I reckon that's one of the funniest things I've ever read Agreed on Mania, it looks weak by usual standards. But I still think the matches can save the event despite little build. Cena has NEVER had a better chance to turn heel; certainly talked like a heel for 8 full minutes in his promo with Rock on Monday Night.

Agreed on Henry, Tom. The ME is undoubtedly Rock vs Cena for me. It's essentially WMX8's Rock vs Hogan with the WWE Title added. The match I'm most keen to see the fallout from (as I say I suspect a heel turn with Johnny Ace ending up leader of the Shield, teaming with Cena. Ace comes out (or 'Mr. John Laurinitis, the exectutive vice president for talent relations and the former interim general manager of Monday Night Raw') and hangs around ringside during the match, with Rock and Cena both confused, but they carry on. Cena is down and out and Ace is gesticulating for someone to come to the ring. The Shield enter and beat the rock to a pulp with chairs and the title. Cena crawls in bemused and pins Rock 1-2-3. Afterwards, Shield re-enter and stare him down.......before handshakes all round. And the biggest heel-turn since Austin at WMX7 is complete.

The individual matches look very good imo. But the only matches with any real storyline are Rock vs Cena (WWE Title), CM Punk vs Taker and Brock vs HHH. The rest seem a bit mashed together, which WWE are being (rightly) criticised for. It stops it being a 'WHOA, IT'S WRESTLEMANIA' kind of card to me and more like a Summerslam or Survivor Series kind of card; a good card but not as good as it should be. Here's my take on it and what I expect (although the 'go-home' Raw and Smackdown shows may change my mind: Rock vs Cena - WWE Title. Rock knows he can beat Cena, but Cena needs redemption. After the promo between both, I THINK a Cena heel turn may be on the cards if he loses. I suspect a Rock win again. Punk v Taker - BestInTheWorld vs BestAtWM. Was looking crap but Paul Bearer's unfortunate death has turned the feud on it's head with Punk stealing the urn. I expect a Taker win and a tribute to PB by Taker and Kane. Brock vs HHH (No Holds Barred) - if HHH loses, his career ends. Hard to call tbh. They need to make Brock look strong with a win (rumour has it he'll face Rock at WM30), but is HHH really ready to retire? Can't call. Alberto DelRio (w/ Ricardo Rodriguez) vs Jack Swagger (w/ Zeb Colter) - World Heavyweight Title. I expect a good technical match with a victory for Swagger in a new attempt to get the guy over. I hope the 'Anti-foreigner' gimmick will move on to Wade Barrett or Sheamus. The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose) vs Randy Orton, Sheamus and BigShow. The Shield have been wreaking havoc in WWE beating up any face in their path. They have beaten various trios at Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber, but finally seem intimidated by the presence of BigShow. I expect a Shield win. TeamHellNo (Kane and Daniel Bryan) vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langston - TagTeamTitles. A good match in the making imo. 3 VERY good wrestlers in one ring (unsure on Langston). I expect this to become an 'AllTitles' match, with Kaitlyn joining HellNo and AJ joining RhodesScholars. Zig/Lang to win (with Kaitlyn and CodyRhodes becoming an item sometime after Mania). Wade Barrett vs The Miz - Intercontinental Title. Meh. Hoping for a local boy, Barrett win. But expect a Miz victory. Chris Jericho vs Fandango. No idea why. Only connection is DancingWithTheStars. I expect it's just a case of pairing the two so Jericho can let the world see what Fandango can do in the ring. Possible Fandango win? Dunno. Mark Henry vs Ryback. No idea where it's come from or why it's on, but it is. Won't call.

Carlito gave me an excuse to spit apple at people at a WWE fancy dress when I was about 14. Loved him for that haha. How about Eugene? Or Rico

That and his health (I believe he has gut issues?) Tbf, it's to WWE's benefit, but they don't seem to know how to capitalise on angles any more. If they started taking more of a 'soap' approach, it'd help. Plan for WM30 now. Plan a succession of storylines to build up to next years climax. Even the intricacies (and just change if there's a need for it, such as injury etc). An example of thise is pushing Ryback to the moon because he was getting chants. If they'd kept him at a midcard level (push for the US or IC title) it could have added a ton of credibility to that area of the card. Now he has very little momentum or direction and just constitutes 'filler'.

Though it does mean that you get to be UFC champ further down the line

He now goes under the name 'Tyrion Lannister' and thinks that Punk vs Taker undermines Punk. Imo, anyone who Taker trusts to carry their match is put over the frigging moon! I suspect another MOTN incoming. He also thinks Rock is 'past-it' (cliched promos maybe, but still enjoyable and very good in-ring).

Tis indeed Johnny Ace haha. You'll not be surprised to know I'm sad enough to frequent wrestlingforum too (where I found the gif).

Indeed. 2 of the great underdog wrestlers as champs. Was awesome and one of the few moments I've welled up while watching WWE. Shame Benoit had to soil it.

His brain was fecked, BUT he and WWE have to take the blame for that. Only Benoit can take the blame for the killings. The fact he (imo) demonstrated remorse doesn't make him a good guy. But he did a horrific thing that has unfortunately wiped from history the careers of one of the most gifted wrestlers since before the MondayNightWars and possibly 'ever'. Had he not done what he did, he'd have been a regular WHC or WWE champ by now imo. Gutted I didn't get to see Benoit vs Angle vs Eddie vs Jericho just once.

I can certainly see why they did it, don't get me wrong. But having worked with ppl with addictions I cant help but think it was one massive and horrific accident. He killed his family which is absolutely detestable, even if it was due to roid rage. But there was remorse there too as before he killed himself, he set a bible by each of them and crossed their arms. It's no excuse at all, but to me that showed he'd come to his senses somewhat, realised his crime, paid his respects before deciding he couldn't face punishment and took the cowards way out. He's deservedly in hell but his career was awesome and I miss Benoit the wrestler in all honesty.

The problem is them (or Vince) not knowing the difference between edgy and tasteless. Thank God they got the Benoit thing right by dropping it. But even then, I do feel they went a bit OTT in wiping him from history. Though that's possibly my bias as he was THE wrestler that originally got me interested.

We can agree to disagree I think. But I agree about Eddie. 'He's in hell' was waaaaaayyyyy too far.

The result may well be redundant, but I reckon it'll still be a match worth watching (as it always was imo). Taker is 5* WM material and Punk has a habit of pulling it off on PPV too. Sure it looks like Taker will win, doesn't mean the match itself won't be a good one, though. I think the point is Punk trying to play mind games with Taker and will eventually lose out. If Bearer hadn't died, the story would be non-existent, but I do think they've played it the right way. It's upped my interest in the feud, anyway.

I thought WWE handled his death and brought it into storyline very well last week and this week. They've done nothing to degrade the memory of Bearer imo. Punk is heel and it's working well imo.

Not quite the same, but more recently (think it was about 10 years ago he came to WWE, but has left since) I always used to enjoy Tajiri's poison mist. Not a manager, but a wrestler! So spitting 'poison' in an opponent's face is a 'legal' move and an eye poke is fine (wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo) but a punch to the head is illegal (despite Big Show's WMD and Kane's uppercut being just that). Part of the joys of wrestling (imo) is the lack of logic. It's just pure entertainment haha.

Yes?

Fairly heavy rumour RVD may be coming back to WWE. If used in a jericho-style way (to help the younger guys develop), I'd be up for that. Love to hear that theme again in WWE.

Indeed it does sound quite good. Will give it a watch one night. Heard good things about it recently. Whatever happened to Ascension? I know Ricardo Rodriguez is ADR's 'personal announcer', but surely there'd be a way to bring that into WWE? It seemed cooler than the Brood (for the sake of an easy comparison).

Agreed there DE. I'm hoping that HHH can bring more a 'wrestlers' approach to the business again. Maybe even set up a loan system, whereby wrestlers in WWE developmental are sent out for a year to Mexico or Germany or Japan or wherever to at least experience other crowds.

Swagger will (I assume) be getting a suspension for his DUI charge as part of WWE;s wellness policy (brought in after the deaths of Eddie Guererro and Chris Benoit). The tricky thing is that Wayne Keown's (Zeb Colter's) daughter was killed by someone driving under the influence. While I'm not privvy to backstage info, I'm sure that put a strain on their relationship. A shame as it's one of the 'edgier' things WWE have done in recent years.

I find it entertaining. Before this turns into 'hur-hur its fake', we know that Ofc some of it is laughable in terms of the matches, but some of us invest in the characters in a similar way to Corrie or Eastenders. And occasionally we see an incredible feat. It's the one place you can see the son of a billionaire leap 50ft onto a fat bloke with foam all around him.

Could we make this a general wrestling thread? Still remain shocked to learn of the death yesterday of William Moody (more commonly known as Paul Bearer or Percy Pringle). His character as a wrestling manager was fantastically cartoonish and his skill and charisma helped build 2 of the greatest 'big' wrestlers of the modern era: Kane and (more famously) The Undertaker. Rest In Peace, Paul. The Hall of Fame beckons.....Ooooohhhhhh Yeeesssss!!!!

A bit late, but I went to see Les Miserables on Saturday with t'other half. Not been a big fan of musicals apart from Mary Poppins for nostalgic reasons. But I really enjoyed it. Hugh Jackman was awesome (even if he did look like Kevin Keegan) but Russell Crowe left a lot to be desired (should've been Gerard Butler imo).

Freddie Mercury's in there too (3rd right, 2nd row from bottom)