Here are some random thoughts on the 30th anniversary of the biggest wrestling pay-per-view of all-time…
– *loved* the opening HHH vs. Daniel Bryan match and its placement on the card too after some people speculated that it would be right before the main event Triple Threat match which would’ve been really dumb in my opinion. (Like an LP or a fancy meal, so much of how a wrestling show is perceived depends on how the card is laid out so that things lead from one thing to another, raising and lowering emotions. More on that later…)
– After winning 21 straight matches at Wrestlemania (pretty amazing, even for a fixed sport, since its unlikely “The Streak” even became a thing until The Undertaker won a few matches in a row) the Streak is gone. There were two schools of thought on The Streak – never end it to cement Undertaker’s legacy or have him lose to a young up-and-comer to propel that kid to the moon. This year, they did neither, having Undertaker lose it to former amateur wrestling champion, former WWF champion and former UFC champion, Brock Lesnar. The crowd reactions after the match tells the story as pretty much *nobody* expected ‘Taker to lose this year given that Brock Lesnar is a part-time, special attraction at best, the build-up for this match was extremely lacklustre, and there were lots of others (Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, etc.) that fans thought would be better choices to end The Streak in the future.
– speaking of Undertaker vs. Brock, there was a lot of criticism of the slow pace of the match on the official Reddit thread. But I didn’t mind it – having a slow brawl means not every match is a spotfest and it reminds me of the old-school, hard-hitting, realistic style of wrestling I grew up watching.
– John Cena beat Bray Wyatt and that match was good too. Lots of “smart” Internet fans (eg. those who take it way too seriously) hate John Cena but the story of the match – would Cena betray his “ultimate good guy” persona to defeat the cult leader who was trying to undermine what he stands for by forcing him to do evil deeds or give in to his darkest impulses (kinda like Star Wars come to think of it) – but Cena’s good side ultimately prevailed. When Cena hugged the young kid who was in the front row crying after the match, it makes you realise – yeah, the “smart” fans hate Cena and his goody-two shoes image. But the WWE needs someone like that for kids to look up to.
– I didn’t watch it on the WWE network but with my interest in the shift from traditional to digital broadcasting methods, I need to do a longer post about the WWE’s huge gamble to create a Netflix-like online-only network featuring on-demand matches and PPV’s from the last 25 years plus live original content including *all* 12 annual PPV’s for what used to cost $60 each and now costs $60 total!!! The WWE has released their initial subscriber numbers and they’re more than halfway to the 1 million subscriber goal they said they had when the network launched.
– That Randy Orton RKO on Daniel Bryan on the announcer table where Orton actually landed the hardest on a TV monitor that hadn’t been cleared away and left him with a big gash on his back looked UGLY. Amazing he could continue the match.
– The show started by putting over lots of young talent – The Shield won over New Age Outlaws & Kane, Cesaro won the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal (cleverly abbreviated as “ARMBAR” by Reddit’s wrestling fans) beating out the popular choice of The Big Show who is the natural successor to Andre the Giant (and was, in fact, once billed as Andre’s son). (Hogan may have dropped hints about who the true winner would be though when he announced the ARMBAR would be at Wrestlemania.)
– some felt that the Undertaker losing his streak was done partly to plant a seed that *nothing* was for sure since so many people thought Daniel Bryan winning the title was a foregone conclusion. But the flip side is that move shocked the audience so badly that it almost lowered their emotions *too* much and made it harder for the rest of the card to keep the emotional build going (and talking about match placement, the Divas Invitational match was going to be a “bathroom break” match anyhow. But following the Undertaker losing his streak???)
– The opening segment with Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the ring together was amazing – arguably the three biggest money makers in wrestling in the past 30 years. My only wish is that, instead of Daniel Bryan celebrating alone in the ring after he won, those three would’ve come out to bookend the show, give Bryan a *massive* rub as being on their level (although that could backfire – after all, The Miz won the world title at Wrestlemania only a few years ago and was pretty much a faceless guy in the battle royal this year.)
I’m sure there’s lots more I could say but that’s a quick summary of some of my thoughts. Pretty amazing show overall.
