Wrestling Discussion Thread III

That was one of the best men's Rumble matches ever. I'm really happy that they did loads of fun stuff that make it'll really memorable for years to come. Some excellent hope spots in the opening half (like with Rey Mysterio, The New Day and Keith "Who's This Motherfucker?" Lee) made me feel genuinely excited when a new guy was coming in to fight Brock Lesnar. Seeing Lesnar demolish all the keech like Elias, Shelton Benjamin and Erick Rowan was good too, it cleared the way for the real stars. It could have easily went too long, but I thought it was booked brilliantly.

Drew McIntyre's elimination of Brock Lesnar was quality. That whole match made him look like an absolute don. A nitpick though: I don't know if he needed to win. The story was already set up between him and Brock Lesnar, they could have just had Lesnar come back and leather him near to end, costing McIntyre the match. They could have used the Royal Rumble to set up Bray Wyatt's WrestleMania challenger, I thought. 

There were some great interwoven stories being told at the end. There's lots they can carry on with, and lots interesting going on.

What a return for Edge! His face told the story, and I think everybody would be chuffed for him. I hope they do something with him and Randy Orton later - I liked their matches and tag-team in the mid 2000s, and I think it would be a nice nostalgic, feel-good feud. 

As for the women's Royal Rumble, it was all right. That bit with Otis was class.

Aye, the men's rumble was ace.

I loved Lesnar clearing out half the field. I think fatigue can set in quite easily in Rumble matches if they don't book it carefully, especially around the bits where you have no-hopers like Shelton Benjamin running out. Brock's antics kept the first half of the Rumble feeling entertaining and pacey. I loved him grooving to MVP's theme, I laughed out loud at him looking at Keith Lee and saying "OOOOH A BIG BOY!" and then "Who's this motherfucker?" Even the bit with Shelton was fun. I bought into the brief bits of hope such as the New Day featuring Rey teaming up against Lesnar, the big boy showdown with Keith Lee and Strowman and even the smaller bits like Cesaro and Nakamura getting a few digs in.

They really did well to build up McIntyre in this too. The first half of the Rumble was entirely worth it for the whopper pay off that McIntyre got when he eliminated Lesnar. He looked like a star out there.

EDGE! You could see how much that return meant to him - he was on the verge of welling up during his entrance. I hope he's sticking around for one good last final run.

I must admit, for a brief moment I thought they were utterly tone deaf and gearing up Roman to get booed out of the building with another Rumble win, especially after he eliminated Edge. Glad they didn't go that route, but I feel bad for Roman - I don't think he can ever win the Rumble again, at least not as a babyface.

I stayed up for some of Night One on Saturday into Sunday. I spent the first two-and-a-half matches thinking that it was a bit sad, that ‘it’s the thought that counts’. I didn’t get into it, yet even if a crowd was there, there was nothing about the performances in the women’s tag match or Elias Vs. Baron Corbin that made me feel like I was watching any sort of Wrestlemania spectacle. But I started to get into the (pretty decent) Becky Lynch match towards the end, and I started to enjoy myself a bit more. The Intercontinental Championship match added to that, with all the talking, shouting and ringside activity.

The triple-threat ladder match, Kevin Owens Vs. Seth Rollins and Goldberg Vs. Braun Strowman were well worth their airtime and places on the show – an excellent effort by everybody involved, all trying to make it feel like a conventional Wrestlemania with their performances. Especially the former two, those were the two matches I thought did the most to make me forget about the weird, awkward atmosphere, as well as basically everything else going on around us.

That Boneyard Match was one of the most entertaining things WWE have produced in years. I loved it. It benefited from not having the handicaps that all the other matches did, for certain, but the change of pace and setting was massively appreciated. The Undertaker Vs. AJ Styles was a total success, and I finished Night One feeling happy and excited.

Night Two (which I watched this morning) was a comedown, I thought. There was nothing wrong with either women’s title match, but the excitement wasn’t there, and the style of the matches really didn’t click with how the show was presented. Same goes for Black and Lashley and the RAW tag team championship match – neither were too different from what I’d expect to see on RAW. I didn’t really follow the Otis stuff, though that likely would have worked well in front of the right crowd though.

The Edge Vs. Randy Orton match went on forever – The Last of Us Part II was delayed another three times during that match. What was presented on the night didn’t match up with the drama in the promos and attacks before it. The match should have been edited down: it would have been a lot more effective and a lot less dull. I'm not quite putting it alongside Michael Cole Vs. Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart Vs. Vince McMahon in terms of worst Wrestlemania matches, but there was no need for this match to be broadcast in this state. 

The Firefly Funhouse was good fun! I’ll remember that more than I’d have remembered a usual match between The Fiend Vs. John Cena. Fair play for being willing to rip the pish when it was needed too. It was just good, escapist entertainment.

My Facebook feed is full of folk who stayed up for Drew McIntyre’s match. Round here (South Ayrshire, where Drew’s from), there was a lot of excitement about his championship opportunity. It got good coverage in the local and national media, even in light of everything else happening. The match itself, I felt Lesnar put in one of his performances that he usually does when he doesn’t want to be there – and who can blame him? – and I think the magic of the title win was lost a bit with no crowd, no fireworks and no night sky. Yet for most people, the main thing seemed to simply be that Drew McIntyre became WWE Champion, and that’s what I thought was the main thing too. What an achievement– I’m chuffed for Drew McIntyre.

Beforehand, I thought WWE were stupid for putting this show on. But all credit, the whole weekend exceeded my expectations. 36 was a noteworthy Wrestlemania that was quite a bit better than some of the recent stadium shows. Good stuff!

I agree with most of that Cappa. I stayed up until 4am both nights whilst streaming Cultaholic's reactions alongside it (so I was watching it with others). I originally had tickets to a bar that was showing it and would have been a great atmosphere, so was nice to experience it with others in a weird way.

That said, I enjoyed both nights. The Undertaker match was hilarious, but it was the Fiend match that blew me away. It even felt like a Cena heel turn with his blowjob rap lines, NWO gimmick and the whole reflective look back at Cena's career. The whole thing was bonkers and made up for a really disappointing Edge v Orton brawl which saw both barely register a wrestling maneuver. It was a 40 minute backstage brawl and dragged after 20. Drew's moment was fine but with no crowd, like all the title changes, meant little. Other things that stuck out: Rhea Ripley looked like a superstar, JBL and Cole is a HORRIBLE commentary combination, Becky winning was an odd decision - what happens to Shayna now?, the Sasha Bayley tease saved a fairly forgettable match but (and this might just be the audience of Cultaholic) a lot of fans wanted Tamina to win (in an ironic way - because she's so bad). I'm glad she didn't.

Will this be remembered fondly? For the Taker and Fiend matches, yes. I would say all the best stuff happened away from the ring, but Orton Edge negates that. Orton Edge needed spots. They may edit the event down somehow, but otherwise it was a fine, if bloated collection of Raw/Smackdown matches broken up with some of the WWE best production work yet.