Vince screw Cena out of the belt at Elimination Chamber and shoe horn Batista as champion.

 

7 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

I don't think Bret vs Vince had anyone excited about it, but it was a natural feud and "logical" matchup.

I just happened to catch a clip of Bret talking about this match after I posted. I guess I blocked this match out of my mind and like the Floyd/Show match, it seemed like they called a last minute audible by making it a lumberjack match with all of Bret's family around the ring. I'll pay it and I'm sure even the most cynical fan would have been curious to see the match.

 

7 hours ago, Jmare007 said:

And the Legacy match was also a natural conclusion to a long term angle/stable.

I thought this match was an indictment on Dibiase and his inability to connect with the crowd. The natural conclusion would have seen him defy his master and beat him. However the fans were so lukewarm, they had to throw the beta into the mix and had to salvage the feud the best they could.

 

Quote

I just remember me thinking HHH was going to put his protege over and he won

 

7 hours ago, NintendoLogic said:

The only thing I remember about that MITB match is the crowd booing the shit out of Drew when it looked like he was going to win. His chosen one gimmick was so wretched he had to go to TNA to wash off the stench.

They'd follow it up with the Morrison-McIntyre feud that was so rotten it torpedoed both men's career.

My only recollection of MITB was seething over Christian losing. The guy was one of the most consistent in-ring guys they had who could work with anybody and you had a ready made feud there with Edge and instead they decided to parachute Swagger into the role. My blood is boiling just thinking about it, how did you ever deal with it @C.S.?

[Alucard]

I absolutely loved the build to Bret/Vince at 26, one of my all time favorite feud video packages they did. Between that and the legendary Taker/Michaels Placebo video, makes me wish they'd go back to using licensed music for cool feud videos.  The bit where Bret faked Vince out with the cast was great. 

 

[MoS]

3 hours ago, Big Pete said:

Can you give me a refresher? My only recollection is that they had Vince screw Cena out of the belt at Elimination Chamber and shoe horn Batista as champion.

 

It wasn't a particularly deep story, it was the quintessential 21st century "I should have got your push" feud, but I would still call it well-built simply cuz Batista was phenomenal, his heel run might have been the best thing in WWE at that time. This was the build when he said he doesn't want to kiss babies or hug fat girls, he wants to make money and win titles. 

[strobogo]

Something lol that Andrade tried to quit and/or get fired to head back to WWE and he's already pre-WM Smackdown battle royale like he never left.

[Coffey]

On 4/1/2024 at 8:49 PM, Ricky Jackson said:

I may even try to watch some of this stuff

My wife is genuinely so excited for WrestleMania that is has made me more excited. It's a pretty surreal feeling! She loves Asuka, Jade Cargill & is completely wrapped up in the Cody/Roman story. So it should be a good weekend.

[BigBadMick]

Are we certain Cody wins this year?

More certain than we were last year?

[Jmare007]

9 hours ago, Big Pete said:

Can you give me a refresher? My only recollection is that they had Vince screw Cena out of the belt at Elimination Chamber and shoe horn Batista as champion.

 

Batista beat the shit out of Rey, turned heel and started doing the "put the spotlight on me" gimmick. It was dope.

[Jmare007]

5 minutes ago, BigBadMick said:

Are we certain Cody wins this year?

More certain than we were last year?

I've followed the feud more this year because of Rock but the fact that the samoans should win the tag match on night 1 and that they have beaten the shit out of Cody all feud long kinda tells me they are going for an "against all odds" win for Cody, like Cena in his prime.

I really want Austin to show up and fuck Rock over for the nostalgia pop but Steve seems too occupied chasing chickens in his ranch

[KawadaSmile]

My dream booking would see both Jey and Seth (and Sami too) all fucked up from prior action, so it's up to Cena and Austin to save the day on Sunday.

[MoS]

8 minutes ago, KawadaSmile said:

My dream booking would see both Jey and Seth (and Sami too) all fucked up from prior action, so it's up to Cena and Austin to save the day on Sunday.

There is absolutely no way they miss a chance to have the glass shatter and an Austin-Rock faceoff in the WM main event. Talk about a Wrestlemania Moment

[SirEdger]

1 hour ago, BigBadMick said:

Are we certain Cody wins this year?

More certain than we were last year?

They've made it a point this year - much more than last year - that Cody must "finish his story". With merchandise and taglines everywhere they can about it. I don't think you do that if you don't intend on delivering that moment. Especially since it's been since WM 35 that fans haven't left Mania happy. If Triple H doesn't deliver this time, I truly believe he'll lose a lot of the good faith that he has built since taking over creative in July 2022.

[El-P]

When Cody is giving interviews where he says that they are finally out of the shadow of the Attitude Era, the last thing *this* Mania needs is a Rock/Austin face-off, reminding everyone again that, hey, actually these are the two biggest stars in the business ever, not to mention that their feud is SO linked with Vince McMahon. 

As far as Cody not winning, now it would be completely ridiculous. I know, I said the same thing last year, but this time it is time. 

[Robert S]

A Rock-Austin face-off now would be like a Hogan-Savage face-off at Mania 21 when Cena got his first title (or at least it would be if Cody would be ten years younger).