WRESTLEMANIA XXX: Best Mania Ever? (Spoiler Thread)

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YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Hogan was terrible, to the surprise of noone.

Hunter v. Bryan was glorious. Steph has grown into a great shit talker. Tiger Suplexes and Chicken Wings! HHH was on form and his stupid Conan entrance was his best stupid Conan entrance yet.

Shield squash was really fun. Double powerbomb!

Cesaro slamming Big Show (and Big Show dressed like Andre) was nice, Cesaro is going to get some good reactions tonight imo. Kofi nearly died doing anything fun non-elim too.

Cena-Bray was match of the night imo. Quite similar to his Umaga Last Man Standing I guess but the story of trying to make him release his demons worked really well. Surprised at how into Bray the fans were and they really made it. Luke Harper was great too, really fucking with Cena. Future star there. He has the best crazy eyes in the biz.

Fucking streak is over! Match was only OK, Taker obviously doesn't have the capacity to go anymore but FUCKING HELL. Really didn't see that coming. Bork Lazer is perfect to end it, he can take the heat and Heyman is genuinely the best thing in wrestling so his speech tonight is going to be fucking GLORIOUS. Standard Taker Mania matches with 50 finishes and near falls but once you figured out that he might not be winning, the whole dynamic changed. The crowd reaction was something I don't really remember seeing before.

Skipped the divas.

Bryan won! That powerbomb-rko was sick! Phantom monitor looked like it fucked Orton up bad! Dive onto Steph! Batista not so gassed! This was just really fun and the Eddie-Benoit ending with the confetti and his niece should make anyone smile.

No Punk or Sting. Sting maybe for tonight? Punk's legit out I guess. Hogan can fuck off now. Jake and Razor look so much better! Best advert for DDP Yoga there'll ever be.

Taker retirement Raw tonight? Supposedly Bryan's wedding is today so I guess its all about Taker.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 12:04 (ten years ago) link

Also legit up there with 17/19/20 imo. Everyone put their best work in.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 12:05 (ten years ago) link

One of the best Manias for sure. Maybe the only WM where nothing got shortchanged on time.

Opening promo was a lot of fun, total filler for sure, but perfect as a once per year segment for Mania.

Bryan-HHH was good, but not great IMO, they seemed to be searching for another gear and never really found it. Spending the first ten minutes of a match wearing down a body part is sound strategy and it fit the storyline of the feud, but it's tough to do that kind of match in a big stadium atmosphere.

NAO and Kane deserved to get their useless asses squashed by the Shield. Loved it.

The Battle Royal was a lot better than I was expecting, and the finish was awesome.

The crowd wasn't really into Cena-Bray, which hurt the match a lot. The match was solid though, it was cool to see Cena spooked out by the Family and having to change his usual strategy.

I'd make fun of the guys in the crowd with the bug eyed reactions to Brock-Taker, but that was pretty much my reaction too. The finish shouldn't have seemed to come out of nowhere (three F-5's should be enough to finish a match) but after seeing Taker kick out of three pedigrees and three SCM's and who knows what else at past matches, I wasn't buying it as a way to end the streak. No idea where they go from here. Heyman's reaction to the win almost made the whole thing worthwhile.

Spent most of the divas match looking for online reactions to Brock-Taker.

Main event was shockingly great. Hope Orton is OK after that crazy table spot. Bryan got the Superman one-night push to end them all, but the way HHH got owned throughout the night makes me think that he might be the one to win the title from him somewhere down the line.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 7 April 2014 12:26 (ten years ago) link

I think you guys saw a different Mania than I did.

Bryan v HHH - best match of the night. Good pacing, good storytelling.

Battle Royal had a good ending, still massive filler.

Bray was great, but every time Cena got "conflicted" my wife and I started laughing. He's such a bad actor that his "monstrous side" basically looked like he had bowel problems.

Brock v Taker was horrible. A sad, sad match, with two guys punching meekly at each other and poorly executing their finishers. I don't have any issue with Taker losing, but I'd rather the lose was used to make someone instead of a part-timer who never loved the business. Should have been Wyatt & co.

Main Event was decent, but Batista sucks, and the other two couldn't carry him. That table spot was a mess, and I'm stunned that Orton kept going. He came out of this looking good.

The bookends were great. The rest was middling at best, horrible at worst.

EZ Snappin, Monday, 7 April 2014 13:10 (ten years ago) link

Yeah this was nowhere near the best WM ever. It was solid; Bryan's stuff was all great, but Cena shouldn't have gone over Wyatt and wtf are they thinking having Lesnar end the Streak? What a waste of all those years building up that story, I'm not sure a guy has ever needed or deserved the rub less. Good ending though.

Windsor Davies, Monday, 7 April 2014 13:34 (ten years ago) link

Crazily Brock winning the match feels like build to Brock v. Bryan at SummerSlam more than anything. Like he's a KOTR winner or something. But Taker was done, it was pretty obvious. Maybe he could have gone another year but Brock is the baddest motherfucker alive, I can't see why anyone other than penis chest is a better choice. Build an ultimate monster for yr new #1 babyface.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 14:08 (ten years ago) link

Brock is a short term monster at best. It'll build toward Summer Slam, then he's out of the picture, off to do whatever he does when he's not in one of the 2 or 3 matches he 's part of each year. Taker until the last 4 years was a day in, day out, year after year wrestler. To give Brock the rub from beating him is a waste. You could make a guy for a lifetime or get three months out if it. They chose the three month plan, as always.

EZ Snappin, Monday, 7 April 2014 14:16 (ten years ago) link

idk heyman is the real monster.

the crowd were fucking awesome. just remembered this: http://24.media.tumblr.com/8c7506880336c2061f60a45b377ef0cd/tumblr_n3mxmjXlE51rnjfjfo1_r1_400.gif

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 14:21 (ten years ago) link

The streak is so far above titles or really any other match in WWE that I don't think there was any realistic way to build a program around a young guy ending the streak. Their last chance to do that was with Orton at WM21. It's just not believable that a Bray Wyatt could do what Shawn Michaels, HHH, Punk, etc. couldn't.

If they wanted an angle where Taker is old and beat up but goes down fighting, then it was right there at WM27 and WM28. But Lesnar wasn't portrayed as much of a threat and there wasn't even the slightest indication on TV that Taker might be done. I guess he just felt like shit over the past week and made the last minute decision that this was it for his career.

NoTimeBeforeTime, Monday, 7 April 2014 14:45 (ten years ago) link

it felt like a real passing of the torch show. most probably the last wm for kane, taker, rey and maybe show and hhh. cesaro, shield, wyatts and bryan all the future, and as good as anything they've had in terms of potential since 96-98.

I couldn't see a new guy beat the streak though. It could kill their run. Brock was champ, KOTR, Royal Rumble winner, UFC champ, beat the shit out of the last couple Streak contenders, beat UT already in the Hell In A Cell... and still could up his schedule and be around for the next 5-10 years if he wanted. I much prefer him and Heyman winning to three guys who have retired, bar another three or four HHH-as-Vince matches and CM Punk going to ROH.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 15:40 (ten years ago) link

Also, I think Brock was the only heel to win last night? It seemed like the only time the streak could have been broken or had a reaction like that is on a night crowning a new king, with Bryan beating the iron sheik shawn michaels evolution

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 16:51 (ten years ago) link

hit so hard even the ref felt it

http://i.imgur.com/waEthPS.gif

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 19:48 (ten years ago) link

love lil naitch reaction shots

my immediate assumption was that the streak was an insider betting thing, which, I dunno, what could be more pro wrestling

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 22:19 (ten years ago) link

looks like it was kept pretty #secrete beyond anyone who wasn't taker/brock/vince/hhh

damn good mania though, makes up for the last 3 years or so being pretty shitty

papa smango (fadanuf4erybody), Monday, 7 April 2014 22:42 (ten years ago) link

Yeah saw a thing suggesting 4-6 people, would love if Heyman was having to react for real there

Also funny that the reason they never made a big deal out of the Hell in a Cell from 2002 was apparently because they were recycling the finish

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 22:44 (ten years ago) link

i just heard a radio-host give his "mt. rushmore of pro-wrestling": hulk hogan; the rock; andre the giant; and the fabulous moolah. what a terrible list.

Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 7 April 2014 22:47 (ten years ago) link

and i haven't watched pro-wrestling in maybe 15 years.

i watch spongebob squarepants now, thank you very much.

Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 7 April 2014 22:48 (ten years ago) link

challops: no-one in the post-1984 version of watching wrestling has ever seen more than 1 match worth caring about andre. wm3 and then bugger off.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 22:58 (ten years ago) link

bingo. no ric flair, no credibility.

Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 7 April 2014 23:02 (ten years ago) link

dusty, too.

Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 7 April 2014 23:02 (ten years ago) link

IANAN but Taker did seem really concussed as fuck, also - sucks if it was his call to go out then but he couldn't do it justice, but Lesnar's fucking nuts and I guess better Taker than a small child in the crowd getting hit by the usual hail of monitors, ring steps, referee carcasses

think 19 is still my favourite modern-ish WM despite its presumably awful Undertaker match

17 probably the most stacked card but still somehow a bit icky

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 23:06 (ten years ago) link

savage; taker; shawn; steiner

names deleted from list: flair, steamboat, eddie, benoit, bret, foley, terry funk, bryan. those 4 are the ones i wanna type into youtube the most often.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 23:14 (ten years ago) link

Yeah supposedly Taker had to be taken to hospital. I don't suppose the match would have been that much better but it still sucks to go out like that.

a hoy hoy, Monday, 7 April 2014 23:17 (ten years ago) link

you mean top 4 ever? hm.

flair; brett hart; dusty; pick 'em (harley race; terry funk; ricky steamboat; i'm gonna exclude benoit for unspeakable behavior).

xp

Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 7 April 2014 23:18 (ten years ago) link

During the Undertaker's unbelievably surreal post-match sombreness interlude I became quite intensely fixated on how amazing it would have been for Scott Steiner to do an inexplicable run-in at that point

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 23:20 (ten years ago) link

that siren music, gimme a fuckin mic, westboro baptist church heat, not even heat, just quiet, cowed horror

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 23:23 (ten years ago) link

http://giant.gfycat.com/RaggedFlawlessDachshund.gif

even Crazed Lesnar fan can't believe it, man

random accies memories (Sgt. Biscuits), Monday, 7 April 2014 23:25 (ten years ago) link


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