[XL]

My Take

THE HOST

I get that The Rock had to do something to open the show but he could have just come out to the stage and given a short "Welcome to WrestleMania" intro rather than make the walk to the ring to give us a 10 minute speech. This made it feel like an episode of Raw.

His backstage stuff was OK but I think I worked out why I'm not digging The Rock at the minute: He's "trying too hard". Or he's "hamming it up". Kinda thought the latter, in sort of a "Haha, don't worry Hollywood, I'm not taking this seriously". His delivery is over the top, he needs to be a bit more subtle, a bit more "real". He seems to be Dwayne Johnson playing The Rock, if that makes sense.

Either way, for this opening promo and the subsequent backstage ones (sans the face to face with SCSA) to bump Sheamus/Bryan from the card is annoying to say the least as I was honestly looking forward to that match.

Also, he could have dressed up a little more, he did have guests afterall.


WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

I think it's placing on the card took everyone by surprise, as did a win for Edge. Don't mind ADR taking the loss but I do wonder where this leads in terms of the post-Mania title scene. Don't really wanna see a rehash at Extreme Rules to be honest.


HHH v UNDERTAKER

This result here is "a given" yet they managed to get me to "buy" a lot of the later near falls, so kudos to them. I do think a lot of that was "Well HHH does have a lot of pull, maybe they will drop The Streak to him" but regardless that match should have worked for smarks and marks alike.

I did feel the pacing was off but hey, it was a good match.

I found the post-match pretty interesting. Taker, the mythical phenom, being carted up the ramp on a stretcher with an EMT holding his hand was an odd sight to say the least. If they weren't looking to "humanize" the character with new intro music/different promo style, then they definately did it here.


SNOOKI

I was impressed with her Handspring Elbow. I hope that some of the people that bitched about her involvement managed to swallow their pride and give Snooki her due for that move alone. Hopefully it got WWE the mainstream attention they craved. And, let's be fair, Kelly Kelly - who would have been in the match in Snooki's place - is only slightly better in-ring anyways.


MIZ v CENA

The Miz' intro video was incredible. Cena's went on too long and the angle they used (religion/praying) kinda came from leftfield for his character. I realised that the match wasn't gonna be anything special given Cena's "limitaions" in the ring and Miz' relative inexperience. I wonder who called that match in the ring?

The double countout seemed unnecessary. If they needed The Rock there, have him come out before the match, he was the host afterall. Or just have him come out of nowhere to hit the Rock Bottom.

Putting him over both the current top face and top heel irked me a little but if they're starting the build to Mania 28 now/Rock is sticking around, it's no massive issue.


FINAL THOUGHTS

Worth the money. There were 6 of us who paid £2.50 each so it was inexpensive. Moreso the experience of watching it in a group with a few beers probably lifted what may have been a mediocre event to a really enjoyable experience. I'd recommend everyone to watch it this way in future.