*MANIA SPOILERS*Did you get what you paid for?

Good morning all and let me start by cutting a long story short. I am an early 30's man who grew up in the late 80's and early 90's watching and loving the "sport" of wrestling. Between the ages of 12 and 16 I watched and purchased every main event and can honestly say I enjoyed every one of them, some of them a hundred times over! Professional wrestling was the ultimate escapism.

By the time I entered full time employment in 1994 my appetite for watching grown men in tights grappling was replaced with the normal average Joe vices (beer, girls, etc) and I lost track of the going-ons in the then WWF universe.

However by the late 90's I regained a degree of interest and started watching tapings of Raw and caught up with the attitude era just as it was thundering into full swing. The promo's alone were worth their weight in gold let alone the actual wrestling itself. The Rock's "This Is Your Life" segment will never fail to put a smile on my ugly mug for as long as I live and Stone Cold saving Team WWF was complete, undoubted brilliance at its absolute best.

Thanks to YouTube I have never had the need to purchase a pay per view as I was quite happy to read reviews on subsequent events and ultimately watch the highest rated matches online for free....until last night that is.

I got pulled in by the hype, blinded by the light, expected something great and caffeined up to stay awake..and then it happened...Wrestlemania 27.

Now I can't say I was expecting the greatest Wrestlemania ever because I have not witnessed them all and it would be churlish of me to whole heartedly slam the WWE because I am by no means a seasoned expert but I feel that after paying 15 pounds sterling for the privilege I am entitled to state my opinion on the event which is....it sucked! And now the rant.

Why was the Sheamus-Bryan contest a dark match? Is the Intercontinental Championship that irrelevant now that its worthy of only a crowd warm up?

What ever happened to the pre-match interviews that I know and loved in the 90's? Mean Gene Okerlund was there last night cutting a completely ridiculous promo. Why not utilise the man and give him a microphone?

What was the Snoop Dogg segment all about? I mean really..what was all that about?

The King-Cole match was a joke. You have to feel for Jerry Lawler waiting all his professional life to appear on a Wrestlemania card only to be caught in the middle of that drivel. Even Steve Austin was having a hard time of it trying to keep a straight face.

Then there's the Undertaker-HHH match. Everybody with two functioning brain cells knew what the outcome of that one was going to be but please! It was botchy to say the least and turned into an utter bore-fest. And am I alone in thinking the ending of that match was UFC-esque?

And finally..The main event. Now I have read alot of negative opinion on John Cena over the past few weeks and wondered whether it was founded or not. Well last night I got my answer. Why is this "dude" a constant headliner? He has minimal charisma and even less ability. I know poorer wrestlers over the years have been given similar pushes but at least the majority of them had something about them. But I thought the Miz carried himself well last night and deserves some credit.

There is no point even discussing the Rock's involvement because alot of you on here predicted exactly what happened last night.

So all in all a herculean let down at best...although I could wide of the mark! You decide!

Thank you.

Good to see you getting involved and I would agree with you on many of the points. HHH Taker traded finished in my opinion because they were not able to carry a traditional match with the usual elements. If nothing else it proves that you need to pair them with younger, more athletic performers.

In terms of the UFC style finish, well Taker is a huge fan and I believe adopted the Hells Gate from MMA so I am not surprised.

In terms of Cena he is not a favourite on here, but he has a phenomenal fan base and to give him his dues he has worked hard over the years to create this.

I am not sure if we will see Cena v Miz for a while because in my opinion neither are the best in the ring and they need another guy to help the matches along.

to answer the OP, i streamed it online for free so yes, yes i did get what I paid for lol

I got value for money seeing Zack Ryder sing 'Friday'.

Hi FreekShow and welcome to the forum! I also stayed up last night and watched it and although I agree with you on some bits, I must say I quite enjoyed it.

In general, I felt the crowd were a bit quiet (this is a general trend I've noticed over the last 10 years or so.. anyone else?) The Rock tried his best to get them going and they didn't seem to bite. I was surprised the WHC match went on first but they did a good job. Shame for Del Rio as I'[m not sure where he goes from here.
I was disappointed by the Corre getting buried, the mixed tag match and that weird Snoop dog segment (although it wasn't anywhere near as bad as that Kid Rock concert a few years ago).
I enjoyed the Mysterio match, and Orton/Punk. As much as the finish to Cena/Miz was a bit.. strange, it was good. I feel a bit sorry for miz because of the way he was portrayed as a weak champion as usual, but I enjoyed the Rock's involvment which assumedly sets up Rock/ Cena at some point in the next 12 months.
As much as I agree with your points on Cena, I see no difference between him and Hulk Hogan in his prime, and sometime wonder why Cena gets the flak he does. He tries his best and does what he does well (although he needs selling lessons!!). He'll never be a "Dynamite Kid" but he's never tried to be that.
The one thing I completley disagree with you on is Taker/ HHH. You say it was a spot fest, but I don't think anyone could expect a "true" wrestling match. A) Look at the age and size of the guys involved and B) If they'd tried that, everyone would have said that it was a poor attempt to live up to Taker/Michaels I and II. Also, the general stance of the IWC; mainly "Oh it was obvious that the streak wasn't going to end".... was it really? You can't honestly say that you didn't mark out when HHH was beating the hell out of 'Taker followed by a tombstone and 'Taker's trademark tongue.. only for him to kick out!

My general opinion on 'Mania is: I enjoyed it.. yes it wasn't perfect but it was never going to be.. I felt I got my money's worth. Thanks for writing your article, I enjoyed reading it!

I am watching the repeat now as i kept nodding off around the King v Cole match so can't remember much of the matches after woke up near the end of the HHH match and then again for the cena miz match which from what I saw was the most dullest main event I have ever seen....Proved cena has absolutely no wrestling ability when he couldn't do his 5 moves which he usually does to end the match for once he had absolutely nothing at all.

Thanks Cymru.

I don't want to sound like I am bashing the WWE or Wrestlemania as a whole because I'm not but I just left the living room early this morning with an anticlimactic feeling and a sense of "how good COULD that have been"

My belief with the Taker-HHH match was always that Taker would maintain the streak and HHH would come out of it with his reputation enhanced which I think he did. I think Taker leaving the ring on the back on a motorised stretcher was a good work. I just found the match a bit of a let down! I'm never happy!!

Like I said I have been out of the game for a fair few years but I will look forward to future events for sure!