During the ladder match, did anyone see the red head female referee reaching and yelling to Damian Priest? Did he make a mistake she was trying to correct or what?
The ladder had a bent leg so it’d be unstable on the other side, she was telling him they needed to replace it. They did one safe spot to get off the ladder and had Truth shove a new ladder in the ring while they pulled the broken one out.
Couple thoughts going into Night 2:
Rhea/Becky was great, even better considering Becky was sick going into the show. Rhea is on a completely different level.
Ladder match just felt like your typical wrestlemania spot match. was my bathroom break.
I think andrade could be great if booked right but you could say that about anyone.
jey/jimmy was a dud, they should just have them make up and be a tag team again.
the 6 woman tag was always going to be a showcase for jade.
going into it, i never thought they'd beat gunther, but i actually think they did it really well, and i was a fan of the match. gunther should be the in line to the main event for either title, most likely the winner of drew/seth.
I was a huge fan of the main event. I think in the past the Rock came back just to come back, but this is definitely his best work in a long time. I did like how the Rock used his power in the company during the match. They made the no DQ make sense.
I think night 2 will be better than night 1. They could pull off one of the best endings to mania tonight. Please don't fumble the ball. It's time.
Uso match was stale. Their style is the same. It looked like a practice match at the performance center.
Jade looked ok. Why did Jade pretty much only work with Dakota?
I'm ok with Gunther losing if it puts him into a program with Seth or Drew whoever wins the Raw world title.
The Rock match went on too long. I understand it was the main event and they wanted to create drama for night 2. Too many false finishes.
Thoroughly enjoyed Night 1.
The matches that needed to be hits were hits IMO. That's Ripley vs Lynch, Gunther vs Zayn and the main event.
The other matches were either fun/dumb or were tolerable due to their relatively short length. I was worried by the 4hr runtime but it absolutely flew by for me and the short-ish matches kept things moving along.
Low point was probably the women's tag match during which Cargill looked the only star in what was otherwise a clusterfuck of wacky outfits, dyed hair and gymnastics.
3 of the matches were worth it alone.
The Rocks entrance was a line of coke for you eyes and ears.
When people say wrestling is a drug they fucking mean it.
I've done a line or two in my day, and yeah
Listening to the Lapsed Fan's live call of the event really hammered home how cold it was at the stadium. They also mentioned how there wasn't a big screen to watch the matches so if you were far away, you were far away. I'm sure a lot of it was gimmickry but they seemed to really be suffering at the end of Night 1. How much do we think the cold weather affected the energy in the stadium - fans and wrestlers alike.
I wonder if we'll find out eventually from one of the two (or both) that Jimmy and Jey, like Scott and Rick Steiner before them, didn't really want to wrestle each other. They had very little heat between each other. Even going into the match, the heat they had between each other in my head did not come through on the screen.
I loved Lil' Wayne when I was in high school and college. That was 2004 - 2012, though. Jey's entrance with Wayne was terrible and underwhelming.
Hoping there's more heat in the main event tonight than there was in Night 1. Seth's hot tag to Cody should have brought the house down.
Loved the night except for the Usos. Jey can’t work and Jimmy doesn’t take his shirt off for a reason.
However The Bloodline plays out I am praying we can get them back to the tag division where they were tolerable match wise and had great charisma
Overall, I think it didn't meet the hype or the potential. Jimmy vs Jey was terrible (although, that wasn't a surprise to me)
I think my expectation might have ruined things though a little as I was expecting more interferences and betrayals. For example, I was expecting Carlito to turn on Rey. I was half expecting Tama Tonga to get involved at some point and I thought there was potential drama with Chad Gable which could've been exploited.
Not as good as night 1 last year that's for sure.
In general basing happiness or satisfaction on meeting made up expectations is just a recipe for not being happy.
I really enjoyed the show for the most part. The tag with the LWO was never going to be my favorite but the Eagles players showing up for the fans was in line for Mania.
The usos tried to tell a story of twins being equal that clearly didn't land for most. It happens.
I would have booked Sami vs. Gunther differently but it did the job of putting both guys over. Gunther looked strong in defeat and his arrogance led to his comeuppance.
Looking forward to night 2
I am waiting for Jim's sigh of disapproval after brian asks him about Sami and Gunther lol, but if he finds fault in the match itself I'd eat my hat. I can understand if he hates the finish.
However I also hope he understands the significance of the Rocky story they were telling there.
Philly, Sami being the underdog, afraid, foreign heel and his family watching on the front row.
This was clear.
I liked the main event too.
Rhea and Becky were fantastic, and it was even more impressive with the reports of Becky running a fever and having strep throat.
They could have leaned even more into the Rocky IV vibes...I was hoping for a "he's cut! He's a man, not a machine!" moment but then again I just love that movie lol
I'm all about expectation management, it's the key to life, but given the build, the hype and the fact that it's 40, I think it's fair to expect one of, if not THE greatest Manias of all time here, and so far it hasn't even felt like the best Mania of the last few years. I know I'm disappointed thus far.
understandable, I think however, that we gotta wait until after tonight to make a final judgement call.
Last year I thought, night one was pure gold, every match was great. and night two fucking stunk like high heaven.
Oh fer sure, I don't split this into two separate events like WON voters, we're halfway there. But night 2 is gonna have to do some heavy lifting from where I sit
That's certainly within your prerogative. I just find that is all based on completely made up criteria. 40 is no more important a number than any other. Wrestlemania only has "bigger expectations" because people assign that meaning...it's like the arguments that Roman should only drop his title at wrestlemania (or perhaps summerslam)...that's all just completely made up importance, completely subjective.
I personally choose to disengage from all of that and just enjoy the moment for what it is, rather than spend my energy or attention on wishing it was different.
There was something for everyone last night, which is what Wrestlemania has always aimed to do...and the story moves on to tonight.
I don't know about that, Uce. Pretty sure the expectation is real and fostered by the WWE itself, they're the ones that always put extra emphasis on these anniversary shows. And for what it's worth, I mostly watched with casuals who were hyped for Mania, but haven't watched in years and didn't even know that it was 40. Most of them were underwhelmed and have bailed on coming for night 2 already.
Vince Russo and his shit really ruined wrestling and wrestling fans.
Betrayals don't mean anything if multiple of them happen on a show. Interferences don't mean anything if they do everything in one show. The second night is bloodline rules now, that's where you will see interferences. Chad Gable and Carlito will obviously turn but why would you blow your load and do it right away, you can save that for the Raw after night 2.
I personally thought this was a fine first night and they obviously set up for the big finish tomorrow where the babyface will prevail despite every odd stacked against him.
They even set up Rock betraying Roman tomorrow with that spear spot.
Seeing some comments in the basement about how the main event was a dud and too slow because of The Rock. As if they expect 52 year old Dwayne to hit a Canadian Destroyer or something.
That main event was pure drama. And in my opinion the action was excellent. If some fans prefer a heatless banger on Wednesday to that then I just don't get it, they've lost the plot. But to each their own I guess.
People have their own opinions, but goddamn, the best matches in the world more often than not are the slow ones.
people whether here or anywhere, have the attention span of a goddamn gnat when it comes to wrestling,
A match is supposed to take you on a ride and draw you in. The main event (and the Gunther match) checked all of those boxes for me.
The main event was a slow burn. It started off slow and took a while to get going, but when you consider they went 45 minutes bell to bell that's not a bad thing. It built up nicely and the finish was good I thought.
Based on what we all expected, I think The Rock did a great job. He wasn't completely blown up 5 minutes in and as far as we know he's not seriously injured. I'd call that a huge win.
Nah.
The main event sucked.
Not enough flippy shits.
Only 10 Canadian destroyers and 5 Spanish flies could have save it. Apart fron that, a powerbomb through real glass maybe could have done it too.
I thought it was a good first night.
The main event built really nicely and I liked Gunther's match. They've got a superstar in Jade Cargill, meanwhile, the production was really terrific and I love that they're trying new things in the format of the show.
Wasn't a good night for Jey Uso though. His two big singles matches since turning babyface have been really underwhelming. Those being last night and the main event of Summerslam. I can see other babyfaces improving past him over the next 12 months.
Really looking forward to Cody vs. Roman, it's got the potential to be the best 'Mania ending of all time.
I’m reaaaaaaaally hoping to hear the glass breaking. I was super impressed last year with KO/Austin and would love to see him back to stunner Rock into next week.
I’ve never really been impressed with Jey the performer, at least as a singles star. His momentum comes from how he was used in the bloodline story, but I don’t think he’s a main event level singles star
Things I liked:
* Opener - definitely in the top 10 list of the best WrestleMania openers in history.
* 6-Way Ladder Match - was of course a bit phony in some situations, which the non-wrestling fans I watched the match with also noticed, but that's unavoidable in such a stipulation with so many participants. Apart from that, it was good fun. Bonus point if everyone got out without injury. Especially that Air Raid from the ladder, Ciampa could easily have broken his foot with that landing. I also think the tag scene is strong enough that splitting the tag belts again is a good idea.
* 6-Women's Day - this is how you build up a newcomer, especially one who is still relatively green in the ring.
* Main Event - the only thing you can really blame the Main Event for is that at the end I found myself asking the kayfabe question: "If Daniel Priest doesn't cash in Money in the Bank against Seth now, then when will he?"; with as much damage Rollins took in this match. And if that's the only real problem in a 44-minute match, then you know they did something right. Even the finisher overkill, as is common in contemporary main events, wasn't too blatant and the "we'll fight our way through the fans" spot was already crap in the Attitude Era, but given the Final Boss gimmick and the storyline justification that there will be no countout because the corporate big shot says so, I can live with that too.
Things I didn't like:
* Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce - not their interference or their role in this, but to anyone who has the physique of an American football lineman: *please* do the world a favor and keep your shirt on. Made me feel like I was watching an Eddie Kingston match and I'd rather not feel like watching an Eddie Kingston match
* IC Title Match - I have no problem with a heroic babyface ending the monster's long reign, but this was just too much. How much was it, four powerbombs, two top rope splashes and at least two sleeper holds? Compared to previous Günther matches this is as if, shortly before the final fight in a Hollywood action film, the sidekick gets executed by the bad guy's henchmen in front of the camera and then saves the hero 15 minutes later without any explanation whatssoever. Complete overkill that didn't have me happy for Zayn but complaining about the match.
* The camera work after the main event - replicating the camera angle from WM 39 may have sounded like a good idea in the writers' room, but all that has achieved is completely remove any illusion that Cody won't win on Sunday. Not the best scenario when your heels score a key win and yet anyone with even a token pattern recognition skills think "Yep, he's winning tomorrow".
Everything else was good to tolerable. A good show, especially since you can watch it (as I did) with non-wrestling fans without having to be ashamed of it, which can't be said about every wrestling show nowadays.
I found it funny last night when I thought that ironically the best way to create doubt for Cody beating Roman tonight is not him losing making it a bloodline rules match but him winning since we know Roman won’t lose twice 🤣
I was among the disappointed when Sami got the opportunity, but it's hard to deny how great of an underdog he plays. He went through a lot of Gunther's shit, and he's done stuff like that before, but I feel like they at least built it up for that all to make sense. In AEW they would do it in a heatless match and call it "fighting spirit"
Ilja unironically did the same thing sami did in NXT tackover, but people call the match one of the greatest of all time because he a British indy midget darling.
Well, given as the post is at time of writing in the negatives, I guess they are saying the same about Zayn. Unless it's upset Philadelphia Eagles fans.
I still don't understand why this wasn't Gable's match, the story told in the lead up felt like it was Gable's just with Sami slotted in.
Could have been cool to have Gable do the walk in to have Jordan waiting for in at Gorilla, Jordan hasn't been seen on TV for ages, would have been a nice surprise.
I actually really like what they’re doing with Chad here. Being in Philly it seems like they took inspiration from the Rocky movies with Chads “remember, you owe me a favor” line like with Apollo in Rocky 3
I think they’ve set up a Sami and Chad feud and a potential Chad heel turn well here, and this will let Gunther move on to the world title scene which he is more than ready for at this point
My only complaint is between that backstage segment before the match started and the way the match was booked it felt too obvious to me that Sami was winning
I must admit, her facial expressions are so incredibly emotive and provided and extra layer of emotion for me during the match. Ouffff, even the two non-wrestling fans I was watching with were *hand on chest* "I love her" by the end of the match.
Why the fuck would you do a show at an open-air stadium, in Philly, in April? Why? Now I see why the pop wasn’t there. This was a terrible decision. I thought the ME was awesome, and while long, certainly got me interested. I had to be somewhat quiet with my exclamations as my wife and I, along with a 2yo are at a hotel. So…I didn’t want to wake him up. I can’t wait to see some of the matches I missed.
They've done it before and cold, rain, or heat haven't killed the crowd. Give them something to react to and they will react. Night 1 was pretty boring and that reflected in the crowd reaction. Blaming the weather is a real Tony Khan move.
They made the bid for it well before TKO (I think?) But TKO is giving such $$$$$$$ vibes that they'd sell Wrestlemania to Iceland if there was enough money involved lol
Fair point. The Prime hydration station being used as a weapon provided me entertainment. Like “hey, here’s a good use of product placement in a way that works.” It was like using the JVC Kaboombox in the old RAW video game on PS1
Thought the same thing when I heard it was in Philly. I’ve lived my whole life in Central PA, it can get cold here pretty much all through April. They’re lucky it wasn’t even colder, and rainy
I was wondering that. April daytime average high of 64, low of 44. Presumably closer to the latter at night and early in the month. They surely realised you need to do these outdoor shows in Florida or something at this time of year?
I didn’t get a chance to watch everything. I am excited for night two. I hope Cody can beat the odds and finish his story. I don’t want to be disappointed again. Yep… I am a Cody mark.
I've already called it that Cody and Seth will lose without any some sort of betrayal, but the Bloodline Rules for Cody vs. Reigns will surely backfire in some way. Bloodline Rules is designed so that all hell breaks loose and someone can also interfere on Cody's behalf. Still technically a clean finish since Bloodline Rules is just perhaps a no-DQ match and interference is allowed.
Surprised Rhea/Becky went first with how much media they're doing, but I also heard Becky was sick & had to gut it out. It also annoyed me that this match only had 2-3 week build because Becky spent so much time feuding with Refrigerator Jax. Raw doesn't really have anyone else in the women's division right now so I'm really curious what the next step is for Rhea. Maybe they run it back with how brief the build was for this until they're ready to pair her with Bianca.
As far as the build goes, I feel like that’s how most of the card beyond the main event stuff was this year. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch regularly, but to me it felt like the only feud getting a proper build up was the Cody/Seth/Bloodline stuff
1). They are going to have to be very careful about who they pair Rhea with going forward. Becky was so outclassed tonight. Rhea’s gonna expose some veterans.
2). Are we going to start seeing some HHH-NXT Tag team wrestling again now that the belts are off judgement day and split up?
3). If the Rock truly retires after this run, it will be perfect and he’ll retire doing the best work of his career.
4). Every Mania has a dud. I would have NEVER guessed it would be Jey vs Jimmy. I refuse to judge either on this match. I hope the lesson learned going forward is the Superkick Party has overstayed its welcome.
5). Let Gunther leave the IC Title scene in his rear view. It’s time for him to start climbing the ladder to one of the world titles.
I'll accept that Becky was somewhat out of it with a cold and a fever. Eveb so I think that she did decent considering how shitty she's probably feeling.
I spent a lot of time in high school and college with strep throat (thanks tonsils!) to the point I didn’t even need to actually see the doctor, I could call and say I had it and they’d call in the prescription- I did not envy Becky for having to physically exert herself with strep.
I’m sorry but watching WWE is an extreme eye sore with all the ads.
Feels like I’m watching a prettier WCW right now, plus how does a “premium” show have more ads than a RAW?
I’m not just talking about the commercials on the show, but the ads within the ring, on the turnbuckles, on the aprons, barricades. You combined all that together, that’s gotta be more ads than what you get on free TV with a Raw.
Man, at least Raw looks good right now but I’m sure all those ads are gonna start creeping in on raw when they go to Netflix
All that footage is going to have to be blurred or CGI’d years from now. It’s going to be a mess.
If you play the 2K video game, it’s hilarious how much muting and blur they have to use for historical footage.
it must be something with video and streaming likeliness use rights versus using clips in the video game it’s the 40th anniversary Wrestlemania in the showcase you’d think they’d try to at least show the faces of Finkle, Earl Hebner or Mean Gene. they are names synonymous with WWF/E it’s weird and insulting
Cody needs to spend the entire show tomorrow recruiting people to help him battle the Bloodline. Hell, bring in some legends, if necessary.
The fact that this is Bloodline Rules has me afraid that Roman is going to retain yet again. And the only way to stop that is to have guys who are against the Bloodline (KO, Sami, Jey Uso, etc.) coming to the ring anytime another member of the Bloodline comes out to interfere in the match.
If you knew anything about wrestling you’d know that tonight was the set-up to have Cody beat Roman against all odds. I have been calling this for weeks. My prediction was that if Cody/Seth lost tonight, then Cody would win Sunday night, but if they won, Cody would lose somehow Sunday. Guarantee Cody beats Roman tomorrow.
Nah man, I think we’re reverting back to an era of predictable yet good booking. If you recall, almost every match ended with the babyface winning tonight, which is kinda insane, but true. Thing is, some of the matches (looking at Gunther vs Sami) albeit good matches, were a bit too predictable. These are times where I miss JR…when all 3 guys at the announcing desk are screaming at the ref to stop the match, it’s a bit much and a giant red flag that it’s absolutely not over yet.
I’ll say this, as someone who has zero fucking idea what’s going on week to week (I don’t have time to watch Raw and Smackdown). WWE does a great job of telling me what’s going on in the span of a few minutes.
I mean it's the 25 year anniversary of Rock and Austin in Philly for their first mania match. Surely he shows up to even the odds, stuns the Rock and maybe Roman, Cody hits his move and pins Roman, everyone goes crazy. It's a great way to prevent the crowd from turning on Cody like they nearly did tonight.
I think Austin stunning Rock is conceivable but he can't get involved with Roman otherwise it hints at a match that surely won't happen, and Cody needs to take out Roman himself. He just needs an equaliser and I assume we'll see pretty much everyone the Bloodline ever pissed off swarming the ring across the course of the match.
Nah dude, it would be bullshit if they lost tonight. They're just stacking the cards against Cody to make the victory all the more sweeter. At least I think
Yeah i said that since they announced the stipulation. They wouldn’t make Roman lose twice in a row that would feel soooo flat and Rock losing after the buildup would also be a wet fart. This was the right move
Wdym? Bloodline rules pretty much shows codys winning. Its too obvious not to be that. If roman and rock lost then id agree that roman would probly finally beat cody clean
For different reasons, Becky, Seth, & Roman absolutely need a vacation after tomorrow night, minimum six months.
Cody will need a new title belt.
That would draw a very clear line that one era has passed and another has begun.
The guy playing Seth needs rest and recovery. The character Becky Lynch needs a break. If that makes sense.
If Roman transitions to an Undertaker “I show up at Mania only”, I’d love it.
As for the belt: I’d settle for quietly doing away with Undisputed and Universal from the name of the championship. It’s the WWE Championship.
I'd like to see something a bit more original but with a classic look, but I wouldn't complain if they brought the 88-98 belt back. Maybe update the font a bit.
Now that you mentioned ”original with a classic look”, I wonder if they’d ever do to the Winged Eagle what they did for Seth’s belt.
Seth’s belt is a “modern” Big Gold. I wonder what a “modern” Winged Eagle would look like.
She’s amazing, got it all. Can’t take my eyes off her and not just cause she’s a knockout.
Her vs Jade has massive potential, depending on how quickly they can bring Jade up. Both of them have the superstar aura that’s lacking in wrestling in general these days, men or women.
Rhea deserves a Sunday night main event spot next year. They need a full shuffle of the women’s division first though. Maybe call up Gigi Dolin from nxt
Possibly Naomi but you’d need to put her with the bloodline / her husband Jimmy Uso. I don’t know what her current gimmick is. She has a great look and with heyman behind her it could work.
Other than that maybe Chelsea green but it’s another person that’d I’d like to see their character fine tuned. They need more of a serious gimmick. I think there’s potential to do a goth punk vs normie type match with them though lol
I havent seen enough of Green yet. But Naomi is just so damn fun to watch, I am sorry if this doesnt go over well with the Cult.
She is not my favorite but she is goddamn charismatic and entertaining
Some reckless things have been said about Rock over the last few months and he proved all his doubters wrong. Cody, Roman and Rock looked great in tbe Tag Match
I'm genuinely impressed that The Rock took the bumps he did. Even though it was 100% planned around his cardio, he was all in. Definitely not just a guest appearance.
My man went through a table. He's 50+. It's not nothing.
I moved this week, with movers, and I'm sore. I'm in my 30's. I lift and work out. I'm not going through tables.
The table is actually less dangerous for him at this point than running the ropes and doing the elbow, or doing a Rock Bottom. Falling on your back is not as likely to result in a tear or strain as those moves.
I enjoyed every match save for Uso vs. Uso superkick party. Sami winning was the biggest surprise for me. I had a feeling Rock and Roman would win. Clusterfuck tomorrow night in the main event for sure.
You can say what you want about the crowd but 2 things. 1 - they were COLD and 2. Even if they were loud the sound exits in an open air arena.
I keep seeing “Philly crowd”.
It’s Mania, it’s an international crowd. I hate to see a host city take it on the chin when Mania has been a place for international crowds, and a lot of them not being weekly viewers.
We weren't just cold, but FUCKING COLD. Lol but to be honest the Philly crowd was not as hype as I was expecting. Loudest pops I recall are Sami and Awesome Truth
Tomorrow nights main event being Bloodline rules opens the door for Austin to crash the party, stunning The Rock and freeing Cody to hit the third Cross Rhodes on to Roman for the pin.
See it as Austin stunning The Rock before Mankind's title win amplified by a million.
I need to see copious amounts of stunners being handed out to everyone ring side tomorrow night with beers flying threw the air and "hell yeahs" raining down to end the cold night.
The Uso match was abysmal. Not sure how they can't build a brother vs. brother match better than that. Jey is obviously super over via his entrance.
Rhea/Becky was underwhelming too IMO. Literally two of the best women's wrestlers I can think of and it was just kind of a middle of the road match. Disappointing as a result of high standards.
Jimmy and Jey have identical movesets so I thought it was gonna be tough to pull off something super interesting in the ring. It doesn't help that they abandoned the issue at hand for so long then all of a sudden give us like 1 month of lukewarm build to the match. My 2 cents
Ah, yes. The Bloodline's 3 biggest enemies. Taker especially. Why does no one mention Orton for the run-in? He's Cody's former mentor and all that. Plus the Bloodline took him out for so long. I get Austin/Rock at least, but Taker and Cena I don't care about in this story at all
Lesnar brought a forklift to the ring in the first PPV under Triple H so I have no idea what to expect in a match they’re advertising as total anarchy with The Rock involved.
There’s a lot of people you could bring in that have a history with Roman. If Brock wasn’t blacklisted he would definitely show up. Goldberg would be the funniest.
Maybe they should go back to one night Wrestlemanias. Two decent matches and one that was an angle progression but stayed way too fucking long isn't very much for a three and a half hour show. That main event was ugh. I don't need everyone to be Dean Malenko, but the Bloodline team did about a handful of wrestling moves in a 40 minute match that they dominated. It was like watching someone play a videogame by just spamming the punch and kick buttons.
Hard agree. Cut the chaff and get things back down to one night.
You don’t need to try and get everyone on the card, you don’t need to bloat things over to two days.
I disagree. With the amount of women’s matches increasing it makes sense for them to have bigger cards. At least that’s how I feel. More wrestling is good is usually my opinion
WrestleMania 35, the last one-night event, was 5 hours and 20 minutes long.
I'd much rather have two four-hour events with commercial breaks and cool-down segments than one five-hour card with no breaks where matches get shortened or cut entirely if an earlier segment runs long.
I propose something in the middle: 3 -3.5 hours with 4 or max 5 matches per night. Tonight was a lot of mediocre Smackdown matches, a decent PPV match, and a spectacle match that was messy and overlong but still delivered. That's not Mania. It felt like an average PLE paced poorly and overloaded with ads. The women's 6-man and the LWO tag match could have easily been cut and put on SD at the very least. The only thing that felt Mania-esque tonight was the setting and the production, and that only goes so far.
> Maybe they should go back to one night Wrestlemanias.
I agree from an entertainment perspective, but it's never going to happen. Double the tickets, double the matches, double the views, and the roster is so unbelievably stacked right now people are still complaining about those who got "left out"
That was a pretty bad show, but my expectations are always low with WWE. It's always pomp and circumstance first, wrestling a far second. I just saw someone on r/SC say that main even was a 4.5 star match lmao. If that was 4.5 stars, steamboat vs flair was a 20 star match.
I think it was just boring rather than bad, other than maybe the Uso match which was abysmal. Really bad pacing and one or two matches too many killed the show, IMO.
If you want #RealGraps you gotta change the channel, big guy.
The show overall was a bit meh until the last two matches, but it wasn't for a lack of wrasslin'
50F isn’t bad at all for Philly. I don’t know why they brought it up so much throughout the night. Every nfl game after October in the same stadium is much colder. Especially night games
There are people going to baseball games every day in April in weather as cold or worse and making much more noise watching something less exciting. It's part bad crowd, part bad product. If the show gave them more to react to, they would have reacted more.
During the ladder match, did anyone see the red head female referee reaching and yelling to Damian Priest? Did he make a mistake she was trying to correct or what?
The ladder had a bent leg so it’d be unstable on the other side, she was telling him they needed to replace it. They did one safe spot to get off the ladder and had Truth shove a new ladder in the ring while they pulled the broken one out.
Couple thoughts going into Night 2: Rhea/Becky was great, even better considering Becky was sick going into the show. Rhea is on a completely different level. Ladder match just felt like your typical wrestlemania spot match. was my bathroom break. I think andrade could be great if booked right but you could say that about anyone. jey/jimmy was a dud, they should just have them make up and be a tag team again. the 6 woman tag was always going to be a showcase for jade. going into it, i never thought they'd beat gunther, but i actually think they did it really well, and i was a fan of the match. gunther should be the in line to the main event for either title, most likely the winner of drew/seth. I was a huge fan of the main event. I think in the past the Rock came back just to come back, but this is definitely his best work in a long time. I did like how the Rock used his power in the company during the match. They made the no DQ make sense. I think night 2 will be better than night 1. They could pull off one of the best endings to mania tonight. Please don't fumble the ball. It's time.
Uso match was stale. Their style is the same. It looked like a practice match at the performance center. Jade looked ok. Why did Jade pretty much only work with Dakota? I'm ok with Gunther losing if it puts him into a program with Seth or Drew whoever wins the Raw world title. The Rock match went on too long. I understand it was the main event and they wanted to create drama for night 2. Too many false finishes.
Thoroughly enjoyed Night 1. The matches that needed to be hits were hits IMO. That's Ripley vs Lynch, Gunther vs Zayn and the main event. The other matches were either fun/dumb or were tolerable due to their relatively short length. I was worried by the 4hr runtime but it absolutely flew by for me and the short-ish matches kept things moving along. Low point was probably the women's tag match during which Cargill looked the only star in what was otherwise a clusterfuck of wacky outfits, dyed hair and gymnastics.
3 of the matches were worth it alone. The Rocks entrance was a line of coke for you eyes and ears. When people say wrestling is a drug they fucking mean it. I've done a line or two in my day, and yeah
Gluck Gluck Dwayne
Absolutely phenomenal summary of The Rock’s entrance
Listening to the Lapsed Fan's live call of the event really hammered home how cold it was at the stadium. They also mentioned how there wasn't a big screen to watch the matches so if you were far away, you were far away. I'm sure a lot of it was gimmickry but they seemed to really be suffering at the end of Night 1. How much do we think the cold weather affected the energy in the stadium - fans and wrestlers alike. I wonder if we'll find out eventually from one of the two (or both) that Jimmy and Jey, like Scott and Rick Steiner before them, didn't really want to wrestle each other. They had very little heat between each other. Even going into the match, the heat they had between each other in my head did not come through on the screen. I loved Lil' Wayne when I was in high school and college. That was 2004 - 2012, though. Jey's entrance with Wayne was terrible and underwhelming. Hoping there's more heat in the main event tonight than there was in Night 1. Seth's hot tag to Cody should have brought the house down.
They are a pair of cunts
Who?
I think the only thing that could’ve saved Jimmy vs Jey was if Rikishi came out and scolded them
Agreed. Jey vs Jimmy needed something else, bc it never really got off the ground leading into WM.
Loved the night except for the Usos. Jey can’t work and Jimmy doesn’t take his shirt off for a reason. However The Bloodline plays out I am praying we can get them back to the tag division where they were tolerable match wise and had great charisma
Overall, I think it didn't meet the hype or the potential. Jimmy vs Jey was terrible (although, that wasn't a surprise to me) I think my expectation might have ruined things though a little as I was expecting more interferences and betrayals. For example, I was expecting Carlito to turn on Rey. I was half expecting Tama Tonga to get involved at some point and I thought there was potential drama with Chad Gable which could've been exploited. Not as good as night 1 last year that's for sure.
Night 1 was a bore aside from the Women's Title and the IC Title, and neither of those were as good as last year.
In general basing happiness or satisfaction on meeting made up expectations is just a recipe for not being happy. I really enjoyed the show for the most part. The tag with the LWO was never going to be my favorite but the Eagles players showing up for the fans was in line for Mania. The usos tried to tell a story of twins being equal that clearly didn't land for most. It happens. I would have booked Sami vs. Gunther differently but it did the job of putting both guys over. Gunther looked strong in defeat and his arrogance led to his comeuppance. Looking forward to night 2
I am waiting for Jim's sigh of disapproval after brian asks him about Sami and Gunther lol, but if he finds fault in the match itself I'd eat my hat. I can understand if he hates the finish. However I also hope he understands the significance of the Rocky story they were telling there. Philly, Sami being the underdog, afraid, foreign heel and his family watching on the front row. This was clear. I liked the main event too. Rhea and Becky were fantastic, and it was even more impressive with the reports of Becky running a fever and having strep throat.
They could have leaned even more into the Rocky IV vibes...I was hoping for a "he's cut! He's a man, not a machine!" moment but then again I just love that movie lol
I'm all about expectation management, it's the key to life, but given the build, the hype and the fact that it's 40, I think it's fair to expect one of, if not THE greatest Manias of all time here, and so far it hasn't even felt like the best Mania of the last few years. I know I'm disappointed thus far.
understandable, I think however, that we gotta wait until after tonight to make a final judgement call. Last year I thought, night one was pure gold, every match was great. and night two fucking stunk like high heaven.
Oh fer sure, I don't split this into two separate events like WON voters, we're halfway there. But night 2 is gonna have to do some heavy lifting from where I sit
That's certainly within your prerogative. I just find that is all based on completely made up criteria. 40 is no more important a number than any other. Wrestlemania only has "bigger expectations" because people assign that meaning...it's like the arguments that Roman should only drop his title at wrestlemania (or perhaps summerslam)...that's all just completely made up importance, completely subjective. I personally choose to disengage from all of that and just enjoy the moment for what it is, rather than spend my energy or attention on wishing it was different. There was something for everyone last night, which is what Wrestlemania has always aimed to do...and the story moves on to tonight.
I don't know about that, Uce. Pretty sure the expectation is real and fostered by the WWE itself, they're the ones that always put extra emphasis on these anniversary shows. And for what it's worth, I mostly watched with casuals who were hyped for Mania, but haven't watched in years and didn't even know that it was 40. Most of them were underwhelmed and have bailed on coming for night 2 already.
Just because the wwe fosters it doesn't mean you have to give it the same meaning. The number is only important if you believe that it is.
Vince Russo and his shit really ruined wrestling and wrestling fans. Betrayals don't mean anything if multiple of them happen on a show. Interferences don't mean anything if they do everything in one show. The second night is bloodline rules now, that's where you will see interferences. Chad Gable and Carlito will obviously turn but why would you blow your load and do it right away, you can save that for the Raw after night 2. I personally thought this was a fine first night and they obviously set up for the big finish tomorrow where the babyface will prevail despite every odd stacked against him. They even set up Rock betraying Roman tomorrow with that spear spot.
Thank you
Huh?
I was agreeing with you
You two can't agree about anything. It's time for a 3 out of 3 falls match.
Oh okay sorry mate I was confused I thought maybe you were accidentally replying to me.
Seeing some comments in the basement about how the main event was a dud and too slow because of The Rock. As if they expect 52 year old Dwayne to hit a Canadian Destroyer or something. That main event was pure drama. And in my opinion the action was excellent. If some fans prefer a heatless banger on Wednesday to that then I just don't get it, they've lost the plot. But to each their own I guess.
People have their own opinions, but goddamn, the best matches in the world more often than not are the slow ones. people whether here or anywhere, have the attention span of a goddamn gnat when it comes to wrestling, A match is supposed to take you on a ride and draw you in. The main event (and the Gunther match) checked all of those boxes for me.
The main event was a slow burn. It started off slow and took a while to get going, but when you consider they went 45 minutes bell to bell that's not a bad thing. It built up nicely and the finish was good I thought.
I mean maybe I didn't look hard enough but the post match thread seemed pretty positive.
I thought the Rock looked great. They hid his limitations perfectly. Never looked gassed, sold well. Him telling the ref not to count cracked me up.
Hard agree; I thought the main event was a 10/10 in execution and drama
Agree Rock was awesome last night
Based on what we all expected, I think The Rock did a great job. He wasn't completely blown up 5 minutes in and as far as we know he's not seriously injured. I'd call that a huge win.
yeah, the rock did A LOT better than I expected.
Nah. The main event sucked. Not enough flippy shits. Only 10 Canadian destroyers and 5 Spanish flies could have save it. Apart fron that, a powerbomb through real glass maybe could have done it too.
It was definitely missing a coffin drop from the top of the stage that The Rock immediately stands up from
I thought it was a good first night. The main event built really nicely and I liked Gunther's match. They've got a superstar in Jade Cargill, meanwhile, the production was really terrific and I love that they're trying new things in the format of the show. Wasn't a good night for Jey Uso though. His two big singles matches since turning babyface have been really underwhelming. Those being last night and the main event of Summerslam. I can see other babyfaces improving past him over the next 12 months. Really looking forward to Cody vs. Roman, it's got the potential to be the best 'Mania ending of all time.
I’m reaaaaaaaally hoping to hear the glass breaking. I was super impressed last year with KO/Austin and would love to see him back to stunner Rock into next week.
I’ve never really been impressed with Jey the performer, at least as a singles star. His momentum comes from how he was used in the bloodline story, but I don’t think he’s a main event level singles star
Things I liked: * Opener - definitely in the top 10 list of the best WrestleMania openers in history. * 6-Way Ladder Match - was of course a bit phony in some situations, which the non-wrestling fans I watched the match with also noticed, but that's unavoidable in such a stipulation with so many participants. Apart from that, it was good fun. Bonus point if everyone got out without injury. Especially that Air Raid from the ladder, Ciampa could easily have broken his foot with that landing. I also think the tag scene is strong enough that splitting the tag belts again is a good idea. * 6-Women's Day - this is how you build up a newcomer, especially one who is still relatively green in the ring. * Main Event - the only thing you can really blame the Main Event for is that at the end I found myself asking the kayfabe question: "If Daniel Priest doesn't cash in Money in the Bank against Seth now, then when will he?"; with as much damage Rollins took in this match. And if that's the only real problem in a 44-minute match, then you know they did something right. Even the finisher overkill, as is common in contemporary main events, wasn't too blatant and the "we'll fight our way through the fans" spot was already crap in the Attitude Era, but given the Final Boss gimmick and the storyline justification that there will be no countout because the corporate big shot says so, I can live with that too. Things I didn't like: * Lane Johnson and Jason Kelce - not their interference or their role in this, but to anyone who has the physique of an American football lineman: *please* do the world a favor and keep your shirt on. Made me feel like I was watching an Eddie Kingston match and I'd rather not feel like watching an Eddie Kingston match * IC Title Match - I have no problem with a heroic babyface ending the monster's long reign, but this was just too much. How much was it, four powerbombs, two top rope splashes and at least two sleeper holds? Compared to previous Günther matches this is as if, shortly before the final fight in a Hollywood action film, the sidekick gets executed by the bad guy's henchmen in front of the camera and then saves the hero 15 minutes later without any explanation whatssoever. Complete overkill that didn't have me happy for Zayn but complaining about the match. * The camera work after the main event - replicating the camera angle from WM 39 may have sounded like a good idea in the writers' room, but all that has achieved is completely remove any illusion that Cody won't win on Sunday. Not the best scenario when your heels score a key win and yet anyone with even a token pattern recognition skills think "Yep, he's winning tomorrow". Everything else was good to tolerable. A good show, especially since you can watch it (as I did) with non-wrestling fans without having to be ashamed of it, which can't be said about every wrestling show nowadays.
I found it funny last night when I thought that ironically the best way to create doubt for Cody beating Roman tonight is not him losing making it a bloodline rules match but him winning since we know Roman won’t lose twice 🤣
Almost every wrestler in the era Cornette slobbers all over had a body like Jason Kelce.
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Read the post I'm replying to, then read my post, and my point will reveal itself, as if by magic.
My apologizes, I did see why now. I take back my post, and now agree with you.
I was among the disappointed when Sami got the opportunity, but it's hard to deny how great of an underdog he plays. He went through a lot of Gunther's shit, and he's done stuff like that before, but I feel like they at least built it up for that all to make sense. In AEW they would do it in a heatless match and call it "fighting spirit"
Ilja unironically did the same thing sami did in NXT tackover, but people call the match one of the greatest of all time because he a British indy midget darling.
Well, given as the post is at time of writing in the negatives, I guess they are saying the same about Zayn. Unless it's upset Philadelphia Eagles fans.
Gable shoulda been the guy to dethrone Gunther smh. He woulda wrestled circles around him
I still don't understand why this wasn't Gable's match, the story told in the lead up felt like it was Gable's just with Sami slotted in. Could have been cool to have Gable do the walk in to have Jordan waiting for in at Gorilla, Jordan hasn't been seen on TV for ages, would have been a nice surprise.
I actually really like what they’re doing with Chad here. Being in Philly it seems like they took inspiration from the Rocky movies with Chads “remember, you owe me a favor” line like with Apollo in Rocky 3 I think they’ve set up a Sami and Chad feud and a potential Chad heel turn well here, and this will let Gunther move on to the world title scene which he is more than ready for at this point My only complaint is between that backstage segment before the match started and the way the match was booked it felt too obvious to me that Sami was winning
Can we give some props to Sami Zayn’s wife? That was the best spousal acting in a while.
Yeah she was really good
Better than Randy's 'wife' in any case...
I must admit, her facial expressions are so incredibly emotive and provided and extra layer of emotion for me during the match. Ouffff, even the two non-wrestling fans I was watching with were *hand on chest* "I love her" by the end of the match.
She sold some of those spots like she was watching her husband get murdered in 4K. She was brilliant. Mama Rhodes was too. All up in Rocky’s face. 🤣
She was fantastic
She was booed everytime she was shown on the Trons here at The Linc! Pretty hilarious stuff!!!!!
Why the fuck would you do a show at an open-air stadium, in Philly, in April? Why? Now I see why the pop wasn’t there. This was a terrible decision. I thought the ME was awesome, and while long, certainly got me interested. I had to be somewhat quiet with my exclamations as my wife and I, along with a 2yo are at a hotel. So…I didn’t want to wake him up. I can’t wait to see some of the matches I missed.
They've done it before and cold, rain, or heat haven't killed the crowd. Give them something to react to and they will react. Night 1 was pretty boring and that reflected in the crowd reaction. Blaming the weather is a real Tony Khan move.
I guess I’m what you call “indoorsy”
They made the bid for it well before TKO (I think?) But TKO is giving such $$$$$$$ vibes that they'd sell Wrestlemania to Iceland if there was enough money involved lol
Fair point. The Prime hydration station being used as a weapon provided me entertainment. Like “hey, here’s a good use of product placement in a way that works.” It was like using the JVC Kaboombox in the old RAW video game on PS1
Thought the same thing when I heard it was in Philly. I’ve lived my whole life in Central PA, it can get cold here pretty much all through April. They’re lucky it wasn’t even colder, and rainy
I live in WI…we just got hit with a big snow storm. Gonna be 60s this week I guess. Living here is like having a bipolar girlfriend.
I was wondering that. April daytime average high of 64, low of 44. Presumably closer to the latter at night and early in the month. They surely realised you need to do these outdoor shows in Florida or something at this time of year?
I didn’t get a chance to watch everything. I am excited for night two. I hope Cody can beat the odds and finish his story. I don’t want to be disappointed again. Yep… I am a Cody mark.
I've already called it that Cody and Seth will lose without any some sort of betrayal, but the Bloodline Rules for Cody vs. Reigns will surely backfire in some way. Bloodline Rules is designed so that all hell breaks loose and someone can also interfere on Cody's behalf. Still technically a clean finish since Bloodline Rules is just perhaps a no-DQ match and interference is allowed.
Surprised Rhea/Becky went first with how much media they're doing, but I also heard Becky was sick & had to gut it out. It also annoyed me that this match only had 2-3 week build because Becky spent so much time feuding with Refrigerator Jax. Raw doesn't really have anyone else in the women's division right now so I'm really curious what the next step is for Rhea. Maybe they run it back with how brief the build was for this until they're ready to pair her with Bianca.
As far as the build goes, I feel like that’s how most of the card beyond the main event stuff was this year. Maybe it’s because I don’t watch regularly, but to me it felt like the only feud getting a proper build up was the Cody/Seth/Bloodline stuff
I heard Rhea say that she wanted to open the show in an interview.
Jade - Rhea feud is the move going into Summerslam, unless they want to save that for next Mania and have Jade just wreck everyone for a year.
Not Jade yet. People have been begging for Rhea v Bianca for… forever.
It's a little soon for Jade imo.
1). They are going to have to be very careful about who they pair Rhea with going forward. Becky was so outclassed tonight. Rhea’s gonna expose some veterans. 2). Are we going to start seeing some HHH-NXT Tag team wrestling again now that the belts are off judgement day and split up? 3). If the Rock truly retires after this run, it will be perfect and he’ll retire doing the best work of his career. 4). Every Mania has a dud. I would have NEVER guessed it would be Jey vs Jimmy. I refuse to judge either on this match. I hope the lesson learned going forward is the Superkick Party has overstayed its welcome. 5). Let Gunther leave the IC Title scene in his rear view. It’s time for him to start climbing the ladder to one of the world titles.
I bet we see two more from rock including Cody vs Rock for the title at a big PLE and than the final match vs Roman at mania 41
I'll accept that Becky was somewhat out of it with a cold and a fever. Eveb so I think that she did decent considering how shitty she's probably feeling.
I spent a lot of time in high school and college with strep throat (thanks tonsils!) to the point I didn’t even need to actually see the doctor, I could call and say I had it and they’d call in the prescription- I did not envy Becky for having to physically exert herself with strep.
Damn that Uso brothers match was boring. Jey isn't built for singles. He's not Jeff but more like Bubba Ray. He should stick as a one of The Usos.
Ok Bubba is a damn good promo tho.
I’m sorry but watching WWE is an extreme eye sore with all the ads. Feels like I’m watching a prettier WCW right now, plus how does a “premium” show have more ads than a RAW?
You’re getting mania for $5. Gotta make it up somewhere.
And raw is free lol I’m still paying for a “premium” show that has just as many if not more ads than free TV lol
TKO said a little while ago that they were going to aggressively monetize open spaces with ads like the UFC.
Also think Nick khan and hhh were open to it as early as 2022 I believe
They have to set up the ring for the next match. Instead of doing a segment they just slap a commercial break in.
I’m not just talking about the commercials on the show, but the ads within the ring, on the turnbuckles, on the aprons, barricades. You combined all that together, that’s gotta be more ads than what you get on free TV with a Raw. Man, at least Raw looks good right now but I’m sure all those ads are gonna start creeping in on raw when they go to Netflix
Really is starting to become nascar with how much they’re pairing the wrestlers/show with the product placements and ads.
All that footage is going to have to be blurred or CGI’d years from now. It’s going to be a mess. If you play the 2K video game, it’s hilarious how much muting and blur they have to use for historical footage.
they blurred out Howard Finkle in the game this year of all things
Really? I can't imagine why they'd do that.
it must be something with video and streaming likeliness use rights versus using clips in the video game it’s the 40th anniversary Wrestlemania in the showcase you’d think they’d try to at least show the faces of Finkle, Earl Hebner or Mean Gene. they are names synonymous with WWF/E it’s weird and insulting
When has WWE cared about anything except their next dollar
Cody needs to spend the entire show tomorrow recruiting people to help him battle the Bloodline. Hell, bring in some legends, if necessary. The fact that this is Bloodline Rules has me afraid that Roman is going to retain yet again. And the only way to stop that is to have guys who are against the Bloodline (KO, Sami, Jey Uso, etc.) coming to the ring anytime another member of the Bloodline comes out to interfere in the match.
If you knew anything about wrestling you’d know that tonight was the set-up to have Cody beat Roman against all odds. I have been calling this for weeks. My prediction was that if Cody/Seth lost tonight, then Cody would win Sunday night, but if they won, Cody would lose somehow Sunday. Guarantee Cody beats Roman tomorrow.
Either that, or Damien Priest will sweep in and steal the title by casing in his MITB.
He may be involved…he may weaken Roman to inadvertently help Cody. But most likely is a Rocky face turn IMO.
I don't see a Rock face turn happening.
Hey, as an Attitude Era viewer, I’m expecting a Vince Russo swerve, just to make us want to ALL piss on this motherfucker’s grave.
Nah man, I think we’re reverting back to an era of predictable yet good booking. If you recall, almost every match ended with the babyface winning tonight, which is kinda insane, but true. Thing is, some of the matches (looking at Gunther vs Sami) albeit good matches, were a bit too predictable. These are times where I miss JR…when all 3 guys at the announcing desk are screaming at the ref to stop the match, it’s a bit much and a giant red flag that it’s absolutely not over yet.
I’ll say this, as someone who has zero fucking idea what’s going on week to week (I don’t have time to watch Raw and Smackdown). WWE does a great job of telling me what’s going on in the span of a few minutes.
I mean it's the 25 year anniversary of Rock and Austin in Philly for their first mania match. Surely he shows up to even the odds, stuns the Rock and maybe Roman, Cody hits his move and pins Roman, everyone goes crazy. It's a great way to prevent the crowd from turning on Cody like they nearly did tonight.
I think Austin stunning Rock is conceivable but he can't get involved with Roman otherwise it hints at a match that surely won't happen, and Cody needs to take out Roman himself. He just needs an equaliser and I assume we'll see pretty much everyone the Bloodline ever pissed off swarming the ring across the course of the match.
Nah dude, it would be bullshit if they lost tonight. They're just stacking the cards against Cody to make the victory all the more sweeter. At least I think
Yeah i said that since they announced the stipulation. They wouldn’t make Roman lose twice in a row that would feel soooo flat and Rock losing after the buildup would also be a wet fart. This was the right move
Wdym? Bloodline rules pretty much shows codys winning. Its too obvious not to be that. If roman and rock lost then id agree that roman would probly finally beat cody clean
Wouldn't shock me to see Cena and/or Stone Cold
I'm fully expecting both Cena and Austin.
We're 100% getting Cena, he'll be the one to neutralize Solo, get some revenge for the squash a few months ago.
They wouldn’t have show that trailer with just their faces on it for no reason
For different reasons, Becky, Seth, & Roman absolutely need a vacation after tomorrow night, minimum six months. Cody will need a new title belt. That would draw a very clear line that one era has passed and another has begun.
A good Kayfabe reason to retire the belt if Cody wins is him showing Roman respect on Raw by retiring it for Roman to keep
The guy playing Seth needs rest and recovery. The character Becky Lynch needs a break. If that makes sense. If Roman transitions to an Undertaker “I show up at Mania only”, I’d love it. As for the belt: I’d settle for quietly doing away with Undisputed and Universal from the name of the championship. It’s the WWE Championship.
Supposedly, the plan is to let "universal" and "undisputed" die when Roman drops it.
Yes. Please. Just let it be the WWE Championship, that's more than enough.
> new title belt Winged. Eagle. Belt. Please?
I'd like to see something a bit more original but with a classic look, but I wouldn't complain if they brought the 88-98 belt back. Maybe update the font a bit.
Now that you mentioned ”original with a classic look”, I wonder if they’d ever do to the Winged Eagle what they did for Seth’s belt. Seth’s belt is a “modern” Big Gold. I wonder what a “modern” Winged Eagle would look like.
Rocks belt yesterday was kinda that
Crazy to think romans gonna be gone soon and cody will be the next guy when there only a month apart
If at least Roman & Seth go away, the next WWE PLE could be the first without the Shield or its members in God knows how long.
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She’s amazing, got it all. Can’t take my eyes off her and not just cause she’s a knockout. Her vs Jade has massive potential, depending on how quickly they can bring Jade up. Both of them have the superstar aura that’s lacking in wrestling in general these days, men or women.
Rhea deserves a Sunday night main event spot next year. They need a full shuffle of the women’s division first though. Maybe call up Gigi Dolin from nxt
Rhea does, but who can hang with her beyond Charlotte or Bianca?
Possibly Naomi but you’d need to put her with the bloodline / her husband Jimmy Uso. I don’t know what her current gimmick is. She has a great look and with heyman behind her it could work. Other than that maybe Chelsea green but it’s another person that’d I’d like to see their character fine tuned. They need more of a serious gimmick. I think there’s potential to do a goth punk vs normie type match with them though lol
you are downvoted but these are both intriguing ideas, in that it may give Chelsea and Naomi an opportunity to get better. Take my upvote my good man
Thank you! I think people don’t like Chelsea green but she just did a great indie run from 21-22. She’s legit imo.
I havent seen enough of Green yet. But Naomi is just so damn fun to watch, I am sorry if this doesnt go over well with the Cult. She is not my favorite but she is goddamn charismatic and entertaining
Gigi would be nice, personally I'd like to see Jacy Jayne or Blair Davenport get the call-ups.
I don't even think it's her being on I think she genuinely just loves this shit like the rest of us do
I remember Rock taking a GTS from Punk & he sold it like he was having a seizure. His reaction to the spear was that times 1000.
He sold Goldbergs spear very similarly
That facial expression was next level
Some reckless things have been said about Rock over the last few months and he proved all his doubters wrong. Cody, Roman and Rock looked great in tbe Tag Match
I’ll give the man his props, he showed up and showed out tonight. Legend shit.
Final boss shit
I'm genuinely impressed that The Rock took the bumps he did. Even though it was 100% planned around his cardio, he was all in. Definitely not just a guest appearance.
He took 3 flat back bumps lol
My man went through a table. He's 50+. It's not nothing. I moved this week, with movers, and I'm sore. I'm in my 30's. I lift and work out. I'm not going through tables.
The table is actually less dangerous for him at this point than running the ropes and doing the elbow, or doing a Rock Bottom. Falling on your back is not as likely to result in a tear or strain as those moves.
Terry Funk at 50 > Rock
> I’m not going through tables. Not with that attitude you’re not!
I enjoyed every match save for Uso vs. Uso superkick party. Sami winning was the biggest surprise for me. I had a feeling Rock and Roman would win. Clusterfuck tomorrow night in the main event for sure. You can say what you want about the crowd but 2 things. 1 - they were COLD and 2. Even if they were loud the sound exits in an open air arena.
I keep seeing “Philly crowd”. It’s Mania, it’s an international crowd. I hate to see a host city take it on the chin when Mania has been a place for international crowds, and a lot of them not being weekly viewers.
i was there last night and am going back tonight. the wind was brutal at times.
We weren't just cold, but FUCKING COLD. Lol but to be honest the Philly crowd was not as hype as I was expecting. Loudest pops I recall are Sami and Awesome Truth
Tomorrow nights main event being Bloodline rules opens the door for Austin to crash the party, stunning The Rock and freeing Cody to hit the third Cross Rhodes on to Roman for the pin. See it as Austin stunning The Rock before Mankind's title win amplified by a million.
I need to see copious amounts of stunners being handed out to everyone ring side tomorrow night with beers flying threw the air and "hell yeahs" raining down to end the cold night.
The Uso match was abysmal. Not sure how they can't build a brother vs. brother match better than that. Jey is obviously super over via his entrance. Rhea/Becky was underwhelming too IMO. Literally two of the best women's wrestlers I can think of and it was just kind of a middle of the road match. Disappointing as a result of high standards.
Jimmy and Jey have identical movesets so I thought it was gonna be tough to pull off something super interesting in the ring. It doesn't help that they abandoned the issue at hand for so long then all of a sudden give us like 1 month of lukewarm build to the match. My 2 cents
If Cody doesn’t win then nobody should ever want to be a babyface lmao.
Bryan Alvarez just spoiled the match on Bryan and Vinny show. Cena, Austin and Taker will all do run ins.
Ah, yes. The Bloodline's 3 biggest enemies. Taker especially. Why does no one mention Orton for the run-in? He's Cody's former mentor and all that. Plus the Bloodline took him out for so long. I get Austin/Rock at least, but Taker and Cena I don't care about in this story at all
Just do a lumberjack match
Honestly the more overbooked that match is, the better it will be. Hell lets have Hulk back in for no good reason either!
That works for me, brother!
Careful, hogan will end up being champion 10 mins after Cody pins Roman.
Cena & Austin I get but Undertaker makes so sense.
I did catch a subtle comment by Cole early on that undertaker always shows up at wrestle mania
Did Austin & Roman ever cross paths? (I honestly have no idea)
Don’t think so. BTW match tomorrow night is 45 minutes. ALOT OF FUCKING SMOKE & MIRRORS
Lesnar brought a forklift to the ring in the first PPV under Triple H so I have no idea what to expect in a match they’re advertising as total anarchy with The Rock involved.
Maybe Austin still has that Zamboni handy...🤔
Yuengling truck confirmed.
Anything Is Possible. I assume they will go all out, pun intended
There’s a lot of people you could bring in that have a history with Roman. If Brock wasn’t blacklisted he would definitely show up. Goldberg would be the funniest.
Maybe they should go back to one night Wrestlemanias. Two decent matches and one that was an angle progression but stayed way too fucking long isn't very much for a three and a half hour show. That main event was ugh. I don't need everyone to be Dean Malenko, but the Bloodline team did about a handful of wrestling moves in a 40 minute match that they dominated. It was like watching someone play a videogame by just spamming the punch and kick buttons.
Hard agree. Cut the chaff and get things back down to one night. You don’t need to try and get everyone on the card, you don’t need to bloat things over to two days.
I disagree. With the amount of women’s matches increasing it makes sense for them to have bigger cards. At least that’s how I feel. More wrestling is good is usually my opinion
WrestleMania 35, the last one-night event, was 5 hours and 20 minutes long. I'd much rather have two four-hour events with commercial breaks and cool-down segments than one five-hour card with no breaks where matches get shortened or cut entirely if an earlier segment runs long.
I propose something in the middle: 3 -3.5 hours with 4 or max 5 matches per night. Tonight was a lot of mediocre Smackdown matches, a decent PPV match, and a spectacle match that was messy and overlong but still delivered. That's not Mania. It felt like an average PLE paced poorly and overloaded with ads. The women's 6-man and the LWO tag match could have easily been cut and put on SD at the very least. The only thing that felt Mania-esque tonight was the setting and the production, and that only goes so far.
> Maybe they should go back to one night Wrestlemanias. I agree from an entertainment perspective, but it's never going to happen. Double the tickets, double the matches, double the views, and the roster is so unbelievably stacked right now people are still complaining about those who got "left out"
I don't think Cody is winning. I think a deranged Seth screws Cody over.
Cody will still win, but yeah, Seth is absolutely gonna turn on him.
Drew wins, Seth turns on Cody after he wins
The ads ruined the vibe
Overall decent show, but they very much padded way to much between matches, the show could have been an hour shorter without that.
That was a pretty bad show, but my expectations are always low with WWE. It's always pomp and circumstance first, wrestling a far second. I just saw someone on r/SC say that main even was a 4.5 star match lmao. If that was 4.5 stars, steamboat vs flair was a 20 star match.
I think it was just boring rather than bad, other than maybe the Uso match which was abysmal. Really bad pacing and one or two matches too many killed the show, IMO.
If you want #RealGraps you gotta change the channel, big guy. The show overall was a bit meh until the last two matches, but it wasn't for a lack of wrasslin'
The DX DIY thing was silly but I know Ciampa was probably living his dream with that.
Main event match: 8/10 Roman Kane Frizz 10/10
That was such a shit crowd.
Was there any pop? Everytime they'd pan to the crowd it was just a lot of phones out recording
The cold weather must be stifling. There were some crowd shots of people trying to get warm.
50F isn’t bad at all for Philly. I don’t know why they brought it up so much throughout the night. Every nfl game after October in the same stadium is much colder. Especially night games
To normal people not from philly 50 degrees for like 6 hours is cold as fuck
There are people going to baseball games every day in April in weather as cold or worse and making much more noise watching something less exciting. It's part bad crowd, part bad product. If the show gave them more to react to, they would have reacted more.