Latest WrestleMania 33 rumors - UPDATED in Post 817

[The CyNick]

Originally Posted by hb2k Interesting. Let's do a comparison for the fun of it... Mania 13 - Taker carried it to the worst buyrate in Mania history - 1 to Taker, I guess. Mania 20 - Taker's Deadman return played a part, but carrying would be excessive praise. Mania 21 - Carried by HHH/Batista Mania 22 - Carried by Cena/HHH, 1 to Cena Mania 23 - I'd say they Taker and Cena carry equal weight to each other, both eclipsed by Trump. Mania 24 - Carried by Floyd and Flair Mania 25 - Carried by Orton/HHH (and not very far) - 1 to Orton Mania 26 - Carried by Taker/Shawn 2, but again did a relatively disappointing number. 2 for Taker Mania 27 - Carried by the Rock/Cena dynamic, 2 to Cena Mania 28 - Rock/Cena, 3 to Cena Mania 29 - Rock/Cena, 4 to Cena Mania 30 - Authority Vs. Bryan, mostly HHH and Bryan with Orton and Big Dave as secondary players. Mania 31 - Brock/Roman carried it. Mania 32 - Taker/Shane - 3 for Taker So in truth, we have 4 for Cena, 3 for Taker (one which did a mediocre number, one which did a flat out abysmal number, the other did well), 1 for Randy.

I wasn't looking to go back to the Attitude Era, I was only talking about Manias during Cena's run. My point was Taker's matches and the The Streak played a bigger role than the majority of Cena's matches.

In reality, you take away the program with Rock which covered 3 straight Manias, Cena has never really been the focal point alone. Whereas with Taker every year there was interest in his opponent challenging The Streak. But to be fair to Cena, most of the recent Manias are sold on a handful of matches vs one super match. So nobody really is put in the position of selling the show on their own. I just think if you went year by year, Taker's matches on a whole had more interest.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Originally Posted by The CyNick I wasn't looking to go back to the Attitude Era, I was only talking about Manias during Cena's run. My point was Taker's matches and the The Streak played a bigger role than the majority of Cena's matches. In reality, you take away the program with Rock which covered 3 straight Manias, Cena has never really been the focal point alone. Whereas with Taker every year there was interest in his opponent challenging The Streak. But to be fair to Cena, most of the recent Manias are sold on a handful of matches vs one super match. So nobody really is put in the position of selling the show on their own. I just think if you went year by year, Taker's matches on a whole had more interest.

But this would just be false. Cena hasn't been in the main event since WrestleMania XXIX when he was against Rock, but hb2k broke it down pretty obviously for you. If you want to credit Undertaker for carrying against Triple H, then you also have to give the nod to Cena for carrying against Rusev and Bray Wyatt as well.

"If you take away the Rock programs." That's like saying "If you take away Austin's WrestleMania programs with The Rock, he only really beat Shawn Michaels and had one great match with Bret Hart."

I'm also not sure the streak was entirely a good thing. I believe a lot of money was left on the table in order to preserve it and keep a worked streak looking impressive, often making sure that rising talent couldn't get a big win they needed in order to keep the wheel rolling. And it doesn't just extend to Undertaker. Generally guys take a dive at WrestleMania, and I can't help but feel there is something to do with win-loss records going on there, because there isn't an organic reason a guy like Mark Henry should beat Ryback at WrestleMania.