The time has come to review this year’s WrestleMania. I usually wait about a week for two
reasons. First, there is so much traffic
about it right after the show airs that anything I might write would get lost
in the shuffle. If I wait a week, people
may actually read it. Second, I
generally don’t watch the shows from beginning to end as they air. I take a few days to watch and digest the
stories and action and then a few more days to think about it before I begin to
write. So, without further ado, here it
goes.
First, let me start with the preshow. I am a subscriber to the WWE Network, so it
didn’t really bother me. However, the
preshow was advertised to feature two matches, and the entire first hour that
was available for free was nothing but the panel talking and promoting the
network. Had I gone online to see it
and watched the whole hour without any action whatsoever, I would have been
upset.
That being said, the tag title match was decent but
cluttered. I enjoyed the match, but I
wouldn’t have been upset to have missed it either. The same is true of the Andre the Giant
battle royal. It was an okay match, but
nothing to get overly excited about. One
problem that I have with it is that there is nothing to make it important. It is basically just a way to get a bunch of
talents on the card when they have nothing else to do with the show. The Royal Rumble has consequences. The Andre the Giant match has a trophy that
the winner doesn’t even carry around like it means anything. I guess that’s why it was on the preshow.
The first match on the main card was the seven man ladder
match. Again, I thought it was a good
match, but it felt cluttered. I understand
that talents want a place on the WrestleMania card, so WWE tries to find a
place to put them, but I was fairly certain that neither R-Truth, Luke Harper,
nor Stardust was going to win the match, so I am not sure why they were
there. I think they actually could have
had a stronger match with just Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Dean Ambrose
challenging Bad News Barrett.
It was nice to see Daniel Bryan get the win, and I think WWE
will accomplish their purpose of adding value to the Intercontinental title by
putting it on him. Incidentally, I
think the same could be said of putting the US title on John Cena. It does seem odd, however, because I can’t
think of any other examples historically where they put mid-card titles on main
event talents. We hear about all the
present and future Hall of Famers who have held the Intercontinental and US
titles, but they generally hold them earlier in their career before they
advance to the world title picture. I
guess that makes this move even more dramatic and more likely to succeed in
making people care about the mid-card titles.
The second match saw Randy Orton competing against Seth
Rollins. This was a good match
overall. They had some exciting spots
that I am pretty sure took some practice to make sure they were nailed on the
big stage. I tend to agree with Jim Ross,
though, that having everyone repeatedly kick out of finishers is a bad
idea. After all, if they never really
finish anybody, why are they called finishers?
Still, Rollins and Orton have enough agility and athleticism to put
together a fairly fast paced and exciting match, and I think they delivered.
The third match is the one I was probably most excited to
see. I have been a fan of Sting for a
very long time, and it was nice to see him on the card at WrestleMania. He certainly deserves it. For those who thought Sting is too old and
worn out to perform well, I think he proved you wrong. At his age, I doubt he could (or would even
want to) sustain a three or four night a week schedule, but he definitely
looked better than he has in years, and I could easily see another few matches
over the next year or two in his future.
Sting and HHH are both brilliant talents, and they proved that in the
ring. There were, however, two things
that bothered me about this match.
My first problem was the intrusion of DX and the NWO in the
match. I actually liked seeing both
groups facing off and bringing us back to the Monday Night Wars when everyone
was clamoring to see it. However, I
would have preferred they did it either as an in-ring segment after the match
or as a separate six man tag. I felt
like Sting deserved to have his match without it anything taking our attention
away from the action in the ring.
My second problem was the fact that Sting lost. Granted it is all predetermined fiction, so
wins and losses have little meaning.
However, the match most of us really wanted to see was Sting versus The
Undertaker. That match wasn’t booked,
and most people assumed that was done so that both men could go over. It would have been very poor booking to have
The Undertaker lose twice in a row at WrestleMania, and we all wanted to see
Sting win his first (and possibly only) big match in WWE, so it made sense that
they couldn’t work together and have that happen. If they were going to have Sting get pinned
anyway, I don’t see why he wasn’t working with The Undertaker.
The fourth match was a divas tag match pitting the Bella
Twins against Paige and AJ. This match
disappointed me a little because Paige and AJ, in particular, have very
legitimate wrestling chops. However,
this match was heavy on gymnastics more than fighting. As an example, the divas’ clothesline looks
more like a jumping hug than a power move designed to snap an opponent’s neck
backward. I am also not a big fan of
AJ’s Black Widow submission. In my
opinion, it is too complex to get into and too difficult to understand why it
would be so painful. The best
submissions are things like Ric Flair’s figure four or Alberto Del Rio’s arm bar
that are simple and obvious. The Black
Widow requires some thought to see why anyone would tap out.
The fifth match saw John Cena handing Rusev his first loss
and winning the US title. This was a
typical Cena match. The action was good
but predictable. WrestleMania was definitely
the best place to have Rusev pinned for the first time. It was also smart to use the US title in the
patriotic/nationalistic storyline. In
my opinion, that actually makes more sense than using the World title since the
US title is the logical prize to represent the battle for American pride.
The in-ring promo with the Rock and Ronda Rousey facing off
with the Authority was entertaining.
Ronda did an excellent job in the role, and it was honestly one of the
cooler segments of the night. The fact
that Ronda represents real danger in real life made it seem even more realistic
than a simple battle of one liners with the Rock. If Ronda manages to get approved to have an
actual match at some point, I will definitely be there to see it.
Sixth, Bray Wyatt and the Undertaker put on a clinic. In my opinion, this was the match of the
night. There weren’t a lot of high spots
or acrobatics, but there was good, solid, well-paced wrestling. As a fan, I was able to follow exactly what
was happening, and the commentary team had ample time to build the match
because the talents were not rushed.
The only thing I didn’t like, which seemed like a theme throughout the
show, was the continual kicking out of finishers. Other than that, it was a great match. The Undertaker looked better than he had in
years and clearly shut up the naysayers.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of Taker’s demise were greatly
exaggerated.
The main event, sadly, was probably the weakest match of the
night. It just seemed like a bunch of
repetition. I didn’t count them, but I
wouldn’t be surprised if you told me Lesnar delivered 15 suplexes and half a
dozen F-5’s. For Reigns, it was Superman
punches and a couple spears. Even Seth
Rollins, who has amazing wrestling ability, didn’t really do anything but a
handful of curb stomps. The match had
very little drama or excitement. I
suppose you always have to close the show with the WWE World Heavyweight title
match, but the Taker/Wyatt match would have actually been a better closer.
Overall, WWE put on a solid show with some nice
surprises. I would give it 7 out of 10. Just
cutting out the multiple kickouts from finishers and the cluttering up of
matches would have raised it a point two.
They could have also done better at planning out the main event.
What do you think?
Let me know. Comments and
discussion are always welcome.
