Wrestlemania 28: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan (c) - World Heavyweight Championship

[The Eighties]

This will be a great match if given 10-12 minutes at least. Both men are excellent works, it's a classic contrast of styles and both will want to prove a point after their match last year was dropped from the show.

My guess is Sheamus will win especially now it's confirmed as the opening match, but personally I think Bryan has only began to scratch the surface of the heat he can generate, and a longer chase and win by Sheamus would benefit both guys.

 

[James]

WWE just shitted all over themselves with that fuck up. That was the most stupidest thing I've ever seen.

 

[art1que]

This will be a great match if given 10-12 minutes at least. Both men are excellent works, it's a classic contrast of styles and both will want to prove a point after their match last year was dropped from the show.

My guess is Sheamus will win especially now it's confirmed as the opening match, but personally I think Bryan has only began to scratch the surface of the heat he can generate, and a longer chase and win by Sheamus would benefit both guys.

Well think again, seriously it's an insult to both of them at the length of their match.

 

[whoopin' ass]

what gets me is this is the match with the winner of the Royal Rumble and it goes on first? at least with Punk/Jericho you could say that their just couldn't wait anymore and there is your excuse for them to start the show. what does that say about the Royal Rumble winner? i thought they were supposed to headline Mania. since when it that the first match?

 

[Danielson_Gr]

Hell i know, but i watched it and once Sheamus did the kick and got the pin, i thought to myself "Well, lot of people are gonna b*th about this." and what i find...

Why not bitch about it.Sheamus did not do a f#@$@#ing thing in this feud except from telling 5 year old jokes.
You may think that we will bitch about because Daniel Bryan is a IWC "golden" boy.Unless the Sun Life Stadium was full of those people who call IWC,your argument about is invalid.
Because and Danielson,as a annoying heel,gain more cheers in the begging and through the matches of Orton-Kane and the Divas Match was chanting his name....

Also if you think that a superstar,like DBD,who from a bolt face character became the most evolving character and propably the best heel right now deserved that 18 second match i can't even consider your oppinion as a worth-talking.

 

[daddyJ_t]

damn straight ill bitch about this, regardless of who was in this match, titles mean something to me, and this squash bs devalues the championship in my opinion. not to mention, whats the point of winning the royal rumble to "main event" wrestlemania when its the opening bout jus to beat some bs time record.

 

[phoenixphreek]

I LOVED THIS. Sure, we could've gotten a decent match. But how much more memorable is this? Look at Kane, Randy, Cody, Show: they all went out there, did their job, put on a decent match up, but at the end of the night you barely remember any of those matches. You remember Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan. You'll always remember this match.

 

[ErictheEnt]

I've been a wrestling fan pretty hardcore for about 18-19 years now.

I'm not a huge fan of either Sheamus or Daniel Brian and while I don't have any issues with Brian jobbing the belt to Sheamus I really just hated this. I can honestly say that off the top of my head this is the worst booking call I've ever seen (at least that was on the scale of a major belt at a major event).

They've been building this match for 2 months now and it ends in 18 seconds? Not to mention 14 of those seconds DB was making out with AJ?

I had a WM party and some friends who aren't that big of wrestling fans came to watch and my best pal was like, "I don't care that the match ended like that, I don't even know who that Daniel Brian guy is." And I pointed out, "Because you got a 15 seconds match you STILL don't know who he is."

I just don't think jobbing him out like that did anyone any favors. We saw a 15 seconds World Title match a few years ago with Kane and Chavo; DB deserved better than that. So did Sheamus, to be honest.

 

[SacredMesa]

I LOVED THIS. Sure, we could've gotten a decent match. But how much more memorable is this? Look at Kane, Randy, Cody, Show: they all went out there, did their job, put on a decent match up, but at the end of the night you barely remember any of those matches. You remember Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan. You'll always remember this match.

The only thing I will remember from this match is how the WWE completely wasted the opporunity to solidify two fresh faces on the biggest stage of them all. Daniel Bryan is not The Honky Tonk Man and this was not the IC Title. It's the freaking World Heavyweight Championship that was being carried by a character that was finally coming into his own as a main eventer facing off against a new face with solid potential.

Both of these two guys deserved to go out there and create one hell of a moment with their in ring talent, not to have it shit on by creative who wanted to try and create some stupid shock value BS in an attempt to recapture the same feeling of when Warrior won the IC title in a squash match.

 

[AwesomeRko]

Absolutely awful, it made both Daniel Bryan and the title look incredibly weak. Sheamus has to be the most underdeveloped main-eventer in the whole of the WWE and even the Miami crowd acknowledged that. Not only the worst match on the card but the worst fued an insult to the legacy of the WHC.

 

[Rayne]

Folks, the only thing that Daniel Bryan and Sheamus could have done to make their 'match' more memorable was to bring AJ in the ring and trade from ass-to-mouth for fifteen minutes before bringing in the Divas.

What else were they going to do, have a fifteen minute match with quality wrestling that no one would remember? They were both not able and not going to be allowed to upstage Cena/Rock, HHH/Taker, or Punk/Jericho. The only thing besides this was a stale, shitty match, like the Divas match or the 12 man tag.

And get off all this "they deserve" crap. Getting to appear at Wrestlemania and perform as a Heavyweight Champion isn't much, I guess, since everyone and their mother gets to do that. Let me know when Santino Marella gets that chance. Daniel Bryan opened up WrestleMania and had a match that stirred the passions of people and got the card off to a surprising start. I bet he's not exactly mooning over his ill fortune right now in the hotel room.

 

[#hamler]

The way the match went down will do ALOT more for both Sheamus and Daniel Bryan than it will if it had been a 15 minute match. Remember back in the summer; Christian lost the World Championship and so many people were pissed about it. Fast forward a couple of months and Christian was mega over as a heel. Even losing his championship a few days after winning it. This is the same situation. This match will undoubtedly do alot more for Daniel Bryan's character. Bryan's character will react to this and overcome it. Just look at the type of reaction this match got. The opening match is meant to get people excited; what did this match do for the rest of the show? Daniel Bryan and Sheamus should consider themselves lucky.

 

[Showtime]

And get off all this "they deserve" crap. Getting to appear at Wrestlemania and perform as a Heavyweight Champion isn't much, I guess, since everyone and their mother gets to do that. Let me know when Santino Marella gets that chance. Daniel Bryan opened up WrestleMania and had a match that stirred the passions of people and got the card off to a surprising start. I bet he's not exactly mooning over his ill fortune right now in the hotel room.

This. I agree with 100 %. Now it would've been nice if they could've had a chance to perform a 12-15 minute match. Last years WM, DB vs Sheamus was one of 3 matches I was really looking forward to seeing and when I found out it was removed from the card and made the dark match, I wasn't too pleased. This years match got me off on a foul mood to the start the show. I felt cheated. I paid $65 and to start I had to watch Bryan job out in under 15 seconds. It made sense given how they've built up Bryan and Sheamus, and in the end it allowed more time for other really good matches and not wasteful promo's which I feared would happen, so I'm no longer too upset. Still, I pay $65 to watch the entire card, even if some matches are only given 8-10 minutes, I want to see each title defended proudly, and each star given some time to perform in the ring at WM. I don't like to see quick job matches at WM and every year it seems there is one and sometimes two. DB and Sheamus didn't 'deserve better', I think we the paying customer 'deserved better'.

 

[The Fig Lebowski]

I have mixed feelings about this as a hardcore Daniel Bryan fan. On the one hand as a fan I really wanted to see this match and felt really slighted. But as a Daniel Bryan fan this is probably the best booked way to keep his credibility. Hear me out...

Say Daniel Bryan loses a highly competitive 15 minute 4 star match. It shows DB can put on a great match (which we already know) but also shows that he can't beat Sheamus in a straight wrestling match. Bryan being a superior wrestler and a smart one at that is kinda his gimmick. He and Sheamus have already feuded in the past so they are familiar with each other's arsenal, which should be an advantage to the thinking man's wrestler. It makes the fans believe that Bryan can only beat Sheamus by cheating, which is just fine for a heel but makes Bryan more one dimensional. Bryan is that rare breed who can go in the ring AND at the same time skirt the rules to his advantage when the opportunity presents itself. Bryan losing a straight wrestling match to Sheamus is a letdown to his credibility.

DB's WM loss says the he can be defeated by a finisher when he is not looking and gets surprised. The occasionally thrown in "flash" finish is a nice touch every once in a blue moon. The follow up to this is the fans wanting to see an actual match between these two to see who is the superior wrestler and if Bryan is crafty enough to find a way to regain. I'm looking forward to it.

I guess Bryan could have gone over, but it would have buried Sheamus.

After getting bumped on WM27 and 18 seconds at WM28 I think Vince owes Bryan one hell of a Wrestlemania moment when it finally comes. And it will.

 

[XXJJ]

I guess it makes sense why they have been focusing more on Daniel Bryan and AJ relationship in this feud with Sheamus. Bryan is going to blame AJ.

All the smarks are angry and outraged. I have to see where they are going with this to really judge if it was worth having a 16 second title match.

I will say this was a horrible way to open a show, especially Wrestlemania. They knew this was going to be very controversial. This just sent a bad message and tone to open up your biggest ppv.

Your suppose open up a ppv with a match that gets the crowd going. Not a match that will piss off some fans because of a screwy ending.

 

[V Dogg]

I have to agree with some of the people about the way the match was booked. It just seems as if the WHC has lost its prestige and value ever since it became a Smackdown championship (with the slight exception of when Edge was holding it and defending it at WM24's main event). I hate the fact that it was booked as the first match of the evening, but the WWE spat on the Big Gold Belt's legacy by giving it to Sheamus in 18 little seconds. I expected Sheamus to win, but not on a bang bang basis like that.

Another note: There were eight matches total on the card (excluding the tag titles before the start of Wrestlemania). In just one hour, WWE went through HALF of the card. That time they used for that BS Brodus Clay segment should have been time put into the WHC match. But after all, it WAS April Fools.

 

[Hakushi]

Thought it was a Rip Off. Now, I didn't care for this match-up when announced, as there were many different ways this Title match could have featured a more entertaining match (both on paper and in ring it turns out). The WWE needs some main event talent badly right now and squashing two of your best heels right now (Rhodes/Bryan) is not the way to do it.

 

[MissLeigh80]

I loved the fact that Sheamus won the match but c'mon now, I wanted to see a MUCH longer match then that! It felt like a rip off to me.

 

[Galvatron]

Now if this match appears on the card a third year in a row, I will know not to care about it because its crystal clear that Vince McMahan don't. Brodus Clay and the diva's match got way more time and that combined time could have made a hell of a world championship match. Another reason that proves Vince is out of touch.

 

[Danielson_Gr]

Folks, the only thing that Daniel Bryan and Sheamus could have done to make their 'match' more memorable was to bring AJ in the ring and trade from ass-to-mouth for fifteen minutes before bringing in the Divas.

What else were they going to do, have a fifteen minute match with quality wrestling that no one would remember? They were both not able and not going to be allowed to upstage Cena/Rock, HHH/Taker, or Punk/Jericho. The only thing besides this was a stale, shitty match, like the Divas match or the 12 man tag.

And get off all this "they deserve" crap. Getting to appear at Wrestlemania and perform as a Heavyweight Champion isn't much, I guess, since everyone and their mother gets to do that. Let me know when Santino Marella gets that chance. Daniel Bryan opened up WrestleMania and had a match that stirred the passions of people and got the card off to a surprising start. I bet he's not exactly mooning over his ill fortune right now in the hotel room.

You are saying that it is bad for them to have a good match.At least this match would be 3 stars....I don't think that one more good match in the card would hurt anyone.Is like you are saying that Shawn Michaels and Jericho in Wm 19 shouldn't be a show stealer because matches like Angle vs Lesnar or Stone Cold vs Rock was in the card.
Maybe storywise it will be the best choise for their careers but in reality many people was waiting for that match,which it was proven by the people in the arena who was chanting for Danielson the most of the night,and this end was like the WWE was spitting in their face.

Also the deserve crap which you are saying.Let's forget that this two people was travelling around the world for 300 days just to go to Wrestlemania and show their star.The World Heavyweight Title,which is the historical title in professional wrestling,alone deserves respect and this 18 sec match is a disgrace.

 

[Huey]

Just because it's memorable doesn't mean it's good. If I get food poisoning at lunch tomorrow, I'll remember it.

If the big picture storyline is promoting that DB was only beat because he wasn't ready and was hit with a finisher I gotta believe they could've found another way to write that. At any time in the match Bryan could've been in control and AJ jumped on the apron to get a kiss. they kiss, turn around, eat a finisher. Same thing but there's an enjoyable match attached to it. Could even allow bryan to place more blame on AJ and advance his character farther in that direction. "It was her fault for jumping on the apron"

 

[Psyclone]

My thoughts on this (and sorry I'm not reading 10 pages of replies to see if this has been repeated...) This is not something A) you do at Wrestlemania and B) you DO NOT START OFF A WRESTLEMANIA..

What is wrestlemania??? It is the culmination, The end all be all of wrestling booking... It is the FEUD ENDER the BIGGEST SHOW IN YOUR COMPANY.. You settle scores here...

You know that you're going to get your biggest attendance here, you know that you are going to have your largest amount of PPV buys here... You build a card for over a month to give these people, a large amount who do not buy any other show, a card that says, hey I want to see what happens next...

I hated A) that they decided this match was going to be the squash match essentially. and B) I hated that they opened the show with a basic squash match...

I'll deal with the A) hate first... If you were going to have a championship match that ended in a squash, make it the IC title... NO offense to cody rhodes, but at least it had been built up that he was pissing off BIg show at every chance he could, and saying he never had a wrestlemania moment... at least then he could look out and say "well I didnt lose a title the fastest at mania" (even though as they freaking booked it bryan didnt either, that's still chavo..) at least it finishes a story line, at least it DOES SOMETHING... this match does nothing but BURY bryan and alienate the buying audience... They have seen a freaking month and ahalf long build prepping this match... there's been no physical contact until magically one kick and BAM sheamus wins... POINTLESS.. Any additional buy that wrestlemania got that hasn't followed much of raw or smackdown (And I'm sure there are thousands if not millions that did) now doesn't give a crap about who daniel bryan is (evne though the crowd was pro-bryan...). this means they WONT CARE WHAT REVENGE BRYAN HAS IN THE FUTURE!!!!!!! THEY WONT BE TURNING IN TO SEE!!! (Ps, the 10-15 minutes that I had to endure the Momma Clay and the Bridge club, were minutes that should have been used on this match)

now on to point B) that if they stupidly decided that this was going to be the squash match, they shouldn't start the show with it... WHY WOULD YOU START A SHOW LIKE THIS?!?!?!?!?!?!? You have 2 superstars that were built up and a feud that has been built up (longer than kane vs orton, which had 2 superstars that were amazingly popular and would have worked better) true they wouldn't have guessed that the crowd would have supported bryan as much as they did (so many yes signs, so much crowd support, so many bryan chants in others matches based on live reports) but still, if you're going to have the squash match DON'T START THE SHOW WITH IT... IT KILLS THE CROWD... You get a large pop for each performer, you get the bell, everyone's ready for a match and bam its over... It kills the pop you would've given Sheamus if he won it after a hard fought match, or ANY ACTUAL MATCH (It was barely there as people didn't expect it and were confused), and then it took all the people who made those bryan signs away killing anything else...

You do a squash match like this and put it first in your card for any other reason.. You do it at any OTHER PPV... If this was extreme rules or (insert ppv here) I WOULDNT MIND... It would've been an interesting twist and something not expected... You do it ANYWHERE ELSE BUT NOT AT WRESTLEMANIA!!!!!!!!

 

[Psyclone]

im gonna summarize my ramblings above into 2 statements for the tl:dr crowd..

1) I don't mind the concept of a squash for any match (even a WHC or WWE title) except at wrestlemania as it kills the thousands (if not millions) of additional buys that you get for this show (compared to other PPV's)

and

2) If you are going to have the squash, don't have it start the show

 

[Attitude Era Junkie]

I don't know how great this match would of been because of Sheamus but I thought Vince wanted WM 28 to be an AWESOME SHOW!!! Why start the show with the World Heavyweight Title match and have it last 18 seconds? Not only were we robbed of that match but it's disrespectful to Sheamus and Bryan because now it feels like they didn't even have a match at WrestleMania. For fucks sake the Divas match lasted a lot longer.

The order of the matches was completely fucked up. I never in my life would of thought that the Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy match would be AFTER Undertaker and HHH. To start the show with an 18 second World Heavyweight title match is laughable. You spend 55 dollars ordering a PPV and expect it to be GREAT only to start the show with that.....I felt like I was dreaming. Vince fire yourself. For the love of God it could of at least been 5 minutes long.

 

[Brahma Bull]

So last year we are excited for DB vs Sheamus for the US title at mania and it becomes a dark match. This year we think we will actually get to see them wrestle, and its a 1 move and done match. Whats next year, a main event next year between the 2 where one guy just leaves? I was excited two years in a row for this match. I loved the rest of mania, but this was a big disappointment for me. Oh, well, at least the Rock won.