GDT: Wrestlemania: April 10-11, 2021

[Jussi]

He deserves all the shit Bayley gives him.

Ding dong!

 

[TD Charlie]

I gotta say I loved the first night. There was no match I was looking forward to too much (my most anticipated is by far the Bryan/Edge/Reigns on night 2) - but overall it was fantastic and there was something positive about almost every match.

1. Drew vs Lashley. This was ~ok. I didn't have huge expectations, and i'm glad it went first vs last. Honestly the thing i liked most is Lashley retaining. it's not that i like him more than Drew per se, it was just unexpected and it feels fresh to have a big feel retain clean that way.

2. Women's tag match. This was very so-so, but as you'd expect. Was a few fun spots though, and didn't last too long, so it was fine.

3. Cesaro vs Rollins. I absolutely loved this one. Both wrestlers looked great. Rollins can absolutely absorb a loss, so it was the right call to book Cesaro in a big win. Very fun match, lots of great spots, good story - just solid all around

4. Tag title match. New Day + AJ are very solid in the ring, so it was worked well enough from that perspective. But it was amazing storytelling how they held out Omos's debut till the end of the match. I would say I had a very mild curiosity at most heading into mania about Omos's debut, but the way the match was booked that grew exponentially. And when he finally tagged - it was great. He seems to be fairly limited in the ring, so he didn't do too many crazy moves, and that's ok - protect him and book him in a way that his monster shines through. I really enjoyed this, and I think the AJ/Omos pairing has some good mileage ahead of them. Not that different from past tag pairings of small guy + monster like a Kane + Bryan, or Kane + XPac, or JeriShow, etc.

5. Braun vs Shane. This was ~ok to me. I didn't look forward to it too much going in, but I like that it was a cage match, meaning they had to stay in ring vs go all over the arena. I feel as though that's been overdone. I liked Braun tearing Shane through the cage, and the end spot was cool.

6. Miz and Bad Bunny....fantastic. Great performance all around. Surprising, but also fun and very entertaining. Very very well done.

7. Main event - very well done too. Both women looked great, solid match with a happy ending.

I like that there was a little something in almost every match for me to enjoy.

Pretty much my thoughts and the last part sums it up perfectly. It was an excellent show and a nice feel good Saturday night. Last years two day performance center mania was a nice couple nights, this blew it out of the water

 

[TD Charlie]

Everyone is talking about how great Bad Bunny did in his match

he did extremely well, but let’s not forget there were 3 trained professionals in there with him to help the match along. I’m sure every punch was rehearsed a hundred times over, and credit to the guys who trained BB (i heard scrap daddy and Gulak had a lot of involvement there).

credit to all of the guys involved, namely the Miz who worked a safe match and was involved in 90 percent of any back and forth with BB

 

[GKJ]

Damien Priest has a back injury and was apparently touch and go that he would be cleared. They probably did most of the match they put together when it was booked as a single.

Also, Bad Bunny has been at the PC going back to perhaps December. He did the work.

 

[bobholly39]

There is probably another cinematic match coming since they still have thunderdome shows and PPV’s.

Strange that this is just a straight up wrestling match though since Bray Wyatt is dependent on so much hocus pocus but there’s already 2 no DQ matches

I'd be completely shocked if this is a straight wrestling match. I fully expect it to be a hocus pocus special - very probably cinematic. Just because they didn't advertise it as such doesn't mean we should expect a normal match

 

[GKJ]

I'd be completely shocked if this is a straight wrestling match. I fully expect it to be a hocus pocus special - very probably cinematic. Just because they didn't advertise it as such doesn't mean we should expect a normal match

They could project worms on to the mat like they did a few years ago

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Wasn't expecting Lashley and Drew to open the show

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Weather is terrible in the Tampa area again. Wonder who Vince is blaming for it? Prichard? Hunter? calling up JR and screaming at him for some reason? Who knows!

 

[eXile3]

Weather is terrible in the Tampa area again. Wonder who Vince is blaming for it? Prichard? Hunter? calling up JR and screaming at him for some reason? Who knows!

I hope it's good enough for the show to continue but yeah it's not good.

 

[Jussi]

No sign of rain clouds.

 

[End of Line]

Just lost brain cells listening to the panel discuss Physics and Astrophysics

 

[Kaner9]

I have a feeling night 2 will not top night 1 even though its the better show on paper. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out anyway

 

[GKJ]

Orton/Wyatt opens the show

 

[Le Tricolore]

Just so we're clear here...

Bad Bunny: Zero wrestling experience. More wrestling experience than talent. Can barely speak English. Gets pushed to the moon and a spot on the Wrestlemania card.

Andrade: Third generation. Loads of wrestling talent. Can barely speak English. Can't get on a 3 hour RAW card for months.

There's a reason this company is dying.

Right, but having Andrade on TV does absolutely nothing for ratings since he isn't over with most of the crowd. Bad Bunny is a huge celebrity, and even brought the 24/7 championship onto SNL.

 

[Jussi]

Right, but having Andrade on TV does absolutely nothing for ratings since he isn't over with most of the crowd. Bad Bunny is a huge celebrity, and even brought the 24/7 championship onto SNL.

Yeah, that's the sad part about Andrade. He never got REALLY over with the fans, even at NXT. It's like he really needed a good catchphrase or something.

 

[Transplanted Caper]

Jesus. Hogan.

 

[GKJ]

Titus and Hogan as pirates

 

[Le Tricolore]

Yeah, that's the sad part about Andrade. He never got REALLY over with the fans, even at NXT. It's like he really needed a good catchphrase or something.

Being a talented wrestler and being over with the mainstream crowd are very rarely related. Andrade just isn't an interesting character or very charismatic. He's super talented, but that's only part of it.

 

[OmniSens]

Crowd is giving Hogan some heat.

 

[Le Tricolore]

Crowd is giving Hogan some heat.

Good.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Randy's coming out in those tights like "DONTPOOPDONTPOOPDONTPOOPDONTPOOP".

 

[Jussi]

Being a talented wrestler and being over with the mainstream crowd are very rarely related. Andrade just isn't an interesting character or very charismatic. He's super talented, but that's only part of it.

Some people don't have to say much/at all to get over to some degree (Ricochet) or well over (Dexter Lumis). Andrade did not have that quality.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

It's hilarious to me that it took that tape coming out for people to hate Hogan.

He was obviously one of the fakest people you'll ever come across long before that tape came out. Guy drips with insincerity.

 

[ColePens]

Are they stalling for time? This is ridiculous.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

I, for one, hope we get projections of worms on the ring again.