Divas will get highlighted more thanks to the ratings the Total Divas show has been getting. At least there are some NXT girls who can go in the ring coming up soon. The WWE has really disappointed with the build to Mania this year IMO. It seems the whole show is being carried by the Daniel Bryan storyline. The story better end with Bryan beating HHH and then winning the strap or else that crowd could get ugly. The buildup for Taker vs Lesnar has sucked, with Lesnar looking like a baby for most of the build and Taker being the cheesy dude from hell with all the lame smoke and mirrors that stopped working back in 1999. The last couple Taker matches have ruled because they had a reason to believe the streak was on the line. Now it's just like Lesnar is going to be chump #22. The Cena vs Wyatt match feels rushed to me. Cena normally can't make someone a viable threat because he eventually reverts to grade school humor, laughing the threat off. They have stayed away from that this time but there's no real reason to have Wyatt go after Cena other than attacking his 'legacy'. Who gives a freak? It's not like Cena's legacy will be different win or lose. After that, what is there to really care about? They obviously can't expect people to be interested in the rest of the card. They never gave the rest of the card well laid out storylines to make people really care. This show is going to feel like an extended version of Monday Night Raw with all the gimmicks they are shoving down our throats for the matches that earn everyone a payday. 30-man battle royal just months after the Royal Rumble should be the pre-show match. Get the crowd riled up for when the big show starts. The tag match should just be the Usos and The Real Americans, not the mess it is now. Actually, the match should be Goldust and Cody Rhodes vs the Real Americans but the WWE thought the New Age Outlaws needed to be brought out of retirement to take the belts, then transition to the Usos. Goldust and Cody were the best thing going in tag teams for about a year and then they were just swept aside.....who's booking this crap? This would have been my Mania lineup (take in mind this lineup is what my long term vision would have been): Daniel Bryan (C) vs Batista Bryan wins the strap at Elimination Chamber. Fans have their moment, then Batista can be the heel who says he doesn't belong and he's going to show everyone why blah blah blah. Make it a validation story, with Bryan overcoming a proven main event wrestler on the big stage. Let them work a long main event where Batista kicks the living crap out of Bryan until he just wears himself out, and the resilient babyface gets his comeback win in front of a hot crowd. Make Bryan earn it in a physical match. Bryan is the best wrestler in the world right now and Batista can be carried to a good match at best by him. Big E (c) vs Dean Ambrose (c) Unify those two belts. Having a midcard title is death anyway. Big E was white hot for a minute, then they gave him the IC title and have jobbed him out since. As for Dean Ambrose, he's defended the title once since winning it and has taken a step back to Roman Reigns as the 'ace' of the Shield. Big E would go over here and then should smash though anyone through Summerslam, giving that title some value once someone beats him for it. Dean will be fine, let him tag with Seth Rollins and/or Roman Reigns for now. Let his single run spin off the feud there. Cody Rhodes & Goldust (c) vs The Real Americans Really this is Cody and Goldy vs Cesaro....with Swagger along for the ride. Cody and Goldust lit it up last year as a tag team. Really, go find some of their matches vs the Shield. Or pretty much any match NOT against the New Age Outlaws. They tore it up. Best tag team in a long while. So what does WWE do? They make them drop the tag belts to two of HHH's old pals. Meanwhile Cesaro has gotten over with an impressive moveset that looks downright brutal at times. He's an old school throwback who is a savat in the ring. I would love a Cesaro vs Bryan run, the matches would be top notch stuff for wrestling fans. Let these two teams have a 15-20 minute back and forth with the brothers going over. Then use the win to elevate other teams down the road while Cesaro and Swagger eventually split. AJ Lee (c) vs Brie Bella vs Natalya vs Naomi A fatal-four way for the Divas title. Total Divas gets to wrap the show up with one of the stars of the show winning the title. All four of these girls can actually work. Brie Bella has improved to where she actually has some impressive moves in her moveset that actually translate well on HDTV. Natalya was raised in the Hart family dungeon, so you know her pedigree. AJ Lee is the Divas version of Dolph Ziggler, she can bump with the best of them. Naomi is the greenest of the bunch but she has shown the athleticism to go in the ring. It would be a good way to highlight the Divas division in a well-wrestled match and give the title morth worth as well after the win. Use that momentum to keep building the division up, less Alicia Fox and more Paige from NXT too please. The Wyatt Family (Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, Erik Rowan) vs Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns & John Cena Six-man tag grudge match. Shield teams up with Cena for a common goal, get back at the Wyatts who are going after the 'face' of the WWE and the Shield who have been the dominant team until now. The Shield want to prove their dominance, Cena fights for whatever his catch phrase is now. Wyatt wants to eat Cena's eyes, Luke Harper and Erik Rowan are just soul-less weapons of destruction. Have Cena and the Shield win, only to have Roman Reigns super punch Cena after, leaving him laid out. You then can use Reigns hanging on something Cena said in a pre-match promo about him 'helping' the Shield to win. The Shield doesn't need anyone's help and they just used him for a means to an end. Have Reigns and Cena feud with Reigns eventually 'hurting' Cena, sidelining him from the ring for a while. Meanwhile the Wyatts and Shield can still tear it up because they are still standing and they hate each other. Undertaker vs Lesnar The same match, but whole different storyline. This thing did not need corny-Taker. It needed the same Taker we saw vs Punk, HHH and HBK. Lesnar also was a baby during the whole build, only getting some cheap heat on the go-home RAW. All this match needs is Taker defending the streak vs a pissed off Lesnar. Give Lesnar a reason to be pissed at Taker, not make him act scared. Then you have the streak vs a legit former UFC champ who wants to tear Taker apart en route to breaking the streak. make Lesnar not give a crap about the smoke and mirrors, he sees through the BS. He's going to walk into Wrestlemania and shoot on Taker. That's what the crowd should be feeling. Money in the Bank Ladder Match Have an eight man match. Half faces, half heels. Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, Alberto Del Rio, Rob Van Dam, The Miz, Big Show. Each one has a storyline reason on wanting to win. Ziggler wants to come all the way back from a rough fall from grace after being white hot last April when he cashed in his MITB win last year. He suffered a concussion soon after and dropped the title real quick. Randy Orton loses his rematch to Bryan after losing in the Chamber, so he wants back in the title hunt fast. Del Rio is there wanting to win and prove he's the best heavyweight after a long run with the WHC. Rob Van Dam gets off on ladder matches, the Miz wants to get his main event spot back and the Big Show is there for that big doofy ladder they bring out for him. Oh well.....fantasy booking won't change what we are going to get. The whole show seems to be hinging on the big high the crowd will need from Bryan winning both of his matches for this show to not be remembered as a flop.
I've had the channel from day one. Last night there were no issues with the HOF show live, but that's not the same number of eyes as today will have. I wonder how the network will hold up? It's a big gamble by Vince with this network.
I havent bought the network yet. Holding out till after 'Mania to see how it holds up on this massive viewing night
It's had a rough start and I dunno if Xbox users have got all the bugs out. I just stream it from my laptop to my tv via HDMI. The pre-match is on now and there's been no skipping thus far. Smooth and clean.
Yeah, they seemed to switch to a radio feed before the first pre-match. It sorted itself out before the first ring entry.
http://www.prowrestling.net/article....-Brock-Lesnar-John-Cena-vs.-Bray-Wyatt-36485 The Uso Brothers defeated The Real Americans, Ryback & Curtis Axel, and Los Matadores in a four-way in 16:15 to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Powell's POV: A good match. The "awesome" chants were a little premature, but I like that the crowd is fired up and wants to see something special. You had to know something was coming when Cesaro lost the match before he could perform the Swing. The split was done in a way that I suspect Colter's character will try to get them on the same page on Raw. http://www.prowrestling.net/article...intact-Is-John-Cena-s-legacy-in-trouble-36496 The Usos retained the WWE Tag Team Championships at 16:12. Shore's Slant: The second half of that math was better than the first. It was a good hot finish too. Right match to kick off the show. I'm not sure what Cesaro doing the gimmick means going forward, but I guess we will find out tomorrow.
Shield with the W in a squash match. Must be some timing issues, The Shield is HOT, less than 5 minutes is unacceptable
guess he will retire now. was there any Saints players goofing off there? saw a few pics of Brees, Jordan, Jimmy and the Leg.
Here's a recap: http://www.prowrestling.net/article....-Brock-Lesnar-John-Cena-vs.-Bray-Wyatt-36485http://www.prowrestling.net/article....-Brock-Lesnar-John-Cena-vs.-Bray-Wyatt-36485 The Uso Brothers defeated The Real Americans, Ryback & Curtis Axel, and Los Matadores in a four-way in 16:15 to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship. Powell's POV: A good match. The "awesome" chants were a little premature, but I like that the crowd is fired up and wants to see something special. You had to know something was coming when Cesaro lost the match before he could perform the Swing. The split was done in a way that I suspect Colter's character will try to get them on the same page on Raw. Daniel Bryan pinned Triple H in 26:00 to advance to the WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. Powell's POV: One hell of a match. I must admit that I was concerned during the opening minutes when it didn't seem like they were still trying to find the groove, but they definitely got there. The highlight for me was when Bryan kicking out of the Pedigree. You knew it was coming at some point, but it was one of those moments where you weren't entirely sure whether he would survive it. The guys watching at my place popped big when Bryan kicked out of that move. The post match attack was well done and the fans were receptive... The Shield defeated Kane and The New Age Outlaws in 2:55. Powell's POV: A lopsided squash win for The Shield. I had convinced myself that the Outlaws and Kane could step up and this could be a decent match, but it wasn't laid out in a way that would give them a chance to do that. The right team went over strong, yet I still feel letdown by The Shield's role in WrestleMania 30. Cesaro won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal in 13:40. Powell's POV: All the hype with the armored truck carrying the trophy on the pre-show and the whole thing felt rushed. I thought we were going to see Big Show take the Cesaro Swing, but they are wisely saving that. The moment was obviously the big body slam, and the crowd was receptive. A cool surprsie winner. I just hope they have something big planned for Cesaro aside from the obvious program with Jack Swagger. John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt in 23:00. Powell's POV: A disappointing match with a bizarre story. I get the idea that Cena had to fight off the temptation of going too dark with the chair shots and violence, but I don't feel like that was set up with the story they told leading into the match. Years from now people will watch this match on WWE Network and assume they need to go back and watch Raw to see the setup, and they will be left confused and disappointed if they do. I had a few network glitches, but it doesn't sound like it was a widespread issue. Brock Lesnar defeated Undertaker in 25:15. Powell's POV: What the hell was that? Yes, it's a shocking WrestleMania moment, but I can't believe they would have a part-timer wrestler who is already made be the person to end The Streak rather than someone who could truly benefit from it. Yes, Lesnar gains something and will have momentum going into a program with Daniel Bryan if they want to go there next, but it's such a short term boost for a guy who is unlikely to pay dividends long term. The match was disappointing and the crowd was destined to react this way because the buildup left so much to be desired. This was not a great Streak match, and the broadcast team did absolutely nothing to help it with their embarrassingly bad call. JBL was especially bad and ineffective. If this was the end of the line for Taker, it's a shame that he didn't go out with more fanfare or at least with a story that would have elicited a better reception to the match. If there's a silver lining to this it's that Paul Heyman's Raw promo should be glorious A.J. Lee retained the WWE Divas Championship. Powell's POV: I was distracted throughout the match by some technical fun and clearly the live crowd was still in hangover mode from the Undertaker shocker. Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton and Batista in a Triple Threat match in 23:20 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Powell's POV: The match was excellent down the stretch. I'm amazed that Orton was able to get up after he landed on the television monitor. The Triple H and Stephanie interference was logical from a storyline standpoint even if I could have done without it. The post-match scene was excellent with massive amounts of confetti and a live crowd that was as flat as possible during and especially after the Undertaker match really came to life. Overall, the show had the happy ending that it desperately needed. The Undertaker loss is just baffling and the match and especially the finish were just major buzz kills. The undercard was what we thought it was, but there were enough strong moments to make this a memorable WrestleMania event. I have a feeling the reaction to the show is going to be very polarizing, but perhaps the biggest victory for WWE is that the WWE Network feed did not have any major widespread issues.
How do you give a part timer a win over a WWE Legend and sleep at night? The only way this is logical is Brock is becoming a full time wrestler and going on a dominating streak of his own. Otherwise, this is nearly as bad as the Montreal Screw Job
