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

[Findlay]

The Triple H-Lesnar match killed the whole show. Things were going really well, I was totally surprised by the show. The matches were great, minus the weird Ryback-Henry match. Punk and Taker took the show to a whole different level, that match was really well put together, fun to watch, and exciting. I will say before I continue on bashing that I have always been a fan of Triple H, even when everyone else hated him. The Hunter-Lesnar match was nothing more than HHH stroking his own ego. After going to the UFC, it's really hard to buy Lesnar in a WWE setting. You have to book him in a different way in order for anyone to suspend belief. Cena-Lesnar from last year did that. This match did not. I'm just shocked that HHH didn't beat him with the kimura lock. That, in my humble opinion, ruined the show. Rock-Cena was a slopfest of crap that was supposed to be good just because they are huge stars. It wasn't. And the stupid hugging crap at the end? Just awful. Good show that had a really promising start that was just totally derailed.

[Rone Rivendale]

Wow, I came on here to talk about how awesome WM29 was tonite and all I read on here is bunch of whiny babies. I'm not even gonna bother going into detail, but WM29 was 5x better than WM28 and HHH/Brock was the clear match of the night.

[Stennick]

I disagree you HAVE to book Brock Lesnar differently. If you book Brock Lesnar differently than you do anyone else then you're not able to suspend belief anyway.

 

You're saying "what he did was real but this is fake so he can't tap out to a figure four leglock anymore"

 

They are two different "universes" if you will not too mention Brock Lesnar wouldn't have won anything or been anybody in the UFC if it wasn't for his sheer size. He had some pretty humbling losses and towards the end you can blame it on whatever you want but he was completely owned. Hell Shane Carwin would have beat him if he wouldn't have been so out of shape.

 

If Brock is going to play in the WWE then he needs to be treated just like any other worker.

 

Now could they have made him an unstoppable killing machine? I guess but the guy is only around for about four pay per views a year there isn't a lot of point of putting him over a ton of guys when he's a part timer they just hope to pop a buyrate with anyway.

[Jaysin]

Miz vs Barrett- Boring match, a little shocked the belt changed hands on on the pre show, but then again, no one gives a crap about the mid card titles.

 

Shield vs Sheamus, Orton, and Show- Entertaining match, thank god the Shield won.

 

Mark Henry vs Ryback- Really shocked Henry won, super stiff.

 

Hell No vs Zig E- Pretty fun for what it was.

 

Fandango vs Jericho- I enjoyed it a lot, but doing a Flatliner and then trying to end it with a diving leg drop? I dunno, I feel like the Flatliner should be the finisher...

 

Del Rio vs Swagger- Boring, just boring. I really wanted Ziggler to cash in, but the match was just boring.

 

Undertaker vs Punk- Definite match of the night. Totally on the edge of my seat for this one.

 

Triple H vs Lesnar- A million times better than their Summerslam match and I enjoyed it.

 

Cena vs Rock- Boring match and the crowd was SUPER dead. They really needed filler matches/segments.

 

They finally have a Wrestlemania with minimal filler segments and the show is murder because of it.

 

Thank god Wrestlemania is over though, I'm sick of that stupid "I'm coming home" song.

[ZMAN]

I thought the show was really just average, which isn't a good thing for your superbowl show.

 

I don't understand what people saw in Punk/Taker. It was maybe 4 star quality. Other than Taker sitting up during the Vice, nothing stuck out as different or mind blowing. It was the best match of the night though.

 

Everything else: 2-3 star quality. Just a bunch of OK matches that I wouldn't bother sitting through a second time. Was Brock/HHH necessary? They couldn't put someone more recent in HHH's spot for that one?

 

Rock/Cena- lol from beginning to end. Just wow, I can't believe they accomplished nothing and actually got booed at the close of the show.

 

That's why I don't get how people can accuse the IWC of being complainers when thousands of people in the arena booed the closing of the show, and were dead for the majority of it.

[Findlay]

This is why I love wrestling. Everyone sees it different and that is awesome. I still think Lesnar is a different thing to book. He's an attraction. Should he lose? Hell yes. The bottom line is I just didn't buy the match. It just felt like an ego stroked to me. Triple H is no Cain Velasquez either. I don't think the crowd bought it either. Just my take.

[Teh_Showtime]

I don't understand what people saw in Punk/Taker. It was maybe 4 star quality. Other than Taker sitting up during the Vice, nothing stuck out as different or mind blowing. It was the best match of the night though.

 

so you think 4 star matches are just regular and not special?

[DaMegaFish]

Quick question, what would Punk have done with the urn after the match had he won? Just be like "Uuh, here you go, Mr. Taker." Maybe take it home as some kind of trophy? Also, I'm a little late to this party, but I was really hoping that on RAW when the urn got opened it would have have the awesome spotlight that made Taker get up.

 

My WM breakdown-

Loved opening 6 man tag, The Shield keeps going which is great. I didn't really enjoy the after match work by the announcers though. Uh, Big Show had plenty of reason to deck Orton, maybe not Great White, but def had good reason to deck Orton.

 

Mark Henry vs Ryback

I thought it was fine, but the ending made me a bit upset and confused, seemed too random and sudden.

 

Hell No vs Ziggy/E

Really enjoyed it for the most part. Glad E didn't lose the match when he was in.

 

FanDANgo vs Jericho

Pretty much what I expected from them, solid. Didn't like the ending though. Tweaked his knee doing a move he has done tons and tons and tons of time with it never happening before? I suppose it could just really be bad luck, but yuck on the end.

 

Del Rio vs Swagger

How come more guys just don't roll out of Ankle locks? Ooh well.

 

Punk vs Taker

Loved. Loved. Loved Taker's entrance. Match was pretty good too, but Heyman was killing me. I thought raising the urn made Taker stronger? So when you're elevating it while yelling "tap!" it seems a bit counter productive. Although it turned in to a finisher fest, it was well played and I enjoyed it, and I understand why it needed to be done. If Taker comes in and wins without doing a finisher fest, he doesn't really put the other guy over. If Punk takes all he has and still gets out a few times, you legit put him over as tough. Fine.

 

The after match --> next match made me laugh. Did Heyman really have to go backstage to get Lesnar? Could he not have said "Okay, Brock, you're up after Punk, I'll be waiting down there for you." Nope, he must be as dumb as Goldberg and need escorted to the ring. Blah. Also, HBK comes out, and then Lesnar? Would it not make more sense for HHH to come out so Lesnar doesn't potentially kill Shawn again while he has him alone? Finally, Triple H's entrance blooper was hilarious!

 

Lesnar vs Triple H

Roll outside the ring and brawl. Woo. I don't like the kimura on the steps, not after Brock slammed him on it at least.

 

Rock vs Cena -Once In A Life Time, for the 2nd time!

The crowd looked like they really wanted to go home already except for about the last 10 minutes of the match. I did really enjoy the spot where Cena baited Rock on the 5 Knuckle. I thought it was okay, but why would you just let your main face of the company get boo'ed the whole match and then let him scream on the ramp "The Champ Is HERE!!!" like he is super face again, just because him and The Rock shared the salute? No. We're (at least I'm not) not buying Cena as face anymore. IT was stale 3 years ago, at this point I don't even know what his gimmick is? He tries hard? DO SOMETHING WITH CENA, YOU DONT HAVE TO TURN HIM, JUST DO SOMETHING ALREADY!

 

Overall though, with the exception of the ending, (I'm talking about the ramp theatrics, I'm not just pissing all over the match) I enjoyed most of the show.

[Psycho Sam]

The **** main event contributed to the crap show overall. It didn't help the fact that this is basically the biggest PPV.

 

Hell, even the catfight at WM2000 was better than that.

[djthefunkchris]

Honestly loved the whole show up til' Taker vs Punk. I don't know what's up with the crowd remarks. Seemed to me like the crowd was into it much more then I expected... I don't get the comments at all.

 

Agree with Rock/Cena. For me the match dragged out at the start, and they sold way too much at the beginning. The only thing that kept me from thinking they were just both out of shape, was every time Cena picked up Rock he was breathing as if he was on a Sunday stroll.... Quick look at Rock, and he's breathing like he just won the marathon... like 5 minutes into the match.

 

Yeah, my favorite match was Punk/Taker by far, then probably Hell No, Ziggy and Big E, and finally FAAAHHHHNNNNDAAAAAHHHHNNNNGGGOOOOOHHH! He's not doing the gimmick well enough to be a believable ball room dancer though. He needs to learn how to breath in, when he poses, and do his little two step when the girls are around, instead of only when he's in the ring.

[lazorbeak]

I missed some of the early show, but I have to agree with the consensus. I'm not a Cena hater by any means, but that match was just not very good. It was slow in the beginning, with Rock acting like he was burned out from the walk to the ring, and turned into a finisher fest at the end. I made the comment that five moves of doom would've been more than we'd seen all match with very little hyperbole.

 

Punk/Taker was maybe not as good as HBK/Taker, but I think I'd still take it over the Triple H/Taker matches, which I was not really a fan of. Triple H's match with Brock was also much better; I like that Trips had to blatantly cheat to get the win, as it makes clear that Brock would've won any semblance of a fair fight.

 

Also, as if Rock/Cena didn't have enough problems, way to call a crossface an STF, Michael Cole. Cena didn't lock in the STF for another 2 minutes.

 

Vegas says the only upset tonight was Mark Henry. If I was a gambling man, I would've bet on Henry and Punk, because Henry really should've been almost 50/50, and Punk would've paid out huge on the off-chance that he won.

[TakerNGN74]

Figured I would join in the party and give my thoughts on the show, since I took part in the predictions I figured it's only natural.

 

Orton/Sheamus/Big Show vs. The Shield

First off the opener was well done I didn't think that they were going to go with this match to open the show but I am glad that they did. I am glad that the Shield won but I was hoping for an Orton heel turn and not a Big Show Heel turn (after a brief tease of a face turn)

 

Mark Henry vs. Ryback

Way better than I expected it to be the only thing that I didn't like about it was that it looked like the ending was botched and like DaMegaFish stated the ending seemed to sudden and came out of nowhere.

 

Hell No vs Ziggy/E

It was good for what it was I thought that Hell No were going to lose the tag titles to Ziggy and Big E but I am glad that it didn't happen due to the fact that Langston is horrible and shouldn't have a title at this point.

 

FanDANgo vs Jericho

Good match Jericho seems to love his role as Gatekeeper which is fine because he does it well and he's not selfish in an industry with a lot of selfish people. Glad that Fandango finally wrestled and it looks like the guy has a lot of potential.

 

Del Rio vs Swagger

I enjoyed the angle leading up to this match but the match was just lackluster to say the least. Everyone knew that Swagger wasn't going to win which was fine due to the circumstances but the fact that Ziggler didn't at least tease a cash in was disapointing. Why not have him cash it in on the SHOWCASE OF THE IMMORTALS. It just doesn't make any sense to me why he wouldn't have. It seems like they are really reluctant with Ziggler and the briefcase and if they were going to be that way they shouldn't have given it to him in the first place.

 

Punk vs Taker

Taker's entrance was awesome and it was cool that In Living Colour performed Cult Of Personallity for CM Punk's entrance. This was by far the match of the night I was really pulling for Punk to win but I am fine with Taker winning. Lots of near falls and the match made Punk look like a legitimate threat making me believe that Punk could have ended the streak but in the end it just didn't happen although it was a valiant effort.

 

Note: Next year at Wrestlemania XXX will probably be Taker's last match so that match has to be huge my guess is that Cena will recieve the honor which is fine (If they don't to Cena Rock III next year at 30) as long as Cena doesn't end the streak.

 

Lesnar vs Triple H

This match was good even though a lot of you didn't like it which was fine because it's your opinion but I enjoyed it and it was better than their summerslam match in my opinion. I was really thinking that Lesnar was going to win and end the career of Triple H but even though Triple H's career didn't end he will still only wrestle two times a year anyways.

 

Rock vs Cena -Once In A Life Time part 2?

Thought this match was solid and a lot better than their first match (Although I liked their first match when I watched it live and then hated it when I saw it again so maybe that will happen again when I see this match for a second time) they seemed to communicate better to make it a cleaner match the only thing I didn't like about it was that everyone and their mother knew that Cena was going over plus the fact that nothing really happened after the match that was memorable really happened. I like Mania's with a memorable ending this one just didn't have one. But anyways I thought the match was more watchable than their first even though there was no doubt in my mind at all who was going to win their second encounter.

 

Overall I thought the show was good not great just good but not as bad as the entire IWC is saying that it was.

[Adam Ryland]

Just a reminder that swearing is against the rules here - seems some of you have forgotten that recently.

[Stennick]

This is why I love wrestling. Everyone sees it different and that is awesome. I still think Lesnar is a different thing to book. He's an attraction. Should he lose? Hell yes. The bottom line is I just didn't buy the match. It just felt like an ego stroked to me. Triple H is no Cain Velasquez either. I don't think the crowd bought it either. Just my take.

 

I respect your opinion I just disagree. Lesnar beat the hell out of Triple H twice, broke his arm twice and spent nearly an entire year abusing Triple H. I see nothing wrong with HHH winning this match and like I said its a wrestling match, Triple H is the babyface, his father in law was destroyed by an F5 I have no idea why wouldn't win this match in any fashion. Dude was pedigreed on the steps thats how he lost. I really see nothing wrong with HHH just beating the hell out of this unstoppable monster. Again it had been 11 months since Lesnar lost a match I'm ok with him losing and in the manner he did.

 

I get that he was a UFC Champion, huge accomplishment and what not but he was a 5-3 MMA fighter who was knocked out twice and submitted once. Ken Shamrock had beat Royce Gracie and was billed as "The Worlds Most Dangerous Man" yet he was still very beatable. So why should Lesnar be booked differently? Because UFC is more popular now?

 

I think if anything its a good thing they have gone the typical pro wrestling route with him. You get into the conundrum of Vince Russo's booking. "Everything you see is fake, but what you're seeing right now is REAL". If we suspend our belief that pro wrestling is a real combat sport. Then if anything pro wrestlers would be superior to UFC fighters or boxers. They fight more often, they sometimes take on more than one competitor. They will fight multiple times in one night on occasion, they will fight without being prepared to. So if we suspend our belief that pro wrestling is real and that its simply another combat sport alongside of MMA and Boxing then I don't see any way where a pro wrestler wouldn't be the superior fighter.

 

I think as internet fans we spend too much time theorizing and proclaiming whats "over" with the crowd when in reality this show is going to do something like a million buys while everyone on here complains about it. So clearly if you look at this card and say "its not worth 60 bucks" anyone who thinks that is clearly not in the majority and shouldn't theorize on what the majority views as "over" or not over.

 

The thing people forget is that if you take the show at face value with no insight then there is no such thing as "getting someone over". You could take a guy the size of Brock Lesnar and debut him without ever having wrestled before and have him win the WWE title from The Rock and people would instantly buy him as a legit champion. The average fan wouldn't be saying "oh well he wasn't built up enough to become champion". Those are theories and sayings that are held by a small minority of the world.

 

Non the less it sounds like the show was actually pretty good with most people saying both Taker/Brock and Punk/Taker as well as the Shield Match were all pretty damn good. It will be interesting to see what happens now when Brock takes time off after next month, The Rock goes away, Punk takes some time off, Taker, HHH etc. I would imagine that would be a good indication that we will see someone elevated or turned very soon.

[panix04]

I was bitterly disappointed. I had my friends round, beer flowed and it was all set to be a great night. The show wasn't bad, some of the matches were okay. But it was just run-of-the-mill. No massive surprises. And the Rock Vs Cena match is the worst wrestlemania main event I can remember seeing. I was psyched for it, but it just fell apart for me, the only spot in it that I found interesting was the little "people's elbow" bit (which was actually pretty cool) aside from that I wish I had spent my money on buying bubble wrap, at least then I could have kept myself entertained! I know that's a little rant-y but i'm very tired and feel robbed of my sleep!

[bigtplaystew]

Wow, I came on here to talk about how awesome WM29 was tonite and all I read on here is bunch of whiny babies. I'm not even gonna bother going into detail, but WM29 was 5x better than WM28 and HHH/Brock was the clear match of the night.

 

Wait, you actually like wrestling?

 

--points to the door--

 

get out.

 

:-D

[UkWrestleFan]

Sheamus, Orton & Show vs The Shield - Enjoyed this a lot and was glad The Shield picked up the win. Was also pretty happy the Big Show knocked Sheamus & Orton out after the match. I don't think Show works as a face; he's best as a big, nasty heel.

 

Ryback vs Mark Henry - The pacing of this match was terrible but as to be expected from these two. I don't understand why they had Mark Henry win this one when they clearly wanted to keep Ryback strong (as per the post-match Shellshock) Why not justh have Ryback hit the Shellshock and win the match? It made no sense to me.

 

Hell No vs Dolph & Big E - I called a win for Dolph & Big E here so was surprised. With the loss, I fully expected a Dolph cash-in later in the night. This was a fun match and the crowd at the end were great. Bryan & Kane are mad-over.

 

Jericho vs Fandango - Loved this. I really hate Fandango but in a good way. The finish was...odd, but, it was good to see Fandango get an historic win. I expect this feud to continue.

 

Del Rio vs Swagger - Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. The build-up for this one was stellar but I hope Del Rio moves onto something else now. They should've used this show to have Cesaro move up the card. I think a Del Rio / Cesaro feud would be epic.

 

'Taker vs Punk - Match of the night but not as good as the HBK encounters. Going into this, I expected The Streak to continue but felt that Punk was a legit threat. It had me on the edge of my seat on a few occasions.

 

Triple H vs Lesnar - Wow, how dead were the crowd for this one? They should have threw in the Tons of Funk / Rhodes Scollars match here to cool everyone down. Despite the dead crowd, I enjoyed this. Lesnar still looked strong with how Triple H had to beat him.

 

Cena vs Rock - Bitterly disappointed with this. Only the last 5 or 10 minutes entertained me and I was desperately praying for a Cena turn. He's so stale now; they need to do something.

[bigtplaystew]

 

Hell No vs Dolph & Big E - I called a win for Dolph & Big E here so was surprised. With the loss, I fully expected a Dolph cash-in later in the night. This was a fun match and the crowd at the end were great. Bryan & Kane are mad-over.

 

See we were kindly debating this at my wrestlemania party. I couldn't figure out if Dolph could cash in on Cena or if it had to be Del Rio. Because previous MitB winners before the PPV could cash in on any title. But the first year of the PPV saw each brand getting it's own MitB briefcase, which was subsequently cashed in on each winners' brand.

 

But theres not really a true brand split anymore is there? So theoretically Dolph could cash it in on Cena right? I mean the fans would buy it I think.

 

Whatever with Del Rio winning it looks like a Dolph cash-in is imminent on that side anyway. So the whole point of arguing went out the window.

[Nathers7]

Shield vs. Orton, Sheamus and Big Show

Decent, seemed similar to the Shield match at Elimination Chamber which I actually preferred to this. Had nothing on their match at TLC though. Perfect match to start the show so fair play to WWE for that.

 

Henry vs. Ryback

Bizarre, wasn't expecting 5 star quality but man that was poor, the crowd chanting "Boring" during this one said it all. Only shock win of the show which I suppose is a positive.

 

Hell No vs. Ziggy and Big E

Liked it, thought it ended pretty well with the briefcase spot, was expecting Bryan and Kane to turn on each other but didn't take anything away from the match.

 

Fandango vs. Chris Jericho

Good ending, perfect way to build Fandango's heat, Jericho's worst Mania match of all time though.

 

Del Rio vs. Swagger

Awful, nobody in the crowd game a damn about the result. Chants of "We want Ziggler" 5 minutes into the match isn't exactly a ringing endorsement .

 

Punk vs. Taker

Match of the night, really well done. The urn spot actually had me believing it was over, not as Good as the HBK matches but still high quality.

 

Lesnar vs. HHH

Better than their horror show at Summerslam, thought it was just a typical average HHH match, Lesnar looked tough which was good. The whole kimura thing on the steps slowed the match right down and went on for far too long.

 

Cena vs. Rock

Awful, not surprised but Rock gassing again was funny. Was alright up until the false finisher overdose towards the end and it spiralling into a mess. The Peoples' Elbow spot with Cena was the highlight. Thank you to the crowd for booing the handshake.

 

I was watching with a bunch of friends and they had the same opinion really, I would rate it as an average show but I feel like nothing of note happened. No Ziggler Cash in, no heel turns, no hard matches to call, just lazy methodical booking. Punk-Taker was great but the lack of any interesting moments along with 2 of the 4 big matches being very poor, I can't say this Mania should be regarded even remotely highly.

[Nathers7]

See we were kindly debating this at my wrestlemania party. I couldn't figure out if Dolph could cash in on Cena or if it had to be Del Rio. Because previous MitB winners before the PPV could cash in on any title. But the first year of the PPV saw each brand getting it's own MitB briefcase, which was subsequently cashed in on each winners' brand.

 

But theres not really a true brand split anymore is there? So theoretically Dolph could cash it in on Cena right? I mean the fans would buy it I think.

 

Whatever with Del Rio winning it looks like a Dolph cash-in is imminent on that side anyway. So the whole point of arguing went out the window.

 

He can only cash in on the Heavyweight champion, Cena cashed in the WWE title briefcase on Raw 1000. All the times were Ziggler's looked like cashing in have been on Del Rio and Sheamus. I know WWE could change it however the match at Money in the Bank was announced as being for a World Heavyweight Title shot.

[Purple Cowboy]

Anyone else hear JBL say "sell that" when they showed the replay of Jericho's knee injury?

[1234]

I was quite disappointed with Wrestlemania overall, there were some good matches, but nothing really made the night seem special, it just seemed like a routine show, not the spectacle Wrestlemania should be. Although I seem to be one of the few that enjoyed Rock-Cena for what it was.

 

The matches at the start of show were all quite disappointing to me. Barrett vs. Miz was a poor match, and ending Barrett's title reign on the pre-show seems like terrible booking to me, even more so with it being to The Miz who just doesn't work as a face for me.

 

The Shield vs. Orton/Sheamus/Show was a decent enough match, and I was definitely pleased with The Shield picking up the win. But something more needed to be delivered by Orton/Sheamus/Show. It now seems pointless them banding together and trusting The Big Show only for Orton not to trust him on the night. Having Orton or Sheamus turn post-match would have been a stand out moment on the card, but nothing like that happened.

 

Ryback vs. Henry wasn't well worked for me, and the finish terrible. There had to have been a better way to keep the story going. And why have Ryback attack post match to make the fans happy, the whole top of the card was faces winning, they didn't need the feel good of Ryback's revenge.

 

Team Hell No vs. Ziggler/Big E., a fun enough match but no real developments made. And Ziggler losing like this at Wrestlemania when he only has a few months to cash in MITB does not make sense to me. He should be being booked as a threat, not be losing constantly. I was also disappointed in the briefcase playing a role in this match, but not being cashed in later, it seemed like a tease but nothing came of it.

 

Fandango vs. Jericho didn't do too much for me, and I don't like Fandango beating Jericho in his debut...especially at WM. Fandango isn't that high up the card, and could have gone forward being mocked for losing this match. Because of this result I am guessing we are going to see Fandango vs. Miz soon for the IC title.

 

Del Rio vs. Swagger. One of the better matches on the card, and I can't complain about how the match was booked, although I do kind of wish we had a Ziggler cash in afterwards.

 

Undertaker vs. Punk. Like the match above, a good match, although I don't rate it as highly as I have seen many, Taker's matches at the last few 'Manias trump this one for me. As much as I like Punk, and wanted to believe he could win the match, there wasn't a single time in the match I believed Undertaker wouldn't kick out at 2. And at the same time apart from the finish I never saw Punk being pinned, but when Undertaker hit the Tombstone in the perfect position for the camera it was obvious it was over. I was also disappointed by the lack of post match interaction here, Punk just left without being seen by the camera, and the urn was just randomly left by Heyman...what was that all about.

 

Triple H vs. Lesnar was good, although the Kimura became overplayed as the match went on. I enjoyed this match overall, and felt Brock put in a good performance when he was controlling the match. My one gripe though was Michaels getting F5'd and then not getting revenge. Yes he got Heyman, but I still feel he needed to Sweet Chin Music Brock as well.

 

Random note here...and I can't believe I am saying it...We needed Tons of Funk here. For each of the wrestlers in the match this must have felt terrible being pulled from the card, not even getting put on the pre-show (Surely WWE could have pulled one or two of the video packages from the pre-show to make some time for the match). But we needed a cool down, either before or after HHH/Lesnar. Terrible decision by the WWE to completely pull the match unless there was a legitimate reason, which there doesn't seem to be.

 

And finally...Rock vs. Cena. Now I am not going to claim this as a great wrestling match...nor am I going to say I liked the post match stuff (I was repeating 'Hit him with the belt' to myself from when Cena was handed it until the show went off the air). However this was the first match of the night that got me on the edge of my seat wondering who would win. Despite it having being quite obvious Cena would win, every Rock Bottom had me thinking "What if Rock won?...Could it happen?...1...2...No." And Cena's Peoples Elbow spot was great. It is rare that a match comes along and gets me that invested, as normally I have a smark hat on while watching wrestling. It was nice to go back to just being a mark for once.

 

Also, horrible commentary. The amount of mistakes those guys made was infuriating to me.

[bigtplaystew]

Everyone's entitled to their opinions. To say the overall show was a letdown, I get that. To crap all over Rock/Cena as a letdown? Don't see that.

 

I mean you hate one guy or the other, that's fine. Blind Cena hatred regardless of what he does? Disagree but at least I get it. But i keep reading the word "disappointment". What were you guys expecting a technical masterpiece? IT did what it had to do from a storytelling perspective. So I don't see how it didn't live up to realistic expectations.

[milamber]

Sheamus/Orton/Show vs The Shield - Perfectly scripted match to open the PPV. Good result. Should have been longer.

 

Henry vs Ryback - Classic big man match (too many bear hugs, though) with a surprise Henry win. Ryback's Shell Shock was awesome!

 

Zigg-E vs Hell No (World Tag Title) - Started off good but overall pretty average considering the talent involved. I guess Hell No are too valuable as a tag team to split up.

 

Jericho vs Fandango - Sexy dancers entrance FTW! Really enjoyed the match. The finish was fitting but unfortunately they botched it.

 

Swagger v Del Rio (World Heavyweight Title) - Balanced match with plenty of good spots. Shame the crowd responded more to Ricardo and Zeb than the wrestlers.

 

Punk vs Taker - Awesome! Punk screwed by slow ref counts Props to old man Taker for going toe-to-toe with Punk. Rematch next year?

 

Lesnar vs HHH - Way better than I thought it would be. Lesnar was a beast! The last 10 minutes was ****ing intense even though I was sure HHH would win.

 

Cena vs Rock (WWE Championship Title) - Better than their WM28 match but still only my 3rd favourite match of the PPV. Good to see Cena heeling it up for the crowd even if his facial expressions were comical.

 

Verdict: Despite being mostly predictable, this was the best Wrestlemania of the last few years, IMO. The undercard matches were all decent. Rock vs Cena didn't suck, Punk vs Taker delivered and Lesnar vs HHH over-delivered. The 80,000+ crowd under-delivered in certain matches, IMO. About as good as I could have hoped for considering it's one of my least favourite PPVs.

[TheCrippler]

WM 29 felt like nothing more than a "Super RAW"....no backstage segments, no surprises and was very predictable.