More Mania feedback

I watched Wrestlemania 27 and after all the hype and bringing back the Rock, and Austin, I give the PPV:

Thumbs in the Middle

Thumbs up slightly

Best match - taker/trips
Worst - 6 person or 8 man

I think the show was solid but at times it seemed too predictable. Maybe just being cynical unintentionally.  I think too many finishers were kicked out of to the point I lost interest.  Initially I thought taker/hhh was a less impressive hbk/taker rehash but the end was tremendous and changed my opinion.  Everyone worked hard but I feel like money in the bank would have added to the show

Martin Foster

The whole show was just ok. I just wasn't overly impressed.

Best Match: Tie between: Edge/Del Rio and HHH/Taker

Worst Match: Jerry Lawler/Michael Cole

The show felt like an elongated episode of Raw to me, rather than Wrestlemania. I know WWE has removed "wrestling" from it's identity, but this was just a bit much. You also got the impression which show Vince favors, and it is NOT the "Blue Brand."  I mean, let me get this straight. You have an ELEVEN TIME WORLD CHAMPION curtain jerk Wrestlemania??  Are you serious?? You go through this whole storyline where you are pushing this new guy, Del Rio who is beating down the World Champ, and turning the guy's arm into mush, and talking about his "destiny" and all that, and this is the match WWE kicks off the show with ???  WWE kicks off the show with a World Title Match? I also could not help but noticed that the Smackdown matches were done first, then the Raw matches. The idea that Snooki was higher up the card than an 11 time World Champion shows me the priorities of WWE.

As for the match itself, it was one of the two matches that impressed me the most. I think it could have used more time, but I thought it was excellent. I really enjoyed it. I am glad Edge went over. It really bothered me that here was Edge getting his arm all banged around, and he goes into Mania with his arm wrapped up , selling the injury, and Del Rio who is pretty much a new guy got the upper hand was going to take Edge's belt.  I didn't think it was Del Rio's time yet.

The HHH/Taker match was another match that was outstanding. Both men really did a great job. I was really impressed with the work. There were several moments that I thought HHH had Taker beat. Both guys worked really hard, and really put on a great match.

Worst Match: Lawler vs Cole. I am sorry. Austin could not even save it. It was just terrible. I hated this match. Just plain terrible. The Raw GM's screwing Lawler out of the win and giving it to Cole made it worse.  The stunners were the highlight, and that is it.

The rest of the show was hit or miss.  I mean the theme of this year's Mania had to be Mash Unit Mania. I mean you had Edge, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes all selling injuries. They even had Koslov taken out in an angle at Axxess to put Kofi on the card. I wonder who writes this stuff.

The backstage skits were so so.  Rock's opening promo was pretty fun.

The Cody/Rey match was pretty decent. I didn't find it mind blowing.

Orton vs CM Punk was pretty good. I enjoyed it. There were some cool spots.

Corre vs Kane/Show/Kofi/Santino was your typical squash. Nothing to comment on.

Trish/Snooki/Morrison vs Ziggler/Laycool  was just there. It wasn't anything to write home about. I nearly put this match as the "worst."

The Main Event: Cena vs Miz: Well, I am stunned. WWE made the correct decision for a change. I honestly could not call this match. I wavered back and forth. I went with the "safe" pick and thought Cena would win. WWE really surprised me. Of course, it was a screwball finish, but the Miz retained. I wasn't crazy about it, but at least the Rock got his retribution. 

Terri Bey



Thumbs Down
 
Best Match: Taker-HHH
Worst Match: Take Your Pick ...
 
Every year I comment on WM Dave and every year I find myself repeating the same depressing sentiments. Whereas some of the past WM's have aged well there is no way WM 27 will. This was an atrocious show on every level and it simply proves how deluded Vince McMahon has become. Clearly Taker-HHH was the standout match, but how good was it really? These guys could have done this in their sleep, let's face it. It was essentially the same match as HBK-Taker, although much slower and drawn out in execution. Does it take kicking out of 200 finishers for a match to be determined a classic in this day and age? What's the point of a finisher if someone kicks out of it everytime? How is it one rock bottom can allow Cena to be pinned, yet he was capable of kicking out of the attitude adjustment? It devalues already weak matches that much further. The WWE'S penchant for filling time with useless promos and skits was never more evident than this WM. Was this an episode of Raw? They botched the timing so badly that the shit main event was rushed beyond recognition. This whole 'entertainment' thing has gone too far. We are deprived of Seamus and Bryan, but have some useless rap segment and Pee Wee Herman shoved in our faces? This is what we want though isn't it Vince? The main event debacle was almost as bad as Hogan-Yokozuna. You could hear the life sucked out of the building and The Rock's insertion was a total flop. The show ending with him celebrating was ludicrous and Miz should have been the one up there. If they'd cut out the 40 minute entrance it may have made more sense, but I doubt it. Discussing all the other matches is pointless because none of them were memorable ... they were just standard Raw and Smackdown garbage. I don't want to be totally negative Dave, but I can't see the positives. This shit Vince is pulling is out of control. No blood, no use of the word wrestling, the 'entertainment' factor ... what's wrong with this guy? At the end of the day people want to see WRESTLING. This show was the pits and once again reminds us all why the UFC is dominating.
 
Huw Roma

Thumbs Down

The show was haphazard. I really enjoyed the opener (despite the Edge win) but it was disappointing otherwise. I know I'm in the minority but Taker-HHH was dull. It isn't impressive to kick out of one's finishers multiple times when you know the guy is going to kick out of them. Two years of Taker-Michaels eliminated the suspension of disbelief.

To the masses: Randy Orton is not interesting. At all. And why on Earth would you take Sheamus and Bryan -- two of the best younger guys on the roster -- off the show?

I didn't think they'd eff up Cena-Miz but I was wrong. Why buzzkill the crowd only to deliver the Rock Bottom 10 seconds after the re-start? This WM was a step back.

Worst thing I can say about it? The Snooki cheerleader move was the most jaw-dropping moment of the night.

J. Regal

Best match: Undertaker/Triple H
Worst match: 8-man tag

A few observations:

Thought Taker/Hunter was a great match, but not the level of the Taker/HBK matches.  One thorn in my side is the restraints of these no holds barred/extreme rules matches nowadays.  I appreciate the selling of a grueling, exhausting match, but let's be honest here, this is where the no-blading policy hurts the quality of a match.  It's awfully hard to sell a near-death battle without the proverbial crimson mask (Hunter's nick on his nose notwithstanding).  Think about how much memorable and epic the moment would have been if Hunter was sporting a huge gusher before tapping to the gogoplata?  Or how about after the match when Taker passed out?  Case-in-point: Austin/Bret from Mania 13 and Hunter locked in the Crossface tapping at Mania 20.  In both cases, the blood took the match to another emotional level.

Curtain-jerking with a World Title match?  Can we just stop the continued insult of two titles please?  The title on Smackdown means dick.  Let's just end it already.  And while we're at it, time to take a long look at how you're treating the Royal Rumble winner.  Why care about it anymore when (1) the Royal Rumble winner hasn't main-evented WrestleMania since 2005 and (2) you devalue the intended accomplishment by not only doing the aforementioned, but by having a PPV several months later where if you win a match with a quarter of the people in it, you get a title shot any time you want (MITB).  I just find it very asinine to continue trashing what once were important and prestigious gimmicks.

The show felt very rushed in some spots and dragged in others.  Not for nothing, but we don't need a meaningless Rey Mysterio match at WrestleMania every year and we certainly didn't need a pointless eight-man tag.  The same principle that applies to Rey applies to Big Show.  No one is buying the show for Mysterio or Show.  That collective time should have went to Sheamus/Danielson. 

Main event was a disaster.  Felt waaaay too rushed and crowd's reaction was very underwhelming.

William Bahnsen

Hi guys,
 
Thumbs in the middle for Mania.  Thumbs way up for the ROH shows.
 
One thing I want to get out of the way before I forget.  Why were those Miz/Cena video packages (before their entrances) aired on Mania and not on TV hyping the card?  I thought the Miz one was great.  Not that it really mattered because the main event failed to deliver.
 
First half of the show I liked for the most part.  Edge and Alberto was a good opener.  I enjoyed Cody and Rey even thought the crowd didn't.  Orton and Punk had the best match of the night in my opinion.  Punk's mannerisms were great.  The guy really knows what mannerisms to exagerate and what to keep subtle.  Great performance by him.  I was a bit disappointed in Lawler Cole but it was fine for what it was.  The 8 man was over quick fortunately.  Snooki surprised with her flippy deal, but other than that who cared really.
 
I don't really have much to say about the main event other than the obvious: It wasn't good.
 
I seem to be in the minority, but HHH and Undertaker didn't light my world on fire.  It started off good but then the pace just slowed to a crawl.  I understand they're beaten up and I respect their effort in the match, but I reached a point where I wanted the match to end and it wouldn't.  And then when it did, it took forever to get them out of the ring.  
 
Part of the problem, I think, was it seemed like there was a lot of filler on the show.  Elaborate ring entrances, crappy backstage skits, and video packages.  More so than usual.  And all of that bumped Sheamus and Bryan off the card which didn't make me happy.
 
The other part of the problem was that I watched the two ROH iPPVs.  The 2nd ppv wasn't quite as good as the first, but I still enjoyed it more than Mania.  All three tag matches were great.  Friday nights PPV top to bottom was a great show.  Richards and Strong was awesome and so was KOW against WGTT.  I had ordered the ROH ppvs when they were available in Canada before but this was the first time I'd done the iPPVs.  Quality wasn't as good as UFCs internet streaming option, but for 10 bucks each it was good enough.  I'll definately be making it a regular thing now and I'm going to try and get my WWE friends to try it out.
 
I wish I could've done the Dragon Gate shows as well, but there is only so much wrestling my wife can tolerate.
 
Mike Parisien from Ottawa

Hey Dave,

Wrestlemania was a great show....up to the main event, which was heatless.  King/Cole was alright, but the Dusty finish pissed me off. Rhodes/Mysterio was pretty good, and the 8-man and mixed tag matches were inoffensive. Edge/Del Rio and Punk/Orton were very good, and Taker/HHH was amazing.  Easy thumbs up.

Best match:  Undertaker vs HHH
Worst match:  Miz vs John Cena

David Kim
Woodside, NY

Best Match: Taker v HHH (almost by default)

Worst Match: Cena v Miz (very badly booked)

Thumbs down and I haven't said that for a WM since 11.

This was by far the strangest WM ever. No match until almost 25 minutes, a world title match goes on first and 2 reverse decisions-one that was turned into a DQ and the other just got to continue only to end a minute later. I don't think the Rock even saved the worst booked WM ever.

Edge v Del Rio was good but way too short!!! I know they like to change finishes but too many people think/know someone was going to win but Del Rio should've gone over.
Rey v Cody was decent, a bit slow but at least Cody went over.

The 8 man tag was perfect for what it was...except the wrong team won. Show's team winning did nothing for the guys who needed it.

Punk v Orton was good but again, wrong guy went over even though this is what I expected. Orton's matches are generally the same. I don't understand why he is where he is since I haven't seen much out of him since 2007.

Lawler v Cole was this year's Hart v McMahon. Why did this go almost 15 minutes? This should've been a 5 minute squash, Jerry wins and that's it. Instead Cole got more offense in on Lawler than Orton did on Punk. On top of that was the whole reversal at the end which is where this show really started to die for me.

Taker v HHH. I think the crowd was still recovering from the previous screwjob in the Lawler match. It was good but it got very slow towards the end however I loved the finish! I want to rewatch this match again to see if my opinion changed.

6 person intergender match was what it was.

Cena v Miz was shit. They didn't clique and the crowd was just waiting for the Rock. When the DOCO happened it made the match even worse. I enjoyed Rock costing Cena the title but this match was flatter than HHH v Orton 2 years ago.

Overall, I was strongly disappointed on top of Bryan v Sheamus being left off the card. I was really thinking this show was going to be good cause the build was awesome for the top matches. 4/10.

TJ Packard

 

I am so pissed off right now.  There is no excuse for not being able to fit a 10-12 minute US Title match on a four-hour WrestleMania card as advertised, when they spent at least 30-40 minutes wasting my time with pointless Snoop Dogg and Mae Young segments, Triple H, Taker & Cena's entrances, plus about 15 minutes of Taker selling that he was hurt after his match.  This is an absolute disgrace.  I legitimately feel like I got robbed of seeing my favorite wrestler (Daniel Bryan) make his 'Mania debut in front of 70,000 people.  And there's no way WWE can make it up to me by rescheduling their match for tomorrow night.  Seeing Bryan vs. Sheamus on RAW yet again is not the same thing at all.  I haven't felt this taken advantage of by WWE in a very long time.  One of the main selling points of this show for me was the US Title match, and they deemed that match less worthy than the throwaway Corre match and multiple idiotic comedy segments.  I honestly lost all interest in the main event once it became clear the US Title match wasn't being shown, and that ruined the last hour of the show for me.

 

WWE could've put together a pretty damn good show tonight - Edge vs. Del Rio, Rey vs. Cody, Punk vs. Orton and Taker vs. HHH were all good matches.  But a very weak main event coupled with bumping the match I was most interested in left a vile taste in my mouth and as of right now I can't call this a thumbs-up show.

 

After ten years of four-hour WrestleManias, how have they not figured out by now how to manage their time for 9 matches???  Screw you Vince.

 

-Justin Ballard

Boston, MA

 

Dave,

Complete thumbs down.  Wow, the Titantron graphics were incredible, but that was it.

When my personal three highlights of the culmination show of the year are:

1) Snooki's great finishing sequence

2) Trish showing her ass crack twice

3) Santini's cobra

you know the show sucked.

How can such a perfectly professional company, which has mastered the formula for success, miss the mark completely?

HHH-Undertaker, my lord! They tried, but it took superhuman discipline not to fall asleep during the match. And to waste precious time after the match, wow!

Punk, Orton, Miz, Cena, Del Rio...did any of their stock rise?  Edge?  Who cares, even when Christian turns on him? Morrison & Ziggler, does anyone care?

Cody Rhodes gets a little bump, but please put some knee pads on his scrawny legs.

Lawler-Cole barely delivered. Lukewarm, especially after the long and heated build.

Why not give someone like Zack Ryder, who has charisma, a push like charisma-less DiBiase got?

Sheamus?  Fans take him seriously in spite of the burial, enjoy his act, and he's relegated to a dark match?

Wow, other than looking forward to the debuts of Sin Cara and Awesome Kong, who really cares about any characters or angles after this alleged blow-off?

This Wrestlemania was an example of internal powers, for whatever reason, striking out.  Awful, not fun, and a complete waste of money.

Short the stock!

Jeff Bukantz

Montville NJ

 

Thumbs up!

Best match: Taker vs Triple H

Worst match: 8 men tag because they were not given any time.

 

Overall a good show, but it didn't have that special match to be remembered (not even a good "Wrestlemania moment"). Taker vs Triple H had drama, emotion and a great story, but won't go down as a all time classic. I'm happy to see Miz retain the belt and can't wait for a Cena vs Rock match (hopefully at Summerslam). Low point of the show is the absence of the Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan match. I expected that match to be the sleeper match of the night but instead we had long minutes of backstage segments and video packages. And what can be said about Cena's entrance? It had to be one of the worst entrance of all time. Seriously, how can he be taken as a threat after that? A least he had a new shirt... I enjoyed Cole vs Lawler, however I would have liked to see Lawler squash Cole once and for all. It seems this feud will continue and we'll have to endure some more Cole on RAW. Nothing against him or his character, but he's overexposed!

 

Also, I can't believe the World title match was the curtain jerker. Really? This show was way too predictable. Some guys had zero momemtum coming in (Del Rio, CM Punk) and Snooki had to go over. Only surprise was Miz keeping the gold.

 

Overall, a solid 8 out of 10.

 

Manuel Abdul Rahman

 

Overall: Thumbs in the Middle

Best Match: UT/HHH

From a storytelling perspective, I looked at the UT/HHH match like an old superhero who has been involved in too many battles. All of the WrestleMania matches are finally wearing on him, and he's losing power with each passing year. The one thing that makes him such a dominant force (the streak) is the very thing that is killing him. The thing I like about the UT match is that he can be transitioned into more of an underdog role - monster heels can goad him into accepting a WrestleMania challenge each year, and the drama of him losing would be much higher.

Worst Match: Lawler/Cole
Stone Cold was completely and 100% devalued in that role tonight - especially when you compare it to what Rocky got to do. Cole working Lawler's leg for five minutes was torture. What a mess.

Special Mention: Edge/Del Rio
Way to devalue...
A) Alberto Del Rio
B) The Royal Rumble
C) The World Heavyweight Title
All in one curtain-jerking match!
Justin Godin

 

Hi guys,
 
My thoughts on Wrestlemania 27.
 
Thumbs in the middle.
 
Best match: Undertaker vs. Triple H
Worst match: The Corre vs. Big Show/Kane/Kofi Kingston/Santino Marella
 
This show reminded me a lot of Wrestlemania 18 in Toronto, with the 
wrong match in the main event spot and not much else that proved to 
be memorable.
 
Pacing of the show seemed all screwed up -- Did Mysterio/Rhodes need 
that much time? Couldn't some of the backstage crap have been cut to 
let Sheamus and Daniel Bryan at least get five minutes in on the PPV? 
What was the point of an eight-man tag going 90 seconds? Undertaker-
HHH was match of the year worthy, but between the video package and 
pre- and post-match stuff, did they really need to take 50-plus 
minutes out of the show? The preachy pseudo-religious BS with Cena's 
entrance was a complete waste of time, and the Cole-Lawler feud seems 
destined to be dragged out way too long after that Dusty finish. Cole 
dragged down the matches he was announcing during the first half of 
the show and really needs to be out of the broadcast position.
 
And who has momentum coming out of this show? Rock, Undertaker and 
HHH -- no new stars elevated. Del Rio has been buried six feet under, 
Sheamus and Bryan were never given a chance to even try and steal the 
show, Punk lost, no one cares about Rhodes, and Miz gets another 
fluke victory and is immediately treated like a joke again. They 
couldn't even let Lawler get a clean win.
 
An average to below-average show, and certainly not worth $55 (or $65 
for the HD feed).
 
Jody Jewers
Charlottetown, P.E.I., Canada
 
 
 

Thumbs Up show Best Match:  Undertaker/Triple H Worst Match:  Mix Tag, but really all the back stage skits. This was the first ppv I've ordered in years.  I follow wrestling, and love wrestling, but haven't been ordering the pay per views since around the time of WrestleMania 18.  I preferred to read about the results and then later maybe get the DVD if it sounded like a good show.  I am a lifelong fan, but in recent years have been getting my wrestling fix from Ring Of Honor and PWG, and in the past two years Dragon Gate USA.  I can't give one solid reason why I decided to get WrestleMania this year, but a lot of it has to do with my cousin's kids being really into WWE and John Cena, and wanting to have my family over for an event that they would really enjoy.  We always go to the live events when they come to Buffalo, and my second cousins(12 and 8) love wrestling. I was very upset that Danielson's match got bumped.  I feel sorry for him not being on the main card and see no reason why all of the filler(Pee Wee, Snoop Dogg, Cena entrance, Rock promo) should take precedence over an advertised match.  That would be my only real complaint the bumping of that match and all the non-wrestling skits.  I've been watching Danielson for years in ROH, and wish that he would be more featured and allowed to display his talents as the best wrestler in the world.  I even bought his t-shirt from WWEshop.com because I want to show my support for the guy. The show was entertaining.  I really liked the Punk/Orton match, arguing with my cousin about how great Punk is, citing his hour long matches with Samoa Joe.  It was a slow pace but I liked it, built well, and a cool finish.  The Undertaker match was awesome, what else can I say, just a great match.  The main event was kind of lame, and the finish wasn't really anything special with the Rock standing tall(not walking).  I expected more out of the Cena/Rock situation, but the Undertaker/Triple H match more than made up for any disappointment over the main event.

 

Cling Achilles

 

Thumbs way up   Best match- Undertaker vs. HHH   Worst match- Mixed Tag   Most disappointing match- Miz vs. Cena     All I have to say is Undertaker vs. HHH was a brutal match which far surpassed my highest expectations. The psychology was among the best of all time. Undertaker's time off has certainly healed him up, as he moved almost as good as he ever has. HHH proved a deserving opponent & at times even seemed like an even bigger superstar than Taker in this match. Streak being broken teases were phenomenal. Multiple near falls, hard chair shots (one to Takers unprotected head, no arms up) which left takers side Red as a beet. Scary as hell running Plancha from Taker over the ropes onto HHH, landing badly on his head & neck nearly or hitting the Cole tank. The selling was as real as real can be. To me, this match was even better than the 2 with Shawn, all things considered. Much more intense, the most intense match I've ever seen I think. Both guys will never be the same, that's a certainty. This years equivalent to Bret Harts brutal beating of Vince last year. My heart goes out to both, as they put on an unimaginable war at this stage of their careers & lives. Saddened me to see them do that to their bodies, took my breath away, & for a moment I even thought Taker was "done". And I mean "dead"! Just for a second I got really really worried. And I'm NOT anywhere near being a "Smark" (a "believer"). Still not sure how bad a shape Taker is in, & I'm hoping it was mostly just astonishing selling. We will all know soon from Dave & Brian.   Every1 else, from the ringside attendants to the production crew to almost every performer on the show stepped up to the plate, and I enjoyed it from beginning to end, except for the Shawn Michaels angle being left for a later date or as is, which if left as is would be weird. But, this isn't TNA so...    A few lame things, like Pee Wee Herman & most of Rocks stuff, & the Cena/Miz match played out exactly as most predicted, was short & just was a disappointment, but I guess that's what they had to do considering Rocks limited time availability.   Best Wrestlemania for me in years. Maybe because I didn't expect much. Looking forward to other feedback & WON Live! Kudos to all involved in WM 27. AWEEEESOMMMMMME!

KJohn Raad

Thumbs Down for Mania

Best Match: Taker-HHH
Worst Match: Lawler-Cole or Cena-Miz

I don't think it's an exaggeration to call this the worst WrestleMania ever.  In my opinion, this was far, far worse than the shows that people typically classify as bad Manias (i.e., 9, 13).  This show was completely atrocious aside from Rock's segments, Snooki's match (I can't believe I'm saying that), and portions of the Taker match (I actually enjoyed the complete rip-off of Chael vs. Anderson for the finish).  Taker-HHH is the best match by default, but hardly anything all that memorable.  Lawler-Cole was embarrassingly bad, like on the Bret-Vince level, and the main event was arguably the worst in Mania history.  Horrific booking, burying talented performers & pushing talentless scrubs, and a complete inability to create real stars post-2003 has crippled WWE.  Tonight was the epitome of what a disgrace WWE has become.  A product that was once can't-miss TV & thoroughly entertaining, has become an insufferable bore.  "You're doing a heck of a job, Stephanie."

- Gordon Tepper

Take away the Taker / HHH.....this was one of the worst WM's that I can remember and I have seen them all. Total waste of $65.00. Best match hands down was HHH and the Undertaker. The rest including every other match thumbs way, way down. It's amazing how a pumped up crowd like that is giving that type of a WTF ending!! Another chapter in the way VKM can kill a crowd and get away with it!
 
 John Annese

Not a classic but RockyMania gets A THUMBS UP.Only 1 dud match, but thought Del Rio vs Edge should have delived more.
Best (wrestling) Match: Punk vs Randy
Worsy Match: Corre vs Show etc - what a waste.
 
Also who was that person in the Hall Of Fame Inductees who was there in place of Sunny????????????
 
Cheers
Dennis Murray

 

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