Professional Wrestling (WWE, TNA, ROH, etc)

[Andrew]

Not to mention Terry Funk and Ric Flair. In wrestling, you can have as many retirement angles as you think you can get away with.

[buzzy]

Gotta add the 10 Diva Tag Team match to my prediciton list, I'm going with the faces (Beth, Eve, Gail, Kelly & Mickie), Vickie Guerrero probably getting humiliated in the process or afterwards.

[Andrew]

I'll take the heel Divas in that one.

[Lean]

Can we do another "WrestleMania Predictions" article back at the main site? I was a fan of that.

[Andrew]

Probably too late to do one now. I've basically used up what I'd say in my previous post.

[Andrew]

Wrestlemania begins! I'm working from home today so I decided to order and watch it live.

[JaoSming]

man Orton is over HUGE with the crowd

[Andrew]

They kind of killed DiBiase and Rhodes with the booking though.

[Christian.]

1.5 stars for the fossils' match

[Andrew]

I'm seeing a few negative reviews popping up, which is kind of surprising. I thought it was a pretty good show throughout, I guess the hype of the event and this year's card might have set the bar too high for some people but I for one enjoyed it.

As some will no doubt want to catch the replay, I'll go spoiler tags.

No surprises with the Tag Title match. Good decision to keep the belts on ShowMiz, if Morrison/R-Truth were a bit more established as a team it wouldn't have been too bad an idea but some heels need to win on the card and it would just been too soon for them to drop them anyway. Decent match to start things off.

I was disappointed in the booking for the triple thread match. I can understand wanting to make Orton long strong, but, well...you know how people complain about Super Cena? This was basically Super Orton and it didn't do much for Rhodes or DiBiase as Orton went over them way too easy. I don't see how people can get irritated by the way Cena's booked but not have a problem with the way Orton goes over. I guess I'm in the minority that doesn't care much for Orton, I find him pretty dry. He's talented, he's well-established and way over, but it still seems like a double standard to me. A botched feud with a lousy end.

MITB was good enough, some exciting spots as always. Glad to see that McIntrye didn't win but I'm not really that keen on Swagger either...at least he's been built with a bit more credibility though. It kind of ruined the ending when he had so much trouble unhooking the case though, it took a lot longer than I'm sure they wanted it to and made the rest of the competitors look weak as they lay around waiting for Swagger to take it down. Killed the suspense too, but I guess the match is all about the spots.

HHH/Sheamus was a pretty good match, I think this is the match Sheamus needed long before his poorly booked title reign. It made him look credible and both men brought their A game. Well-booked and well-worked with plenty of near falls that actually had me wondering if they might put Sheamus over after all. Right call to put HHH over for now though as it didn't make Sheamus look bad at all, good stuff all around.

Punk/Mysterio was another good one, guess I should've seen them putting Rey over given the way the feud has gone but I thought they were going to find a way to take him off TV sooner rather than later so he could have surgery. Guess they'll still do that but as I outlined in my predictions post, I saw it coming about a different way. Punk's really making the self-righteous/cult-like spin on the Straight Edge gimmick work, he's one of the best heels in the company. Nice swerve at the end with the interference costing Punk the match instead of helping him.

Bret vs Vince was no classic and the crowd kind of killed it. Maybe they were expecting Hart to be involved more or work the way he used to but that just wasn't going to happen. It was about as good as it was going to get, I liked the addition of the Hart family to the match and Hart getting the win was a mark out moment. The crowd just wasn't into it after the bell though, I thought Vince getting the hell beaten out of him with weapons would've garnered a bigger reaction but it is what it is. It's still cool to see Bret back on WWE PPV, getting his revenge on Vince on-camera and enjoy a better send off. For so many years it looked like his career would end on a sour note one way or another, even though this doesn't compare to the brilliance of his in-ring career it's a much more positive conclusion. I enjoyed it for what it was.

Jericho/Edge...guess I should've seen that coming. Very interesting end with Edge kind of turning heel, the crowd was chanting for Jericho at times which is understandable as Edge is a quasi-face having returned from an injury, but still being essentially the same heelish character and much better in that role. I guess the feud isn't over, it certainly looks like they might be trying to get Edge over as a heel again or at least make him more of a tweener. Good match though and the post-match spear was pretty brutal.

Divas match...well, I don't think anyone was expecting anything brilliant. Good enough and short enough for what it was, credit to Vickie for getting up on the top rope but the tribute feels kind of off with her being the kind of heel she is and it was the sloppiest frog splash you'll ever see. Moving right along...

Cena/Batista was fine as far as the in-ring work, some nice counters and spots from both men, the IWC can say what it will but both men can work a very watchable match. Cena's schtick is just too corny though, I'm all for thanking the armed forces for their bravery and whatnot but for the last time...CENA IS NOT A SOLIDER! His character isn't even a soldier. He played a marine (or an ex-marine or whatever) in a crappy WWE Films movie. No salutes, no military entrances, no corniness, please. Apart from that, match was fine albeit predictable.

Taker/HBK certainly deserved to be the main event. It didn't top last year but it was still a really good match in its own right in my opinion, once again making both men look credible and sowing enough doubt that I did find myself wondering if they were going to break the streak. I guess in retrospect it always was highly unlikely but the match sold the concept of either outcome being equally likely very well with its near falls, high risk spots and false finishes. Loved the defiance of the HBK character at the end of the match and Taker half-breaking character to shake his hand was a great moment too.

All in all, I really enjoyed the show and honestly feel it delivered. Maybe it didn't quite live up to the hype, but it was still pretty damn good and I feel it was worth my $34.95 AUS. I've seen some snide comments on wrestling sites from TNA marks about how the show fell flat and it won't put TNA out of business, but no one show or PPV - not even Wrestlemania - is going to do that. I think wrestling companies ultimately kill themselves to some extent through bad booking or bad financial decisions. WWE put on a good show for its flagship event, they're still winning the ratings and buyrates battle and TNA has a long way to go to seriously compete.

But in the meantime, I enjoyed Wrestlemania 26. Maybe I'm in the minority this time around, but I though it was probably a stronger show than Wrestlemania 25, though last year's HBK/Taker match was better. Thumbs up for me, even I'm alone on this one.

[Lean]

Well I really got myself spoiled after reading your post, I'll catch the replay here.

[Andrew]

That's the problem with spoiler tags sometimes. They are a tease.

[dare]

Agree with Taker/HBK match, last year was definitely match better. Although I don't want to see HBK's career end

[Andrew]

He's a professional wrestler. There's always "one more match".

[dare]

He's a professional wrestler. There's always "one more match".

Yeah I figured that one out, maybe his last match is against HHH

[Andrew]

Perhaps. Depends just how banged up and weary of the WWE schedule he is. I have to admit I wouldn't be too surprised if he had at least one more match either teaming with or squaring off against HHH, some time down the road.

[Lean]

I found this on WWE.com:



That guy on Cena's left is one of those guys who consistently watch WWE PPV and changes his shirt to that "WE HATE CENA" shirt in each Cena match.

[JaoSming]

I'm going to do another write up since it has officially been 1 year of wrestling watching for me but WM26 was an OK from me.

I found the whole Orton/Face thing interesting, the next step is just making Cena a heel but with Swagger winning him and Cena are going to have a feud again/now.

Once I saw Bret wasn't in his tights I didnt even bother watching it. Well, I waited until the Hart family double-crossed Vince but that whole feud has been crap IMO. Nice to see Bret back but that could have been a lot better if he was in some kind of wrestling shape.

I agree with your Cena/soldier remark, funny that Orton was actually in the army.

HBK/Taker 2....decent match, that was a wicked moonsault, but the 2 wrestlers that re-ignited my interest in wrestling last year didn't re-enforce that feeling this year. Still a decent match but it just felt like it was missing something.

I wasn't watching WM26 to compare it to TNA, nor do I want WWE to do worse for TNA to do better. Idealy I'd like to see Raw/Impact ratings at 2.8 Raw/2.1 Impact before Bound for Glory but TNA has to keep whatever momentum they have and not "reboot" the product again (Jan 4, March 8). All the "new" wrestlers have settled into roles/cliques and that just needs to be strengthened rather than having double crosses. Having Wolfpac back isn't a bad idea since Hall impressed me as a wrestler at D.X. but TNA's structuring of shows is still terrible (yet entertaining, 'how can they fuck this up more')

What I find funny is that I see Impact being more unpredictable tonight than Raw. And Impact was taped & I read the spoilers. HBK might come out and say stuff, Cena will come out and celebrate/Swagger talks shit, MVP/Miz will probably get reignited, and Bret might come out and say stuff. Raw's "fallout" shows from a PPV are always the worst IMO, only 2nd worst to the Raw before a PPV since that one is all feud builders. I dunno, wait and see.

[buzzy]

Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon [...]It will most certainly be a boring ass match though.

I think I didn't exaggerate.

Quick thoughts:

Went 8/10 with my predictions, pretty good I think.
Swagger was a shocker; the spear into the barricade and the moonsault through the table were coolest spots; the WWE title match was better than I expected; Taker/Michaels II was pretty darn good, but their bout last year was still better; Eddie had to be turning in his grave after that frog splash by Vickie; Cody & Ted got buried

[Andrew]

If Bret/Vince was shorter, then it probably would've been better. Like I said, seeing McMahon get his ass handed to him by Bret was entertaining for me and should've gotten the crowd going more. Had they made it shorter, gone to the chairshots earlier and not had all the fakeouts with the Sharpshooter, it would've gone down a lot better in my opinion.

[JaoSming]

Nasty boys are no longer working with TNA
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/article ... ling-99351

[Andrew]

Won't magically improve the product, but absolutely the right move. The last thing TNA needs is Hogan's aging pals hobbling around the ring. Great in their time, but that was a long time ago.

Anyone else move that we make this the Pro Wrestling Thread rather than just the WWE Thread, just to "officially" open the floor up to all pro wrestling related discussion?

[JaoSming]

i agree, was thinking of making a TNA thread but there isnt enough discussion for 2 threads

[Lean]

I agree as well. Since the thread is already 73 pages long with stuff from other wrestling companies, I think it won't hurt.

[Andrew]

Done.