25 thoughts a quarter century in the making!
1. So, seriously; they couldn’t find any way to fit the tag match on there? Or mention it during the entire four hour show?
2. After five of these things, it’s nice to know that people like Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin can come up with new spots in Money In the Bank. Although in Shelton’s case, that involves taking a spot he’d done in a different context and doing it off the top of the tallest ladder they had. So, he may be tapped out after this year. At the very least, they may want to bar him from the match for his own safety, lest he try to do a dive off the roof of the building next year.
3. I was really shocked that Punk won again (especially after they echoed the finish of the match last year when his legs got caught in the ladder like Jericho’s did). Then again, I didn’t think he’d win last year, and was sure MVP would. Twice! I really should stop misunderestimating the punker (or WWE’s faith in him, at least). I’m hoping he feuds with Christian or MVP over the case. A heel turn could really freshen him up, but really, I just want to see those matches.
4. As someone who enjoys Divas matches and Battle Royals as guilty pleasures, I still found the Divas Battle Royal a bemusing mess. I mean, the announcers could barely be bothered to point out the eliminations! Why should I care?
5. Santina Marella could be a pretty fun character though, although I am amused by Hornswoggle. I have to qualify all of my comedic assessments with that. At any rate, that was the only real payoff they could have, with Trish, Lita, Chyna, and Richter all absent. Especially if it leads to Santina becoming the second man in drag to win a WWE Women’s Title (Harvey Wippleman will always be the pioneer there).
6. Piper’s Wrestlemania 0-25 shirt was pretty hilarious, I thought. I’d totally buy one!
7. I hate to harp on how old Snuka was, but seriously; the guy could barely tap out!
8. I think the Steamboat vs. Jericho segements of their match justified this match and the angle. The Rourke stuff didn’t really do anything for me, but it had to happen. Really, I wish Austin’s big moment had been here and not 2 1/2 hours later, but I can see why they did it the way they did. Still, in the end, we got something close to a cross-generational dream match in Steamboat vs. Jericho, and that’s certainly more than I could have asked for.
9. It was nice to hear the King act sort of heelish during intros for the Hardys match, with his whole “Matt didn’t say he actually burned down Jeff’s house and killed his dog” thing. I dunno, I really miss heel announcers, and no, Don West is not a good substitute. One of the bright spots of the Legends of Wrestlemania game is that King’s a heel there.
10. I’ll cop to not watching a ton of O.G. ECW, but I’d never seen anyone actually pull off that table spot in the Hardys match. I fully expected Matt to move, so that was a nice surprise, even if Jeff’s lack of selling putting himself through a table and hitting a chair on the way down was annoying.
11. That was quite the innovative finish to the Hardys match. We’ll see if they continue the feud. I’m not sure where they can go from here as far as raising the stakes (other than Hell in a Cell), but you’d think Jeff should get some revenge. Edge and Matt vs. Christian and Jeff is still a possibility.
12. JBL’s anti-Texas promo was a great way to set up his comeuppence from Rey Jokersterio. If this is his last match (or even WWE appearance), it’s a great way to write him out; you don’t see
13. Speaking of Rey and comic book villains, would it be too obscure if he came to the ring with a huge bowl on his head one year as part of his costume?
14. Was J.R. making a joke at Heath Ledger’s expense with the whole “Rey’s career is alive and well” thing, and should I be offended if so? I’m really not sure. If I actually had the energy to get worked up over these things, I’d probably be writing J.R. an apoplectic e-mail for him to derrisively answer on his blog. Too bad I’m not that guy. I’m sure someone will step up for me there, though.
15. I like that even Shawn’s entrance trumped the Undertaker’s.
16. ‘Taker’s landing on his annual plancha was scary. I had to rewind it a few times to make sure he hadn’t killed himself. I honestly wondered if he’d be able to continue the match. Do we blame the “camera guy” (I assume he was a developmental or local indie guy) for not taking more of the brunt of the impact there? I was ready to do that during the show, but now I’m not sure.
17. The Tombstone off the skin the cat was a hell of a false finish. ‘Taker’s expression was priceless; to see a guy who’s range consists of glowering and grimacing freak out was a Wrestlemania Moment all by itself.
18. So, HBK vs. ‘Taker was easily match of the night, that was to be expected (didn’t help that the Hardys match was in the Sabu “spot/rest/spot” mold). I’m not sure I’d give it five stars like Scott Keith did (if I were still in the star rating racket). Then again, I can’t really think of a compelling reason not too. There weren’t any real glaring flaws on the first watch, at least. I just wasn’t entirely emotionally invested in it. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I knew ‘Taker was winning, I imagine. Have to watch it again and see what I think. Which is always a good sign, since I rarely ever want to watch a match twice.
19. It was kind of cool to hear Cena’s old music. I wonder if the tween set that comprises his fan base associate it with him at all?
20. The World Title match seemed like solid 3 way stuff to me. They couldn’t overcome the inherent stupidity of the love triangle, but they worked around Big Show’s limitations and it was still a solid match with some nice spots. Perfectly acceptable wrestling.
21. Of course, what’s perfectly acceptable as a main event at any other WWE show and what you’d want out of one of the biggest matches at Wrestlemania are two different things (especially now that Wrestlemania costs $55). Had this headlined Backlash, I’d probably not be feeling like I had to damn it with faint praise.
22. While I can see the point in wanting to give Austin a big moment, it did seem like a bit of a dick move to not include the other Hall of Famers at all in the beer bash (well, other than Frankie).
23. Also, does anyone believe that was the last time we’ll ever see Austin in a WWE ring? Ever? That he’ll never come back to plug one of his movies or Stunner someone? I don’t buy it. I could suspend my disblief on Flair’s retirment and get sucked in to the moment there last year despite the fact that I thought Flair might still wrestle again, but I’m really not buying this as Austin’s last moment in the sun in WWE.
24. I was hoping that either one of those finishers at the beginning of the match would have ended it. Either they could have put on a random match at the end like an old NWA PPV or Punk could have cashed in MITB and wrestled a full length match for one of them. I would have been cool with either of those outcomes.
25. That said, I didn’t hate the main event. It had its moments. Orton’s attempts to win by count out were a nice touch, since they usually ignore those kinds of stips. That said, I can see why the crowd was dead for most of those near falls; despite their attempts to really ratchet up the hatred between these two, it was always going to be an uphill battle to make people care about what feels like the 300th match between these two.
I think it was actually a mistake to not overbook this; run ins (especially after a damn ref bump) would have generated some excitement. Hell, even Stephanie might have gotten a pop! Also, the ending was absurdly anti-climatic. I won’t say its ruined the momentum Orton’s gained since his comeback, but I’m being charitable in assuming he’ll be able to save face at Backlash or something. I really feel like a putz for think they’d put Orton over strong here (much less at all), because seriously; between the revenge angle and the ‘Mania losing streak the Hs was on, how could that not spell a victory here? Also, we now know how many years in a row Triple H is willing to job at Wrestlemania, and can prepare our future attempts to out clever the room in the roundtable picks predictions for fun accordingly.
Added bonus summary thought:
26. This is a weird Wrestlemania. Nothing on here was awful (or at least as awful as the truly worst matches in the history of the show; no, I don’t consider the Divas match on that level). There was one classic match, Money In the Bank and the Hardys delivered what you would want from those matches, and Steamboat’s remaining ability made the Legends match better than it had any right to be, so it’s above one to no match shows like Wrestlemania XIII and IX right there.
That said, I don’t think you can call this one of the best ‘Manias either. The world title matches were underwhelming and, as hard as they tried with Austin’s supposed last beer bash, I really don’t feel like they had a great Wrestlemania moment outside of the ‘Taker/HBK match. No stars were elevated, and they did actually have a chance to do that with Orton, despite the fact that he’s a multi-time world champion.
So, at this point, it’s somewhere in the middle of the pack quality wise. I don’t see it aging well, but it may actually be a better show on DVD, with the tag match added. And if it were any other WWE PPV, it would probably be getting much less qualified praise than I’m giving it. That said, Wrestlemania 22’s one of my favorite ‘Mania’s ever, so keep that in mind when weighing my assessment. Also, my loose interpritation of what constitutes a thought. That also hurts my credibility in retrospect.
