2018 Pro Wrestling thread

I saw a good suggestion on Cageside Seats comments. Tomorrow, Angle tell Braun he can't have a kid for a partner, so he has to give up the tag titles, but in exchange, he gets a Universal title match that night.

 

The word on the interwebs is that Nicholas is the son of ref John Cone.

Braun's tag partners keep getting smaller. First the Wyatts, then Alexa, now Nicholas? Who's next? Prince Wolfgang?

 

It's the return of Hornswoggle!

 

Yeah, I figured He had to be a plant. Still, that was fun because I thought they were just joking with having a kid in the match and they would have a real wrestler inserted in.

 

I swear I saw him there as one of the New Day's pancakes.

 

My home-run hope: Heyman cuts a promo talking about how no one can touch his client, Brock ... Lesner ... and how there's no formidable competitor. He runs down a long list of guys Lesnar's beaten. He keeps talking, asks if there's anyone left to conquer ... and then Daniel Bryan's music hits. The part-time wrestler against the guy who was forced to sit for more than two years, and they could continue with the barbs Reigns threw at Lesnar about not caring, but with Bryan, the execution would be flawless. David vs. Goliath at SummerSlam.

 

Unfortunately, it will probably be Bobby Lashley. Holding hope Samoa Joe comes out, though.

 

Point of discussion, for the main show

Matches that were better than I expected:
Rousey, Asuska/Charlotte, IC triple

About what I expected:
Styles/Nak, Nia Jax, Braun, Bryan.

Worse than I expected:
Reigns, Bludgeon brothers, US title, Cena.

I give the show an A-minus overall. Its still way too long. Al the matches that exceeded my expectations were in the first half. Did fatigue color my judgement on the latter half, or did they (Rollins and Charlotte especially) steal the show by setting too high a bar?

 

I oddly kind of agree with your assessment, but I'm way more negative on the show. Like, my initial reaction was C- or D+, but maybe that's because the last half of the card just soured me completely, along with thinking about "where do we go from here?" My main complaints:

- The belt is still on Lesnar, and they didn't turn Reigns or really have him react besides being his prissy, moody self. I was surprised at how anti-Reigns the crowd was, since Mania itself isn't normally full of smarks. I assume they have to get the belt off Lesnar via a three-way (or more) match, unless they throw a major curveball (him retiring, Bryan switching brands, shocking return).

- Charlotte killed Asuska's streak, and I'm not really sure why.

- Jinder as US Champ will be like the shittier version of Jinder as heavyweight champ.

- The Cena squash is interesting to me, but only if it goes somewhere. Like if Taker is going to be around more, or if Cena is going heel. I don't think either one is going to happen though.

Most of the other matches were good to very good, but there wasn't anything unquestionably great to me. It was all just a lot of "meh." I thought the Rousey match was the best of the night, followed by Styles/Nakamura. Liked seeing Bryan back out there, but god I'm sick of all this McMahon bullshit.

 

You're right and over time the show might end up more in the C+ to B range. I think I'm still colored by well at least this wasn't the Dallas trainwreck and grading on a curve.

 

So, a day later and a night's sleep, my thoughts:

- Andre Battle Royal was what it was. Hardy/Bray as a team could be fun.

- I missed the women's battle royal. Sasha/Bayley gets more build.

- IC belt match was tremendous. Rollins and Finn are so much fun, and Miz will continue to chase.

- US title match was meh. Served it's purpose as a filler, although Rusev should have gone over. I could care less about Jinder.

- Ditto for Smackdown tag, although glad to see Harper and Rowan finally get some love.

- Mixed tag was fantastic. I was surprised they let Trips and Angle get offense on the women, but they should be able to do it in a wrestling context. Nobody wants to see them beat the women up. Rousey's ability was a surprise, and she showed she could have an in-ring personality. Steph was fun. Angle really looks like he's slowed down, but he served a good purpose here.

- Raw women's title was fine. Thought Nia should have squashed Alexa, but it was OK.

- SD women's result surprised me. I thought Asuka would win, and I was surprised that not only she lost, but that she tapped. I guess this sets Charlotte up for Rousey?

- Raw tag title cracked me up hysterically. I never thought they would actually have the kid be in the match, but they did. I know it's Cone's kid, which makes it a little less enjoyable than an actual random kid or a Make-A-Wish kid, but it was still a memorable moment. Where Braun goes from here is intriguing. I know some are upset that the Bar lost, but they'll be fine.

- WWE title was good, but didn't live up to expectations, which may have been too high to begin with. Nak's heel turn was fine. I wonder if he'll keep the entrance, or come up with something new.

- Universal title's a total mess. Lesnar needs a change in scenery and Tis whole buildup of Reigns is a failure.

- Taker/Cena was fun. Thought it could have gone a little longer. Maybe it sets up another match next year? Elias' heat was off the charts.

Overall, I give the show a B+. The undercard was a lot,of fun, most of the main event was enjoyable. The two main title matches didn't live up to expectations.





-
-

 

My day-after thoughts:

• The IC triple threat match was great. Match of the night. Insane pace, great action unique spots ... basically everything I was hoping for and more.
• Seth Rollins was supposed to be a White Walker from Game of Thrones for his entrance. I got more of an Aquaman vibe.
• Is Finn Balor gay? Or did he become one of those random icons that the gay community latches onto that the rest of the world at large has no clue about? Wrestling in rainbow flag gear and sharing his Wrestlemania entrance with 50 members of the LGBTQ community was incredibly random for a guy that, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been an outspoken advocate for gay rights or anything like that.
No that there's anything wrong with that ...

• The Charlotte-Asuka match was also very good. Stunned that Asuka lost (and tapped!?) to end the streak, especially to someone who could have eaten a Wrestlemania loss and not been hurt by it.

• Like you, Baron, I was surprised at how physical they got with the intergender spots in the mixed tag match. I guess they figure Rousey is enough of a hoss to hold her own, but when Triple H tripped her and dragged her out of the ring it was a stunning moment. That, Angle getting Stephanie in the ankle lock, and Angle smashing into Rousey to break up a submission attempt were all a throwback to the Attitude Era. The match was better for it, IMO, in that it didn't feel like they were holding back.
• Great line from Rousey while jawing with Triple H: "I'm going to go back to beating up your wife."

• The second half of the card was incredibly underwhelming. Those first three matches had me thinking this could be an all-time great Wrestlemania, and maybe if they'd been scattered around the card a bit more it would have been better. There was just such a clear line of demarcation in this show. Of the matches after the mixed tag, the only one I really enjoyed was Jax vs. Bliss. The Strowman match was fun, but obviously more of a fun breather before the main event than a classic.
The first three matches made this Wrestlemania an A+ and satisfied my "Three Match" test -- if you bought the PPV and got three matches you enjoyed, with one being a pleasant surprise, you got your money's worth. The back half of the card dragged it down to about a C+ or B-, though.

• Styles-Nakamura was incredibly underwhelming. The build sucked, and the match was very meh. I liked the finish. Everything else felt like a routine Smackdown main event. The way the IWC hyped up their history in Japan, I was expecting a lot more.
• I think they screwed up not giving the belt to Nakamura last year at Summerslam. He was hot, he seemed poised for a shot to run with the title, he had a nice, forgettable champion to beat, and then ... he didn't get it and has been floundering ever since. At this point, I don't even see what his appeal is.
• My wife and I saw a Nakamura vs. Jinder match at a house show a couple months back. She calls him "Iron Chef."

• The main event lived down to the hype. What an epic debacle that everyone saw coming. I won't go into my problems again with both Lesnar and Reigns, so I'll dial in on the booking this time.
Why have Roman chase like he did, kick out of all of those F5s, and rally at the end only to lose? If the end goal is to make him a Cenaesque babyface who teaches the kids never to give up no matter the odds, they failed miserably. He did all of that and still got his ass kicked and lost, so what was the point?
I'm afraid the plan for tonight is to give Roman a rematch and he wins in about two minutes, which would be even worse. Lose on the big stage, win on Raw. Yay.
• I touched on this earlier in the thread, but Lesnar is fast approaching 1996-97 nWo territory where he's boring because there is absolutely no chance he will ever lose. They need to do something with him, and fast.