What's so different?

Coffee Table Thoughts: What’s so different?

First, a few words on the life and times of TheMaskedNewton. The guy is busy as hell, slogging in the office for past 5 to 6 months with average daily hours spend going upto 13 hours. Add one and a half hour of travelling a day, and you get the idea of how awesome this phase of life is turning out to be for him.

Here goes nothing.

With all the hoopla about this year’s Wrestlemania, namely, Wrestlemania Play [ ►], I am feeling very confused. Well, normally, being confused is just another second in the life of TheMaskedNewton. But here, it is a bit different. I am confused as to whether or not I should be excited about this year’s annual extravaganza offering by the WWE, Wrestlemania. Or Wrestlemania [ ►].

On one hand, this year’s card feels well – rounded.

We have

1.      BROCK LESNAR vs Roman [I can] Reigns,

2.      The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt,

3.      Triple H vs Vigilante Sting,

4.      Randy Orton vs Seth ‘the little snake’ Rollins and lastly,

5.      John Cena vs Rusev Pachka.

On the other hand…..

Now I do get it. Not every one of us is looking forward to every single one of those matches. Some are not so excited about Triple H vs Sting, given the not so clear reasoning behind Sting’s actions. Some are not sure whether Undertaker should return to the ring at his advanced age, especially after the stinker of a performance at last year’s Wrestlemania. Damn you pirated version of Microsoft Word, Wrestlemania is a correct word.

Some may be apprehensive of what may become of Rusev once he, or rather, once the freight train that is John Cena goes through him. Some may even feel that Dean Ambrose is more deserving of the match with Seth Rollins but I am sure those are not as rabidly against the match that stands at present.

Almost all of us have a thought or two million on Roman Reigns. Me too. I personally have dealt with the situation by just accepting the way chosen and am ready to give it a chance, in passing. But hey, I am not going to be part of the thousands of folks that will be mowing down the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. And I am certainly not going to be a part of those ‘lesser in number, but more rabid in aggression’ thousands of folks that will be attending the Monday Night, next night.

I can still hear loud and clear boos when he appears on screen, and those fine folks have definitely earned their right to express by way of buying tickets to those shows. Is the machine well prepared with what they are going to get from their audience? We at least have Brock Lesnar in one corner.

To be honest, I am not a big fan of the modern day Beast Incarnate. In fact, I haven’t been down with almost all of the booking decisions in relation to Brock Lesnar. Firstly, I don’t like his matches. Yeah yeah, he has been in UFC for last many years and made a name for himself there. If wresters were to be compared to green grass, for some reason, then he is a lawn mower.

But all of those matches where he is just playing with his doll inside the ring like a sick, twisted child make me yearn for the older days when he used to be wrestler, and not a fighter. He was a Bad Ass back then too. He was a Beast back then too. But his matches were a lot more interesting back then than they are now.

And on the other hand, there is Roman Reigns. I can say there is not much in the arsenal of Roman Reigns. But the guy is quite athletic. If not over the moon excitement, there is at least some intrigue as to what this match will be like. What kind of moves, that we haven’t seen Roman Reigns dish out till now, will be dished out? Whether it will be a fight of strength between the two or will it be a fight of wits? Will Roman Reigns wrestle the same style that he has wrestled so far or does he have more range in his game? As I said, I am intrigued by all of these variables. At the end of the day, or night, he will either confirm our worst fears or will surprise all of us. We will have to see it, to find it.

Anyways, going back to my original topic; the well rounded card.

If you give it a little thought, each of the above mentioned 5 matches can be considered to be a headlining bout in itself. Yes, my dear friends, 5! Like the 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time, 5-time 5! Like the Bryan Danielson’s ‘I’ve got till 5’, 5. Like the King Kong Bundy’s 5 count, 5.

There is a story involved in all of those matches. Some are basic, some are complex. Some have more layers to it than others. Sting and Triple H has had Triple H and vignettes (and a bit of story). Bray Wyatt and Undertaker have got a purpose (and Special Effects). Randy Orton and Seth Rollins have had an obvious but slowly evolving story (and a delayed return). John Cena and Rusev feud has grown organically. Roman Reigns has had a bumpy road but a determined mind. And Paul Heyman. We can all at least agree that the hype machine that is the WWE has given enough screen time and importance to build up of each of those matches, whether that may be direct or indirect.

Let’s have a look at some of the other Wrestlemania cards and the matches that those cards featured, to get a little perspective of the present card.

Wrestlemania 26. We had Undertaker vs Shwan Michaels 2, and John Cena vs Batista as absolute main events. I am sure the excitement level for both of those matches was much more than the excitement level for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship bout this year. Other than that there was Chris Jericho vs Edge which can be summed up as an IWC wet dream. Triple H vs Sheamus was nothing to get too excited about and Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk, even though a fairly well developed feud, felt more like a mid-card bout. I would say, comparing all of these matches, the present card has a more prestigious aura surrounding its bouts than those of Wrestlemania 26. Randy Orton facing both of his former stooges was an exciting affair that tilts the scale a little bit in favour of Wrestlemania 26, though.

I would say three matches on the Wrestlemania 27 card were very good to great in terms of build and the headlining status, those being Triple H vs Undertaker, John Cena vs The Miz and Edge vs Alberto Del Rio. CM Punk vs Randy Orton was exciting affair but the build to that match had been quite a dud. (I get it, you may feel the same for every single match of the Wrestlemnia Play card too). But none of those bouts can compare to this year’s card. Advantage WM31.

Moving on to Wrestlemania 28, it was all about the Triple Main Event and very little else. It was a Wrestlemania that was one of the greatest ever, but which seemed like it was going to be the absolute greatest ever before the event took place. The reason why it fell from ‘Greatest ever’ to ‘one of the Greatest’ status was because of the deflated audience after the whole ’18 Seconds’ debacle. Triple main event did deliver, though. In spades, none the less. CM Punk vs Chris Jericho was very reminiscent of the Y2J vs HBK bout from long ago. Triple H vs Undertaker was the end of an era bout with ‘on the verge of being diagnosed with heart attack’ Shawn Michaels as the Special Guest referee. I think The Doc is very apt in suggesting that Kane vs Randy Orton was a card enhancing bout. A solid, solid 10 minute bout between the two, but the build to that match didn’t present it as a kind of headlining match that each of the 5 matches listed above do. I would say Play version has got a slight edge over the 28^th version.

From one of the greatest ever to Rematchmania. I guess we have a twin brother, here. The excitement for the Wrestlemania for the 29^th edition might as well have been the lowest of its entire life. People were even less excited about John Cena vs The Rock 2 than they are for the Roman Empire. And they were even less excited about the whole Brock Lesnar vs Triple H extended program that no one was really giving two shits about. Same for Alberto Del Rio vs Jack ‘out of the blue’ Swagger. CM Punk and Undertaker did all their best to keep interest in the said Wrestlemania but I would say Wrestlemania this year wins by a mile here.

From Rematchmania, we go straight to the Roller Coster ride. I guess this year truly represents the alternative road to last year’s Wrestlemania. What if the management hadn’t given up to the audience’s demands? The 30^th anniversary (?) of Wrestlemania had Daniel Bryan vs Triple H, Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton vs Batista, John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (closest to John Cena vs Rusev this year) and Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker in the headlining position. Although it was exciting to see Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker, the IWC had not fully embraced that match. Still, there are 4 of such headlining matches in the last year as compared to 5 this year.

So in all, there is plenty to be happy about this year’s Wrestlemania. First, the number of matches that have been given enough importance are too many this year as compared to previous years. While the number of matches itself is not too big, the number of important/headlining matches is definitely big.  It seems the company has given away the habit of just throwing a match in there half heartedly or just to get people on the card. Those are the matches that are unimportant and hurt the grand feel of Wrestlemania. Some examples are: Shield vs Kane and Outlaws (as compared to say Shield vs The Wyatt Family and also because of the length of time), Team Hell No vs Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston, Mark Henry vs Ryback, Chris Jericho vs Fandango, Corre vs Pre Avengers, Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler and that match that caused the depush for my favourite wrestler, John Morrison. Those matches were the examples of the worst possible matches on a Wrestlemania card. Even though the talent involved in those matches may not always have been stinker, but the way in which those matches were built or simply the people chosen to be part of those matches was horrible. I am very glad that the company is not giving us the card reducing bouts this year.  

Even though the problem (or solution) of part time stars is something that hasn’t gone away, and is likely not going away anytime soon, it can be said the part timers are being used in a much better way this year. Outside of Sting vs Triple H, both Brock Lesnar and Undertaker are facing the young guns. Even John Cena and Randy Orton are giving the rub to the future stars of the company.  

Apart from the above mentioned five matches, we are also going to have a Battle Royal, which is always a better choice to include the whole damn roster than say a multi man cluster **** of a tag team match. There is this Divas match which seems great on the surface because it will showcase only a few divas; the divas that have actually impressed with their performance throughout the year, to boot.

And then there is this ladder match with some less known, less popular and struggling stars.

Of course the card could have been better. We would have all jumped out of our seats if instead of Roman Reigns in the main event, it would have been Curtis Axel. Lol, no. Daniel Bryan is a modern day mystery, folks. After Wrestlemania 28, after the last year’s bumpy road which saw the exit of CM Punk, after all of this, WWE still hasn’t learned what they have got in their hands.

And it may be slipping out of their hands, just like sand. In this case, they are not trying to squeeze their hands which action leads to the sand falling out. They are simply getting rid of the sand by throwing it away and then rubbing their hands on their pants.

I would have preferred a Dean Ambrose vs Wade Barret match. I would have even preferred a Triple Threat or Fatal Fourway without the use of ladder. I would have preferred Daniel Bryan vs Dolph Ziggler, if we were not going to get Daniel Bryan vs Brock Lesnar in any case.

Still, even with these limitations, I think the present card holds good and has a chance of becoming not only a classic, but a blue print of what a card should be like, from here on. 5 headlining matches. 2 multi man matches. 1 Divas match. 1 possible Tag Team match. 9 matches in all. Average 26 minutes of time for each match. Even after providing for time for entrances, video packages, live performances, there is plenty of time left for the actual matches to ‘steal the show’.

But of course, for this Wrestlemania to become the new blue print of the Wrestlemania, it will have to, just like Roman Reigns, live upto its potential, on the night that matters.