LG's Blog - 8th April, 2013: The AfterMath of Wrestlemania 29 & Monday Nite Raw

[LG]

The day that we all wanted to see has came and gone. Another year, another Wrestlemania passes us by. This Wrestlemania proved to have it's ups and downs, boring moments and excitement, and much more. Truth be told, this Wrestlemania wasn't worth paying for. Well at least on ppv that is. Going to it live is a whole experience on its own. WWE had upped their prices on Wrestlemania 29 for ppvs $10...in the US, it was $70 HD. That's a lot of change if you ask me.

Anyways, one of the things that did not happen was Tons of Funk with the Funkadackyls vs Rhode Scholars with the Bellas. They said time restraints was the reason, but honestly if they would cut out most of the Rock/Cena ads, they could have put the match up. My opinion is I'm glad it wasn't shown. The only matches that were of interest to me was Punk vs Taker and Triple H vs Lesnar.

This entire ppv was simply predictable. Every winner we wanted to see, for the most part that is, happened. The worst matches of Wrestlemania 29 was Ryback vs Henry and Fandango vs Jericho. Both were slow, and didn't last long. The only good thing to come from this was seeing Ryback ShellShock henry successfully. And honestly I do not even care for Fandango. At all. Period.

The Shield is the next big faction. These guys have proven to be undefeated since their appearance, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns. They are great athletes and they can work as a team better than anyone else I've seen lately. All for justice. But the question remains of where did they come from, if they have a leader, or is singles competition in the near future before WM30? Honestly, I want to see them get bigger as in strength, not in numbers. I want to see them face off with an anti-justice group, sometime that is long term. When you had NWO and DX and Evolution around, those storylines lasted a long time but the great thing is that they kept are attention. The Shield is great, but needs to be involved in something bigger and better before they split off into individuals.

Punk vs Taker was the highlight of the night. Interesting fact that the last 4 Wrestlemanias have both had highlighting moments involving the Undertaker. And with this one that has passed, his streak becomes 21-0. One fan that had met Taker at Axxess said that there is probably one more match left in him, and the fan said that he pointed to a picture of Brock Lesnar, saying "I think i have enough to fight this guy". If Taker can beat Triple H two years in a row, and then Triple H defeats Lesnar, Taker will defeat Lesnar if he does happen to face him. The match with Punk vs Taker was really great. I have to say, that even though I don't like Punk which is the right thing to do, is that he is the best heel that I have seen in a very long time. His words, his actions go up and beyond any other current superstars, including the Rock and Cena, of how to put on the best promos to date. I think that Punk is making himself a legend, but was unable to really solidify his name as the one who beats the streak. Yes, Undertaker proves for the 21st year, at Wrestlemania...no one can defeat the Deadman. What was really special though about this Wrestlemania, is that we had just came off of the recent passing of Bill Moody aka Paul Bearer. We know that it was a shock to a lot of people that this happened, and we know that it definately affected Taker emotionally. But Punk knew that he had been given a golden opportunity to do as his character does....get in his opponents head, no matter the cost. So Punk for weeks went on a rampage of Paul Bearer's urn, using it to it's final climax, the RAW before Wrestlemania, pouring the contents all over Taker's body. My reaction was that I didn't see this coming, or well to go this far rather. It was amazing, but you felt cold afterwards. But it had to happen to solidify their match at Wrestlemania, to be the one that stole the show. And indeed it did. This match was by far the best of the night, showing Taker's strength after recieving an elbow from Punk, as Taker laid on the Spanish announce table. At the 9 count, Taker was able to get back in the ring. And finish Punk off. 21-0 Undertaker reigns supreme. However I do see Wrestlemania 30 as his last match, and his retirement afterwards. Next year expect to see Paul Bearer go into the HOF, you can count on that.

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar. A helluva fight. Both men used weapons, Trips with his sledgehammer and Brock with his chairs. They gave it the best they got. Lesnar F5ed HBK, and then locked on the Kamori lock on Trips arm. But Trips had a surprise of his own. As he got out of Brocks hold, he decided to do his own. I think it was around 4 times that Trips put that arm lock on Brock, but Brock didn't tap. Instead he got pedigreed on the steel steps that were in the ring, and behold the King of Kings The Game Triple H keeps his job, his career and his passion. Honestly though, Triple H being in corporate office as well as wrestler, looks like to be drifting away from the ring and into the office. Not sure what his next storyline is, but it looks like it won't be with Brock. The only thing that I can think of if the Trips vs Lesnar fued isn't over, is that June's ppv is called Payback, with Lesnar on the front. The caption reads It's time for Payback. Who knows? Only time will tell.

Rock vs Cena II. Well, main event rematches for Wrestlemania have been rare. But this one, sucks. Everyone expected for John Cena to turn heel, even I thought that myself. But alas, he didn't. It looks like The Rock will still be part time, but unsure of what is next for him. Some say he will face Lesnar at WM30, but the Rock says he can't say if he is going to be there next year. The only thing that I disagree with on The Rock's status in the WWE is that he became the only part time champion. Sure he did a lot of things ten years ago, but think about this: why is The Rock who is not the best from the Attitude Era the only one to come back after ten long years to just say I'm going to be the champion, does it and doesn't promote WWE out of WWE media, like TV shows except for one or two. He didn't do house shows, he didn't do a lot of stuff for the fans as champion or even before after his return. Shawn Micheals does more than The Rock when he is around. Why not give HBK a title run once again? I would rather see a full time champion than a part time. So in this rematch, we see Cena defeat The Rock with no heel turn, which sucks. I rather would see John Cena as champion and be around all the time than The Rock as champion and not be there half the time. Sure The Rock has great movies, and balances all of his stuff....but honestly if you really wanted to give back to the fans then show the Attitude Era Rock. You take too long in your pauses and in your speeches you drag on and on. There was someone that said that you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villian...that's you Rock. And Cena, his persona needs a change...like a heel turn. But no, they don't like listening to the fans.

That's the problem with the WWE...is that they want us to pay big bucks for some predictable show....Give us what we want, not what you think we want. I wonder if the WWE superstars and office personal ever decide to look on the internet at forums and such to get an idea or two from their dedicated fans. They have to understand that most of the forums are free to people that share the passion of wrestling, and spend countless hours making posts and expressing their ideas. WWE needs to listen to their fans, instead of assuming what we want..

So that brings us to April the 8th Edition of Monday Night Raw.....some questions come to mind & my answers to follow

1 - What will The Rock do next? - my answer is who cares.

2 - Now that Cena is champion, will he turn heel or be the same boring persona he has been for the last 10 years?

3 - Will Brock Lesnar persue Payback on his loss, or will there be another feud to begin? He is scheduled to be at RAW, as with the Rock. this one I'm unsure about, and frankly it doesn't interest me one bit.

4 - Now that CM Punk has made himself that one in 21-0, what is his plans next? To be honest, he will be taking time off due to injuries. It looked like at WM29 he hurt his knee again, the one that has previously had surgery on. Taker will probably go away until Royal Rumble.

5 - Will Swagger seek revenge? Yes. But who cares.

All I'm hoping now is that RAW will be decent to watch. What feuds are next, who will be pushed up and down, who will go and who will come. Before last RAW, the rest of the RAWs of the year didn't do that good. So hopefully they will have some surprises in store for us. I know that a lot of negativity has been said by me in this blog, but it's the truth of how I see WWE today. My favorite season of WWE was the Attitude Era. It kept you on edge, and had many many great storylines that has kept us hooked all these years. I really wish that the WWE would look back in time, get that passion they use to have instead of trying to force us to go in a direction we don't want to go in.

What are some of your thoughts on this? Do you agree or disagree? Who do you think needs the next push?

[Jake]

I loved the Mark Henry vs Ryback match and thats all I really differ on opinion from you man. It was a great story told of one big guy passing the torch to the other. Predictable, yes but the way they pulled it off was very satisfying for me. I never really understood or liked watching the big guys because they lack the talent and bore me compared to the smaller guys that put on better matches. But when you see 2 big guys used correctly like they did here, it makes for an entertaining match. Its hard to get people into these style of matches especially when they just look at it at face value of two huge guys with slow paces boring the crowd. But if you give some of the bigger guys a chance man can they amaze you. Everyone views everything differently but I think if a lot of people put the feelings aside they could enjoy a match between 2 big guys like this, just as I had last night. Sure I can't be alone in enjoying that but even if I am I have no problem being the guy supporting their match. With that said I look forward to the eventual Big Show vs Mark Henry feud again. I enjoy seeing these monsters. At least they don't overdo it and give us too much of these guys. It could be worse like back in the early days before the attitude era when almost everyone was that size.

Got to agree though, I don't really have much interest in tonight's Raw. Curious what The Shield does next and if Cena turns heel. Thats all that will keep me watching it but I might give up midshow if its boring me too bad.

Great post btw man really enjoyed reading that. Please don't crucify me for my view on the big guys. I used to hate watching those matches as much as the next guy but I really enjoyed that one last night. As long as they don't overdo the time on a match like that I can get into it. That match lasted just long enough not to push that edge for me.

Also The Shield tearing Big Show apart was another big highlight of the show outside of the obvious main event matches. That was just awesome to watch