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***Official Pro Wrestling Thread*** (2 Viewers)

Craig_MiamiFL said:
:yawn:  

Kicking out of finisher after finisher isn't making this match any better. 
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And how in kayfabe can RR ever be beaten in the future?

If he can kick out of one of the more protected finishers several times, how will a curb stomp or a power slam keep him down at some point in the future?

 
:lol:  Replay you can hear the This is Awful Chants as well

Probably one of the best Manias but this Mania should have been Braun's time. Really not even debatable. They relegated him to teaming with a crowd member SMH

 
Craig_MiamiFL said:
:lol:  Replay you can hear the This is Awful Chants as well

Probably one of the best Manias but this Mania should have been Braun's time. Really not even debatable. They relegated him to teaming with a crowd member SMH
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I agree.  The crowd would have gone nuts seeing Braun beat Lesnar.  Glad to see RR lose though. 

 
I'm being serious here: individual moves by BOTH RR and Brock I counted in that main event:

- belly-to-belly

-german

-flying knee

-F5

-elbow

-superman punch

-spear

I mean there's no way I missed more than 2. That is beyond pathetic. That is not wrestling.

 
I for one look forward to Roman working harder, overcoming his doubts, defeating his obstacles and headlining Wrestlemanias 35-41.

 
I have to share this.... “I just figured out why the Universal Title belt is red. It only shows up once a month and when it does nobody wants it.”  :lmao:

 
Jimmy Snuka outlasted Cena vs. Taker at Mania. :popcorn: Giant Gonzalez lasted 3x times as long. Cena match lasted 2:45.

Imagine Hogan/Austin/Rock/HBK/etc.... agreeing to getting squashed like that. I think it leads to Cena/Taker career vs. career or the like next Mania (if Taker is physically capable of it)

 
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NewlyRetired said:
It looked like a blood packet to me.  They have used these before with Roman.
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Yeah I think so too. Blood was too red and too perfectly painted his face.

And I just watched the 2000 Royal Rumble match with HHH vs Cactus Jack a few nights ago so I know what real blood looks like. The 2 looked completely different.

 
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I thought to help Rhonda, they would maybe mask her and get her a couple of small live house shows to help her acclimate before the big dance but from what I can find, this was her very first live match.

I don't want to go overboard but I can't shake the feeling this had to have been one of the best pure debut's ever.  Maybe I set my expectations so low that anything half way competent was going to look great but even acknowledging that, she killed it.

She needs a Paul Heyman like set up to help her verbally.

 
Vince gave us a WONDERFUL PROCUREMENT by Woken Matt in the very first match of the day and I thought this was going to be the ultimate fan service Mania.

We did not get that. However, I'm relatively pleased with where we ended up, main event notwithstanding.

 
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NewlyRetired said:
I thought to help Rhonda, they would maybe mask her and get her a couple of small live house shows to help her acclimate before the big dance but from what I can find, this was her very first live match.

I don't want to go overboard but I can't shake the feeling this had to have been one of the best pure debut's ever.  Maybe I set my expectations so low that anything half way competent was going to look great but even acknowledging that, she killed it.

She needs a Paul Heyman like set up to help her verbally.
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She was in there with the best pure debut of all time, Mr. Gold Medal.

 
My one thought about the future of the Universal Title is that they've now humanized Cena enough to win the crowd over so he can be the one to take down big, bad Brock.

 
Man 6 hours is a LOT of wrestling.  Great first half of the show, 2nd half was uneven.  AJ/Shinuske was disappointing, either they held back, or maybe were not allowed to construct the match as they'd like.    I mean, they were saddled with a pretty drained crowd at that point.  Maybe it was the lack of the face/heel dynamic... well they fixed that.

I was one of the big Rousey skeptics, but man she brought it and looked great for her first ever match!  Poor Kurt.  Physically just a shell of his former self.

Don't hinder the Jinder?  Really wanted them to give it to Rusev there.  The guy is so damn over.

NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICHOLAS!  Yeah, this booking really trashes the RAW tag division, but for one night I didn't give a #### and was sports entertained.

Lesnar/Reigns?   Meh.  Crowd completely #### all over the entire match and deservedly so.

Thought the Smackdown tag match got gimped.  There is a whole lot more those teams can show and they didn't get the chance.

At first I didn't like the Flair finish.  I thought her losing and then chasing for the next year, culminating with her going over Asuka at next WM could be a great story line, but they don't do long-term booking like that.  So, this frees Asuka from the undefeated streak and they can find more interesting stuff for her.

Taker/Cena, I was sports entertained.

Finally, GOTDAMN, Takeover was amazing!

 
That Main Event is how my son plays video games. Just power move after power move, smashing buttons. And if it happens exactly like it did, but you replace Reigns with Strowman, with Braun kicking out over and over, getting color, finally losing after infinite F5s, it would have gotten sixteen stars from the Internet. Reigns just can not win over the crowd. 

And I get it. Force fed, Vince's boy, blah blah. But man, go back and watch the Shield versus the Wyatt Family on RAW. In a ring with Bray, Rollins and Ambrose, Reigns was the big dog.I don't blame Vince. I just wish they could figure it out, Reigns is fun to watch in the ring, and getting better on the mic.

 
Ranking the WM matches to my personal tastes:

Charlotte def Asuka - this could have main evented. I have no doubt one of these two will main event one of 35 or 36.
Ronda Rousey & Kurt Angle def Stephanie McMahon & Triple H - I trusted this match to be great from the build, much like I did AJ & Shane last year. 100% delivered the most fun all evening. The crowd was HOT HOT HOT.
Seth Rollins def The Miz, Finn Balor - 3 awesome entrances, really thought Finn was going to win here, but Seth deserves this. An absolute stud. The Coup de Grace breaking up Miz's pin was my spot of the night. I hope Seth runs an Open Challenge.
Daniel Bryan & Shane McMahon def Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens - what a fun return, featuring an always solid non-worker in Shane, 2 of the brightest new stars, and a healthy Daniel Bryan! I never had the privilege to enjoy the Daniel Bryan Experience. I am super ready for it.
AJ Styles def Shinsuke Nakamura - this would be lower on the list but to me a wrestling match includes the pageantry of the entrances and any fallout afterward. Shinsuke heel turn elevates this match. If given proper creative effort this could be a fantastic reign of chaos when he wins the strap at Summerslam.
Braun & the WWE Universe (Freebird Rules) def The Bar - I put my own interpretation on the angle they're going to take with Braun. I have zero problem with it. None.
Nia Jax def Alexa Bliss - I thought they told a complete story here and I enjoyed it a lot. These two are really close friends and although they are still rough around the edges, and a liiiiittle unsafe (I thought Alexa was going to break her own arm catching a fall), they put on as good a match and I appreciated the effort tbh.
The Undertaker def John Cena AA'd Elias - Elias was great, Cena was great, Taker didn't die. A+ all around. Old school popped me hard; Taker looked much better than last year imo.
Woken Matt Hardy wins the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal - the other two preshow matches were disappointments, and this was just a mediocre battle royal with an A++ finish. The Wyatt face turn (I hope it isn't a swerve, like really hope) could be as grand as the Shinsuke heel turn.
Jinder Mahal def Rusev, Randy Orton, Bobby Roode - I don't have much of a problem with Jinder winning. I just reeeeeeeally wanted it to be Rusev Mania.
Bludgeon Brothers def The New Day, The Usos - This was an ok squash, just whatevs to me. I can't stand the Bludgeon Brothers' name, logo, or hammers. Real dumb. The red looks good though.
Brock Lesnar def Roman Reigns - I was ready for Roman to win, rooting him on in the match. The Big Underdog booking style of his monster matches does not work for me, nor does it for the rest of the crowd. It didn't even REALLY fit the build of this fight. I don't think the Roman project is over, but I wouldn't be surprised if you told me it was.

 
I guess I shouldn't be surprised given that they're old pro's, but the show peaked with Cena-Taker which is just stupid and shocking to write.  

Was watching the masters so I only saw the end of the mens battle royal on mute, glad to see Matt go over, intrigued by the Bray stuff.

Cruisers, no interest, sorry.

Womens rumble, still don't get the Naomi thing, it puts her over in the end if Bayley or Sasha didn't factor in the finish. 

Triple threat IC... seth seems like the worst possible choice, he's a guy who should be in the world title picture, Finn is just too small.  Don't understand the quasi face move of sending off the second generation jabroni's.  Loved the LGBT stuff with Finn, even if its a little shoehorned and hamfisted in light of the Golden Lovers I assume, but a nice touch.  Seth was the money line long shot and I feel like from here we start a theme. 

Don't get the Asuka build at all unless they've just lost faith in her as a promo.  Don't for the life of me get putting her over in the royal rumble to job her clean to a heel.  Where are they left after this?  I assume this is to get to a Charlotte-Ronda match next year, but it seems a huge waste of Asuka's build.  Asuka was also a prohibitive favorite, and does the job.

US Title match, totally irrelevant across the board.  Guys treading water at best but the long shot wins, is vince shorting his finishes to finance the XFL? 

The Authority vs Angle/Ronda: Match of the night, over delivered big time, just a lot of fun and I've been super crtitical of trips and steph but just a lot of fun and well paced,   Everything a mania match should be and more.

Smackdown Tag, I get the Usos "deserved" a mania match but talk about something that belonged on the pre show.  Not a bad match though, always love a midget.

Elias-Cena-taker, probably too much gaga here, but in the end I enjoyed it, Taker redeemed himself from last year, loved the old school 

Bryan shane vs the french candians: Hated this booking... you have Bryan the conquering hero, first time back in 4 years, returning to the scene of his greatest trimumph, and you.... have him on a stretcher for the first 8 minutes?  And then we didn't even get the big return spot, he just shows back up in the ring?  Satisfying ending, didn't want the heel turn myself and glad they just put Bryan over.  

Nia-Bliss, it was fine as a match, cool to see Nia Wreck shop and throw these girls around, but in the end, hard to get around booking a monster as a face when she outweighs another woman by 200 pounds.

AJ-Nakamura just a profound profound let down.  I don't know if AJ was hurt or we have to face the reality that Nakamura is supremely overrated  and was booked to perfection and to his strenghts in NJPW.  For two dynamic performers, there was simply too much laying around this late in the card.  I don't need Savage Steamboat in terms of pace but ####### grab a hold and work it.  

Tag match, absolutely hated it.  You killed three and a half guys here,  Seasaro get relegated to comedy jobbers,  Braun shouldn't be baby face doing this gimmick of picking out a kid and Nicholas seemed catatonic. Maybe this seemed fun on paper but it sucked so bad given the galaxy of choices you had.  Give me kid rock over Nicholas, give me Jarius JJ over him.  

The main event... work wise, fun and stiff enough but they sacraficed Lesnar to get Goldberg over and he's never been the same since.  At the end of the day, you have a guy out of the game for 13 years come back with a grey goatee and squash the guy who's squashed everyone and now Roman can't beat Brock, just a real head scratcher.  

So much of the booking, particularly Reigns, Asuka and Nakamura feel like vince just changed his mind on the fly since none of the build makes any sense.

If they think Bobby Lashley tonight is some kind of band-aid, they have another thing coming.  Guy is a total bore and has jobber stank from impact.  

Thumbs in the middle for a show that I had high hopes for.

 
To be fair, Charlotte is clearly a face on Smackdown, and Shinsuke was an end boss heel on NJPW at his peak.

 
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Smack Tripper said:
Don't get the Asuka build at all unless they've just lost faith in her as a promo.  Don't for the life of me get putting her over in the royal rumble to job her clean to a heel.  Where are they left after this?  I assume this is to get to a Charlotte-Ronda match next year, but it seems a huge waste of Asuka's build.  Asuka was also a prohibitive favorite, and does the job.
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Charlotte hasn't been a heel for quite awhile.

 
This is the first full event I've watched in many years?   I occasionally check in to RAW once in a while to see who I know.  

This was pretty fun, I was super impressed with Rousey.   I figured she'd be able to work well with her background but she exceeded what I expected.  And Rousey picking up HHH like a sack of potatoes was amazing.   

I could have done without Taker and Cena, but I understand the folks who eat up the nostalgia.  

funny what @Bogart said about the main event playing out like a video game -- I was thinking exactly the same thing last night.   one punch, 7 finishing moves.  f'n terrible :lmao:    

I don't know much about that Shinsuke guy but he was pretty great in the ring.  For reference, last time I really paid attention to wrestling AJ Styles was still an indie circuit darling and everyone was mad that he couldn't break into the WWE.    I guess he's big time now.  Fun match.  

These days don't know what's real and what isn't with kayfabe and smarks and all that -- Is Lesnars contract really expired now?  or is that how the WWE rolls now to keep internet peoples guessing on match outcomes, etc?  

 
Smack Tripper said:
Loved the LGBT stuff with Finn, even if its a little shoehorned and hamfisted in light of the Golden Lovers I assume, but a nice touch.  
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huh?  Can you elaborate here?  

AJ-Nakamura just a profound profound let down.  I don't know if AJ was hurt or we have to face the reality that Nakamura is supremely overrated  and was booked to perfection and to his strenghts in NJPW.  For two dynamic performers, there was simply too much laying around this late in the card.  I don't need Savage Steamboat in terms of pace but ####### grab a hold and work it.  
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I want to like Nakamura, but I just don't get all the hype.  

 
coyote5 said:
Her really athleticism jumps off the screen.  My son and I thoroughly enjoyed Hatich's selling on her punches.  Additionally, I enjoyed her shorts  :excited:
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Unfortunately she didn't seem to enjoy her shorts much - she kept tugging at them during the match. I hope she sticks with them...

 
soothsayer said:
Unfortunately she didn't seem to enjoy her shorts much - she kept tugging at them during the match. I hope she sticks with them...
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She did the same thing all the time in the octagon.  

https://www.mmamania.com/2015/5/31/8692251/ronda-rousey-fear-hi-def-camel-toe-nipples-sports-bra-ufc

Rousey revealed there's another somewhat embarrassing thing to remember when wearing the skin tight shorts the champ is known for displaying inside the Octagon.

The first Miesha fight, she got her hooks in from behind, and I was like, 'Oh, I can get out of here easy.' But, if I did, I would flash everyone, so I had to figure out a way to pull her feet out where my business was facing down, not facing the world. And then I have a phobia about camel toe. I swear to God, every time after I win, even before I take my mouth guard out, I pull my shorts down, and it's because I have a phobia of hi-def camel toe, people zooming in on the Internet and everything. It's always, first thing, fix the camel toe!
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Jayrok said:
huh?  Can you elaborate here?  

I want to like Nakamura, but I just don't get all the hype.  
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I don't know it chapter in verse, I'm sure some folks here could better break it down, but in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the likely top 2 wrestlers, Omega and Okada, who've had a rivalary for years, are seemingly playing out an angle where they've reconciled their old animosity and now are not only tag team partners but in a romantic relationship and are called the golden lovers.  The twist here is, as opposed to basically every gay angle in wrestling history, these two are the overwhelming faces and generally beloved.  Its groundbreaking stuff, and far from the adrian adonis, Billy and Chuck and goldust stuff WWE has done historically.  So Darren Young stuff aside, this Balor use of the rainbow and having the LGBT squad out with him seems their first step to push a gay positiive message on a big level (and there have been rumors that finn himself is bi).  So I was wondering if the timing was not coincidental to NJPW having such success or more appropriately, not getting any blowback or grief for doing it.

 
We have to remember who WrestleMania is for, those that don't watch wrestling. I had a date over for the first half ("hey we have dated long enough, you should know this about me, if you want to hang out Sunday....") and she LOVED it. I would begin to tell her the details of each match and the video package would pretty much beat me to it. Only a few explanations like "well, he is a bad guy, but he does such a good job as a bad guy, we like him" was needed. She was cheering the entrances, jumping up with each near fall, and clapping and high-fiving when her pick won. After the Rousey match, who she was calling "her girl" by the end, she went home, texting later asking if she missed anything good.

 
Jayrok said:
I want to like Nakamura, but I just don't get all the hype.  
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He's used to wrestling "strong style" (as he is the King of it) which works great in NJPW as that's what they do. It doesn't seem to translate to WWE and their audience. I would probably recommend hitting up the YouTubes to see what he looked like in Japan.

Really, I have ZERO problem with Braun/Nicholas angle. WWE told him he had to have "a partner". They didn't say a wrester, but a partner. If you're going to build this notion that Strowman is an absolute beast, then having him win the belts with a kid (who didn't even make contact with a member of the Bar) solidifies that notion. Let's not forget that one man defending tag straps has been done before - Samoa Joe did it in TNA back when it was within a parsec of respectability. IIRC, SJ held both the TNA World and Tag Team Titles concurrently.

The main event? Vincent Kennedy McMahon played us all. You had Dana White set up a likely Brock return to UFC, the IWC rises up in outrage at the prospect of Vince's Ride or Die winning the belt. The match is booked like Reigns is going to survive 4 F5s and rise up and win the belt...except he didn't.  SWERVE!!! VKM played all of us like a fiddle right up until the end, and then yanked the rug right out from under everyone. The result we all expected did not happen. In the end, the carny always wins. Sorry about our darn luck.

 
Smack Tripper said:
I don't know it chapter in verse, I'm sure some folks here could better break it down, but in New Japan Pro Wrestling, the likely top 2 wrestlers, Omega and Okada, who've had a rivalary for years, are seemingly playing out an angle where they've reconciled their old animosity and now are not only tag team partners but in a romantic relationship and are called the golden lovers.  The twist here is, as opposed to basically every gay angle in wrestling history, these two are the overwhelming faces and generally beloved.  Its groundbreaking stuff, and far from the adrian adonis, Billy and Chuck and goldust stuff WWE has done historically.  So Darren Young stuff aside, this Balor use of the rainbow and having the LGBT squad out with him seems their first step to push a gay positiive message on a big level (and there have been rumors that finn himself is bi).  So I was wondering if the timing was not coincidental to NJPW having such success or more appropriately, not getting any blowback or grief for doing it.
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It's Kota Ibushi, not Okada.

 
I’m not sure what chants pissed Vince off more last night, “This is awful” off and on or the “CM Punk” chants when Lesnar had Reigns outside of the ring.  All in all, a great Wrestlemania apart from the last hour or so.  

 
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