15 Quick Thoughts From Wrestlemania XXXIII
So I’m back (after spending 40 minutes in a parking lot (meaning grass) waiting on traffic to move) and my goodness what a night. This show, while not as great as Wrestlemania XXX, was quite a rollercoaster of emotions. While I’ll have the full review up asap (give me a few days thanks to bad wifi and a 14 hour drive home Wednesday), here are a few quick thoughts.
1. That set was amazing and looked incredible in the dark. Possibly the best looking one they’ve ever done.
2. The mixed tag went exactly as I expected with Cena just popping up at the end and winning with his usual.
3. The proposal, while cheesy, was fast and fine enough.
4. The Hardys coming out made me jump to my feet, along with about 75,000 other people.
5. AJ vs. Shane was shockingly good.
6. What was the point of Nia Jax being added? Like at all.
7. Stephanie’s table bump woke up the crowd.
8. I can’t stand Stephanie but SWEET GOODNESS she looked incredible tonight.
9. I want to punch the finish of Bray vs. Orton in the face, kick it in the testicles and feed it to a ravenous bull.
10. Goldberg vs. Lesnar was better than I was expecting.
11. Mickie James and Alexa Bliss look very good in trunks.
12. Naomi’s entrance is one of the trippiest things you’ll ever see live.
13. New Day was worthless tonight and I forgot they were a thing for hours at a time.
14. The ending with Undertaker and the post-show stuff with him leaving almost got to me a bit.
15. The upper deck at Wrestlemania is a REALLY BAD PLACE for someone who doesn’t like loud noises or heights.
More later of course. Ask away if there’s anything you want to know about live.
I saw online that the stage caught fire after the show went off the air. Weird, given that if there weren’t crew members trying to put out the fire, it looked like part of the show.
That said, from the pics I’ve seen…hmm…I say this has one of the top 15 AT WORST sets in WM history, likely top 10. Not sure how high to rank it but that’s the absolute worst it gets. It’s very nice, colorful, and creative in how it took advantage of the Orlando place with the theme park feel, but 24 and 29 top it for me off the top of my head.
Lol, that’s a bit hyperbolic.
But seriously who the f#ck sanctioned that ramp?
It almost looks vanity pet project for HHH to drive him bike down for his entrance lol
How was the reaction when Shane did the SSP?
Big pop, as expected.
#14 – I’m surprised I didn’t bawl my eyes out like a bitch. If this was the last time I’ll have the honour to see you perform in any capacity, Thank you Taker.
It’s not even the best-looking set in that stadium, I’ve always loved the WrestleMania 24 look.
I hate to be the stereotypical internet fan here but Reigns was awful last night. It’s hard for me to think of a more dull and uninspired performance in a big match situation like that. Taker probably should have retired after losing to Brock at 30 anyways but it’s still a shame his last match went like that. Also, this show was just too LONG. I get they want to put everyone on the card, but this year was just absurd. I only caught parts of it and it was exhausting to watch.
I absolutely 100% agree. It has become a custom to be labeled as a stereotypical IWC nerd if you even criticize Reigns, but this was ridiculous.
Rock carried Austin to memorable one last match while Austin was not in the game 100% and had just returned from hospital. Shawn gave Flair an instant classic match with his performance while Flair was on his last legs. Taker did the same for Shawn at WM 26. Now we get a wholly uninspired and robotic performance from Reigns. And it will still get shouted in our ears how Reigns is a big match performer or something like that.
Hell, there was not even a hug, like Michaels for Flair, nor a handshake, like Taker to Michaels, nor a post-match heart to heart talk, like Rock to Austin. Instead, he raised his arms like a snob and took in the pyro.
Two things.
1. Undertaker didn’t carry Shawn at XXVI. Shawn was more than capable of having a great match and wasn’t carried.
2. As far as Reigns goes…..eh kind of but I think that was the point. Undertaker staying in it was all about emotion while Reigns was out there to beat him up until Undertaker just couldn’t do it anymore. It was meant to show Reigns as more serious and ready to do whatever it took. The multiple spears made sense and while the match wasn’t good, I got what they were going for.
@ Sagar- so you don’t want to be stereotyped, yet are throwing out nerd monikers like IWC. OKAY?
We get it dude, people don’t like Reigns. But some of the examples you’ve given are piss poor comparisons.
This was literally a dead man against Roman, not much can be done when trying to pick up 300 pounds of dead weight.
Good, now that Bray has lost the title keep him away from the main event scene. Have him win matches, big matches, against top guys but he doesn’t need the title. It just doesn’t work. The match graphics for the two world title matches were placed side by side on the forum and Bray looked so out of place.
Wins not titles for Bray Wyatt is the path to success.
*Main event as in title scene. Keep him with the top guys but never give him the belt.
Agreed. Pray to the prophet for he speaks the truth
How did the projector gimmick work for Wyatt vs Orton? It was pretty bad watching on TV, and I can’t imagine most of the audience could even fully appreciate it.
I’m assuming just from the big rafters above the ring.
Really weird. I’m not sure if you could tell but the rest of the lights in the stadium went out. It was really jarring and at first I thought there was a power outage.
Did you feel that a lot of the title matches on the main card were really short and many of them didn’t end up going anywhere? The ladder match was only 11 minutes, the WWE championship was 10:30, the smackdown women’s was 5:35, and the raw women’s for being an elimination fatal fourway was 12 minutes. The longest title match of the night was actually Jericho and KO at 16 minutes. Great individual moments but idk, a lot of matches didn’t go past first gear.
That’s a really good question.
I think it’s a case by case basis. The ladder match was very good, the SMackdown World TItle was HORRIBLE (due to a lot of reasons other than the time), the Raw women felt very short, and the Smackdown Women were there as a cushion, not as a showcase.
I think in this situation, a lot of stuff has to take a backseat. In this case, it was the more minor title matches.
I was there live also and thought it was a lot of fun too.
Im curious what your grade will be for aj and shane. This may be high but id probably end up giving it an A
While I was watching live I was thinking B+/B but EVERYTHING can change watching it back.
I
I went to wrestlemania 10 and i thought that was an amazing experience. Any seat in the garden is good i think. I feel like these outdoor wrestlemanias are even more of an experience.