The Official WWE / NXT Discussion Thread *May Contain Spoilers*

[guyver3]

I think part of what makes the Uso match so disappointing is the video package before the match that had to be an all time video package and then the match didn’t deliver

[guyver3]

Anyone else getting the feeling the main event could go over an hour 

[CQI13]

46 minutes ago, guyver3 said:

Anyone else getting the feeling the main event could go over an hour 

That's what it's looking like. Should be a banger.

[brat99]

10 hours ago, brat99 said:

Kind of agree here.....I found nothing on night one bad, just that nothing stood out to me as being outstanding.  R-Truth's Wrestlemania Moment might have been my favorite part of night one.  Hoping night 2 has more wow factor.

Yeah, night 2 far and away exceeded night 1.  Main event was at the same time a completely overbooked show and absolutely amazing!

[CQI13]

6 hours ago, brat99 said:

Yeah, night 2 far and away exceeded night 1.  Main event was at the same time a completely overbooked show and absolutely amazing!

Not quite the hour. And not how I would have booked it probably...but dang was that enjoyable. Really awesome stuff.

[The Blonde Bomber]

Night two was glorious.

[Dawn]

What a show. WHAT A SHOW! I was thoroughly entertained all night, and CODY FINALLY FINISHED THE STORY! Best Night 2 of two night Manias BY FAR. Need a rewatch but it was hitting like last year's Night 1 which was an all timer. If only Night 1 this year had been as good, this would be a top 3 Mania.

[CQI13]

8 minutes ago, Dawn said:

What a show. WHAT A SHOW! I was thoroughly entertained all night, and CODY FINALLY FINISHED THE STORY! Best Night 2 of two night Manias BY FAR. Need a rewatch but it was hitting like last year's Night 1 which was an all timer. If only Night 1 this year had been as good, this would be a top 3 Mania.

The post match celebration hit all the right notes, too. It was awesome. I think putting both nights together, it was a strong show. I'm probably the only one rooting for Kross, but that was a fun "get the fans happy" match. And props to Scarlett on that bump. Michael Cole was great in that little bit with Cody at the end, too. And Samantha Irvin...if you had no idea Cody winning the belt was a big deal, you got that feeling when she made the announcement.

And I celebrated a little too much when Priest cashed in the MITB. Drew gets his moment, and we can have a blood feud between him and Punk without the title. 

[Wrestling Machine]

Wrestling really is a simple business. You build your biggest babyface and finally you make him win the main championship in the main event of your biggest show, and everybody goes home happy.

Genuinely so happy for Cody, for Dusty, for the entire Rhodes family. Wrestling has more than one royal family, but the crown is on the head of a Rhodes now. All hail the king.

[Sisma]

7 hours ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

Night two was glorious.

Absolutely!

The entire night was awesome! Rollins and McIntyre delivered a banger and the CM Punk involvement and cash-in made it even better! I loved the thriple threat match, especially the beginning with KO and Orton working together. The main event was a masterpiece! I actually shed a tear when it was over! Samantha Irving and Michael Cole getting emotional, got me emotional. 😅

[VPrime]

3 hours ago, Sisma said:

Absolutely!

The entire night was awesome! Rollins and McIntyre delivered a banger and the CM Punk involvement and cash-in made it even better! I loved the thriple threat match, especially the beginning with KO and Orton working together. The main event was a masterpiece! I actually shed a tear when it was over! Samantha Irving and Michael Cole getting emotional, got me emotional. 😅

Why was Samantha emotional? I don't get that at all. It wasn't Ricochet who won. Why did she care if Roman or Cody won? It doesn't make any sense that she cried instead of delivering a great announcement. 

Make it make sense!

[Jaysin]

35 minutes ago, VPrime said:

Why was Samantha emotional? I don't get that at all. It wasn't Ricochet who won. Why did she care if Roman or Cody won? It doesn't make any sense that she cried instead of delivering a great announcement. 

Make it make sense!

Because she's followed his story? It's not rocket science.

[Sisma]

34 minutes ago, VPrime said:

Why was Samantha emotional? I don't get that at all. It wasn't Ricochet who won. Why did she care if Roman or Cody won? It doesn't make any sense that she cried instead of delivering a great announcement. 

Make it make sense!

It was a human reaction! 😃

As someone who has been there for the duration of his story and knows how much it means to him, those were genuine tears of joy. 

[VPrime]

2 minutes ago, Sisma said:

It was a human reaction! 😃

As someone who has been there for the duration of his story and knows how much it means to him, those were genuine tears of joy. 

The ref didn't cry. He did his job and handed Cody the belt with no issue. 

I believe that only the commentators should show emotion. The announcer should simply announce. They can show passion for big matches, but to cry and mess up the announcement is just too over the top.

[willr0ck]

Took my daughter to Mania this year as she's been wanting to go for the past few years. In return I dragged her to Supercard Of Honor on Friday. The only other Mania I've been to was 30 so it was a really cool trip. Overall I would say it was a great time. I'm only really invested in a few people these days, mainly Drew, Seth, Gunther, Sami and most of the women, but the overall spectacle of the event is worth seeing live.

Night One felt like a glorified RAW. I really didn't enjoy it at all. The crowd got hot for the ME and Becky/Rhea & Sami/Gunther were great, especially Sami/Gunther. Other than that it was kind of meh to me. It was also freaking cold out there, which sucked. Thankfully we had some fun people in our section that had me laughing the whole time. The guy near me that kept screaming "Walk faster, I'm freezing my balls off" during both Roman and the Rock's entrances, and that had me in stitches.

Nigth Two was very good. Iyo/Bayley freaking ruled. Can Logan Paul please go away forever. Thank God my daughter doesn't like this douche or his douchebag streamer friends. They did Drew dirty, I guess this means Drews still up in the air about coming back. Obviously the ME was an overbooked mess, in the best way possible. This was Vince Russo's wet dream. I wish Seth had come out of the weekend looking better, especially during his run in but he will bounce back. My daughter was happy, as she really likes Cody. I could care less about him. The magic wore off for me last year when he lost. I'm happy for the dude though, and God I hope this bloodline story is done. The crowd was super hot for this match, possibly the loudest crowd I've ever heard at a wrestling event. The post match celebration was awesome, I think CM Punk tore his other tricep raising Cody's hand.

Overall it was a great experience and I'm glad I could share it with my kiddo. Counting Supercard I think we must have watched 13 hours of live wrestling. No wonder I'm exhausted. 

 

 

[Sisma]

1 minute ago, VPrime said:

The ref didn't cry. He did his job and handed Cody the belt with no issue. 

I believe that only the commentators should show emotion. The announcer should simply announce. They can show passion for big matches, but to cry and mess up the announcement is just too over the top.

Agree to disagree 😉

To me, it was an indication of the magnitude of the win and just a sweet moment.

[overthetop2]

23 hours ago, Jaysin said:

If basic storytelling goes over your head, you might want to stop watching pro wrestling. 

We passed the point of "basic" storytelling and into the realms of a convoluted mess 2 months ago when they baited everyone into thinking Rock vs Roman was the Wrestlemania match, only to pretend that segment never happened a few days later.  Had they simply made the match no-DQ in the first place I'd have no argument against how the title fight was booked, but Cody having the chance in story to prevent a glorified handicap match and failing just makes Cena and Undertaker's appearance stick out as a deus ex machina designed to save the hero from a problem he himself created.

[Jaysin]

6 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

We passed the point of "basic" storytelling and into the realms of a convoluted mess 2 months ago when they baited everyone into thinking Rock vs Roman was the Wrestlemania match, only to pretend that segment never happened a few days later.  Had they simply made the match no-DQ in the first place I'd have no argument against how the title fight was booked, but Cody having the chance in story to prevent a glorified handicap match and failing just makes Cena and Undertaker's appearance stick out as a deus ex machina designed to save the hero from a problem he himself created.

If you don't understand booking and story telling, maybe pro wrestling really isn't for you? Why watch something you clearly hate and don't understand? Despite Adam's comment, I'm genuinely tying to discuss this. I just don't understand watching something I dislike or don't get the appeal of just to complain about it.

Edited April 8 by Jaysin

[Adam Ryland]

Stop being mean-spirited, Jaysin. If you don't like what overthetop2 posts, put him on your ignore list, don't keep trying to bait him into a fight.

[Jaysin]

48 minutes ago, Adam Ryland said:

Stop being mean-spirited, Jaysin. If you don't like what overthetop2 posts, put him on your ignore list, don't keep trying to bait him into a fight.

I'm not being mean spirited. I'm asking genuine questions. If you hate something or don't understand it, why watch it? 

[Scarlet-Left]

The crowd seemed restless and distracted on both nights, outside of the Main Event and at least the finishing sequence for Bayley vs Iyo Sky. There were a bunch of pointless matches on both nights, especially the first night. The "six pack" ladder match was wretched, the Philadelphia Street Fight was somehow even worse. The six-woman tag was not a bad match but it still felt like needless bloat on an already tiresome show. The commentary was awful throughout (the best commentator was CM Punk, and he was just there for a post-match angle).

Also, pure personal preference, but I cannot stand even the premise of the "world heavyweight championship" let alone how it's actually booked, utterly worthless title.

Goofy sports-entertainment finish aside, I enjoyed the main event (the real main event), and hopefully we can get Rock v Roman and Rhodes v Rock somewhere down the line. Seeing John Cena's bald spot and the Undertaker's DIY dad outfit made me feel very old. Some of the artificial physiques were a little grotesque, and the Rock should probably wrestle in his cool vest to cover up his bacne.

I did not expect to see Stephanie McMahon, and the crowd reaction to her was even more surprising. Triple H's "new era" is a very funny rebrand and I remain unconvinced.

[eayragt]

Is it odd that my favourite bit was Roman taking out SHIELD Seth? 9 and a half years after the betrayal, what could have been an overbooked mess just made sense.

A think a heel Seth is definitely on the cards, there's a couple of big money matches with Cody and Punk over the next 12 months there. Although with Gunter also joining the Main Event it does look a little heel heavy, which I guess is good for LA Knight.

I do slightly worry for the Usos. They've shined in the Main Event scene with a great storyline, but I think it's time for them to move away from it. If they're not a tag team again in the next 2 years I'd be surprised.

[CQI13]

11 minutes ago, eayragt said:

Is it odd that my favourite bit was Roman taking out SHIELD Seth? 9 and a half years after the betrayal, what could have been an overbooked mess just made sense.

A think a heel Seth is definitely on the cards, there's a couple of big money matches with Cody and Punk over the next 12 months there. Although with Gunter also joining the Main Event it does look a little heel heavy, which I guess is good for LA Knight.

I do slightly worry for the Usos. They've shined in the Main Event scene with a great storyline, but I think it's time for them to move away from it. If they're not a tag team again in the next 2 years I'd be surprised.

You know how sometimes you can tell in a tag team that one is a star over the other? To me, the Usos are tag workers. And no shame in that. Same with Kofi and Woods.

And in the case of D(X)Y I felt Ciampa was the bigger star, but they are both really good singles workers in their own right. Keep The Judgement Day away from the belts and it will have been worth it. 

Hopefully they keep Gunther away from Cody for the time being. No need to rush into that story. I think a heel Gunther could get cheered against another heel just based on his matches alone. Might not be ideal though.

[overthetop2]

17 hours ago, Jaysin said:

If you don't understand booking and story telling, maybe pro wrestling really isn't for you? Why watch something you clearly hate and don't understand?

I wouldn't have made a GDS account in the first place if I didn't like pro wrestling at one point.  And I'd like to think I still do like pro wrestling, which is why I've grown to hate WWE's depiction of it over the last 10 years.  This really has been a slow burn starting from Brock Lesnar's first title reign of the modern era in 2014;

- Part time world champions whose sporadic appearances slow the title picture down to a crawl.  This was every Lesnar reign that lasted more than a couple of months, then it was Roman's reign of terror.  This leads into...

- Overly long heel reigns that often end in underwhelming fashion.  Between Lesnar and Rollins in 14-15, a heel held the WWE title for almost 15 months before the latter got injured.  And if it wasn't injury, it would be a short and underwhelming match where Lesnar spams his finishers like it's HCTP before losing, or a Goldberg squash which disgusts me as someone who wants to see workrate be rewarded.  And yet...

- New stars blown up by Lesnar/Goldberg.  Wrestlemania 35 was on the last good ones imo.  Kofimania begun in a great match against Daniel Bryan and it looked like the WWE was moving on from their over-reliance on old names.  So naturally, Kofi gets squashed by Lesnar on a random Smackdown with no build, and he's had few opportunities at the top of the card since.  Bray Wyatt was also having a good reign as The Fiend just before COVID hit.  Then they have him lose to Goldberg in 3 minutes, and if not for Cena putting him over in a big way at WM 36, that too would've turned into a burial.

- Nonsensical match outcomes.  Speaking of The Fiend, THEY ENDED A HIAC MATCH IN A DQ.  The aforementioned Kofi losing in 7 seconds after being booked strong for 6 months also fits here, as does Seth Rollins losing to a one armed man, yet we're supposed to take him seriously as a potential world champion after that.  And then there's almost every match in Roman's reign of terror from the 2 year mark onwards; the heel has to lose at some point and Drew McIntyre winning at Clash at the Castle '22 was as good a time as any in my book.

- Which brings us to Roman Reigns.  The problem from as far back as 2015 wasn't that he was a bad worker.  It's that he was getting a rocket strapped onto him when there were more seasoned workers and interesting characters that deserved the shot more.  His heel turn did not in my opinion fix the root problem of him being the only new star the WWE has actually nurtured in years.  If anything it made things worse as they gave him a 1,316 day unbroken reign as a heel, when not even a face has held the title that long since Hulk Hogan.  This loops back around to points 1 and 2, as Roman also became a part time worker after returning as a heel.

And because Roman is the only new mega star they've managed to build in years, the WWE has to dip back into the well of old names to generate a buzz for Wrestlemania.  Thus, Rock gets involved, and in exchange for being allowed to win the WWE title as an ex-AEW talent, Cody Rhodes has to job to The Rock and then get bailed out by Cena and Undertaker the following night.  In summation, I understand booking and storytelling, I just hate WWE's approach to it.

Maybe it's an inherent flaw in myself as I feel compelled to be caustic about everything in life.  In high school I s--- all over Romeo and Juliet for having an unsatisfying conclusion that glorifies suicide.  And I felt more at home in early '10's era IWC that would get vocally mad at the product over today's fanbase.

[Wrestling Machine]

3 hours ago, overthetop2 said:

Thus, Rock gets involved, and in exchange for being allowed to win the WWE title as an ex-AEW talent, Cody Rhodes has to job to The Rock and then get bailed out by Cena and Undertaker the following night.

Just to be clear, in your opinion, losing to The Rock + Roman Reigns in tag team action after they cheat their way during the match is jobbing?

Also, isn't it one of the most traditional things about pro wrestling to see a few babyfaces coming out to evening the odds against the outnumbered heel and his crew? Does it diminish Rhodes' win?

You see Cody receiving an ex-AEW talent "special" treatment? I don't see it but maybe you can convince me otherwise! I see a former WWE guy coming back brighter and better, re-debuting at Mania by beating Rollins, going 3-0 against one of the biggest stars of the company in the last decade, winning back-to-back Rumble, headlining two WrestleManias, not pinned/submitted clean once if I'm not wrong about it, dethroning the megastar of this generation. The way you talk about it, it sounds like WWE put him through hell lol

EDIT: by the way we'll probably agree on the fact that 100 other things don't make sense still lol by that's really a modern wrestling problem imo, not just WWE

Edited April 9 by Wrestling Machine