Random Thoughts: WrestleMania 20
- Thread starter Big Nick Dudley
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Big Nick Dudley
Nick
I need to watch 14 and 16 again, been a few years. My attitude could possibly change after that..but it's doubtful
I agree with Coco, Wrestlemania 1-16 aren't great pay per views by any means. You might have a couple good matches, but for the most part, the majority of these pay per views are forgettable.
Onto Wrestlemania 20.
Agree with the majority, a ton of unnecessary filler throughout this pay per view. I get the WWE trying to get everyone on the card, but it ultimately takes away from the overall quality of the show.
Cena vs. Big Show rocked. It's amazing how much the Northeast crowd sucked Cena's penis, but turn on him within a year.
Evolution vs. The Rock N Sock Connection was phenomenal. The interaction between Rock and Flair was beyond fantastic.
Jericho vs. Christian was beyond a doubt my favorite match of the night. These two have amazing chemistry, and the Trish heel turn at the end was beyond awesome. Genuine WTF moment.
Lesnar vs. Goldberg is my guilty pleasure match. I absolutely love the fact that Lesnar sent out a giant FU to the Smarky MSG crowd. The same people that sucked Lesnar's cock 1 1/2 years earlier at either Summerslam or Survivor Series were crying like babies that Lesnar was leaving. Lesnar played that crowd like a fiddle, and gave them what they deserved.
Angle vs. Guerrero was a solid match. Not as great as revisionist history has made it, but solid nonetheless.
Undertaker vs. Kane was beyond underwhelming, but the sick pop Paul Bearer received and "Undertaker" chants more then made up for it.
I absolutely despise Triple Threat matches, and the main event was no exception. Shawn Michaels should have been nowhere near this match, but that's the way the WWE political machine worked. It was satisfying for Benoit to win, and the moment at the end was worth it at the time.
I thought it was a pretty decent show. Not one of the best, but certainly top half.
Onto Wrestlemania 20.
Agree with the majority, a ton of unnecessary filler throughout this pay per view. I get the WWE trying to get everyone on the card, but it ultimately takes away from the overall quality of the show.
Cena vs. Big Show rocked. It's amazing how much the Northeast crowd sucked Cena's penis, but turn on him within a year.
Evolution vs. The Rock N Sock Connection was phenomenal. The interaction between Rock and Flair was beyond fantastic.
Jericho vs. Christian was beyond a doubt my favorite match of the night. These two have amazing chemistry, and the Trish heel turn at the end was beyond awesome. Genuine WTF moment.
Lesnar vs. Goldberg is my guilty pleasure match. I absolutely love the fact that Lesnar sent out a giant FU to the Smarky MSG crowd. The same people that sucked Lesnar's cock 1 1/2 years earlier at either Summerslam or Survivor Series were crying like babies that Lesnar was leaving. Lesnar played that crowd like a fiddle, and gave them what they deserved.
Angle vs. Guerrero was a solid match. Not as great as revisionist history has made it, but solid nonetheless.
Undertaker vs. Kane was beyond underwhelming, but the sick pop Paul Bearer received and "Undertaker" chants more then made up for it.
I absolutely despise Triple Threat matches, and the main event was no exception. Shawn Michaels should have been nowhere near this match, but that's the way the WWE political machine worked. It was satisfying for Benoit to win, and the moment at the end was worth it at the time.
I thought it was a pretty decent show. Not one of the best, but certainly top half.
FunKay the Inevitable
People Like Me, We Don't Play
I can agree with that analysis.
This is the spam zone so I can be lazy right? I'm just going to copy and paste a post of mine from KB's History of WrestleMania thread.
WrestleMania XX
This would be a top five mania if it wasn’t so damn long. In my WM19 post I said that as wrestling fans we should be able to sit though a few hours of wrestling. The key though was really good wrestling. This had too much useless filler. This show is nearly five hours long. It would have been much better with an hour cut out.
John Cena vs. Big Show: I didn’t really care for this matchup at the time. Cena was obviously on his way to big things, but since he was still a midcarder I didn’t like the matchup with Big Show. The problem is despite being over seven feet tall and 500 pounds the Big Show was a midcarder himself. A win against Show at mania for his first title looks pretty good on Cena’s resume now considering what he’s become.
Raw tag title match: Here’s part of that useless filler I was talking about. I’m all for the titles being defended at mania, but show some effort. It is so common to do this kind of thing with tag teams, divas, and cruiserweights. There is no effort put into a real storyline so everyone just gets thrown into a match together. That’s so lazy. I would have combined both title matches into one fourway match. RVD & Booker vs. Dudleys vs. APA vs. Haas & Benjamin. Both titles would be on the line in this match (with the belts on Haas & Benjamin since Rikishi & Scotty shouldn’t have even been on the roster much less champions). If either of the challengers pinned a champion they would win that teams title. If the challengers pinned the other challenger the winning team would win his brand’s title. For example Bubba pins Faarooq means the Dudleys get RVD and Booker’s title. If a champion pins a champion the titles are unified and if a champion pins a challenger both champions retain. I know it’s still a fourway, but at least it’s different. There are all kinds of different scenarios and it would be interesting to see who goes for what. Would Benjamin want to pin Booker to get both titles or would he be content pinning Faarooq and just retaining his own? Interesting possibilities.
Chris Jericho vs. Christian: This was a good feud that had been built up nicely since November. These two always worked well together as both partners and opponents. This was a very good match and I’m glad it was given the proper amount of time. It was nice to see Christian get a big singles victory at mania. The Trish heel turn wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was a nice touch.
Rock n Sock vs. Evolution: I really liked this match. This had a long and excellent build. Foley absolutely made Orton and this was a great showing for Evolution. At the time I thought it would be interesting to add Austin to this making it a six man instead of a handicapped match. It would have been the three biggest stars of the attitude era together in the Garden at WM20. That just seems cool. I’m glad it didn’t happen as Austin is pretty much the only big star to have his last match actually be his last match.
Stacy Keibler & Jackie Gayda vs. Torrie Wilson & Sable: This was a complete waste of time. The show would have been better without this.
Cruiserweight open: Here’s another example of a bunch of guys just thrown together simply to get them on mania. I don’t understand why WWE chooses to ignore a lot of guys throughout the year but goes out of the way to get these minor league players on their best show. This should have been Rey vs. Chavo as they’re the only ones who deserved to be on mania.
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar: I could go on and on about how I hate both these guys for this match. It’s been done. The crowd amuses me and that’s all I can really say. Since Austin was the ref I wish he would have just stunned them both during the match, flipped them both off and declared it a no contest.
Smackdown tag title match: See above for my comments about the raw tag title match.
Victoria vs. Molly Holly: It was unique to have the hair stipulation in a diva match. I honestly don’t remember the match very well but it was cool to see Molly get her head shaved.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle: This was a great feud. I loved how Angle turned heel for this. It was pretty similar to CM Punk turning heel against Jeff Hardy. I also loved how Angle, while technically still a face, talked Eddie into fighting Chavo at the rumble just to keep him out of the rumble match. What makes a great feud even better? A great match. This was a great match with a clever finish. Definite A.
Undertaker vs. Kane: This was all about the hype. Obviously Taker was going to win and the match wasn’t very good. That doesn’t matter though because this was all about the hype. The dead man character had been gone for a while and people were anxious for him to come back. Taker’s entrance, complete with Paul Bearer, was enough to make up for the match (which wasn’t bad, just not very good).
Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H: I too thought this should have been Benoit vs. Triple H in a singles. I didn’t think HBK had any business in there and came off as kind of a heel the way he forced himself into Benoit’s match. At the time I thought HBK should have wrestled RVD in a ladder match to mark the ten year anniversary of the WM10 ladder match in MSG. That probably would have been better, but I’m not upset about the way things went down. The reason it doesn’t bother me anymore is because the triple threat match really delivered. It was a great match. Right up until the bell rand I did not like the triple threat idea. By the end of the match they changed my mind. That shows what a great job they did. The finish was awesome. The crowd was going crazy when Triple H was locked in the crossface and the eruption when he finally tapped was insane. Benoit and Guerrero embracing at the end was a special moment. Both started their careers around the same time. They went from Mexico to Japan to ECW to WCW to WWE together. They were told they were too small and plain to be a success in America. Here they were together both as champions for the biggest wrestling company in the world at the most famous arena in the world at the 20th anniversary of the most important event in wrestling. Priceless.
This really is a great event. The only thing hurting it is the length. Five hours is just too long considering what the filler was. I like to watch an old mania once in a while and I always avoid this because I don’t want to take five hours out of my day. I could fast forward, but that kind of kills the mood. The good is very good to great so it’s enough to overcome the filler and be one of the better manias.
WrestleMania XX
This would be a top five mania if it wasn’t so damn long. In my WM19 post I said that as wrestling fans we should be able to sit though a few hours of wrestling. The key though was really good wrestling. This had too much useless filler. This show is nearly five hours long. It would have been much better with an hour cut out.
John Cena vs. Big Show: I didn’t really care for this matchup at the time. Cena was obviously on his way to big things, but since he was still a midcarder I didn’t like the matchup with Big Show. The problem is despite being over seven feet tall and 500 pounds the Big Show was a midcarder himself. A win against Show at mania for his first title looks pretty good on Cena’s resume now considering what he’s become.
Raw tag title match: Here’s part of that useless filler I was talking about. I’m all for the titles being defended at mania, but show some effort. It is so common to do this kind of thing with tag teams, divas, and cruiserweights. There is no effort put into a real storyline so everyone just gets thrown into a match together. That’s so lazy. I would have combined both title matches into one fourway match. RVD & Booker vs. Dudleys vs. APA vs. Haas & Benjamin. Both titles would be on the line in this match (with the belts on Haas & Benjamin since Rikishi & Scotty shouldn’t have even been on the roster much less champions). If either of the challengers pinned a champion they would win that teams title. If the challengers pinned the other challenger the winning team would win his brand’s title. For example Bubba pins Faarooq means the Dudleys get RVD and Booker’s title. If a champion pins a champion the titles are unified and if a champion pins a challenger both champions retain. I know it’s still a fourway, but at least it’s different. There are all kinds of different scenarios and it would be interesting to see who goes for what. Would Benjamin want to pin Booker to get both titles or would he be content pinning Faarooq and just retaining his own? Interesting possibilities.
Chris Jericho vs. Christian: This was a good feud that had been built up nicely since November. These two always worked well together as both partners and opponents. This was a very good match and I’m glad it was given the proper amount of time. It was nice to see Christian get a big singles victory at mania. The Trish heel turn wasn’t exactly a surprise, but it was a nice touch.
Rock n Sock vs. Evolution: I really liked this match. This had a long and excellent build. Foley absolutely made Orton and this was a great showing for Evolution. At the time I thought it would be interesting to add Austin to this making it a six man instead of a handicapped match. It would have been the three biggest stars of the attitude era together in the Garden at WM20. That just seems cool. I’m glad it didn’t happen as Austin is pretty much the only big star to have his last match actually be his last match.
Stacy Keibler & Jackie Gayda vs. Torrie Wilson & Sable: This was a complete waste of time. The show would have been better without this.
Cruiserweight open: Here’s another example of a bunch of guys just thrown together simply to get them on mania. I don’t understand why WWE chooses to ignore a lot of guys throughout the year but goes out of the way to get these minor league players on their best show. This should have been Rey vs. Chavo as they’re the only ones who deserved to be on mania.
Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar: I could go on and on about how I hate both these guys for this match. It’s been done. The crowd amuses me and that’s all I can really say. Since Austin was the ref I wish he would have just stunned them both during the match, flipped them both off and declared it a no contest.
Smackdown tag title match: See above for my comments about the raw tag title match.
Victoria vs. Molly Holly: It was unique to have the hair stipulation in a diva match. I honestly don’t remember the match very well but it was cool to see Molly get her head shaved.
Eddie Guerrero vs. Kurt Angle: This was a great feud. I loved how Angle turned heel for this. It was pretty similar to CM Punk turning heel against Jeff Hardy. I also loved how Angle, while technically still a face, talked Eddie into fighting Chavo at the rumble just to keep him out of the rumble match. What makes a great feud even better? A great match. This was a great match with a clever finish. Definite A.
Undertaker vs. Kane: This was all about the hype. Obviously Taker was going to win and the match wasn’t very good. That doesn’t matter though because this was all about the hype. The dead man character had been gone for a while and people were anxious for him to come back. Taker’s entrance, complete with Paul Bearer, was enough to make up for the match (which wasn’t bad, just not very good).
Chris Benoit vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H: I too thought this should have been Benoit vs. Triple H in a singles. I didn’t think HBK had any business in there and came off as kind of a heel the way he forced himself into Benoit’s match. At the time I thought HBK should have wrestled RVD in a ladder match to mark the ten year anniversary of the WM10 ladder match in MSG. That probably would have been better, but I’m not upset about the way things went down. The reason it doesn’t bother me anymore is because the triple threat match really delivered. It was a great match. Right up until the bell rand I did not like the triple threat idea. By the end of the match they changed my mind. That shows what a great job they did. The finish was awesome. The crowd was going crazy when Triple H was locked in the crossface and the eruption when he finally tapped was insane. Benoit and Guerrero embracing at the end was a special moment. Both started their careers around the same time. They went from Mexico to Japan to ECW to WCW to WWE together. They were told they were too small and plain to be a success in America. Here they were together both as champions for the biggest wrestling company in the world at the most famous arena in the world at the 20th anniversary of the most important event in wrestling. Priceless.
This really is a great event. The only thing hurting it is the length. Five hours is just too long considering what the filler was. I like to watch an old mania once in a while and I always avoid this because I don’t want to take five hours out of my day. I could fast forward, but that kind of kills the mood. The good is very good to great so it’s enough to overcome the filler and be one of the better manias.
