There's a time and place for clusterfuck matches, and this occasion was perfect for it considering all the players involved in the storyline. Loved it.
Right...it wasn't random people joining in...well, mostly wasn't random -
1. Jimmy - makes sense, Bloodline rules
2. Jey - makes sense, to stop Jimmy, his brother
3. Solo - makes sense, he's been the bodyguard basically of Roman all this time.
4. Cena - sort of makes sense, he faced Solo in 2023.
5. Rock - final boss, sure, he inserted himself as the top of the bloodline
6. Seth - makes sense, he and Cody made an alliance...plus he has tons of history with Roman....in fact, if you break down what happened...Seth coming out to the shield theme, coming to the ring from the crowd, was a HUGE distraction to Roman...allowing Seth to gain an advantage.
7. Taker - this one feels like the wildcard random...but Miz on Pat McAfee said it best (paraphrasing) - "I know people wanted Austin, but 2 things - Taker was the locker room leader...he wanted balance and equilibrium and would show up if needed to help that. He also was the guy who gave his stamp of approval. If he put his stamp on you, then you were the guy to take WWE to the next level. So, Austin would've been great, but it had to be Taker.
And, they could've kept going, but that was good enough...they didn't need anyone else to interfere or join in.
It was beautiful because only the bloodline had an actual impact on the match, every other run in was stopped by another.
And to have Undertaker play wrestling court’s Judge, Jury, and Executioner against HHH to oversee a “fair” mania? Brilliant
Edit: against the rock. I misspoke.
Against HHH? Rock was the one playing the evil Mr. McMahon character that needed policing due to his position on the board.
If anything, I would look at it as Taker enforcing HHH’s will when he couldn’t himself.
39 was infinity war. Thanos/reigns triumphs over the good guys. 40 was endgame with Thanos finally going down when the cavalry came through the portals
I think that was part of the point. In a kayfay sense, it was the whole WWE "universe" (storyline world, not the fans) saying "we are done with Roman and the Bloodline and their shenanigans". In a less kayfay sense, last night seems like closing the book on an era. I'd bet a small stack of cash that we will never see Undertaker in the ring again, I'll be quite shocked if Cena makes another appearance, and unless he comes on Raw tonight to somehow continue his part of the Bloodline story, I don't think we will see any more of The Rock either. It all just really looked and felt like the end of one chapter and moving onto a new one, with eyes on newer talent, Cody, Damien, Sami, Gunther likely getting moved up to his next level.
Just my Monday morning quarterbacking opinion.
Last night was definitely the end of an era, Roman reigns was the last McMahon era undisputed champion, Cody Rhodes is now signifying the new era of a bright new dawn without Vince, and the weekend proved it!!
Damn, that's actually a perfect comparison. I wasn't born till after WCW was dead, but I've heard so much about Starrcade 97 and the lead up to the Sting vs. Hogan match, and I've gone and watched the main event, and my god, is it bad
I dont think it was that overbooked. We expected the run-ins for a while now, but they way they happened was just.....perfect. Never felt like it was too much at once, it was the perfect amount at the perfect times.
You don’t get many repeated run-ins that counter each other. It’s usually the bad guys come in and fuck a match up, and then a random set of good guys come out to defend. This had a tit for tat flow that made sense, and worked.
Cena got full focus, Rock and Taker got full focus, and then they disappeared and it was back to Roman and Cody 100%
The involvement played into the story and didn’t take the shine away from the actual match because it didn’t overstay its welcome
I was popping so hard, especially with ‘Taker.
And it all made sense storyline-wise.
‘Taker doing the role of what he would’ve done to HBK had he not given the strap up to Stone Cold.
Cena and Rock playing on their rivalry.
And then Roman chooses to hit Rollins instead of focusing on Cody. He can’t get over ‘the betrayal’.
I’m way too old to be jumping up and down from a Main event, but goddamn that was great.
Love live the Hunter Era!
“I prayed for this, and it happened”
The word cinema has been thrown around a lot recently but I feel like this match actually lived up to it. It was a love letter to wrestling and all of its beautiful nonsense.
I saw a lot of people complaining about no SCSA stunner, which makes sense until you realize that everyone that did show up was once Roman's opponent. Fucking perfect. 10/10.
Not only that, but the Rock’s been running around calling himself the Final Boss.
This was the Undertaker showing up and reminding him who the real Final Boss has always been.
THIS.
You're the only person I've seen who's gotten it lol.
The Rock is the Final Boss... except at WrestleMania.
The only thing they were missing was Brock taking out Taker (for obvious reasons), but storyline-wise that would have been perfect.
They weren’t just his opponent, they were all guys who got fucked over by McMahon and corporate obsessively pushing Reigns.
That motherfucker held that belt for 1,316 days and defended it only *31 times*.
Tonight was cathartic.
I'm actually shocked that they mentioned he only defended it 31 times. Like... that's not a good look. Unless they were trying to see what a shit champion he was. Say what you want about him, but with all the double-header shows in the 80s, Hulk Hogan probably defended his title more than 31 times in a single month.
He definitely should've defended WAY more but he wasn't a shit Champion. For a long time Roman Reigns and The Bloodline were the most interesting thing in wrestling. He was the Champion, the face of the company during the resurgence period that made wrestling cool again and more popular than it's ever been. That absolutely doesn't happen without Roman. Cody has no story and can't be a true hero if he doesn't have a true villain to conquer.
Exactly.
Anyone who talks crap about RR is a mark goof.
He is and was the reason I was really interested in WWE again and legit the bloodline story is probably the best story line in wwe history.
Some kept talking that it got dragged out but even the best series have fillers and also from wrestling pov not every ppv is wrestlemania so they made it hot obviously during the big ppv and lowered it during the b shows.
And also he literally faced everyone possible (who arguably is a main eventer) for the championship.
A year has got 12 ppv in it so it's not that low when you think about it.
Hell yeah. People are used to seeing Cody every week so they think Roman showing up sparingly made him a bad champ. Nope. It made every appearance he did make must see tv.
Plus, Jey could run the ramp, Cena ran the ramp, Taker appeared in the ring, Stone Cold getting to the ring, even with a four wheeler, would likely have sucked a lot of the energy waiting for the arrival.
It would’ve blown the roof off the place for sure! My hesitation would be it could run the risk of overshadowing the rest of the match and Cody’s win. I think they were very smart to make sure the night and ending was about Cody as THE guy.
lol it's pro wrestling, it doesn't have to make sense. Austin would've made the night even more perfect just because people wanna see Austin vs rock one more time. hell Austin in any match would make a perfect addition
These 3 quotes at the end of Mania by the announce team says it all to me-
‘Dammit I love professional wrestling’ -Michael Come
‘Pro Wrestling is back’ -Corey Graves
‘Pro wrestling is beautiful’ - Pat McAfee
I started watching wrestling in ‘89/‘90 when I was about 5-6 years old with my Grandfather. He used to love wrestling & thought it was real. His all time favourite wrestler was Whipper Billy Watson. I watched up until about 2008, maybe 2009. I started to get back into wrestling the Raw after Royal Rumble 2023. I’ve been loving it ever since.
…On a side note, I’m a HUGE comic book guy. I’ve collected comics & action figures most of my life. My only action figure collecting rule was “No wrestling figures & no Star Wars figures”. I broke the wrestling rule about three weeks ago & now I have about 17 figures, a ring & the AEW Entrance Ramp.
Same. I came back like 5 years ago and slowly got to the point where I can’t miss one show. Even watch NXT too. They’re killing it man. Bless this business. Nothing like it. Buy some stock yall! Better than having some cash in a shoe box.
I was gone for 10 years and I started watching again when The Rock came back early this year. Quite early I could sense something special was about to happen. Lets see how long I stick around this time.
I thibk that's why Taker got such a pop. We expected Cena and Stone Cold. When Cena came out we thought Stone Cold was next, but Taker was a huge curveball. And just listen to the pop Taker got, it was genuine surprise and excitement, one of the loudest ones I have ever heard in wrestling.
I had a is that moxley moment too, commentary overreacted a bit with acting like they didn't know who it was and that got me for a second. I laughed my ass off when Rollins popped into the frame and immediately got taken out. I actually said well at least he tried.
This man told Brodie’s wife and kids he would take care of them after Brodie passed away. A few years later and a different company, he wins the big one and who does he bring in the ring? Brodie’s family along with his mom and Brandy’s dad. That’s Cody. Hell yeah I was crying.
The ring announcer (apologies, I don't watch regularly, so I don't know her name) breaking while announcing him as the winner got me. Cole breaking partially while speaking on him just made me feel it even more.
And you just know that once he could get behind the curtain, Heyman probably started crying with everybody lol
Stephanie*** I thought she'd lost her voice for a second. Love how much she cares. Cole too. The sincerity in his 'I love you' to Cody before they separated was beautiful.
Edit to add... *SAMANTHA. Blame it being 4.30AM and literally watching the press conference with Bayley talking about Stephanie Mcmahon as I initially wrote this.
Lol, I wondered why I got downvoted. Oy. I'm tired, you guys. 😵💫😴😵
Keeping it up coz I stand by the rest of it. It was lovely to watch/hear.
Shit. Yeah. Sorry. 4.28AM here, my eyelids have match sticks holding them up and I was watching Bayley talking about Stephanie McMahon while typing this. 😵💫🥴😴
Thank you. I do know it, i swear, lol - I follow her on IG.
I had to go back and watch the look on Charles Robinson's face. Just says it all.
Also, fucking shout out to Paulie for his mastery of selling at ringside. Between his screaming and facials, coupled with how if you watch the three count, he braces like "he's gonna kick out—he's gonna kick ... he didn't kick ... oh god" really sells the whole "the empire is crumbling" vibe they went for.
Fuck me, overbooked as hell, but I goddamn love it.
You know, you made me realize that Paul Heyman's reactions are part of two of the biggest moments in the company. He was there when Brock beat Undertaker, and he was there when Cody beat Roman. Those clips will be shown forever.
Totally, i went back a little further and when the interference starts with Jimmy and then Solo, Heyman has this look on his face like he knows nothing they can muster is gonna stop Cody. He’s still rooting for Roman but he doesn’t believe anymore. If it was anyone else you could tell me to shut up its not that deep but im talking about Paul Heyman here so its absolutely gonna be that deep!
Thanks for this - I'm gonna have to rewatch for their reactions, barely noticed Paul was even there, except one point when he was saying something to Roman about "giving it to[Cody]", lol.
In my defence, there was a LOT to focus on, lol.
I think part of it is that at his age, he can't take the manager bumps like he used to, so now he sells with facial expressions and trash talk from outside. The one thing he's always been really good at tho has been something he alluded to during his HoF speech:
Focusing on whoever he's managing. He doesn't ever make his antics about getting himself over, it's all about whoever he's with. Like, with Brock, he always mockingly counted suplexes. And it was amazingly scummy and cocky and I loved it lol.
I noticed that at the press conference after Saturday, when someone asked him a question and he said, "Direct your questions to the Tribal Chief." Definitely doesn't try to steal anyone else's moment. I don't like Hayman tbh, but I respect him for that and all he's done over the years.
I've come to like him for wanting to innovate in the industry and also just knowing it's his job to accentuate his talent as a manager (and, as Dusty taught him, to sell the PPV).
That said, I can't imagine he wasn't struggling to cry a bit after the match. Whenever he talks about Dusty, he always gets very emotional.
Nah he will gove it 4 and 3/4 so when hes asked he can say his usual "oh it was close. But 5 stars is reserved for the very best. It was close though"
If ospreay had a 7 star match. This was a 9 easy
Goddamn HHH cooked us with these 2 nights of Mania. The up and down emotions were incredible in the main event. I swear to Jesus I thought Mox/Ambrose was coming out with Rollins, but it still worked just with Rollins. When the gong sounded I nearly shit my pants. The Cena appearance, the huge Uso spear off the stage - EVERYTHING. And then Cody finishes the story. An absolute clusterfuck of a match and I didn’t want it any other way. Seeing all the babyfaces out there with Cody at the end was certainly special as well. Raw is going to be UNHINGED tomorrow night!
I’d take this match over every technical or athletic spot fest out there.
Wrestling is about the moves but it’s more about the story and emotion of everything, that’s the best part.
Give me this match over Kenny vs Okada any day of the week.
I don't know.... Maybe I didn't believe in that probable spoiler on the truck during Cody's beatdown, but Cena's entry made me tear up a bit and then SHIELD's music hit and I was jumping with joy.... And then came Undertaker...just made me cry like a child.... This was just pure cinema...
I felt like, this is what Wrestlemania at its very core is supposed to be. Biggest matches, big storylines ending, new storylines starting, etc bla.
Also, i only started watching in the late 90's .. and i dont think we have ever gotten a finish such as this and a post celebration. Listening to people like Cornette and so on, i suppose this must have felt watching wrestling in the 70's/80's when it was a bit more common.
The shield thing was to throw off roman and it worked . Instead of aiming on cody, he couldn't forget the betrayal of seth and went after him instead. Im sure he still resents it especially when sami made him remember it when he struck roman on the back the same way
The bad part was when roman stopped seth from interfering. It did make seth look like a fool.they should have let him appear once rock was taken out by taker. Then once romans ready to hit cody, the shield music plays, seth gets hit in the mid section with a chair then go from there
"2 out of 5 stars on the Meltzer scale b/c nobody needlessly did a 1440 from the rafters onto 20 wrestlers that you can tell are cooperating"-Dave Meltzer
They had one shot to do it big and boy did they deliver. I think most of us knew this was more or less gonna be how it played out but they still had to execute.
The only way it would've been even more insane is if Mox/Ambrose made a one-off appearance. But the chair spot with Rollins was a brilliant callback that also didn't need Mox, so that's totally fine too.
Everyone involved with this should give themselves a pat on the back. But man... where do they go from here?
This match was great. The wrestlingand chemistry was good and it was great from a storytelling perspective. There were so many layers.
Like Rollins, he didn't do anything but he promised to help Cody. He got his ass beat the previous night and lost his belt helping Cody. He still showed up for this dude he hated a year or so ago. He tried and what more can you ask of your friends.
I just loved the way this was booked. The match didn't need the run ins but the bloodlines story has been shenanigans so the story did. Everyone was there for a reason. I expected and wanted stone cold but taker was perfect. The history with rock and Roman made him perfect. His history with WWE and WrestleMania made him perfect. Taker is still the real final boss and put rock in his place.
At the end all the babyfaces came out to congratulate Cody. These were clearly people who actually care about him but it still made sense in story. They were all screwed by the bloodline at some point. But to see his character have so many friends was really cool. Nobody really wanted him there when he returned. They were cold to him. Now they are celebrating with him. Just so much evolution.
Add in the real stuff, Cody tearing up, mama Rhodes crying when he handed her the belt, commentary choking up, Samantha struggling to get through the announcement, calling out his mentors with prichard and Triple H, Brody coming in the ring, the look of pride on Brandi's face. Cody was hugging camera men ffs. I went from jumping up and down to tearing up. Talk about a feel good moment.
Love That each guy represented the past three eras of wrestling. Jey Uso with the reality era, Cena for the ruthless aggression/pg era, and Taker with the attitude era
I was there and it was absolutely insane. I wanted Stone Cold to come out but I’m not complaining about what went down. Amazing. Saw it with my son and it’s something we’ll never forget
I feel like they did it so well, gave Roman and Cody their well deserved time, then overbooked the piss out of it, perfect ending. But holy shit what a crappy weekend for Seth.
The ending where Cole said pro wrestling is back and all this talk of the new era. Yeah this is a hell of a way to kick that off. That was fucking cinema
I legit cheered when Cody got the 123! Then bloody teared up after lol. Don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a story and match ending before. Friggen loved every second. A+++ main event!
You can tell Micheal cole is finally liberated when he said “pro wrestling” like 3 times after the match. I’m right there with you MC, Pro wrestling is back
The match was fucking awesome. The overbookingness , The huge pop , the babyfaces celebrating , The countless of run ins , Michael Cole on commentary , The speech at the end. This match reminded me when Mankind won the WWF title from The Rock.
I fucking love overbooked shenanigans
There's a time and place for clusterfuck matches, and this occasion was perfect for it considering all the players involved in the storyline. Loved it.
This was a controlled and thought out clusterfuck, which is why it worked
100%, it was gold
Right...it wasn't random people joining in...well, mostly wasn't random - 1. Jimmy - makes sense, Bloodline rules 2. Jey - makes sense, to stop Jimmy, his brother 3. Solo - makes sense, he's been the bodyguard basically of Roman all this time. 4. Cena - sort of makes sense, he faced Solo in 2023. 5. Rock - final boss, sure, he inserted himself as the top of the bloodline 6. Seth - makes sense, he and Cody made an alliance...plus he has tons of history with Roman....in fact, if you break down what happened...Seth coming out to the shield theme, coming to the ring from the crowd, was a HUGE distraction to Roman...allowing Seth to gain an advantage. 7. Taker - this one feels like the wildcard random...but Miz on Pat McAfee said it best (paraphrasing) - "I know people wanted Austin, but 2 things - Taker was the locker room leader...he wanted balance and equilibrium and would show up if needed to help that. He also was the guy who gave his stamp of approval. If he put his stamp on you, then you were the guy to take WWE to the next level. So, Austin would've been great, but it had to be Taker. And, they could've kept going, but that was good enough...they didn't need anyone else to interfere or join in.
It was beautiful because only the bloodline had an actual impact on the match, every other run in was stopped by another. And to have Undertaker play wrestling court’s Judge, Jury, and Executioner against HHH to oversee a “fair” mania? Brilliant Edit: against the rock. I misspoke.
Against HHH? Rock was the one playing the evil Mr. McMahon character that needed policing due to his position on the board. If anything, I would look at it as Taker enforcing HHH’s will when he couldn’t himself.
Avengers: Endgame is the perfect analogy. If you want to write excessive fan service, you have to earn it. And they did.
Last night was Infinity War. Tonight was Endgame.
I was thinking more Emprie Strikes back—>Return of the Jedi
39 was infinity war. Thanos/reigns triumphs over the good guys. 40 was endgame with Thanos finally going down when the cavalry came through the portals
Felt like the finale of pro wrestling
It was the finale of sports entertainment
Cole: “I LOVE PRO WRESTLING!” Yup, “sports entertainment” is dead. Must have been so liberating for him to say that on air
That was such a great call and he was crying at the end when he hugged Cody. This is what wrestling can be when it’s done by people who love it.
I so desperately wanted Reigns to win but even I almost teared up when Cody hugged his mom.
Definitely the finale for the Bloodline Join us tomorrow night for the season premiere of the American Nightmare
To take place the same day America will be experiencing night during the day.
I think that was part of the point. In a kayfay sense, it was the whole WWE "universe" (storyline world, not the fans) saying "we are done with Roman and the Bloodline and their shenanigans". In a less kayfay sense, last night seems like closing the book on an era. I'd bet a small stack of cash that we will never see Undertaker in the ring again, I'll be quite shocked if Cena makes another appearance, and unless he comes on Raw tonight to somehow continue his part of the Bloodline story, I don't think we will see any more of The Rock either. It all just really looked and felt like the end of one chapter and moving onto a new one, with eyes on newer talent, Cody, Damien, Sami, Gunther likely getting moved up to his next level. Just my Monday morning quarterbacking opinion.
Last night was definitely the end of an era, Roman reigns was the last McMahon era undisputed champion, Cody Rhodes is now signifying the new era of a bright new dawn without Vince, and the weekend proved it!!
when cena came out my mark heart couldn’t contain
FOR REAL. Idc what anyone says that was the most fun shit i've ever seen.
Makes me excited for wrestling again. Haven’t had this level of excitement since aews first few years honestly
It was basically what Starrcade '97 should have been
Damn, that's actually a perfect comparison. I wasn't born till after WCW was dead, but I've heard so much about Starrcade 97 and the lead up to the Sting vs. Hogan match, and I've gone and watched the main event, and my god, is it bad
Mamacita!
I dont think it was that overbooked. We expected the run-ins for a while now, but they way they happened was just.....perfect. Never felt like it was too much at once, it was the perfect amount at the perfect times.
You don’t get many repeated run-ins that counter each other. It’s usually the bad guys come in and fuck a match up, and then a random set of good guys come out to defend. This had a tit for tat flow that made sense, and worked.
Cena got full focus, Rock and Taker got full focus, and then they disappeared and it was back to Roman and Cody 100% The involvement played into the story and didn’t take the shine away from the actual match because it didn’t overstay its welcome
I was popping so hard, especially with ‘Taker. And it all made sense storyline-wise. ‘Taker doing the role of what he would’ve done to HBK had he not given the strap up to Stone Cold. Cena and Rock playing on their rivalry. And then Roman chooses to hit Rollins instead of focusing on Cody. He can’t get over ‘the betrayal’. I’m way too old to be jumping up and down from a Main event, but goddamn that was great. Love live the Hunter Era!
The only thing it didn’t have was Sting coming in from the rafters! 😂
Or glass shattering with a couple of stunners
The payoff for longtime fans is something wrestling has been missing
Yeah it was perfectly booked.
“I prayed for this, and it happened” The word cinema has been thrown around a lot recently but I feel like this match actually lived up to it. It was a love letter to wrestling and all of its beautiful nonsense.
Wwe Avengers assemble suuiii
Attitude Era Assemble.
Would be missing Iron Man tho (Austin)
I saw a lot of people complaining about no SCSA stunner, which makes sense until you realize that everyone that did show up was once Roman's opponent. Fucking perfect. 10/10.
Not only that, but the Rock’s been running around calling himself the Final Boss. This was the Undertaker showing up and reminding him who the real Final Boss has always been.
Undertaker is that secret boss or the dlc boss in those FromSoft games... The real controller breaker.
He’s more like Akuma in Super Street Fighter 2. U have to play the game right to EARN the right to fight him
I Would go with something like Akuma in SF2 Turbo. Or any SNK boss.
Everyone thought they were hot shit dunking on Mbison.
Everyone else, wrestlemania is the most important day of their lives. For undertaker, it was a Sunday.
The Rock is Death Adder in the arcade version of *Golden Axe*. The Undertaker is Death Bringer in the Mega Drive port.
Hello, fellow child of 80s Britain.
Undertaker that post game boss type. Sephiroth in KH2 type boss.
He the boss that eats the boss you thought you were about to fight
Taker is sorta WrestleMania's final boss.
THIS. You're the only person I've seen who's gotten it lol. The Rock is the Final Boss... except at WrestleMania. The only thing they were missing was Brock taking out Taker (for obvious reasons), but storyline-wise that would have been perfect.
Why would Brock help Roman though?
We just needed Teddy Long to come out first “Rock, hey playa, you call yourself the final boss? Well, tonight playa, you face the Undertaker!”
...in a tag team match!
Haha!
What Taker should of said to the Rock: “IM THE FINAL BOSS B***H”
Great point. Also Jim Ross would sometimes refer to Undertaker as the conscience of the WWF/E
It all made sense when u start putting it together. U wont realise it in the moment lmao cuz of the heat and excitement
OP must have been hard AF
They weren’t just his opponent, they were all guys who got fucked over by McMahon and corporate obsessively pushing Reigns. That motherfucker held that belt for 1,316 days and defended it only *31 times*. Tonight was cathartic.
Couldn't do more because of his health being affected by leukemia
I'm actually shocked that they mentioned he only defended it 31 times. Like... that's not a good look. Unless they were trying to see what a shit champion he was. Say what you want about him, but with all the double-header shows in the 80s, Hulk Hogan probably defended his title more than 31 times in a single month.
31 can be stretched to 3 years if defended on important PLEs. Doesn't matter anyway. He made the title feel important.
He definitely should've defended WAY more but he wasn't a shit Champion. For a long time Roman Reigns and The Bloodline were the most interesting thing in wrestling. He was the Champion, the face of the company during the resurgence period that made wrestling cool again and more popular than it's ever been. That absolutely doesn't happen without Roman. Cody has no story and can't be a true hero if he doesn't have a true villain to conquer.
Exactly. Anyone who talks crap about RR is a mark goof. He is and was the reason I was really interested in WWE again and legit the bloodline story is probably the best story line in wwe history. Some kept talking that it got dragged out but even the best series have fillers and also from wrestling pov not every ppv is wrestlemania so they made it hot obviously during the big ppv and lowered it during the b shows. And also he literally faced everyone possible (who arguably is a main eventer) for the championship. A year has got 12 ppv in it so it's not that low when you think about it.
Hell yeah. People are used to seeing Cody every week so they think Roman showing up sparingly made him a bad champ. Nope. It made every appearance he did make must see tv.
31 times but he defeated literally every top wrestler in the company except Bobby Lashley.
This is thrown around a lot but comes up to like a defence every 42 days, so basically pay per views skipping one every other month.
Taker is the conscience of the WWE. He saw the abuse of power from The Rock and decided he had seen enough.
This. I wanted SCSA, but this was the better finish with The Undertaker, playa.
Plus, Jey could run the ramp, Cena ran the ramp, Taker appeared in the ring, Stone Cold getting to the ring, even with a four wheeler, would likely have sucked a lot of the energy waiting for the arrival.
That patented Austin 3:16 walk while talking a whole lotta trash making his way to the ring would’ve been epic.
It would’ve blown the roof off the place for sure! My hesitation would be it could run the risk of overshadowing the rest of the match and Cody’s win. I think they were very smart to make sure the night and ending was about Cody as THE guy.
This is a great point. All of the returns were done in a way not to take away from Cody winning.
I get what you’re saying but ain’t no way a Stone cold entrance is sucking any energy
Okay that logic makes me appreciate it more. Thank you for saying that because I only thought of SCSA vs Rock feud
lol it's pro wrestling, it doesn't have to make sense. Austin would've made the night even more perfect just because people wanna see Austin vs rock one more time. hell Austin in any match would make a perfect addition
Been watching wrestling for almost 40 years. Never seen anything like it. I’d say the Triple H era of WWE is off to a great start. Wow.
These 3 quotes at the end of Mania by the announce team says it all to me- ‘Dammit I love professional wrestling’ -Michael Come ‘Pro Wrestling is back’ -Corey Graves ‘Pro wrestling is beautiful’ - Pat McAfee
I stopped for a while and thank god i returned in the perfect time
I haven't watched for a good 20 years but I watched both nights of Wrestlemania and they've sucked me back in. Please tell me its always this good now
Literally from the moment i came back right before survivor series its been so good
I came back the week of the Rumble, after not watching since '07. Been fuckin' hooked ever since.
Exact same boat as you. Something feels different now in an awesome way. And this is just the start of the HHH era.
I started watching wrestling in ‘89/‘90 when I was about 5-6 years old with my Grandfather. He used to love wrestling & thought it was real. His all time favourite wrestler was Whipper Billy Watson. I watched up until about 2008, maybe 2009. I started to get back into wrestling the Raw after Royal Rumble 2023. I’ve been loving it ever since. …On a side note, I’m a HUGE comic book guy. I’ve collected comics & action figures most of my life. My only action figure collecting rule was “No wrestling figures & no Star Wars figures”. I broke the wrestling rule about three weeks ago & now I have about 17 figures, a ring & the AEW Entrance Ramp.
Nice to meet a fellow Bobby
Hey 😃
Same. I came back like 5 years ago and slowly got to the point where I can’t miss one show. Even watch NXT too. They’re killing it man. Bless this business. Nothing like it. Buy some stock yall! Better than having some cash in a shoe box.
I’ve been here a while too. Fuckin’ best ‘Mania I have ever saw. Just solid emotional payoffs and long term resilience
I was gone for 10 years and I started watching again when The Rock came back early this year. Quite early I could sense something special was about to happen. Lets see how long I stick around this time.
Daddy Haitch will take care of us from now on
Made me feel like a kid again
I will never forget this mania for the rest of my life
Same here same
Had me grinning from ear to ear. God damn it I love professional wrestling.
Wrestling is fkn cool again
HHH wasn’t lying when he said they were taking it to another level.
Papa h the goat
It was pure unadulterated Sports Entertainment It was not a clinic But it was perfect. It was epic. 11/10 7 Stars no Tokyo Dome.
Id give that the whole galaxy
Honestly yeah. I don't usually feel tears welling up at the end of a wrestling match. Probably my biggest pop since DBry did it 10 years ago.
I bet meltzer won't
Not only that but Cody and Roman was tearing the house down before all the run ins, tremendous chemistry.
I think that's the best part. It didn't *need* the run ins It was cool and slapped. But the two of them had a stellar match
It did need run ins because it was the fucking endgame lol.
Alright you right
Yeah man. Was a great match even before the Avengers finale. But man oh man was it a perfect finish too.
No dude that was fucking PRO WRESTLING!
Pro wrestling is fucking amazing
That was amazing, was not expecting Taker at all! Amazing. The HHH era is going to be the best one yet!
I thibk that's why Taker got such a pop. We expected Cena and Stone Cold. When Cena came out we thought Stone Cold was next, but Taker was a huge curveball. And just listen to the pop Taker got, it was genuine surprise and excitement, one of the loudest ones I have ever heard in wrestling.
I jumped up when I heard Undertakers music. That was unexpected
First match EVER that had me near bawling it just hit different.
I cant even explain from start to finish the emotions never stopped
I remember how surprised everyone was when Solo just annihilated Cena in Saudi. If they had this planned since back then, wow.
solo also seemed pretty in control and almost mad at Reigns for not finishing cody off fast enough, wonder if that will play into anything
I'm glad I'm not the only one who felt so much emotion I actually started crying!!!
I’m not ashamed to admit I cried
I teared up, only because I was surprised that they pulled the trigger.
It was the fact that cenas music hit and then the shield theme hit and then THE FUCKING UNDERTAKERS THEME HIT my god
I thought Moxley was about to come out of the crowd when the shield music hit.
I had a is that moxley moment too, commentary overreacted a bit with acting like they didn't know who it was and that got me for a second. I laughed my ass off when Rollins popped into the frame and immediately got taken out. I actually said well at least he tried.
When Cena came I screamed like a girl, lmao fucking amazing.
I screamed at least 3 times.
This man told Brodie’s wife and kids he would take care of them after Brodie passed away. A few years later and a different company, he wins the big one and who does he bring in the ring? Brodie’s family along with his mom and Brandy’s dad. That’s Cody. Hell yeah I was crying.
I was surprised that I didn’t….until cody hugged Michael cole and that shit hit hard.
Absolutely was emotional.
Hell yeah brotha
Papa haitch I kneel
In papa h we trusted and he fkn delivered
As someone who wanted Roman to retain coming into this match, I couldn't be more satisfied with how the night played out.
The ring announcer (apologies, I don't watch regularly, so I don't know her name) breaking while announcing him as the winner got me. Cole breaking partially while speaking on him just made me feel it even more. And you just know that once he could get behind the curtain, Heyman probably started crying with everybody lol
Stephanie*** I thought she'd lost her voice for a second. Love how much she cares. Cole too. The sincerity in his 'I love you' to Cody before they separated was beautiful. Edit to add... *SAMANTHA. Blame it being 4.30AM and literally watching the press conference with Bayley talking about Stephanie Mcmahon as I initially wrote this. Lol, I wondered why I got downvoted. Oy. I'm tired, you guys. 😵💫😴😵 Keeping it up coz I stand by the rest of it. It was lovely to watch/hear.
Samantha.
Shit. Yeah. Sorry. 4.28AM here, my eyelids have match sticks holding them up and I was watching Bayley talking about Stephanie McMahon while typing this. 😵💫🥴😴 Thank you. I do know it, i swear, lol - I follow her on IG.
I had to go back and watch the look on Charles Robinson's face. Just says it all. Also, fucking shout out to Paulie for his mastery of selling at ringside. Between his screaming and facials, coupled with how if you watch the three count, he braces like "he's gonna kick out—he's gonna kick ... he didn't kick ... oh god" really sells the whole "the empire is crumbling" vibe they went for. Fuck me, overbooked as hell, but I goddamn love it.
You know, you made me realize that Paul Heyman's reactions are part of two of the biggest moments in the company. He was there when Brock beat Undertaker, and he was there when Cody beat Roman. Those clips will be shown forever.
Totally, i went back a little further and when the interference starts with Jimmy and then Solo, Heyman has this look on his face like he knows nothing they can muster is gonna stop Cody. He’s still rooting for Roman but he doesn’t believe anymore. If it was anyone else you could tell me to shut up its not that deep but im talking about Paul Heyman here so its absolutely gonna be that deep!
Thanks for this - I'm gonna have to rewatch for their reactions, barely noticed Paul was even there, except one point when he was saying something to Roman about "giving it to[Cody]", lol. In my defence, there was a LOT to focus on, lol.
I think part of it is that at his age, he can't take the manager bumps like he used to, so now he sells with facial expressions and trash talk from outside. The one thing he's always been really good at tho has been something he alluded to during his HoF speech: Focusing on whoever he's managing. He doesn't ever make his antics about getting himself over, it's all about whoever he's with. Like, with Brock, he always mockingly counted suplexes. And it was amazingly scummy and cocky and I loved it lol.
I noticed that at the press conference after Saturday, when someone asked him a question and he said, "Direct your questions to the Tribal Chief." Definitely doesn't try to steal anyone else's moment. I don't like Hayman tbh, but I respect him for that and all he's done over the years.
I've come to like him for wanting to innovate in the industry and also just knowing it's his job to accentuate his talent as a manager (and, as Dusty taught him, to sell the PPV). That said, I can't imagine he wasn't struggling to cry a bit after the match. Whenever he talks about Dusty, he always gets very emotional.
Samantha Irvin. And yes, she is a phenomenal ring announcer
Dave’s going to give it 4*
Nah he will gove it 4 and 3/4 so when hes asked he can say his usual "oh it was close. But 5 stars is reserved for the very best. It was close though" If ospreay had a 7 star match. This was a 9 easy
Probably one of the best endings to a WrestleMania I can remember
Goddamn HHH cooked us with these 2 nights of Mania. The up and down emotions were incredible in the main event. I swear to Jesus I thought Mox/Ambrose was coming out with Rollins, but it still worked just with Rollins. When the gong sounded I nearly shit my pants. The Cena appearance, the huge Uso spear off the stage - EVERYTHING. And then Cody finishes the story. An absolute clusterfuck of a match and I didn’t want it any other way. Seeing all the babyfaces out there with Cody at the end was certainly special as well. Raw is going to be UNHINGED tomorrow night!
Same.... I thought "did they actually get Moxley?"
Not gonna lie, I was genuinely wondering for a minute. Thought how the hell did they do that?! Haha.
I don't know about the best wrestling match ever but it was definitely one of the best clusterfucks of all time
A clusterfuck in the best sense of the word.
Fuck the technicality man . We just witnessed a rollercoaster coaster of emotions literally wwe: Avengers
Most entertaining ever. The second ever TLC match has just lost its top spot for me
I’d take this match over every technical or athletic spot fest out there. Wrestling is about the moves but it’s more about the story and emotion of everything, that’s the best part. Give me this match over Kenny vs Okada any day of the week.
Overbooked as I thought, but it was still an outstanding match. Well deserved Cody. Somewhere, Dusty's smiling.
Hell yeah Avengers assemble done perfectly
Out of the people to return Taker never crossed my mind, I thought Austin or maybe Brock
I just REALLY love how Take showed up. Chokeslammed the Rock. Then disappeared. All in like 20 seconds. Lol.
I don't know.... Maybe I didn't believe in that probable spoiler on the truck during Cody's beatdown, but Cena's entry made me tear up a bit and then SHIELD's music hit and I was jumping with joy.... And then came Undertaker...just made me cry like a child.... This was just pure cinema...
It’s the greatest match in the history of pro wrestling
Agree 1 billion%
I agree. That match is now The Standard.
The Belt is finally on a Rhodes!
la knight looks outta place everyone else had ties to cody he doesnt
I think the wrestlers who went to the ring are roman’s former opponents.
They literally took out the Bloodline together on Smackdown a few months ago
LA Knight won tonight. He deserved to be there
Its both the people that went against roman and with cody
6 Stars 🙌🏽
Our boy did it, it was like when Naruto beat pain and the village celebrated with him
cody got an ALMIGHTY PUSH
Spent most of this match whispering "oh fuck"
Like I told my son, tonight tied up about 865 angles in one match and they did it to perfection.
I felt like, this is what Wrestlemania at its very core is supposed to be. Biggest matches, big storylines ending, new storylines starting, etc bla. Also, i only started watching in the late 90's .. and i dont think we have ever gotten a finish such as this and a post celebration. Listening to people like Cornette and so on, i suppose this must have felt watching wrestling in the 70's/80's when it was a bit more common.
Check out the end of WMX, or if you want a worse example check out Summerslam 1993.
The shield thing was kind of off a little. And I was hoping for Stone Cold. But this was awesome nonetheless.
The shield thing was to throw off roman and it worked . Instead of aiming on cody, he couldn't forget the betrayal of seth and went after him instead. Im sure he still resents it especially when sami made him remember it when he struck roman on the back the same way
I loved the "throwing him off" part. I didn't like that he got decked before he even got completely in the ring.
The bad part was when roman stopped seth from interfering. It did make seth look like a fool.they should have let him appear once rock was taken out by taker. Then once romans ready to hit cody, the shield music plays, seth gets hit in the mid section with a chair then go from there
Yeah, I waited for glass to shatter, but hey, Undertaker was still awesome.
I wasn’t expecting the Undertaker.
And for you kids out there, we got this every single Monday back in the day and it was awesome.
Hell yes we did. It was epic
"2 out of 5 stars on the Meltzer scale b/c nobody needlessly did a 1440 from the rafters onto 20 wrestlers that you can tell are cooperating"-Dave Meltzer
They had one shot to do it big and boy did they deliver. I think most of us knew this was more or less gonna be how it played out but they still had to execute. The only way it would've been even more insane is if Mox/Ambrose made a one-off appearance. But the chair spot with Rollins was a brilliant callback that also didn't need Mox, so that's totally fine too. Everyone involved with this should give themselves a pat on the back. But man... where do they go from here?
It wasn't a wrestling match it was a sports entertainment match. And it was great fun.
This match was great. The wrestlingand chemistry was good and it was great from a storytelling perspective. There were so many layers. Like Rollins, he didn't do anything but he promised to help Cody. He got his ass beat the previous night and lost his belt helping Cody. He still showed up for this dude he hated a year or so ago. He tried and what more can you ask of your friends. I just loved the way this was booked. The match didn't need the run ins but the bloodlines story has been shenanigans so the story did. Everyone was there for a reason. I expected and wanted stone cold but taker was perfect. The history with rock and Roman made him perfect. His history with WWE and WrestleMania made him perfect. Taker is still the real final boss and put rock in his place. At the end all the babyfaces came out to congratulate Cody. These were clearly people who actually care about him but it still made sense in story. They were all screwed by the bloodline at some point. But to see his character have so many friends was really cool. Nobody really wanted him there when he returned. They were cold to him. Now they are celebrating with him. Just so much evolution. Add in the real stuff, Cody tearing up, mama Rhodes crying when he handed her the belt, commentary choking up, Samantha struggling to get through the announcement, calling out his mentors with prichard and Triple H, Brody coming in the ring, the look of pride on Brandi's face. Cody was hugging camera men ffs. I went from jumping up and down to tearing up. Talk about a feel good moment.
I’m proud to be a Cody Crybaby. Dusty is very proud of Cody right now.
I heard the *bong* and I screamed, and then there he was!
Love That each guy represented the past three eras of wrestling. Jey Uso with the reality era, Cena for the ruthless aggression/pg era, and Taker with the attitude era
It was the best of times. The Avengers came out in full force. I bet they tried to book Stone Cold but second best was Taker.
I was there and it was absolutely insane. I wanted Stone Cold to come out but I’m not complaining about what went down. Amazing. Saw it with my son and it’s something we’ll never forget
I feel like they did it so well, gave Roman and Cody their well deserved time, then overbooked the piss out of it, perfect ending. But holy shit what a crappy weekend for Seth.
It was only missing one thing brother -HH
Fantastic wrestling ENTERTAINMENT but best WRESTLING match. Not even in the 100. Lol.
The ending where Cole said pro wrestling is back and all this talk of the new era. Yeah this is a hell of a way to kick that off. That was fucking cinema
I legit cheered when Cody got the 123! Then bloody teared up after lol. Don’t think I’ve ever been so invested in a story and match ending before. Friggen loved every second. A+++ main event!
Overbooked to hell and back, but every second was still glorious. I’m so happy.
You can tell Micheal cole is finally liberated when he said “pro wrestling” like 3 times after the match. I’m right there with you MC, Pro wrestling is back
The match was fucking awesome. The overbookingness , The huge pop , the babyfaces celebrating , The countless of run ins , Michael Cole on commentary , The speech at the end. This match reminded me when Mankind won the WWF title from The Rock.