General Wrestling

Just got back from Raw

Overall my view of the show was it was one of the better Raws I've seen in England, the Yes chant is insanely over, mental how loud and often the chant was going around

Every match and move seemed to be accompanied with YES and NO and when Bryan came out the roof almost came off.

Fish and Chips chant was hilarious as well.

Brock Lesnars promo package was good and really shows his character off an ass kicker and nothing else, he aint here for the fans, prestige the big return, not he is just back to kick ass.

Decent show overall and interested to see how it comes across on TV tomorrow morning when I watch it back.

Do it all again for Smackdown tomorrow night.

Extreme Rules is just a few hours away

My mate is on his way round for what is gonna be a good event, Brock Vs Cena is gonna be electric, its gonna be an all out brawl.

Not sure who wins but either way I expect it to carry over into the next month, Just seeing Brock in a ring again is gonna be amazing

Punk and Jericho in Punks hometown should be a belter if the crowd is anything like it was at MITB last July, Hope Punk wins but we know how WWE likes to have the hometown guy lose so often.

Bryan and Sheamus 2 out of 3 falls will be the match we should of got at Wrestlemania, mainly being an actual match that will go for 20 minutes+ and not 18 seconds.

Sheamus should come out on top, wouldn't surprise me to see AJ involved somehow.

Looking forward to this, could be the best B PPV since MITB last July.

Well that was uncomfortable viewing

Jerry Lawler suffered a Heart attack live on Raw last night, apparently just reading up further having just finished watching the show his heart stopped for 20 mins but was revived with a defibrillator.

He is in a stable condition and breathing with his heart beating on its own, hopefully he is past the worst of it, some fears of brain damage due to his Brain not having oxygen for 20 minutes hopefully he males a full recovery.

He's sent out a Tout saying he's okay. Hope he gets better soon!

Also, wins for Sheamus and John Cena tomorrow night, please!

If Cena wins we RIOT! is our banner we have hanging at my house for tonight lol

No way should Cena win which means he will and we'll be able to hear the Collective groan all the way across the pond.

No reason to take the title of Punk now just to give Cena another reign, in all likelihood its set up (based on the ending of 1,000th Raw) for Punk Vs Rock at Rumble for the title so Punk will be champion come the Rumble.

Would be so much better if he continues this long reign into the new year rather then win it back after a month of Cena holding it for no reason as he did last year for 3 weeks in between Del Rios 2 reigns.

I actually do like Cena, I'm not one of the Cena Haters, just he really dosn't need to be champion again especially as Punk has just gone up a gear again now he has turned full on heel after a few stale months.

Punk is becoming stale as champion.

Also, I really want Sheamus to win because they banned the Brogue Kick!

I agree Punk was becoming a bit stale as champion but his heel turn has given him a new lease of life and being aligned with Heyman has opened up a new direction for him.

Cena winning his 13th World title would just bore me, I can see him winning it and losing it straight back at Hell in a cell.

Sheamus I couldn't care about at all really, his reign has been the most boring uninteresting I've ever known, his feud with Del Rio has seemed to be going on for centuries.

So its that time of year again




Have always wanted to do a NY Wrestlemania and if they hadn't of messed with tradition I would of been

Wrestlemanai 1,10,20 were all in NY so I had assumed 30 would be as well and had planned to tie it in to my honeymoon (I had permission of course ) but its 29 instead of 30 in NY (I assume its has something to do with the Superbowl in NY next year but I don't know)

Anyway looks like Metlife stadium is taking shape for Sunday





Liking the look of it so far and should look amazing come sunday

The Card is

WWE Championhsip: The Rock (Champion) Vs John Cena



Streak on the Line The Undertaker Vs Cm Punk



No Holds Barred Match, HHH Career on the line: Triple H Vs Brock Lesnar



World Heavyweight Championship: Alberto Del Rio (Champion) Vs Jack Swagger



6 Man tag Match: Randy Orton, Sheamus and Big Show Vs The Shield (Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins



Ryback Vs Mark Henry



Tag Team Championship: Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan, Champions) Vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston



Chris Jericho Vs Fandango



8 Person Tag Match: Naomi, Cameron, Tensai and Brodus Clay Vs Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow and the Bella Twins (Niki and Bree)



Preshow

Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett (Champion) Vs The Miz




I'll get to posting my thoughts and predictions later on in the week, the build hasn't been that great compared to previous year to be honest but they've done a decent job over the past 2 weeks to really get me excited for it and the Big Matches will hopefully deliver

I have the Pizzas in the snacks are in and we are all set for just 3 and a half hours time

Looking forward to it, been getting more and more pumped as the week has been progressing and been watching loads of previous Mania moments

Been loads of rumours of a Cena heel turn tonight, would be great if it happened but I still just don't believe they will go that route, Cena is the most wished for celebrity in the Make a wish foundation, he sells bucket loads of merch and there really isn't anyone to replace him as the top face in the company right now.

But we shall see, I'm predicting a Cena win to get his win back for doing the job last year and setting up a potential decider down the line at some point or even Extreme Rules which The Rock is apparently scheduled for.

Undertaker will win as we all know, I can't see him pulling off the great match he has the past 6 Manias in a row, he is just so banged out as is Punk but they should be able to work something acceptable just not on the scale of the past few years for Taker.

I can't see HHH retiring, after getting his arm broken twice now by Lesnar logic says he has to get his revenge at some stage and what better stage to do it, I'm sure there will be run ins and outside interference but I'm thinking HHH wins.

Looking forward to Fandangos in ring debut (as Fandango anyway) as I'm really enjoying the character and been a real breath of fresh air in what they've done with him so far.

Big night for The shield, they've been unstoppable so far and a Mania win could really be big for them going forward, again rumours of an Orton heel turn will that happen here?

I Like Swagger and Del Rio and think if given time the 2 of them could pull of a decent match, whether they will or not remains to be seen, I'd like Swagger to have another run with the belt but not sure really which way this is going, will Ziggler play a part and cash in afterwards?

Got my brother and Mate coming round, looking forward to it, the biggest night of the year for us Wrestling fans lets hope they deliver something memorable

Good piece man. Enjoying the action so far. Next up is CM Punk v 'Taker. This has the potential to be a classic. Hope we see the druids during Undertaker's entrance.

Lee Id be intrigued to hear your review of Wrestlemania 29 when you get a chance.

I thought it was a very good Wrestlemania but maybe not a great one.
The Team Hell No vs Ziggler/ Langston match was fun. It wasn't a long match but I did think it was exciting and entertaining.

I also enjoyed seeing Fandango in action, it will be interesting to see how he is pushed over the next number of weeks. We've obviously seen Jericho in much bigger matches at 'Mania so I wasn't expecting this to add much to his legacy.

CM Punk vs The Undertaker was the best match of the night. Even though we were all pretty sure he would continue his streak the contest still entertained. I thought CM Punk put in a stellar performance and really put on a great show.

Brock Lesnar vs Triple H I also really enjoyed. The buildup to this one I had enjoyed so was really looking forward to it.

The Rock vs John Cena. This one disappointed me a little bit, I was really looking forward to it and like you said Lee the thought of Cena turning heel was fascinating. Don't get me wrong I still really enjoyed it and the show overall.

Okay I've just finished watching Raw so I can now post my thoughts over the goings on over Wrestlemania weekend.

Before anyone reads on the post does contain Raw spoilers, so beware if you havn't seen Raw

Overall I'd give Wrestlemania 6/10 maybe a 6.5/10

Now I actually enjoyed it and the matches all ranged from good to very good I felt, but it was crying out for something big to really set it apart, there was no Wrestlemania moment for me, if we had got what happened Raw with Ziggler then I probably would of upgraded to 7/10 as it would of at least giving it that something extra.

In 5-6 years time when we look back over this what are we gonna remember as the stand out defining moment of someones career or event in the history of the WWE? which I feel is what Wrestlemania needs to really seperate it and elevate it above just a wrestling show.

Cena getting redemption for me just dosn't seem big enough, all this he can't win the big one beforehand was nonsense, he is now an 11 time world champion, how can he not win the big one?

I felt the pacing of the card wasn't right, the crowd were spent after Taker/Punk and HHH/Lesnar and Rock/Cena just couldn't follow it and they seemed very quiet for the final 2 matches, they should of put something in between Taker/Punk and HHH/Lesnar at least, why they dropped the 8 person tag completely when they would of made sense to stick in there I don't know, I'm guessing that was the original plan as the Bellas tweeted them getting ready so it must of been dropped pretty late in the day due to time constraints but it still finished 8 mins early.

It was Like Wrestlemania 25 all over again were the Main event couldn't follow Taker and it played out to near silence at times

Also the results were all fairly predictable while Not always a negative as predictable sometimes makes sense but only the 1 result truly shocked me (Henry Winning)

Anyway onto the show

1) The Shield Vs Orton, Sheamus and Big Show was a really strong opener to the show and I think was right to go on 1st, The shield go from strength to strength in my eyes, they just deliver in all there matches and you would never of guessed they only debuted just 5 and a half months ago and have had just a handfull of actual matches.

Big Show was the one to turn, although he never really was a face anyway and in some ways you could sympathize with him, Orton stealing his tag, but the question going in could they trust the Big Show and I guess they couldn't

2) Mark Henry and Ryback was a bit of plodder and I never really got into all that much, I like Henry and his improvement over the past 3 years has been incredible when you think how bad he was for the 13 years previous.

We all knew the match was set up for Ryback to hit Henry with the shell shocked and when Henry won I was actually stunned, only to then have Ryback hit the shell shocked on Henry, I all just seemed a big backwards, Ryback should have won with the move and seeing what we've seen on Raw I just don't see the sense in having him lose on PPV again if he is supposed to be the next threat, Its 6 consecutive PPV losses for Ryback now

3) Team Hell No and Ziggler/Langston was a good match like you say, I enjoyed it and was good to finally see Langston in action after 4 months of just standing there ringside, I think he has the potential to be something big in the future, I've enjoyed seeing him on NXT where he played a face and did the 5 count gimmick which seemed a good idea and could of been used to debut him on WWE TV but they went this way

With Ziggler cashing in now and holding the belt, they could go the route of Langston outshing Ziggler or something and eventually turning face and facing him for the title in the summer but that would take a lot of work to build Langston up in that short time, they could wait a bit longer and do it for next years Mania, (Batista and HHH style)

4) Fandango is all kinds of awesome isn't he, Just a great fun Wrestling character, his theme is so catchy we've been singing it at work for ages and you're lying if you've never gone FAN...DAN....GOOOOOOO to yourself lol, the crowd on Raw chanting his theme was great, you can tell he is having a blast playing this character, who would of thought Johnny Curtis would pull this off.

Good little match with Jericho as well and Jericho was right to put him over as a win for Jericho would mean nothing really but a Fandango Wrestlemania win was big for him.

5) Guess Swagger finally got his punishment for the DUI back in February by having his entrance cutaway from, again another match that I enjoyed and whilst I would of liked to see Swagger win, I;m glad he didn't as seeing what happened on Raw it would of been a 1 day title reign that would of been a disapointment.

6) Taker Vs Punk was just amazing, How Taker keeps doing this year after year after year is an incredible feat. since Mania 23 he has had blinding matches every year, Batista, Edge, HBK twice and HHH twice and this one can be added.

I liked the visuals and some of Punks facial experessions were great, and whilst we all knew the outcome going in they were still able to have us fooled and out of the seat at times when it seemed Punk was gonna win, thats great pro wrestling for ya, we all know its fake and pre determined but when they have you up and eating out of the palm of there hands its just incredible and why i Love this so much

Takers tears at the end were very moving you can tell how much Paul Bearers death has hit him and that was a nice little tribute he was able to do by pulling out a great match.

Up until this point I was really enjoying Mania and if the last 2 matches could deliver something memorable it was on course to be at least an 8, 8.5/10 Mania but this is when things started to cool down, like I said above the crowd was spent and we were as well just sitting in the living room of the house, we needed a come down, a break for 10 mins to recharge.

7) I was looking forward to this but I struggled to get really into it at any stage, probably due to the reasons above, I'm gonna give it another watch later and see if its better watching as a standalone match.

Its not that I didn't like it and some of the spots were cool, I liked Lesnar throwing HHH threw the table and HHH trying to get Brock to tap to the Kimura Lock and the ending was fun seeing Michaels Sweetchin Music Heyman.

8) It seemed really strange the way the Main event just started out of nowhere, I was expecting a video some build up but as soon as the HOF part was over Cena was out and The Rock quickly followed

Again this had the trouble of HHH/Lesnar in that the crowd just seemed so flat for the main event of a Wrestlemania, I'll give this another watch as well and see if it improves on my original thoughts.

I'd say it wasn't as good as last years match, The Rock is just too top heavy to last very long and dosn't have the stamina anymore to do long matches, he was injured (well he claims anyway) so that may have hampered him but the whole match just seemed so paint by numbers, you could even hear and clearly see Cena talking to the Rock on numerous occasions which really shouldn't happen on this big stage

Cena gets his win back as expected and we didn't get the Heel turn so may wanted, instead we got the handshake and arm lifting which didn't go down too well, The Rock though did seem to be saying goodbye at the end which was strange considering he was apparently booked for Extreme Rules which leads me to last night nicely and the drama surrounding the Rock

Apparently he was supposed to be on Raw and the plan was for him and Brock to set up something for Mania 30 between the 2 of them, word quickly leaked out the Rock was nowhere to be found and apparently has flown out of NY in the morning, without WWE knowing.

Cue mass confusion and parts of Raw were rewritten at a late stage and Lesnar wasn't on it all.

The Rock did finally send out a tweet just before Raw saying he was injured and back in Miami for treatment and they went with that story on Raw

Now what the true story is who knows, is he really injured? did he have permission to leave? did he walk out over some disagreement? was it just some wires crossed and he wasn't ever booked?

I'm leaning towards him being injured but leaving without truly getting the word to Vince that he wasn't going to show up on Raw, probably because getting into a scrap with Lesnar would make things worse for his injuries.

Not sure what the plans for him going forward are, they mentioned his rematch on Raw so he is still in the plans at seems at some stage

Raw was fun with the crowd just having a blast with the chanting throughout, Ryback turning on Cena I guess sets him up for a title match maybe a Triple threat with Henry at Extreme Rules

Ziggler cashing in was a great moment and the crowd just blew the roof of the place, now let's hope they keep Ziggler strong and this could really be his time to shine and be the year of Ziggler.

So that my thoughts on Mania, sorry I really rambled on there didn't I lol, didn't intend to go on for that long but once i was typing I couldn't stop.

Overall it wasn't as good as last years Mania, although the undercard matches as a whole were probably stronger, 28 for me had better main event matches

It was far superior to 27 though which for me is one of the worst Wrestlemanias ever and certainly of the past decade, a one match show if ever there was one.

Enjoyable but not gonna stand the test of time as one of the greats I think, I shall shut up now lol

Very much enjoyed your review Lee. I would agree with you regarding it's placing amongst recent Wrestlemanias. I would definitely have it above WM 27 which was disappointing.

Like you say the pacing of the card wasn't ideal. The crowd did seem fairly spent after Taker- Punk. I thought for the final two matches they seemed pretty quiet, this shouldn't be the way for some of the biggest matches of the year.
I watched RAW on Monday night and the same can certainly not be said for the crowd in the I-ZOD Center. I must applaud them, they were a fantastic crowd!

I wasn't too surprised Cena didn't turn heel even though there was plenty of speculation. It would be a brave move by the WWE to transform him into a full blown heel. Possibly a bit like the turn of Hulk Hogan to Hollywood Hogan in WCW in the 1990's. However, this move certainly paid dividends for a number of years.
I just think we are now in a different climate. The WWE is more family orientated and Im not sure it's on the cards for them at this stage.

The Rock's situation is an intriguing one also. Where does he go from here? Will he be back and if so, then when? RAW suggested The Rock still has his rematch clause so that implies we could have Cena Rock III at some stage.
I wonder is Summerslam the time for that. Somehow, I don't think so but you never know.

The Undertaker's streak continues to be a huge draw for any Wrestlemania and his light work schedule should help him continue it to maybe 25 matches.

Looking forward to the run up to Extreme Rules now, hopefully some good follow up matches to Wrestlemania & sets us up for an exciting and action packed summer of wrestling.

KC

Looking forward to the next 2 Nights, going to Raw and Smackdown tapings at the o2

Been a while since I've seen Undertaker in action and been looking forward to seeing the Shield since they debuted so the 6 man tag is an exciting prospect

Triple H should be on it as well answering Lesnars challenge for a cage match at extreme Rules

Hoping for a loud crowd that gets involved, especially on Raw, Smackdown is usually more Kids there but should still be a fun night, it always is.