WRESTLEMANIA 34 Pre-Show/Live Show Thread (Spoilers)

connemara man

connemara man wrote: »

I want him to pick out a kid from the audience imagine that for a wrestlemania moment

I should write for WWE re Braun

Mokuba

Great first half but tailed off a cliff with the second half.

Daniel Bryan shouldn't have been attacked before the match, it was so stupid.

Nia Jax is an awful wrestler. Like really awful. She can only work a squash, and if they were putting her in that match, it should have been a squash.

What was the point in the Undertaker segment/match? We could have had Cena v Balor, but instead we got 3 minutes of Taker doing a few moves. He needs to stop coming back.

Styles and Nakamura was very far from the dream match they advertised. Nakamura, Royal Rumble aside, has been poor on the main roster.

Wasn't a fan of Nicholas. There were a lot of other possibilities here that would have been far better.

Main event was a disaster. What was the point of all of it? Literally invalidates their booking for the last few months. F5 super protected for a year, but Reigns kicks out of 467 of them and still loses. Even the fact that he lost, why put him in the match if he is going to lose? Where do they go with Brock? With Reigns?

beakerjoe

All I know is that Im knackered.

Some odd booking decisions but a thoroughly enjoyable Mania. A little too much complaining about "how I'd have booked it" will easily spoil it for most viewers. I used to do that myself bit now I find if I just accept that some things won't be perfect, I enjoy the ppvs a lot more

sky88

beakerjoe wrote: »

All I know is that Im knackered.

Work is not fun

HandsomeBob

Not a great night bar AJ retaining which I was happy about.

With Reigns, no idea why they had him take 4 or 5 F5s before losing. Didn't make him look strong and more so felt absurd especially given Taker downed Cena with one tombstone earlier in the night. Made Lesnar look weak too but at least it makes things interesting.

Asuka.....well, I'd have no problem with the loss if I knew it would be used to build her properly but I don't believe they are going to do so. Really terrible and sh1tty way to lose the streak especially given Stephanie showed more moxy caught in submissions later on. Poor Asuka couldn't even wriggle out of one Natural Selection not properly locked in due to a bad arm.....awful.

All the other results were expected without any exceptional performances to make up for that.

The Nal

J. Marston wrote: »

When is Lesnar's contract actually up?

Last night apparently. He looks a little lighter and a little flabbier. Obviously getting ready to go back into UFC clean.

Dana said hes still under contract with the UFC too. Has fights left on his deal.

The mixed tag match was the most entertaining of the night. Two 50 year old retired men, a woman who doesn't wrestle and someone in her first ever match. Who was great. But its not a great statement about the rest of the roster.

Flair vs Asuka was the classic match. Good story, body part worked and a couple of great spots. Some real emotion too.

Cena is rubbish. And has been for a while. He can't work a match anymore. Just so low impact. Like a season 1 Tough Enough rookie. 40 years old and he still couldn't sell a black cat to a witch.

If Ronda fluffed a bump like he did with the big boot people would be going fúcking crazy.

https://twitter.com/BIGPLAY_com/status/983211548440256513

sky88

Stephanie McMahon was in one of the best matches at wrestlemania and aj/nakamaura was average at best

words i never thought id say

Pinkman

Thought it was entertaining overall. 3.5/5. The triple threat IC was a great opener and the Ronda match was a million times more entertaining than it had any right to be. AJ/Nak was a huge letdown. No excuses either seeing as they were given plenty of time.

Brock vs Roman was a farce. Roman kicking out of so many F5s made a mockery of the whole thing. I was shocked when Brock won but couldn't care less either. Wasn't like WM31 where the fans were really hoping Brock would win.

What's next for Brock? He's already faced Bruan and Joe multiple times. Bobby Lashley coming back? The only top babyfacee on Raw he hasn't faced is Finn. Seth Rollins never got to have a proper PPV match with Brock either.

magnumbud

i was very hyped for this mania and tbh i was a bit meh by the end. some fun stuff and a rather enjoyable first rousey match, a good bryan return, a good heel turn by nakumura but tbh felt he needed the win more than aj to build him up to people who havent followed him in nxt of njpw but i can guess he'll pick it up soon now as a cocky villein.

then theres the main event i really just dont get spending a year basically building to this match and having lesnar win. i'm not the biggest reigns fan but it was written for him to win and us to just move on and am genuinely just unsure where it goes from here.

talk that lesnars contract now runs to august are we just gonna get round 2 at summerslam and then reigns wins? or do they have plans for someone else to do it like the rumoured returning lashley or braun? or are we gonna just have another year of the main title on the main show around a guy who cant be arsed turning up most of the time and has more often than not the same one sided boring matches for the last 3 years. i get hes a genuine beast and if this was real fighting he would probably dominate but its not. its about story telling and his work since the mauling of cena which was interesting and new has been repeated for almost 4 years over and over

HandsomeBob

sky88 wrote: »

Stephanie McMahon was in one of the best matches at wrestlemania and aj/nakamaura was average at best

words i never thought id say

Anything is possible if time is given. Can be sure more time went into mapping out the mixed tag than what was given to mapping AJ/Nak.

The Nal

HandsomeBob wrote: »

Anything is possible if time is given. Can be sure more time went into mapping out the mixed tag than what was given to mapping AJ/Nak.

Why though? AJ and Nakamaura have 40 years of experience between them.

On that note, is this the oldest WM card ever? Is this the oldest roster ever?

Matt Hardy 43
Balor 36
Miz 37
Asuka 36
Blandy 38
Roode 40
Angle 49
HHH 48
Steph 41
Harper 38
Rowan 36
Taker 53
Cena 40
Bryan 36
Shane 48
AJ 40
Nakamura 38
Cesaro 37
Sheamus 40
Lesnar 40

Leaving out a few mid 30s above obviously but are Alexa and C Alex the only people in her 20s?!

IncognitoMan

Well 10 year old Nicholas will pull down that average a bit :pac:

SlickRic

What annoys me, is that Vince and Hunter know how to book properly. That's the thing. They know what they're doing. They just choose not to for the main shows, because of some bizarre notion that they're this 'entertainment company', so they have to have surprises, comedy, shock value, be some sort of soap opera etc etc etc, even when it's not warranted.

They're just fúcking bipolar with their decisions and booking.

It was a good Wrestlemania. The wrestling was great for the most part, and there is no surprise in that.

But some of the booking and finishes were downright abysmal, and took the shine off things. The length of the show is also absolutely ridiculous. Of course the crowd gets tired.

Just a few of my main thoughts:

The GOOD:
Great opener. No complaints. Would've had Finn win, but meh.

Rousey/Angle v HHH/Steph was better than it ever should've been. Ronda looked fúcking awesome. my only issue is her selling for Steph. should've never happened. wrestlers selling for Shane McMahon is bad enough, but Steph? No thank you. Particularly Ronda who should be eating her alive.

Taker winning in 4 minutes was perfect. Cena isn't hurt by it, and everyone got their moment without it stinking up the place.

The reaction to Daniel Bryan. Perfect. I'll get to the match...

THE MEH:
Asuka losing the streak. Fúck right fúcking off you bunch of loathsome smartasses, who hate the fans having anything to enjoy or invest themselves in. And not only that, you hand the streak to the one fúcking person who doesn't fúcking need it. Just fúck off.

Awesome to see Daniel Bryan wrestle again, but they fúcked up the booking. the anticipation for his return had already been built. to try to tease it even more was moronic and killed the crowd stone fúcking dead. When Austin (i'm not saying Bryan is his level, obviously) came back against Bischoff at No Way Out '03, what happened? He came in, in a singles match, and destroyed. no messing about. just give the people what they've paid for, and stop trying to be smart. they did the same with Jerry Lawler v Michael Cole years ago. at no point should Cole have been on offence. the heat had been built. just have Jerry come in and beat the shít out of him. Give the people what they paid for.

Brock v Roman was painful. Just painful. I can only assume that Vince decided to swerve in one last attempt to get sympathy on Roman. It's not going to happen. You've gone this far on something you unfortunately fúcked up 3 years ago because of your treatment of Bryan. Just turn the guy heel, and see what happens. you've nothing to lose at this stage. or just make him champion. don't pretend you're listening to the fans by leaving the title off him, when all you're doing is trying to fool them into cheering him. this coronation has been building for 3 years now. either go with him or don't. if you haven't found the right time to coronate Reigns and give him a proper face run yet, then maybe it's just not something you should even be teasing anymore. it's boring, and it's pointless.

and Brock as a part time champion for a while longer? fúck off.

Michael Cole. nuff said. ruins everything.

The AJ/Nak match was ok. the crowd didn't help at all. Nak is doing as little as possible really in the ring, and the NJPW style (or version of it) that we saw in this match, did not get over 5 hours in. the turn was brilliant though and badly needed. Angry dhead foreign rock superstar could be all kinds of epic. WWE will probably fúck it up though.

Rusev pinned. How fúcking dare you get over on your own. You're supposed to be an unlikable foreigner, you fúcking idiot. Vince will show you. Pinned by Jinder, the shíttiest, blandest, most 1980s stereotypical fúcking heel you could ever hope to imagine. who could ever take him seriously? I swear Vince did that just to fúck the smarks.

----

Anyway, RAW tonight will likely be entertaining, but pointless, as they'll ignore all reactions for the night.

The Nal

SlickRic wrote: »

Brock v Roman was painful. Just painful. I can only assume that Vince decided to swerve in one last attempt to get sympathy on Roman. It's not going to happen.

They even tried the Austin WM13 blood too! They're one PPV away from throwing him off the top of a cage through a table to try get him over.



A year build only to have 80,000 paying customers chant "this is awful".

IncognitoMan

I thought it was a great mania apart from the US title winner, which should have been Rusev and the Raw Tag titles which is an absolute joke of a decision.

Buried the bar and the division in one go and for what? So a few news outlets will run a piece on a 10 year old being a tag team champion at wrestlemania? Seriously Sheamus and Cesaro deserve much much better, they've done great work for a long time now and that's how they are rewarded.

sirmanga

Instead of Demon Balor, we got LGBT activist Balor. Everyone hated but cannot criticise it for fear of not sounding inclusive.

briany

The Nal wrote: »

They even tried the Austin WM13 blood too! They're one PPV away from throwing him off the top of a cage through a table to try get him over.

'Respect' turns only work if you have a good deal of momentum or caché with the fans already. Foley and Austin had that. Roman does not.

When Foley and Austin were left bloody messes in the middle of the ring, fans would applaud their effort. When it's Roman, they applaud that he's suffering.

Mr.Nice Guy

It was a promising show but fell off a cliff the last few matches.

SlickRic

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

It was a promising show but fell off a cliff the last few matches.

that's a far more succinct version of my waffle.

PTH2009

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

It was a promising show but fell off a cliff the last few matches.

Agree but enjoyed it for what it was

Nakamura heel turn, the fact wwe played us and gave us a few shocks e.g. Lesner, charlotte winning. The taker vs Cena match was odd and really hope taker retires as he done enough now in his career.

The show went on way too long and it's a miracle I stayed awake so long

Anyway sleep today and get ready for raw

Turtyturd

Sirsok wrote: »

If thats your only complaint, then it was a great mania

Each to their own. I doubt too many will be calling it a great Mania tbh. It was a decent show and the performances were all good but it lacked that something extra that Mania seemed to have until the last few years. If not for the stage it could’ve been any other WWE pay per view of the year. It probably typifies WWE these days, solid in ring action and safe and boring outside it.

DM_7

Imo it was more miss than hit.

I hate how come Mania, teams get nothing, Cesaro, Sheamus, Uso's and New Day got nothing from this event yet they are major parts of what holds TV and live shows together. Why not use Mania to get these guys over instead.

A Brad Maddox Guy

Nakamura heel turn & Daniel Bryan back wrestling were the two highlights for me. Braun teaming with a child was funny, Braun scaring the mardi gras party was funny and I thought the short stacked pancakes were hilarious. Triple threat was good, Ronda looked great & Reigns didn't win.

Don't like Charlotte ending Asuka's streak, she doesn't need it & it would have been better to elevate someone else rather putting all eggs in the Flair basket. I assume they want Charlotte vs Ronda next year but I still don't like this finish, especially Asuka tapping out so easily.

I thought AJ vs Nakamura was a lacklustre match; slow builds are great but this just never felt like it got out of third gear. The heel turn saved it imo.
I don't like Naomi at all so pretty disappointed she won that one. Becky or Kairi Sane would have been my picks if they wanted to go that route with Sasha & Bayley, but both of them were eliminated early while a bunch of nobodies survived :mad:
Jinder won another title...

And I can only assume this is how Paige's makeup was done for that movie trailer segment

J. Marston

The Nal wrote: »

If Ronda fluffed a bump like he did with the big boot people would be going fúcking crazy.

https://twitter.com/BIGPLAY_com/status/983211548440256513

Cena protecting his face for Hollywood.

The Nal wrote: »

They even tried the Austin WM13 blood too! They're one PPV away from throwing him off the top of a cage through a table to try get him over.


I think that was a break class in case of emergency thing. Desperate attempt to get Roman sympathy if the fans shat on him, which they did.

A year build only to have 80,000 paying customers chant "this is awful".

I think that was a break glass in case of emergency thing. Desperate attempt to get Roman sympathy if the fans shat on him, which they did.

sirmanga wrote: »

Instead of Demon Balor, we got LGBT activist Balor. Everyone hated but cannot criticise it for fear of not sounding inclusive.

Did everyone hate it? I didn't really think anything of it. It was just a different, kinda bland entrance.

sirmanga

I hate this trend over the last few years of wrestlers legitimately bursting into tears when they win a big match. Both heels and faces are guilty of this. As Vince would say, "it's a millennial thing."
What an embarrassment to the business.

Itssoeasy

Feel asleep last night sometime during the WWE title match so had to rewatch the matches I didn't see.

- IC title match was fine and I liked Seth winning. No problem with that.

- Smackdown women's title match was okay because I like both women involved but Asuka's streak ended a bit easier than I expected.

- US title match. Russev should ask for his release as that is garbage that took the pin over jinder. Utter rubbish.

- Kurt and Ronda vs trips and Steph was way better than it ever should have been. Ronda was unreal. That spot where she got trips on her shoulders was brilliant. Kurt looks like a car with the handbreak left on in the ring.

- Raw women's title. I like both Alexa and nia but neither are that good in the ring but I suppose it was nice for nia to win.

- cena vs taker. Jesus help us both need to go away. The gaga with Elias and takers entrance took longer than the actual match. I hated the idea of the match before hand and I was proven right. Also you'd think a 16 time world champ would know how to sell a big boot but clearly not.

- Smackdown tag titles. It was alright and nice to see the usos finally get on the main show.

- raw tag titles. Horse****.horse****. Horse****. It wasn't funny when the young bucks did and it's not funny now.

- WWE title match. The crowd was flat for this match but the match itself was fine and the nak turn was unexpected but I've no problem with it.

- universal title. Jesus help us I've given up trying to get vince's logic on Roman. I don't blame the crowd for ****ing on the match as it was after a long night and bar the blood which looked nasty and made Roman look like Wolfpack sting or the great muta it's painful to watch.

It wasn't the worst mania ever by a long way but just some of the stuff is maddening. Also with all the pluses the network brings, a downside is they aren't stuck to three hours anymore.

HandsomeBob

I've said before but her make up is making her look like Michael Jackson.

I can accept the women's battle royal finish if it means Bayley and Sasha become the Kami of the women's division. The way they were looking at each other on the floor was like they were saying in unison "**** this **** let's just take over together." As always with anything they do, it can be forgivable as long as they have a long term plan in mind.

SlickRic

Itssoeasy wrote: »

universal title. Jesus help us I've given up trying to get vince's logic on Roman.

he's just doing everything he possibly can to try and not turn him heel.

Lord TSC

Not had a chance to read things yet, other people's thoughts, etc.

I enjoyed it. Not amazing, but enough "Wrestlemania Moments" that entertained me.

I was perfectly fine with how the streak ended. It HAD to end eventually, and I'll happily take a loss to Charlotte, one of the most protected women on the roster, at Mania. It solves a lot of problems they have with Asuka tbh.

I really enjoyed the Mixed Tag. Probably my match of the night.

I adored Brawn choosing the kid, but am suspecting a lot of hate heading that way. I just loved it though, and smiled my way through the match.

I marked harder for Brock beating Roman than I did Brock beating Taker :pac: Delighted. Wonder if he'll just win it tonight though.

Rest of the card was grand, though probably not very memorable.