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WrestleMania 29 Reviewed!

You could tell Vince wanted to let the guys on the card sell WrestleMania this year, rather than celebrities and spectacle. Sure, The Rock is one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but he wasn’t presented as a special attraction this year, he was just a part of the show. Brock Lesnar is one of the biggest athletes in the world, but he wasn’t presented as “UFC Champion Brock Lesnar” like he was at Extreme Rules, he was just “Brock Lesnar: Jimmy John’s enthusiast.” This method of presentation perhaps didn’t work as well as it could have - presenting a straight wrestling show for a die-hard wrestling crowd seemed like a good idea - but it wasn’t a bad show. It was a weird one during a weird moment in the WWE canon…

Full review in the link.

It’s not every year, but it’s not unusual for WrestleMania to have a theme: WrestleMania 23 was “All Grown Up,” In 2005, WrestleMania went “Hollywood,” and WrestleMania 14 was “X-Raided” as we entered the Attitude Era. These themes usually go with a cute series of vignettes or something to signal a shift in presentation, but rarely do they influence the actual matches. WrestleMania 29’s matches, however, seem to have a theme of their own: redemption.

We heard John Cena talk about it Monday night on Raw, he insists that since losing to The Rock, he’s had the worst year of his life. We can argue the merits of that since he continued to be the focal point of the company, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, Michael Jordan was still the face of basketball even if he didn’t win a championship that year, but the notion is that losing to The Rock has prevented him from cementing his legacy as the greatest WWE Superstar in history. The Rock doesn’t really have anything to prove against Cena, he beat him decisively last year and ended the 434-day title reign of the guy who had Cena’s number, but Cena needs it. If Cena doesn’t win this time, that’s it, he’s done it all, except this, it becomes a massive asterisk on the career that defined the last decade.

CM Punk is looking for redemption for losing the WWE Championship after a historic reign. He (rightfully) believes was screwed out of the title on two occasions by the current champion, who only won after some serious shenanigans in their current matches. But since John Cena put the kibosh on him getting into the main event of WrestleMania, he’ll do you one better and end your “precious streak.” Sure, winning the WWE Title match at WrestleMania can make you a legend, but ending The Undertaker’s streak? That makes you a god. WrestleMania is “The Showcase of the Immortals,” and if CM Punk can accomplish the impossible, his legendary title reign would only be a footnote on his already impressive record.

Triple H’s quest for redemption goes all the way back to July of 2011 when he was named the COO of WWE and his complete failure to properly run Monday Night Raw. His leadership (or lack thereof) caused the show to devolve to utter chaos, allowing for the installation of John Laurinaitis as General Manager, who gave into the ridiculous demands of the certifiable Brock Lesnar. Lesnar’s been seen sporadically in the last year, but when he makes an appearance, someone gets hurt and every drop of this blood is on Triple H’s hands. He could not keep this beast contained in April of 2012 and when he tried to get rid of him the old fashioned way at SummerSlam, he got his arm broken. It’s no secret Triple H’s career as a wrestler is in its twilight and his career as an executive got off on the wrong foot, so in order to end one chapter of his legacy and properly begin the next, he has to slay this dragon once and for all.

Not every Superstar will get his redemption come April 7, but these are the biggest names in the industry in some of the biggest matches of their careers on the biggest stage in all of wrestling. Streaks may end, careers may end, legacies may end, but each match is bound by a common thread, and before a single punch is even thrown, it’s something we can say we’ve never seen before.

WWE Raw - Feb 25, 2013

I’d appreciate it if you read my Raw review. 

Raw review

Read it.

So much for my happy ending

“Maybe it’s okay to be pissed when your guy loses or the guy you hate wins, that can be healthy. When it becomes ridiculous is when you allow that anger to overshadow a great show, like what’s happening with last night’s Rumble. It was a fantastic PPV, two solid opening matches, one of the best Rumbles in years and an awesome main event, don’t let the fact that the story didn’t cater to your specific tastes ruin what was a fun three-hour journey.”

WWE Royal Rumble 2013

I am not upset about Punk losing the belt, his record is set in stone and it’s possible it will never be duplicated, but I’m not surprised the Twittersphere does not agree with the decision. I’m already hearing the usual gripes that Cena doesn’t “need” the title, Rock vs. Cena doesn’t “need” to be for the belt, let guys who “need” it fight for the belt, etc.

I’m sorry, but the notion of someone not needing a title makes said title useless. That’s part of the problem with everyone else being a rung below the Cenas and Rocks of the world, them not “needing” the titles, makes the titles beneath them. If Rock and Cena II is the biggest match possible, then it needs to be for the belt, that elevates the title immensely, and eventually, the guy who beats one of them for it.

Bank Error

I haven’t watched a PPV since Extreme Rules and I had every intention of watching Money in the Bank, but I totally forgot last night was the season premiere of Breaking Bad. Sorry, WWE, you just can’t compete with Walter White’s final season.

It doesn’t sound like I missed much though, everything sounds perfectly acceptable, but there’s absolutely nothing here that sounds must-see like last year’s MITB. Last year we had Punk’s glorious character shift and the future of WWE hanging in the balance, Daniel Bryan’s shocking win in the Smackdown MITB and Del Rio fulfilling his destiny (again) on Raw.

While all of those things wound up being disappointing - I suppose you could make the case for Bryan, although I’d say he became way more interesting when he lost the title - it made for a fantastic PPV. Here we get Ziggler fulfilling his destiny (again, again, again, again, again), Punk staying on top and Cena winning the briefcase. There’s nothing wrong with Ziggler winning MITB, he’s certainly earned it and should make a great foil for Sheamus and there’s nothing wrong with Punk staying on top, just 41 more days and he’ll have the longest non-Cena reign since Diesel, but there’s no buzz like there was last year. Can’t buzz all the time, I suppose.

But Cena winning the briefcase is massively stupid. I like Cena, I’ve never seriously used the phrase “Super Cena” in my life, and I’m more than okay with him reentering the title picture after almost a year out of it. But the MITB briefcase? Dumb. And pointless. And dumb. 

The only cool thing that will come out of Cena’s time as Mr. Money in the Bank is that we’ll most likely see it cashed in for a proper match. Cena’s not going to cash-in when someone’s at their most vulnerable, so we’ll probably see him pull an RVD at SummerSlam and give us a rematch of last year’s main event. But even that’s pointless, Cena doesn’t need a briefcase to make that happen, he could walk up to Punk tonight and say “hey man, let’s fight,” the match would be set and it would be totally acceptable.

The WWE Title MITB would’ve been better off with any other guy in that match… okay, except Kane, no one wants to see that. But Big Show’s doing some of the best work of his career, Jericho invented the concept and could have so much fun with it and The Miz could’ve got a MUCH needed boost after a year of decline.

My only thought on how this works is if The Rock does in fact win the WWE Championship.That would be interesting and The Rock would be the only person Cena would screw over if he was in a vulnerable position since they have this whole Borden vs. Angier rivalry going on anyway.

Still, all this would mean CM Punk has to lose the WWE Title, and I’m not ready for that to happen yet.

Extreme Rules 2012 review

Hey, I wrote a review for the best PPV since Money in the Bank 2011… you should read it.

Kick-Out!! Radio is BACK!

After nearly a year off the air, Kick-Out!! Radio returns! Give it a listen, reblog, tell your friends! 

Dream Matches

Brock Lesnar’s return and The Rock upgrading his status to part-time has opened many doors for potential dream matches in WWE. Vote in our new poll to tell us which one you want to see most. 

WWE Raw - April 2, 20--OMG BROCK LESNAR, YOU GUYS!

The Five Count: WrestleMania 28

My five favorite moments from WrestleMania 28

WrestleMania 28 review

There have been worse WrestleManias that will be remembered for just one match. Unfortunately for WWE, that one match was not the one being billed as “the biggest match in history.”

Team Rock vs. Team Cena

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The final Raw before WrestleMania

“Don’t tell any doctors I said this, but at this point in the situation the bus pretty much drives itself.” - Abed Nadir, Community S02E22: “Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts”