Hello all you happy people. Finally back from WrestleMania in New York...and I don't care WHAT people thought of the show, I had a DAMN good time!
Now, match by match observations from yours truly. And first...everyone around me was jealous of the Harlem Boys Choir...actually allowed to get in the ring. And how many of them are even really wrestling fans anyway?
- Cena was DAMN over...maybe just because he had the first match, but still. When Big Show was doing his slow, methodical wrestling...a fun "YOU'RE NOT ANDRE" chant broke out from where I was. I personally liked how they actually had Big Show "Toughen Up" from the first F-U...and the chain/knucks spot was classic.
- Well, to those who were wondering how the GMs would make the show...there you go. Bischoff's first WrestleMania, ladies and gents!
- It's lucky that Orton had Flair near him...cause that's the majority of the reaction he got...the WHOOS for Flair. There were some boos around where I was for Orton though (TAKE THAT, SAULT! )
- Well, guess WWE didn't want to make TRUE Fatal Four Ways with Tag Teams, huh? At least were I was sitting, the Dudleyz were more over than the combination of Booker T and RVD...except for the fact the entire arena pretty much did "Sing Along With RVD's Name" when he came out...and after he and the Book won. By the way...has Booker been banned from doing the Spinaroonie anymore or something? That pissed me off.
- Glad to see Mean Gene and Heenan made the show. NOT glad to see Mae Young though...even if it was a fun interlude segment.
- Jericho got a good face reaction from the crowd. Though a lot of us were wondering what was up with Christian's tights tonight. Nice to see Christian bust out a few new moves...and I marked big time for him using the Texas Cloverleaf. Oh...and Slutty, evil Trish >>>>>> Face Trish ANYDAY IMO.
- HURRICANE AND ROSEY MADE MANIA...sorta. To coin a term, the crowd was ELECTRIC for the Rock and Sock Connection...despite opinions of them here.
- OK...I may get some flak for this...but I really liked the Handicap match. It wasn't the greatest wrestling classic, of course...but seeing Rock and Flair mix it up...as well as Foley beating up his old boss was cool too. Yes...most of the enjoyable parts of the match, at least to me...were when Flair was in the ring. Though...Orton's Mania RKO I think was his best yet.
- Besides some people being upset that Kane didn't come out to attack Pete Rose, we all had fun with the Hall of Fame ceremony thing that they did. The only one that got a negative reaction was, of course, Pete Rose. By the way...Jesse's beard...I don't what's weirder...him with that beard, or no facial hair at all.
- The one thing I'll say about the "Evening Gown Match"...best line of the night from the crowd...."WASTE OF TIME!"
- Nice to see that they sorta remember Eddie and Benoit's friendship for the show. Of course, they DID fail to mention when Benoit and Eddie were on opposite teams against each other back in late 2002 for the WWE Tag Titles...but hey, beggers can't be choosers in that situation. Oh, and thankfully, Benoit FINALLY got his own shirt again.
- Cruiserweight open was too short, but fun while it lasted. I do feel sorry for Ultimo though...on the biggest stage of them all...he trips while making his entrance. What is he, Goldberg now?
- Hoo boy...speaking of Goldberg...here we go. If you thought the negative chants to Goldberg and Lesnar were loud on TV...you NEED to have been their live. It's like we were watching Hitler and Satan in the ring there. "You Sold Out", "Goldberg Sucks", "Boring"...the match had all of that and more. Hell, a fight in the balcony between someone dressed as Hulk Hogan and another dressed like Randy Savage got more attention than the match in the ring. That should tell Vince something right there, next time he wants to have a match. Let's just hope it doesn't tell him to actually book Hogan/Savage for Mania 21. Oh...and the best sign of the night IMO: picture of Brock Lesnar wearing a Tu Tu...and just the word QUITTER under it. That, plus the "Nah Nah Nah Nah" song made that match more enjoyable than it should have been.
- Well, West Coasters...you got your WrestleMania next year. Be Happy. A lot of the fans at the arena booed that.
- FYI...the reason that they had Vince come out and do the "Thank You" to the fans? They were replacing the ring apron that was soaked with Austin's beer. That's the ONLY reason that they did it, if you ask me.
- Why is it that at both Smackdown and WrestleMania...I get a view where I have to look at Rikishi's ass!? Also...why TWO "sudden death" fatal four ways? That's just overkill...at least they should have had ONE be elimination. Then again, they also should have had the World's Greatest Tag Team win...and we saw how THAT turned out.
- Jesse doing an interview was fun. Pointless, but fun.
- ...Poor Molly. Poor, poor Molly. And I'm not alone in that boat either, a good portion of the people around me were calling "Bullshit" on Victoria's win...as they were all Molly fans too. Still...here's hoping that they give her compensation for what they had her do there.
- Angle and Eddie had one of the contenders for Match of the Night, in my honest opinion. That's what a WWE Championship match should be about...well, maybe save for the ending. Interesting chants going on in this match (one I could be wrong about...might have been last match)...the Australlian's doing their "Aussie Aussie Aussie" thing...then the "LET'S GO ANGLE...ANGLE SUCKS!" chant. The second of which TOTALLY threw me off the wall...as it was so...confusing. Oh, and nice to see Eddie do a more...well...legal form of cheating tonight.
- Again, you may not agree...but the Taker/Kane match was mark-out city for me. Even before Undertaker came out, I marked for how the city setting on the screens on the entryway were on fire during Kane's entrance...marked BIG time for Paul Bearer...laughed a bit when the technicians had to keep using a fire extinguisher on the flames the druids were carrying...and went 1994 Mark Out Mode when Taker came out. I kinda like the new look...but he REALLY needs to grow the hair out more if he can. Otherwise, VERY fun there.
- Last but not least, the BIGGEST mark out of the night: The ascencion of the Crippler to Immortality. I'd say the crowd was 15% Michaels, 5% HHH, and the rest was ALL Benoit. Though, there was a point in the match where an HBK chant DID break out. Still though, we all were BEGGING and PLEADING for Benoit to win. I lost my voice yelling "TAP OUT, YOU BITCH!" at HHH when Benoit got the crossface on HHH. The chant you heard near the end was, if you hadn't guessed..."Tap! Tap! Tap!" And it felt EUPHORIC in there when Benoit won the gold. Hell, I was hugging guys I just met that night in cellebration for some odd reason, because I was so happy. That was the best way to finish Mania XX, if you ask me. Especially since I got to keep the confetti that shot out.
All in all, that was one of the most fun shows I've been to...even more fun than the Royal Rumble was. Order the replay, buy the DVD...this show is a keeper!
And to the cinics who said it wouldn't happen...HAH! BENOIT MADE HHH TAP LIKE THE BITCH HE IS!
...sorry, had to say that.
