Wrestlemania XXIX Feedback/Review Thread *KEEP IT ALL IN HERE*

[Azane]

Underwhelming by quite a bit, going to echo what most are saying, it felt like a B PPV, doesn't live up to a WMania hype at all, definitely didnt feel worth spending double the normal money for the night.

Punk/Taker was match of the night.
4/6 of the main event wrestlers being part time really hurt the build up, I don't mind Taker, as he is the icon of Wrestlemania, but having Brock, HHH and Rocky all in the Main events hurt more than I expected.


Honestly, 1 year from now, I'll remember 2 things, 1. The Buildup to Punk vs Undertaker, and 2. That WWE had the balls to have Via Satelite as the World Champion at Wrestlemania.

I don't think I'll remember any of the actual matches.... maybe a little of Punk and Taker.

 

[Suneeboy]

They had some sloppy spots in many of the matches, and many of the finishes were underwhelming.

I also felt that the show lacked excitement and a consistent level of drama that past shows have had. I didn't necessarily need a swerve or a heel turn to happen, but I would've liked it if "something" happened. Something that would hook me in and force me to tune in to tomorrow's RAW.

However, all I received were some pretty basic matches, mediocre play-by-play (can someone tell Michael Cole to stop calling german and belly-to-belly suplexes "throws"), a few botches, and no surprises.

 

[AndThat'sTheBottomLine]

The only reason why I would've even bought the PPV would've been for Punk/Taker and Brock/HHH but had to work so I didn't get to waste $60 on a WM that really should've been called Survivor Series or RR. Hell Summer Slam would've been a fine name for this WM. From what I read, it was a crappy excuse of a WM. And no it's not because Cena won. I have long since made my peace with Cena winning the title. It certainly wasn't Punk/Taker. I was on a roller coaster ride READING let alone watching. HHH/Lesnar was pretty good too. Alberto/Swagger was ok but I was really let down that Ziggler didn't cash in. I'm becoming more and more convinced that they're just going to let the briefcase expire. What a waste. And how the fuck long are they going to let Team Hell No continue to limp on? They've lost so much steam since Rumble it's not even funny anymore. Tonight would've been perfect for splitting them up as well as push Ziggler and Big E. Jericho/Fandango was ok but pretty forgettable. I didn't like the finish. The Shield beating Orton/Sheamus/Show made me happy and the match itself seemed pretty decent. My problem is that all signs pointed towards a Orton heel turn and then...SWERVE! Show turns again! Wait hasn't he been a heel this whole time? Either way I'm tired of WWE swerving us just to do it. It gets in the way of smart decisions.

I think that was all of it. Again, pretty forgettable Mania. Nothing of note happened that wouldn't happen at any other PPV. Pretty much a wasted Mania and it really just feels like they're coasting until they get to the big 30. Meh, I'll give it a 4/10 and that might be a little too generous.

EDIT: I completely forgot about the Ryback/Henry match! Lol. The match was a bizarre one with a bizarre ending. Nothing special.

 

[nickbell32]

It was boring. You knew what was going to happen. It didnt feel like the past Wrestlemaina's. I know throughout the show they were promoting cena and rock. But when it got to it, John Cena just wonders out! No preview right before
like they normally do, and no big entrances. I like the special Wrestlemaina entrances. Think they missed it this year.

I think they need to bring back a kind of money in the bank thing. Doesn't have to be a money in the bank. But a match that brings that kind of excitement. Also the money in the bank match involves people, gives people that wouldn't be on the card a chance. For example this year, there were alot of superstars watching on, it gives more superstars to steel the show. And if there was a money in the bank this year, it could have stole it

 

[latinoheat8979]

After watching the PPV I'm damn glad I didn't order it. It was very predictable. With the exception of the best match of the night, Punk vs Undertaker the rest of the matches were ok except for the crap that was the horrible Mark Henry vs Ryback match.

Pesonal gripes I had were they gave Diddy time to perform yet they scrap the 8 mixed tag match.

No Dolph MITB cash in

No Randy Orton heel turn

Another failed opportunity to trun Cena heel after he won his match. I was hoping he'd nail Rock with the belt but yet again the same BS

No shocking moment period

I feel bad for those that shelled out $70 for this lackluster PPV it wasn't worth it. 5 out of 10.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

I am starting to think the Undertaker really is not human. MC is pushing 50 and can still outwork the rest of the roster.
Otherwise a rather blaise PPV. No surprises in the main events. Unpopular but I think I am alone in thinking having the rookies, The Shield, constantly beating the best on the roster is wrong. TEAM HELL NO retaining was a surprise. Forget where Jimmie Hoffa is buried but Ryback got buried in Jersey.

I agree with the Shield part. They should have lost against Cena,Ryback and Sheamus at the earlier ppv. I like them but their streak is kinda of odd to me. Where is it all going ? What is the payoff going to be ? If I'm the three man band (McIntyre,Slater,Mahal) I'm super pissed. Not saying they are as good as the Shield, they're not, but I'd be pissed.

And I did notice that Tof vs Rhodes Scholars didn't happen and I had no idea why. I thought they were on the pre -show. The number of people left off who could have used the payday and probably have done better than most of the matches that were on here, is sad to me. I feel bad for those performers who were left off.

 

[mooseman]

When it comes to WrestleMania my ultimate opinion of the show is decided by answering 3 questions:
1) Did anyone steal the show? (ex Hardyz, E&C, Dudleyz WM 16 and 17) Answer is NO
2) Was there a moment that I will remember 5-10 years from now? (ex Austin-Vince WM17, Rock-Hogan 18, Flair-HBK 24) Answer is NO
3) Besides my pre-Mania routine of watching them all in a row leading up the current years PPV will I ever watch it again? Answer is NO.

 

[A1oner]

I agree with what is mostly being said except for one thing. I didn't feel that Taker/Punk was the match of the night. I felt Rock/Cena Took it by just a little bit. I really feel that all 3 main events were good matches but Rock/Cena had the build. No surprises but there weren't any last year. (I feel Rock/Cena could have went either way both times.) But I'm more excited about the year to come now. I expected some surprises but it was a decent show. What you would expect basically. I'll wait before I try to see what XXX will look like. Overall, it was what it was.....

 

[nickbell32]

In the past, there has been a load of favourites at the same time. Now I feel as if there just a load of mid carders. No one really able to step up. There needs to be more action. I know they are looking for kids to watch wwe. But it's going to drive more and more people away. WWE need to take a look and see what direction they want to go in because if they carry on this way they are just going to go down.

 

[c13vyper]

What irks me is they havent really given us a must see reason to tune in tommorow. Not to mention all the part time stars now disappear until the next big payday, and no one has been built up to carry the load in the absence, I.e. The Rise of Ziggler

 

[donfryeismyhero]

It was a good show, not great. The Shield looked great, glad they won. Punk/Undertaker was the best match of the night imo. I was very happy that Mark Henry got the win over Ryback (big Henry fan since '96). The winners were predictable but I was still hoping Lesnar & Rock were going to win. I liked the HHH/Brock match, very physical. Cena/Rock II was no where near as good as their first match. It's just so painful to watch John wrestle, the crippler crossface & stf are not hard moves to apply yet he sucks at both so hard. And the it's nice to know that Cole can't tell the difference between the two moves despite having called Lord knows how many Benoit matches throughout his career. Never thought for a moment that Cena would turn heel. I guess the two things I liked best about the main event was that their entrances were normal & it was cool that they should respect ala Rock/Hogan afterwards. All & all, I'm glad I got the event.

 

[HBK/RKO]

I enjoyed the HHH vs Lesnar match more than Punk vs Taker. The problem was my hopes were too high for that match and it couldn't live up to the hype of the last four manias for me. I felt like with the HHH/Lesnar match there was a chance HHH would lose because of HBK so I had some doubt which made the match exciting for me plus I thought it was just a good physical match in general. Like everyone said this Wrestlemania was average. I liked the Rock vs Cena match better this time around than last years but it seems most people hated it.

 

[619Edge619]

I don't feel like I would have missed out if I watched the replay tomorrow, but WM only comes once a year so YOLO(I don't usually say that, its 5am....)

 

[stee]

Pretty much agreeing with everyone here, though not to the same extent. Yeah, the show was pretty average. However, I enjoyed the first couple of matches, and was very happy seeing The Shield win, I even enjoyed the Fandango match (apart from the cheap roll up) You have to put the guy over well in his debut on the biggest stage of them all, not steal a win. Ryback not winning confused the hell out of me, where the hell does he go here, may as well bring back Skip Sheffield at this point! Obviously, Taker and Punk stole the show, and no, there weren't as good as the last 4 years, but were they ever going to be? And I still think Taker has a few more years left in him, I don't think he was as tanked as bad as many of you are saying. Brock and Lesnar was fine, but wasn't the huge intensity there that I was after, and Shawn definitely needed to play a bigger role!

And finally, the main event I though was a let down, not the outcome, as I think we all knew it coming in, but the match itself, I thought the crowd didnt give a shit and just wanted to go home, both guys looked tanked after 5 minutes and it just didnt look right, and then when they finally got going it was just finishers and kicking out, both seriously need to learn some new moves.

Overall I wasn't angered by the PPV, just a bit disappointed, I normally judge a PPV by how much I wanna watch RAW the night after. And with Punk probably not being there due to reports of him resting up, and Cena probably getting 2 hours to show the world how he got over the 'worst' year of his life, I may not even tune in, and by that standard, I guess WrestleMania 29 has failed me..

 

[Dream]

If anyone saw the Top 10 OMG moments of WM WWE posted the other day..most of them included some sort of tables and ladder matches. That's what they need to have every year.

The biggest draws in wrestling are the crazy bumps in my opinion. (Not that they need to have them regularly or even often) They create memories obviously, and WWE (apparently?) knows this.

Why they chose to not do it this year is odd.

I was literally falling asleep during the main event. It just lacked...well, everything. But most importantly, chemistry. They didn't play it off as intense..at all. It was awkward to say the least.

Also, I think WWE has tired out the "kick out of finishers" era. Of course it is great to be used here and there. But not every match..several times. I don't know how they can fix this really. Different stipulations/match ideas would be my guess.

Who knows. I'm sure this WM reaction is an overreaction, and the WM will be forgotten about but the tradition will still live on. And we will all wait for next year's show...which (hopefully) is better.

But as long as the buy rates, attendance records, and media hype continues to grow, the WWE will continue to think their product is only improving.

 

[oogieboogie]

Is anyone else here from the uk and stayed up to 4am to watch this if so what are your opinions

I'm from the UK. Luckily i did not watch it, as i was and am still at work.
My brother and sisters did stay up, so will be interested to see what they thought. I followed the results on WZ and like a number of people, felt that it didn't feel like a WM at all. There did not seem to be any excitement and it was all way too predictable, which is a shame.

The last few years i have not stayed up to watch WM. I have read the results the next morning and after reading them have wanted to watch a handful of matches afterwards. But on this ocassion, i have no desire to watch any of it.

 

[Weems2k]

So this is suppose to be the Superbowl of wrestling. Glad I didn't crap out $70 for this garbage. I feel ripped off for the 2+ hrs I wasted watching for free. Same predictable crap Vince puts out as always. They should really name this Face-a-Mania.

Taker's "streak" is about as overrated as one can get. It's wrestling remember. So he's been able to politic his way 21 times now. Hell, even Hogan jobbed once at Mania. And DQ'd a couple other times.

Triple Roids and Roidner? Blahhhh!!!

Cena and Rock? The only thing that had me somewhat intrigued about this match was Cena going heel. Sure he was booed. But he gets that everywhere. Look for The E's ratings to average the low 2's this summer. Maybe even lower.

 

[Dream]

Now the question remains..

HHH
Rock
Lesnar
Undertaker
CM Punk
Jericho
Swagger (assuming from the DUI charges)

are all taking significant time off. Who is even left for Cena to feud with?

What the hell are they going to fill 3 hours worth of content in a RAW?

 

[noly]

Horrible show! Taker vs Punk and Lensar vs HHH were the only matches that had a big match feel. The rest of it sucked! Done with WWE, TNA for me.

 

[James]

I'm trying to think which one was worse, WM 22 or 29.

I might have to go with this one due to the fact that WM 22 had Shawn Michaels making Vince McMahon look like a boss(no pun intended) the entire time he was getting his ass kicked. Oh and I forgot the Edge and Foley match as it was good as well.

Well anyway, this event was bad and I wanted to see Cody and I didn't get that. Only thing I remember is Fandango V. Jericho and Punk V. Taker.

 

[the_mighty_biggs]

the biggest shocker of the whole pay per view was Mark Henry literaly squashing Rybak.

Dident Rybak like debut just after last years wrestlemania?? and get a huge buildup just to get squashed by Mark Henry.

He must have really pissed someone backstage off ..

 

[Kunztown]

Well, wwe must really be targeting the kids now. I must really be getting old because to me, this is becoming hard to watch. What has happened to the product? Even in the 80's they had Shawn michaels turn on Marty jennety and great "swerves". This wrestling of the modern era has NO UNPREDICTABLITY to it! Where is the Orton turning on his team and leading the shield, and being ruthless! Where is Cena Turning on the fans, and potentially being the best heel in the biz! How can you like this guy? Where is punk ending the streak!!! Heck, Miami Heat Lost.... Seriously, Undertaker can lose..... It's ok? He needs to retire, and its a good way to pass the torch... It needs to be some really really fantastic wrestling if its gonna be bland storylines. Unfortunately for me... WWE is in cruise control and their storylines are mediocre, and the wrestling is mediocre. I could not watch for the past year, and watched this wrestlemania and its like nothing has changed!!!! Except maybe Jack swagger getting a 3 month push. I think I could be ok not watching until next year....

 

[MaverickMeyer]

In a word...Meh. I can't decide what was match of the night between Del Rio/Swagger, Taker/Punk and HHH/Lesnar. Those three entertained me the most, but they each had their own slip-ups and awkward moments. I feel kind of jipped that I didn't get to watch Tons of Funk/Rhodes Scholars + Bellas, as Brodus, Cody and Sandow entertain me. The crowd was pretty dead for most of it it seemed, and the theater crowd I was with was also quiet. I'd give it a 6.5 or 6 out of 10. Felt less like a 'Mania and more like a secondary pay-per-view, or even a big Raw.

 

[R.K.O]

Randy Orton, Sheamus & The Big Show Vs The Shield
Decent match, The Shield was decently over. However Show turning was uninspiring and lame, bad call there. But Shield keeps their streak and continue to look strong. 3/5.

Hell No Vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston
Enjoyed the match mainly due to Bryan. Glad that they are keeping Hell No for a while more as I have enjoyed their work together tremendously. Big E was okay but did not really deserve a WM debut. Bryan's yes was mad over at the end of the match, good stuff. 3.5/5

Mark Henry Vs Ryback
Stupid ending, why did they screw up the easiest to book match I don't know. Ryback should have picked up Henry, beat him and look strong, but no WWE had to screw it up. Impressed that Ryback pick up Henry not once but twice with ease, even marched during the second time. 1/5

Fandango Vs Chris Jericho
Okay match I suppose. Typical veteran vs newcomer match with Jericho schooling Fandango for the most of the match and Fandango picks up a fluke pin. But man does his leg drops look impressive. 2/5

Alberto Del Rio Vs Jack Swagger
Man I wanted Jack Swagger to win!! I wanted to see Jack Swagger's America!! Massive letdown there with the finish too as the match looked like it was going to pick up. Del Rio was not over at all, and can't believe they skipped Jack Swagger's entrance and later they gave a big entrance to a corner man like HBK! Seriously WTF WWE? The match was good though with good mat wrestling and submission 2.5/5

Stupid concert by Diddy
Time could have been used for Funks vs Rhodes Scholars & Bellas. 0/5

The Undertaker Vs CM Punk
Awesome match. Taker easily still got it. Take this you Taker haters who doubt he can put on a great match and claimed that Punk had to carry him. Great match by both guys and good finish. Although I would have appreciated a Paul Bearer tribute after the end of the match. 4.5/5

HHH Vs Brock Lesnar
Good fight but unfortunately I missed most of the match due to problems with the stream. Brock looked like a beast but he need to work those legs. N/A

John Cena Vs The Rock
Started very very slow with uninspired brawling and rest holds, took way too long to pick up and the first Rock Bottom was random as hell. Cena took like five Rock Bottom and kicked out of all of them? Way to make the move look weak. The match only truly picked up when Rock attempted to do the Five Knuckle Shuffle and was reversed to the FU. Completely random ending too, could have made a bigger impact. Went for simply way too long. Rock looked completely devastated after the match, please don't retire Rock, save us from Cena. 2/5

Overall Rating
Decent show but not fitting for Mania really, I expected much more. Predictable too with the only surprise ending being Mark Henry's match which was a completely stupid decision by WWE. Order could have been better, Punk's match should be further back as the crowd was drained after it. Rock Cena given way too much time and it got boring, maybe the Funks should have been given about 10 minutes instead it would be better. Not the worst main event as I thought HHH vs Orton at WM 25 was worse but still bad. If Rock is going out he definitely deserve a better match than that. 6/10

 

[Dream]

For me the best match of the night was taker punk easy

I agree with this. It wasn't as great as Taker's last few Manias, but that's ok. It was still a great match.

I don't think anything will ever beat Taker getting SCM by HBK then the Pedigree by HHH. I marked the fuck out when he kicked out.