2014 Pro Wrestling Thread

I'll say this: Lesnar and Heyman looked pretty surprised.

 

Heyman looked as stunned as everyone else in the crowd.
There was a great shot, too, right before the finishing sequence. I think it was when Taker got up and started making a comeback. In the background, Heyman just rubbed his head and face as if to say, "Oh, shit."
Totally in the background, but a wonderful reaction nonetheless. I love little details like that.

 

Ouch.

 

That's why they always take the monitors out before they do that stuff. He'll be feeling that one tomorrow.

 

Looking back at it, there's no way Heyman didn't know Lesnar was winning there. He hopped right in the ring afterward and sat up into a "Oh my god, we won" pose. No way he's climbing into the ring that quickly if he didn't know the outcome.

 

Some other thoughts:

1. When Lesnar hit his second F-5 and got little reaction, I thought that they shouldn't have bothered with the first one because everyone knew it wouldn't end that way.

2. When Lesnar hit the third F-5, and the ref started counting, I was thinking "what a way to kill his finish" by having Taker kick out a third time. Little did we all know.

3. Heyman is going to be epically insufferable tomorrow night. And it will be glorious

4. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to have Lesnar challenge Bryan, since, after all, he just ended the streak.

5. Bray Wyatt is going to be a megastar. He's the best heel in the business today.

6. Now that I think of it, really nice job by the E to have the main eventers from the first WM have their little skit right before this year's main event. Nice nod to the past.

7. Also cool to see Bruno, Race and the other legends sitting ringside for Bryan's win. He's a guy that I think they would have loved to have worked with.

8. I missed the early stuff, but I heard the Austin/Rock/Hogan stuff was great.

 

unless - ya think - Paul overheard some possible conversation between Taker and Lesnar with Taker saying "I suck, I ain't got it, finish me."

 

Watching the main event back, Randy can thank Botchtista for the monitor in the back. He emptied out that table and didn't throw the monitor clear.

 

I'm sure quite a few people knew about the finish of the Undertaker/Lesnar match. Let's count: Undertaker, Brock, the ref, the agent, Vince/HHH/Step. Minimum. But Heyman probably knew, and a graphics guy probably knew. Probably Kevin Dunn also. I'm guessing a lot of talent, including the announcers were in the dark as to get a great reaction. This is the first time in a long time that the E has shocked me.

So, I'm sitting here, really excited that Daniel Bryan will be the champ when I go to Raw in Birmingham next week. Then a sickening thought just hit: what's the follow up? How does Triple H and Stephanie get their revenge? Tomorrow in New Orleans, hot off ending the Streak, Lesnar is granted an impromptu match for the title. Triple H and Steph have a great way to beat the shit out of Bryan and put the title on Brock. Bryan gets time off for his wedding and honeymoon. I don't get to see Bryan as champ, and CM Punk really has quit. Shit, Raw is going to suck.

 

It's great Bryan won, but I still can't get over the Undertaker. This is the same shock feeling like when Auburn ran back the botched field goal against my Crimson Tide. Sure, losing the game was in the realm of possibility, but I didn't think it would go down like that.

 

Of course it ended up being part of the match, but I honestly thought Bryan might have broken his neck, too. The way he came down with it bent, it looked kind of nasty. Batista also had a bit of an "Oh crap, what did I do?" look on his face for a few minutes afterward.

 

I'll be scanning the wrestling sites to see if there are any extenuating circumstances for the Undertaker jobbing tonight. There are always booking decisions and results that are unexpected to me, but I can see why they're done. This one shocked me liked nothing before in the business. As stated already, why Lesnar? He'll never be a full-time guy, just the attraction type that Undertaker has been.

I'm wondering if this was a decision made very recently, like Taker and McMahon/HHH having a meeting that was the pro wrestling version of Cal Ripken going into the manager's office at the end of 1998 and saying "it's time." Because, I believe this is definitely it for Undertaker. I watched WM with my brother-in-law and remarked he's really looked broken down the last few times I've seen him come to the ring, and maybe he's seen that, too.