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Kane/Khali was ok for what it was but the bodyslam was impressive, Melina/Ashley was the crapfest that we all thought/new it would be. The ECW 8 man tag was good back and forth but was done quickly and felt like it was just thrown out there for quick filler even after all the build up all though having the originals win was nice and seeing Tommy Dreamer so emotional was awesome .Benoit/MVP was a good bout and Chris mad MVP look great in there yeah MVP may be new/young but he is a rising star and tonight he showed he was a good wrestler.
The 2 championship matches were good as well Taker is 15-0 and Batista is without his gold now whether he is without for long or not only time will tell but you could see Taker had to carry him a bit and as for his comment that he and taker were going to be Savage/Steamboat from WM3 he must be smoking something. Cena/Michaels was good but it just seemed to me that even Michaels was carrying John to a good match but not as good as some of Michaels other matches. I still think they should have of had John lose the title and win it back at Backlash.
Quick notes the dance thing was funny, quick and we all enjoyed seeing the legends in their gimmick roles Slick, IRS, Slaughter, and Ricky Steamboat was great and for the quick laugh it was perfect. The crowd was great but I thought a few time u could hear when fake crowd noise was piped in especially for Batista's entrance and boy did the crowd crap all over anything Batista did, some of Cena's moves and went dead during the divas match. Why they didn't have 1-2 more matches on the card I don't know but damn with all the talent out in the lumber jack match not doing anything they should have of had the battle royal on the show and I don't care Flair/Carlito should have wrestled in a match not the dark match with only the highlights being given to us. 7 star PPV out of 10
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Wrestlemania 23 was an average show at best. Quite possibly a slightly above average show for a Raw or Smackdown weekly show.
The MITB match was in my opinion the highlight of the show. The spot with Hardy and Edge was fantastic, and all and all between the humor and the action the match was great. The ending of the MITB match could have been stronger though.
Chris Benoit vs. MVP: This was nothing more than a weekly Smackdown match. MVP brings nothing to the table. It was such a shame that Benoit, with all his talent, was put into a match such as this one. Hey, at least he was on the PPV.
Kane vs. Khali: This made Boogeyman vs. Booker T last year look like a classic. Pointless and painful to watch.
ECW New Breed vs. ECW Originals: To not have Ric Flair on television, but put this garbage on was unreal. RVD was great as usual, but the New Breed was hard to watch. This match belonged on a regular Tuesday show (maybe).
Melina vs. Ashley: Trish Stratus is missed greatly. Mickie James or Victoria would have been a much better choice than Ashley. Melina put in a great effort, but Ashley needs to stick to being eye candy.
Batista vs. Undertaker: Undertaker never ceases to amaze me. The man gets better with time. Batista looked better than usual, but that was thanks to the Undertaker. Solid match, and it seemed to bring the crowd to life for the first time since MITB. Great to see the Phenom as champ again.
McMahon vs. Trump: No shocker at the result, but a fun match none the less. Lashley and Umaga put in a great effort. A man the size of Umaga should not be able to pull off some of the moves that he performed. How does it reflect the talent roster when Shane McMahon can come out once or twice a year and put in a better performance than half the roster does all year? Stone Cold was "same old, same old" but fun to watch. The Stunner on Trump was botched, but I have to give the man credit for getting involved at all.
Michaels vs. Cena: The best singles match of the night. The close falls were entertaining and the pile driver on the stairs was unreal. Both men have a definite passion for the business. Though I am personally tired of Cena, his shtick, and him being the champion, I must give credit where credit is due. He is a top shelf performer and definitely should be in the spotlight.
Overall the show was at best a 5 out of 10. The crowd reaction seemed very quiet throughout most of the event. This may be in part to the size of the building and crowd, but the lackluster card did not help. I personally hope that the WWE works hard at developing feuds, enhancing their younger talent and building an overall better product. After a HHH-less Wrestlemania, you can quickly see how badly he was missed. Hopefully 24 will be much better.
Tom Chicago
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I thought the show was average to good but the booking was horrible.
The MITB match was a decent match with some good bumps but I didn't think it was as good as the first two. My question is why did they have Edge in the match if knew he was injured (I gather the ladder spot was an injury angle) and the people in the match I thought only 3 people could win it and one of them did.
Kane vs Khali. Well why couldn't they have had this on a Raw or Smackdown? Its about time they Kane a push he's been jobbing to all and sundry recently. And did I really hear Jim Ross say Khali has never been knocked down? He obviously never watched the last man standing match against Taker.
Benoit vs MVP I'm not the greatest Benoit fan as you know what your going to get . Chops German suplex, Sharpshooter, Flying headbutt and crossface. But it was a decent match all the same with MVP showing some good counters.
Batista Vs Taker was a good bout with Taker carrying Batista for the most part with Batista showing some skill. But why in the blue hell was this match on so early? I thought it would have been the last on as "send the fans home happy" I was happy that Taker won though although I did sense a Batista DQ as the match was on so early. Lets just hope he has the belt for longer a couple of months.
ECW New Breed vs Old Timers. I didn't actually watch a lot of this as I cracked open a beer. I wasn't really interested in who won as I don't watch ECW.
Lashley VS Umaga. This was better then I thought although nothing spectacular. It was obvious who would win and what would happen. You have got to hand it to Vince though as he isn't afraid to embarrass himself. But why do we always have the same Austin stuff? Its been the same for ages now I used to like Austin when he was wrestling but now its all the same stuff he does.
Wasn't there supposed to be Melina vs Ashley on the card? I blinked so I missed it. But seriously why? This match had no business at all been on Wrestlemania.
Cena VS HBK. This wasn't a bad match with a lot of near falls and the routine ref bump towards the end. I thought Cena would retain but am getting bored of him. I may be wrong but hasn't he been in EVERY WWE championship match except 1 since Mania 21? The funny thing was logging into IMDB after the match and reading all the Cena hate threads.
Overall 6/10.
James Duncan
Leeds, England
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I thought Mania tonight was just ok at best. Just your standard end of the season plain type of show. Nothing special, exciting, or surprising happened on the show which I think was a huge disappointment. And with all the lighting and structure you couldn't even tell there was 80,000 people. I have no idea how they stretched out the show to 3-1/2 hours either. There were several very short matches. Except for Kennedy there was not interviews backstage whatsoever. Something Mania was always all about. The little backstage bit with them dancing was funny just to see some of the old timers.
The MITB match was the best match on the card but was way, way too short!! Only 20 minutes. It ended as it was just really starting to heat up. And with 8 guys in the bout I expected it to be at least 45 min. The other matches were just there, nothing special. Benoit I'm glad won, but the match looked out of place as though Benoit deserved better. Looked like a farewell type of match for him. Happy the ECW guys won, but again they were not showcased properly at all and this looked like a real jobber curtain jerker type of bout. The women's match was a disaster as expected. Kane-Khali was quick and really just a bad big man match. Umaga-Lashely had some nice spots in the match but was predictable. Taker-Batista wasn't bad and Undertaker pulled out all of the stops as he usually does. I thought Batista did what he could and held his own somewhat. HBK-Cena was a nice match but not as good as I thought it would be. But still a solid bout. I have no problem with Cena winning as he is the biggest star in the company right now, and at barely 30 could have a big future. Nice to see them continue building him into a bigger star. You could see tonight the comparison tonight between Cena and Batista. Batista's run comes to a halt as he loses to the future hall of famer, while Cena pulls off the huge win in the main event against the other future hall of famer for the second year in a row.
Overall I felt like this year they really dropped the ball - missing that star power, no surprises, no turns, no interviews, no backstage stuff, no comebacks. It did not feel like a true Wrestlemania.
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Wrestlemaina was a solid show as it always is but to tell you the truth I don't think this year Wrestlemania had that special moment. Don't get me wrong the show had it good spots but not what I consider a special Wrestlemania moment. First of all the WWE needs to shake up some of the matches they do as they are starting to count on past Special Moments to be Today special moment. For Example Kane slamming Khali. trying to make that a big spot like it was when Hogan slam Giant WWE should not even go down that road. Another example is I like the Money in the Bank match but does it always have to be A ladder match. First of all I think Ladder matches are kinder stale right now because it has that been their done that feel to it. Plus for a match like that to really pay off you need to do a lot of high risk moves. Moves that the WWE does not want to do or need to do anymore. I have to take the Detroit Crowed to task. Now they sold 80 thousand plus seat but the Crowed seem dead for much of the night. I mean this is Wrestlemania the crowed should be off the charts. I mean when HBK came out for the main event the Crowed gave him no pop at all. Cena did not get a pop either. They backed HBK during the match but I thought the crowed seemed bored for much of the night. I also found the order of the Matches Interesting. For example I was surprised that they had the Money in the Bank Ladder Match first. I would have had that match further down the card. I would have gotten the women's match or Kane Match out of the way. The Biggest shock came when they had Undertaker match at 8:21pm. I said cool they want to gives this match a lot of time. However they really did not give it a lot of time I would have given the Match another 5- 10 Minutes. Especially when I saw they had 15 minute gap at the end they were off the air by 10:40. Wrestlemania when IM paying $50 bucks they should be going right up to that 10:50 mark. I thought the money in the Bank was good. I really did not care who won this match and I knew someone fresh was going to win this match. Kane match was ok. typical Kane type match. Batista had his best match since he been in WWE. Undertake won the belt and that is right move because Undertake should have held the belt more when he was younger. I Know Vince and Trump were going to get a lot of time because of Trump. However I thought the whole thing was to long. First of all I never cared about this match because it was stupid from the word go. Why should anyone care if someone get their head shaved. Plus I don't think Vince got any extra PPV buys because of Trump. I think the Trump think was a bust even through Vince will Lie and tell you how great it was because he is friends with Trump. Chris Benoit in my opinion is not being used right. He should be used as a maineventer not as midcard, The women match was just was it is at every Wrestlemania a waste of air time. I have no problem watching women wrestle but can WWE teach Two of their Divas how to wrestle. The Main event was a solid match HBK had another solid match. But when I saw the way he dominated the first 10 minutes of the match I knew he was not going to win the Belt. I feel bad for HBK because he deserves a title run. He has Deserved it for sometime. I hope they give HBK the Belt if they have a rematch at the next PPV. The one thing that really surprised me was HBK Tapped out for the second time in three years at Wrestlemania. He did it two years ago at Wrestlemiana 21 with Kurt Angle. IM surprised he did not protest a Tap out ending. Wrestlemiana was solid. However this Will not go down as the best Wrestlemania of all time.
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The guy at ringside in the Pink shirt really pissed me off. That's really the only thing I can say abut the show. Worst mania since 11.
Bobby from Boston Mass
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First off, I want to say I HATE having commercials in a PPV. Was it worth $49.95?? Yeah, I suppose so. Very few surprises, but let's go in order.
The MITB match was fun. Seemed like CM Punk, Kennedy, & Orton were "off camera" a lot. If winning the match is so important, why did Booker take time out to spinaroonie when he had a clean shot at the briefcase?? Same goes for Jeff Hardy. He was a lock to reach the case, but instead decided to squish Edge. Kind of makes you wonder if they're going to start an Edge/Jeff Hardy feud, because - maybe - Orton will be taking a Sports Illustrated related vacation?? I don't know if being a wrestler gives you a depth perception problem, but some of these guys took a loooooong time to set up the ladder. After all, can't be reaching the case too quickly. Have to wait for someone to stop you just in the nick of time. Kennedy winning was no big surprise. He's the current golden boy and everyone had pretty much guessed he'd win. Kennedy did a backstage speech in typical heel mode. I'm the best, everyone watch out, etc etc.
Kane vs Khali was destined to suck, and it did live up to expectations. The crowd was confused. They didn't know if they should be tired, bored, or pissed. Eventually they just switched back and forth. Why did Khali tear apart a turnbuckle pad, and then do nothing with it?? Was he channeling George The Animal Steele?? Did you notice Kane & Khali yapping back and forth before the match?? And here I thought Khali didn't speak any English. Khali won because he's the big huge gigantoid monster who's destroying everyone and needs the push. And Kane - isn't. Don't tell Khali he was beaten by Undertaker a few months ago. He doesn't know. Not a lot of blood flows waaaaaay up to his brain.
The only comment I have about the Cryme Tyme dance segment is - there's something very wrong with seeing Sgt Slaughter trying to "get down".
MVP vs Benoit was ok. I guess MVP is the Red Power Ranger this week. At least he's not still bitching about being set on "fire". MVP got in more offense than I would've thought. I thought he might've had a chance at winning the title - most likely by cheating his ass off, but Benoit keeps his title via the Flying Headbutt Of Doom. Doing that move all these years has gotta hurt like hell.
Donald Trump is sitting with Tara Conner backstage. Boogeyman pops up from behind a couch. Tara freaks, but Donald just tells him to go grab a sandwich. Apparently nothing bothers The Donald.
The Hall Of Fame inductees were introduced.
Undertaker vs Batista w/Teddy Long doing the intros. Took Batista a good 2 minutes to get to the ring. He looked bored throughout the Undertaker's LOOOOOONG entrance, complete with torches and spooky chanting music. This match was much more about 'Takers unbeaten streak than him winning the title. All we hear about the Undertaker is how he's the Dead Man. He's immortal and indestructible. But he sure gets tired nowadays. The match goes back and forth and back and forth, but in the end, the streak remains unbroken, and we have a shiny new Smackdown champion. Wonder how long before he misses a taping??
The ECW originals defeated the New Breed. And as was predicted, did all the ECW wrestlers get individual entrances?? Mmmmmmnope.
And now on to the storyline from hell. The Battle of the Billionaires. Anyone reading this who is stupid enough to think Donald Trump would get his head shaved, go sit in the corner. The inevitable happened, with Vince becoming latest Kojak look alike, but it took a long time to get there. We had to deal with Austin being knocked out, Estrada getting taken down, Trump attacking McMahon, Shane McMahon interfering. Austin reviving, but getting knocked down again. Austin stunning Umaga and finally Lashley pinning Umaga. Whew. Of course Vince had to be chased down and stunned so he could be shaved. Think this is last we'll hear of this?? Oh no no. There's Monday Night Raw to deal with. And for those of you who don't think that Trump has a comb over, check out his hair when Austin stuns him. Part of his hair goes flying south, then back.
The women's title match. This could be filed under "what the hell was that??". Really bad match. Mercifully short. Under 5 minutes. Melina got the clean pin, and Ashley pushed her out of the ring after the fact, and actually got a little boo because she came off as a whiny sore loser. Melina got thrown back INTO the ring by the lumberjills, and soon everyone was fighting in the ring to a much bigger crowd reaction than the actual match ever got. And so help me, if I ever hear the phrase Playboy Cover Girl Ashley again, I swear I'm taking hostages.
And onto the main event. HBK comes to the ring, and Cena does too - eventually. A really stupidly long segment about a Ford Mustang driving the streets at night, until it makes it's way into the arena, crashes through the huge glass Wrestlemania pane, and Cena was driving. At least for the last 5 or 6 seconds. The match is about to get underway, when in front of God and everyone, some idiot jumps the rail, takes off his shirt, and gets into the ring. The ref intercepts him, and the camera concentrates on HBK & Cena, so we miss out on all the fun. Hey - if this idiot wants to take on Michaels or Cena so much, let him. It'd be most entertaining to have him get the crap kicked out of him. The crowd chants Na na na na hey hey goodbye as Michaels sits on the turnbuckle and waves bye bye. Okay. Remember a year or 2 ago at Wrestlemania where Cena gets beaten from pillar to post by JBL for the longest time?? Same thing here. Cena couldn't catch a break. HBK goes to work on Cena's knee with the logic that if he can't stand up - no FU. I guess the logic of no stand up, no way to apply sweet chin music escaped Michaels. But Michaels did everything to that knee but amputate, and I guess there was a televangelist in the crowd, because after Cena got his second wind, his knee was a-healed!! It was a terrific match. We had a few FU's, a few submissions, some sweet chin musics, even one to the ref - oops. But - in the end, Michaels had to tap out.
I dunno - on a scale of 1 to 10 - I'd give at 7.5.
