This was a real spur of the moment decision for me, but after publishing last week's edition of the Watchlist, I dove right into this one, deciding that I should lay out this entire post for coverage of Wrestlemania 41. I didn't think I'd want to, as this is probably going to be my last WWE show for a while, but with everything going on surrounding this show and how saturated my social feeds have been, I can't help it. I need to give this show the coverage that it deser- no, needs.
I've formatted things a bit different this week to cover things the way I want to, so some of my "Weekly Roundup" has been moved to the very end of this Watchlist. I've got a lot I want to cover this week.
So, let's not delay any further. Place your blinds, check your hands, and warm up those dice, because this week, the 'Manes goes to Vegas.
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| Viva las Vegas baby! WWE |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
WWE Meets the Press
Boy, it's been a fun week for WWE in the headlines this past week, hasn't it? With Wrestlemania happening and the company focusing their time on meeting with the media to promote it, people start saying things that they probably should have put some more time into. Just because you can cut a great promo, doesn't mean you can, or should, be out facing the media and making comments that any good PR manager would have you thinking twice about.
But these guys are workers, just lie and lie to save face, right?
I won't go into great detail about everything that's said, as you should be able to figure out pretty quickly why this stuff should have been left on the cutting room floor. If it's not, I have bad news for ya, bud.
Triple H Attempts To Clarify His Comments About Critics & Fans
Triple H Praises Donald Trump For Being 'Charismatic In So Many Ways'
WWE star Roman Reigns reveals he supports Trump ahead of WrestleMania
Paul Heyman’s insane Pat McAfee interview includes Shannon Sharpe dig after sexual assault lawsuit
WWE's Paul Heyman leans into heel role, makes 'deported' crack at fan
Tony Hinchcliffe's Raw Commentary Considered 'A Dud' Within WWE
You guys may be able to detect my political bias here, which should have nothing to do with the wrestling we watch but, unfortunately, it is. Which is why it stinks so much.
WWE Worlds Collide - The Acquisition of AAA
In what many assumed was a simple case of counter-booking, WWE announced a "Worlds Collide" show with AAA in Los Angeles on Saturday, June 7. Conveniently, AEW announced "Grand Slam Mexico" for June 18 in Arena Mexico a few days prior to this. Crazy coincidence, eh?
What nobody, and I mean nobody saw coming, was the headline that broke Saturday afternoon, not long after Stand & Deliver ended.
WWE announces acquisition of leading Mexican Lucha Libre promotion AAA
Yes, you are reading that correctly. WWE bought AAA. Not since WCW folded in 2001 has WWE bought a company, and that sale was for pennies. I can't imagine the deal they cut with AAA here.
I am firmly in the camp of "this is bad, bad news." WWE has a history of trying to monopolize the business all the way back to when Vince killed the territories around the time he got the company from Vince Senior. There was a lot of stagnation for a lot of years, with nobody else around to really make them sweat until the past couple of years with AEW showing up.
Let's not fool ourselves into thinking that this is going to benefit AAA in any way. Remember NXT UK? How's the UK indie scene looking? About the same as a corpse? Yeah, that's what I thought. How does NXT Mexico sound to you guys? Sound like a good idea or a death nail? What about those relationships with TNA, GCW, or NOAH that have all cropped up in the past year or so. WWE has been pretty comfortable sending talent back and forth to those companies without much worry. You think they won't do the same? They bought the second largest promotion in Mexico without anybody knowing it was happening. And they're working with these companies in broad daylight.
Count your days boys, you'll be moving to Florida and taking bumps with Matt Bloom at the Performance Centre real soon.
Hall of Fame 2025
Honestly, I don't have a lot to say here. But I couldn't let this slide;
Why did Lex Luger get to talk for 5 minutes after he fucking stood up on stage, a guy that was bound to a wheelchair in 2021 and probably would have never walked again if it wasn't for DDP, a genuinely good soul. But Triple H, such a humble guy, why did he get 1 hour and 8 minutes to speak.
I'm starting to lose my mind and I haven't even talked about the matches.
• • • • •
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| Predictions for Night 1 |
Mania night one started at my fiance's parents place for Easter dinner. We were able to duck out a few minutes into the opening match as we made sure to remind them that Wrestlemania started at 7. God bless mobile data and Netflix.
GUNTHER vs. Jey Uso
I'd heard talk that this was going to be the opening match for the weekend but was sort of optimistic they'd put it on in the middle of the card or something, I didn't want to be losing my shit at someone else's house or during the 20 minute car ride home. Good news? This match was totally unremarkable. Bad news? Jey Uso beat GUNTHER. Worse news? He made him tap out.
The belt shot from GUNTHER was a nice touch and had me believing they'd use that as a way to keep the title on GUNTHER, but no, not the case. Neither guy did anything insane in this match, it was a lot of GUNTHER punishing Jey, as per usual, with Jey fighting from beneath to try and survive. More than anything, Jey felt like he was just going through the motions here. Not a lot of fire or drive in him. A couple splashes and a choke led to the finish.
This was probably the best match of Jey's run so far, and another blemish on GUNTHER's career. I'm serious when I say this, I think GUNTHER is one of, if not the best wrestler in the world right now. Far and away the best wrestler in WWE, but even GUNTHER can't drag a great match out of Jey. But he's the most over, sells the most merch, connects the most with the fans, so he deserves a run with the belt. That's the mindset we're in now, right Trips? He can’t put a compelling match together to save his life, so I’m fearful of how this run will turn out.
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| Brb. Erasing this from my memory. WWE |
Not a great way to start the night.
The War Raiders vs. The New Day
Genuine question; why did this match get put on the Mania card and the SD tag title TLC match got put on the 04/25 SmackDown? Cause this was nothing more than a RAW tag match. Not even 10 minutes, basic heat and comebacks, both teams putting in just enough effort to get some reactions. That's it. Is it because we wanted to cram a Clash of Clans sponsorship on the show so we got the Viking lads to cosplay as characters from the game? I nearly turned the show off when I clued in that that's what they were dressed as. They can't beat the play wrestlers allegations with this match.
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| What are we doing here, guys? Seriously. WWE |
I feel bad for the Raiders. New Day is always going to be good, they'll need to do a lot to take themselves far down the card, they're set for life. There was a time where the War Raiders were a top indie tag team, were having bangers in NXT, and then they moved up to the main roster. Bad booking, injuries, lack of care, all of it compounded to ruin a perfectly good tag team. Hell, Ivar is fantastic on his own, I've given him his flowers on here before, but Erik just doesn't have it the same. These boys need some real TLC to get them back in a place where they're worth watching.
Still waiting on a good match here, guys.
Naomi vs. Jade Cargill
The "highly anticipated" blowoff for the Naomi/Cargill "bloodfeud" is here, folks. I really liked Naomi's "proceed with caution" getup, much better than her "feel the glow" shit she was doing for too many years and asking to be taken seriously. (I'll stop using quotes for a few sentences.) They got Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel to make a cameo during Cargill's entrance, I know there were a lot of dads in the crowd going crazy for him, had to be. Was really hoping she'd go full Storm for this entrance but alas, just decked on in a nice gold outfit. No complaints on either of their gears for this match.
Going back to what I said in the previous paragraph, this bloodfeud match has some pretty strick rules for a pair that want to kill each other, allegedly. I mean, Cargill got put through a car windshield, you mean to tell me neither of these women lobbied for no DQ or something? Gotta abide by a 10 count on the outside here, ladies. I feel like that could have really helped this match out a bit, never really got out of first or second gear. Naomi doesn't come across as much of a ring general and Cargill is still fairly green and doesn't seem like she's comfortable in the drivers seat. Point proven every time Cargill stood still to wait and catch a diving Naomi, could at least act like you're stunned or something. Some looser rules that let them play around in their environment some more may have helped make this match better. Cargill's strength was shown off really well here, catching Naomi off a dive into a Jackhammer was great.
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| Big Billy Gold could never. WWE |
Cargill gets Naomi in an electric chair and twists her around into a slick powerbomb that looked to be enough to put her away but they just kinda froze on the canvas for a second before going into the actual finish, Jaded.
Not great, not terrible. Right down the middle here. Let's hope things start to improve otherwise this is going to be a long night.
LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu
Finally, some good wrestling. This was a match that I was honestly kinda worried about. My fiance and I are huge LA Knight fans, fully taken by the "yeah!" brainrot. I was really hoping that he'd get a big Mania victory here tonight but knowing how they're treating big Jacob Fatu, this could have easily been a squash match. Thankfully, it was the first in a stretch of great matches, which I really didn't expect.
Solo joined werewolf mask wearing Jacob on the stage for this match, whereas Knight arrived on stage in a white Maserati MC20 (google better not have lied to me, I'm not a car guy). I was really expecting this to be 80/20 Fatu here, with him completely dominating Knight and the champ just trying to survive, but he's able to put Fatu on the backfoot a couple times and make it seem like a retention is close at hand. He comes closer than ever when he manages to catch a moonsault from Fatu and turn it into a BFT, a completely insane counter. He would have had the match won too had Fatu not grabbed the bottom rope at the last second.
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| These boys are pretty damn slick. WWE |
Ultimately, a top rope samoan drop and a moonsault puts the megastar away, a result that I sadly knew was going to happen, but they made this match far more competitive and exciting than I thought it would be. I don't see Jacob as being the "future of the business" like everyone else does, he's good but nothing revolutionary, honestly. Hope this means Knight gets a bump up the card and starts getting some bigger matches. Kudos to both men. Finally, some good fucking wrestling.
Rey Fenix vs. El Grande Americano - Predictions made prior to the announcement that Rey Mysterio was removed from the match after getting injured the night before on SmackDown
This match joins the War Raiders and New Day match in the "why wasn't this just on RAW" discussion. Honestly, why? It was a fun match, don't get me wrong! But this really didn't need to be done at Wrestlemania, guys. Doesn't help that Rey Mysterio got hurt literally the night before at SmackDown so this match was put in a really tough spot right from the word go. They managed to salvage the hype video by inserting Fenix seamlessly into the parts that should have been occupied by Mysterio, byt they still used the fucking AI generated "propaganda" and shit for Americano. There's no excuse for it, pay artists. End of story.
El Grande Americano, also known as your neighbours Starbucks order, comes down to the ring with a sepia filter on the screen, a Mariachi band for his music, and a billing from "The Gulf of America." God, I hate everything. All I could think about for the days leading up to this match, and even while it was underway, why wasn't this mask vs. mask? Seriously? I mean, aside from the fact that Chad Gab- I mean, El Grande Americano, won this match, mask vs. mask would have been perfect! This Americano shit can't go on much longer, it's shelf life must be getting close to stagnation, and having him be forced to unmask would have been a great "Wrestlemania Moment™" But, alas, that's not the case.
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| How does he make it look so effortless? WWE |
For a match that barely eeks over the 5 minute mark, it's alright. Americano and Fenix pack a lot in and work well together. Not sure if this was how long the match was always meant to go or if it got cut with Mysterio being replaced, but I enjoyed what they did. Fenix flies, Americano takes him for the ride on a few occasions, it's pure wrestler vs. pure lucha action. Americano hits one of the best reverse 450's I've ever seen here too, it's nuts. The loaded mask came into play and won the match for Americano, forcing us to live through this facade for a few more weeks.
Curious why they made a character with racist overtones go over a Mexican wrestler the same day they announce the purchase of AAA in a pretty meaningless match, but I'm not the guy with the pencil. What do I know, right?
Tiffany Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair
Well, this match kinda snuck up on us, didn't it? I can't be the only one who felt like the night was kinda quick, right? I mean, the adverts and stuff between matches was driving me up the wall, but this somehow came up quicker than I anticipated. This was another match I was kinda worried about, the promo battle between these two on the 04/04 episode of SmackDown gave me the feeling these two might have some actual heat and things would fall apart rather quickly but to my surprise, it was great!
My fiance was hoping that Sabrina Carpenter would show up for Tiffy's entrance after she teased it a few weeks back, but alas, just a Barbie entrance. She liked that at least. It also took me until this match to realize there were people seated on the stage. Like on the stage itself as well as the raised portion of the set. Must be loud as fuck from all the pyro up there.
With this being the second longest match on the card, they got a lot in and really gave it to each other. Flair felt a step behind in this match from time to time, if I can be honest, and I don't think it's just because I've been sick of Flair pretty well her entire run with the company. She just never clicked for me. Stratton was in top form and really, really held her own. The fact that this was her Wrestlemania debut and absolutely the biggest match of her career didn't rattle her in the slightest. You love to see it.
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| Hearing this is the prettiest moonsault ever. WWE |
Following the PME that ultimately put Flair away, I thought Tiffy may have broken/lost a tooth somewhere in the match but a Tiffy selfie after the match proved me wrong. Maybe just a bit of blood, certainly took some stiff shots from Flair in this one. If anyone doubted Stratton before tonight, they're just ignorant at this point, she's a star.
CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns
Here we are folks, the main event! Punk's long awaited spot at the top of the card with Heyman in his corner. They give this match all the fanfare and production in the world. A Machine Head music video, a "This Fire Burns" hype package going over Punk's whole career, really enjoyed that. Rollins came out with a fucking flamethrower and also couldn't decide between two entrances so he did a little costume change mid entrance following a blackout. Crazy dude. Roman had those big "led dominoes" descending behind him to show members of the Samoan dynasty which was pretty cool to see, and Punk got In Living Color to play "Cult of Personality" live for his entrance which, wasn't all that good. Really need someone to remind me what the last live band entrance was for a wrestling show cause I can't remember one.
This was a long one, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, and it was WWE sports entertainment at it's most distilled. Brawling on the outside between Punk and Rollins was fun, a Doomsday device on Seth from Punk and Roman was cool, these guys laid into each other a few times and it was nice to see. We even got some tables breaking on the outside! Seth tried to get Roman to help him Shield-bomb Punk but Roman snapped and powerbomb each of them through separate tables, with Rollins' landing on the Spanish table looking particularly nasty. Shit exploded.
The final stretch was some grade A theatre class stuff. Storytelling, is what I hear it's called. Heyman gives a chair to Punk and gets in the ring with him. Heyman made his choice! Punk goes to crack Roman but Heyman low blows him! Heyman?! Untrustworthy! I've never! he gives Roman the chair, a gift to his Tribal Chief. Heyman is practically giddy as Roman destroys Punk. But no, look my Tribal Chief! It's Seth! He's laying on the bottom rope like you did all those years ago when the Shield broke up! You can have your revenge!
But no! The unthinkable! Oh the humanity! Heyman low blows Roman! Bestowing the chair to Rollins, Heyman takes a seat in the corner as Rollins cracks Roman with the chair, stomps him into the dirt, and covers Roman to win.
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| Rollins wins again. WWE |
Boy oh boy, this sure was sports entertaining! I won't deny that this was an enjoyable match, but if we had many more minutes of this cinematic drama school stuff, I was gonna start checking out. This is exactly what I mean when I say that WWE doesn't want to be a wrestling show anymore, it's live action film drama. Wrestling drama taken to it's furthest extreme. I do like thinking about what a Rollins/Heyman pairing could look like, even if I'm bored to tears of Rollins, and knowing Roman will truly be alone for the first time in years is going to be interesting as well.
Shame I won't be watching anymore to find out where things go from here.
Here's some quick night 1 math for you folks;
Total runtime: 4:11:57
Combined match length: 1:45:14
Time spent between matches: 2:26:43
This is fine, right guys? Totally fine.
• • • • •
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| Predictions for Night 2 |
Wrestlemania 41 - Sunday
Mania night 2 was the night I was really looking forward to. The card had far more matches that I was excited about, night 1 left me kinda disappointed so I was hoping this would be the much needed upswing for this weekend's show, and I was doing a special Wrestlemania dinner! I was hyped for this meal for about a week and a half when I first thought of it. I'm a very simple man, and my good lady is an ex-vegetarian so she too would get to enjoy the tacos and wings I cooked up.
I felt like a whale by the time Orton came down to the ring. I was in heaven.
IYO SKY vs. Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
Seeking to right the wrongs of night 1 right out of the gate, the women's triple threat match blew the fucking doors off Allegiant stadium. My fucking god. You could have ended the night right here and not a soul would have gone home unhappy. A lot of people were going gaga for that Omega/Ricochet/Speedball match from Dynasty from earlier this month and this is exactly how I feel about this match. The Dynasty three way wasn't a generational three way like everyone said it was to me, it was certainly exceptional, but this match did everything so right.
The timing from everyone here was un-fucking-real. This felt like a perpetual motion machine on speed, no downtime, no breaks, no missteps. 2 powerhouses and an aerial technician that didn't feel out of place squaring off with these two. I loved Rhea pulling IYO up into the Prisim Trap with one fucking arm, only for Bianca to break the hold into a KOD attempt. They got to redo the hair whip spot again with Bianca and Rhea, trying to retconn the moment with Sasha Banks every chance they get.
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| Kiss the Moon. WWE |
The finish was fucking nuts even if I was with that one dude in the blue shirt pointing to the heavens after IYO got trapped on the top rope and Bianca hit Rhea with the KOD. IYO came flying off the top with her Over the Moonsault and crushed them both, pinning Bianca to retain. Un-ficking-real. Let's keep this ball rolling baybee!
Drew McIntyre vs. Damian Priest - Sin City Street Fight
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| God bless Drew. WWE |
So, you guys remember how I shit on The War Raiders entrance for doing a shitty Clash of Clans cosplay? Well, I'm gonna sounds like a real hypocrite here, cause McIntyre came to the ring in DOOM: The Dark Ages themed entrance gear and I fucking loved it. Maybe it's because I adore DOOM, maybe It's because I love Drew, maybe it's because this entrance gear actually looked cool and wasn't something your nephew made overnight for Halloween. Evidently, Drew seemed pretty pissed about his gear, ripping it off and tossing it ringside the first chance he could. Bad fit? Not a DOOM fan?
Either way, Drew gets a badass entrance, and so does Priest! Kerry fucking King of Slayer is on stage playing his entrance song. It sounds a bit rough at the start and I feel like that's just his distortion going a bit haywire right at the start, but this eventually sounded great! Liked it better than Living Color the night before, but he wasn't doing much other than playing along with Priest's song. You could almost forget he was involved by the time Priest started down the ramp.
With this being the only gimmick match on the show, I had some high hopes. These two brutes aren't afraid to beat the other guy black and blue so this was sure to be a war. McIntyre recreates his "bored at work lol" tweet from his match last year with Rollins after crushing Priest with the ring steps, his weapon of choice for the early moments of this match. They waste little time and bring out chairs, set up tables, and start wailing on each other from the word go. Priest wedges a chair between the actual turnbuckle bolt, not the ring ropes. That shit wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
All I could think of for most of this match was "man, night one would have been so much better if we had something like this on the card. This is awesome!" An excuse to bring out some weapons! Let the crowd beg for tables! Anything! This is just what the doctor ordered.
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| A suitable weapon for a beheading. WWE |
Ultimately, Priest goes through the two tables set up ringside after trying for Old School and gets his fuckin skull crushed with a Claymore against the chair set up in the corner, with Drew dragging his corpse to the middle for the three count. Just fantastic. Well done lads.
Bron Breakker vs. Finn Balor vs. Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio
Looking to go three for three in "matches that make me hoot like an ape," the Intercontinental four way match has a bump machine in Dirty Dom, two top tier wrestlers in Penta and Finn, and a certified genetic freak in Bron Breakker. Inject this into my veins immediately. Without sounding like a broken record here, Breakker does some of the most insane shit possible in this match. A shoulder tackle to Penta after clearing the heap of Finn and Dom at ringside. A double german suplex to Penta and Finn. What starts out as a double vertical suplex turned into one vertical, and one brainbuster when Finn goes all the way over for the suplex, but Dom stays vertical for a bit longer. I don't understand how this is physically possible.
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| I've seen frag grenades cause less damage. WWE |
Carlito is ringside pretty early here and gets to witness Dom and Finn go at it after working together for the early stretch of this match. He clears off the announce table, which is far fancier than the bix 'ol box ones they've had for years, and gets set to put Penta through it. Looking up at the last possible moment, he spies Breakker on the table next to him, watching as he charges and takes flight, obliterating the table and killing Carlito in the process.
With Dom out cold on the top, Finn nails Breakker with the Coupe De Grace and covers him for the win, only to have Dom crush both of them with a splash and cover his JD mate for the win! Holy shit! The crowd goes fuckin nuts fot Dom, and he even charges back down to the ring after going half up the ramp to celebrate again. Did not expect Dirty Dom to pick up the win here. This match was everything I expected it to be, a non-stop car crash.
Randy Orton 's Open Challenge
Well, this was a match that happened, wasn't it?
Of all the names to appear at Wrestlemania, Joe fucking Hendry was the last name I expected. I think it's cool and all that WWE is so down to work with TNA, but we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking WWE is doing this out of the kindness of their hearts. Let's not forget that they bought AAA this weekend, one of the largest promotions in all of Mexico, second only to the oldest promotion in the world, CMLL. You are kidding yourself if you think Triple H isn't going to back the money truck up to the doors of TNA and buy them out too. Look what they're doing to the company already? Jordynne Grace? Gone. Hendry? Basically gone. I'm sure a dozen other names will be picked up once their contracts wrap up so TNA is basically a WWE entity already at this point.
I think David Bixenspan put it pretty eloquently here;
This is the world champion of a partner promotion. #WrestleMania
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix.bsky.social) April 20, 2025 at 8:56 PM
A match that was over and done in the amount of time it too you to read this post, Orton RKO's Hendry out of his boots and pins him without even breaking a sweat. Sure, he gets his "Wrestlemania Moment™" and I'm happy Hendry got it, but it doesn't really do a lot of good for your top guy getting whipped in a hair over 3 minutes, does it? He got to celebrate with Randy after the fact but, of course, ate another RKO before Orton did the Hendry spin thing himself.
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| Spell his name, and he appears. WWE |
The night starts to fall apart right about here, sadly. What a run we were on.
AJ Styles vs. Logan Paul
I had some high hopes for this match! AJ and Logan are cut from some similar cloth, both love taking to the skies and can move around that ring pretty effortlessly. For being so new to the business and only wrestling a literal handfull of times a year, Logan has taken to it exceptionally well. Now don't think I'm complimenting Logan as a person, I'm not, he's a garbage person, but he does the wrestles good, especially when he's in the ring with someone that's great. AJ fits that bill perfectly and he helps lead Logan through a match that's full of some exciting spots and high-flying action but, really, not a lot happened here.
Maybe if these two had more time working against each other in promos or the like on TV leading up to this match, it would have a bit more heat to it, but Logan was MIA for most of it and AJ was tied up with Kross for the past couple weeks, so the only really heat here is "old vs. new" which can be hit or miss. Ended up being a bit of a miss here.
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| Mind the air traffic, guys. WWE |
I do like that Logan used a drone for a different angle on his entrance, placing it on the oversized Prime bottle ringside and then using it to get a different angle on his "Paul from Grace" top rope splash was cool. I'm told that the guy who was lurking around ringside was Logan's friend Jeff, who tried to slip Logan some brass knuckles but Karrion Kross (who got a really big pop!) steals the knucks and AJ tosses Jeff aside. Kross leaves the knucks and begs "Allen" to use them, but he tosses them under the ring and decks Kross flat.
A lot of this match was just moves for the sake of moves. The Overbomb from Logan was cool and AJ barely made it to the bottom rope to break the pin. The frantic scramble, shoot or work, was a nice touch. A springboard moonsault from Logan made him fly almost across the ring to land on AJ, just fucking nuts. But that's all it was, cool moves strung together just to do them. Not a lot going on here. Logan punches AJ in the jaw and pins him after landing the Pulverizer for the win.
The Judgment Day vs. Lyra Valkyria & A Mystery Opponent - Predictions made prior to the announcement that Bayley was removed from the match after being attacked backstage prior to Wrestlemania Saturday.
Here we have it folks, the semi main event! I was kinda shocked that this was second to last on the card considering how this match was kinda just thrown together, but with Lyra having a mystery partner, I should have been able to put two and two together and figure out what was happening here. I really had no idea who it could be, I was hoping for Chelsea Green so she could get a spot on the card, having both mid-card women's champions as a team seemed like a fun idea to me.
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| The Man has come around to Las Vegas. WWE |
But nope! Becky Lynch is back!
My fiance was kinda checked out at this point in the show, scrolling on her phone after finishing a LEGO set she was gifted for Easter. As soon as the opening notes to Becky's theme started, she was fully at attention, running to the bedroom to change into her "The Man" shirt. Mania 35 was her first Mania and she was super into Becky then, has been ever since. Was a lovely surprise for both of us, her especially.
Aside from Becky's return, this match isn't a lot to write home about. If it wasn't for the return, this would have been totally passable as a RAW match. Yet again. Lyra and Liv were good, Raquel was alright, despite winning women's tag gold more than anyone else in the company, and Becky looked great after not wrestling in almost a year. The Irish ladies pick up the win and they make a big deal out of "Lyra two belts" as if it's comparable to "Becky two belts." Spoiler alert guys, it's not, but nice effort.
Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena
Oh boy... here we go. The main event to end them all, the Cena we never thought we'd see challenging the guy we never thought would be in the spot he's in. My notes prior to this match were;
"I’m scared. This is either the greatest match Wrestlemania has ever seen, or it’s a complete dumpster fire. It all comes down to Cena, he makes this match or ruins it."
I really should have known this was not going to be good before the bell even rang with Cena all over the fucking Drumsticks advert as a smiling, ad friendly, beacon of light. Fuck me.
Alright, let's get into this. Entrance. All black with just "JOHN CENA." Not bad, better. Music? Bad. Bad, bad, bad. I don't care if you are being a heel that won't give us what we want, change your fucking music you coward. Gear? Ooh, all black. The most basic effort humanly possible. I'll go over it in more detail after this match in "The John Cena Heel Turn" but right now, know I'm not happy with this presentation. Not one bit.
Cody, for his part, is exactly what you'd expect. He gets a cool red, white and blue dirt bike entrance, a skull mask that opens up Iron Man style, and the full pyro, "whoah" entrance as per usual. I wish these guys could maybe commit to the fact that this is a serious fight with a lot at stake and come to the ring in a manner that reflects that. But this is entertainment after all. I need to remember that.
Once the match is underway, there's very little good going on here. Cody is in top form, but Cena just drags the match down every time he is on offence. Now look, I don't care if your argument is "he's a heel! He wants to ruin wrestling! He's not going to wrestle like he used to anymore!" great! Please be a heel! But I'm begging you to wrestle at a pace faster than the glaciers and string moves together better than someone who's playing WWE2K25 for the first time in their lives. Cena just doesn't know how to wrestle as a heel, and that is incredibly obvious here. Hell, if you're going to be calling spots so obvious that the nosebleeds could work this match with you, trash talk the whole match to cover your tracks.
Think back to Cena vs. Styles at the 2016 Rumble, the match where he tied Flair's (recognized) record of 16 World Titles. Remember that moment where he did the two AA's in a row? Where he had that look in his eyes like he was going to slaughter AJ in the middle of the ring? Where the fuck did that Cena go? Now, we get Temu heel Cena. Goofy, horridly unserious faces, pantomime wrestling, and a commitment to the bit so lacklustre you'd think he decided to be a bad boy as he was walking to the ring for this match.
To make things even worse, Travis Scott shows up. Not even the fucking Rock, who's involvement has been completely scrubbed from this feud, but The Rock's lackey Travis Scott. I don't even know why he's involved either, nobody has given a sentence of explanation as to why he's siding with Cena here. Nobody cares.
So the ref takes a bump, Scott makes his full entrance, which can't even be called a run in because he walks like he's paid by the step, and Cena helps him into the ring. Cena takes a Cross Rhodes and Scott pulls the referee out. God, didn't see that coming in a main event match. I'm starting to lose it here. Scott gets in the ring and takes a Cross Rhodes from Cody now. Cool, thanks for coming pal.
Cena is back up and has Cody's belt and is ready to crown him with it, but not before we put our acting skills to use! Cody rips the belt from Cena and he begs off! God, he's so sorry! He's practically on his knees! But Cody! So conflicted! Should he do it? Can he even bring himself to do it?! Oh God! Not a dry eye in the building! Cody lets go of the belt after believing Cena's apolog- sike, bitch! Dick kick! Ha!
A belt shot to the dome is all it takes. Cena covers Cody and breaks Flair's (recognized) record. He's a 17 time champion.
 |
| 17 time is now. WWE |
What more can I say? This sucked! This was bad! Cody was great, he did everything he could, but god damn Cena. This was beyond salvaging from the very start. Not good. Not even "I'm a heel so I'm bad on purpose" bad, just straight up bad. I hope things get better from here, but I don't know how they can.
I'd say "I'll see how this plays out the rest of the year" but I'm not gonna be doing that! I'll leave it you you folks to stick this one out.
Alright, here's the night 2 stats for those that like the numbers;
Total runtime: 3:45:00
Combined match length: 1:28:24
Time spent between matches: 2:16:36
• • • • •
Alright, now let's do the real math.
Wrestlemania 41 total match time: 3:13:38
Wrestlemania 41 total non-match time: 4:43:19
Wrestlemania 41 Saturday & Sunday combined run times: 7:56:57
Now, a little fuzzy math brings me to this horrific number.
40.6% of Wrestlemania 41 contained actual wrestling. Would have been nice if we got an extra .4% on there but you and I both know that would have been too much to ask for.
• • • • •
The John Cena Heel Turn
This John Cena heel turn was the most important thing to get right since Hulk Hogan in 1996 and they somehow managed to royally fuck it all up. I don't claim, in any way, to be some booking genius who knows how the business should be looked after, but I can't sit here and watch this go down without thinking about a dozen scenarios that would have been more engaging. I'm not gonna play backseat booker and lay out a 6 month program for how this should have done. Honestly, The Lapsed Fan did a pretty good job of that. A lot of what I have to say echoes their ideas as it was all stiff I had in my own head but struggled to articulate.
Let's start from square one, the presentation. If this is a John Cena turned completely on his head, how should he come across on screen? Cena laid it out pretty well himself while talking with Ryan Satin on the Ricky Stanicky press tour, and I'll leave that clip here. I think it would have been a fantastic way to change the character and would have worked a lot better than what we were given. I can't help but feel like a Cena that came across as arrogant, disrespectful, and braggadocios would be a lot more effective. His time in Hollywood, or away from WWE at the very least, has given him time to reflect and understand his true value. He doesn't need to act like a man of the people anymore, kissing babies and shaking hands with everyone he sees. He's better than that! Hes the greatest of all time! This entire year is about him. He dictates how this year goes. Laugh in the face of people who don't take you seriously, use your 24 years with the WWE as the fire to fuel your ego. "You think you're better than me? you think you can out-talk me? I'm John fucking Cena." This angry, "you never loved me! You've been abusive to me!" shit just doesn't hold any water. Sure, there were a lot of fans that were vocally against you for a lot of years, but you were a God to so many more fans. The small voices that were a lot harder to hear over the baritone of "John Cena Sucks!"
Dipping into his look without trying to tell him what brand sneakers he should wear to the ring, the Cena that wrestles for his last year should be indistinguishable from the Cena we have known his entire career. This lazy, "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction of change" line is just a clever way to say "I'm too lazy to change my look for my final year." Think of it this way, if Hulk Hogan, clad in red and yellow at Bash at the Beach 1996, came out the next time we saw him with the same red and yellow gear he's had on his entire babyface run, Hollywood Hogan would have been dead before it started. Wearing all black was essential to Hulk Hogan's turn. Give us nothing familiar. I want to look at him and think "that is not the same Cena I grew up with. Who the fuck is this guy?!"
I think the thing that really drives home how little they care about this run really meaning something, is how they handled Cena in the shows right after the Chamber. WWE went on a European tour after and had to film RAW and SmackDown overseas while there. So, naturally, they need to develop on the Cody/Cena angle in these international markets. But instead of depriving us of his presence, instead of changing up his look, instead of seriously committing to this turn, Cena came to the ring clad head to fucking toe in "the last time is now retirement tour" clothing, that was absolutely on sale at the merch stand, and proceeded to cut go-nowhere "you people" promos while the crowd sung his song and played along the whole time. Why would Cena, completely opposite to how he's been his entire career, care about wearing sweatbands and baseball caps that the kiddos can buy at the merch table? Get rid of it!
If WWE had the fucking balls, they'd have pulled Cena from those international shows. Keep Cena off TV for weeks, don't let us see him (not like the meme! for real!). "You can't see me? No, you don't get the privilege of seeing me. And soon, you won't see this WWE Championship ever again." Let him big league us for real, deprive us of Cena. Make his appearances a genuine shock. It screams fear and a lack of care. I don't care that this is his last year and fans overseas won't get to see him! A lot of places won't! Tough shit!
Commit to it. Have some balls. The Hogan heel turn was one of the biggest risks at one of the most crucial times in the business and it helped WCW put WWF/E on it's ass for almost two years. That's commitment. Half assing it like they have isn't going to make fans hate him more because he doesn't care and the smart marks praise the booking because "it works on so many levels of storytelling." This is a joke, and it should be treated as such.
Goodbye, WWE
Well, this is it. I'm done. I can't justify it any longer. I told myself I'd hold out until Mania and even that was a struggle at times. But now that the show of shows is behind me, I'm done. No more RAW, no more SmackDown, no more NXT, no more PLE's.
This isn't some teary-eyed breakup, this isn't a love poem where I've realized that us being together is toxic, this is a big 'ol middle finger to the biggest wrestling company in the world.
Because they deserve it.
There's a laundry list 50 years long of things wrong with WWE. If I were to list them all here, you'd be reading until Watchlist 46. Maybe I'll go over some of them in future posts but honestly, so many people have done such incredible coverage of WWE, and by extension, Vince McMahon's heinous acts and allegations, my write up will only serve as a cheap copy. I'll need to sit on this idea for a while. But with how badly the world has flipped upside down this past year, I can't stand idly by any more. Something needs to change.
If I were to tell myself a year ago that I'd be giving up WWE altogether, I'd be convinced I had gone insane. But it's because of this blog, and my desire to watch wrestling from across the globe, that I'm more confident than ever that the wrestling bug that constantly itches just below the skin will be sufficiently scratched in the months to come. I'm not worried one bit.
So, let's lay it all out on the table. I can't promise cohesion, but I can promise you one thing.
This is scorched fucking earth.
First off, let me go back to some of those media appearances from Mania week. Triple H was pretty outspoken when he said;
"This will sound defensive. I wish I could tell people ‘fuck off’ being a critic. Be a fan. Go watch this and be a fan."
You're damn right, Trips, that does come across pretty offensive. Not just offensive, but pretty arrogant too. Take your movie analogy;
"If I tell you, ‘Go to the movies and watch this movie. I saw it, it’s really good.’ And you just go to the movie as a fan. You watch the movie, you have one opinion. If I tell you, ‘Hey, go see this movie, but can you give me a one page detail, what you liked, what you didn’t like, and if it worked for you or didn’t work for you.’ You watch it totally differently. You watch the product totally differently. It ruins it for people."
This is a pretty insane scenario, if you ask me. Never have I watched a movie that any of my friends have enjoyed and been told "hey Cliff, if you could take some notes while you watch that Star Wars movie so we can talk about it next time we hang out, that would be sweet." No, when you see your buddies next, you'll chat about what you liked, what you didn't like, what you think will be in the sequel or whatever because you care. Fans that are critical are fans that care. Do you want me to sit slack jawed in the audience and clap like a seal every time I see a light saber on screen? Would that be a more pleasing experience for everyone? Critical fans are not the problem, fans having issues with what you do it not the problem, you can't grow if you are never criticized. Would Triple H be in the spot he's in if nobody ever pulled him aside and said "hey pal, this Hunter Hearst Helmsley shit sucks," probably not. Having thin skin is the problem.
So, now that I can be openly critical of the product and I know that any fingers pointed at me for being a "bad fan" will have three more pointing back at the guy who doesn't have a spine, let's get into the weeds.
Earlier this year when watching the Chamber, and even the Rumble, I couldn't shake the feeling that everything just felt the same. The Chamber especially had matches and moments that felt so paint by numbers. Like I could predict four moves ahead and have won a good chunk of change if the betting office would answer my calls. Nothing about the WWE feels unique, nothing about the card feels like variety. You could shift one tag match around for another at any given moment and not a thing would feel different. Indies, or other promotions for that matter, build cards that have variety. Especially those shows that pull in smaller crowds only a few times a year. Make the show as enjoyable as possible for as many people as possible. It doesn't help either that you've got a talent farm- I mean, 'Performance Centre' down in Florida churning people out of there that are all told to take a back bump and get back up the same way by the same people week in and week out. Sure, it creates consistency, but the amount of uniqueness is so unbelievably small. Could have guys in there in body suits wrestling and I'd struggle to tell one german suplex from another.
I don't want to disparage everyone in WWE either, I don't hate everyone that's walked through those doors, and that's what's gonna make stepping away kinda difficult at times. I've been in the corner of Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa for years now, they're my guys. GUNTHER is one of my favourite wrestlers in the world right now, possibly of the modern era. I gave Karrion Kross his flowers recently and he deserves them and so, so many more. Not to mention Sheamus, McIntyre, Priest, IYO, Ruca, Vaquer, Breakker, Chelsea, Femi, Ilja, Parker, Zayn, Owens, Knight, there's a lot of people on roster that I think are fantastic and hope get the world. But I can't keep supporting a company I believe is doing more harm than good just to keep waving the flag for a select few.
After Mania this weekend, I crunched the numbers to find out just how much time was spent watching actual wrestling on a wrestling show. I'm a very analytical person, I deal in absolute figures and numbers. That's just how my brain works best. If I told you I watched five 10 minute matches, that wouldnt seem like a lot of action but when you break it down like I'm about to do here, it means so much more to me. I hope it does the same for you.
So, let's break it down;
40.6% of Wrestlemania 41 contained actual wrestling. A staggeringly low figure that only gets worse when you look at the competition. Let's take a look at the three other big companies with their biggest shows and see how much of it contained bell to bell action.
AEW All In London 2024 - 68.09%
NJPW WrestleKingdom 19 - 60.13%
TNA Slammiversary 2024 - 61.53%
Now, what about the RAW after Mania? A show heralded as being "better than Wrestlemania."
19.6% of Monday Night RAW contained actual wrestling.
Guys, what is going on here?
 |
| He said it himself, "We make movies." |
It goes back to my comments from last week's post about how WWE isn't wrestling anymore, it's entertainment, the majority of their focus now is making these moments, making movies! What happens in ring comes second to the cinematics, the acting, the storytelling. If that does something for you, great! Keep watching! I understand that my opinion is a real "die on this hill" argument but if you're more used to WWE's flavour of "sports entertainment," who am I to say you should try rocky road or mint chip instead? Just don't expect me to ask for a cone with you.
Not to mention the sponsors. Good lord, way to kill what's supposed to be a fight to "save WWE" with fucking Drumsticks ice cream cones. But I guess you guys need some more money, go ahead, get the bag. That's what this is all about, right?
Speaking of money! This transitions beautifully to something else that has been an issue of mine for almost 10 years now. WWE's partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. My lord, this was a sign of things to come, wasn't it? A cursory google search will give you a litany of heinous things the Saudis have done. The murder of journalist of Jamal Khashoggi in the early days of this deal would have scared any respectable company away, but not WWE! Not when the Saudi's gave Vince the largest blank cartoon cheque seen by mankind! Can't back out now, pal!
I mean really, when your wife sits on the board for the most divisive, polarizing, and arguably criminal political regime America has ever seen, what's a little blood money to grease the skids, hmm? Even with Vince gone (and rightfully so. I hope Janel Grant is doing well and can come out the other side of everything okay), mentioning your mother in law as easily as you do doesn't bode well. I don't want to dive too deep into politics here because I try to distance myself from it as much as possible, but the signs are all there folks! Don't need to look too far!
The Donald Trump Interview - IMPAULSIVE EP. 418
Donald Trump Talks Pro Wrestling and What’s at Stake in 2024 | Six Feet Under #36
Watch: Hulk Hogan Runs Wild for Trump at the RNC
Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe Full Remarks at Trump Rally at Madison Square Garden in New York
Need I say more?
Guys, it's not that hard. Break away from the routine. Read a book on Monday nights, watch a movie with your spouse on a Friday, cook a meal and treat yourself to a night in on a PLE weekend. Or, watch other wrestling! Not to toot my own horn here, but I think I've amassed a pretty good catalogue of good to great matches to get someone started on the right path to decide what their ideal alternative to WWE is. It's not that hard to find something else out there that you'll enjoy. YouTube is free and has more matches than you could ever watch! Internet Archive is a great tool! There's plenty of streaming services that offer thousands of hours of indie wrestling content! Go out and explore the world of wrestling! Don't be fooled into thinking just because WWE is the shiniest toy in the store that it's the best. Gold needs to be dug to be found.
And hey, if you really need help figuring out where to start, cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com I'm more than happy to give someone a point in the right direction and help you get a feel for what you might like best. Be brave, cut the cord, and don't look back.
As far as what the future looks like for me covering WWE, I'm not really sure. I'd like to think I can go back and watch old matches that I enjoy guilt free, but right now I kinda feel like getting away from it completely. It's gonna be hard, as I sit here writing this I'm looking at my "Johnny Gargano Defeats Tommaso Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match" plaque I bought off the WWE shop many moons ago. That, and many more pieces of WWE merch and memorabilia decorate this office and it may be time to redecorate one of these days, but that remains to be seen. I need to sleep on some parts of this decision.
If you've made it this far, thank you. My god, thank you. This is my most ambitious post to date and may be for a long time. It's a lot I needed to get off my chest and I hope that this opened your eyes, if even just a little bit.
Until next time my friends. Stay safe, and be well.
Cliff Morgan
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