WWE/NXT/AEW/NJPW Thread

[Amherstcavsfan]

Should I watch this show? I'm really not feeling like it right now.

The first half was awesome.

If you could somehow play it backwards, itd be a legit great Mania. If I were you, Id turn it off after the ladder match. I guess even after HHH vs Rollins even.

Didnt bother to stay up for the Main Event. Had to be up early and Taker hasnt been good since, like, Mania 27. Also not a huge Taker fan either and I dispise Reigns. Heard it was garbage, which is sad, but also unsurprising.

 

[CBBI]

The Reigns hate in this thread will not stand.

Dude is awesome and if you don't get it you're just a bunch of marks

 

[Derek]

Should I watch this show? I'm really not feeling like it right now.

Just pretend that Rollins/HHH is the main event, and turn it off after that. Everything before that was highly enjoyable.

 

[blommen]

Watched the AJ - Shane match and if that didn't secure AJ a job for the rest of his life, I don't know what will. He just carried Shane to the best match he possibly could've had and made him look infinitely better than he actually is. Way better than I ever expected it to be.

 

[TheLand1287]

The more I think about it, as much as I despise the decision for Reigns to be the one to end The Undertaker, I think I despise the booking of it even more. How do you NOT turn Reigns heel there?! Just more of the same shit where casual fans at home have more of a clue than the people who get paid to write this garbage.

And as much as I hated the result of that match, I hate the result of Wyatt/Orton just as much if not more. Crappy match with a crappy finish (random RKO out of nowhere as if this was a regular TV match). Just more ass backwards booking. Like @Jack Brickman said months ago... how do you not have Wyatt win the rumble, Orton win the title at EC, and Wyatt win the title to get his WM moment. Wyatt is still winless at WM. The guy had a month reign and one TV title defense. Orton is a 13 time champion. It's just so bad. I don't understand it.

And what the fuck was the point in bringing in Samoa Joe a month and a half ago? He's had zero direction and wasn't even a part of WM. Total waste of what was supposed to be a huge debut. And yeah, let's not let Strowman/Zayn/Harper get any rub for winning the battle royal so Gronk can come in and help Mojo Rawley win over Jinder Mahal, of all people.

The one good thing I can say is that Styles/Shane match fucking delivered. That was arguably the most criticized match on the card, and rightfully so, but man it's time to give Shane the credit he deserves. No one is going to mistake him for Shawn Michaels out there, but the guy can work.

 

[Derek]

Not that anyone cares what I think, but:

Pre-Show

Neville v Aries: *** and 1/2

Glad they gave these two time to put on a good match even if it was only on the pre-show.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal: **

Thought this was a good time to re-establish Strowman as a dominant force or to give a push to someone like Zayn. Looks like this was where they decided to get a celebrity involved for the mainstream media attention.

Ambrose v Corbin: **

Should have been a No DQ match considering how this feud was built up. Lackluster match that ultimately derails the momentum Corbin had been building.

Main Card

Styles v McMahon: ****

Obviously Styles had a lot to do with how well this match went over, but Shane deserves some credit as well. He did more technical wrestling in this match that in all of his others combined. That reversal into a DDT followed by the Shooting Star Press attempt was a great spot. They also managed to get in Shane's signature spots with the Coast to Coast and the Leap of Faith attempt.

Owens v Jericho: ****

Not much more to say that hasn't already been said. These two have bene the highlight of Raw pretty much since the draft, and this was a good culmination of their feud. Ideally it would have been for the Universal title, and given a little more time, but this was still very good.

Bayley v Charlotte v Sasha Banks v Nia Jax: *** and 1/2

Just a little too much going on for the time this was given. With four people in an elimination style match, this needed twice the time it was given. That said, Charlotte is a star, and Bayley is very likable. The division has been booked oddly, and there is no depth beyond these four. However, considering the women's matches used to be bathroom breaks, it hard not to appreciate how far they've come in such a short time.

The Hardy Boyz v The Club v Enzo and Cass v Sheamus and Cesaro: ****

Matt and Jeff returning was great, even if it was somewhat expected if you paid attention to the dirt sheets, and the fact that they had just dropped the ROH titles. Everybody else brought their "A" game as well, and put on a great match. It will be interesting to see if the Hardys continue with their Broken gimmick given the litigation with Impact right now.

Cena and Bella v Miz and Maryse: **

As disappointing as it was for Miz to be thrown into this match to take the loss after such a great year, this wasn't on the card for the actual wrestling. Cool moment for Cena and Bella, but in the end it was a down moment.

Rollins v Triple H: ****

The real main event in my opinion. I'm so glad Rollins was able to make it back in time for this match, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do moving forward since Triple H most likely won't be wrestling again until next year. I'd assume he does something with Joe given the recent history. If things get re-shuffled as anticipated, I'd love to see him go toe to toe with Styles.

Orton v Wyatt: ** and 1/2

Good build up to this match, but I think it's clear everyone wanted Wyatt to win. Also, given that both of these guys are capable of some very good in-ring work, it's odd that they were barely given 10 minutes. This had the potential to be something really good, but I'm guessing these two aren't done with each other. Hopefully Wyatt gets the title back at some point in this feud.

I went to bed after Wyatt/Orton, so I didn't have to see the Goldberg/Lesnar 5 minute Suplex/Spear/Finisher extravaganza or the burying of the Undertaker.

I enjoyed what I saw, but it's clear that WWE is out of touch with their fan base given the matches they had close out the show.

Anyways, in the coming months I'm looking forward to seeing the rosters get re-shuffled a bit along with some potential returns (Balor/Angle), and some potential debuts (Nakamura/Revival/DIY).

 

[Real Deal]

Lesnar is scheduled for Raw, then most likely going on his hiatus, and there is literally no way in hell he takes the universal strap with him. WWE may rest in piece tonight because current booking is telling me Reigns is beating Lesnar clean and will stand tall in his yard. Puke.

 

[Derek]

Lesnar is scheduled for Raw, then most likely going on his hiatus, and there is literally no way in hell he takes the universal strap with him. WWE may rest in piece tonight because current booking is telling me Reigns is beating Lesnar clean and will stand tall in his yard. Puke.

I've heard they are planning a lengthy title reign for Lesnar, probably with him dropping the strap at Summerslam to Reigns.

Either way, it's bad.

 

[DJTJ]

Taker wasn't executing the tombstone. He was doing the tombstone setup and Reigns was supposed to counter with his own Tombstone.

Taker would then either kick out and take a spear to end the match or go out on his own move.

Instead Reigns not only botched the counter he failed to set up the move the two other opportunities taker gave him to execute the move.

Reigns had stated he could Tombstone Undertaker before the match and failed.

the counter was botched. You can see taker brace for roman only Roman didn't move to his spot. causing the poor looking stutter step. cause there was no way Taker was gonna allow Reigns to kick out of two Tombstones in that scenario

Watched Mania with two trained wrestlers, both of which said on the counter, if the opponent sandbags, they're done.

Reigns is not Lesnar or Cena or Cesaro strong. We can stop pretending he can lift someone of that height, and that weight from below his knees on a counter with no assistance, and that he'd have NO chance to do it immediately after.

On the actual counter, when the countering wrestler hits the mat, the other guy jumps. Take can't jump. They should have scrapped it after the first, and Roman should have hit it on his own after Taker said you don't have the balls.

 

[TheLand1287]

I've heard they are planning a lengthy title reign for Lesnar, probably with him dropping the strap at Summerslam to Reigns.

Either way, it's bad.

It's honestly hard for me to care about the Universal title. It just feels so second tier to the WWE World Heavyweight Title. They should have just split the WWE Title and World Heavyweight Title up after the brand split like they had it 3+ years ago before they combined the belts.

 

[Real Deal]

Watched Mania with two trained wrestlers, both of which said on the counter, if the opponent sandbags, they're done.

Reigns is not Lesnar or Cena or Cesaro strong. We can stop pretending he can lift someone of that height, and that weight from below his knees on a counter with no assistance, and that he'd have NO chance to do it immediately after.

On the actual counter, when the countering wrestler hits the mat, the other guy jumps. Take can't jump. They should have scrapped it after the first, and Roman should have hit it on his own after Taker said you don't have the balls.

Not to go crazy on this topic again because it's over and done with and 90% of the universe blames Reigns and cries botch, but watch more of Reigns on the 1st reversal attempt, his hands dropped off Takers back and knees collapsed. 2nd attempt was stupid on both parts. Looks to me Reigns lost grip and Taker didn't expect that and was ready to go up.

Who knows really, if your talk of sandbagging is true then that's why Undertaker retired. He felt that he let that match down and needs to quit because his body can't handle it anymore, simply no strength and fatigue left to hold his own.

 

[DJTJ]

Not to go crazy on this topic again because it's over and done with and 90% of the universe blames Reigns and cries botch, but watch more of Reigns on the 1st reversal attempt, his hands dropped off Takers back and knees collapsed. 2nd attempt was stupid on both parts. Looks to me Reigns lost grip and Taker didn't expect that and was ready to go up.

Who knows really, if your talk of sandbagging is true then that's why Undertaker retired. He felt that he let that match down and needs to quit because his body can't handle it anymore, simply no strength and fatigue left to hold his own.

He readjusts his hands when he realizes he's going to need to muscle him up.

Spot shouldn't have happened period, let alone a second time. I got to think the vet calls the retry.

 

[blommen]

Once again for the second year in a row NXT Takeover absolutely ate Wrestlemania's lunch during the weekend. I've said my piece about the current state of WWE plenty of times by now but for fucks sake, this shit is straight up EMBARASSING. When the highlight of the night was a five minute meat fest with two over the hill part timers, my dude, you done goofed. Big time. The Hardys returning and the Tag match in general was great, the Raw women were great as usual, and AJ managed to pull a 3 star match out of a guy who had fucking NO business having that good of a match but other than that? Holy shit was this event underwhelming.

I'm fucking over Triple H as a wrestler. Slow paced, overly long matches where he works over a body part just does not do it for me anymore, it's absolutely infuriating to think that Rollins could have faced Joe in that spot and they went with with the boss with no quads.

Corbin and Ambrose was a complete snoozefest, and it pisses me off how clueless they are in terms of how to use Ambrose. It's a goddamn miracle and a testament to just how talented he is that he still isn't completely dead to the live crowds because they have bungled god damn near everything with him for close to a year.

I knew I was going to hate the outcome of Wyatt and Orton because fuck WWE, but I didn't expect the match to be as bad as it was, so that was surprising i guess? Fuck man... With Cena reportedly going on break to film a movie and Orton as champion, The future of Smackdown is looking bleak to say the least. Hopefully they get their hands on Nakamura now that he's moving up because that show is going to need the mother of all saltwater injections to keep them afloat through that shit.

The mixed tag match was exactly as much of a complete afterthought as I expected. Like, i get it. Nikki has a broken neck and Maryse hasn't wrestled in 7 years and she was never really that good to begin so there was reason to expect them not to pull out all the stops but at least I would've expected Miz and Cena to try to put off a PPV caliber match. NOPE. complete non-match and utterly forgetable aside from the proposal, which I guess was nice, so that's something I suppose.

The Roman vs. 'Taker match was just one of the saddest fucking things I've ever seen in wrestling for a multitude of reasons. first of all, we all knew this was Takers last match and that shit is depressing in itself. On top of that, seing just how bad he had gotten further drove home the point that this should probably have ended 3 years ago. Then you realize that this could have been Taker vs. Cena, which Undertaker actually wanted, but Vince nixed it because he "wanted to think in the long term", and I'm not even saying that Cena would've made this match a classic either, because there are probably only 3 or 4 guys in the world who would be able to carry Taker to that kind of match, only one of them works in the WWE, and he already had a match on the card fucking 10 hours earlier against his boss. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGHHHH.

But ultimately the darkest part of that match, of all these thoroughly soul crushing aspects, lies in the fact that even after the past 3 years, after all these pushes all these failed attempts at getting over, all these train wreck promos and underwhelming in-ring performances, Vince still thinks going with Roman Reigns is what is best for the long term. Ultimately, what this show did was laying the groundwork for next years main event, which is going to be Lesnar vs. Roman II. And Roman is going to go over.

FUCK.

 

[Jack Brickman]

My Wrestlemania report card:

Neville Vs. Aries - ***1/2
Solid, well-paced match that was actually given enough time. The crowd was really into it too, which was great to see. The cruiserweight division seems to be gaining some steam, and they've put on a nice series of quality PPV title matches the past few months. Neville retaining was the right call, and they protected Aries in the win as well. Smart booking all around.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal - **
This was a battle royal that happened. No idea why they had Mojo win or what they see in him. He strikes me as a good "hot tag" guy but not much else. Nice to at least see Zayn and Killian Dain making it to the end, I guess.

Ambrose Vs. Corbin - **
This was every Dean Ambrose match from the past year. It was underwhelming and lacked energy. The wrong guy won too.

Styles Vs. McMahon - ***1/2
I thought the announcers really oversold Shane in this one to the point where it bordered on annoying. However, Shane put on a pretty good in-ring performance. I liked the early story of him catching AJ by surprise with his wrestling ability, but I thought they didn't really pay it off by having AJ eventually start taking Shane seriously and just destroying him. Shane got far too much offense in for my liking. Regardless, Styles continues to impress and hopefully he'll be champ again before too long.

Owens Vs. Jericho - ****
After this match, Owens will be one tag title win away (and you know he and Zayn are gonna be tag champs at some point) from being another WWE grand slam champion. Kind of crazy, as most people never thought he'd even get a legit chance on the main roster at all a few years ago. Also, I think this match had more wrestling moves utilized than both Lesnar/Goldberg and Reigns/Taker combined times three. I thought this match was pretty much perfect for what it was. Two great in-ring guys who were former friends who knew each other's moves and, thus, countered them accordingly. I also liked that Owens had to hit the apron bomb to get the win. I'm hoping that this takes Jericho off screen for a while. It's a great cap to his last year-plus run and was easily the best wrestling match on the entire card.

Bayley Vs. Charlotte Vs. Nia Vs. Sasha - ***
They handled Nia about as well as could be expected and got her out of there early so she couldn't weigh the match down. If only Sasha and Bayley were smarter after that and just teamed up to destroy Charlotte. But faces in the WWE are always stupid, so what can you do? I also think the placement of this match was unfortunate. You made these girls follow Styles/Shane and Owens/Jericho, the two hottest feuds heading into 'Mania? I would have had them open, as I think this would have been the perfect match to get the crowd into the show without overshadowing the matches that followed. I think this one would have been better given more time (Sasha was eliminated way too early), and if they hadn't botched pulling off the turnbuckle past seeing as major points in the match revolved around it. How they fucked that up is beyond me. Also a strange decision to have Bayley win with a move she has never won a match with before.

Loved the "you suck" chants for Angle. You could tell he loved it too.

Gallows & Anderson Vs. Enzo & Cass Vs. Cesaro & Sheamus Vs. the Broken Hardys - ***1/2
Called that fucking Hardy return and win. Honestly, my only real complaints with this one are that Enzo and Cass were mostly just dead weight in this one and that it didn't get a bit more time. They could have shaved five minutes off of Shane/Styles and given it to these guys. Kudos to the Hardys for working this one a night after destroying themselves against the Young Bucks in Ring of Honor, especially Jeff who took that major swanton bump. All in all, fun match that will be more memorable because of the Hardy return than anything.

Cena & Nikki Vs. Miz & Maryse - **
Hilarious how King tried to play off that the crowd was firmly behind the Miz. Miz was working the crowd like a fucking champ, although it's a shame he was basically the face here because he's such a great heel. The match itself was all right. I think a straight Cena/Miz match would have been a lot better, as the women barely did anything anyway. It also would have been a lot better if Miz had won. Instead, we got the typical Super Cena shit where he gets his ass kicked for most of the match but then is suddenly totally fine when it's time to hit a couple of moves and end the match.

Triple H Vs. Seth Rollins - **1/2
This match was way too long for its spot on the card. You can't pull off a twenty-five minute match four hours into a wrestling show unless it's fucking amazing, and this was merely okay. I thought the beginning and ending were great, but the match just dragged in the middle. Triple H's entrance was great as usual.

Bray Wyatt Vs. Randy Orton - *
Sweet jesus this was fucking awful. I thought this would be one of the better matches on the card. Instead, it was the worst.

Brock Lesnar Vs. Goldberg - ***1/2
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. They worked a sprint style, and there were only about four different moves delivered during the entire fucking match, but it worked. Sadly, this was probably the best match of Goldberg's career.

Bliss Vs. Natalya Vs. Lynch Vs. Naomi Vs. James Vs. Carmella - **1/2
I felt pretty bad for the women in this match, as they essentially got screwed over by a packed card and an unfortunate placement. As a result, they didn't even get six minutes. Naomi's entrance was awesome and the match itself was fine. It was fast-paced, which was good given that the crowd had to be exhausted by this point in the night. Naomi winning wasn't exactly a surprise, but it was the right call in Orlando.

Roman Reigns Vs. The Undertaker - *
Dear god this was fucking terrible. I find it baffling that the same people who booked Lesnar/Goldberg and somehow so perfectly understood the strengths of the men involved and worked with them also booked this shit show. An Undertaker match, even if it's his last, in 2017 has no business being over twenty minutes long. The man just can't do that any more and it showed. The botches didn't help either, and regardless of whose fault they were it's not a good look for Roman to drop the ball so badly in his third 'Mania main event in a row. This is the second in a row that bombed.

---

This show started off pretty strong, but man it fell the fuck apart at the end. No idea how Roman gets to keep bombing in Wrestlemania main events and then get another one the following year. What a fucking joke.

 

[Real Deal]

"SHUT THE FUCK UP"

"ASSHOLE"

"GO AWAY"

Some chants I seen trending on Twitter