WrestleMania 34 - OFFICIAL hype and discussion thread

[Dark One]

They turned those crowd mics down quick.

https://media1.tenor.com/images/6e370d1e01d1b4d78358d45ef45ac764/tenor.gif?itemid=4719905

[RP]

Nicholas gonna be like " Oh he's the QB of the football team? Well i won the tag team championship belts at Wrestlemania 34. Now blow me thanks. ".

[KIRA]

Nicholas is way more deserving of his spot and Roman Reigns ever will be

[Loose Cannon]

I have a feeling Slick Nick will be a staple on 205 Live soon

[DAMN iNATOR]

Sometimes at the end of March and sometimes in the beginning of April!

Couple of times (x8, XX) were mid-March. March 17, 2002 and March 14, 2004, respectively.

[KIRA]

Cue the piped-in cheers

[Savio]

Nicholas did more in his tag-team match than Otunga did with Cena.

[OssMan]

brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo brock lesnar pryo

[Evil Vito]

Rene Dupree is no longer the youngest champion in WWE history.

Seriously this is still blowing my mind. WWE will go to hilariously great lengths to get people who sue them out of the record books.

[owenbrown]

This guy commits a federal offense or at the very least a felony, and he still gets a title shot :shifty:

referring to Roman attacking "U.S. Marshals"

[Nicky Fives]

Stop lying we all know it was you on the apron.

I'm not so androgynous looking....

[KIRA]

They gave Roman the Pyro and the fans didn't even move a little bit I love this crowd

[RP]

I want to go to sleep, but i dont wanna miss Lesnar half assing another Main Event PPV match.

[OssMan]

good

now ringpost pyro

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: even Lesnar got the crowd volume treatment.

WWE is really petty and insecure because they didn't get the reactions they wanted for Reigns.

[GD]

BIG DOG EAT MY ASS

[Dark One]

Russo about to come out and demand Brock lay down, right?

[OssMan]

THANK U

[Dark One]

Dana White gonna run in and low blow Roman Reigns and run off with Brock Lesnar and the Universal Championship.

[Dark One]

They're gonna have Carmella cash in to save this again right

[OssMan]

my name if paul heyman

[Poit]

"You both suck" chant to start the match.

[Dark One]

Guys I don't think the fans like this match

[DAMN iNATOR]

They're gonna have Carmella cash in to save this again right

They'd fucking well better.

[owenbrown]

Paul Heyman is gonna have an aneurysm someday

[Frank Drebin]

So....who gets called up Mon/Tues?

[KIRA]

Guys I don't think the fans like this match

Don't know why you'd say a thing like that......

[KIRA]

Watch Vince McMahon assume in his infinite wisdom that Brock Lesnar was where he went wrong

[Evil Vito]

http://content.invisioncic.com/r229509/monthly_2018_04/FB_IMG_1523245616464.thumb.jpg.ce363881ae872bfdcc65e10fec023869.jpg

[DAMN iNATOR]

Great, Roman gave himself infinite signatures and finishers.

[RP]

looked like Super Girl punches to me

[Dark One]

no
pls stop

[Frank Drebin]

We are on the same page at this point I would feel like I got my money's worth and then some and fucking leave

I'm not even kidding, this match is a perfect excuse to leave in order to beat 77 thousand other people to the parking lot.

[Droford]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/WWE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wwe</a> did you even vet this kid before you hired him <a href="https://t.co/xVnkaBh8c3">pic.twitter.com/xVnkaBh8c3</a></p>&mdash; Arn Misandryson (@GemCityGem) <a href="https://twitter.com/GemCityGem/status/983187549576450048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Dark One]

CM PUNK
CM PUNK
CM PUNK

lol

[Evil Vito]

If someone in the production truck has decided they want this to be their last day on the job, I want hear "F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S" when both men are down.

[Ruien]

Feels odd that the fans dislike Lesnar so much now. It's not like he changed in the past like 5 years and everyone use to love him. What the fuck happened?

[DAMN iNATOR]

looked like Super Girl punches to me

Nah, even Supergirl hits harder than this chump.

[Dark One]

Feels odd that the fans dislike Lesnar so much now. It's not like he changed in the past like 5 years and everyone use to love him. What the fuck happened?

Same reason songs fall off the charts. You can't play the same beats for six years.

[Destor]

Reigns sand bagging like a mother fucker

[KIRA]

How did it feel Vince you got more out of a child and Braun strowman than you got out of your Golden Boy

[Emperor Smeat]

Decided to look it up and after some reading, if Reigns main events next year's Mania, he will break the record for most Mania's main evented in a row.

Hogan did 4 in a row twice not counting the impromptu match done at Mania XI. If you count Mania XI, then Reigns can tie the record next year.

[Triple A]

Feels odd that the fans dislike Lesnar so much now. It's not like he changed in the past like 5 years and everyone use to love him. What the fuck happened?

Feels like it's mostly because they know he is going to leave WWE and go to UFC.

[Ruien]

Ya but he has like 3 matches a year and brings Paul Heyman. I dunno. I guess I get being bored of him but it's not that bad. Not to receive Reigns treatment.

[Ruien]

Same reason songs fall off the charts. You can't play the same beats for six years.

Ya but he has like 3 matches a year and brings Paul Heyman. I dunno. I guess I get being bored of him but it's not that bad. Not to receive Reigns treatment.

[OssMan]

What does everyone gonna think is gonna happen here

[Droford]

Decided to look it up and after some reading, if Reigns main events next year's Mania, he will break the record for most Mania's main evented in a row.

Hogan did 4 in a row twice not counting the impromptu match done at Mania XI. If you count Mania XI, then Reigns can tie the record next year.

Its his turn to miss a WM

[Dark One]

Reigns sand bagging like a mother fucker

I don't know if Brock Lesnar is the dude you want to sandbag.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-21-2015/F5sSSJ.gif

[Ruien]

Reigns sand bagging like a mother fucker

What do you mean?

[Frank Drebin]

Feels odd that the fans dislike Lesnar so much now. It's not like he changed in the past like 5 years and everyone use to love him. What the fuck happened?

Same reason songs fall off the charts. You can't play the same beats for six years.

His stock really took a tumble after the Dean Ambrose WM match where Ambrose said he had all these ideas but Brock just wanted to do some suplexes and go home.

[Triple A]

What does everyone gonna think is gonna happen here

Lesnar's contract expires after this and he is prob gonna go to UFC...

[Dark One]

What does everyone gonna think is gonna happen here

Nicholas going to come down and become the youngest double champ in wrestling history.

[Evil Vito]

I think the announcers' voices just got broadcast over the arena.

[KIRA]

I also want to point out that Nakamura and AJ Styles kept their match in the ring and still got huge response compared to all the stuff Roman has to do just to get fans to notice him

[OssMan]

superman punch

i think thers ganna be another superman punch

[Dark One]

Alberto Del Rio could come down after the match and kick Roman Reigns in the nuts, and people would cheer Alberto Del Rio.

That's how far gone this is.

[Emperor Smeat]

I don't know if Brock Lesnar is the dude you want to sandbag.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-21-2015/F5sSSJ.gif

Same for accidentally throwing a legit punch since he will give one back with interest in return.

[DAMN iNATOR]

I don't know if Brock Lesnar is the dude you want to sandbag.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/9-21-2015/F5sSSJ.gif

Maybe he's the kind of guy Roman wants to teabag. Who are we to judge?

[Ben Rodrigues]

Lesnar's contract expires after this and he is prob gonna go to UFC...

And face the winner of Stipe/DC in December for the UFC Heavyweight Title.

[Dark One]

superman punch

i think thers ganna be another superman punch

RIP everyone taking shots for every superman punch.

[OssMan]

Lesnar's contract expires after this and he is prob gonna go to UFC...

Nicholas going to come down and become the youngest double champ in wrestling history.

Great points :y:

[owenbrown]

when did this practically become a street fight or No DQ

[Ruien]

Their first match at Mania seems like it was 20 times better.

[Dark One]

V TRIGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Dark One]

I would like to congratulate a ten year old kid on main eventing Wretlemania.

[Evil Vito]

Based on the crowd it feels like this and the mixed tag should've swapped places on the show.

[Dark One]

What a shock. Roman kicked out of the F-5 they built up for the past year.

And no one reacted.

[Droford]

must be a beach ball in the crowd

[Triple A]

F5 kickout was supposed to be a "big moment" (due to nobody kicking out of the F5 in 4ever) but nobody cared smh

[Luigi]

lol what if the kid turns on braun

Best post in this thread. ;)

[OssMan]

seems like this match has been done

countless supermans punch/spear and f5

[James Steele]

What is the crowd going bonkers and looking back at? Nicholas come back into the crowd?

[Dark One]

A second F-5 kickout and no one cares.

Oof.

[owenbrown]

they are booing because they know Roman is gonna win

[Evil Vito]

Who needs Ambien when you have this match?

[OssMan]

they should have ramon reigns kick out of ten f5s

[Dark One]

What is the crowd going bonkers and looking back at? Nicholas come back into the crowd?

Poit stripping.

[Frank Drebin]

Zero reaction from the crowd after those F5's and kickouts.

[Fignuts]

no one kicks out of an f-5 for a year, just so they can build up to this moment where reigns kicks out

no reaction

[Ben Rodrigues]

Lesnar vs Goldberg last year was 10x better than this.

[KIRA]

You fed Braun freaking strowman to Brock Lesnar just so you could build Roman up for this moment

[James Steele]

Brock has terrible teeth. He must go through 5 fans of snuff a day.

[Dark One]

A third kickout.

Boos.

[A.J.K]

this match is my melotonin

[James Steele]

Muted the crowd.

[Ruien]

Reigns hasn't been champ for like 3 or 4 years right? It's honestly his time and his build to this point from the Rolllins cash in Mania has been really well done. Besides Reign being Vinces boy.

[Dark One]

Boring chants.

Oof.

[Fignuts]

this is seriously just making people hate him more.

[OssMan]

cmon 7 more f5s guys

[Dark One]

Can't wait for the replay to just cut and paste the AJ/Nakamura crowd noise over this match.

[A.J.K]

Boring chants.

[James Steele]

The crowd has turned. The Roman experiment is still a complete failure.

[owenbrown]

come on Lesnar get DQd and retain the title

[Emperor Smeat]

Their first match at Mania seems like it was 20 times better.

Yeah. It came off like a legit fight between the two.

This just feels like a cheap knock off and just a finisher fest. They spent months building both guys finishers as one-hit kills and tossed it away.

[OssMan]

6 more

[Vastardikai]

Lesnar vs Goldberg 14 years ago was 10x better than this.

[Droford]

Brock needs to hit reigns with an F10

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vg7lSg8uI1E/TWJy1O0a5nI/AAAAAAAAAVE/Q3WM0O_nUX0/s400/Pickup-Ford-F10-Custom-1956-600x450.jpg

[BigCrippyZ]

This is what happens when you don't know how to build up a face in today's age because all your characters are the same nothingness bullshit

[Dark One]

Kinda hope people throw trash in the ring like Hogan at Bash at the Beach.

[owenbrown]

Muted the crowd.

Probably because Brock said a non PG word

[Dark One]

This match needs Josh Matthews and Michael Cole from NXT Game Show commentary.

[BigCrippyZ]

This is just stupid.

[OssMan]

5 more

[Fignuts]

Reigns hasn't been champ for like 3 or 4 years right? It's honestly his time and his build to this point from the Rolllins cash in Mania has been really well done. Besides Reign being Vinces boy.

You can build someone up through booking as effectively as possible, if the audience finds their character bland and boring it won't matter.

[Ben Rodrigues]

Who the fuck thought this was a good idea?

[BigCrippyZ]

You can build someone up through booking as effectively as possible, if the audience finds their character bland and boring it won't matter.

Exactly.

[Frank Drebin]

lol....only reason crowd is booing is because they're ready to go home but don't want to miss any potential surprises.

[Vastardikai]

Brock needs to hit reigns with an F10

Actually, that's the name of local Indy Guy Odinson's finisher. Which is an airplane spin into an F5.

And it looks awesome as shit.

[DAMN iNATOR]

this is seriously just making people hate him more.

I don't know what they realistically expected.

[RP]

Never seen a crowd care less

[Savio]

this is dumb

[Evil Vito]

LOL THIS IS AWFUL CHANT

[Emperor Smeat]

Are they chanting "This is Awful"?

[owenbrown]

this crowd is gonna be like Bash at the Beach 1996 and throw all kinds of shit in the ring

[BigCrippyZ]

:lol:

Pretty sure they're chanting "this is awful".

[Dark One]

Is this a world first "THIS IS AWFUL" chant?

[DAMN iNATOR]

LOL "THIS IS AWFUL" chant.

[Fignuts]

At this point it doesn't so much make reigns look good, as it does make everyone who lost to lesnar look bad

[RP]

THIS IS AWFUL

[A.J.K]

This is awful chants.

[Frank Drebin]

A "this is awful" chant so loud the muted mics couldn't stop it from getting though.

[Savio]

"This is awful" ?

[Emperor Smeat]

The crowd is not buying the sympathy build up for this match.

Also holy shit at the crimson mask on Roman

[Destor]

That was a clean hard way

[Triple A]

damn... blood freaking everywhere

[Ben Rodrigues]

Roman no sells all the F-5s!

[Dark One]

Roman breaking the Muta scale.

[Destor]

Great color

[GD]

Holy shit! Lesnar wins.

[Evil Vito]

LMFAO wow

[OssMan]

four more!!!

[James Steele]

He’s bleeding more than anybody in WWE has in at least 10 years and they still don’t give a duck.

[Nicky Fives]

LESNAR!!

[OssMan]

ah man

[Destor]

Color makes everything better

[Dark One]

Welp

See you guys with Roman's coronation next year again.

[DAMN iNATOR]

Brock signed a new contract mayhaps?

[owenbrown]

Brock Lesnar retains :lol:

[RP]

lol WTF

[Ben Rodrigues]

LOL!

[Vastardikai]

Louisiana State Athletic Commission is about to shut down the match. :shifty:

ANd they'll get cheered for it.

Nevermind.

[Gerard]

Crowd shitting all over this and I can't blame them, fucking pathetic, the same 3 or so moves over and over. Utterly pathetic.

[James Steele]

In a swerve, Brock drops the belt to Nicholas tomorrow night on RAW.

[Triple A]

wtf

[Nicky Fives]

Lesnar should hand Dana White the belt on the stage

[Shadrick]

This match was awful

[Destor]

Show the color you swine

[RP]

I used my triple bonus on Reigns winning rofl.

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Lesnar winning.

What a huge waste of time and Vince panicking again on pulling the trigger for Reigns being his new mega star. Legit hope this experiment ends and Reigns spends the next 2-3 years in the mid-card just to have a genuine build and rise as a big star.

[Loose Cannon]

Holy fuck !!!!!!! No way

[Shadrick]

And I always try to keep it optimistic or positive. But this was pretty bad

[Dark One]

$100 says they do the rematch in Saudi Arabia where people will cheer the shit out of Roman.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

lol maybe title change tomorrow to reigns. I was actually thinking about that before just to throw off the scent. Nobody gave a shit about that match.

[Destor]

That hard wayt was so brilliantly done.

[Savio]

I'm happy Brock won, if Reigns was going to lose though why put him in the match? Fans don't really like him.

[James Steele]

I am legit shocked at Brock retaining the belt though.

[GD]

This was Lesnar’s second pinfall victory over Roman Reigns. Wow!

[BigCrippyZ]

He’s bleeding more than anybody in WWE has in at least 10 years and they still don’t give a duck.

That's what happens when your character never evolves. FFS. Turn him heel. Don't be stupid and make him another (way less successful) Cena, because he doesn't have even that skill set. You're setting yourself up for failure 10x.

[KIRA]

You can build someone up through booking as effectively as possible, if the audience finds their character bland and boring it won't matter.

This you can't force anything on anyone if they don't want it they don't want it and you constantly trying to hand it to them is going to make it worse I don't see why he doesn't realize tha

[Droford]

In a swerve, Brock drops the belt to Nicholas tomorrow night on RAW.

Curt Hawkins

[Ruien]

Braun taking Lesnar down tomorrow!

[Evil Vito]

Was this to try and get us to feel sympathy for Reigns before he dethrones Lesnar at WM35?

[Loose Cannon]

What an awful main event to a Mania

[Destor]

Fact: Rousey stole the show

[DAMN iNATOR]

Kinda wonder (legit) if Roman bleeding so much caused them to call a last-second audible finish maybe.

[James Steele]

Wow, bringing back the old PPV highlight package at the end of the show.

[Malfeitor]

Really weak Mania.

[Frank Drebin]

Fantastic show save for the main event. Even that shit show at the end and a couple of unwanted/quicker than would have wanted finishes wasn't near enough to not like it.

[Theo Dious]

Kinda wonder (legit) if Roman bleeding so much caused them to call a last-second audible finish maybe.

No. Now shut up.

[Dark One]

Decent show held back from being all-time great by some weird booking and potential all-time great matches getting truncated by like 5-10 minutes just when stuff was starting to take off.

[Theo Dious]

Fact: Rousey stole the show

Absokutely.

[RP]

Nicholas gets drafted to Smackdown tomorrow night.

[KIRA]

Ronda Rousey accepted
Nicholas accepted
Roman Reigns nope nope nope

[BigCrippyZ]

I am legit shocked at Brock retaining the belt though.

Me too... at least until the insane number of F5 kickouts... then I was thinking... hmmm... could they be working us and Lesnar will retain? Still pretty shocking though.

[Gerard]

Kinda wonder (legit) if Roman bleeding so much caused them to call a last-second audible finish maybe.

Well I doubt anyone else wanted to see another 15 spears or a dozen or so more f5s. That main event was the worst in years 4 or so moves over and over again. :n:

[Fignuts]

Fact: Rousey stole the show

yep

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

I just don't understand why they'd lay the match out like that.

[Evil Vito]

Bryan traded to Raw tomorrow to dethrone Lesnar! Face of the company!

[Fignuts]

bryan came close though

[Vastardikai]

It sounds like two stars were made tonight:

Rousey and Nicholas.

[KIRA]

bryan came close though

This and Aj vs Nakamura had some really loud points surprisingly loud given how far into this we were

[DAMN iNATOR]

This will go down, somewhat surprisingly, albeit pleasantly, as one of the best WMs at least in recent years.

I'd give it an A-.

[Dark One]

If you're going to end that match like that... why do you end the show with that match?

Why not end with Shinsuke vs AJ? Give it an extra ten minutes and you've got a long-time great clip with the low blow and attack to close out the show for future video packages.

[Fignuts]

lol why

[BigCrippyZ]

If you're going to end that match like that... why do you end the show with that match?

Why not end with Shinsuke vs AJ? Give it an extra ten minutes and you've got a long-time great video package with the low blow and attack to close out the show.

4 words. Vince is in charge.

[James Steele]

LOL trying to get Roman a sympathy pop with a walk back after the video package.

[Dark One]

4 words. Vince is in charge.

Sure. I get that, but what's the point?

Vince isn't that out of touch. He can't be.

[Evil Vito]

Hated the last two Manias, so this one was a breath of fresh air even if the main event sucked.

I didn't feel like it ever really dragged and was generally laid out really well.

[Destor]

They ended with the right match.

[rockman725]

Most of this event seemed like it went ass backwards than it should have. I sarcastically said early that Lesnar was definitely winning. I mean, I was being sarcastic. Nothing that happened in the last 7 hours of my life has made much sense.

[James Steele]

Is the Roman Reigns experiment finally over?

[Simple Fan]

Well they shocked me with the Nakamura turn and the Lesnar win. Braun having a kid be his partner was also a shock. Not sure where that or the Universal title scene is going. Looks like the AJ/Nakamura fued is just getting good and I hope they keep them together.

[BigCrippyZ]

You're talking about a guy who is 72 knowing what "will get people hooked". It's a fucking joke. I didn't even turn on the Network until 9:45 and I know and saw all I needed to.

[Fignuts]

If you're going to end that match like that... why do you end the show with that match?

Why not end with Shinsuke vs AJ? Give it an extra ten minutes and you've got a long-time great clip with the low blow and attack to close out the show for future video packages.

Yeah, Nak vs Styles wasn't quite as good as hoped, but it was better than lesnar vs reigns and the heel turn would been a great ending for the show, as no one saw it coming.

[Emperor Smeat]

Fact: Rousey stole the show

Yeah and also helped Triple H once again got the longest or one of the longest matches in Mania.

This year had the perfect storm to break his 20+ minute streak of long Mania matches. Not only did the opposite happen, it also managed to be his most interesting match in years.

[James Steele]

LOL Reigns looks back for a pop at the top of the ramp and *crickets*

[RP]

Brock could have shot Roman with a gun and he would still get booed.

[Dark One]

They ended with the right match.

Curious why you think that. No hate--seriously--just curious for the positive perspective on why it was the right call to put a match on at the end that had a very visceral, disinterested reaction rather than something people were into?

[Triple A]

LOL Reigns looks back for a pop at the top of the ramp and *crickets*

I think the crowd audio was almost totally silenced tbh

[BigCrippyZ]

Sure. I get that, but what's the point?

Vince isn't that out of touch. He can't be.

Sadly, and unfortunately, I think, he can and he is. Dude relies on people beneath him to keep him remotely close to "in touch" and get the mediocrity that we do get. Which isn't saying much.

[Jordan]

I really enjoyed the IC Triple Threat. Auska and Charlotte was really good with a solid ending, looking forward to the rematch. US Title was nothing special, Smackdown Triple Threat Tag was solid. Ronda/Kurt and HHH/Steph was great fun. Naka/AJ was about what I expected, a little better in some ways but not blow away. The heel turn was great, maybe would've made the match better had they done that somewhere in the middle of the match. Braun's segment was dumb. And Bryan's match was just good when he was in, the whole angle of the match was dumb though. Cena/Taker was decent. The main event wasn't nearly as good as their first match at WM a few years ago. Still wasn't as bad as the crowd made it out to be, overly brutal at the end which also saves it in some way but not completely. Overall a pretty mediocre WM for me.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

the thing that pissed me off about the main was it started off good. But then Brock slowed it down way too much with the f5s.

[Gerard]

I just don't understand why they'd lay the match out like that.

Well, Brock's a lazy tubby fuck and has been since his return a few years back, and reigns is lost outside of doing a spear or a superman punch. So made sense it would be laid out for the shitshow it was.

[Emperor Smeat]

Maina itself was really good overall but personally still consider Mania 30 to be the best in modern times.

This one looked like it was going to easily beat it but lost a lot of steam near the end and main event was a big dud. Both did have some questionable booking decisions for certain matches but this one had more of them.

[Triple A]

I liked the main event but I like most of those types of Brock Lesnar matches. :-)

Feels like the crowd was mostly hating on it cause they "knew" Reigns was going to win

[Savio]

Feels like the crowd was mostly hating on it cause they "knew" Reigns was going to win

I couldn't get into it for that reason.

[BigCrippyZ]

Well they shocked me with the Nakamura turn and the Lesnar win. Braun having a kid be his partner was also a shock. Not sure where that or the Universal title scene is going. Looks like the AJ/Nakamura fued is just getting good and I hope they keep them together.

None of which makes me want to see what happens next though. Nothing got me MORE invested in the characters or stories. That's because it was randomness, and not important. Nothing happened that remotely makes sense in terms of WHY, OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, that the WHY will even explained or answered in the future shows. It's mediocrity and horrible storytelling.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

it was just too slow. It started off brisk and physical and then all of a sudden it came to a screeching halt because they over spammed the F5.

Finish was decent because obviously nobody saw it coming, but there could have been other ways to get to it.

[James Steele]

Taz is doing a live post-Mania show. This outta be good. Link is on his Twitter

[Jordan]

I think that Brock is going to retire and WWE will put the title on the line in The Greatest Royal Rumble.

[James Steele]

I'm very interested in RAW & SD! this week because of all the unpredictable finishes.

[James Steele]

I think that Brock is going to retire and WWE will put the title on the line in The Greatest Royal Rumble.

Triple H vs John Cena for the Universal Title. HHH can tie Flair.

[Destor]

Curious why you think that. No hate--seriously--just curious for the positive perspective on why it was the right call to put a match on at the end that had a very visceral, disinterested reaction rather than something people were into?

Peoples reactions are one thing. They certainly popped louder elsewhere nothing had the intrigue that the main did. Lesnar is the biggest star the company has and reigns is easily the most talked about wrestler on planet earth.

The reasons honestly dont matter. That match had the most interest, albeit the least ammount of hype. But those are very different and I think people miss that.

All in the match is huge for the mythos going forward. Reigns is officially not the guy. And if he is to be theyre certainly going to take a different route to get there. Thats monumental. Where do we go from here?

Nothing on the card has a finality like that did.

Closest thing they have to THE GUY right now is Lesnar and well know thats short term as it gets.

Plus color.

There wasnt anything on the card with stakes like that.

The business of the business is the business now.

[Evil Vito]

I was gonna say "I hope Mania is this good when I go next year" but, to be honest, it probably doesn't matter. WM29 was objectively not great and really Punk/Taker was the only standout but being there live is always gonna make it stand out as one of my favorite Manias ever. Being there in person changes everything.

[KIRA]

Is the Roman Reigns experiment finally over?

It will never be over I think Vince McMahon thinks he can wear down fans resistance over time

[Emperor Smeat]

I think that Brock is going to retire and WWE will put the title on the line in The Greatest Royal Rumble.

Why feed Reigns to him though since they have spent years trying to build Reigns as their next mega star?

Right now it just follows every other big plan they had for Reigns. The streak killing rub was originally planed for Reigns before WWE panicked and same for the Taker retiring rub before WWE panicked. Same for building the F5 and Spear as one-hit finishers only to panic and make it their match a finishers fest.

[Dark One]

Peoples reactions are one thing. They certainly popped louder elsewhere nothing had the intrigue that the main did. Lesnar is the biggest star the company has and reigns is easily the most talked about wrestler on planet earth.

The reasons honestly dont matter. That match had the most interest, albeit the least ammount of hype. But those are very different and I think people miss that.

I don't know that it has the most interest. I'd argue that was the mixed tag match, and I don't know that the same type of "interest" that got people to go to ogrish back in the day is exactly what you want to capstone your biggest show.



All in the match is huge for the mythos going forward. Reigns is officially not the guy. And if he is to be theyre certainly going to take a different route to get there. Thats monumental. Where do we go from here?

I don't know that if the past like four attempts/aborts haven't shown Roman isn't "the guy" that this is going to do that either, especially with the post video package walk of shame and the show still basically ending with Roman's music.


Nothing on the card has a finality like that did.

Closest thing they have to THE GUY right now is Lesnar and well know thats short term as it gets.

Plus color.

There wasnt anything on the card with stakes like that.

The business of the business is the business now.

Fair points, and fair play for a well thought out answer. I still vehemently disagree with ending your biggest show with something that goes over like a fart in church, but I can see what the thought process is behind it.

[James Steele]

Show was good overall. The curveball finishes weren’t bad. The Lesnar/Reigns Match just dragged at the end because it became a video game spam move beat down. The overall show flowed well. They probably didn’t expect that good of a showing from Rousey, but hat stole the show to me.

[Destor]

It went over poorly because the crowd was mad over a finish that didnt happen

[Fignuts]

Finish was decent because obviously nobody saw it coming, but there could have been other ways to get to it.

Pretty sure a lot of people called Lesnar retaining. Probably not the majority, but a good amount of people.

[wwe2222]

I thought it was a really good show overall. Started better than it finished but one of the better Manias recently.

[James Steele]

I don’t think any Manias have been “bad” since WM15. 32 just was too damn long and ended with a Reigns coronation nobody wanted. 33 was a damn good show, but ended with a Reigns coronation nobody wanted. Tonight, they bucked the trend but the problem was nobody wanted Brock either.

[Destor]

Match was 15 min of a crowd throwing a tantrum over lolromanwins and then it didnt hapoen

[BigCrippyZ]

reigns is easily the most talked about wrestler on planet earth.

That match had the most interest, albeit the least ammount of hype.

The business of the business is the business now.

1. That's not true, it's hyperbolic presumption by one fan, you, who happens to post on the internet.

2. Even IF the second point is true, that's just sad, and shows how far things have fallen in terms of interest. I'd be curious just how many people are actually interested in the business vs. how many people used to by interested in the stories and characters. I'd bet that the % change would be ridiculously pathetic and that honest folks in the business would admit to that reality and concern. If they could get it, I'd bet they'd gladly take people actually being interested in the characters/stories previously, vs. those interested in the business today,

[Destor]

I don’t think any Manias have been “bad” since WM15.

You think 15 was bad?

[James Steele]

You think 15 was bad?


Other than Rock/Austin - yes. It doesn’t hold up well.

[Dark One]

It went over poorly because the crowd was mad over a finish that didnt happen

The crowd may have been dreading that projected finish but I think saying that’s the main reason is a gross over simplification.

[wwe2222]

I was not a fan of WM15 when it aired. Def one of the weakest.

[KIRA]

I wonder why this company can't see how well heel turns work
You think they would have learned with The Rock
Usos heel turn brought them back to
The new day's heel turn made them insanely popular
Sami Zayn well he'll worm his way into your heart with his obnoxious everything

[xrodmuc316]

I am a huge fan of Lesnar's run the last 4 years, but they have really backed themselves in a corner since tonight was the logical end to his dominance, regardless of your feelings on Roman. The way it has been booked the last 12 months, there is nobody to challenge him. He has already beat every big name on Raw, AJ on Smackdown, Shinsuke heeled so that wouldn't make sense, and there is nobody in NXT at the level say Finn or KO were when they came up.

Unless Vince wants to play the Demon King card like none of the burying he has done to Finn matters, or he wants to move Daniel Bryan to Raw and immediately go with him as the guy, which history would suggest otherwise, then he must be content on Brock keeping the belt for the foreseeable future.

Nobody else is over enough. They already fed Brock lots of guys just to make Brock look even stronger so taking the loss to Roman would be as meaningful as possible. Are we supposed to believe that guys Lesnar beat with one F5 like Braun or Joe are suddenly better equipped to Beat Brock than the guy it took SIX F5s to Beat?

Unless Roman somehow gets a rematch and wins tomorrow, I have no clue where anything is headed.

[BigCrippyZ]

Other than Rock/Austin - yes. It doesn’t hold up well.

I thought Foley v. Show was good for what it was. It progressed the story and "impacted" the later match involved and gave them something "important" to do for their status, without taking away from their characters or needlessly FORCING them into the match as an actual competitor. More effectively than they've typically done in the last 10+ years at least.

[Emperor Smeat]

I wonder why this company can't see how well heel turns work
You think they would have learned with The Rock
Usos heel turn brought them back to
The new day's heel turn made them insanely popular
Sami Zayn well he'll worm his way into your heart with his obnoxious everything

They even had a good example 2 matches earlier with Nakamura. That low blow to Styles was the most interesting thing to happen to him character-wise since he arrived on the main roster.

Doubt they will do the same with Reigns considering they see him as the next Cena and they've resisted the urge for over a decade to turn Cena.

[KIRA]

They even had a good example 2 matches earlier with Nakamura. That low blow to Styles was the most interesting thing to happen to him character-wise since he arrived on the main roster.

Doubt they will do the same with Reigns considering they see him as the next Cena and they've resisted the urge for over a decade to turn Cena.

It's doubly weird since he already has the makings of one he comes across like a massive cunt. And he has none of the things that make his shield Partners likeable.

[Fignuts]

The crowd may have been dreading that projected finish but I think saying that’s the main reason is a gross over simplification.

I think the multiple f-5's hurt as well. That's around the point we started to hear the "this is awful" and "boring" chants.

By the 3rd F-5 kickout I think even a casual fan is going to roll their eyes at the transparency of it. Not to mention how much it slowed down the match, as Dale said.

I really don't think there was that much interest in the match to begin with, and I dunno how many people are happy regardless of the winner.

[xrodmuc316]

I don’t think any Manias have been “bad” since WM15. 32 just was too damn long and ended with a Reigns coronation nobody wanted. 33 was a damn good show, but ended with a Reigns coronation nobody wanted. Tonight, they bucked the trend but the problem was nobody wanted Brock either.

25 was horrible, but gets overlooked because it did have the classic Taker/HBK match. The rest was terribly booked and pretty lame.

[Emperor Smeat]

It's doubly weird since he already has the makings of one he comes across like a massive cunt. And he has none of the things that make his shield Partners likeable.

Yeah. Even though it did wonders for Rollins star image, Reigns should have been the one picked by Triple H to be his "Corporate Rock" during the Authority Era.

He looked really good in a suit and as a bad guy during his FCW days I believe.

[Fignuts]

Still really happy about the Raw Women's title. Charlotte was my pick to end the streak and you couldn't ask for a better stage. Again, match could have used a few more minutes, but they used the time they had tremendously. As far as pure ring work goes, that was match of the night for me.

Now Asuka can move on and enter storylines not based around a statistic.

[Fignuts]

I said in another thread that while I'm cool with AJ retaining because I like him as champ, my ideal scenario was Shinsuke winning the title and facing Bryan at summerslam. I think what happened is even better. Still have AJ as champ, but now that Bryan and Nak are on opposite sides of morality, you don't need the title to instigate a match, and you can make it a much more personal and intense feud.

[KIRA]

Still really happy about the Raw Women's title. Charlotte was my pick to end the streak and you couldn't ask for a better stage. Again, match could have used a few more minutes, but they used the time they had tremendously. As far as pure ring work goes, that was match of the night for me.

Now Asuka can move on and enter storylines not based around a statistic.
Here's the thing her streak was the only thing keeping her from being a joke Vince does not have a really good history of treating people who aren't American well I'm afraid she's going to slip down the card and D like a Rosa Mendes or something. It would be nice if she retained her badassery and just went on to other things but Vince McMahon is a moron my other hope is that Triple H intercedes for her and keep that from happening

[Destor]

1. That's not true, it's hyperbolic presumption by one fan, you, who happens to post on the internet.

2. Even IF the second point is true, that's just sad, and shows how far things have fallen in terms of interest. I'd be curious just how many people are actually interested in the business vs. how many people used to by interested in the stories and characters. I'd bet that the % change would be ridiculously pathetic and that honest folks in the business would admit to that reality and concern. If they could get it, I'd bet they'd gladly take people actually being interested in the characters/stories previously, vs. those interested in the business today,

1. That's not true, it's hyperbolic presumption by one fan, you, who happens to post on the internet.

2. Even IF the second point is true, that's just sad, and shows how far things have fallen in terms of interest. I'd be curious just how many people are actually interested in the business vs. how many people used to by interested in the stories and characters. I'd bet that the % change would be ridiculously pathetic and that honest folks in the business would admit to that reality and concern. If they could get it, I'd bet they'd gladly take people actually being interested in the characters/stories previously, vs. those interested in the business today,

I wouldnt call me fan, i dont watch the product more than 6 times a year.

And its absolutely true. The anti Reigns camp is just oblivious to anything but their rage.

We've done this merry-go-round though. Every knows its a work. They get heat in very different ways now. You cant sell a product that everyone knows is a work to people that arent hardcore wrestling fans (like most here.) They know you know its a work. So whats the angle then? Turn the office heel. You think you know best so youre the baby in your own story now.

Crowd should have popped when lesnar went over but they're so smug that when he did they were stunned silent. They never considered they might be wrong. Pretty hilarious outcome tbh. They forgot that they were mad he was going to win and when he lost theyt forgot that it should have made them happy..raging against a machine of their own making.

Cena and reigns are the same blue print. Problem with reigns isnt that people boo him, same people bood cena. The problem is reigns doesnt have the merch potential cena had. You'll never have another steve austin though. That era was the last true boom. Too much hot shotting by bischoff and vince. The industry has never and will never recover.

Reminds me of a conversation with Dutch Mantell about when he took the book in Puerto Rico. He was able to go over there and do huge money because they hadnt seen everything yet. But after a few years there was no money. Its been said many times that every period of hot shotting is followed by a substantial drought. The fed surviving this long is a testament to how good they are at what they do.

But it has a shelf life..any event...getting side tracked

Changes are coming though with the direction the fed is taking. We'll revist that aspect later though. No point in arguing over what hasnt happened yet.

But if you think Reigns isnt the most talked about guy in wrestling just watch this forum for the next 72 hours.

But we'll keep popping off about how dumb the office is and how it should have been done until they push something else...and we'll shit on that too. Its our thing. We 0might get an elseworth over for the luls tho. Just to show how cool we are.

[BigCrippyZ]

Yeah. Even though it did wonders for Rollins star image, Reigns should have been the one picked by Triple H to be his "Corporate Rock" during the Authority Era.

He looked really good in a suit and as a bad guy during his FCW days I believe.

Yep, the guy has the look of a corporate champion. So make him that in whatever way best gets him over, corporate heel champ or corporate face champ. Clearly corporate heel champ is his ideal role, at least initially. Even Austin got over as a heel prior to his huge face run. It's like they're just trying to skip or ignore that step because they "know" better or think those days are somehow "behind" them.

[Anybody Thrilla]

What a great weekend for wrestling. And I guess for Nicholas too.

[KIRA]

I wouldnt call me fan, i dont watch the product more than 6 times a year.

And its absolutely true. The anti Reigns camp is just oblivious to anything but their rage.

We've done this merry-go-round though. Every knows its a work. They get heat in very different ways now. You cant sell a product that everyone knows is a work to people that arent hardcore wrestling fans (like most here.) They know you know its a work. So whats the angle then? Turn the office heel. You think you know best so youre the baby in your own story now.

Crowd should have popped when lesnar went over but they're so smug that when he did they were stunned silent. They never considered they might be wrong. Pretty hilarious outcome tbh. They forgot that they were mad he was going to win and when he lost theyt forgot that it should have made them happy..raging against a machine of their own making.

Cena and reigns are the same blue print. Problem with reigns isnt that people boo him, same people bood cena. The problem is reigns doesnt have the merch potential cena had. You'll never have another steve austin though. That era was the last true boom. Too much hot shotting by bischoff and vince. The industry has never and will never recover.

Reminds me of a conversation with Dutch Mantell about when he took the book in Puerto Rico. He was able to go over there and do huge money because they hadnt seen everything yet. But after a few years there was no money. Its been said many times that every period of hot shotting is followed by a substantial drought. The fed surviving this long is a testament to how good they are at what they do.

But it has a shelf life..any event...getting side tracked

Changes are coming though with the direction the fed is taking. We'll revist that aspect later though. No point in arguing over what hasnt happened yet.

But if you think Reigns isnt the most talked about guy in wrestling just watch this forum for the next 72 hours.

But we'll keep popping off about how dumb the office is and how it should have been done until they push something else...and we'll shit on that too. Its our thing. We 0might get an elseworth over for the luls tho. Just to show how cool we are.
You can't be angry at a crowd for refusing to be manipulated though they tried to do the same thing in that one Rumble where they had the rock raised Romans hands and the fans booed even harder

[Poit]

lol....only reason crowd is booing is because they're ready to go home but don't want to miss any potential surprises.

Yes, clearly the only reason. :roll:

[Poit]

LOL Reigns looks back for a pop at the top of the ramp and *crickets*

It didn't help that the crowd had started leaving. There was a while where we thought the show had just abruptly ended. Brock left, thew announcers left, and there was nothing on the screens to indicate the show was still going.

[BigCrippyZ]

Crowd should have popped when lesnar went over but they're so smug that when he did they were stunned silent. They never considered they might be wrong. Pretty hilarious outcome tbh. They forgot that they were mad he was going to win and when he lost theyt forgot that it should have made them happy..raging against a machine of their own making.

Cena and reigns are the same blue print. Problem with reigns isnt that people boo him, same people bood cena. The problem is reigns doesnt have the merch potential cena had. You'll never have another steve austin though. That era was the last true boom. Too much hot shotting by bischoff and vince. The industry has never and will never recover.

1. Crowd never considered it because it was not ever realistically (or even suggested) as a possibility until it happened tonight, it made no sense. Especially with Lesnar supposedly "leaving". Everyone thought Reigns (as the obvious booked face for the past 3+ years) was going over as the face and Lesnar as the heel for the past 4+ weeks was to be the loser heel. Why would they expect any different? Nothing suggested otherwise, i.e., that Lesnar should be champ or a face (or would even stay) or that Reigns should lose (or be a hated heel) based on the recent booking, commentary, etc.

2. Everyone said the same about Hogan, etc., until the NWO and Austin came along and changed the game. The fact is the horrible writing/storytelling and lack of star power is what is preventing most from buying in. Most (90%+) fans actually still knew things weren't legit when Austin, etc., were at their peaks, but they still bought in because the storytelling and star power enabled them to do so. Everyone knows TV and movies aren't real but they still draw tons of people in because the storytelling and talent is good enough. WWE simply isn't currently.

[Poit]

I think the multiple f-5's hurt as well. That's around the point we started to hear the "this is awful" and "boring" chants.

By the 3rd F-5 kickout I think even a casual fan is going to roll their eyes at the transparency of it. Not to mention how much it slowed down the match, as Dale said.

I really don't think there was that much interest in the match to begin with, and I dunno how many people are happy regardless of the winner.

The crowd wasn't really into the match at any point. There was a reaction for some moves, but overall, no. The crowd chanted "you both suck" as the match started. Most of the cheers in the match were for beach balls.

The number of F5's and kickouts didn't matter. The crowd wasn't getting into the match.

[Fignuts]

I wouldnt call me fan, i dont watch the product more than 6 times a year.

And its absolutely true. The anti Reigns camp is just oblivious to anything but their rage.

We've done this merry-go-round though. Every knows its a work. They get heat in very different ways now. You cant sell a product that everyone knows is a work to people that arent hardcore wrestling fans (like most here.) They know you know its a work. So whats the angle then? Turn the office heel. You think you know best so youre the baby in your own story now.

Crowd should have popped when lesnar went over but they're so smug that when he did they were stunned silent. They never considered they might be wrong. Pretty hilarious outcome tbh. They forgot that they were mad he was going to win and when he lost theyt forgot that it should have made them happy..raging against a machine of their own making.

Cena and reigns are the same blue print. Problem with reigns isnt that people boo him, same people bood cena. The problem is reigns doesnt have the merch potential cena had. You'll never have another steve austin though. That era was the last true boom. Too much hot shotting by bischoff and vince. The industry has never and will never recover.

Reminds me of a conversation with Dutch Mantell about when he took the book in Puerto Rico. He was able to go over there and do huge money because they hadnt seen everything yet. But after a few years there was no money. Its been said many times that every period of hot shotting is followed by a substantial drought. The fed surviving this long is a testament to how good they are at what they do.

But it has a shelf life..any event...getting side tracked

Changes are coming though with the direction the fed is taking. We'll revist that aspect later though. No point in arguing over what hasnt happened yet.

But if you think Reigns isnt the most talked about guy in wrestling just watch this forum for the next 72 hours.

But we'll keep popping off about how dumb the office is and how it should have been done until they push something else...and we'll shit on that too. Its our thing. We 0might get an elseworth over for the luls tho. Just to show how cool we are.

Absolutely right that reigns will be the most talked about topic. The problem is that doesn't really matter as much anymore. Wrestling is a weird hobby now, where tons of people stop watching regularly and stop subscribing to the network, but they're always willing to go online and chime in about how much it sucks.

So the "controversy" of roman reigns can get all the people talking, but if it doesn't build the numbers that matter, it's pretty useless.

[Fignuts]

What a great weekend for wrestling. And I guess for Nicholas too.

Yeah, not gonna lie and say I wasn't disappointed there was no surprise like Joe or Mysterio for the partner, but that they made that kid a memory he'll carry with him the rest of his life, and that's awesome.

[Poit]

Crowd should have popped when lesnar went over but they're so smug that when he did they were stunned silent. They never considered they might be wrong. Pretty hilarious outcome tbh. They forgot that they were mad he was going to win and when he lost theyt forgot that it should have made them happy..raging against a machine of their own making.

The crowd did pop for a bit when Lesnar won. Maybe the muted crowd mics didn't pick it up?

And, the crowd wasn't only mad at the seemingly inevitable ending that didn't happen. They were also mad at Lesnar for leaving to UFC. Hence, the "you both suck", "this is awful", etc. chants.