NintendoLogic

Back when wrestling was presented as a sport. Anyway, my pick would be Stephanie McMahon. Probably the worst case of nepotism in wrestling history. Her elevation to the position of head writer was directly correlated with a precipitous decline in the quality of the product, and she has single-handedly made Raw virtually unwatchable over the past year and a half.

Basic psychology tells us why those who made it through developmental wouldn't speak out against DeMott. It's the same reason members of fraternities with the harshest initiations are the most likely to have positive feelings about their frat brothers. Who did DeMott successfully train? NXT is great as a finishing school for established indy guys, but who have they built up from scratch?

Note how it was the fans in attendance and not WWE who were responsible for the one part of Raw Johnny didn't like. WWE can never fail, it can only be failed.

Well, the Mania builds have been week the past four years. Last year was an exception, but that was only because the fans revolted and forced WWE to change course. Before that, we were getting Punk/Kane, Bryan/Sheamus, and Orton vs. a babyface Batista in the main event. The last Mania where the build was strong across the board was 26.

If nothing else, that segment should remove any lingering doubts over whether Stephanie is stroking her ego by playing the cool heel. Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there were Daily Show writers with legit wrestling knowledge. The Colbert Report, which draws from the same pool of writers, referenced El Hijo del Santo and Los Gringos Locos a few years ago.

Wait...did that video say that Maria Kanellis was going up against AJ Styles?

What classics did Rey throw out on PPV in WWE?

Samoa and Tonga? Shit, Vince thinks China and Japan are interchangeable.

Don Leo Jonathan, Dick Beyer, Danny Hodge, Mr. Wrestling II, and Nick Bockwinkel are all in their 80s.

Cena/Lesnar was an incredible experience on first viewing, but the ref bump has largely ruined it for me on subsequent viewings. I don't have a problem with ref bumps, but it happened after the match had been stopped so the ref could treat Cena's cut. Blood necessitates a match stoppage, but the ref getting knocked out doesn't? How the hell does that make any sense? That's a huge logic gap I just can't look past. I also agree with OJ that there wasn't anything remotely shoot-style about the match.

Isn't that what the Rumble is supposed to be for?

EDIT: deleted because I got tired of keeping track of them

Looking at the matches that are more or less set in stone: Lesnar/Reigns-The quality of Lesnar matches is directly correlated with the other guy's willingness to let Lesnar manhandle him, so I guess it depends on whether Reigns is willing to man up. I just hope to God we don't get a Rollins cash-in. Reigns feuding with Planet Jarrett 2.0 is pretty much my idea of wrestling Hell. Orton/Rollins-Best-case scenario, this is on the same level as Orton/Punk at WM27. It'll probably be slightly worse. HHH/Sting-The best we can hope for is enough overbooking to make this a decent Wrestlemania spectacle. There's zero chance of this being a decent wrestling match. Taker/Wyatt-This is by far the weakest Taker Mania match since The Streak became a major selling point. Bray needs to be carried, and Taker was never much of a carrier even in his prime. All in all, this is shaping up to be the worst Mania in over a decade. Our only hope is that Bryan is given enough time to save the show, but the chances of that seem pretty slim.

I think Bryan/Reigns is clearly the WWE MOTY at this point. The Rumble triple threat was a great video game match, but those do nothing for me. And Cena/Rusev wasn't much more than a paint-by-numbers Cena vs. Monster match except for the finish.

Daniel Bryan is a goddamn miracle worker.

Random question: was Ryback/Rusev ever blown off? Did they ever even have a match?

Haha, this is hilarious. It's like there's a competition to see which match can have the shittiest finish.

That transition to Paige's comeback was really ugly.

I'd say his last great match was vs. Regal at the 96 Bash. A lot of people also like the 99 DDP match.

It warms my heart to see how over the Sharpshooter still is in WWE.

I dig Cody's character work, for what it's worth.

Looks like we're getting the modern WWE special where the babyface wins clean in the first match to set up a gimmick rematch where the heel wins in screwjob fashion.

God, I hope not. To build Lesnar up the way they did and have it all end with a lame cash-in would be too stupid for words.

Speak for yourself. I don't love Ishii at all, for the very reasons you mentioned.

So I finally got around to watching the final two matches. I'll get around to watching the rest of the show eventually. I have no problem calling Nakamura/Ibushi a MOTYC, albeit a rather low-end one. I absolutely loved it up until the first run of sustained Ibushi offense, at which point they kind of lost me. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Nakamura's performance, though. If he's not the best wrestler in the world, I don't know who is. Their G1 match was better, though. Tanahashi/Okada kind of fell flat for me. Don't get me wrong, there was nothing particularly wrong with it. It was well-structured, had some cool shit, and never dragged (I was legit shocked at the 30 minute announcement). But it never hooked me in. I think it was the sense that I've seen it all before. I like both these guys, but they really need to stop wrestling each other for a while. They peaked at Invasion Attack, and they've been moving backward ever since. For the record, both their elbows are fine. I honestly have no idea why you guys have a problem with them.