Post Mania Thoughts?

[Spek1]

Well one match turned out better than I expected ((Team Teddy vs Team Johnny wasn't a total train wreck) and everything else was about equal to what I expected... except of course Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan. Sure it might make sense in the continuing storyline, but it was definitely not what you wanted to see on "the grandest stage of them all." The crowd seemed to agree, as I heard "Daniel Bryan" chants all the way up to the Taker/HHH match.

Really interested to see what the fallout will be tonight in regards to Rock and Cena.

[Fanatix]

The show had a slow start but halfway through it PICKED UP BIG TIME.

The "End of an Era" match was fantastic. One of the most brutal matches since the PG era began by three of the most brutal competitors in WWE history. Shawn having an emotional breakdown as these two tried to kill eachother was enthralling. This was not a wrestling masterpiece. There were headbuts, punches, finishers and thats about it in terms of real wrestling moves. But they told the story of the night in the ring.

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho truly did prove who the best wrestler in the world is on April 1, 2012. This match had a great pace with lots of back and forth and really packing the 30 minute time they had with every move in their aresnal. CM Punk winning was the biggest doubt I had about the card but I think WWE made the right decision giving him a big win at wrestlemania. Especially considering how the "face of the company" fared in the next match.

John Cena vs The Rock was an absolute classic, elevated by the electric crowd. It lasted longer than I expected and both men looked gassed at the end from dragging their opponents 250+ lb. body around the ring. It took a slow methodical pace, but the story really came through of how both men kept powering out of the others moves. But the story going forward is the big suprise that the Rock won! And the dejected look on Cena's face after the match was like nothing we've seen before. Rock and WWE had better have some plans together to build off the win.

I give the show an 8/10. The three main events delivered big time and produced matches that will be on "best of" WWE DVD's for years to come.

[Craig Reade]

Overall, it was good. Much better than the Royal Rumble I thought.

Bryan vs. Sheamus was offensive. This was a $65 PPV - I wanted to see a match. Having Bryan job like that not only buries him, but it rips me off. I don't care what kind of story they come up with - Wrestlemania is supposed to be about the matches first.

Orton vs Kane could have been worse, I suppose - but it was still something of a yawner. A one month feud does that. Surprised Kane won that one.

I was kind of disappointed by the result of the IC match. Cody looked good - but Show holding the IC belt does nothing for him. And they were so close to the point where they could start mentioning Cody challenging Honky Tonk's reign.

The divas match was fairly poor. A tip for the WWE - don't have your celebrity guest star wear white pant and do a stink-face on someone covered with bronzer. It looked like she shat herself the whole match. But then that was the most entertaining thing about that match.

Team Teddy vs Team Johnny was what it was - I just couldn't get into it. Glad Miz got the pin, but this really should have been done elimination style.

Taker vs. HHH was outstanding - a totally different match than last year. Last year it was power move, both rest the entire match after the first 5 minutes. I could have done without Sean Michaels - especially him getting in the way all the time. OK, if he wanted to grab the sledge when Taker was going to Gallagher his head, ok. But the chairs? It's a hell-in-the-cell match. That shit's legal.

Jericho and Punk was also outstanding. I am starting to believe that Jericho will be gone again soon as well.

Rock vs. Cena was an outstanding match, despite Cena bringing the same shit to the match he does every time. vs. Punk he showed he could do more, but he still didn't bring that here? Rock was his usual self, and delivered an outstanding match, despite the ring rust.

[Nelodius]

**My commentary on Craig's commentary in bold**

Overall, it was good. Much better than the Royal Rumble I thought. I too thought it was a great overall card.

Bryan vs. Sheamus was offensive. This was a $65 PPV - I wanted to see a match. Having Bryan job like that not only buries him, but it rips me off. I don't care what kind of story they come up with - Wrestlemania is supposed to be about the matches first. Exactly. They say he has a herniated disc but even if he can't compete use a device or something. An 18-second squashjob is absolute bulldonkey.

Orton vs Kane could have been worse, I suppose - but it was still something of a yawner. A one month feud does that. Surprised Kane won that one. I'm not sure this feud is over folks.

I was kind of disappointed by the result of the IC match. Cody looked good - but Show holding the IC belt does nothing for him. And they were so close to the point where they could start mentioning Cody challenging Honky Tonk's reign. Precisely. At this point Show should ONLY be putting folks over. If you can't use him for that, take him out of the ring or release him from the company. This is just sad. Worse than when Kane held the IC title.

The divas match was fairly poor. A tip for the WWE - don't have your celebrity guest star wear white pant and do a stink-face on someone covered with bronzer. It looked like she shat herself the whole match. But then that was the most entertaining thing about that match. I decline comment.

Team Teddy vs Team Johnny was what it was - I just couldn't get into it. Glad Miz got the pin, but this really should have been done elimination style. I'm more bugged by how this ended than who won. Eve was going to be a factor but they could have done this differently.

Taker vs. HHH was outstanding - a totally different match than last year. Last year it was power move, both rest the entire match after the first 5 minutes. I could have done without Sean Michaels - especially him getting in the way all the time. OK, if he wanted to grab the sledge when Taker was going to Gallagher his head, ok. But the chairs? It's a hell-in-the-cell match. That shit's legal. Still the best match of the card.

Jericho and Punk was also outstanding. I am starting to believe that Jericho will be gone again soon as well. Second best match on the card (and not by much). Good call having Punk win. This version of heel Jericho I could really do without. That being said, they worked the S*** out of that mat in the match.

Rock vs. Cena was an outstanding match, despite Cena bringing the same shit to the match he does every time. vs. Punk he showed he could do more, but he still didn't bring that here? Rock was his usual self, and delivered an outstanding match, despite the ring rust. My issue with this match is that The Rock defeated Booker T for the WCW Championship at SummerSlam 2001 using the PRECISE SAME DEVICE. For a match with a year's hype, you needed to do something different, something new. Beyond that, I'm cool with it.

Wrestlemania gets a solid 7/10 for me. Not mind-blowing but still a great card.

And all the extras sucked donkey scrotum.

[Doug Norris]

My thoughts....

Sheamus vs Bryan: This match had very little to offer to begin with. The way that they've built Sheamus as a BuzzSaw Face and Bryan as a Gimic Heel, left it with only two places it could go. Explosive and Methodical. I think most people knew this from the get go. Like Craig said, I do not believe matches like this have any place on the Card when it comes to this particular PPV. Now having said that, by the time we got to the Taker vs HHH match and I saw how long the 'Main Events' were going to be? My tune changed and I became, though grudgingly, fine with this. It sets up Sheamus, it defines Bryan, it made room for the other Main Events. I suspect this in the long run setup an actual feud between them. At least that's my hope. [ 1/5 Stars. ]

Kane vs Orton: Rare disagreement with Craig here for me. I liked this match. It was a surprisingly entertaining match for me. I have been down on Orton and Kane for months now. Particularly Kane since how does a Monster never win a Meaningful Match remain a Monster. This win sets Kane up as a threat to anyone. Orton's loss may in fact give him something to have heat about to push forward with. I suspect we'll see more of this one too. [ 3/5 Stars. ]

Divas Match: Useless match. So useless I made Nachos, with hamburger and cheese, with jalapenos, lettuce, tomato... during it and missed nothing. [ Someone owes me a star. ]

Johnny vs Teddy: Did Otunga even get in the match? Did anyone miss him? Does anyone care? I didn't. Predictable Match, Predictable Ending. An elimination styled match would have at least provided each star with in-ring time. [ 1/5 Stars. ]

Show vs Cody: I do not agree with the idea of Show's career being over, except for as a glorified jobber. The Man is an attraction and a popular one at that. When they were teasing him going heel after his loss to Daniel Bryan? -I- was genuinely intrigued with it. I think Show could be used in meaningful ways, that aren't just as glorified jobber extraordinary. That being said, he had no business winning this Match. It does nothing for him, it does something for Rhodes... in that it buries him, if they don't have him bounce right back with something Huge. That being said this match itself was entertaining, and surprising. [ 2/5 Stars. ]

Taker vs HHH: It was the Match of the Night last year, it was Match of the Night this year. Great story, epic performance. It showed that last year's match was one gear and these two men still have a second gear to take it too. I personally hope the Taker doesn't retire, because I liked the mesh of "American Bad Ass" with "Dead Man" that he put on show last night. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more of that in the future. But if he does retire, he's going out right. This Match is Match of the Year candidate #1. [ 5/5 Stars. ]

Rock vs Cena: Oh, boy. I had such worries about this match not living up to the Hype, but it managed to. My only complaint was that John Cena did nothing to showcase the fact he has more than 9 Moves of Doom. If ever was the spot to show the skillset he pulled out against CM Punk, this was the truly grandest stage of them all. I saw a bit of ring rust on Rock, but not much ( I saw more on Taker than Rock, ironically ). The ending surprised me. Never did I think WWE would let Rock actually win. I hoped they would and turn Cena, but I didn't think they'd allow Rock to win without some sort of twist. [ 5/5 Stars. ]

Punk vs Jericho: This is where I take a major departure from everyone else who's posted so far. I did not care for this match. The wrestling was okay, but once more Jericho missed numerous spots. Even his Lionsault that he did land, hit Punk's ankles/shins. He telegraphed a lot of his moves, like Punk's springboard clothesline where he visibly leaped upwards to cushion the blow before Punk was even in flight. The start of the match where he was pulling a Christian vs Orton like 'slap him till he loses control' gimic was ill played and a blatant rip-off... oh-wait... isn't Jericho against rip offs? If this match was billed as anything other than who is the "Best Wrestler in the World," then I wouldn't be so critical. I gave the Rock a pass for his own missed spots, but you can't conceivably claim you're the Best and then miss more spots than a Sin Cara match. [ 4/5 Stars. ]

Overall Show: I cannot recall the last time that I personally gave a Wrestlemania two different matches a five star rating. With three matches having at least four stars, this is easily the best Wrestlemania since the Stone Cold Era. I did not walk away from this PPV feeling my money was wasted or my time should be refunded and I didn't feel that it was a One Match PPV. So I'm giving this show 4 out of 5 stars. If you edit this for DVD and remove the Diva Match, but add in the Tag Title match from the Pre-Show? I'd give this a full five stars. Unfortunately, the Divas owe this Wrestlemania a Star. [ 4/5 Stars. ]

[Spek1]

One thing I have to add: Jim Ross used what must've been the adjective of his career when he described Undertaker's "carcinogenic right hands"

[Fanatix]

Holy Cow! What a Raw!

Apparently every ROH fan thats ever lived were able to sell out the American Airlines Arena in Miami and made Daniel Bryan the story of the show (at least until Lesnar returned). Its a shame that Sheamus, who has been working just as hard as Bryan and in 99% of arenas is one of the most over young stars in the company, became the focal point of their anger at the bookers for the decision to cut Sheamus vs Bryan so short.

[Nelodius]

I think the AA Arena fans will eventually forgive Shaemus...they couldn't boo WWE brass so Shaemus took that fall. That was a serious RAW though. Some things I took from it:

1) Cody has been buried. He'll be doing spots like Alex Riley (@throwing him to A-Train)
2) The Miz is on the come-up back.
3) I think Sheamus is going to lose his title. Quickly.
4) Is The Rock really going to show up enough for a WWE Championship Run? I don't think so.
5) Cena has to turn heel at some point. After Punk, Kane, Rock, and Brock all bullying him he has to turn his back on the crowd at some point. The WWE'verse is helping him out with that anyway.

[Spek1]

Best overall Raw in a long time. The crowd really made that show.

Kinda iffy on teaming Mark Henry up with Abraham Washington. Henry doesn't need a mouthpiece; his trash talking throughout his match with Punk was gold.

Is Brodus ready for his first feud? A comedy feud, yes, but hey, Ziggler and Swagger are treated as jokes these days

Zack Ryder is such a schmoe now.

This was the wrong crowd to debut A-Train.

[Spek1]

Looks like RAW has gone back to the weak sauce.

While bloodying Cena was awesome, I think they are moving to a PPV match much too quickly. Plus I hate that Laurinaitis is involved in this feud in any way, shape or form.

Ryder, Ziggler, Swagger, Truth, Kofi, Rhodes, the entire mid card is a joke. And the ones that AREN'T jokes are the comedy characters.

No Daniel Bryan, a week after YES! chants overflow the WWE and start spilling out into other sports? Failure supreme.

Where was Abraham Washington this week, or is the thing with Henry dead already?

Lord Tensai will be gone or back to Albert by Summerslam. That's just a timeframe, by the way, we won't actually be on SummerSlam.