I didn’t
quite know what to write for this week’s blog and then I decided to make it
about the decisions that were made in the world of wrestling over the last week
and yes, that means at WrestleMania as well. You see, last week’s NXT Report
was the last NXT Report on this blog because I am no longer a subscriber of the
WWE Network. I was having so much trouble loading the Network on my Xbox One
that I almost missed WrestleMania and didn’t get to see the pre-show. I
informed WWE of this problem before Fastlane and they assured me they were
getting the app on the Xbox fixed. But lo and behold, come the end of March and
they still hadn’t bothered.
I’m
not going to continue to pay for a service which I cannot access and haven’t
been able to in at least three weeks. The morons at Network services don’t seem
to be able to comprehend the problem when you ring them and think that if you
leave it alone it will get better on its own. News flash, it won’t. The disappearance
of the NXT Report is just one of the reasons behind a major announcement later
in this blog. For now, let’s take a fleeting look at WrestleMania and the wrong
decisions made at the best WrestleMania in many years.
Firstly,
the event was excellent. I think we can all agree on that, almost every match
had something worthy in it with the exception of John Cena vs Rusev and I was mightily
impressed with Sting even though he lost. And that is where we will begin. Up
to Triple H vs Sting, the night was flowing smoothly. Yes, Seth Rollins should
have defeated Randy Orton in order to put him in a better place to win the WWE
World Heavyweight Championship at the end of the show but that is a minor gripe
and we will take a look at where Seth Rollins can now go in our Extreme Rules
preview later this month. But it was Sting’s match which really hammered home
the differences in what long time fans and new fans expect. You see, new fans,
who maybe weren’t aware of what Sting was in professional wrestling didn’t
really understand his aura or hype. Whilst those who have been watching sting
for thirty years know better.
I
really expected Sting to beat Triple H at WrestleMania, after all it was his
first match in WWE and his first of two appearances at WrestleMania before he
retires next year. I understand the need for WWE to set up another Sting vs
Triple H match at SummerSlam, but surely it would have been better for Triple H
to lose, be unable to let go of the loss and challenge Sting to a rematch in
August. That is the role of a heel after all. For me, a face coming back to
bitch and moan about his loss on the biggest night of the year is just
pathetic. I believe WWE got this decision wrong on the night and should have
reversed it. Whether it was Triple H’s ego that got the better of him or not,
WWE should have planned for the future here.
And
that brings me to the second wrong decision of WrestleMania and that was John
Cena’s now pointless victory over Rusev. Why pointless you may ask, well if you
haven’t kept up to date with WWE this week, then John Cena vs Rusev has already
been announced for Extreme Rules which makes his victory over Rusev at
WrestleMania an ego boost rather something which was best for business. Knowing
that the pair would clash again a month after the event, WWE should have bitten
the bullet and booked Cena to lose at WrestleMania in order to preserve Rusev’s
character and aura. Because now he’s lost once, what is left for Rusev to do in
WWE? His whole character and purpose was the man who couldn’t be beaten and
that should have been amplified at WrestleMania.
Not
just for John Cena to lose, but because it would have helped WWE draw a massive
number for Extreme Rules if WWE had booked it as John Cena’s last shot. Just
think how much better it would have been to see John Cena lose to Rusev at
WrestleMania and Fastlane and then either lose to John Cena at Extreme Rules of
carry on his undefeated streak. That is what would have been best for business.
Hell, WWE were onto such a good thing with Rusev that he could have carried on
for another year. Fans loved him, and he didn’t really need to be beaten until
it was time for him to lose the WWE World Heavyweight Championship which he
would have been in a position to win later this year had he beat John Cena at
WrestleMania.
Bray
Wyatt vs The Undertaker was the last real wrong decision WWE made at WrestleMania
and like Rusev, had Bray Wyatt won then he would have been immediately catapulted
into the main event. But that isn’t what happened and what we got was an okay
match in which The Undertaker looked old. Even more so at the end than when he
came into the bout. Putting that decision behind us, I truly believe that The
Undertaker’s time is done in WWE and as a wrestler. Last year was bad, this
year was worse. I don’t recall ever being so uncomfortable watching someone
wrestle as I was at WrestleMania. Every time he fell it was touch and go if he
was going to get back up and I believe Taker should have bowed out last year
rather than put himself through this again.
As The
Undertaker made his way to the ring, Michael Cole commented on what type of
Undertaker this was. Was it an Undertaker coming back to rule the yard or an
Undertaker coming back so he could bow out on his own terms. I don’t think
anyone watching this was in two minds that the latter was true. The decision to
come back this year was a plan by Mark Calloway to go out on his own terms. He
will be back next year but for his retirement match. As WrestleMania 32 will be
held in Texas, Taker’s home town, I can think of no better place to bow out and
put an end to an unforgettable career. It’s better to be remembered for what
you did and go out on one final, stunning performance rather than have another
five or ten mediocre performances and destroy your legacy completely.
WrestleMania 32 will be The Undertaker’s last ride and it should be a more than
fitting ending.
Though
it may not be obvious to some, WWE’s final wrong decision at WrestleMania was
to push Roman Reigns. Now, I know that he was booked to be destroyed by Brock
Lesnar on the night and that isn’t what I’m talking about. I’m talking about
his blatant laziness and unprofessionalism in the ring. Knowing he would
eventually be bested by Seth Rollins, Reigns just didn’t bother and was sloppy
when he did. Within ten seconds he’d cut Brock Lesnar by mistake with careless
right hands. Following that he bust Lesnar’s lip with careless knees which
weren’t placed where they should have been and then he cracked Lesnar’s skull
open by shoving him carelessly into the camera wire taped to the ring post.
They walked through this match before hand, Reigns knew where the wire was and
yet aimed Lesnar for the wire anyway.
On a
PG rated product, there’s no was Vince would have sanctioned the use of blood, especially
since the company will now have to show this match in black and white when
recapping in the future. And on top of all that, Roman Reigns had the cheek to
laugh his way through the punishment. He looked ridiculous doing so and not
even John Cena showed Brock Lesnar this amount of disrespect. All of this only
went to affirm what everyone had been saying all this time. Roman Reigns wasn’t
ready and now he should be dropped to the mid-card in order to start again.
What an idiot.
With
all that said, I would now like to direct you to the new background we have on
this blog. For those of you who haven’t been reading properly, the cover is of
the book which is due out soon by a reader of this blog. It’s the book I have
been reviewing for a while and it’s worth every penny and cent for over a
thousand pages of sheer entertainment and brilliance. This is the book I’ve
been calling the most anticipated wrestling book of the last decade and it will
not disappoint. There is no release date for it yet, but take a good look at
the cover because you’re missing out if you don’t buy it. There will be a
special interview with the author in the coming weeks followed by a one off
Review Corner of the book once I receive a release date.
Finally,
at the beginning of this blog I promised you a special announcement and here it
is. For a while now I’ve been thinking of shutting this blog down. Those long
time readers will know that this has been a decision I’ve been toying with for
nearly a year. I’ve made my decision and whilst the blog isn’t going anywhere
in the next month or two because of a promise I made, I have made the fateful
decision to close this blog once my obligations are fulfilled. I won’t go into
the reasons now because I will do so in a special farewell blog to my minions
down the road. But we’re not even nearly done yet, there’s a lot more to come
before the end so keep reading. I won’t just disappear, I will inform you of
our end when it comes. But it is coming. For now, we’ll carry on as we have
been. Heading towards a fitting finale.
Onwards
and upwards.
