WM32 REAX #2 – “There was a lot to be frustrated about on this show, but there were some good moments”


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WrestleMania 32 Reax

– Lianne Mitchell (5.0): Best: Women’s or Ladder match. Worst: Not a match; The Rock segment. I’ve gone for the women’s match – whilst it could have been much better, I’m choosing solely on it being the only one without gimmicks or predictability besides A.J. Styles vs. Chris Jericho. I liked the ladder match, but I never thought in a million years Zack Ryder would win, so that at least was a good outcome.

I don’t know the point of current wrestlers losing to old ones. Ambrose-Brock was fine, but we knew the outcome and I still don’t know why they were having a match. Shane-Undertaker was what it was. (However, considering the supposed match stakes, why no Vince or Steph appearance when Shane was about to jump?) … Good luck for Baron Corbin, but only if they actually follow through this time on the Andre trophy, but we know the track record.

To this point I was fine with everything, but watching the U.K., I could have done without the long Rock segment, which I thought achieved nothing and was my other current roster bugbear beat down. I think Rock needs a year away from mania or just a surprise appearance, not a pre-advertised lead to five minutes of flames! The Main Event was exactly as expected, so I’ll leave it as that.

– Josh Lavian of New York City Live at WM32 (7.5): After missing too many live WrestleMania opportunities, I finally got baptized in Arlington yesterday. Overall, I’m quite happy I went, as no matter how many live events you attend, you don’t realize the scope of spectacle that WM is until you attend one. Most of the matches were of great quality, and were received well by the crowd, and that includes the pre-show matches.

Lesnar-Ambrose was somewhat underwhelming. I don’t know if it came across on TV, but the screens in the stadium showed a tally every time Lesnar hit a suplex. Something felt off with the match, though, and it seemed like it ended abruptly. For the first time, it felt as if Paul Heyman’s promo was phoned in. I paid closer to $1k for my ticket, and the sight of HBK hitting the stage in his wrestling gear—giving the impression that he was going to wrestle—made it all worth it. A little bit of a letdown that he didn’t, but it was still satisfying to see him, and the pop for Austin? My God. It was the loudest of the night, second only to the pop he got when he was shown on a video package, earlier. That’s not an exaggeration. It never got as loud again during the night as it did in those two instances. I get that it happens with age, but seeing him rocking a gut had more of an “end of an era” feel than his walk to the back after his final match with Rock at WM19.

I also feel lucky to have seen Undertaker perform, as I doubt I’ll ever have the privilege again, but Shane McMahon was a waste of an opponent. I understand he wants some limelight for himself, since he has access to it, but it’s not fair to the wrestlers who work their asses off all year to come in once and take huge bumps to steal their thunder; he has the luxury of comfort and time to heal up. What was strange to me was not that people cheered him, but that Taker was actively booed toward the end of the match. I’m not sure if that came across on TV, but it just seemed wrong; like a sacrilegious thing for wrestling fans to do.

The main event was good, but the finish did not go over well with the crowd, which they had to know was inevitable. Can someone tell me I’m wrong for thinking it was absolutely ridiculous for Reigns to proactively fix his hair while Hunter had him in a deep armbar?

– Shawn M. in St. Louis (5.0): Best: Women’s triple threat. Worst: League of Nations vs. New Day. The bar was low to begin with, so I figured WWE would over deliver. Overall, the in-ring work was fine, but the outcomes were just bad. Is WrestleMania now just a go-home show for the Raw after WrestleMania? The ladder match was good. Ryder winning was surprising, but likely sets up a heel (if there is such a thing) to beat him tonight in front of this crowd. Styles and Jericho were excellent, but I’m confused as to why Jericho gets the relatively clean win. The execution of the finish came across odd on TV. The entire New Day vs. League match was a filler just to set up the legends returning, which I actually enjoyed.

I thought Ambrose and Lesnar fell short. In this era of wrestling, you can only hit someone about the back and arms with so many chairs and kendo sticks. Ambrose didn’t absorb much punishment in this short match, either. Just very underwhelming. … The women’s match delivered. There were a few clunky spots, but overall I thought it was excellent. It felt like the main event in terms of the build and entrances. Maybe the only change I’d have made was Sasha winning the title. … Shane and Undertaker suffered from the same problem as Lesnar and Ambrose. There’s only so much you can do in this era. Shane’s bump was insane and he and Undertaker told a good story in the ring. Puzzlingly, that’s where it ended with no follow-up with Vince. The main event was what it was. I thought for sure Reigns would go heel in an attempt to salvage this mess, but he’s full steam ahead. A very deflating and anti-climactic ending to a very, very long show.

– VIP member Mack Mathieu in Connecticut (7.0): Best: Ladder match. Worst: Andre battle royal. For a WrestleMania devoid of any real stars I thought the show was much better than everyone is giving it credit for. The opening ladder match was so much fun to watch with a surprise winner. I thought the Divas title match was good … Shane-Taker was very well done with a non-wrestler vs. aging Taker – it had the right physicality, enough high spots, and Shane put on a better match with Taker than Lesnar and Bray did at previous WrestleManias. … A.J. vs. Jericho was a great match… There were some low spots. I could have done without The Rock and unless a push comes from it they need to get rid of the battle royal. Overall, I thought it was a good show, when it ended I was very satisfied.

– Clay in Detroit (6.0): Best Match: IC Title match. Worst Match: League of Nations vs. New Day. There was a lot to be frustrated about on this show, but there were some good moments. Ryder winning the IC title was a huge surprise, and it was an awesome feel-good moment which they needed, considering how the rest of the show was going to go… I can’t understand Jericho going over Styles. Booking Styles and Jericho back-and-forth isn’t going to make Styles a star. From a wrestling standpoint this was an excellent match, but from a storyline standpoint it made no sense to me.

New Day/League of Nations wasn’t terrible, but both teams were treated like afterthoughts. HBK, Foley, and Austin coming out was an awesome moment, but neither team got a rub from their presence… I was disappointed with the Ambrose-Lesnar match. To me, Ambrose didn’t come out looking like a star. He looked like a typical upper-mid-carder who would have been beaten in three minutes if not for the weapons. Lesnar dominated 75 percent of the match and won decisively. I was hoping for something that would look more like a major war where Ambrose took Lesnar to the limit, but that’s not what it seemed like to me.

I was actually looking forward to Undertaker-McMahon, but it just wasn’t realistic how Taker and Shane went back and forth pretty evenly throughout the match. I mean, I’m pretty sure Shane lasted longer in the Cell against Undertaker than Triple H did a few years ago. Shane didn’t disappoint with his daredevil stunts – his 20-foot leap was amazing.

The battle royal was really weird and didn’t interest me. I was hoping to see more from Sandow and was hoping Mark Henry would get a good send-off in his home state, but instead a barely-hyped NXT star won. For anyone who doesn’t watch NXT, this match was meaningless. After that, The Rock-Cena-Wyatts segment was exactly what this show needed after so many disappointing matches.

The main event was mostly interesting to me because I wanted to see if Reigns could win over the crowd to any extent as the match went on. I thought the match was actually very good, one of Reigns’s best. The crowd did cheer the spear on Stephanie, and they cheered when he got the 1-2-3. He was booed at pretty much every other point before and after the match, though. There was no doubt Reigns was winning, so I expected the result, but I thought the performance was good. I fear for WWE moving forward, though, if they insist on pushing a guy who gets overwhelming boos on TV and PPV as the top babyface. Reigns needs to win over the crowd soon somehow. Overall, WM32 couldn’t hold a candle to WM31 or WM30, but there were enough interesting matches to keep it in mild thumbs-up territory for me.

Did you watch WrestleMania? We’re looking for your 0-10 score, Best/Worst Match, and Reax sent to pwtorch@gmail.com.

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