WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII - April 1st 2012

[Gnrfan]

Ok i'm gonna say it... i thought Mania was poor this year.

If i was Daniel Bryan watching Brodus Clay dance or a Flo Rida/Heath Slater promo i'd probably want to shoot Vince McMahon.

I think you all know my thoughts on The Rock winning, although it was great to have him back and reminding us why he was/is a great entertainer.

I thought that nearly every match was average at best, with Punk/Jericho and Rock/Cena above that bar.

The HHH/Taker/HBK match had some fantastic moments and the shot of all three at top of the ramp will be one of those iconic shots. However at no point in this match did it hit the heights of HBKvsTaker 1 & 2 or the previous two Mania matches between Taker and HHH IMO.

I liked Cody vs Big Show but it wasn't anything you wouldn't on RAW or SD.

Punk/Jericho ebbed and flowed but when the tempo raised the match was excellent and Jericho goading at the start was great i thought.

Rock and Cena was a solid match that despite the "wrong decision" had some great moments. I was sure that Cena was not going to win before the PPV, but on two occasions i nearly ate my words. The Cross body into the AA was something of beauty and anyone who thinks that Cena doesn't belong in the ring with guys like the Rock are surely eating humble pie about now.

They need to **** get rid of a 2nd world title once and for a all. its dumb anyway to have 2 champions.

I also agree with this. The brand split worked when they were pushing younger guys and when guys like HHH, HBK, Edge etc were around, but the amount of real top workers currently in the WWE is so slim i see no point to the brand split apart from cutting wrestler workloads.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

Considering my expectations going in, I guess I'd have to say I was disappointed with WM, but I did like it nonetheless. Was an improvement on last year's at least.

HIAC was definitely match of the night for me, as seems to be the general consensus. I didn't think they'd manage it, but once again they had me thinking the streak might be over. I seem to remember the part where Trips first hit Taker in the face with the sledgehammer as standing out to me when I watched it live. A lot of fans seem to go on and on about 'storytelling', and I've neever always understood what they're complaints with regard to it are, but this match certainly told a great story to me. They didn't use the cell much, but they still managed to make it fairly brutal - for PG anyway. I thought Michaels was a good addition to the match and like Gnrfan said, the shot of the three of them at the top of the ramp will probably stick with us for a long time.

Was Rock/Cena ever going to live up to the year-long hype? I don't think it was, but it was still decent. Rock winning surprised me and surely to God, will be the basis for a Cena heel turn? After seeing Raw though, I'm not so sure...

Punk/Jericho got really good as it went on, loved Jericho's taunting and bitchslapping. I don't know if it's just me but I didn't feel this match had loads of build up. I think I just got saturated with hype for Cena/Rock and HIAC that I kind of forgot about the WWE Title match. Anyway, very good match IMO.

You could practically hear the IWC **** itself when the referee counted the pinfall in the WHC match. I'll wait and see where this goes before declaring it to be an outrage or whatever. I actually thought Bryan might get a rematch later in the evening or something. It seems that the loss has actually gotten Bryan more over than he's ever been, just a pity it seems to be coming at the expense of Sheamus, who I like....

The rest was good to 'meh' really. Show and Cody put on a decent little match, was nice to have an IC Title match at WM that went more than thirty seconds. Divas was average, that Maria Menounos was either legitimately really hurt or is just a good seller.

The 12 Man Tag was also average, think the fans there and at home were spent from HIAC. Not the greatest place on the card to be put. Would've been better if it had been an elimination match, but guess they had random pointless segments to get through. Orton and Kane didn't seem to click, was a fairly slow, plodding match. Nice to see Kane win cleanly tough, and with a top rope Chokeslam!

That whole Brodus Clay segment was some kind of wrestling LSD trip. 0_o

Overall, I'd probably give it a 7/10 or thereabouts. I think it had the potential to be better, but what we got wasn't too bad. Let's see where it all goes...

[Hammy]

Undertaker vs Triple H I thought was superb, the crowning moment of the show, and a lot of that was down to HBK and his reactions and mannerisms, thought it was a fitting ending to the feud, and in many ways to the careers of those guys.  When you look afterwards at the back of Undertaker, you see how much they are prepared to go through physically to put on a show.  It's hard to ever doubt the streak and to be honest I didn't, but that did not take away from the awesome storytelling.

Jericho and Punk had some great near falls in the latter half of the match, I just think it was kind of slow getting out of the blocks.  I do look forward to this feud continuining though, apparently so does Jake Roberts and Jerry Lawler....

Rock and Cena was great for the atmosphere, it was never going to be a wrestling classic, but it had the right drama, my only disappointment, and it was my own fault, was, having read spoilers about Lesnar returning, I was impatiently waiting for him to show up in the match, so when he didn't I was kind of gutted.

The Divas match went waaaaay too long, it just being there in the first place was a joke.

Bryan got done over as well, although the only defence, as BlowUp says is it was a fitting comeuppance for the character.

Rhodes vs Big Show was like a medicore tv match, D....listing it so highly....you crazy dude!!

Kane vs Randy Orton was the best match of the first half.  A lot better than expected, still no classic, but considering I dislike virtually ALL Kane matches/segments and the like, it was alright, and a surprising result to! (Everyone in the Predictions game picked Orton to).

The big tag match was just filler, a nice way I suppose for a bunch of guys to get on the card.  Dolph Ziggler deserves so much better than this, if he's not in a major spot next year, I riot!!

Brodus Clay segment, was strangely enjoyable.

The musical performances I thought were effective in adding to the big time feel, you need things to seperate this show from the others.  Mania has ALWAYS had a lot of the extra stuff to go with the wrestling. 

And finally, as a major Heath Slater AND Curt Hawkins fan, them getting a Wrestlemania Cameo with Tyler Reks.  Freakin' Awesome!

[D]

 I don't mind performances if they are for ring entrances. so those were cool

I did like Big Show vs Cody

I was entertained.. i didn't get bored watching it and fiddle with my phone or laptop.

[Gnrfan]

I am amazed that so many have positives for this Mania.

I watched it again to see if it was just me but i think it was worse on the second viewing.

I thought the HIAC match dragged and at times HBK's involvement was over the top and too much. I think this match suffered from the obvious ending. Unlike the three previous Mania's not at any point did i see Taker losing and i think that was a massive negative. I don't think the cell was used that well. I understand the fantastic storytelling aspect of this match but i was left underwhelmed and though that other matches on the card were better. I thought that Jericho/Punk, Cena/Rock and even Show/Rhodes put on good matches but other than that the rest was under par.

I still think the standout moment of the PPV was Rock's cross body into the AA from Cena, which i was sure was it. before the match i was 100% that Rock would win but in that one moment Cena/Rock did something the Taker/HHH match didn't do and that was surprise me. However the Rock/Cena match then let itself down IMO at the ending as Cena trying to do the Peoples Elbow was stupid. As soon as he started me and three others in the room said "Thats it Rock wins here".

My guess is this PPV will be remembered for Cena/Rock and the image of Taker/HHH/HBK at the top of the ramp.

The real winner of this WM was Flo Rida and The Rock

[D]

I liked Rock and Cena cause I got surprised. I thought no way in Hell Rock would go over Cena, especially how bad he buried and destroyed Cena in the promos leading up. I figured Cena would pull off some type of win and they could have Rock save face by it being his first singles match in a decade or whatever.

[Hammy]

The real winner of this WM was Flo Rida and The Rock

Heath Slater getting a cameo  :****:

[Gnrfan]

I liked Rock and Cena cause I got surprised. I thought no way in Hell Rock would go over Cena, especially how bad he buried and destroyed Cena in the promos leading up. I figured Cena would pull off some type of win and they could have Rock save face by it being his first singles match in a decade or whatever.

Interesting because i saw this differently. I knew Rock would win but i also thought that aside from Cleveland where they did the Rap/Rock concert Cena promos were better than the Rocks in the main.

Cena has a consistent POV as where Rock rants despite being funny at time were kinda like crazy ramblings. Rock really had no answer to the "You're never here" promos Cena did and despite the crowds love of the Rock i think that Cena handled himself brilliantly.

Therefore i saw it the other way that Rock had kinda been shown up a little in a few promos and therefore no way that he would lose.