My Humble Opinion...

[BEN DENNIS]

What a hunk of CRAP Wrestlemania was!!!
If it hadn't been for HBK vs. Flair and the M.I.T.B. match it would have barely been better than a typical weekly show.
Glad I didn't pay for it out of MY pocket...

[albone]

I thought it was a fine Wrestlemania, but in the interest of full disclosure, I did pay for it out of pocket.

The Money in the Bank match was amazing, simply amazing. Through the magice of DVR, I watched it a second time. The HBK/Flair match was good, but Flair blew a few spots and it was obvious that HBK was carrying the match.

The Finley/JBL match could've been better. That seemed to end out of nowhere. Umaga vs Batista was kind of flat, but the chants for Umaga were unexpected. I think everyone knew that Undertaker was going to win it, and that was a pretty good match too. The triple threat match....was fine. Actually, the match was good, it was the finish that I didn't so much care for.

[Gonzogoose]

I actually enjoyed the entire event personally.

The Belfast Brawl, I agree, could have been better, but every single one of those shots with the weapons was pretty awesome and memorable.

The Money in the Bank match was off the hinges! Great match.

Batista and Umaga was as decent a match as those two could put on, and the added Umaga chants made the match better. Interesting.

The ECW title match, well that was crap.

The women's match wasn't great, but King and Snoop nailing Santino was worth it.

Flair vs HBK was as good as it could be considering Flair's age and physical condition. Though his match at the Rumble was probably better, he still pulled out all his tricks in this match. And the ending was incredibly emotional with him and his kids all teary-eyed. Classic.

The triple threat match was actually really good. A lot of false finishes as we knew there would be. With it being no DQ, though, they could have taken it to another level, and they didn't. I was a little disappointed by that. The finish I didn't mind so much as it was surprising. Most thought Cena or HHH would win it. It's interesting to keep them both chasing it.

And Taker vs Edge - yeah, we knew Taker would win. First, his career is winding down, and they're not going to have him lose his streak now. Second, am I mistaken, or has Taker never main evented Wrestlemania? I know he's undefeated and so on, but I don't think he's ever main evented it before, though I could be forgetting... if I'm right, though, there was no way Edge was going to win. That said, it was still a great match.

To touch on what you said, Ben, about it not being better than a regular wrestling show, you have to take into consideration that in the past all the great matches were saved for Wrestlemania. These days, almost every match on every wrestling card is ppv quality because it has to be. It's near impossible to outdo the weekly broadcasts at the ppvs anymore save going no DQ and taking it to the extreme (no pun intended). So keeping that in mind, I thought WM was pretty good myself.

I can't wait until next year, though, being a milestone. I'm going to try to go to that one live.

[UNCTarheel]

My days of wrestling watching kinda died with Ric's retirement. I was raised down the street from Ric and his family in Charlotte. I used to see Wahoo McDaniel and Ivan Koloff at the grocery store when i was just a lil kid and follow the down the aisles. These guys all were great guys and really fun to watch wrestle. I used to see them wrestle every Monday night when Mid Atlantic came to Greenville SC. Ill tell you this nobody could get a lil ole arena going like the Nature Boy.

[Gonzogoose]

My days of wrestling watching kinda died with Ric's retirement. I was raised down the street from Ric and his family in Charlotte. I used to see Wahoo McDaniel and Ivan Koloff at the grocery store when i was just a lil kid and follow the down the aisles. These guys all were great guys and really fun to watch wrestle. I used to see them wrestle every Monday night when Mid Atlantic came to Greenville SC. Ill tell you this nobody could get a lil ole arena going like the Nature Boy.

I just wrote a post about Ric Flair: http://kfabe.blogspot.com

I only had the pleasure to see him in person once, during Nitro when it came to Lexington, KY years ago, and I ended up having to leave before he actually wrestled. I did get to see him come out to the ring, playing the heel, and trash Kentuckians, and I loved every bit of it. :) Fond memories.

While I'll still continue watching wrestling, it won't be the same without the Naitch, that's for sure.

[Nu Jin]

So I take it that you all forgot the Mayweather Vs Big Show match? :laugh: :laugh:


I don't blame any of you if you don't want to touch on that subject. I thought it was complete garbage myself. It was okay for the first few minutes of the match, but in the end I was boring as heck. :yawn:


Everything else was excellent. I really enjoyed myself watching those matches. Flair's last match was very emotional, given the fact that I've met him a few times. I'll miss that dude.

Batista vs Umaga I wasn't paying attention to because I was playing my PSP. :p

The Bunny Mania event........I just don't care for. Yeah Snoop made things interesting, but afterwards I'm just not into the Diva matches compared to TNA, where those women are excellent wrestlers (Gail Kim, ODB, and Jackie just to name a few)

I really thought the Undertaker was going to lose that match and his undefeated streak was coming to an end. But wow!! :eek: What a match.

Triple Threat Match was pretty good. John Cena, of course, was doing his thing. :har:

Amd the Money in the Bank match was spectacular. Everyone was putting themselves on the line and gave a great performance. Kudos, Shelton Benjamin.

Kane vs Chavo was laugh out loud funny!! :thumbs:

[Locoduck]

I was there live and was one of the few who narrowly avoided being hit by stray fireworks. That was creepy to see them barrel into the crowd a few rows down. But it was all electrifying. I agree that the Umaga Batista match really slowed things down. But everything else, ESPECIALLY Ric's last match, was really generating one helluva response.
The fireworks don't come off as cool on tv as they did in person. I hadn't been to a live Wrestlemania since 12, and this was fun and good.

And for the record, I know Taker headlined WM 13 when he beat Sid for the title....after that, not sure.

[Nu Jin]

I was there live and was one of the few who narrowly avoided being hit by stray fireworks. That was creepy to see them barrel into the crowd a few rows down. But it was all electrifying. I agree that the Umaga Batista match really slowed things down. But everything else, ESPECIALLY Ric's last match, was really generating one helluva response.
The fireworks don't come off as cool on tv as they did in person. I hadn't been to a live Wrestlemania since 12, and this was fun and good.

And for the record, I know Taker headlined WM 13 when he beat Sid for the title....after that, not sure.


So did you get some cash that was raining down the arena when Mayweather came out? :w00t:

[Deadfish07]

That Wrestlemania was... meh.

The MITB, Flair's retirement match and Edge/Undertaker were great. I almost thought they'd let Edge get the victory and break the streak. I know it's a foolish thought, but since the heels were winning most of the night, I thought there'd be a shot.

Orton/Triple H/Cena was a big disappointment. They were building that match up to be the headlining match. I'm not knocking letting the heel champ keep his title at WM, but I've seen better matches between these guys on Raw the past few weeks.

Big Show/Mayweather was as awful as I thought it would be. I'd rather watch a rematch between Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone. I mean, Big Show doesn't feel a chair shot from a guy practically his size, but crumbles to the floor when skinny Mayweather hits him once.

Everything else was alright, nothing great. And no surprise guest stars, not even Vince. I was kind of hoping they'd finally close the book on the "Son" storyline. Look, I love Mick Foley as a Long Island nieghbor, but him popping up from time to time isn't a big surprise anymore.

[Gonzogoose]

Actually, I did forget to mention the Show/Mayweather match, which I personally thought was well done for what it was. Floyd sold everything well enough, and it ended as expected.

As for Show going down to Mayweather, he took three chair shots to the head and brass knucks to the jaw, so that was a bit believable, even with no-selling the flunky's chair shot.

The "money" was fake.

Ah, forgot about the Taker/Sid match, so I stand corrected.

[Deadfish07]

As for Show going down to Mayweather, he took three chair shots to the head and brass knucks to the jaw, so that was a bit believable, even with no-selling the flunky's chair shot.

I'll accept the brass knux finishing off Show, but having his entire momentum being stopped by a weak looking chair shot to the stomach, which sent Show to his knees, is silly.

[Gonzogoose]

I'll accept the brass knux finishing off Show, but having his entire momentum being stopped by a weak looking chair shot to the stomach, which sent Show to his knees, is silly.

Ok, I'll give you that. I forgot about the shot to the mid section.

[albone]

Big Show/Mayweather was at least entertaining. I enjoyed his posse getting worked over a tad. There was no question who was going to win this match.

The bunnymania was a yawn, and I agree that the TNA Knockouts are so far ahead of the Divas that its not fair to compare.

Anyone catch the Hall Of Fame? I missed the very end with Flair (Stupid DVR) but I heard they had to get the hook for him. The Rock was very funny and its always great to see him with the WWE.

[Gonzogoose]

I watched HoM, though they cut it short, and I read they cut Flair's short as well. The full version was like 3 hours long I think, maybe longer.

The Rock was actually on stage for over an hour, and from what I read, some were unhappy with him using so much humor. Personally I loved it as it gave some levity, and he was awesome as usual.

But back to Flair, yeah, his speech was pretty emotional. He even talked about his ex-wives thanking them for being good mothers to his kids and so forth. Very heartfelt.

[albone]

So I finally got around to watching ECW last night, and it seems to me that they WM dark match Battle Royal would've been a better sight to see than the actual championship match. Kudos to Kane for actually wearing the belt.

[Gonzogoose]

The Battle Royal wasn't that great either, and it was really short (I watched it on WWE.com), but yeah, still much better than the title match, which was just an embarrassment for ECW in my opinion. The first time the ECW title is defended at Wrestlemania and the match lasts 8 seconds... sigh.

[MattWaterman]

I really don't follow wrestling anymore and didn't see the event but can you guys answer something for me: What was the thinking behind the Show-Mayweather fight and, particularly, its conclusion? I mean, obviously, the match itself was just for the hype factor and to boost sales; I'm referring to the resolution. Assuming Mayweather will never appear in wrestling again, why did they give him the win? And even more perplexing, why give him the win...but require him to 'cheat' to do it? I don't get it.

It's like, if they're going to put Mayweather over...then just do that. But without giving him the clean win it makes it look like Big Show was willing to lie down for him...but only a little bit. Instead of giving Show heat one way or the other it just ended in....mush.
:confused:

[Gonzogoose]

In my opinion, it was done for two reasons:

1. Revitalize boxing and give it the hype TNA gives UFC/MMA
2. Put Show over as a monster that can't even be taken down by the greatest fighter in the world.

It accomplished both of those tasks to a degree. With the current trend of UFC/MMA taking over, boxing has become almost invisible, and by putting Mayweather on there it got people curious about it again and let them know it was still there.

As for not having him win clean, I think when you combine the build up to the match with Mayweather legitimately breaking Show's nose, giving him two black eyes, and really hitting him with those knucks, it shows how dangerous he is... but not dangerous enough to put down a guy who is WAY out of his weight class and obviously much bigger than he is.

By having him win, but not clean, it preserved both mens' threats to a degree, at least in my estimation.

[Gabriel Solis]

I just wrote a post about Ric Flair: http://kfabe.blogspot.com

I only had the pleasure to see him in person once, during Nitro when it came to Lexington, KY years ago, and I ended up having to leave before he actually wrestled. I did get to see him come out to the ring, playing the heel, and trash Kentuckians, and I loved every bit of it. :) Fond memories.

While I'll still continue watching wrestling, it won't be the same without the Naitch, that's for sure.

As much as I loved watching Ric in the NWA/early WCW, I really wasn't sad to see him go. I wanted to see him retire in the late 90's in fact. I respect that he was able to pull out a second run towards the end, and a 35 year career in wrestling is remarkable. Watching him these past years has been kind of painful. Every time I saw him wrestle, I couldn't stop thinking of him as Triple H's pet project. Ric Flair stopped being the 'Nature Boy' a long time ago. Flair and Hogan require too much suspension of belief (sounds funny in a wrestling conversation). Most fans probably disagree, but I'd rather have seen Ric retire as a GM, where he could do what he does best.

[Gonzogoose]

I agree that in recent years Flair hasn't been himself, but I think he rose to the occasion as best he could this past year. Still, it's sad to see such a legacy go the way of the dodo regardless.

That said, he just retired from in ring wrestling, he'll still be working with the company. Hopefully in time that means an on screen role, either as a manager or GM or something.