'Rassle Dazzle: A Wrestlemania Recap

[Angelous Wang]

The rest went somewhat as expected (though HHH screwing over DB could have gone ether way).

But holy shit Undertaker lost? and to Lesner? the hell?

I know he is planning to retire but why the hell would they give this to Lesner? He's not going to stay around anymore than the Rock does. They should have given it to someone developing someone who will be around day to day, someone who could have used it to build a career on. They kind made it pointless in way.

 

[JayRPG]

The official Cesaro/Swagger split happened in the aftermath of the tag title match you didn't see.

My favorite part of 21-1 was the fact that Lesnar's music didn't play for a good five minutes after the pin. Like even the SOUND GUYS were stunned. Just added to the somewhat surreal nature of it.

Because they may have been, Taker went to the hospital via ambulance directly after the match, so there's a running theory that he sustained a legit injury and couldn't finish the match as scripted.

It was reported it had nothing to do with it and I have no idea why anyone would have that theory anyway.

If Taker was meant to win that match, it wouldn't have mattered if he had a broken leg, they would have quickly sent someone out to hit lesner to give taker the DQ, Taker could have easily performed at least a chokeslam for the win with his supposed concussion. There would have been so many outs, they wouldn't end something as big as the streak on a spur of the moment complication.

I was shocked, I knew the streak would end eventually but I think what everyone was waiting for was Kane Vs. Taker 3 at Wrestlemania 31 next year to retire taker - Taker always said it was Kane that he wanted to end the streak, it makes a whole lot more sense story wise, and given that Kane is thinking of packing up the boots in the next few years anyway it could have been an amazing retirement match for both of them.

 

[SnakeoilSage]

Or we like our entertainment physical with some storytelling sprinkled in. Not everyone who watches WWE is comparable to the average NASCAR fan, but then I'd be amazed the day that someone didn't come out and say something that was a jab at another's intelligence or character for liking something. BTW, 90% of wrestling fans know its scripted, the other 10% are children who still believe in Santa and mentally handicapped folk. Also WWE is watched all over the world not just the USA.
You may not get this stuff, or why folk like it and thats well and good, but some of us see something of value in it (I daresay a lot more of us than you think).

No need to get all defensive about it.

 

[Lono Shrugged]

No need to get all defensive about it.

Welcome to the internet buddy.

 

[Darren716]

There was no way I saw Taker's streak ending last night, as soon as I heard that Brock was booked to face him I thought that there was no way they would let some part timer end the streak, it would have to be someone who truly cares about the industry and could be on level with Taker. It really does hurt my childhood a bit, when I first watched wrestling about 9 years ago I saw Taker as almost more than human, I saw him come out of situations that seemed impossible, of course it was all booked that way but still he had such a career built up behind him that it was easy to believe that he could back from some of the hits that were supposed to be match finishers, it was if he was some sort of mythic figure and even now I'll admit the illusion is shattered a bit. That appears to be a problem of making one of your characters be a unstoppable and feared phenom, there's still a person behind the character and in the world of pro wrestling trying to keep up the appearance of an undead monster is extremely hard to do when your performer is getting older and who's body is beginning to fall apart after almost 25 years of physical, psychological, and emotional stress.
So yeah I'm sad to see Taker lose to someone like Brock but I do feel he has earned his retirement, thank you Marc Calloway for entertaining me all these years, your devotion to this business will be remembered for as long as it exists and let me just say that next year when you enter the Hall of Fame I'll definitely be crying. So long and thanks again.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

You know what? Screw it. I LIKE that Lesnar won. It proves that ANYTHING can happen in the WWE, and at any time. You should always be on your toes and be prepared for anything to happen when the bell goes 'DING DING DING.'

For a while now, it's been the same old story: 'Maybe this is the year it ends.' Well, creative went and pulled the ultimate fast-one by giving the W to a guy NOBODY expected to win. It was an epic 'GOTCHA' moment, and I loved it!

I totally agree! I was watching it at home on Main Event and after Undertaker got pinned I immediately rewound it to see what happened. I turned to my son, shocked and said "Wait, did he just get a three count? That's got to be a mistake." Well done WWE, you really brought the emotion into Wrestlemania 30. I "knew" Daniel Bryan was going to win the belt but that didn't stop me from leaping to my feet when Batista tapped out.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

You know what? I'm on board.

There's like 5 GoT things on the front page at the moment, and I have no interest in that. It's complete saturation with GoT everywhere lately (and that's fine for the people that liked it, but I'm not one of them). Having a break for something that I took an interest to in my childhood is a nice break.

I wanted to say something about that too. Couldn't believe when I opened the website this morning to a list of so many GoT articles all in a row. It is nice that the Television column seemed to be the only thing that wasn't about that show.

 

[sXeth]

I hypothesized elsewhere that Lesnar won not to benefit Lesnar, but to simply make a dramatic transitonal statement. A legitimate wrestler (with his UFC title and amateur credentials) took out the Last Man Standing of the old guard of "cartoon" wrestlers. This seemed further emphasized by some of the 80s Legends segments where they kind of did "Too old for this shit" statements.

Whether thats a good or bad thing in the long run remains to be seen.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

Crap. It -had- to be Lesnar to end the streak? I'd rather it have been anyone, and I mean ANYONE else.

Lesnar's a fine athlete, but he's got crap mic skills, and I can't stand that. He's got no real personality. Paul is a bit too good at being the heel, and can get annoying as all get out. This means both hang around, crow endlessly about beating Undertaker, and basically get on my nerves further. it's likely going to be enough to make me fast forward my DVR every time I see them.
Yeah, Heels are supposed to do get to you like that, but seriously, it does get stale.
The streak ending is wasted on Lesnar, IMO. I imagine, as someone stated earlier, that it wasn't supposed to go down that way.

Lesnar already left several times before, hasn't he? What's to say he won't again?

 

[Xan Krieger]

Crap. It -had- to be Lesnar to end the streak? I'd rather it have been anyone, and I mean ANYONE else.

Lesnar's a fine athlete, but he's got crap mic skills, and I can't stand that. He's got no real personality. Paul is a bit too good at being the heel, and can get annoying as all get out. This means both hang around, crow endlessly about beating Undertaker, and basically get on my nerves further. it's likely going to be enough to make me fast forward my DVR every time I see them.
Yeah, Heels are supposed to do get to you like that, but seriously, it does get stale.
The streak ending is wasted on Lesnar, IMO. I imagine, as someone stated earlier, that it wasn't supposed to go down that way.

Lesnar already left several times before, hasn't he? What's to say he won't again?

It only got worse when Cesaro revealed himself to be a Paul Heyman guy, at least Cesaro has a personality though where as Lesnar has none. Now we get to hear Paul brag endlessly about both of his guys doing huge things at Wrestlemania for the next few weeks. At least the conflict between Daniel Bryan and the Authority is picking up with the Shield siding with Bryan. I look forward to seeing how that plays out.

 

[Balimaar]

Given the ability and power and skill of many of Undertaker's opponents in the previous years... I just didn't see this part timer doing it.

I mean... HBK couldn't do it. Triple H couldnt do it (once with HBK as the special referee). You look at Taker's WM opponents over the years then you look at this guy... *insert derisive snort here*

I really thought the title of "Dead Man Killer" would have gone to someone better...

 

[StriderShinryu]

As someone who grew up being absolutely absorbed in pro wrestling but who hasn't watched or followed it for ages, I'm actually kind of sad that I wasn't watching this. It actually sounds like it was a pretty good show (despite the Undertaker losing.. not sold on that) and makes me want to maybe check back in.

 

[Jhereg42]

The PPV itself was fantastic. The Crowd was hugely into it. Good fun. Not as good as last year's Summerslam, but not many are going to be.

I doubt Taker loosing was an audible. They had too many cameras ready to pick out the shocked expressions in the crowd. The production guys knew it was coming.

 

[Atmos Duality]

I wasn't all that surprised Undertaker lost.
The man was a wrestling zombie the whole bloody match; he looked like he was struggling to stay standing after half his moves, let alone after getting tossed around by Meatchuck (aka, Lesner).

If Undertaker won, it would mean he would have to return next Wrestlemania to put an end to it then, and he'd be in even worse shape to do so.

That, and it's hard for me to really feel sad for a guy losing his streak when the entire thing was booked.
It happened because it was scripted to happen. Oh noes. Even the cameramen were on standby specifically to capture the stunned looks of the audience.

I dunno. I just don't get it. *shrugs*

The rest of the PPV was surprisingly good...mostly.

-Hulk Hogan obviously did not give a FUCK to the point where he didn't even remember where he was. ("Silverdome/Superdome!")
-And Divas were...Divas. I left my friend's for home after their match started, and I assume I missed nothing.

+The Old Age Outlaws were given their mercy killing with a minimal fuss.
+30 Man Rumble was just plain fun (way better than the Royal Rumble).
+Wyatt did the impossible and made a John Cena match ENTERTAINING; Mostly by being the redneck equivalent of Voldo from Soul Caliber; he was creepy, weird, and oddly flexible but when contrasted against Cena's straight-man Babyface McBlandiness, was amusing to watch.

+I missed part of the Daniel Bryan match, but what I saw was pretty decent.

 

[Dwarfman]

All in all a heck of a lot better than last years wrestlemania - then again getting all my nails pulled out one by one would be more entertaining than wrestlemania 29.

In my opinion every match was solid. Including the divas which was surprising, I anticipated the usual train wreck. It's just a shame they came straight after the Undertaker match. You could tell the crowd was drained. Any match played after that was going to be thrown under the bus.

 

[snappydog]

Good to see how many wrestling fans there are here
To be honest, last night's Raw was superior to WM for me. I mean, come on.

Spoiler: Raw spoilers

So we've got Cesaro as a Paul Heyman guy, which is gonna be great for him and means we might get some Heyman-Colter action which would be phenomenal
PAIGE of all people showed up and finally ended AJ's 295-day, about 10-defense title reign (I feel kinda sympathetic for the poor rest of the Divas roster who've been working their asses off only to have a relative newcomer take their championship. Paige is deserving though, having been an amazing inaugural NXT women's champion)
Full-on face turn from the Shield, who now have awesome masks
A great crowd who were very happy to get fully into the spirit of things, with chants both mark (Hounds of Justice/ King of Swing, anyone?) and smark (John Cena sucks, to the tune of his entrance music no less)
Rusev debuted and had what may have been a squash match but showed off his amazing ring work nevertheless
From the look of the Bo Dallas and Adam Rose promos, as well as a couple of tweets from Sami Zayn (I think) we're gonna be getting a full-on NXT takeover coming up soon, kickstarted by Rusev and Paige tonight.

So yeah. Raw was amazing.
WM was... some good moments, but mostly disappointing.

 

[BX3]

That, and it's hard for me to really feel sad for a guy losing his streak when the entire thing was booked.
It happened because it was scripted to happen. Oh noes. Even the cameramen were on standby specifically to capture the stunned looks of the audience.

I dunno. I just don't get it. *shrugs*

Well, speaking as someone that's more into this stuff that I probably should be, this (and a lot of match results that anger the audience) pissed a lot of people off BECAUSE it was scripted to happen. Like you said, the entire match was garbage and they decided that said garbage match would be the end of a 22 years long tradition... and gave it to Lesnar no less. No one was expecting it, they were just on standby for this match because they thought it was filler, already prepping themselves to tune in at next year's Wrestlemania when a "real" WWE Superstar challenged the streak.

 

[TakerFoxx]

Yeah Bob, not gonna lie. While I'm a big fan of both your shows and Pro Wrestling, they sort of occupied such separate parts of my life that having you talk about guys like Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, and Daniel Bryan is kind of surreal. Though given that you've name-dropped Batista a couple of times, I guess I should have seen this coming.

That being said, I thought that it was a very solid PPV. Glad to see Bryan finally get the main event moment he deserves. Not at all happy about the streak ending though. I mean, sure it was time for it to happen. Undertaker's falling apart, and his opponents have been having to carry the match more and more often. I just don't like that it was Lesnar to do it, for reasons that others have stated.

Also, I'm genuinely worried about Bray Wyatt's career now. The guy was riding a tidal wave of momentum following his victories over Bryan and the Shield, but a high profile loss can stop that cold. Look what happened to the Summer of Punk after losing to Triple H, or Damien Sandow after losing his Money in the Bank to Cena. Wyatt's one of the best parts of the show these days, and I really don't want him to be squandered on the mid-card.