Let me start out by saying the crowd was MIC'd horribly for wrestlemania, they appeared to be dead most of the time and even when they were chanting, cheering, or booing it was often impossible to tell which of these things it was. This was probably due to it being out doors but it really didn't do anything for the atmosphere.
Let's go through this match by match...
The shield vs Big Show etc - This had zero reveal, a semi rightfully pissed off big show knocks out Sheamus for no reason and Orton who kinda deserves it. So Big Show is turning heel for the 1,000th time....who cares? The truth of the matter is this match never had a good out to begin with, Orton heel turn? Who cares, what? Was he supposed to join The Shield? The Shield don't need him. The Shield are regressing, they've gone from taken out multiple people to simply having 6 man tag matches on a regular basis with little behind it at this point, WWE needs to pick up the pace with them and this match didn't do much for them but at least it didn't hurt them any.
Ryback VS Henry - Ryback loses. Let me say that again, RYBACK LOSES. How on earth does this make any sense? Ryback has gone from being undefeated, to fighting for the WWE championship, main eventing PPV's to jobbing to Henry in the 2nd match of Wrestlemania. Ryback NEEDED this win and what he got was a loss and a WM moment that was after the fact. The entire way Ryback has been handled ever since pointlessly being hot shot into that match at HIAC has been terrible. They've taken someone who had a lot of momentum and potential and killed. Ryback gets half the reactions he used to get...what a mess, and what was the point of this? To further a feud between Ryback and Henry? This is NOT where Ryback should've been right now.
Team Hell No vs Dolph and Big E - The booking of Kane/DB is generally fine, and as much as I love both men they need to either have an actual story with them or break them up already. Now I was happy that Hell No won, I simply don't like Ziggler yet, maybe something will change but as of now I think he's been over rated by the IWC. The only thing I've ever seen him do is sell a monkey flip. With all that being said.. it made no sense to me to have Dolph Ziggler lose more, he has the MITB briefcase and he loses more than he wins, unless WWE have given up on him and plan for cash in to result in defeat. I'd actually be okay with that, but that's highly unlikely and so this match was pointless. AJ lee could have at least done something that seemed like it would further a story.
Both the IC title/US title are off the main show. Antonio Cesaro is great and he's being jobbed on a weekly basis for no reason. THE IC/US CHAMPION SHOULD BE SEMI PROTECTED!! Miz winning the IC title is a fart in the wind, who gives a crap?
Fandango VS Jericho - I actually don't have too much of a problem with this match. I have a problem with Fandango though, his gimic is old hat, crap like this has been done way too much and the entire roster is getting a little too metrosexual. The match was okay, the finish was sloppy though and they likely wanted to set up a feud between these two. All in all from a storyline/progression perspective this is probably the best match of the night (yikes!)
Swagger vs Alberto Deli Rio - No ziggler cash in especially after ziggler loses the tag team championship match was questionable. I already said I'm not a ziggler fan but Swagger attacking Del Rio after the match and then Ziggler cashing in would have been memorable. Also if WWE is that worried about ADR getting over having him chase the championship isn't a bad idea (He seems plenty over to me though for the most part?) all in all this left me disappointed but nothing terrible happened like most the other matches.
CM Punk vs Undertaker - It was exactly what I expected, a very good match though not quite as good as the matches Undertaker had with HBK/HHH but that was to be expected with Undertaker getting older and wrestling less and less. Here's what I have a problem with though: CM Punk's booking has been terrible. Should he have beat Undertaker? No. He had a 400 day title reign but who did he beat clean? He's been jobbed to Cena multiple times, Rock (2x), and now Undertaker.. I'm not a CM Punk mark like a lot of you, I like him but he's not the 2nd coming of Christ or anything. He's been booked weak for a LONG time and this match didn't do a whole lot to change that perception for me, I never once believed Undertaker was in any danger. I think if you did believe at any point Punk might win that was probably just the CM Punk mark in you.
HHH vs Lesnar - Now I've had zero problem with both the actual matches these two have had, I thought they were both entertaining enough. Brock's match vs Cena was better than both (not counting the ending) but Brock did ALL of the offense which is why it was so entertaining. Lesnar is used horribly, his loss to Cena was terrible, his win vs HHH was a little pointless but okay and his loss to HHH was beyond pointless. There was ZERO reason for Lesnar to lose this match except to feed HHH's ego. They pay him for so many appearances and then they have him come out for 3 minutes and not even speak usually? The whole thing has been horrible. Lesnar could have fought a properly built Ryback at WM30 and it be huge, he could have fought Undertaker at WM30 and it be huge, he could have fought Cena for the title and it could have been huge. Now? What is there Lesnar can do that actually seems huge after losing 2 our of 3 matches? Nothing that I can think of.
Oh yea, what the fuck was the point of all the stipulation talk? Their first match was also now DQ so why was it supposed to be a big deal this time? HHH's non existent career was on the line? Who cares? HBK was at ringside? Ummm why? His being there did nothing. All in all this whole thing was a giant mess.
The Rock vs Cena - This match was nothing but a finisher fest... with that being said I thought it worked, of all the matches The Rock has had since coming back I thought this was actually his best. I thought his first three were pretty terrible. With that being said... Cena NEEDED to turn heel.
Now there's word that The Rock is no showing WWE Raw. The Rock just "confirmed" he tore a muscle. I'm not buying it. This reminds me of what Austin used to do when he was so pissed off with the creative and the product he would just say fuck it and leave and claim it's an injury.
I never blamed Austin for it and I don't blame The Rock for it. The Rock is a little more to blame because he came back for this, he should have known better. They tried to make this like Hogan/Rock but it wasn't, Hogan was still over but so was The Rock. Cena? He's not over. Maybe The Rock thought he could get Cena over? He couldn't though, nobody can. The only way this would have worked is if Cena turned heel on Rock to win the title, it's not about crying for a Cena heel turn as it's about that's the only thing that would have had a desired effect and for as much as Cena wants to pretend to be that company guy? He's not or he would have done it.
The verbal back and forth between the two as pointed out by many others felt strange to me. Go watch Hogan/Rock after the match The Rock is very happy, go watch the last Austin/Rock match when they had their little moment, go watch after The Rock lost to Goldberg and talked to the crowd. At times like these The Rock usually becomes himself...but The Rock just still look pissed off, I questioned if The Rock was actually pissed or just trying to stay in character...but The Rock staying it character so much at a time like this seemed out of character..he was forcing it.
How would you feel if you came back to try to get the product and a current wrestler over and this was the result? The build up for all of these matches with the exception of Rock vs Cena 1 was garbage, you don't think The Rock knows it? You don't think The Rock now realizes that the product is in the exact same place it was before he came back? No better and if anything a little worse? They wanted to build a feud between Lesnar and Rock? You don't think The Rock is starting to see how pointless a match like this is?
This isn't The Rocks fault really, what was he supposed to do? Come back and job to everyone? Job to an up and comer? That would never work. The Rock needs to job to someone big.. but who was there? It was either CM Punk or Cena and CM Punk was never booked for it so it HAD to be Cena and now The Rock doesn't like the outcome... it just didn't work.
WWE have done this time and time again chasing away people like The Rock and Steve Austin. The people who really understand the business and what should and shouldn't be done? They get so fed up that they fake injuries. Vince HATES it. He HATES that Austin understands the business better than him, he HATES that The Rock made it even bigger with out the WWE behind him, he hates all that shit.
The Rock came back in the perfect manner, but the opponents weren't there and the storylines weren't there to welcome him. THE ROCK JUST LOST AT WRESTLEMANIA.... someone should be HUGELY over from this now but they're not... how does that seem right to you? After Hogan vs The Rock both men were cheered, after Austin vs Rock both men were cheered, after The Rock jobs to Cena both men were booed. Just imagine what would run through your head if you were The Rock at the moment.
There is zero getting Cena over, it's impossible, all he can do is drag you down with him.
Let's go through this match by match...
The shield vs Big Show etc - This had zero reveal, a semi rightfully pissed off big show knocks out Sheamus for no reason and Orton who kinda deserves it. So Big Show is turning heel for the 1,000th time....who cares? The truth of the matter is this match never had a good out to begin with, Orton heel turn? Who cares, what? Was he supposed to join The Shield? The Shield don't need him. The Shield are regressing, they've gone from taken out multiple people to simply having 6 man tag matches on a regular basis with little behind it at this point, WWE needs to pick up the pace with them and this match didn't do much for them but at least it didn't hurt them any.
Ryback VS Henry - Ryback loses. Let me say that again, RYBACK LOSES. How on earth does this make any sense? Ryback has gone from being undefeated, to fighting for the WWE championship, main eventing PPV's to jobbing to Henry in the 2nd match of Wrestlemania. Ryback NEEDED this win and what he got was a loss and a WM moment that was after the fact. The entire way Ryback has been handled ever since pointlessly being hot shot into that match at HIAC has been terrible. They've taken someone who had a lot of momentum and potential and killed. Ryback gets half the reactions he used to get...what a mess, and what was the point of this? To further a feud between Ryback and Henry? This is NOT where Ryback should've been right now.
Team Hell No vs Dolph and Big E - The booking of Kane/DB is generally fine, and as much as I love both men they need to either have an actual story with them or break them up already. Now I was happy that Hell No won, I simply don't like Ziggler yet, maybe something will change but as of now I think he's been over rated by the IWC. The only thing I've ever seen him do is sell a monkey flip. With all that being said.. it made no sense to me to have Dolph Ziggler lose more, he has the MITB briefcase and he loses more than he wins, unless WWE have given up on him and plan for cash in to result in defeat. I'd actually be okay with that, but that's highly unlikely and so this match was pointless. AJ lee could have at least done something that seemed like it would further a story.
Both the IC title/US title are off the main show. Antonio Cesaro is great and he's being jobbed on a weekly basis for no reason. THE IC/US CHAMPION SHOULD BE SEMI PROTECTED!! Miz winning the IC title is a fart in the wind, who gives a crap?
Fandango VS Jericho - I actually don't have too much of a problem with this match. I have a problem with Fandango though, his gimic is old hat, crap like this has been done way too much and the entire roster is getting a little too metrosexual. The match was okay, the finish was sloppy though and they likely wanted to set up a feud between these two. All in all from a storyline/progression perspective this is probably the best match of the night (yikes!)
Swagger vs Alberto Deli Rio - No ziggler cash in especially after ziggler loses the tag team championship match was questionable. I already said I'm not a ziggler fan but Swagger attacking Del Rio after the match and then Ziggler cashing in would have been memorable. Also if WWE is that worried about ADR getting over having him chase the championship isn't a bad idea (He seems plenty over to me though for the most part?) all in all this left me disappointed but nothing terrible happened like most the other matches.
CM Punk vs Undertaker - It was exactly what I expected, a very good match though not quite as good as the matches Undertaker had with HBK/HHH but that was to be expected with Undertaker getting older and wrestling less and less. Here's what I have a problem with though: CM Punk's booking has been terrible. Should he have beat Undertaker? No. He had a 400 day title reign but who did he beat clean? He's been jobbed to Cena multiple times, Rock (2x), and now Undertaker.. I'm not a CM Punk mark like a lot of you, I like him but he's not the 2nd coming of Christ or anything. He's been booked weak for a LONG time and this match didn't do a whole lot to change that perception for me, I never once believed Undertaker was in any danger. I think if you did believe at any point Punk might win that was probably just the CM Punk mark in you.
HHH vs Lesnar - Now I've had zero problem with both the actual matches these two have had, I thought they were both entertaining enough. Brock's match vs Cena was better than both (not counting the ending) but Brock did ALL of the offense which is why it was so entertaining. Lesnar is used horribly, his loss to Cena was terrible, his win vs HHH was a little pointless but okay and his loss to HHH was beyond pointless. There was ZERO reason for Lesnar to lose this match except to feed HHH's ego. They pay him for so many appearances and then they have him come out for 3 minutes and not even speak usually? The whole thing has been horrible. Lesnar could have fought a properly built Ryback at WM30 and it be huge, he could have fought Undertaker at WM30 and it be huge, he could have fought Cena for the title and it could have been huge. Now? What is there Lesnar can do that actually seems huge after losing 2 our of 3 matches? Nothing that I can think of.
Oh yea, what the fuck was the point of all the stipulation talk? Their first match was also now DQ so why was it supposed to be a big deal this time? HHH's non existent career was on the line? Who cares? HBK was at ringside? Ummm why? His being there did nothing. All in all this whole thing was a giant mess.
The Rock vs Cena - This match was nothing but a finisher fest... with that being said I thought it worked, of all the matches The Rock has had since coming back I thought this was actually his best. I thought his first three were pretty terrible. With that being said... Cena NEEDED to turn heel.
Now there's word that The Rock is no showing WWE Raw. The Rock just "confirmed" he tore a muscle. I'm not buying it. This reminds me of what Austin used to do when he was so pissed off with the creative and the product he would just say fuck it and leave and claim it's an injury.
I never blamed Austin for it and I don't blame The Rock for it. The Rock is a little more to blame because he came back for this, he should have known better. They tried to make this like Hogan/Rock but it wasn't, Hogan was still over but so was The Rock. Cena? He's not over. Maybe The Rock thought he could get Cena over? He couldn't though, nobody can. The only way this would have worked is if Cena turned heel on Rock to win the title, it's not about crying for a Cena heel turn as it's about that's the only thing that would have had a desired effect and for as much as Cena wants to pretend to be that company guy? He's not or he would have done it.
The verbal back and forth between the two as pointed out by many others felt strange to me. Go watch Hogan/Rock after the match The Rock is very happy, go watch the last Austin/Rock match when they had their little moment, go watch after The Rock lost to Goldberg and talked to the crowd. At times like these The Rock usually becomes himself...but The Rock just still look pissed off, I questioned if The Rock was actually pissed or just trying to stay in character...but The Rock staying it character so much at a time like this seemed out of character..he was forcing it.
How would you feel if you came back to try to get the product and a current wrestler over and this was the result? The build up for all of these matches with the exception of Rock vs Cena 1 was garbage, you don't think The Rock knows it? You don't think The Rock now realizes that the product is in the exact same place it was before he came back? No better and if anything a little worse? They wanted to build a feud between Lesnar and Rock? You don't think The Rock is starting to see how pointless a match like this is?
This isn't The Rocks fault really, what was he supposed to do? Come back and job to everyone? Job to an up and comer? That would never work. The Rock needs to job to someone big.. but who was there? It was either CM Punk or Cena and CM Punk was never booked for it so it HAD to be Cena and now The Rock doesn't like the outcome... it just didn't work.
WWE have done this time and time again chasing away people like The Rock and Steve Austin. The people who really understand the business and what should and shouldn't be done? They get so fed up that they fake injuries. Vince HATES it. He HATES that Austin understands the business better than him, he HATES that The Rock made it even bigger with out the WWE behind him, he hates all that shit.
The Rock came back in the perfect manner, but the opponents weren't there and the storylines weren't there to welcome him. THE ROCK JUST LOST AT WRESTLEMANIA.... someone should be HUGELY over from this now but they're not... how does that seem right to you? After Hogan vs The Rock both men were cheered, after Austin vs Rock both men were cheered, after The Rock jobs to Cena both men were booed. Just imagine what would run through your head if you were The Rock at the moment.
There is zero getting Cena over, it's impossible, all he can do is drag you down with him.
Yeah, Cena did great work burying the entire Nexus angle, that worked out real well for wade barret who went on to do absolutely nothing of interest as a result. Yet another case of someone getting hot shot to feud with Cena and zero coming of it as a result.
