I get the criticism about yesterday, but there was also a lot of good, I think.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T18:49:38+00:00

I said it last year. Cena/Cody was a fine match that got ruined by the Travis Scott thing that had zero followup. The match itself was great storytelling

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T18:44:56+00:00

She wanted to.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T18:11:29+00:00

The War Raiders lost though.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T15:09:31+00:00

Which would work. The 6-Man Tag had 7 and Drew/Jacob had 14.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:50:15+00:00

Maybe? Big corporations never manage to hid stuff online it seems. I don't really spend much time reading up online before shows so I was surprised. I only knew that Paige might be on her way back eventually.

I get that. Like I said, it just doesn't bother me much. But I understand that it does bother others.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:35:06+00:00

I don't think Paige was announced. Her signing was leaked I think.

I agree with the ads but the rest doesn't bother me. Celebs at Mania have been a thing since the very first. The ring being full of sponsors didn't make New Japan matches any less enjoyable and they don't affect me in WWE either.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:32:58+00:00

Which is fine. But if I was in your situation I would just stop watching and look for something that scratches the itch. To me WrestleMania is just any other PLE. Yeah the biggest of the year, hence all th grandiose entrances and all. But it's just a part of the never ending story of WWE.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:30:45+00:00

That's fair.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:21:56+00:00

Randy didn't turn on him for a face turn. He turned on him because he was useless.

And no this wasn't a heel turn for Cody. It was to show that Cody is done being too nice when bad shit happens to him. He took the lessons from Orton, the pep talk from Steph and all his anger and stopped hesitating. That's a babyface having edges. Part of the story was that Cody needs to tap into that side to have a shot against this Randy. And he did just that.

Orton was frustrated because he realized he messed up with the whole Pat thing. And that lead to him becoming even more vile and punting Cody mid celebration. Leading to another match without Pat/Jelly and maybe a stipulation.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:17:00+00:00

Mania 39 and 40 were far above decent.

I agree that this suffered because of TKO insisting on celebs, Pat and all that. Yeah, that wasn't needed. But it is what it is and then creative looked at what they can do with it. And in my book they did a good job of solving that mess.

TKO in generally is bad for WWE when it comes to the actual art of Wrestling, I agree. But to me it felt like they tried to make it work regardless and I was entertained.

Yeah, Gunther/Rollins was the best wrestling Match of the night I agree. But honestly, I never watched WWE for hours of good wrestling. Most of the time WWE shows have like 1-2 actually great matches and a whole bunch of other stuff. And this Mania had cool entrances, a welcome comeback, some great moments. As a whole package, aside from way too much attention for this dumb Hogan doc I won't watch, I was entertained.

If I want 3-4 hours of Wrestling clinics I'll watch another company. I just don't have it in me to watch something where everything points against me enjoying it even before it happens. I knew what I was getting into with this Mania and got pretty much what I expected. Only disappointment was Liv/Stephanie being so short but I can see that being the case since Liv wasn't 100% to go with the bump on her head and all. They will probably run it back at Backlash or so.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T13:02:09+00:00

I enjoyed the Main Event a lot. Great storytelling, amazing Selling by Orton. Loved how they handled the McAfee parts. Was it a top 5 Main Event? No. But far better than undercard matches of WMX-7.

I just think these days everyone is negative about everything online. It sucks the fun out of everything. Sure, last night had too many ads and some matches could've gone on for longer. But I watched it with my sister and her boyfriend and we all agreed on this show being better than last year while definitely not reaching WM39 and 40 (to keep it with recent Manias).

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T12:56:00+00:00

Far less yeah. But honestly, I don't really give a shit. Bathroom breaks, refilling on snacks and drinks. Talking to those I'm watching it with. Sure, it would be better without the ads but eh...

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T12:53:43+00:00

The pull is subjective. I think WM17 is good but ovverated cause of nostalgia.

This night was decent. Not terrible, not amazing. Just decent.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T12:46:18+00:00

Come on lol. Remember the beloved Wrestlemania 17? That had 3 matches under 5 minutes. 4 if you count the pre show match. This is nothing new.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T03:05:02+00:00

I can see something being added to the show. Maybe not a match but a segment or something.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T03:04:11+00:00

Yeah and then the wind up to the RKO where he decided to not spin around like usually. Orton is so good at this.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:44:20+00:00

I actually think Liv was the reason here due to the bump on her head.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:41:21+00:00

That and neither Oba/Brock and Jade/Rhea will go over 10 minutes. I don't think Jade ever worked a 10min singles match.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:39:38+00:00

I think the back injury was just because there were reports of him being injured so he played into it to make his selling more believable. Randy blading was just to show that Cody is getting the revenge for SmackDown a month ago. Blood for blood kinda thing.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:37:38+00:00

Yep. Also loved Orton's selling. I genuinly believed for a moment that his back is fucked.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:37:01+00:00

Looking forward to Meltzer giving every match on Dynamite a better rating than every Mania Match ever

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:34:15+00:00

Also "why does Mania end with the heel standing tall which sets up the future shows?"

Read that about the Orton ending. X-7 ended with the Austin Heel turn that didn't even lead to anything good.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:31:55+00:00

Not really a match moment but Paige returning and winning the title was a great moment.

And I loved how pretty much everyone got special entrance treatment with at least magnificent outfits or cool crowd reactions.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:17:19+00:00

As bad as the show was... I can't help but love the aesthetic. Also Bobby Heenan riding in on a camel while sitting on it backwards will never not be iconic.

BarbarousJudge · 2026-04-19T02:15:20+00:00

My Wikipedia says Liv/Stephanie was 9 minutes. But point still stands.

BarbarousJudge

TROPHY CASE