Wrestling - Offical Thread

I enjoyed it a lot.  If you don't want spoilers, stop reading here.... 























































The pre-show stuff was pretty much a dud for me apart from Wyatt coming back and helping Matt Hardy .  I continue to be disappointed by the the cruiserweight division.  It's not the fault of the performers; I think they are capable of having fast-paced, high-flying matches, but for some reason, they're not allowed.  Shame really because 205 Live could be really good.  I didn't care a single bit about the Womens Battle Royal.

I don't think there was anything I'd call bad in the main card tbh.  The only real disappointments for me were AJ vs Nakamura, and the stuff with Strowman and The Bar.

AJ vs Nakamura wasn't bad by any stretch, but I just expected something a lot better.  The crowd were so dead for it, and I agree, had it been a bit earlier it probably would've went down a lot better.  I really liked Nakamura turning heel.  When he was handing AJ the belt I was shouting "FUCKING HIT HIM WITH IT", not because I don't like AJ, quite the opposite actually.  I just like it when people turn heel.  I was well happy when he delivered the low blow and set those wheels in motion.



As for the stuff with Strowman, I was just looking forward to someone coming back as his surprise partner.  There was talk beforehand of either Big Show or Big Cass being the surprise.  Rey Mysterio was also being touted.  I understand why thy did it how they did, it was a "Wrestlemania Moment" which is something they pushed pretty hard throughout the show, I just wasn't a fan.  It doesn't mean I like Strowman any less.  He's pretty much one of my favourite things in WWE right now.

I think I most enjoyed Angle & Rousey vs Trips & Steph, it was MoTN for me in terms of how entertained I was.  I was worried it would be horrible but it was booked perfectly and the crowd were really into it.  Kurt Angle also looked a lot better than he has done compared to the last 2 matches before this.  Hopefully at WM35 we'll get to see Daniel Bryan vs Kurt Angle. 

The other tag matches entertained, too.  The Bludgeon Brothers (shocking name and gimmick really) are absolute monsters in the ring and it's good to have such dominating and intimidating champs.  Shane & Bryan vs KO & Sami was fine but it was all about D-Bry's return and he looked as good as ever.  Hope he stays on SmackDown where he could have potentially career defining matches with the likes of AJ Styles & Nakamura.  Move Joe over to SmackDown and you've got 4 of the best wrestlers in the company.

Charlotte vs Asuka was, as expected, really fucking good, kudos to them.  I also enjoyed Jax vs Bliss.  It wasn't the most polished affair but it told the story it needed to tell and I like fat lasses so it's nice to see Nia Jax as champion.

I thought the setup to 'Taker & Cena was a bit cheesey but the crowd at it up.  I thought 'Taker looked in fantastic shape, better than the last couple of years for sure.  And even though it was only 2 or 3 minutes, I think he looked great in the ring (with the exception of the dodgy big boot but I'm not sure that was his fault)  I haven't seen him get that height on a Chokeslam for a long time.  I have a feeling we'll get 'Taker vs Cena again at Summerslam and Cena will win, then they'll have a decider at WM35.

Reigns & Lesnar was fun and I was shocked at Lesnar retaining given all the talk of Lesnar returning to UFC.  It wasn't a very good "wrestling" match but the brutality made up for that.  It'll be interesting to see where they go with Reigns from here.  I think a heel turn is best for him.  He's never going to be the beloved megastar everyone cheers for like Vince wants.  People want to hate him so give them a reason to do so.  I send him to SmackDown.  There's not much left for him to do an RAW.

The IC Title match was a great way to open the show.  Fantastic match and no less than expected considering who was involved.  The Miz truly is awesome and I look forward to program between him and Seth Rollins.

The US Title match was fine.  I'm a big fan of Rusev so was hoping he'd get the win and go on a lengthy run as US champ but I guess now he'll be chasing Jinder.  I'm fine with Jinder winning.  I didn't hate his run as WWE Champion and I probably won't hate this.  Sure, his ring work isn't amazing, but he gets by.  He could definitely do with a new finisher.

I'd give it a solid 7/10.

Wrestlemania 35 could be interesting.  There's already talk of building towards Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte and having it main event. which would be cool.  As I said earlier in the post, I also expect Cena & Taker to face-off next year, and I'd also love to see Angle & Bryan go at it.  But, who knows what's going to happen between now and then.  For all we know, CM Punk might get some sense knocked into him at his next UFC fight and come crawling back.  Or Connor McGreggor could do something.  Maybe Hogan will do some DDP yoga and end up having a match.  Perhaps Stone Cold finally agrees to one final match?

More realistically though, I think there is a possibility that The Rock (perhaps vs Brock?) and Batista (maybe vs Triple H & Randy Orton with Flair as ref?) could be involved.