I just got back from wrestlemania at the skydome

[Guest art_vandelay]

When I arrived at the entrance gate at 5pm, it was already packed.  People showed off their signs to each other and everything.  It was really windy and cold as well.  There was a stare-down between this dude in a Rock vinyl mask and a Hogan impersonator.  Pretty funny stuff, and good to pass the time.  Even outside, chants of “Die Rocky Die” and “Rocky sucks” began within the crowd.  Big pops for various pro-Hogan signs and flags.

 

When we finally got into the Dome at around 6:00, I looked for my seat and was a little disappointed at the set.  It looked very empty and incomplete compared to last year’s.  I actually thought they were still working on it.  What was also very lame was that I could not see the Jumbotron or any of the suspended monitors from my seat.  The only one I could see clearly was the one in the middle of the set.  I sat at the side so the whole night, all I saw was the middle tron with the centre cut out.  Very lame.  I hope the set came across better on TV.

 

Heat match:  6-man tag

As the crowds almost completely filled the stadium, the 6-man tag began.  Big pop for Mr. Perfect and the 2 Canadians.  Same with the dancing fools.  This match was really fast and I was still trying to get used to watching the match from a far distance, unlike on TV, so I got a bit disoriented and didn’t really pay that much attention to the match.  Big pop for the Stinkface and Worm.  I didn’t even know how this match ended.  They danced at the end, yadi yadi yada.  I'm tired and I don’t remember much from this match.

 

Then there was a pause between Heat going off the air and the start of the actual event with the performance by the band, Saliva.  It was actually a pretty good performance.  It was really loud.

 

First match:  RVD vs. William Regal

This match was kinda hard to see because of the fog left over from the WrestleMania fireworks.  In fact, chants of “We Can’t See” and “We Can’t Breathe” began in our section.  I thought Regal did well.  I couldn’t see what happened with the knucks when they were on the outside of the ring, so a lot of the impact of the finish was lost for me.  Last time RVD was in Toronto, the crowd went crazy for him.  This time, they seem to have cooled off.  There weren’t nearly as many RVD chants.

 

Second match:  Christian vs. DDP

Christian’s pyro looks great in person.  Very loud.  My full attention was not on the match, but still the atmosphere.  I really liked the various attempts at each man’s finishers and their counters.  The match was probably good.

 

Third match:  Maven vs. Goldust

I went to get pizza during the beginning of this match.  I came back when Maven Mavekicked the trash can into Goldust’s face.  I thought Spike coming in was pretty cool.  Crash Holly making a Mania appearance was even better.  As for the rest of the match throughout the night, I watched it on the screen in the middle, so I could only make out 2/3 of what was going on.  I can't believe Maven is a 3-time Hardcore champion.  A total POS title.  But it made for good filler material throughout the night.

 

Fourth match:  Angle vs. Kane

This was the first good match of the night, IMO.  At least it was the first match which caught my full attention.  I actually cared about who was going to win.  Angle put on a stellar performance.  I was glad to see Kane take a good-looking Angle Slam this time.  I thought the finish was a bit messed up though.  Did I miss something?  The crowd was pretty silent when the match ended.

 

Fifth match:  Undertaker vs. Ric Flair

Typical Undertaker vs. underdog match.  Big pop for Arn Anderson’s Spinebuster.  Tombstone Piledriver is always great.  The crowd was really behind Flair for this one.  Decent match.  A bit slow for the live crowd.  I know I would enjoy this much more if I was watching at home with the commentary.

 

Sixth match:  Booker T vs. Edge

I tried to imagine how Edge felt as he was walking down the aisle.  They built up the whole “he was in the audience when he was young, now he’s a participant” thing pretty well.  The crowd loves the Spineroonie.  With all the other things that went on during the night, I couldn’t remember too much from this match.  The fact that I’m quite tired might have something to do with that as well.  From what I do remember form it, it was a pretty good match.  Very nice Missile Dropkick by Booker T.

 

Seventh match:  Scott Hall vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

This was awesome.  I guess Scott Hall did quite well.  The crowd booed heavily when refs escorted Nash away from ringside.  The finish with the 2 stunners was pretty cool.  It was a good match live.

 

Eighth match:  The people versus the other people versus the other few people, etc.

This match seemed to drag at the beginning with just APA vs. Billy & Chuck.  Nothing too memorable from this either other than the finishers and the table spot.  Billy and Chuck won.  Yay.  They really are an entertaining team.  Oh yeah, and Stacy is really hot.

 

 

Ninth match:  Hogan vs. Rock

What the fuck went on here?  Even before The Rock came out, “Hogan” chants erupted from the entire crowd.  It kinda surprised me.   A few moments ago they were treating The Rock as if he were God during his interview with Coach, and now he’s in the ring with Hogan, and they boo him worse than they do Hebner.  They booed every moment he took charge of the match.  I was expecting something like this to happen, but not really to the degree at which it did.  I guess there are a lot of old-school fans here in Toronto.  I noticed many young fans and women trying to get a "Rocky" chant started, but the abundance of “Hogan” chants from the men just completely dominated them.  It was almost as if it was 1989 again.  For some reason, Toronto fans just adore Hogan.  It got to me too when Hulk kicked out of the Rock Bottom and began “Hulking up.”  But I couldn’t help but feel bad for The Rock and his people "betraying" him.  All the work done promoting this angle of him being the underdog, the whole ambulance thing, it had absolutely no impact on the Toronto crowd.  He had to resort to befriending Hogan in order to get the fans on his side again.  I also thought the break-up of the nWo came a bit too soon.  The reason for break-up wasn’t exactly too great either, but I guess it works.  This was a great match if only for the crowd reaction alone.  I was glad I was there to be a part of it.

 

Tenth match:  The girls

When Jazz’s music hit, I thought to myself; “Why would they save this match for second last?”  This was a very good Women’s match-up.  One of the best I have ever seen in the WWF.  The crowd was dead for the most part.  It was totally unfair for the girls to follow up Hogan vs. Rock.  The Lyger Super Fisherman’s Buster spot was cool to see in person.  Jazz is a very good wrestler.

 

Eleventh match:  Triple H vs. Jericho

Let me say something about Drowning Pool and Saliva.  Nobody cared for these bands, not very many people have heard of them outside of the WWF.  When the Drowning Pool singer said “I can’t hear you” during the end of one of their songs, I laughed at the lack of crowd reaction.  Okay, onto the match.  As the match began, people started to file out of their seats and up the aisles.  I thought this was totally disrespectful to the wrestlers and to the people like me, who paid the same money as them and ended up with shittier seats.  The crowd of people who did stay, were quiet.  I don’t know if that was because they were focusing on the match or because they were cheered-out from Hulk/Rock or because they just didn’t care.  Look at it, it’s Chris Jericho.  Who is he compared to Hulk Hogan?  He is not an icon.  He is great, he is the future of wrestling, but come on.  It’s like seeing Michael Jordan’s first match after coming out of retirement and then seeing Tracy McGrady.  Sure the young guy might play better ball, but it does not compare to seeing the icon that is Michael Jordan (don’t quote me on that, I don’t know if McGrady plays better ball than Jordan, I don’t follow much basketball, I just needed a quick comparison).  There was great use of psychology in this match.  I marked out for the figure four around the post.  I could tell many casual fans were bored with this match, though.  A match involving psychology does not go over too well with an audience who has just witnessed the charismatic orgasm that is Rock vs. Hogan.  The thing that bothered me about this match, other than the crowd, was it’s predictability.  Everything from the table spot to the outcome of the match was predictable.  But it was a good match nonetheless.  I would have left the stadium happier if Jericho won, but that’s just me.  Oh yeah, the “You screwed Bret” chants were very light tonight.  Maybe we finally forgave him.

 

 

 

It really is a different experience seeing WrestleMania live.  It’s a bit difficult to pay full attention to the matches.  And very often, you cheer who the crowd decides to cheer, even if you never really liked that person in the first place.  People are anxious to see big spots and signature moves.  They don’t care much for rest holds and psychology.

 

I couldn’t really tell from being there, but after reading a few other posts on the board, I noticed many people thought the crowd was dead for most of the night.  I guess I did notice it, but it was my first time in such a big crowd, so it sounded quite busy to me.  Anyway, in the crowds defense, most of the matches were not hyped-up very well.  I got the impression that people just didn’t care who won or lost most of the matches.  I’m feeling dillusional and half-asleep as I’m writing this at 4AM, so I know there’s going to be something I dislike about this when I read it again tomorrow.  So please don’t be angry at me if you find my ramblings offensive or whatever...  Thanks for reading.

 

Oh, and I'm curious to know how to event turned out to those who watched it on TV.  What was going on with JR and King during the Rock/Hogan match?

[Guest goodhelmet]

Kane-Angle was the first good match of the night

 

watch Austin-Hall again on tv. It sucked shit!

 

"A bit slow for the live crowd."

referring to flair's match, it was slow on the tv too.

 

 

How much did you pay for your tickets? Was it worth the money? If you think so, then rock on! As for the PPV, people are raving about it but I was very disappointed overall, but pleasantly surprised by mostly clean finishes.

[Guest bravesfan]

Last night was pretty weird to see Hogan not factoring into the last match of a WM he appeared in....a first.

 

The WWF should've taken a page out of the Wrestlemania 8 "Double Main Event", put Jericho/ Triple H at the halfway point and ended with Rock/Hogan. Austin/Hall did suck because of their lack of in-ring chemistry. I loved Wrestlemania 18, but here are my after-card changes I would've liked made:

 

Stone Cold vs Kurt Angle in a  "submission match"

 

Outsiders vs Dudleyz in "grudge match"

 

Chuckabilly vs Hardyz for Tag Titles

 

Regal vs RVD in QUICK MATCH sets up...

Edge vs Booker vs RVD for IC Title

(Have Booker badmouth RVD, get him into match. RVD retains in 30 minute thriller- brings up  Book and Edge to HIS LEVEL)

 

Kane v Test (sure, a suck-fest because of their size, but good filler)

 

APA factoring into the Hardcore match

 

No previous wrestlers are left out, several turns, 6 matches added to HHH/Jericho, Rock/Hogan, Women's match, DDP/Christian, Hardcore match...whaddya think?

[Guest art_vandelay]

Well, part of the reason why I enjoyed the Hall/Austin match live was because of seeing Hall and Nash.  The nostalgia still hasn't worn off me yet.  But I see where you're coming from, and judging from a workrate standpoint, it probably did suck.  I'll have to watch it again.

 

About the Flair match.  I figured commentary and added emphasis on the story surrounding this match from JR and King would add to the dragging action.  I guess Flair wasn't able to do as well as Triple H did last year.

 

I paid $105 CDN for my tickets.  Considering I used a "special code" to order them before the day they officially went on sale, I was very disappointed with my seats.  Was it worth it?  Hey, it's WrestleMania.  Very rarely does WrestleMania come to your hometown at the peak of your interest in pro-wrestling.  How could I not go?  Of course I would have liked better seats, I might have even been able to get them if I chose to pay for a lesser amount.  But there was no way I could have known that, and there's really nothing I could have done about it.  So, I really have no regrets.  And as long as something tonight was considered momentous and will be talked about for years to come, I would consider my tickets to be worth the money.

[Guest Tomato Can]

I was there live too.  Rock-Hogan was fucking unbelievable, and worth the $50 per ticket and 5 hour drive by itself.  I would give it ****, but that could be inflated because of the awesome live atmosphere.  I was also pissed that people started leaving after Rock-Hogan, but the subpar HHH-Jericho match unfortunatly justified it.  I have no idea why the women's match was held till the end like that.

 

Bravesfan, if you think Edge and Booker aren't up to RVD's "level" you're nuts.  RVD continues to look sloppy in near every one of his matches.  He can sure take bumps, though.  Did anybody else "holy shit" when Regal fucking headdropped him with what looked like a Tiger Suplex '85?

 

As a whole, most of the matches fell pretty flat, but Rock-Hogan made the PPV, and in the end, that's all that mattered.

[Guest muzanisa]

I agree

Certainly a one match PPV.  But the only ones I didn't enjoy were the tag match and HHH Jericho. Wrestlemania never lives up to the hype (okay last year and Ten maybe) but this was a solid PPV.

[Guest hockeytown9321]

I was there too.  There was almost a riot because they opened the doors about 15 minutes late.  My seats were in the second level one section to the left of the entrance.  I couldn't see the set at all, but was not too far away from the ring.  A few of the wrestlers walked to the back right underneath us, and gave some waves and the like.  Albert gave out section the finger.  The heat for the Hogan-Rock match was incredible. It probably should have gone on last.  The HHH match was not bad, I just think everyone was worn out after 4 hours of wrestling.

[Guest saturnmark4life]

all in all, on tv it came across decent, especially the anderson spinebuster and the christian DDP match which i was marking out for like a bitch. I felt sorry for Austin, he looked pissed having a work an nwo nitro main event. The women's match was full of blown spots, certainly not the best i've seen in the wwf. Hogan/Rock was great, but Taker is pissing me off sooo much now it's unreal.

[Guest mastermind]

Yes, another Toronto fan with a perspective on things. Of course I HAVE TO talk about Rock/Hogan. I remember CLEARLY saying Hogan would get cheered here, but I guess no one believed me. However, the degree to which Hogan got cheered shocked the #### out of me. I'm going to lose my smarkboard membership maybe *lol*, but I was actually wanting Hogan to win for some odd reason. I think the biggest thing is that we know this is probably the last time we'll see Hogan performing at a Mania and plus he lost here in 1990. Everyone else who was watching it at a bar down town actually WANTED Hogan to win. I was feeling bad for Rock this was suppose to be a passing of the torch. I said #### this aint right, but admit I got caught up in it as well. ####, even Warrior had a stronger fanbase backing him in 1990. I just got to say I was shocked. I really want to ask Michael Landsberg the sportscaster what he thought about Hogan's reactions because he was ripping Hogan on Off The Recrod saying Flair's the greatest.

 

I was wondering if the match was turned into somewhat of a shoot with the face turn, but looking back it wasn't since Hall and Nash were no where in sight until the turn. It was pretty bad for Rock as Hogan had to make the fans cheer for Rock in the end. The sports radio show up here with the insiders RIPPED the show. They were saying Rock was swerved by the real smartest man in wrestling. They said Hogan supposedly passed the torch, but everyone is talking about Hogan. Hogan politicked his way to the cheering. I have to disagree here. The fans were behind Hogan once he stepped through the entranceway. Fans aren't going to cheer you if they don't want to. What I also found stupid were "smart" fans calling in on the show ripping it, but I saw people coming from the skydome all happy happy joy joy. I bet if the "insiders" said it was the greatest show ever like they did with last year's show these "smarts" would be saying the same thing.

 

I don't know I LIKED this show better than last year's, but for obvious reasons I will have a jaded view. I think seeing the nWo at WrestleMania was a mark out moment. I want to comment on the match line-up. I think the main event SHOULD have been the title match. The problem is what I stated WAY back and that Triple H SUCKS as a face. Some here at the old forum talked about turning him face. I told you this guy would suck especially if the Kliq is reformed in terms of drawing power and charisma. The post was about if Triple H had surpassed his Kliq buddies. I think the answer we saw last night in a town that is very wwf history heavy. HE AINT!

 

Another thing that killed the main event was the OBVIOUS outcome of Triple H winning. When he goes on national tv on a sports show and says the world champion isn't quite yet the level of the top tier you are killing the champion and the outcome of the match. That's why sometimes I say the wwf should stay in kayfabe, but some think I view this too seriously. I think the main event needed something like HBK to spice things up as a referee or help Triple H or be Steph's new man. The championship match should be the last match. If they can't top the main attraction than they shouldn't be in the #### main event plain and simple.

 

Some say the crowd was silent, but I think it's really stretching it for fans to be all wild and crazy for 4 STRAIGHT HOURS and even 5 if you include Heat. That JUST AINT HAPPENING! Basically, I liked the show and was surprised with Taker and Flair. Flair again that could possibly be his last Mania match. Sometimes you just got to soak in the moment of some things that we probably won't see again.

[Guest mastermind]

Yes, another Toronto fan with a perspective on things. Of course I HAVE TO talk about Rock/Hogan. I remember CLEARLY saying Hogan would get cheered here, but I guess no one believed me. However, the degree to which Hogan got cheered shocked the #### out of me. I'm going to lose my smarkboard membership maybe *lol*, but I was actually wanting Hogan to win for some odd reason. I think the biggest thing is that we know this is probably the last time we'll see Hogan performing at a Mania and plus he lost here in 1990. Everyone else who was watching it at a bar down town actually WANTED Hogan to win. I was feeling bad for Rock this was suppose to be a passing of the torch. I said #### this aint right, but admit I got caught up in it as well. ####, even Warrior had a stronger fanbase backing him in 1990. I just got to say I was shocked. I really want to ask Michael Landsberg the sportscaster what he thought about Hogan's reactions because he was ripping Hogan on Off The Recrod saying Flair's the greatest.

 

I was wondering if the match was turned into somewhat of a shoot with the face turn, but looking back it wasn't since Hall and Nash were no where in sight until the turn. It was pretty bad for Rock as Hogan had to make the fans cheer for Rock in the end. The sports radio show up here with the insiders RIPPED the show. They were saying Rock was swerved by the real smartest man in wrestling. They said Hogan supposedly passed the torch, but everyone is talking about Hogan. Hogan politicked his way to the cheering. I have to disagree here. The fans were behind Hogan once he stepped through the entranceway. Fans aren't going to cheer you if they don't want to. What I also found stupid were "smart" fans calling in on the show ripping it, but I saw people coming from the skydome all happy happy joy joy. I bet if the "insiders" said it was the greatest show ever like they did with last year's show these "smarts" would be saying the same thing.

 

I don't know I LIKED this show better than last year's, but for obvious reasons I will have a jaded view. I think seeing the nWo at WrestleMania was a mark out moment. I want to comment on the match line-up. I think the main event SHOULD have been the title match. The problem is what I stated WAY back and that Triple H SUCKS as a face. Some here at the old forum talked about turning him face. I told you this guy would suck especially if the Kliq is reformed in terms of drawing power and charisma. The post was about if Triple H had surpassed his Kliq buddies. I think the answer we saw last night in a town that is very wwf history heavy. HE AINT!

 

Another thing that killed the main event was the OBVIOUS outcome of Triple H winning. When he goes on national tv on a sports show and says the world champion isn't quite yet the level of the top tier you are killing the champion and the outcome of the match. That's why sometimes I say the wwf should stay in kayfabe, but some think I view this too seriously. I think the main event needed something like HBK to spice things up as a referee or help Triple H or be Steph's new man. The championship match should be the last match. If they can't top the main attraction than they shouldn't be in the #### main event plain and simple.

 

Some say the crowd was silent, but I think it's really stretching it for fans to be all wild and crazy for 4 STRAIGHT HOURS and even 5 if you include Heat. That JUST AINT HAPPENING! Basically, I liked the show and was surprised with Taker and Flair. Flair again that could possibly be his last Mania match. Sometimes you just got to soak in the moment of some things that we probably won't see again.

[Guest RavishingRickRudo]

I am a hogan mark.  Been so since I started watching back in the late 80s.  I am loyal to the man who brought me in, I still feel a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I see him wrestle.  

 

Most of the people I saw there were 18 - 40 years old.  This was a hogan crowd.  We all came to cheer hogan.  This was my first (I have been waiting for a while) and probably my last Hogan match so you better believe I was cheering my ass off.  I assume that many others had this in mind as well.

 

I feel sorry for the lack of response from the fans during various matches, but then again, the Wwf build the show up so horribly so they really deserved it. The only 2 matches with any good hype were hogan vs rock and flair vs taker (which, for some odd reason, were the two best on the card).

 

This did not feel like a wrestlemania, rather it felt like a really big raw.  The way I look at it is that I paid $53 bucks for my ticket, the PPV was what, 45?  I got my moneys worth.

 

The LAW can go to ####.  The anti hogan sentiment on that show is outrageous.  They are all bitter because Hogan got a supremely bigger pop than flair last night and that the fans CHOSE to cheer Hogan, rather than were marketed to.

 

Its not hogans time to pass the torch.  That time has passed.  Its Takers and Austins turn now, and I dont see THAT happening any time soon.

[Guest bravesfan]

Bravesfan, if you think Edge and Booker aren't up to RVD's "level" you're nuts.  

I don't mean RVD's level of skill or talent... I mean RVD's place on the card. Yes, he may be jerking curtains at Raws and PPVs, but people look forward to his matches...the bookers have made Edge and Booker to look like total jack****s, fighting over a shampoo endorsement deal. Who cares about their direction, if the WWF doesn't care about their direction?

 

We need to not only see Edge and Booker moved up a little, we need fresh starts for both of them character-wise.

[Guest RicFlairGlory]

<<<I know I would enjoy this much more if I was watching at home with the commentary.>>>

 

::laughs::

[Guest art_vandelay]

<<The LAW can go to ####.  The anti hogan sentiment on that show is outrageous.  They are all bitter because Hogan got a supremely bigger pop than flair last night and that the fans CHOSE to cheer Hogan, rather than were marketed to.>>

 

That I agree with.  I was extremely proud of the crowd last night for not cheering who they were supposed to.  I would expect that sort of behaviour from a minority of the crowd, but not everybody.  The vibe was very contagious.