Professional wrestling thread

I came here looking for some wrestlemania talk, cause i was at work all day and missed it, and i get nothing.

 

I didn't see it, but here's what happened from various sources:

Cena d. HBK via STFU, apparently a great match
Undertaker d. Batistia via Tombstone, surprisingly great match and now UT is 15-0 at WM
Mr. Kennedy won the Money in the Bank ... Bank match. Jeff Hardy and Edge may be pretty badly hurt after a spot where Hardy legdropped Edge off the top rope onto a ladder on the outside, which broke in half.
Lashley d. Umaga, McMahon is now bald. Trump clotheslined McMahon at once point, and Austin gave Stunners to Umaga, Vince, Shane ... and Trump at the end.
Khali d. Kane. Bad match, Kane apparently is getting major knee surgery so they buried him
ECW Originals d. New Blood
Benoit d. MVP
Melina d. Ashley

 

damn that sounds great!!!! the MITB match sounds awesome!!

 

For the great job WWE did leading into this Wrestlemania in terms of storylines and building interest, this Wrestlemania kind of fell flat. The matches that need to be more than decent (Both World Title matches and the Hair vs. Hair) delivered, but I've seen way better.

This MITB match was the worst of the three by far. Eight guys in this thing is too much. Khali vs. Kane could have been a lot worse. The surprise of the night was the job MVP did in the ring with Benoit. Even though Benoit won (which I don't understand because I thought they were pushing MVP while Benoit is supposed to be headed to RAW), MVP came out looking strong is this match. I just don't understand why WWE didn't have MVP wrestling these type of matches sooner. ECW match was terrible, but at least the Originals won which is likely the last hurrah for those guys with the exception of RVD, who still hasn't signed a new contract.

Taker vs. Batista was short, but good and Batista had his best match in ages. Women's match blew hard and I was disappointed with HBK vs. Cena. To me, they just didn't perform like it was the main event at Wrestlemanie. The Cena vs. Umaga match at Royal Rumble was 100 percent better than this. Cena vs. Umaga had me on the edge of my seat because it had great drama. HBK vs. Cena didn't really have great drama and Cena is getting stale as a champion. And one sign said it correctly tonight: Cen-A Nough.

It will be interesting to see what direction WWE goes in now. They've had Cena beat everyone in the company, so who else is left. Randy Orton? Give me a break. Could we see Cena vs. Edge aagain? Been there, done that. And what to do with The Undertaker? Will they have Batista chasing him all summer for a rematch at Summerslam? When does Kennedy cash in and is he really a credible world champion? What are they going to do with Lashley now? Do you even consider having him drop the belt at any point and do you let C.M. Punk have a little run? Where does MVP stand now? This Wrestlemania opens up a lot of questions of what is to come.

 

What I'd do -- have Kennedy cash in on Cena. We've already seen plenty of Kennedy-UT, and I don't think anyone's clamoring for Kennedy-Lashley. Cena and Kennedy haven't wrestled each other, at least not that I can recall, and they could do some good dueling promos.

I don't know if I see Kennedy as a legitimate world champion, but I had that same question about Edge two years ago after MITB, and now he's just awesome.

I suspect HHH turns on HBK at some point soon after his return. I don't have anything specific, but I don't think there's much else they can do with DX now, at least not in its current incarnation. Edge and Orton can feud with each other, but heel-heel programs aren't long-term, and neither would benefit from a face turn.

Batista will get a rematch with Undertaker at the next Smackdown PPV. Not only is it the traditional route for the defending champion, but they'll probably get it just because of how good this match apparently was. Probably a gimmick of some sort (HITC yay, casket match boo). If they don't flip Benoit, he'd be a good UT opponent for SummerSlam. My fear: UT-Khali.

Also, if they flip Kennedy to Raw, they'd probably send someone to SD. Orton, perhaps?

I'd let Punk have the belt now, but it's not happening. They're committed to Lashley as champ for a while, and they're never going to have total confidence in Punk.

 

FYI, Meat, there are no more brand-specific PPVs. WWE had a release either last week or the week before saying that starting with Backlash (the one coming up later this month) all the PPVs (including the smaller ones) will have all brands on them.

 

Oh, right. I assumed they'd still have one brand be the dominant presence, but thinking about it, they probably won't.

That's going to make it tough on the brands as far as main event feuds go, because instead of being able to theoretically stretch a two-PPV feud to three or four months, now they'll have to do it more quickly. Unless one brand is in fact the dominant one on a given PPV and provides most of the upper-card matches.

 

*AHEM*

[/patting myself on the back]

 

Scoreboard's a beautiful thing.....

As for Kennedy, they will push him harder now that their two biggest heels -- HHH and Edge -- appear to be on the sidelines for awhile. I don't see Kennedy at Smackdown much longer. His popularity is screaming Raw at the moment, and I wouldn't be shocked if they push him after Cena as early as tonight.

Saw WM last night and was pleased with the show. It helped to be in a bar with about 200 other fans that added to the atmosphere. Trump-McMahon was predictable, but liked the action, especially Shane's Coast to Coast. 'Taker-Batista was much better than expected, and I think HBK-Cena was a top-notch match. MVP really stepped up but was surprised he lost. He's due for a major push and will probably get Benoit at Backlash. If I had to grade it, I'd give it a B+

Any show that has Mickie James cannot be bad at all....

 

It was my first wrestling ppv. I thought it was good, but not great.

I loved the Hair-vs-Hair ending. I mean, we all knew Vince was going to lose, but I very much enjoyed the way it all went down.

Batista-Taker was great.

Cena-Michaels not so much. It seemed a little slower than it could have been, and frankly, I'm tired of Cena as champ.

MITB was good, not great. That plunge Jeff Hardy took onto Edge was incredible. I wonder if they're both really hurt, or if that was a work. I certainly could understand it being real from that kind of plunge.

MVP-Benoit -- I was surprised at how good MVP looked. His character genuinely annoys me, and not in an entertaining way. But I didn't realize that he actually had any talent until this match. Lots of reversals, and it actually looked a bit like real wrestling.

The other matches were more or less un-interesting.

My $.02.

 

Got an invite to come watch free at a friend's house. Big HDTV and surround sound. Score.

Let me back up whoever said eight guys was too much for MITB. That being said, in 20 years of watching wrestling, I have NEVER seen something like the sick bump when Jeff Hardy jumped off on Edge, who was lying on a ladder bridged between the ring apron and ring barrier, then put them both through the ladder. Just nasty.

Kane-Khali and the divas' match were snack and bathroom breaks for me.

All the dirt sheets are raving about Cena-HBK, but honestly? I didn't see it. Really slow starting, and nearly half of the last 5 to 10 minutes was spent with them down selling the "oh my god I'm so drained I can't follow up" thing. That's cool if you've already been wrestling for 30-minutes plus, but pushes the bounds of logic if it's been 20 or less...

To me match of the night was Taker-Batista. Taker may not always bring it, but he really stepped up in this one and Batista was decent aside from his usual crappy performances. And the crowd was really into the match, too.

 

As I said before, I refuse to buy WWE PPVs. I had the chance to watch WM23 at a friend's house, albeit 100 miles away. I chose to stay home instead and rented WM III, the last WM from Detroit. Savage-Steamboat was good, of course, but what a bunch garbage a lot of the other matches. Funny too to see that Billy Jack Haynes and Hercules essentially feuded over what Chris Masters does now with the full nelson. I know angles get recycled and characters do too. Worst match on WM 3 had lots of candidates, but it was fun to see a lot of guys you don't see now. I also counted at least 8 people on the show who are now dead (6 wrestlers, announcer Gorilla Monsoon and his son, a ref.)

It was also funny to hear cuts from the Piledriver album: the title track and of course, Grab Them Cakes by JYD! If Jive Soul Bro was played I didn't hear it for the Doctor of Style, Slick!