Posted in: Mr. Tito
Mr. Tito's PHAT WWE Wrestlemania 30 Review, Thoughts, Grade, and Match Ratings
By Mr. Tito
Apr 7, 2014 - 1:27:51 AM

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First and foremost, I'm SHOCKED at Wrestlemania 30... The WWE finally had the booking courage to make a Wrestlemania that we'll all talk about for years. In prior years, the WWE has taken the safe road. This year, WWE management put over a guy HUGE that they've been reluctant on all year in Daniel Bryan and they ended the undefeated Wrestlemania streak with the Undertaker. By the way that the WWE has booked Daniel Bryan to sneak into the WWE Title match, the result was sort of expected. But the Undertaker losing cleanly to Brock Lesnar and thus ending the streak... I'm seriously at a loss for words.

Before I discuss the Undertaker and his streak, let's give the WWE Title the honors up front. Since SummerSlam 2013, I feel that I've been in a boxing match with diehard WWE fans and the WWE itself over the way that Daniel Bryan has been booked. I was OK with the SummerSlam 2013 ending until night after night after night, Bryan got his ass kicked repeatedly by Randy Orton and Triple H. Then, without getting any revenge on Randy Orton and especially Triple H, the feud ended and Daniel Bryan was feuding with the Wyatt Family. He even became a member! Reportedly, the WWE was booking Bryan to be a Wyatt Family member through Elimination Chamber and maybe do a Bryan vs. Wyatts match in some form at Wrestlemania 30. Then, the WWE saw the Michigan State halftime "YES!" chants on ESPN Sportscenter. Booking was changed.

Then, CM Punk walked out of the WWE and as you saw tonight, he wasn't at Wrestlemania 30. As seen by CM Punk struggling against the Authority and calling Triple H out repeatedly, the original plans were to have CM Punk vs. Triple H at Wrestlemania 30. Bryan was in early discussions to wrestle Sheamus and a story was even released that the Undertaker requestd to have Bryan as an opponent. But then, CM Punk walked out. Combine that CM Punk walkout with the stronger groundswell of support for Daniel Bryan for the Royal Rumble 2014 booking (losing to Bray Wyatt cleanly and NOT being in the Rumble match), Wrestlemania 30's booking was changed for the better. As you heard from the reactions of when Batista and Randy Orton tonight as they wrestled each other, they would have BOMBED as the Wrestlemania 30 main event alone.

We did it, folks... We complained about Bryan getting "buried" by WWE Creative and they repeatedly changed their plans to cater to our demands as fans. THINK ABOUT THAT POWER!!

The WWE, even with the television contract money, is very dependent on the fanbase to deliver multiple sources of revenue. They need fans attending events, buying Pay Per Views, buying merchandise, and now the WWE Network. They've heard us for 7 months now complaining about Daniel Bryan while crapping all over the chosen ones, Randy Orton and Batista. The original booking plan was to continue Batista's megapush into Wrestlemania 30 and Batista would be WWE Champion through SummerSlam 2014 after his Guardians of the Galaxy movie hit. WWE fans rejected Batista almost immediately and it forced the WWE to rewrite its prized Wrestlemania show. Give WWE Creative and Triple H/Vince McMahon credit... They changed their minds to cater to you, the fans. Now it's up to you, the fans, to keep cheering for Daniel Bryan and not let Vince/HHH regret their decision.

Give major credit to Triple H. For one, he put over Daniel Bryan 100% clean, without any question. That's HUGE. Secondly, this was Triple H's first Wrestlemania as the lead Creative guy. This was a finely booked Wrestlemania. Aside from shocking the shit out of us with Brock Lesnar vs. Undertaker, that Main Event was exciting! It wasn't the technical masterpiece that many may have expected, but it was chaotic and full of drama that it had you legitimately worried about the result. A pissed off Triple H/Stephanie tried to interfere and then Randy Orton/Batista colluded and destroyed Daniel Bryan through a table (might have hurt Orton worse when he landed on that monitor, OUCH!). Daniel Bryan won the match, which makes the fans happy in the end, while it also sets up the next Pay Per View to be Daniel Bryan finally getting revenge on Randy Orton. In case you missed it, Batista lost the match by tapping out and Randy Orton was on the outside looking on... Perfect set-up for Extreme Rules 2014.

Daniel Bryan is WWE World Heavyweight Champion... Now, it's up to the WWE to book him like a champion. Bryan should not only beat Randy Orton 100% cleanly at Extreme Rules 2014, but run up a streak of multiple Pay Per View victories as champion. It's one thing to win the World Title but it's another thing to have a shitty reign where you're unable to beat anybody. Most cite CM Punk's 1 year+ reign as awesome, but then I ask "who did he defeat cleanly" and secondly, "how many Pay Per Views did he headline as champion" to get blank stares by fans. BOOK BRYAN STRONG!

And I've given the WWE the roadmap on how to book post-Wrestlemania. Daniel Bryan and John Cena join up as babyface friends to take on the returning Evolution stable with Randy Orton and Batista fully joining Triple H. Cena/Bryan would be the NEW Mega Powers and the WWE should book their friendship strong as they did with Macho Man Randy Savage/Hulk Hogan during 1988. WWE could call Bryan/Cena as the "NEW Mega Powers" or my favorite team name, "Twin ****ers". Then, after a while, John Cena develops a lust for the WWE Title and turns on Bryan. The timing is perfect for John Cena to join the darkside now that Bryan is very over as a babyface.

Match-wise, Bryan/Triple H was good but not great... I'll go ****. For the main event, it was weak by Bryan selling the injuries and fatigue while Orton/Batista tried to work much of the match. I'll go *** for that one, but the drama certainly deserves five stars. Like I said, the booking was PERFECT from Triple H's standpoint. If this is how we'll get Wrestlemanias from here on out, then we're in good hands with Triple H. As fans, however, we must keep pressure on HHH to correct his course whenever the booking gets messy.

I could NOT believe that Brock Lesnar beat Undertaker cleanly. I'm SHOCKED! My guess is that the Undertaker went to WWE management and expressed his desire to retire and that it just didn't seem plausible for him to defeat a former UFC Champion. Reportedly, the Undertaker has expressed to WWE management multiple times now that he wanted to lose at Wrestlemania. It seems that Vince McMahon was the one who wanted to keep the Wrestlemania streak going. I'm guessing that Undertaker's age, injuries, and possible respect for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) made him request that it was time to end the streak. The fans in New Orleans were SHOCKED as were me and my 2 friends who have watched many Wrestlemanias together. We could not believe it especially with the finish coming out of no where. It was a BOLD finish to the match and it puts over a guy who might not be around after Wrestlemania next year. My guess is that Undertaker wanted to lose to Brock Lesnar.

The match was decent, ***, but you can easily see that the Undertaker was not at the age or physical condition to hang with someone like Brock Lesnar. Either way, the 21-1 record at Wrestlemania was an awesome ride and the Undertaker made the most of the streak, particularly during the 2000's. This moment, along with Daniel Bryan's big night, will make Wrestlemania 30 a highly talked about event. But then you had three HUGE STARS in the ring all at once to start the show.

That was very surreal to see Hulk Hogan, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, and the Rock in the ring together. Wow... That's worth the price of buying a ticket to attend Wrestlemania 30, alone. The interesting thing to me, however, was seeing Steve Austin attempting to interact with Hulk Hogan. Austin is still repulsed by Hogan and it felt forced to see Austin praising Hogan for his past work. When they had beers together, you could see Austin disgusted by Hogan sipping his beers instead of chugging them and Austin quickly got out of that ring. There is a lot of bad blood still remaining from 1994-1995 when Austin's WCW career was ruined by an incoming Hulk Hogan who pushed hard for all of his former WWE buddies to get jobs in WCW. Austin went from being the United States Champion and being groomed to be the next Main Event heel to jobbing to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. Austin will never get over that even if it was almost 20 years ago now.

It's funny how Austin can't let go of the past... Do you think that Hulk Hogan held the WWE responsible for firing him during the early 1980's after Hogan wanted to film Rocky 3? No, he didn't and in fact returned to the WWE during late 1983 when the WWE had a change of heart and wanted him badly... It's business. Sometimes the pro wrestling business is cruel to you, but the great ones overcome adversity and rise up to the top. Without getting terminated from WCW, would Austin be as hungry in the WWE to prove WCW wrong? Austin has to let go and accept that Hulk Hogan is an important piece to the WWE universe just as he is.

Many internet fans are PISSED over the Bray Wyatt vs. John Cena match result. For one, I argued that it would be ridiculous for Bray Wyatt to have wins over Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble 2014 and John Cena at Wrestlemania 30, the top 2 babyfaces. What else would Wyatt have to chase if he won those matches early in his WWE main roster career? BUT BUT BUT I will agree about the utter bullshit of "SUPER CENA" being able to overcome outside interference by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. To me, that's way too much firepower on the outside to easily overcome. WWE should have had Rowan/Harper interfere early in the match and then get banned from ringside by the WWE referee. Instead, Cena fought off all 3 Wyatts and in my opinion, that made the group look very weak. I can understand the "Super Cena" argument made for tonight.

Still, Bray Wyatt didn't get the win... That's a good thing because Wyatt has yet to be in the WWE as Bray Wyatt for a full year. He just needs to develop in the midcard and keep finding out what works best for his character in the ring and outside of it. That's why you don't immediately push wrestlers to the Main Event. They need to figure out their strengths and weaknesses as in-ring performers and characters. Like tonight... I thought that Cena vs. Wyatt was DULL and I'll give it **1/2 for being underwhelming despite being given a decent amount of time to develop a good match. I would immediately place Wyatt into a feud with Big E Langston for that Intercontinental Title next. Start low and once outgrown the midcard or Intercontinental Title, THEN you can beat big names.

I'm VERY HAPPY for Cesaro winning the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. That ending was AWESOME with Cesaro picking up Big Show and tossing him over the top rope. New Orleans was going bonkers for Cesaro and him winning the match. That was a star making moment right there. Damn good stuff by Kofi Kingston on the stairs, too. Overall, I was pleased with the Battle Royal, especially after the turds in the match where thinned out of the herd. WWE has a serious star in their hands with Cesaro who has legitimate in-ring talent and a great look. Push, push, push!!!

Other stuff...

Did NOT see the Usos retaining their Tag Team titles. We arrived at about 6:55, thinking that the show started at 8pm and that 7:00pm was the pre-game show. OOPS! Thus, I have zero comment on that match.

Shield vs. Kane/New Age Outlaws was a joke. As I said before, Wyatts vs. Shield rematch should have been on Wrestlemania. But noooo... Seems like the WWE booked the match to make Roman Reigns look great. Reigns was involved in some of the biggest spots in the match and that double powerbomb on the Outlaws was mighty awesome! I'll go *3/4 for this match.

Divas Invitational was a total cluster**** but I'm at least glad that the WWE kept AJ Lee as Divas Champion. The match was brutal at first but then the ladies hit some decent moves near the end. It was a good match to stretch the legs, take a piss, or get more food between Undertaker/Lesnar and Orton/Batista/Bryan and that's all you can ask for.

I always enjoy the WWE Hall of Fame segment, but damn it was impressive to see many of the best WWE legends in attendance together tonight. Seriously, the WWE had Bruno, Austin, Hogan, and the Rock all under one roof along with many other greats. Just absurd!

LAST WORD: I'm quite happy and content with this Wrestlemania, while still shocked by the Undertaker vs. Lesnar match. I agree 100% with the booking with this show. As for the workrate, it was a bit down but the match results more than made up for it. I'm impressed at how the WWE boldly put over Daniel Bryan huge by letting him defeat a WWE legend cleanly in Triple H and then letting Bryan defeat 2 other wrestlers later in the night to become WWE Champion. Then, to have the Undertaker Wrestlemania Streak end tonight and at the hands of Brock Lesnar... I'm SHOCKED. I just wish that the midcard was better to help complement the top heavy main event scene. For my grade, I'm going with an A and am keeping off the "+" due to the workrate of the matches being down just a bit. The booking of Wrestlemania 30 was OFF THE CHARTS, though.

Big props to Triple H for putting over Daniel Bryan hard and putting together a great show.

WWE Network wise, the servers held up as we had mostly uninterrupted viewing. I did notice that the video sometimes went from HD to standard while having a few 5 second pockets where the stream would briefly freeze and show a 5 second clip twice. 95% of the show aired without much issue and looked good when in HD format.

No CM Punk and no Sting... We'll try again tomorrow night on Monday Night RAW, LOL!

Remember, WWE fans... If you don't like something that the WWE is doing or booking, threaten them with your time and money. They need you more than you need them. Trust me on that fact, Jack.

Comments and debates are welcome on Twitter. Bring it on. @titowrestling

SO JUST CHILL TILL THE NEXT EPISODE!

MR. TITO COLUMN ARCHIVES on LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com

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