I'm shocked at the amount of criticism this Wrestlemania is getting at other wrestling forums I've visited.
The money in the bank ladder match was the right way to heat up the crowd for the show. Did the match mean anything? Nope. But it had a few crazy spots and the thing about spot-fests is that while you'll never watch them again, they're entertaining for the moment. It was the right way to start the show. Shelton Benjamin's jump off the ladder scared me for a second because I thought he landed on his head. One day somebody's going to get very injured in those matches.
The Divas Battle Royal was stupid. I don't think anybody would have noticed Torrie Wilson, Molly Holly or Sunny if the commentators didn't briefly allude to them. Makes you wonder why they were in it when their presence meant nothing. I was laughing when Santino started doing his dancing though.
The Jericho v Legends match was sad until Steamboat got into the ring. There was absolutely no crowd involvment for Piper and Snuka. In fact it kind of worked against them because after months of Jericho saying they were washed up, they sure as hell looked it. Piper's swearing was entertaining though. But gosh it looked sad. But suprisingly Steamboat, who's kept himself in pretty good shape, did a good job and at whatever age he is, he actually pulled off some good stuff. I marked out for his skinning the cat move.
The Hardy's match was poor but I expected it to be poor. Neither are good wrestlers and it was always going to be a piss poor garbage match. I swear those two are just typical indy wrestlers.
JBL v Rey was short and I was thankful for that. It was the one match of the night I didn't want to see.
Shawn v Taker was easily the match of the night and the reason I decided, very late, to buy the ppv. The thing about Wrestlemania is the matches aren't the same when you watch them on DVD later on. I don't mind it if I visit a match later on and it's not all that great. If it's great for the moment then you've enjoyed yourself. I had the luxury of not knowing who'd win either, which I think made the match better. Although honestly, it's disappointing that you know in every WM Taker's going to win. It's part of the reason I reacted so shocked after HBK kicked out of everything.
I didn't care for the first half of Shawn v Taker. It felt like a lot of stuff that was going no where. But after both men dives onto the floor the match shot upwards. There was Shawn trying to get the court-out. Shawn trying to super-kick Taker. Shawn kicking out of so many finishers. Taker kicking out of the SCM. My favourite part was when both men started selling the match well and just starting landing whatever they could on the other. Major props to the Undertaker for selling that as the hardest WM match he's ever had. His reaction after Shawn kicked out of the last-ride (or was it the TS?) was priceless. The crowd loved it and the JR was blown away (and it sounded real).
People will blast me for this. But that match reminded me of Austin v Rock from WM17. I'm not a huge fan of the first half of that match because it just feels like two men punching each other for 20 minutes doing nothing. But when they hit their ending stretch the drama was tremendous. It was the same with Shawn v Taker. The first half did nothing for me, but when they hit the end it went nuts.
Unfortunately it's a Shawn match and will get criticised, analyzed and demonised by every ****ing smark on the planet who'll find something to pick it apart.
The triple-threat sucked. I wish is was just Cena v Edge because they could have kicked out something good. Nobody cared about much of anything after Shawn v Taker.
The main event was good. Like I said, Orton did some amusing stuff in the match. But it was a main event Triple H won so it'll get ripped to shreds by everybody on the IWC. Already it's gotten some scathing reviews on the websites I've visited. Seriously, it was an OK match. Nothing special, but OK.
