Wrestlemania 29 (will contain spoilers)

The night WWE bottled it?

Most memorable moment of the night was Mark Henry winning a match by literally squashing somebody.

All good matches, no amazing moments.

Personal highlights:

Daniel Bryan getting the arena into 'YES' chants.
Mark Henry literally squashing Ryback.
CM Punk doing the whole Undertaker routine.
Brock Lesnar's beast moments, he looks genuinely terrifying, shouldn't speak though...
Michael Cole exclaiming after Cena hit the Rock Bottom; "That's the Rock's move!" Thank you Michael.

But the biggest question has to be what was special? Everything went almost totally as predicted, Big Show was the only heel turn of the night when there was potential for a few, The Shield had a good showing but might fade if they're not seen as an actual threat, surely once they get through the first line of defence, they should be a danger to all the matches again? Swagger-Del Rio was a match that needed a shock, but failed to deliver, Ziggler didn't win the tag titles, but didn't even tease, never mind achieve, a cash in. Rock-Cena was an okay match, but the ending flopped, the live crowd were vocally against it and the whole thing stank. WWE can't turn a blind eye to the hatred towards Cena anymore. If he doesn't want to turn heel because of his charity work, then WWE have to move him from the main event scene because he's become stale, he can't keep pretending to be face, he gets booed when he's in his home town for Christ's sake! It's embarrassing to keep up the charade any longer.

*Insert smark comment here*

If this wasn't a Mania I'd still think it was a poor PPV that just didn't make sense...are we really to believe that creative's biggest shock moment was Big Show turning on Shandy or Ryback losing?

CM Punk and Ziggler deserved so much better tonight, the fact that Ziggler could be the first person to not even cash in the briefcase is a joke and the fact that CM Punk 0-3 at PPV's this year, all three times against part timers is pathetic...with Cena probably going on a long run, what's next for Punk?

The main event was stupid as hell, who decided it was a good idea to have that many reversals in a match with about about 8 moves? The fabled heel turn got lost on the way and Super Cena once again showing us that he could no sell a shark bite in the name of redemption. He certainly no sells the boo's he was getting when he got the win and then proceeded to lez off with Dwayne.

Brett Hart would probably give this 4/10 and I'd agree with him.

I really enjoyed myself, although doing 3 main events in a row kinda sucked the atmosphere out of the crowd for Lesnar/HHH. Punk n Taker were amazing. Disappointed with the Cena ending but the logic is there from their point of view.

Swaggers entrance was bizarre. Came down to no music on a golf buggy. Mark Henry n Ryback was interesting. Completely different pace and really intrigued as to where both go.

Was amazing though, a highlight of my life and chuffed I went, even with a pillar blocking a part of the view

apologies if this seems like a mess but i only had 90 mins sleep after WM.

The most accurate way to describe WM is predictable and oddly placed matches.

Highlights

Punk v Taker being match of the night
Punk being awesome whilst angering Undertaker

Negatives

P Diddy
The fact you had the 3 main events back to back to back with little breaks
No Tons of Funk match
Predictable matches ( bar 2*) and the fact nothing got me to watch Raw
Damn you Fail Table!! ( not breaking for Punk)
No backstage stuff
Promos for the final match....

In the middle

Fandango's debut was good ( Jericho hurt knee possibly?)
Ryback knocking himself out for about a minute ( similar to Goldberg v DDP)
Langstons debut
The matches ( bar the main events) not going past 11 mins

Final Thoughts

Did I just watch a B PPV? I think so because it was not a wrestlemania quality show.

*: Everyone knew the Taker result so I dont counnt it and I think Ryback was supposed to kick out but due to KO'ing himself, couldn't

The main event also ruined the Rock Bottom as a finisher move, it was kicked out of so many times, Cena even no sold it at one point kicking out at just 2 which was ridiculous.

Just when I think the WWE is heading in the right direction, we get this rubbish PPV. This is Wrestlemania, where were the big entrances for the main event, the promos, the rubbish match between the 3 massive matches. Really let down by this

Was pleased with some parts of it. Wouldn't say it was a Show heel turn as the match was over when he did the KO to Shandy. Didn't see why the cash in didn't happen, or even for it to be teased. Bryan having the crowd in the palm of his hand was amazing! What was the point in Henry going over Ryback, only for him to then hit Shellshock afterwards? Why not have Henry hit WSM after landing on him? HHH-Lesnar just did exactly what we knew it would be. No complaints on that. Punk-Taker was match of the night. To be honest I fell asleep a few times during Rock-Cena, as it wasn't great. I remember thinking at the end during the handshake "hit him, hit him!!!!". Overall it fell a little bit flat, it just needed something extra to take it to that next level. Sorry if this rambled, but been up since 6.30 after watching it!

Crimey wrote:The night WWE bottled it?

Most memorable moment of the night was Mark Henry winning a match by literally squashing somebody.

All good matches, no amazing moments.

Personal highlights:

Daniel Bryan getting the arena into 'YES' chants.
Mark Henry literally squashing Ryback.
CM Punk doing the whole Undertaker routine.
Brock Lesnar's beast moments, he looks genuinely terrifying, shouldn't speak though...
Michael Cole exclaiming after Cena hit the Rock Bottom; "That's the Rock's move!" Thank you Michael.

But the biggest question has to be what was special? Everything went almost totally as predicted, Big Show was the only heel turn of the night when there was potential for a few, The Shield had a good showing but might fade if they're not seen as an actual threat, surely once they get through the first line of defence, they should be a danger to all the matches again? Swagger-Del Rio was a match that needed a shock, but failed to deliver, Ziggler didn't win the tag titles, but didn't even tease, never mind achieve, a cash in. Rock-Cena was an okay match, but the ending flopped, the live crowd were vocally against it and the whole thing stank. WWE can't turn a blind eye to the hatred towards Cena anymore. If he doesn't want to turn heel because of his charity work, then WWE have to move him from the main event scene because he's become stale, he can't keep pretending to be face, he gets booed when he's in his home town for Christ's sake! It's embarrassing to keep up the charade any longer.

Agree Completely 100% dreadful after raw tonight im done no longer watching till mania 30

I've never seen a main event that was as sign posted and robotic as that, Cena kicking out of so many Rock Bottom's was ridiculous and the whole "redemption" storyline was never going to get fans behind a man who has had a pretty good year in respects of most wrestlers.

The fact that a night where we had to sit through P Diddy or whatever he calls himself now wasn't the worst part or it :|

They had a chance to do so much last night and chose nothing:

Ziggler cash in.
Orton heel turn.
Cena heel turn.
Punk ending the streak.

Any of those would of done.

I heard rumours that Punk is taking a 2 month break now. If so I hope he comes back and destroys Cena. He proved last night that he is the best performer in the business. Stole the show.

WWE fans cannot be interested in a PPV where two of the main events were rematches from the last year. Rock-Cena I fell asleep in, too many counters and too many finishers. HHH-Lesnar was quite good but the crowd was dead for most of it.

Taker-Punk was a great match but the result was obviously too predictable, in fact most of the matches were predictable apart from the Ryback match, where he apparently got knocked out. The tag match was good especially the beginning and end of the match. Jericho and Fandango would have been good if the ending didn't look so clumsy and the Shield match was also quite good but deserved more time.

Overall, I would say that compared to WM 28, the undercard was slightly better but the main events were worse excluding Punk-Taker and the PPV was finished by a handshake which no one wanted!

If last night was a B show PPV I wouldn't have been so disappointed, but as a WrestleMania it was lacklustre.

The main event was the big let down for me. Rock's ringwork has continually regressed since Survivor Series 2011. Both men continually kicking out of each others finishers became tiresome. At this stage in his career, Rocky should be done main-eventing. He's still a huge draw, and now should be used to help put over younger/fresher talent.

Ryback/Henry never got going. The match was poorly laid out, and the ending was poor. Didn't see the value of Ryback shellshocking Henry after the bell, unless as others have said, the ending was botched.

All of the other matches were decent, with Punk/Undertaker being very good.

I enjoyed the end of HHH/Lesnar, and thought the psychology was very good.

I thought the debutants performed well. Big E looked good in the tag match, and not as green as I thought he may look. The more I see of Fandango, the more impressed I am. He's thrown himself into that character 100%, and is making a gimmick which has no right to work pretty entertaining.

Agree with the comments on here the event overall felt like a real let down.

Cena Rock had some nice storytelling moments but I wasn't interested in it. I did think that they did a really good job of keeping Lesnar strong while allowing HHH a clean win. Punk/Taker was excellent, enjoyed it from start to finish. Personally I don't care that Punk lost because during the match they actually made me believe that he could win.

As for the undercard Shield match was OK though unlike their previous ones the focus was really on the faces in this one. I still think it is a prelude to a heel turn from Randy. Wouldn't be surprised to see Orton/Show at Extreme Rules ending in a punt to the head.

Not sure where the Shield go from here - could see them in a tag team feud with Hell No, which would give them a combined storyline until they decide to do anything singles related.

Fandango/Jericho was OK and certainly better than Ryback/Henry. I do not get the ending to it. If they were so sure that they wanted Henry to not be pinned why not swap him and Big Show around in storylines? Ryback could have got a big needed win then? It does make me think that Ryback is going to be falling back down the card somewhat - maybe he has fallen out of favour.

The tag match was good - Ziggler really flew for that Chokeslam. I was hoping for a title change but I guess it kept Big E looking strong. Still think that the cash in will be made into a storyline with a desperate Ziggler trying to cash in around June time. It would work out better for him as it would make it into a bigger, more interesting and meaningful storyline overall.

Finally the WHC match. I was looking forward to this in terms of in-ring action but the finish felt as flat as a pancake. Guess they got 12 mins?? Felt like they should have had 15 - 18 to really tell that story.

Tons of F(sp)unk got cut? It hurt the card in terms of no filler between the main events but overall I didn't really notice.

Was enjoying Mania until the main event, which was utter horse s***

The crowd were awful, it is bloody Mania for god sake, and lining up three main events in a row didn't help. Told you Kaitlyn should have been on the card, her title defense would have slipped right in the middle of all that.

Brock vs HHH was a good match, crowd killed it, and Punk-Taker was definitely fight of the night.

All the earlier matches were solid, Shield bout was very good and knew my boy Ryback wouldn't let us down with ShellShock.

But cmon, a clean Cena win with absolutely no tail off at all. No dodgy ending or heel-turn when the whole match was screaming out for it? When all the promos in the build up pointed toward it?

Surely Vince and the rest of the WWE stooges could hear the "boring" chants through the main event, it was truly dreadful.

Tonight's Raw is supposed to set is up for the coming new year, but where the hell are they going to go?

Shield are running out of direction, SuperCena is just going to go on a path of never ending winning now and Lesnar isn't even scheduled for the show, really starting to lose interest in WWE now after that crap.

Whats peoples thoughts on the negative reaction to Cena again?

We have heard this at several PPVs and indeed at the last few RAWs. Now could that swing from 50/50 split to the crowd being very pro Rocky be exactly that?
Was it due to the fact he was facing the most electrifying man in sports entertainment? Is the crowd a slightly different audience in and around Wrestlemania season (probably including tonights RAW too) or is there now some genuine heat on Cena's back (more so than usual?)

Basically my question being, in a few weeks time post his rematch at EC with the Rock he will enter a fued with #insert heel name here# will SuperCena be cheered as is the norm (inclusive of the normal negative chants) or will the boos, the boring and the we all hate you chants continue??

Loved how Lawler tried to pass it off as "50-50" last night. It was about 75-10 to the Rock with 15% just not giving a f***.

Could also be because it was a New York/New Jersey crowd and Cena is from Boston.

But mostly its just because his whole character and persona is as boring as it has ever been, he is about five years out of date now. Everything the WWE did in the build up pointed toward some "great" moment....Cena claimed "things would change" after this match, I must of blinked and missed it because it ended like 90% of PPVs in the last eight years.

If there is a re-match at Extreme Rules then Cena wins and then probably moves into pointless feuds with guys like Mark Henry, Big Show etc to make him look like Superman all over again. But like they have for the last 2-3 years it will be the heels that get the more positive reaction.

6-7/10 for me.

Didn't really have any WOW moments, but there was some good rassling matches across the card.

I think somewhere Vince is sat at his computer, reading these forum posts wearing his Cena wristband and laughing his ass off.

Couldn't disagree more with the negativity, but maybe that's just me. Really enjoyed wm last night. Solid 8 or 8.5/10 for me.

Undercard was strong, cena rock was good, lesnar hunter was great and punk taker will be match of the year

I watched it, enjoyed it and marked out a few times. Maybe the way to watch it is to stop being a 'smark' and just enjoy wm for what it is?

There wasn't a bad match last night, best wm since 25

Celtic Vipers to fight for the tag titles *Bookmark it*

Gregers wrote:Couldn't disagree more with the negativity, but maybe that's just me. Really enjoyed wm last night. Solid 8 or 8.5/10 for me.

Undercard was strong, cena rock was good, lesnar hunter was great and punk taker will be match of the year

I watched it, enjoyed it and marked out a few times. Maybe the way to watch it is to stop being a 'smark' and just enjoy wm for what it is?

There wasn't a bad match last night, best wm since 25

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xviperx wrote:

Gregers wrote:Couldn't disagree more with the negativity, but maybe that's just me. Really enjoyed wm last night. Solid 8 or 8.5/10 for me.

Undercard was strong, cena rock was good, lesnar hunter was great and punk taker will be match of the year

I watched it, enjoyed it and marked out a few times. Maybe the way to watch it is to stop being a 'smark' and just enjoy wm for what it is?

There wasn't a bad match last night, best wm since 25

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Gregers im not a "smark" heck i dont even know what that means and i can say it was utter garbage maybe having low standards is the reason why you enjoyed it lol

Maybe bull or maybe as I said I just watched it for what it is. I cheered the faces, I booed the heels and it was a good show.

Seriously with with negativity you'd think it was wm 9...

I loved Wrestlemania 9

Gregers wrote:Maybe bull or maybe as I said I just watched it for what it is. I cheered the faces, I booed the heels and it was a good show.

Seriously with with negativity you'd think it was wm 9...

Hey! That was my fave wrestlemania on Chris' podcast special!

Not watched it all yet, but it strikes me as a very 'safe' offering.

Looking forward to Punk/Taker though.

I wasn't overly impressed with the show as a spectacle but mainly due to my virgin tivo box deciding that I couldn't watch it so I had to watch it via other means.
Note - I also even attempted to purchase it through the WWE app and was willing to shell out £40 or whatever it cost on there due to it being American prices, but even that didn't work so before I'm lambasted for doing something 'naughty' which I myself do not advocate I tried every possible avenue to watch it through the correct channels and with the results being rammed down my throats via facebook and even apps on my phone telling me I was loathe to wait until this evening to try to purchase it again and not know the results until it.
If it is available to purchase today I probably still will as I want to watch it again with my sons and see what reaction they give it.

Let us know because it will be interesting to see a kids perspective on the event. Maybe I am a smark...if smark means having higher standards for the biggest show of the year then I'm a smark for sure.

I forgot to order it last night and on a gut feeling it would be rubbish checked it here and now I am not even sure I will order the repeat. I want to see the Punk Taker match but is it really worth paying £15 for one good match?
I can't believe I am contemplaiting not watching Wrestlemania. This is a first for me since I began watching wrestling.

Crimey wrote:The night WWE bottled it?

Most memorable moment of the night was Mark Henry winning a match by literally squashing somebody.

All good matches, no amazing moments.

Personal highlights:

Daniel Bryan getting the arena into 'YES' chants.
Mark Henry literally squashing Ryback.
CM Punk doing the whole Undertaker routine.
Brock Lesnar's beast moments, he looks genuinely terrifying, shouldn't speak though...
Michael Cole exclaiming after Cena hit the Rock Bottom; "That's the Rock's move!" Thank you Michael.

Ahem, you mean stadium. Home of the 4 time Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

I was disappointed. I downloaded it this morning and only watched the Punk-Undertaker and Cena-Rock matches but the ineptitude of Cena was too much. Can't imagine how worse I'd feel if I'd watched the whole thing or even paid for it last night.

RIP WWE

I think my kids reaction will be one of really enjoying it tbh, I think the main issue for the vast majoirty of us is that WWE played it very safe and it was pretty much as was speculated at on the dirt sheets so for us it played out without any wow moments.
It was not a Mania to shock, it was not a Mania to have the internet abuzz with 'OMG did you see the return/result/turn of wrestler x', it was a Mania for the casual fan and for the kids.

Where was the match with Brodus Clay and Tensai and the funk girls vs Rhodes & Sandow and the bellas??????

I'm Outraged!!!

MockingJay33 wrote:

Crimey wrote:The night WWE bottled it?

Most memorable moment of the night was Mark Henry winning a match by literally squashing somebody.

All good matches, no amazing moments.

Personal highlights:

Daniel Bryan getting the arena into 'YES' chants.
Mark Henry literally squashing Ryback.
CM Punk doing the whole Undertaker routine.
Brock Lesnar's beast moments, he looks genuinely terrifying, shouldn't speak though...
Michael Cole exclaiming after Cena hit the Rock Bottom; "That's the Rock's move!" Thank you Michael.

Ahem, you mean stadium. Home of the 4 time Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

I was disappointed. I downloaded it this morning and only watched the Punk-Undertaker and Cena-Rock matches but the ineptitude of Cena was too much. Can't imagine how worse I'd feel if I'd watched the whole thing or even paid for it last night.

RIP WWE

I dunno if Metlife will see a more comical thing than Cena wrestling!

Oh wait Mark Sanchez plays there #buttfumble

I don't know Olly. It's pretty close.

in the words of footy fans towards Fernando torres........."what a waste of money"

Lacked Pee Wee Herman
His tweets all night were awesome

Hero wrote:I think my kids reaction will be one of really enjoying it tbh, I think the main issue for the vast majoirty of us is that WWE played it very safe and it was pretty much as was speculated at on the dirt sheets so for us it played out without any wow moments.
It was not a Mania to shock, it was not a Mania to have the internet abuzz with 'OMG did you see the return/result/turn of wrestler x', it was a Mania for the casual fan and for the kids.

Sums it up very well for me.

One point - did WrestleMania seem rather short to you? It certainly did to me. I thought in the past it was billed as a '4 hour spectacular' yet this year it was advertised as only 3.5... added to the undercard matches feeling a bit on the short side, no Divas match, no celeb match and one match being cut due to time... Question would be why?

Also, I was expecting a bit more from Cena's entrance. No special music, entrance or anything... I kind of assumed that we were not at his match and he was out to cut a promo to gee up the crowd!

It felt like an above average RAW...only just above average.

I do have to say though, seeing CM Punk hitting the old school was a highlight for me.

So I decided to watch the main event, that was enough for me to decide to turn my back on WWE now, I'm sure Taker/Punk & HHH/Brock were better but the whole year was mute just to give Cena this moment.

The whole match was garbage, there was no story telling, no build up or any drama they just went straight into the finisher spot fest. Cena did his absolute best to no-sell any of the rock bottoms making sure every time he kicked out spot on 2 with real conviction, then Rocky started doing the same thing which I guess is just out of frustration. The ending was so cheesy it was unbelievable, you could just tell by looking at Rocky's face that he was made to do this with Cena looking more smug than ever.

April 2nd 2012 - April 7th 2013: The whole year was build around the most predictable and lazy booking ever seen. The day The Rock decided to announce he was challenging for the WWE championship. Everybody knew where this was leading, the months in between just got in the way.

Where's Nick when you need him? He'd tell us all how spectacular it was!

I'm devastated I stayed up to watch all of that and the worst part is it cut off during the Punk v Taker match so I take it I missed the best match? It was all a bit 'meh' to me, nothing exciting, nothing spectacular just nothing.

It doesn't even make sense to me but do you think they downplayed this Mania and are going to go full on for 30 next year instead?
Just sounds wrong, not just the no surprise or heel turns but no special entrances etc. Why?

If tonight Raw is used to set up Rock V Cena Part III im off WWE for good. Terrible show, terrible build up. Unless there is a Batista or Steiner return tonight quite honest the WWE can Frak off

Well that will make it all worth while if Scott Steiner turns up.

The Crowd killed alot of the show I think, they just didn't get into it at all, which is a shame.

You could hear a pin drop for HHH and Brock, that was a decent match up as well, which deserved some reaction from the audience to make it special.

All in all not a terrible PPV, but not a great one by any stretch of the imagination, I would not be surprised to see alot of fans turn off from the product after last night, as nothing special happened, it seemed happy to just go through the motions.

Maybe they wanted a flater Mania than usual, so next years 30th show can be something extra??

I'll do my own take on Wrestlemania later chaps. For those who were in the chatbox with me I think you can all guess my feelings on the event!

I am still livid about the PPV ...and before anyone says 'SMARK'...it is not just to do with the fact Cena didn't turn heel.

For Wrestle Mania i expected a lot more, however i personally feel that the crowd has a lot to be blaimed for, they were dead for most of the night and wrecked 2 good matches in rock vs cena and del rio vs swagger IMO. The overall matches were pretty good and if you were to blame the quality of the matches, then that's a bit stupid. It was a Wrestle Mania, where people who love to moan would of had a field day.

I also don't understand why there wasn't any backstage stuff which was a bit surprising, wanted to hear the classic Ron Simmons DAM!

Wasn't a fan of the shield match being on first, but the match itself was decent. Wasn't as good as the shield matches we have seen at TLC and Elimination Chamber. But it still did the job as an opening match, the Orton heel turn we all wanted could of happened, but instead we got Big Show heel turning .... again. Still they can build of this for an Orton heel turn IMO. Be interesting to see where everyone goes from here.

The Ryback vs Mark Henry match, was the worse match of the night IMO. I had high hopes for it, but it was a let down. The finish was a huge shock though, and i can imagine it screwed up a lot of accumy's for those who had bets on, well it cocked mine up! The after match was good though, can maybe see these 2 having a last man standing match at Extreme Rules.

The Tag Team match was actually the dark horse match of the night. No one expected it to stand out, but it was a very good match. Bryan was class from start to finish. Big E Langston looked class and Kane still doing the business at an age of 45. Hope Bryan and Kane do split up very soon though, so Bryan can get back up to the top where he belongs.

Don't understand why Thwagger didn't have an entrance to the match, didn't make any sense. However this match was a good wrestling match, its just a shame the crowd was completely dead for it. Happy Del Rio won, however i was really hoping for a Dolph cash in, which didn't happen.

Fandango vs Chris Jericho was ok. Not a fan of Fandango and wanted Jericho to win, so a bit disappointed with the outcome really. The match itself was good, however wasn't a fan of the ending. Jericho off now then?

The Undertaker vs CM Punk match, was match of the year so far. A quality match, why people want Taker to retire is beyond me, give him 1 match a year and he will deliver. Superb. CM Punk played his role very well and again showed how vital he is to this company. 21-0, how long left is the question. Disappointing that the table didn't break, that would of given Punk a huge wrestle mania moment. But he did kick out of the tombstone, which was very impressive. He is taking a 2 month break i believe now, which is good news. Time to recover from injuries etc, come back and take the belt of Cena (i hope)

The Brock Lesnar vs HHH was very good as i expected. I was hoping this would be the standout match of the night, however it wasn't far off. Quite brutal at times and it keeps lesnar looking strong. HHH gets his revenge and keeps his career. The ending to the match was decent. I wonder what is next for Brock, he is suppose to be at Extreme Rules.

Finally the main event. Well again the crowd was completely dead. The entrances for both superstars, were a bit boring as well. The match i thought was pretty decent, not as good as there match at 28. But still worthy of last at Wrestle Mania. We all know Cena was going to win, so there's no need to moan about that. However i really didn't want to see any handshakes. Yes it was good respect to a true legend in the rock. However now the dark days are back with Cena as WWE champion and wining boring feuds at every ppv. God help us. At the least the rock is going to be at Extreme Rules, heel turn then maybe!

So all in all i would say a 6 maybe 7 out of 10. It certainly wasn't as bad as Mania 27. Bring on Wrestle Mania 30!

has no one mentioned triple h almost crying when that canister thing blew up all over him. he looked pi55ed!

i dont need to repeat whats already been said, ill just add what i havent read

undertaker, punk. great match of course. but of course unlike the previous 4 taker matches at no point did i move forward from my seat in belief punk was about to win. undertaker walked out of the ring too. imo, its done nothing for anyone in the end.

i got in my car after the main event and contemplated driving to the nearest level crossing and killing the engine