BRM Reviews WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 04:07

WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII (4/1/2012)- Miami, FL

TRIPLE THREAT TAG TEAM MATCH FOR THE WWE WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: Primo & Epico(c) (w/Rosa Mendes) vs. The Usos vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd- 5.5/10
The Usos were very impressive. I was extremely disappointed that they didn’t win.

DANIEL BRYAN PROMO- good, but the thing with AJ was stupid.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Daniel Bryan(c) (w/AJ) vs. Sheamus- DUD! Not only was this a MORONIC idea (there are SO MANY better ways to have AJ inadvertently cost Dragon the title), but I was ABSOLUTELY PSYCHED for this show… and this has taken ABSOLUTELY ALL of my enthusiasm away. This was just a horrible idea. It doesn’t make Sheamus look very good (he took advantage of a distraction to win) and it doesn’t make Dragon look good (he got beat by ONE MOVE). If you want to make stars, you have to give them time to shine. They have been building Sheamus up for this since the summer, and they obviously have confidence in Dragon, or else they wouldn’t have left the belt on him for so long and featured him as much as they have. One of the best young guys on the roster and a veteran with a track record a mile long of putting on amazing matches… and WWE doesn’t even give them 30 seconds at Wrestlemania? With the build they have had, these guys shouldn’t have gotten anything less than twenty minutes!

TEAM JOHNNY BACKSTAGE- okay

RANDY ORTON vs. KANE- 6.25/10
Wow. Didn’t expect that at all. It’s like they are trying to make it up to me for the way this show started off

DEADLIEST CATCH CRAP WITH SANTINO AND FOLEY- utterly moronic waste of time. Did anyone else notice that Santino’s attempt at a cheap pop got NO REACTION AT ALL?

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH: Cody Rhodes(c) vs. The Big Show- 4.75/10

Beth Phoenix, the Divas Champion… comes out to Eve’s music? I wish that that had been the greatest indignity heaped upon Beth tonight, but unfortunately It wasn’t
MARIA MENOUNOS & KELLY KELLY vs. BETH PHOENIX & EVE TORRES- 3/10
YOU DO NOT JOB THE CHAMP OUT TO A CELEBRITY!!!!!!!!!!!!

HBK PROMO- eh

HELL IN A CELL MATCH WITH SHAWN MICHAELS AS THE SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: Triple H vs. The Undertaker- 8/10
An awesome match, but I really wasn’t into the stuff with HBK, and in my opinion, it hurt the match. I really liked the aftermath, though. Giving these three a nice moment together at the end of the match.

WHOA! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO EDGE’S HAIR? He got one of those super-ugly Chris Jericho haircuts!

HEATH SLATER & FLO RIDA SEGMENT- Heath calling Flo Rida “Florida” was funny, but that was not an excuse for this segment. A wrestler needlessly gets punked out by a non-wrestler

THE WINNING TEAM’S GM WILL GAIN CONTROL OF BOTH RAW AND SMACKDOWN: Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, the Great Khali, & Booker T) (w/Teddy Long, Hornswoggle, Aksana, Eve Torres, & Nikki Bella) vs. Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, & Jack Swagger) (w/John Laurinaitis, Vickie Guerrero, & Brie Bella)- 4.5/10.
I almost had a heart attack when Santino got that nearfall on Miz. The right team definitely got the win here (although I was disappointed that Teddy Long didn’t eat an Ace Crusher). The aftermath was predictable, but still good.

JOHNNY ACE & CM PUNK BACKSTAGE- good

WWE TITLE MATCH: CM Punk(c) vs. Chris Jericho- 8.75/10
Amazing match, with some great nearfalls! Jericho’s Walls of Jericho looked as sick as ever.

BRODUS CLAY STUFF- THIS was more important than Dragon vs. Sheamus getting time?

THE ROCK vs. JOHN CENA- 8.25/10
Awesome match, but slightly disappointing, all things considered. This match was awesome… but it needed to be epic.

Overall, a very up and down Wrestlemania. The good was great, but a lot of the other stuff wasn’t good at all, and there were some extremely poor booking decisions (the World Heavyweight Title match and the Divas match) as well as some unexpected ones (Kane beating Orton, Rocky beating Cena).

Post by **yourcrapsweak** » Apr 2nd, '12, 06:28

Really? Only 8/10 for HIAC?

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 07:54

yourcrapsweak wrote:Really? Only 8/10 for HIAC?

I really didn't like most of the stuff with Shawn. There were times when I felt that the whole "look at Shawn. He is a nervous wreck" thing took away from the match. I also absolutely sympathized with Hunter when he told Shawn "you end the match!" It was really annoying to have Shawn stop one guy from beating on the other because he thought the other was unable to defend himself, but not do what a referee should in that situation and call for the bell.
The more I watched the match, the more I felt like it really should have been a Triple Threat match, with Shawn and Hunter each trying to get the pin on Taker to prove which of them is better
I think part of it was that some of the stuff that they did felt like it was in the wrong order. They did a few spots where Triple H was beating Taker down and Shawn was begging him to show compassion or something like that... that was good, but I think it would have been better if they did it with Taker beating Triple H down first, as Shawn would have more reason to want to get involved and stop the beatdown because he felt guilty for goading Hunter into taking the match, and now Hunter was getting viciously beaten during it. Then, because he wanted to be fair, he would return the favor for Taker later on.
Overall, I think that Shawn's presence and role in the story hurt the match a lot more than it helped it. I probably would have given it an 8.75 or a 9 without Shawn. I also really disliked Taker chokeslamming the innocent referee for no reason.

Post by **NWK** » Apr 2nd, '12, 08:38

I don't get the hurt over the Dragon/Sheamus match, like not at all. It was obviously done so that some of the campier segments, and the bigger matches could get more time. I looked at the Dragon vs. Sheamus match as, "Eh, there's always Extreme Rules" I'll only really be disappointed if the two don't get a full match at Extreme Rules. Also, the constant Wrestlemania snubs for Dragon could be an angle much later in Dragon's career (Think Mick Foley at WM22, Edge claiming he never had a real Wrestlemania moment, or hell, even Big Show's angle going to Wrestlemania, his constant Wrestlemania loses being ammo for Cody)

I loved HIAC and would've been much more liberal with the rating, but there were some things that made me scratch my head (HBK getting a Hell's Gate, or HBK Sweet Chin Musicing him afterwords). What I did like about Shawn being a nervous wreck was that, this is something they could've easily reserved for the end of the match, but the fact that there was so mach after that angle had essentially run its course was part of what made it awesome.

I don't understand why Eve came out with Zach. Didn't they do an angle in which Eve admitted she used guys to get to the top?

I also felt like the Jericho/Punk stip should've come earlier. If you have a guy who's so angry that, he brutally attacks his opponent (Christian) THAT'S when you slap on the stipulation, not at the event.

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 09:41

NWK wrote:I don't get the hurt over the Dragon/Sheamus match, like not at all. It was obviously done so that some of the campier segments, and the bigger matches could get more time. I looked at the Dragon vs. Sheamus match as, "Eh, there's always Extreme Rules" I'll only really be disappointed if the two don't get a full match at Extreme Rules. Also, the constant Wrestlemania snubs for Dragon could be an angle much later in Dragon's career (Think Mick Foley at WM22, Edge claiming he never had a real Wrestlemania moment, or hell, even Big Show's angle going to Wrestlemania, his constant Wrestlemania loses being ammo for Cody)

I loved HIAC and would've been much more liberal with the rating, but there were some things that made me scratch my head (HBK getting a Hell's Gate, or HBK Sweet Chin Musicing him afterwords). What I did like about Shawn being a nervous wreck was that, this is something they could've easily reserved for the end of the match, but the fact that there was so mach after that angle had essentially run its course was part of what made it awesome.

I don't understand why Eve came out with Zach. Didn't they do an angle in which Eve admitted she used guys to get to the top?

I also felt like the Jericho/Punk stip should've come earlier. If you have a guy who's so angry that, he brutally attacks his opponent (Christian) THAT'S when you slap on the stipulation, not at the event.

1. Because this is WRESTLE-FREAKIN'-MANIA! You don't do that sort of crap here in general, and you don't throw Mania under the bus for Extreme Rules. It was a featured match for a World Title... and it didn't even go thirty seconds! I had the same problem with Storm vs. Bully Ray at Victory Road.
Furthermore, this is Dragon's first time being heavily featured at Mania. He is coming in as the WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION. He is obviously over (as the "YES!" and "DANIEL BRYAN!" chants throughout the rest of the night indicated)." And then they have him lose after JUST ONE MOVE! Yeah, he was distracted, but it is still ONE MOVE! Dragon gets buried. Sheamus doesn't look particularly strong either because he jumped Dragon while he wasn't paying attention. If they wanted to do a finish where AJ inadvertently cost Dragon the title, they could have done almost the same exact finish, but with a fifteen minute match. This would make Dragon look not as pathetic, and would make Sheamus look much stronger, as he actually got to take some punishment and look tough, and didn't have to jump someone from behind.
There is a lot of talk in WWE about the younger guys not being proven. This should have been the chance for Dragon and Sheamus to prove themselves, but WWE didn't give them the chance! This should have been a star-making performance for both guys. Instead, we got cheated out of a featured match and a star who has been absolutely taking off as a character after a major heel turn got absolutely buried.

HBK got put in Hell's Gate because Taker thought that HBK was about to call for the bell and award the match to Triple H via referee stoppage because he thought that Taker was unable to defend himself. I assume that the Sweet Chin Music was an angry, emotional HBK taking revenge for the Hell's Gate.

They did another angle basically making Ryder and idiot in which Eve said that she didn't mean what she said and Ryder, like an idiot, believed her.

As for Jericho vs. Punk, I see what you are saying, but my kayfabe explanation for it would be that Johnny Ace was too concerned with find a good replacement to make the stip.

Post by **Verdun** » Apr 2nd, '12, 10:44

Bryan V. Sheamus was definitely a giant load of crap. You don't put that in the biggest show of the year and especially when you KNOW it could have been a great match.

I would have given HHH V. Undertaker a 9 though. It had my attention given my crappy attention span that's something.

I agree that Rock V. Cena was good, but not great. It needed to feel like Cena V. Punk, but it just does not even come anywhere near close enough.

That Divas match was awful and why get a celebrity (One that doesn't even have that much star power to begin with) when you have a whole roster? Silly crap.

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 10:55

Verdun wrote:
I agree that Rock V. Cena was good, but not great. It needed to feel like Cena V. Punk, but it just does not even come anywhere near close enough.

I think they got the feel right (and I think they were going more for Rock vs. Hogan than Cena vs. Punk), but the work just wasn't there.

Post by **cero2k** » Apr 2nd, '12, 11:47

Big Red Machine wrote: Beth Phoenix, the Divas Champion… comes out to Eve’s music? I wish that that had been the greatest indignity heaped upon Beth tonight, but unfortunately It wasn’t
MARIA MENOUNOS & KELLY KELLY vs. BETH PHOENIX & EVE TORRES- 3/10
YOU DO NOT JOB THE CHAMP OUT TO A CELEBRITY!!!!!!!!!!!!

A celebrity with broken ribs nonetheless

Post by **badnewzxl** » Apr 2nd, '12, 15:06

I guess I'm the only person who didn't mind the Dragon thing. I thought it was just all the weaseling he's done since winning the title coming back to haunt him on the grandest stage. I did feel a little weird about it, but I became more and more ok with it as Dragon rolled out of the ring. It was all Dragon's fault; but we KNOW he's gonna blame AJ. I actually liked it.

I thought Mania was solid all the way around. The Divas match even made more sense than expected; Maria sold both her injury and the fact that she's not a wrestler GREAT (her sluggishness made sense) and Kelly did Molly Holly's old move (AWESOME). I really didn't expect that much from the match; the exceeded my expectations so I can't complain.

I thought the worst thing that happened all night was Cody losing the title to Big Show (Hopefully he wins it back soon)

And tho I'm a big Rock fan, I def did not think he'd get the win last night. I'm very interested to see what happens on Raw tonight (although, I'll have to wait til the National Championship game is over. GO CATS!)

Post by **Rabid619** » Apr 2nd, '12, 15:11

badnewzxl wrote:I guess I'm the only person who didn't mind the Dragon thing. I thought it was just all the weaseling he's done since winning the title coming back to haunt him on the grandest stage. I did feel a little weird about it, but I became more and more ok with it as Dragon rolled out of the ring. It was all Dragon's fault; but we KNOW he's gonna blame AJ. I actually liked it.

I hope they do play that up because the reports they made him lose so quick just to break that record will just make this seem horrible. To be honest i was looking forward more to a Bryan/AJ storyline advancement then Sheamus winning the title.

Post by **badnewzxl** » Apr 2nd, '12, 15:13

Rabid619 wrote:
badnewzxl wrote:I guess I'm the only person who didn't mind the Dragon thing. I thought it was just all the weaseling he's done since winning the title coming back to haunt him on the grandest stage. I did feel a little weird about it, but I became more and more ok with it as Dragon rolled out of the ring. It was all Dragon's fault; but we KNOW he's gonna blame AJ. I actually liked it.
I hope they do play that up because the reports they made him lose so quick just to break that record will just make this seem horrible. To be honest i was looking forward more to a Bryan/AJ storyline advancement then Sheamus winning the title.

yeah; if they used the world title match just to break the quickest WM match ever, then they're idiots. Show v. Cody should have been that one (the irony of Cody making fun of Show's embarrassing WM moments only to have one of his own at the hands of the Big Show)

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 15:26

Rabid619 wrote:
badnewzxl wrote:I guess I'm the only person who didn't mind the Dragon thing. I thought it was just all the weaseling he's done since winning the title coming back to haunt him on the grandest stage. I did feel a little weird about it, but I became more and more ok with it as Dragon rolled out of the ring. It was all Dragon's fault; but we KNOW he's gonna blame AJ. I actually liked it.
I hope they do play that up because the reports they made him lose so quick just to break that record will just make this seem horrible. To be honest i was looking forward more to a Bryan/AJ storyline advancement then Sheamus winning the title.

Even so, they could have done the same exact thing after a fifteen minute match, would have made both guys look better.

Post by **badnewzxl** » Apr 2nd, '12, 15:37

Big Red Machine wrote:
Rabid619 wrote:
badnewzxl wrote:I guess I'm the only person who didn't mind the Dragon thing. I thought it was just all the weaseling he's done since winning the title coming back to haunt him on the grandest stage. I did feel a little weird about it, but I became more and more ok with it as Dragon rolled out of the ring. It was all Dragon's fault; but we KNOW he's gonna blame AJ. I actually liked it.
I hope they do play that up because the reports they made him lose so quick just to break that record will just make this seem horrible. To be honest i was looking forward more to a Bryan/AJ storyline advancement then Sheamus winning the title.
Even so, they could have done the same exact thing after a fifteen minute match, would have made both guys look better.

true; like I said, I thought the IC match would have been more appropriate for the short match thing. They could've had Cody come out last, show the video pkg of Big Show's WM moments, and as he laughed at the screen and as soon as he turned around, Show could hit him with the WMD and knock him straight out. They wouldn't have had to make Cody drop the title, Show could have gotten his revenge, and the Universe would be in harmony.

Post by **e-moose** » Apr 2nd, '12, 18:00

I haven't watched any of WrestleMania, but I looked at the reactions to things on "live discussion" and just going from that, I would have expected H.I.A.C. to be rated higher than Cena/Rock.

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 2nd, '12, 18:18

e-moose wrote:I haven't watched any of WrestleMania, but I looked at the reactions to things on "live discussion" and just going from that, I would have expected H.I.A.C. to be rated higher than Cena/Rock.

Your enjoyment of HIAC is almost totally dependent on how much you like the role that HBK plays and what they do with it. If you don't like it, it takes a lot away from the match for you. I didn't like it very much.

Post by **yourcrapsweak** » Apr 3rd, '12, 06:30

I think it's funny that Sheamus, the winner of the Rumble, got a 15 second opening match, and the guy he beat, Jericho, got the second to last match and about 25-30 minutes or so, AND THEY WERE BOTH TITLE MATCHES! It makes the Royal Rumble look like a joke! Like "of if you win, you get a title shot at 'Mania, but if you lose, eh you'll get one anyway".

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 3rd, '12, 07:50

yourcrapsweak wrote:I think it's funny that Sheamus, the winner of the Rumble, got a 15 second opening match, and the guy he beat, Jericho, got the second to last match and about 25-30 minutes or so, AND THEY WERE BOTH TITLE MATCHES! It makes the Royal Rumble look like a joke! Like "of if you win, you get a title shot at 'Mania, but if you lose, eh you'll get one anyway".

Not only that, but the guy who won the Rumble went on in the opener, and the guy who lost it went on in the semi-main.

Post by **e-moose** » Apr 3rd, '12, 11:46

Big Red Machine wrote:
yourcrapsweak wrote:I think it's funny that Sheamus, the winner of the Rumble, got a 15 second opening match, and the guy he beat, Jericho, got the second to last match and about 25-30 minutes or so, AND THEY WERE BOTH TITLE MATCHES! It makes the Royal Rumble look like a joke! Like "of if you win, you get a title shot at 'Mania, but if you lose, eh you'll get one anyway".
Not only that, but the guy who won the Rumble went on in the opener, and the guy who lost it went on in the semi-main.

I too have expressed negative thoughts about the way Jericho was undeservedly catapulted into a title match at WrestleMania. I'm sure a whole locker room of up and coming superstars aren't happy about this, or the Rock saying he now wants a title shot, or the return of Lesnar.

Post by **Big Red Machine** » Apr 3rd, '12, 12:00

e-moose wrote:
Big Red Machine wrote:
yourcrapsweak wrote:I think it's funny that Sheamus, the winner of the Rumble, got a 15 second opening match, and the guy he beat, Jericho, got the second to last match and about 25-30 minutes or so, AND THEY WERE BOTH TITLE MATCHES! It makes the Royal Rumble look like a joke! Like "of if you win, you get a title shot at 'Mania, but if you lose, eh you'll get one anyway".
Not only that, but the guy who won the Rumble went on in the opener, and the guy who lost it went on in the semi-main.
I too have expressed negative thoughts about the way Jericho was undeservedly catapulted into a title match at WrestleMania. I'm sure a whole locker room of up and coming superstars aren't happy about this, or the Rock saying he now wants a title shot, or the return of Lesnar.

We're not saying that Jericho got his spot in the title match undeservedly. We are saying that both the booking of those matches and their placement on the card, in combination, does a major disservice to the Royal Rumble.

Post by **e-moose** » Apr 3rd, '12, 12:11

Big Red Machine wrote:
e-moose wrote:I too have expressed negative thoughts about the way Jericho was undeservedly catapulted into a title match at WrestleMania. I'm sure a whole locker room of up and coming superstars aren't happy about this, or the Rock saying he now wants a title shot, or the return of Lesnar.
We're not saying that Jericho got his spot in the title match undeservedly. We are saying that both the booking of those matches and their placement on the card, in combination, does a major disservice to the Royal Rumble.

OK then I agree with what you guys are saying, plus adding my own thoughts (which you guys may or may not agree with)

BRM Reviews WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII

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