Assorted WM Discussions

Still not hitting record revenue levels yet today, so let’s keep beating this horse!  Yesterday was, in fact, the peak traffic day in the history of the blog, though, so thanks for that.   

I mentioned a lot of this in the comments, but I figure it might make for some fun discussion that ISN’T about Brock/Taker. Here are some takeaways from Mania that I think are worth talking about. I know how you love lists and lightning rounds, so they’re in bullet point form for your Scottisfaction (I don’t feel good about that; let’s move on).

* Orton’s been sneaky good the last few months, and he’s gone from being completely unable to play a crowd to borderline great at it. * Batista’s starting to get back in shape, and he took two manly manly bumps in the main, then did business and put Bryan over as strongly as possible. Maybe it’s time to start cutting Big Dave some slack; he did good work last night. * The Bellas are starting to get good. Or at least, good relative to non-AJ Divas. Brie especially is starting to look like a real wrestler. Kudos to them for putting in the work, because we know they could have just survived forever on their looks/boyfriends. *If there was an hour long “Bray Wyatt says creepy shit to the camera” show on the Network, we’d all watch it. *That was pretty much the viking funeral of the Attitude Era, right? HBK/Foley in suits on the pre-show, Austin and Rock get nostalgia duty with the Hulkster, Trips loses, NAO/Kane lose, Big Show loses in a match that favored him, that other thing all your other emails are about happened, Trips/Steph for once fail to stack the deck (enough) in their favor and the babyface goes clean over the McMahon/Helmsley regime. The only way it could have been more complete would be if they’d trotted out Angle, Jericho, and Chyna to put over, like, Ziggler, Cesaro, and whoever the modern Chyna is (note: I’m really glad there isn’t a clear candidate for “modern Chyna”). 

Wait a minute, I hate lists!  You don’t know me at all…oh, wait, I see what you did there. 1.  Yeah, the saga of Orton v. The Crowd has been an interesting facet of his heel character, no doubt.  It’s actually a rare heel these days who can be unlikeable enough to be good at it and not turn himself babyface. 2.  Given what Big Dave is getting paid and what we had to endure to get there, he doesn’t need any slack. 3.  Let’s not go crazy here. 4.  They might try it if the stock drops low enough. 5.  I’m not ready to start defining any new eras yet, but yesterday was a big one, no doubt.

Do you think the well is one day going to run dry on Wrestle Mania being the night where the 4 top matches always include each wrestler kicking out of their opponent’s finisher?I’m not saying if it’s good or bad but just seems like a style that might have them come back around in a few years to making finishing moves mean more again.And is it fair to say HBK and Taker perfected and started this trend at WM25?

No, Austin and Rock started it at WM17.   And like many styles, it’s neither good nor bad, it just is. 

Hey Scott,I guess I’m in the minority here, but I thought this Mania was perfectly booked.  Hear me out…..1) I have no issue with the streak ending, and actually don’t see what the big deal is.  I understand it was a draw, but when the Undertaker can’t wrestle anymore (looks like we might be there now) then what’s the point?  I think it’s more rediculous that we expected a legit killer like Lesnar to have problems beating a 50 year old guy.  There’s no shame at all in losing to Brock, so his legacy doesn’t take a hit in any way.  Every big name lays down at Wrestlemania at the end, and it was Takers turn this time.  It’s unfortunate that the match was lackluster, but oh well.  Say Taker wants one more match next year and they bill it as his last match…..what’s the difference?  Do people care more about the Undertaker or the Streak?  2) And now, Brock is a bigger star then he was last week.  And with Daniel Bryan officially being the guy now, Lesnar is by far the most intriguing opponent for him going forward.  WWE has a glaring need for heels at the top, and Brock winning makes him heel number 1.  Assuming I am correct, this gives us a summer of Lesnar and Heyman going after the champ, which to me is the freshest angle possible. Sounds good to me, unless you wanna see Batista or Orton in that spot for the billionth time.3) Taker losing gave us one of the greatest Mania moments ever.  I rewatched it, and I can’t recall ever seeing anything in wrestling that made people’s jaws literally drop.  That was awesome, and I’m glad they went with the unexpected because people are buzzing.  Also, outside of Cena turning, I doubt we will ever see anything like that again.  It was perfectly done.  4) You can argue that Bray Wyatt should of won, but that would have been overshadowed, don’t you think?  Plenty of time for him.  5) For all the shit we give HHH and Steph, they earn a standing O from me today. They are in charge of this whole thing, right? They pulled out every stop to make Daniel Bryan look like a billion dollars.  Steph is so much better in her heel role then given credit for.  They gave you multiple unforgettable moments in a show that has extremely high expectations.  Safe to say they brought the goods for a whole $10 a month.  Sorry if I sound markish, but oh well.  I just think everybody did a great job last night, and I have no issues at all with anything.  Thoughts?

I just think it was the wrong guy at the wrong time.  If they were gonna end it, it should have been HBK or Cena.  And I don’t see this rebuilding Brock into the draw he could have been had he not lost to HHH last year, but hey, maybe they have an endgame.  I certainly don’t begrudge anyone who liked it their opinion, because otherwise it was indeed a hell of a Wrestlemania.