Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 While the crowd was generally kind of bored (I even managed to get a boring chant during the Sumo match that kind of caught on as both guys just stood around), I wouldn't say it was because of LA. By what I saw, the crowd had a ton of people from all over the place, including a scary number of Brits and Aussies I ran into. Rather than bouncing around and screaming all over the place, they mostly just popped for the entrances, than sat down and waited to see what delivered. A lot of times, nothing much was delivered, so they just made the obligatory pop at the finish and moved on. Shawn/Angle in particular had a TON of energy in it. I observed that 19's crowd did much the same thing at that show, but the larger crowd created more idle noise than 21's. Cena's fanbase is scary-huge (I couldn't stop seeing that Chain Gang shit everywhere, and not watching SD for months didn't know what it was), but while the crowd was appropriately hot for him at first, they immediately fell silent while their man sat around and ate Snitsky-style offense from JBL for WAY too long. Ditto for the HHH VS Batista match. If they wanted to keep the crowd alive, the very first segment should be Batista wiping the floor with HHH with all the squashing power of Goldberg and Warrior combined, before letting HHH make a comeback in the middle with some crafty moves and heel tactics. Instead, they had HHH legitimately outwrestle Batista, which deflated people to the point that Flair was the most over guy in the match. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 I forgot. We saw JBL before entering the arena. Also, we chanted wooo outside and before the show. What is the that? The wrestling fans' mating call? Also most of my pics came out dark like this because one of the lights was shining in our direction (and I not good at taking pics at wrestling events. Battle royal pic here (large): Beginning of Battle Royal Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Carnival 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 good seats though. I hope i can get seats that good next year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Promoter 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 I enjoyed the show as well. IMO, the first slew of matches really flowed well. Eddie and Rey did not disappoint me because I know both men are not in their prime contrary to what the net likes to think. I think someone summarized things earlier well. Cena and Batista were made to look like lesser stars with their entrances. Why did the champions who are heels and UT all get better entrances then the men who were crowned champs? The title matches were okay, but when you got competitors ranging from Christy Hemme to JBL to Cena to Batista with HHH obviously being the most capable of carrying someone THERE WILL BE A PROBLEM. How they ordered some of the matches and who they spent money on for entrances took away from what should have been the focus on that was Cena and Batista being crowned. The sports entertainment stuff was entertaining at least. To be honest, Angle/HBK surprised the hell oot of me. I didn't think it would be that good considering both of their conditions. Oh yeah, to add to the problem of JBL/Cena before the match even started was Triple H's promo. To a general fan Triple H's taunt probably seems true and really it is. He ends up going to defend the title in the midcard rather the top like Triple H. They shouldn't have done that segment like that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Taker666 0 Report post Posted April 5, 2005 Sorry I'am late to reply but whatever. Anyways, I was at WrestleMania 21 and it was just fucking awesome. best fucking experince in my life. being around wrestling fans all day who has the same passion for it as I do was really great. I could barly talk because I was pretty much screaming and chanting all night. The Battle Royal on heat was awesome. The Raw entrance music played and Eric Bischoff and the Raw superstars came out than the Smackdown entrance music played and Teddy Long and the SmackDown! superstars came out next. Raw guys were wearing red Raw shirts and SD! guys were wearing blue SD! shirts. that was a fucking sweet entrance. the intire arena really marked out loud when the two brands came out. I'am a huge fan of battle royals so I was glad that I was able to see this. the Heidenreich/Hurricane bit was funny. knew Booker was gonna win, but it was cool when he did though. loud Booker T chant broke out. SD! representing tonight! Booker T, Undertaker and Kurt Angle all won all 3 Interpromotional matches. Tazz, Jim Ross and King got huge pops when they came out. the spanish team got a decent pop aswell. Eddie Vs Rey: great match, but man Rey should of gotten a better mask, through out the match Rey kept fixing it. awesome match though. Eddie and Rey can to no wrong. Ladder Match: damn, that ladders on fire was awesome. this was a fantastic match. Shelton running to the top of the ladder was a cool moment, and Benoit's headbutt off the ladder was great to. I just wished Kane would of been involved more in the match. overall. fantastic match!. Note: The crowd booed when the stage workers extingued the fire from the ladders that were on stage. heh, I did to. HOLY SHIT! seeing Undertaker's entrance live was a cool experience, the druids, the lights, the music, the floating device. damn that was sweet!. and seeing Undertaker go 13-0 all over Orton's boring ass was great. tombstone.1...2..3. everyone marks out!. this was a really good match though. The Eugene/Muhammad/Hogan segment was great. the Eugene/hussan bit was funny, But Holy Shit!!, the place freakin blew up the 2nd Hogan's music hit. seeing the most legendary wrestler live was a cool experience. Angle Vs Shawn Michaels: BEST MATCH OF THE NIGHT: this has to be one of the best matches I've ever seen, and I was proud to see it live. the crowd was way into it. I was begging for Shawn to tap than he finally did. that was great. sucks that the announce table didn't break when it was suppost to. but overall, best match of the night. Trish Vs Christy: um, Man, Lita is fucking Hot. Trish retained Sumo Match: this was interesting to watch. but I really didn't need to see Big Show's ass. TWICE. I guess it was a real match which made it somewhat interesting. Piper's Pit: Entertaining segment. Austin got a monster pop when he came and so did Roddy Piper. Piper's comebacks to the WHAT chants was hillarious. I marked out when Carlito came out sence hes one of my favorites on SD!. Carlito owned that segment IMO. werid how Piper said WWF at one time. JBL Vs Cena. it was way to short IMO. but JBL's entrance was sweet with the police bikes and the limo. I wanted to try and grab some of the JBL money but they didn't fall in our section dammit. Cena won which was awesome. SD! definlly needed a new Champion and they delivered. Triple Vs Batista. I really enjoyed the match. it had the main-event feel which was great. Batista winning was a great moment, the intire arena marked out as so did I. he deserves it. and it was great to witness Batista ends Triple H's title reign live. Man, what a great show all around. so many great moments, big stars, great matches, the right people won and just being thier at a WrestleMania will definlly be one of the greatest monents ever! but it gets better, after the event. Me, my cousin and a huge group of fans were waiting by the guard rail where the superstars leave the arena and holy shit! we saw nearly the initire WWE roster walk out, it was fucking incredible. they were merly a few feet away from me!!!. Dawn Maire actually waved to me. JBL is fucking TALL!! holy crap, hes so much more taller than he is on TV. he was wearing his suit and cowboy hat when he walked out of the arena and he had a pissed off look on his face, he was walking out with Orlando Jordon. Among the other superstars we saw walk out were Teddy Long, Viscera, Eric Bischoff, John Cena, Randy Orton, Eddie Guerrero(whos freakin small in person), The Bashams, Kane, Torrie Wilson, Lita, Christy, Kidman,Paul London, Shelton Benjamin,The Hurricane, Rosey, Heidenreich, Carlito Cool, Mysterio(without his mask) Gene Snitsy, Victoria, Molly Holly, Rosey, Dawn Marie, Luther Reigns, Chris Masters, Val Venis, Chris Benoit, Rhyno, Simon Dean Scotty 2 Hotty, Rene Dupree(with neckbrace) Chavo Guerrero plus some more. Nearly the intire freakin locker room came out. Hell even the Iron Sheik, Bob Orton and Sgt. Slaughter came out to!. I'am telling ya, it was freakin cool seeing the WWE superstars walk out right next to us. funny thing, I'am about 5,9. but every freakin cruiserweight in the WWE is smaller than me. even Kidman The only superstars we didn't see come out were Triple H, Kurt Angle, Batista, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, Christian, Austin, Hogan Piper and The Undertaker. Me and my cousin were than waiting where all the Limos were. we saw Tommy Dreamer, Michael Cole, Stephanie McMahon, the spanish team, Charles Robinson and Gerald Brisco walk out. we also saw Akebono in a truck being driven out of the parking lot. I chanted his name real loud. it was really cool. overall, best experience in my lfe! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 we also saw Akebono in a truck being driven out of the parking lot I misinterpreted this as them having to use a truck to transport him around. I left after the show and made a line for the Holiday Inn where I got to hang around with a bunch of tards as well as the guy from ZZ Top. He was cool, but his van came fast and none of the damn cab companies sent enough vehicles, as they were slowly trickling in, always being taken by the rudest person who managed to rush the cab first and ask for a ride. I, with a few other strangers, managed to hitch a ride to the Biltmore thanks to a woman with a Chevy Suburban and get a cab there in 2 minutes. The doorman at the Biltmore said "some" of the wrestlers were staying there. Didn't see any but did see a bunch of fans. I'm guessing maybe McMahons/HHH? Anyway, fucking awful accomodations for getting people away from the arena after the show. XIX, on the other hand, had buses outside of Safeco that went all over downtown dropping people off at various hotels. I realize that Seattle is all about the public transportation, and LA is about everything but, but you think someone would have arranged a cab company to get their guys to stop goofing off in front of hotels in the financial district and get to Staples. Are Lakers games like that, too? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystery Eskimo 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 Why do some people seem to think Show-Akebono was a shoot? Strange. On seeing the show, I enjoyed the odd piece but in general it was pretty bland stuff. There was nothing new here. Even the crowning of two new champions was very underwhelming, and neither Cena or Batista really stepped up their game considering what the stage was. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jobber of the Week 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 Why do some people seem to think Show-Akebono was a shoot? Strange. Because there was no real reason to bring in one guy nobody has EVER heard of just to have him go over The Big Show. I couldn't figure out what happened at the time, but I assumed that either the match was a work but wasn't supposed to end that early (i.e. botched accident), or it was a shoot and he got a Bart Gunn humiliation. Plus, Big Show was wearing a diaper in a way that felt like a comedy match, but no real attempts at comedy were made. And the crowd in the building doesn't have Tazz or Cole either laughing or taking it seriously. So nobody knew what the hell to think, and you basically form your own opinion based on what you saw. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mystery Eskimo 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 Well, they presumably brought Akebono in because of their continuing big man fetish and in the hope the freak show nature of the match would attract a few more buys. Akebono probably won because he refused to job to a non-sumo guy and look stupid. If you watch a real sumo match, you'd see that what Show and Akebono doing was extremely weak. A shoot match wouldn't have been booked in case one of them got hurt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hunter's Torn Quad 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 The idea behind Akebono v Big Show was to create interest in Japan for the WWE product, and maybe lead to a WWE show at the Tokyo Dome or some other big venue. The problem with that premise is that Akebono's value in Japan has fallen a great deal since his career in shoots began, and whatever they do gain from it, if they gain anything at all, isn't going to be anything like what they think it will be. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
natey2k4 0 Report post Posted April 6, 2005 Does anyone know how London, or any of the Tag Champs faired in the Battle Royal? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites