WWE rebounding from WM 23

[edgehead69 0]

As We all can agree 23 was the worst mania by a longshot... Ive seen 9 and 11 and they arnt that bad. Sure there are good matches here and there (Luger vs Perfect IX and Michaels vs Diesel XI) ubt 23 was LACKING... it felt like just another PPV.... No one got immortalized, only 2 matches were at most decent and the rest made my eyes bleed. Sure Taker won... again his 2nd title at mania but thats all...

 

24 has to be injury free and have someone being immortalized and cena out of the main event for a 4th year in a row...

 

What are your thoughts?

[Obi Chris Kenobi 0]

I enjoyed the Taker match, didn't actually know who was going to win, which made it fun. But other then that, I can't even put a finger on any other matches on the card... MitB and HBK/Cena are the only other two I can remember.

[Aero 0]

As We all can agree 23 was the worst mania by a longshot...

 

I don't think anyone except you thinks this. It's far from the best, but not anywhere near the worst.

 

[foleyfanforever88 0]

As We all can agree 23 was the worst mania by a longshot...

 

I don't think anyone except you thinks this. It's far from the best, but not anywhere near the worst.

 

It's the worst I've seen..(since WM XV).

[Taker666 0]

WM 9, 11 and 12 were FAR FAR worse. WM23 was a fun show all around. with the only worse match was the woman's match. even Kane/Khali was somewhat decent.

[Guest Smues]

XXIII wasn't even close to the worst, plus it was actually a GOOD show. Worst Wrestlemania is easily IX. And without even giving it much thought I'd put XXIII over II, IV, VI, IX, XI, XV, and XVIII, and probably a couple others if I really gave it some thought.

[CheesalaIsGood 0]

This years Mania being the worst? Nope, don't agree.

 

Maybe he didn't get "immortalized" but Cena earned quite a bit of good will from me by having a WRESTLING match with HBK.

[Enigma 0]

As We all can agree 23 was the worst mania by a longshot...

I seriously doubt anyone would that has ever watched WM9 and WM13, which you clearly haven't.

[King Kamala 0]

Don't have much to add since I haven't seen WrestleMania 23 but why isn't WrestleMania 2 getting mentioned when talking about crappy shows? Yeah, I know nostalgia gets in the way but come on, that is a seriously shitty show.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Wrestlemania XV was the worst. Russo's booking does not hold up at ALL, and there isn't a good match except maybe Austin/Rock. Even that came off as an overbooked piece of crap last time I saw it. Wrestlemania 23 was a good show with two very good title matches and my favorite Money In the Bank match.

[Guest Chrisly_2005]

Are you kidding me? WM23 the worst? There is now way thats true. WM 2, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 15 were all worse. 23 was a decent show all together. MITB, Taker/Batista, and Cena/HBK were all good matches IMO.

[Hawk 34 0]

There is no valid explanation to support any claim that Wrestle Mania 23 was the worst of all the events. Besides pointing out as Al and others have accurately stated, WrestleMania XV and IX are by far the worst editions of WrestleMania. It’s in a whole other stratosphere of suck. WM 23, offered a pair of very good main event level title defenses. That, in itself, makes it a victory over a good deal of other Mania events, not to mention the high spot bump extravaganza that’s now a prerequisite for this show.

 

The mid-card match edition wasn’t horrible by any stretch of the imagination and was above the other examples from previous shows. It delivered on the original intention of the event by having a somewhat successful mainstream attraction with Donald Trump. What sucked (Ashley/Melina and Kane/Khali) was kept mercifully short and the other offering was a succinct squash for the faces, something that was done well to settle the crowd after the surprisingly solid World Title match.

 

This isn’t the best WrestleMania and isn’t even within shouting distance of the upper echelon but it’s firmly isolated from the absolute garbage. Retrospectively, this show is likely to be immortalized for the extravagant stage show (which is a theme that will only grow by leaps and bounds in the upcoming years), the two main events and the presence of Donald Trump. Hardly the worse thing you can get from this event. Let me ask this question, what do they have to rebound from? It did fantastic numbers all around and delivered at what they absolutely needed to. That’s the purpose of this event.

[Guest Smues]

Wrestlemania XV was the worst. Russo's booking does not hold up at ALL, and there isn't a good match except maybe Austin/Rock. Even that came off as an overbooked piece of crap last time I saw it. Wrestlemania 23 was a good show with two very good title matches and my favorite Money In the Bank match.

 

WM XV didn't hold up at all the day after it aired. I was pretty much in full mark mode at that point and I still hated. Russo was so awful most of the time.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Nothing bugs me more than posters speaking for other posters. Yeah, you have the right to have your own opinion, but don't claim that you speak for everybody else's.

[edgehead69 0]

First off Im speaking for myself (Sorry for the misconception)

 

Secondly I have seen every wrestlemania... and 9 was ok and 11 was passable too. Sure 15 and 16 were half assed and some others had their problems but i mean c'mon..... This is my take on wrestlemania...

 

MITB: I liked this one the least and has the potential of being th worst ladder match ever... Jeff Hardy's "suicide" leap was in fact pointless.... It seemed very half assed and it didnt live up to par... I mean the under card should be in the match not people who have been champ already..

 

Kane vs Khali: Khali cant wrestle and its as entertaining as all the other khali matches... sure kane picked him up and sammed but the match was about 6 minutes and was boring..

 

MVP vs Chris Benoit: This was my favorite match despite the ending... Good mat wrestling and entertaining nonetheless

 

Undertaker vs Batista: Honestly I knew Taker wouldnt lose at mania... match was entertaining but it is very hard for me to watch this again.. slam through the table was pointless but the match was ok

 

ECW Originals vs The New Breed: This is just a typical ECW match that had no excitement or fire.... really bad match... whats worse?? No Wrestlemania POUNCE!!!!

 

Lashley vs Umaga: Was real unexciting and stone cold reffing was instantly forgettable because i always forgot he was reffing... No excitement and instantly forgettable

 

Ashley vs Melina: 3 minute match, Ashley cant wrestle if her life depended on it and it was really abysmal... worst match of the night...

 

John Cena vs Shawn Michaels: I have mixed feelings for this match... Sure John Cena didnt sell the leg injury... Sure HBK was pissed throughout the match.... Sure the match was JUST LIKE last year's HHH vs Cena.... But when i saw this match a 2nd time... i liked it.... it was exciting butthis match is not worthy of being a wrestlemania main event....

 

This is my take on 23 and I call em like I see em... It was weak, lacking, and really boring

[Timmy8271 0]

Wait a minute, You actually want a Ashley match to go over 3 minutes? Do you hate us that much? The MITB ladder match was fun and better than the match that Benoit/Jericho won. Benoit/MVP and Taker/Batista were pretty good matches. That alone makes it better than 11 and 9 that only had 1 good match (Steiners/Headshrinkers and LT/BAM BAM).

[garfieldsnose 0]

You do realize the format for a WrestleMania, don't you?

 

MITB: Good opener with lots of bumping and getting the fans off to a quick start. The Hardy bump was more or less for Edge to get out of the match because his jaw was still injured and he wasn't in the best of shape to wrestle. That being said, why they even put him in the match I don't know.

 

The Khali/Kane match was your typical WM big man vs. big man match. Casual fans like that kind of stuff just because the dudes are huge. The people I was with (my bro-in-law's coworkers who were fucking annoying as hell) mark out for that kind of stuff.

 

MVP/Benoit was match #1 in their series and the beginning of the storyline to see how MVP will eventually learn how he can beat Benoit. Title change was not needed.

 

UT/Batista, as stated above, was about as good a Batista match as you can get. Also, it's a big man vs. big man match, two faces going head to head for the title. It's going to make the casual fan want to see it, and the nostalgic fan want to see it because the casual fans flock to Batista, whereas the nostalgic fans want to see Taker win. It wasn't a bad match, which was all you could ask for with Batista involved. The right man won.

 

ECW Originals vs. New Breed. I think a POUNCE was going to happen, but they gave RVD the happy pinfall in their first attempt to coax him into signing an extension. I think they switched the original outline of the match just for this.

 

Lashley/Umaga was pretty much the match everyone wanted to see because of the stipulation. The smarks hated it, but the marks loved it. Marks outweigh the smarks. This match was not bad, given the people involved. And it left is with a WM moment. Basic WM outline.

 

Ashley got the Playboy push, but I was surprised she didn't win the title. I think maybe at the last second, WWE realized she had no business being champion, so they let Melina win, and then right after WM Ashley was pretty much demoted. She didn't really improve, but she was making them money. This is what WWE is based on. Money. Not technical wrestling.

 

 

Cena/HBK was a damn fine main event. Cena sold the knee, but because he didn't sell like Flair or Shawn back in the day, he was criticized. It was probably expected to be better than it was, and even given that, it was still a good match. HBK's job was to make Cena look good and credible and I think he did a good job. Second WM in a row their top man goes over. Sign that WWE wants people to know Cena is their top guy bar none. He makes the most money, wouldn't you want the person who makes the most money for your company to be in a prime position of happiness? No reason for Cena to drop the title here because he would just win it back anyways.

 

 

WrestleMania has a pretty basic outline, and I just don't think a lot of people have learned it yet. WrestleMania is not an event to satisfy the smarks. It is an event to get the marks and in some cases, smarks, to remember it. Just because you don't remember anything noteworthy happening doesn't mean it's a bad PPV for everyone. Just means you didn't like it.

[sluggo 0]

WM 2000 outside the ladder match was pretty bad too.

 

Too much focus on the McMahons.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Wrestlemania 2000 had good wrestling but only one 1-on-1 match, and that was Kat/Terri. Multi-man matches have their place but it is difficult to craft memorable angles out of them.

[JimmyHendricks 0]

It seems I'm the only one here who doesn't think too highly of WM 20. TWO Fatal Four Way tag title matches, Taker vs. Kane for the 325th time, and the debacle of Goldberg/Lesnar make it a average WM, for me at least. Yes, the two title matches and Rock/Foley vs. Evolution was good, but it wasn't one of the top 5 like some people here say. I think a lot of the love came from Benoit's win (although that obviously may have changed recently), but it didn't save the show. It was a top 5 WM moment for sure, but it didn't immediately catapult WM 20 to the top of the list.

 

Best WM, top to bottom, is X-7, followed by 10, then III. Worst WM for me is 11, with a football player fighting a midcarder in the main event. IX is second worst (at least the outdoor venue was cool), followed by 15 (Russo-riffic!) When you have a booked match between two guys to determine which one will special referee the main event, and it turns out NEITHER end up doing it (although Foley did show up at the end), THAT's some overbooking, I tell ya.

[cabbageboy 0]

WM 23 goes along with 19 as one of those "Could have been brilliant but is a slight misfire" type of PPVs. I was mainly annoyed by the match placement, feeling that UT beating Batista in a title change should have main evented. Given that there was no title change in the main event, I think UT's title win should have gone last.

 

This show's legacy is already disturbingly disposable though. Vince was "blown up" in his limo after winning the ECW title, so it's not like the Trump angle led to something decent. We know what happened with Benoit, so the US title match is being edited from the broadcast. The MITB meant jack shit since the winner (Kennedy) never even cashed it in and one of the losers (Edge) actually did cash it in and won the title from UT. Speaking of Taker, he got hurt so his big title run was cut short. Michaels got hurt, so his program with Cena was cut short as well. RVD didn't sign so the Originals winning was a bit pointless, Sabu was released as well.

 

That said, there are worse WMs by far. IX is pretty tedious stuff. XI is mostly bland and dull without much that stands out (though I will take HBK/Diesel over HBK/Cena). The amusing aspect of WM XV is that I detested the show at the time and thought Living Dangerously the previous week was a much better PPV. Then I watched it on 24/7 this year before WM and actually kinda liked it. The main problem it had was that it was too much in the Russo car wreck vein, typical of his PPV booking. Backlash 1999 was a better show.

[edgehead69 0]

WM 2000 outside the ladder match was pretty bad too.

 

Too much focus on the McMahons.

 

No kidding I expected the triple threat to be a showstealer... It was really half assed!

 

If Cena ha won via roll up.... then that would be somethin.... good ending

[Nate 0]

not sure where you think Wrestlemania 23 was the worst, honestly this was the best Mania of the last few years, the best Mania IMO was WM 3 and the WM with Hogan/Warrior, WM 23 had maybe 2 bad matches which in the long run didnt drag it down

[Guest shoryuken007]

The only thing that felt like a "big show" to me about IX was the locale. Everything else about that felt small-time. I didn't think Mania 23 was great in terms of match quality, but with the MITB, the Vince/Trump stuff, the big entrances...it felt like Mania. And I thought three matches (MITB, MVP/Benoit, and Cena/HBK) delivered the goods, and I'll take that. Sadly, that's what my standards are reduced to.

 

IX is easily the worst for me, and I'd put 23 ahead of II, XI, XIII, and XV. And that X-Seven show was garbage too

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Wrestlemania XV was the worst. Russo's booking does not hold up at ALL, and there isn't a good match except maybe Austin/Rock. Even that came off as an overbooked piece of crap last time I saw it. Wrestlemania 23 was a good show with two very good title matches and my favorite Money In the Bank match.

 

Wow! This is pretty much how I feel completely.

 

Even in the post Russo-era XVIII & XXII are worse than XXIII. It isn't my favourite Mania, but there are clearly several worse ones out there.

[King Kamala 0]

Yeah, X-8 wasn't bad but it was nothing special outside of Hogan-Rock (which was only special because of the atmosphere around the match, the match itself kind of sucked). All of the other matches felt thrown together.

 

 

I think the worst for me would be; XV, II and XIII with IX close behind.

[Jingus 0]

A few people have mentioned 13 already, but not enough hatred has been spewed its way for my liking. It only had seven matches, out of which only ONE was any good at all. And Sid-Taker might possibly be the worst Wrestlemania main event ever (not counting Hogan-Yokozuna).

[King Kamala 0]

Honestly, I think the first WrestleMania really sucks but it being the first one, it kind of protects itself from criticism and protects it from me hating on it too much. If you get rid of the nostalgia though, that is one bad show.

[cabbageboy 0]

Sid vs. UT wasn't that bad of a match. While I don't think WM 13 was a great show by any means, it is a bit unfairly maligned. Bret/Austin was of course a classic, and the 6 man tag was also a very good plunder brawl.

 

WM XXII is a pretty decent show really. Cena/HHH certainly had a wild environment, Foley vs. Edge was a crazed brawl with an awesome finish (though not the best hardcore match ever), the MITB was nearly perfect aside from Flair's injury angle not 100% coming off.

 

I'll even defend WM 2 on a few levels. While there were a lot of bleh matches most are at least short enough to not annoy. Bulldogs vs. Dream Team is a great match, Funks vs. Santana/JYD is a nice little tag affair, and I even kinda like Hogan vs. Bundy.

 

Most people don't want to hear this but quite honestly WM VI was a piece of shit PPV. It has Hogan vs. Warrior and a whole lot of garbage. I can't think of anything else remotely decent that is on that show.

 

WM VII however....that's a really good show.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I liked Roberts/Dibiase.