[Slow Ben]

Another childhood icon gone.

George "The Animal" Steele dead at 79.

http://uproxx.com/pr...ge-steele-dies/

[Aptorian]

My only real experience with him was the weard "man beast" gimmick where he was feuding with Macho Man and eating turnbuckles. Thought he was a strange character but I read that he was actually a PE coach at some High School while he was wrestling. Must have been funny for the kids to have a coach who was also a big guy in Wrestling.

[Aptorian]

Ivan Koloff has passed away.

That brings this weeks total number of Wrestling related deaths to 4:

Chavo Guerrero Sr

George "The Animal" Steele

Nicole Bass

Ivan Koloff

And supposedly Vader is on his last legs as well. It's funny how these things seem to happen in groupings.

[Gorefest]

Not a big fan of gimmick recycling. In a way, you could say Bray Wyatt already is the follow-up for Taker. And I assume at wrestlemania it will be Taker vs Cena. Cena has dropped the belt so he needs to be in a big non-title bout. Cena vs Taker would be a big draw for WM.

On a different note, I was at the Wcpw 'Loaded' tapings the other week in Leicester. Will Ospreay is bloody amazing. Great showdown between him and Drew Galloway. Alberto el Patron (del rio) had taken Paige along. He had a massive flame-rant at WwE and got the crowd chanting 'f*ck WWE' at the end. Even though Paige wasnt in the crowd anymore at that point, it does make me wonder how she can be around that sort of rhetoric, considering she is still offically under contract with WWE. One thing's for sure though, when her contract runs out there is no way that she is going to stay in the company. She is rapidly burning bridges, a real shame so early in her career. Didnt actually know that Alberto is still married as well, makes the whole thing even more sordid.

[Gorefest]

Oh, and apparently the Young Bucks are coming to Wcpw in Manchester and Newcastle next month. So very likely we will see the Young Bucks versus the Swords of Essex (Ospreay and Wainright). That has epic potential.

[Aptorian]

Alberto and Paige, at least seen through the window of Social Media, seem like one of those couples that are bad for one another.

It's a shame Alberto isn't with WWE any longer. I joined just as he left. From what I've seen of older content he was a good heel.

[WinterPhoenix]

I have to say I'm with Gorefest on gimmick recycling in general, and I do feel as though Taker passing the torch to a new guy is something that should happen, but a pure recycling/continuation feels more lazy than homage. I also agree that Bray Wyatt is the perfect receiver of said torch.

Now as for Takers match, I agree that Cena seems logical, and should happen, there's nothing bigger for either of them. However, it has been reported by numerous outlets that Taker will be facing a Raw superstar this year (how reliable these sources are is sometimes questionable) including Meltzer I believe, who I think - don't quote me - has said that current plans are Reigns Vs Taker. Now don't get me wrong Meltzer is not gospel by any stretch of the imagination and often when he is wrong he pulls out a bullshit excuse like 'plans changed last minute' at the same time though he is a respected wrestling journalist with an uncanny knack for being right - he said Orton was winning the Rumble 2 weeks prior, and also said Goldberg would be challenging for the title at Fast lane some time ago, for two very recent examples.

In this instance I'm inclined to believe the reports circulating the IWC, simply because I don't see them abandoning that Rumble stare down for a Cena match with zero build up - even though that stare down was weak sauce for a Mania match build up I agree. At this juncture a blind donkey could tell Vincent is sky high on Reigns, he will be beating Lesnar clean for the title sometime post mania after Lesnar gets his win and the title from Goldberg. I am genuinely terrified the plan is to have him beat Taker so that when the Lesnar showdown finally happens its between the 2 men who conquered Taker in his own backyard. Besides if he is facing a RAW opponent as all reports indicate the only other candidates are Strowman or a returning Finn Balor, neither of which seem likely or have much time for any build up. I would be ecstatic if it turns out to be Cena - if only because the alternatives are so dire - I'm just saying don't get your hopes up for anything other than Reigns at this point.

What about you might ask, well surprised as I am to see myself posting this I think he might be about to get shafted - along with Ambrose, AJ and The Miz. The most terrifying rumour I've heard thus far is that it will be Cena and Nikki Bella VS The Miz and Maryse, where Cena and Nikki are acting as surrogates for Daniel Bryan to try and put a stop to The Miz' vendetta. Now I am not, nor have I ever been Cena's biggest fan but I'm not a massive detractor either and he deserves a better match than that, as does The Miz who's heel work since the brand split helped carry the show along with Ambrose and AJ and more recently the Orton/Wyatt family stuff. Here's hoping thats just the stuff of IWC nightmares!

On the subject of British wrestling though Gorefest, you might get a kick out of this story. Friday night I was out at a metal pub in Camden, about midnight or so I was pretty sloshed, figured some air would do me good. So I go outside and this woman is sitting in the bouncers seat while he's off dealing with some issue or another. Anyhow I get chatting, and the subject of wrestling comes up - cannot remember how tbh. Anyhow turns out she goes to all the RevPro and Progress events here in London, knows both Marty Scurll and Jimmy Havoc personally and actually designed those 'I'm a Scurll girl' tops. On top of which she's met Ospreay more than once - said she wasn't a fan actually - and met Styles before as well as a litany of British indie wrestlers as well. She knew more about the British Indy scene than I do, a circumstance I'm unfamiliar with amongst people I actually know in real life!

[Gorefest]

Well, Ospreay does seem a bit of a cocky git IRL. When Drago and Dos Caras were selling their own shirts they were practically begging people to take pictures with them, whereas Ospreay was charging everyone a fiver for the privilige. Then again, if people are happy to pay it, why not? I respect a guy who stands behind his own merch stand selling t-shirts and signing autographs (compared to e.g. Zack Sabre Jr who just stayed in the dressing room) and he seemed friendly enough while doing it, though clearly still half nauseous from his bout with Galloway and Kirby.

For WM, I thought for a long time Taker would face Finn Balor, but I'm getting more and more concerned that Balor won't make WM. It seems more likely now that if he does get fit in time they'll run him out on the Raw after WM. I also heard the rumours of Taker going up against a Raw guy and Reigns is indeed a likely suspect. I thought they might do Strowman vs Reigns earlier on in the card, but I guess they could even opt for a fatal threeway with Strowman, Reigns and Taker so that Taker doesn't have to work too much (don't think he's got a good one on one match left in him tbh, after his dreadful apperarance at the Rumble). I'd be happy with that. Taker vs Reigns just sounds awful.

Cena + Nikki vs Miz + Maryse sounds cool, hadn't thought of that. If not Taker, I wouldn't know where you could place him otherwise unless they'd go for yet another Cena vs Styles run. But there's no logical reason for that. Or maybe they'll involve him in some sort of promotional match with The Rock or someone similar.

[WinterPhoenix]

Gorefest, on 20 February 2017 - 12:30 PM, said:

Well, Ospreay does seem a bit of a cocky git IRL. When Drago and Dos Caras were selling their own shirts they were practically begging people to take pictures with them, whereas Ospreay was charging everyone a fiver for the privilige. Then again, if people are happy to pay it, why not? I respect a guy who stands behind his own merch stand selling t-shirts and signing autographs (compared to e.g. Zack Sabre Jr who just stayed in the dressing room) and he seemed friendly enough while doing it, though clearly still half nauseous from his bout with Galloway and Kirby.

For WM, I thought for a long time Taker would face Finn Balor, but I'm getting more and more concerned that Balor won't make WM. It seems more likely now that if he does get fit in time they'll run him out on the Raw after WM. I also heard the rumours of Taker going up against a Raw guy and Reigns is indeed a likely suspect. I thought they might do Strowman vs Reigns earlier on in the card, but I guess they could even opt for a fatal threeway with Strowman, Reigns and Taker so that Taker doesn't have to work too much (don't think he's got a good one on one match left in him tbh, after his dreadful apperarance at the Rumble). I'd be happy with that. Taker vs Reigns just sounds awful.

Cena + Nikki vs Miz + Maryse sounds cool, hadn't thought of that. If not Taker, I wouldn't know where you could place him otherwise unless they'd go for yet another Cena vs Styles run. But there's no logical reason for that. Or maybe they'll involve him in some sort of promotional match with The Rock or someone similar.

She said basically the same thing about Ospreay being a cocky git and that outside of his cocky arrogance she don't think there's much to him on the personality side of things. Having never seen him live I can't really comment of anything but his athletic ability which is obviously up there with the best in the world. Did you ever see the Young Bucks and Adam Cole Vs Ospreay, Ricochet and Matt Sydal at the Battle of Los Angeles last year? Some of the spots they were pulling off were just outrageous frankly lol

Really can't look forward to that intergender tag match if the rumour is true, both guys deserve better in my opinion. Ambrose as well looks like he might relegated to what is fast becoming a traditional mukti-man cluster fuck of a match for the Intercontinental title, if he even keeps the belt until Mania. The last Meltzer stuff I saw indicates he doesn't even have a spot on the main show right now.

Cab I ask what your opinion of AJ vs Shane is? This is the big Styles rumour at the moment, I must say I have mixed feelings about it.

EDIT: Best thing about that convo at the pub, and when she started telling me about Scurll's parents and his cat lol

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 20 February 2017 - 12:56 PM

[WinterPhoenix]

I realised, Taker is interfering at Fastlane, Reigns loses but is protected, Strowman's monster push is continued, Taker/Reigns is given further definition. Reigns goes over at Mania, I'm dreading it

[Gorefest]

Haven't seen the Battle of LA match, I'll need to look it up. Ricochet did fight Travis Banks at the WCPW Loaded event I went to though, and that was a great match as well. Ricochet is stellar. We are seriously thinking of going to the Manchester gig where Ospreay and Wainright are set to take on the Young Bucks in a few weeks. I think they are billing Adam Cole and Cody Rhodes (i.e. the new Bullet Club) as well.

I don't like the AJ vs Shane idea. Can't see them doing it anyway, as surely they would've used Elimination Chamber to set something up for that? I still think they'll just go for another intercontinental title ladder match or something like that, with Ambrose, Styles, Miz, and some other SD guys they need to get on the card. That would be quite good actually.

I'm getting more and more impressed with Strowman. If they would do a Taker interference, I'm still holding out for a Taker-Reigns-Strowman fatal threeway. That would work for me.

[WinterPhoenix]

Gorefest, on 23 February 2017 - 11:01 AM, said:

Haven't seen the Battle of LA match, I'll need to look it up. Ricochet did fight Travis Banks at the WCPW Loaded event I went to though, and that was a great match as well. Ricochet is stellar. We are seriously thinking of going to the Manchester gig where Ospreay and Wainright are set to take on the Young Bucks in a few weeks. I think they are billing Adam Cole and Cody Rhodes (i.e. the new Bullet Club) as well.

I don't like the AJ vs Shane idea. Can't see them doing it anyway, as surely they would've used Elimination Chamber to set something up for that? I still think they'll just go for another intercontinental title ladder match or something like that, with Ambrose, Styles, Miz, and some other SD guys they need to get on the card. That would be quite good actually.

I'm getting more and more impressed with Strowman. If they would do a Taker interference, I'm still holding out for a Taker-Reigns-Strowman fatal threeway. That would work for me.

Definitely worth your time to find the match, Adam Cole looks a bit lost at times but nonetheless it's a really, really great match in that PWG vein. Ah man that sounds great, wish I could go, don't think I can afford to get up to Manchester though - Ricochet is one of my favourites atm. My cousin's husband keeps up with alot of indie events, they live in Glasgow, and there's an even in Edinburgh later this year (can't remember the date, or even the promotion at the moment, will check FB) that's billing The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega.

See I don't really like the AJ/Shane idea either, AJ deserves way better than to be stuck in a match with a guy who isn't even a wrestler - besides which I could see one or both of them legit killing themselves, Shane is mental as we know, and AJ will have to go some to get a great match out of him! I mean sure if they put on a match like Shane/Kurt Angle back in the day I'll be happy after the fact, but I don't see it happening. I do think it shows Vince is high on AJ though, because Vince is insane and I honestly believe he thinks a Mania match with a McMahon is more prestigious than a Mania title shot! I guess we'll see next week, but I just have a nasty feeling that Harper is beating AJ for the Mania main event spot and somehow the AJ/Shane feud comes out of that.

I'm with you on Strowman, I'm genuinely surprised by how much he's impressing me, I'm now starting to worry that this whole push is designed for Roman to go over, not at Fastlane but somewhere down the line :/ I also agree that a triple threat would be a way more desirable outcome, not holding out much hope, but it would be far better. I'm not convinced Taker can do 1 on 1 anymore after the Rumble tbh.

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 24 February 2017 - 04:44 AM

[WinterPhoenix]

So I was wrong about Harper beating AJ, it did feel weird for him to be suddenly pushed into the spotlight of a Mania Main Event out of nowhere - not that I dislike Harper I actually think he's pretty good, it was just odd. But it still looks like AJ will be getting Shane somehow, now that Randy wnats his title match - might do a triple threat but I doubt it, there's not much in Randy accepting that. Maybe they'll do Randy Vs AJ, Orton wins and AJ's out of the match. Shane interfere's or referee's or something, somehow causing AJ to lose, bang there's your match. At least that scenario see's AJ protected going in to Mania and I'm pleased that he got the win over Harper too. I'm still not too happy about Shane/AJ though, AJ has to win and it has to be a showstealer for it to be worth it. I just don't think Shane can still go enough to make that happen, not without seriously injuring himself or AJ, or at least forcing AJ to go harder than necessary to get a great match out of him. I used to think AJ could get a great match out of a cabbage though, so let's see.

On another note, did either of you's see the Orton/Wyatt promo at the end of Smackdown on Tuesday? What did you think of it?

[Gorefest]

Well, it was different. I think it is great to see that SD dares to give proper air time to a real storyline and allows the freedom for it to build. If I'd been a kid or teenager I'd probably find it pretty cool, so good for them. As a grown man it is a bit too much off with the fairies for me, but I can see the appeal for some of the target audience and both Wyatt and Orton sold it very well. So good for them and at least it is something different. It has a bit of the Matt vs Jeff Hardy weirdness about it but then with a supernatural twist. Not my cup of tea, but it is distinct and it was well executed. I'm interested to see what will happen at WM and that in itself means that it achieved its goal.

[Gorefest]

Also seems like most of those Meltzer predictions are falling into place. Miz/Maryse vs Cena/Nikki Bella (nice Cena promo btw). Ambrose vs Corbin. Shane vs AJ (the setup was already made for it in the TalkSmack session afterwards). Orton vs Wyatt, possibly with some Harper (or even Rowan who is cleared again) intervention. So the SD side of the card seems nearly set. Women's title match (natalya vs Bliss now that Naomi is injured?). Lynch vs Mikki James grudge-match. And probably the tag team title (american Alpha vs Usos).

[WinterPhoenix]

Gorefest, on 02 March 2017 - 10:31 PM, said:

Well, it was different. I think it is great to see that SD dares to give proper air time to a real storyline and allows the freedom for it to build. If I'd been a kid or teenager I'd probably find it pretty cool, so good for them. As a grown man it is a bit too much off with the fairies for me, but I can see the appeal for some of the target audience and both Wyatt and Orton sold it very well. So good for them and at least it is something different. It has a bit of the Matt vs Jeff Hardy weirdness about it but then with a supernatural twist. Not my cup of tea, but it is distinct and it was well executed. I'm interested to see what will happen at WM and that in itself means that it achieved its goal.

Yeah I agree with you about them giving an actual storyline some room to breathe, Wyatt is alos very, very good at what he does he manages not to make it seem overly melodramatic, something I'm not sure Randy completely succeeded at doing, but he was solid enough. I think I probably would have enjoyed it more if I was a teenager or something, and I definitely would have enjoyed it more had they gone with a found footage/camcorder feel simply because it sucked me out to realise there was a camera man filming Randy in this so-called dark temple. Nonetheless I still felt it was one of WWE's best promos in a long time to be honest. Interesting that you bring up Matt and Jeff btw, latest rumours being that Broken Matt and Brother Nero are on their way back to the WWE.

As for the Meltzer predictions, yeah it looks like they are playing out, I was honestly hoping he was wrong. I still haven't seen the Talking Smack bit tbh, how was the match set-up? I have a strong fear which I just getting stronger tbh that the Shane AJ match will be used as way of getting AJ on RAW. Vince is high on AJ (even if his 'rewards' are just indicative of how much the old man has simply lost it) so sending him to the 'flagship' show will be his idea of a reward. But RAW is awful, worse it's #reignswinslol land. On Smackdown he is a big fish in a relatively small but competitively great pond, on RAW he's a mid sized fish in an ocean filled with semi-retired whales (part timers) and a big Blue Whale 'face of the company' in Reigns. He'll do brilliantly with whatever he is given, that's just what Styles does but he won't get what he deserves on RAW.

Which brings me nicely onto this, I just watched Fastlane, my god what an awful event, one of the worst PPV's I have ever watched! I'll spoiler my thoughts.

Spoiler

Soooooo bad, the Crusierweight match between Neville and Gallagher was literally the only genuinely good match of the night, everything else was varying degrees of average to exceedingly awful and the booking was just batshit insane overall!

Joe V Zayn I could actually understand from a booking pov, i.e Joe is a monster. But they are really missing a trick with the whole Zayn underdog thing at the moment, and Zayn and Joe are two fantastic wrestlers, they really should have used the match as a chance to let us see them put on a clinic, Joe should still have gone over but yeah.

Reigns wins clean, fuck me. This was just fucking typical, monster heel is built up only to be fed to the top Babyface. Wyatt has only just started to overcome the booking he received after losing to super-Cena - though he'll probably lose to Randy at Mania tbh - and Rusev is now firmly a jobber. Give it 6 months, Strowman will be in comedy skits! I was honestly just starting to actually enjoy Strowman, he was impressing me no end, as Rusev did, and I feared it was all leading up to a Reigns clean defeat but I genuinely did not expect it to come so soon! Now whatever they do with Taker to make the Mania match will feel forced by comparison - at least a Taker interference made a small amount of sense - and the build-up will be even more abysmal. The smallest sliver of hope is that this means it won't be Reigns/Taker and they've abandoned that idea, but I genuinely believe we will see two maybe three spears and the 'Big Dog' standing tall over the broken shell of the Undertaker Taker/Cena would be a godsend at this point.

Charlotte's PPV streak ends on a C class PPV instead of bringing it into Mania and the babyface wins with cheating tactics, even though it was inadvertent, it still makes zero sense.

I don't even wanna talk about the Goldberg bullshit, I mean he was obviously winning but even still. That match lasted 21 seconds! Am actually happy for the eventual Jericho/Owens blowoff match, think it would have been better for the title but that was never going to happen. I just laugh at all the people who thought the Goldberg/Lesnar match was a great piece of booking, it wasn't, it was just necessary, even in his heyday Goldberg matches rarely lasted 5 minutes. He cannot go. You'd think the Mania match has to be an actual match right? Now I'm not so sure. At any rate we're one step closer to Lesnar/Reigns Summerslam 2017 Main Event.

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 06 March 2017 - 06:58 AM

[Aptorian]

WinterPhoenix, on 06 March 2017 - 06:54 AM, said:

Spoiler

I don't even wanna talk about the Goldberg bullshit, I mean he was obviously winning but even still. That match lasted 21 seconds! Am actually happy for the eventual Jericho/Owens blowoff match, think it would have been better for the title but that was never going to happen. I just laugh at all the people who thought the Goldberg/Lesnar match was a great piece of booking, it wasn't, it was just necessary, even in his heyday Goldberg matches rarely lasted 5 minutes. He cannot go. You'd think the Mania match has to be an actual match right? Now I'm not so sure. At any rate we're one step closer to Lesnar/Reigns Summerslam 2017 Main Event.

Spoiler

I'm surprised at how protected Goldberg has remained. In the start I thought that it was because he was out of shape/brittle as glass but I expected there to be a progression. I expected Fastlane to convince the viewers that Goldberg is actually able to put on a fight but this was even shorter than the other fights.

What's going to happen at Wrestlemania? Surely, SURELY, they're not going to pull a 1 minute 20 seconds finish again, so what's going to happen? Will Goldberg shatter if he gets supplexed? Will there be any kind of actual wrestling? I'm confused.

Not to mention the question of what happens to the belt? Both Goldberg and Lesnar are part timers. So what happens next? Goldberg can't keep putting on these matches. It will lose its magic.

[WinterPhoenix]

Apt, on 06 March 2017 - 08:45 AM, said:

WinterPhoenix, on 06 March 2017 - 06:54 AM, said:

Spoiler

I don't even wanna talk about the Goldberg bullshit, I mean he was obviously winning but even still. That match lasted 21 seconds! Am actually happy for the eventual Jericho/Owens blowoff match, think it would have been better for the title but that was never going to happen. I just laugh at all the people who thought the Goldberg/Lesnar match was a great piece of booking, it wasn't, it was just necessary, even in his heyday Goldberg matches rarely lasted 5 minutes. He cannot go. You'd think the Mania match has to be an actual match right? Now I'm not so sure. At any rate we're one step closer to Lesnar/Reigns Summerslam 2017 Main Event.

Spoiler

I'm surprised at how protected Goldberg has remained. In the start I thought that it was because he was out of shape/brittle as glass but I expected there to be a progression. I expected Fastlane to convince the viewers that Goldberg is actually able to put on a fight but this was even shorter than the other fights.

What's going to happen at Wrestlemania? Surely, SURELY, they're not going to pull a 1 minute 20 seconds finish again, so what's going to happen? Will Goldberg shatter if he gets supplexed? Will there be any kind of actual wrestling? I'm confused.

Not to mention the question of what happens to the belt? Both Goldberg and Lesnar are part timers. So what happens next? Goldberg can't keep putting on these matches. It will lose its magic.

Spoiler

I'm genuinely not sure, I've got a nasty feeling Mania will end with a 2 minute squash match, the only difference being the winner. Lesnar sidesteps the spear, Goldberg hit the turn buckle, Lesnar hits the F5 for the win. Makes him look strong again for the eventual Reigns victory, and continues to work around the fact that Goldberg could never go very long even at his best, now he simply cannot go at all. If this ends Mania it will be shit on so badly by the crowd :/

I think the belt will just be defended by Lesnar in the same manner it was previously, i.e. sporadically. I'm pretty sure he's winning at Mania, question is simply how the book the match at this point.

Frankly the magic for me disappeared with Goldberg's first Lesnar fight way back at Wrestlemania 20 :/

[Aptorian]

I've been having myself a Wrestling weekend.

Watched the Hall of Fame ceremony yesterday. Never watched one of these before (olders ones aren't on the Network?) It was actually quite good. Plenty of time for the inductors and inductees to do their presentations and thank you speeches. Especially DDP and Kurt Angle's sections were great. Paige is a fantastic performer and you can tell that even in his old age, the guy oozes charisma and showmanship. The Kurt Angle segment seemed like it was just the beginning of something. I'll be curious to see if he shows up during Wrestlemania or the post-Mania show, Monday.

Been catching up on old PPV's in anticipation of Mania. I've decided to focus on watching Rumbles and Manias on the Network for the time being. Trying to watch all the PPVs or even just Rumble and Mania + Summer Slam and Survivor Series felt like pulling teeth. Not fun. Focusing on Rumble and Mania I am now in 2003. It's the beginning of the Ruthless Aggression era and people like Cena, Batista and Orton are showing up. It's actually making me stop up and jump through some of the PPVs because the stories in there are interesting. It's funny to see Brock Lesnar as a baby face, fighting a Heel Big Show represented by Paul Heyman. McMahon is also looking incredible. I watched his Mania fight against Ric Flair and he dwarfed the Nature Boy. Incredible transformation he went through over a decade.

Starting to get excited for Mania despite not really being terribly invested in any one of the scheduled matches. I'm wondering if anyone will care to guess what the outcomes of the matches tonight/tommorow will be?

These are the announced matches:

Quote

WWE Championship Match
Bray Wyatt © vs. Randy Orton

Universal Championship Match
Goldberg © vs. Brock Lesnar

The Phenom vs. The Big Dog
The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

Power Couples Collide
John Cena & Nikki Bella vs. The Miz & Maryse

Non-Sanctioned Match
Seth Rollins vs. Triple H

SmackDown LIVE Commissioner vs. The Phenomenal One
Shane McMahon vs. AJ Styles

Raw Women’s Championship Fatal 4-Way Elimination Match
Bayley © vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

United States Championship Match
Chris Jericho © vs. Kevin Owens

Intercontinental Championship Match
Dean Ambrose © vs. Baron Corbin

SmackDown Women’s Championship Match
Champion Alexa Bliss to defend against all female SmackDown LIVE Superstars who are available to compete

Raw Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match
Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson © vs. Enzo Amore & Big Cass vs. Cesaro & Sheamus

The Fourth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (Kickoff Match)
Featuring Big Show, Sami Zayn, Braun Strowman, Apollo Crews, Mojo Rawley and more Superstars

WWE Cruiserweight Championship Match (Kickoff Match)
Neville © vs. Austin Aries (PREVIEW)

Orton vs Wyatt I have no idea about. I feel like it's a terrible idea to take Wyatts title away already but it would be the right wrap up of Ortons story for him to win over the Heel at Mania. I suspect Orton wins but I'd prefer Wyatt winning, maybe with the help of Eric Rowan running interference against Luke Harper. Maybe a surprise appearance of Strowmann?

I want Goldberg to win, but in terms of booking I think Lesnar has to win. The title needs to change hands. Unless Goldberg signs a contract for another year. Like we've discussed before, I could see Lesnar winning and retaining the belt until Summerslam where Orton and Lesnar have a rematch and Orton becomes the new Universal champion.

I think Roman Reigns wins and it's booked as a Heel turn. It has to be. After the Rumble, Undertake looks old. I can't imagine him doing this again next year.

I'm guessing John Cena and Nikki Bella win against The Miz and Maryse, and then Cena proposes and we have the feel god moment of the evening. Mirroring the Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth moment from way back. But I really want The Miz and Maryse to win. They've been on fire this year.

I think Seth Rollins has to win over HHH. I'd love to see Finn Balor running interference against Samoa Joe. I also hope that the addition of Samoa Joe and the possible Heel turn of Reigns means we might see the formation of some kind of new stable but we'll see.

AJ Styles HAS to win against Shane McMahon. I think he wins but I'd love it if Shane wins. I've always liked him. And then Styles probably goes over to RAW.

I think the Raw's women's championship is a clusterfuck. I am guessing Banks betrays Bayley and becomes the new champion but I honestly have no idea which way this thing is going.

Owens vs Jericho for the United States Championship is interesting. I feel like Jericho should win for the feel good/come uppance against the dastardly heel. But he needs to drop the belt if he's leaving to go on tour with his band. I hope he wins and then relenquishes the belt because of a made up injury. Could be cool if Owens wins and it's a start of a more brutal, more mean Owens heel run. I want scary Owens, not chicken shit Owens.

I don't like neither Dean Ambrose or Baron Corbin. I hope they both break a leg. Corbin seems to be getting a push, so he might win but considering how Ambrose has been treated the past months I think he deserves a win at Mania.

Again, don't care about Alexa Bliss or the Smackdown womens roster.

I want Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tagteam champions belt. I think they're a great team and they deserve a title run.

I think Neville Wins against Austin Aries for the Cruiserweight title but I have to say Aries would be an interesting Champion.

This post has been edited by Apt: 02 April 2017 - 05:27 PM

[Aptorian]

Running observations during the show.

Spoilers:

Spoiler

Boy that sure is a long ass ramp. If somebody falls while running down that thing, it will take them 5 minutes to stop rolling. I was half expecting Kingston to lose control of that ice cream bike and just accelerate up to 88 mph and explode against the ring.

Much like Enzo and Kaz's entrance, I feel like The New Days intro thing is way past played out. It's fun but it's so god damn old now. I get that WWE likes to create a formula that the fans recognize and react to, but they need to change shit up now.

So, McMahon vs Styles goes on first. That's a show of confidence I think. But AJ is coming out last? Isn't he the heel? Or is it just that, since this isn't a title match, they expected that Styles would get the bigger pop and so should go on last?

Dear god, McMahon just gave styles the fastest fucking elbow blow. Jesus.

They need to turn Styles face. The crowd is constantly cheering Styles and booing McMahon.

Predictably Styles won. Sort of annoyed by the commercial break just after the win. I would have liked to get the temperature on the mood between Shane and Styles. Are they cool now? Will the feud continue? I guess the predictable outcome is that they just drop the angle, because it was just a Plan B for Styles to have something to do at Mania.

Owens vs Jericho now. Some of my most antcipated matches starting out.

Oh shit, they brought back the "break the walls down" intro.

An okay match. Nothing special. Owens really isn't much of a Wrestler in my opinion but he's a great Heel. I think the power bomb to the rings edge and then throwing Jericho into the ring for a 3 count was an inelegant finish. Should have been some extra finishing move to seal the deal. But what ever.

I was sort of expecting some kind of interference by HHH. There's been that HHH connection since Jericho won the Universal championship but it never really goes anywhere. Why didn't we get some proper explanation for HHH making/suggesting that Owens should turn on Jericho?

The 4 way women's match is going to be interesting. I can't really see how this is going to turn out. Bayley looks pretty emotional. It must be cool for her to be the defending champion at Wrestlemania. As always Charlotte just looks fucking awesome. She is in a league of her own.

Ah the 3 horse women against Jax! This is cool. I loved the scene where Banks just wraps herself around Jax leg while the the other two throw themselves at the Big Woman. Banks was just holding on a flailing her legs for no reason. That was fun. And now they turn on Charlotte. I am actually loving this story telling.

Bailey retains the title. I don't think Bailey is great on the Mic but I think her emotional performance in this match helped a lot to sell the story. Bailey is one of those pure babyfaces that you really want to succeed. She just needs to some how either become a better wrestler or a more confident one.

Hall of Fame segment. After watching the ceremony Saturday, it actually feels more meaningful. Great to see the crowds reaction. Especially the Kurt Angle YOU SUCK chants. I wonder if he shows up on Monday as the new RAW commissioner... or is it general manager? I can never get those two straght.

Oh here we have the worn out Enzo and Kaz segment. God I wish they'd just make Enzo a manager create some kind of Big Guy team for Kaz to be a part of.

Alternately, while simple, I love the transformation of the Cesaro and Sheamus tag team. They came out in matching outfits and now Sheamus has rip away clothing too. I fucking love those two guys. Great wrestlers and a fun dynamic.

And of course then we have the Gallows and Anderson team which I think is just poorly booked consistently. From Bullet Club badasses to a team of Heel jobbers.

Oh shit, New Day is in the Ladder Match... Fatal 4 way? Now this match just got 50% more.... OH FUCK I WAS TYPING THIS SENTENCE AND THE FUCKING HARDY BOYS SHOWED UP!?!?!?
I am so fucking glad I went into a social media black out yesterday! Fucking hype!

I got swerved as fuck.

Great match so far. I generally don't like ladder matches but the amount of chaos going on is cool. There's ladders fucking everywhere.

Kaz just big booted Jeff Hardy out of the air. That was fucking cool.

That Cesaro swing/Sheamus Chest slap thing went on for an hour.

The Hardy Boys won. Sort of bullshit, them coming in and winning day one and at the same time just awesome. The table, ladders and chairs veterans should win I think. Will be interesting to see where they go from here.

Jerry Lawler is guest commentating on the Miz vs Cena matc. I wonder if JR shows up as well? I heard he might be replacing Mauro on the mic. Would be cool to have a King and JR reunion.

This is a fun match. We all know that people love to hate on Cena but Miz really is playing to the crowd. I don't know how much merch the Miz sells, but he's certainly been doing a great job of becoming a popular heel. I've also noticed that he's looking pretty good, dude put on some muscle.

Okay, that was a quick match. Did I miss something or did Bella and Maryse not even get to wrestle? I wonder if one of them is injured?

And Cena proposed. Awhh. The way they set that up, with Cena telling a story of him asking a question she couldn't remember, I thought they were going to pull a fast one on us. Cena revealing she said something terrible, like she slept with the Miz or something, and then he would give her an Attitude adjustment and turn heel but no, no, we can't have the soap opera drama that I want.

I wonder if they will continue this as a feud, where they have a Wrestling Wedding and the Miz and Maryse try to ruin their wedding? I think I would love that.

HHH vs Rollins now. I don't really care about Rollins so I wish HHH would win, but realistically, Rollins needs this win. Otherwise he'll look incredibly weak, with a year spent chasing a goal he yet again fails at.

HHH and Stephanie MchMahon sure now how to make an entrance. There's something about having big named Wrestlers only wrestling a couple of times a year. Getting to watch HHH in action feels awesome. In terms of look, presence and psychology, I think HHH is probably the best Heel they have in their Roster right now. Which probably says a lot about how poor the WWE is handling their recruitment, writing and booking currently.

Rollins fire effect intro thingy looks awesome. I'm surprised he made it down the ring without Samoa Joe ambushing him. Where is he? Hiding under the ring?

I tend to hate the matches that focus on an injury and everything centers around one guy kicking another guy who is down for 90% of the match. But this match was okay. I think Rollins did an acceptable job of protecting his injury and working around it.

I've never understood the Sledgehammer weapon as a gimmick. It's a preposterous tool to introduce into a Wrestling match. I think I've only ever seen somebody swing that thing once and connect with it, otherwise it's usually just used for some rib poke or something similar. It's dumb. Just use a chair. Or use a night stick or a lead pipe like Vinny Mac used to do.

Holy shit. Rollins won clean? No interference? No gimmicks? Just a finisher and a pinfall? Wow.

Pitbull music section. Pitbull is a strange, ugly man. It's like Moby became a latin club owner.

Wyatt vs Orton next. I find it peculiar that the fight for the big main title doesn't go on last. I realize in terms of fan interest the The Undertaker and Goldberg fights are properly bigger crowd favorites but this is "The Belt" we're talking about. This is supposed to be the biggest accomplishment. The most prestigeous title. What people dream of achieving. Some times I really don't understand how WWE books their matches.

That maggot image they super imposed on the ring is cool. There's some potential in that gimmick. Kane's flames? Undertakers... I don't know, dirt?

That was a terrible match. Wyatt hits Orton with a Sister Abigail and he shrugs it off. Orton hits Wyatt with a RKO and Wyatt is out? Why do they continue to book Wyatt this weak? He's supposed to be a supernatural boogy woogy guy like Undertaker. Orton won and now what? This doesn't feel significant to me at all. And why no Luke Harper interference? Did they do away with Wrestlemania interferences?

They just completely ignored that the biggest belt changed hands as well. No tear filled exhausted celebration. No standing ovation. Bullshit.

Here comes the Lesnar vs Goldberg fight. 10 minutes of introduction and stage walks and 2 minutes of nonsense... or? Please let this actually be a fight that is worth the build up.

Oh man the crowd boo'd when Goldberg was introduced by the announcer.

Here comes Supplex City! And a counter spear! Amd a spear through a barricade?! Yes! An actual match! They're just spamming finishing move against each other. This is cool.

Holy shit Lesnar just jumped OVER Goldbergs spear? Jesus that guy is crazy.

10 supplexes? An F5?! Lesnar won?! Holy shit. This was actually okay. It like the abbreviated version of a Wrestling match, with all the fat and filler cut out. This was the match of the night so far I think.

Next up the Smackdown Women's match. I hate half these women and don't particularly care for the rest. No surprise Naomi wins in her home city. Predictable booking.

Fimlly the Undertaker vs Reigns match. I guess it would make sense to have it go on last. Or is it last? I am looking at the minute counter and there's over an hour left. No way Undertaker can last more than 20.

Ah, here we have Jim Ross. Glad to see him on screen. Especially after what happened to his wife last week.

Reigns is coming in first. Show of Respect for the Undertaker or signifying that he is the heel? Please, let this be a heel turn.

The Undertakers entrance is incredible. He's got better special effects than Disney. Nothing quite like his slow walk to the ring. Now lets see if he is actually able to move.

Yeah, this is a slow match. Lots of back and forth punching and walking around. The Undertaker is showing strength though. He punched Reigns out of the air when he was doing that driveby kick thing, and he caught him out of the air with a choke hold when he tried a super man punch. That spear through the table looked great as well.

Reigns is taking a serious beating. Last Rides, Tombstones and Reigns is just throwing Superman punches left and right.

Pretty bad botch there, where Reigns was trying to counter into a reverse tombstone or some kind of bodyslam, and the Undertaker tried to save it but none of them had balance or purchase. Just looked bad all around. I think it was meant to be a finish, because Resigns did a Superman punch afterwards but Taker wasn't having it.

I wonder if they're pulling a heel turn through Reigns getting frustrated and eventually just chair slamming Undertaker 50 times or something?

Oh no, they did a clean win. Sort of a reverse of the Taker vs Shane match. This is terrible. Why would you end Mania this way? Either make it ugly or make Taker win. This is a terrible way to wrap up the evening. I really, really do not understand the writing team for WWE.

And then he takes off his gear and leaves it in the ring? Was this the final match?! Did they always plan for this to be the retirement match? Why not have Kane do the honors instead? Or Cena or Wyatt or Styles?

What a fucking disappointment to an otherwise great Mania.

This post has been edited by Apt: 03 April 2017 - 11:22 AM