Wrestlemania 30 and RAW thoughts - The Undertaker, Daniel Bryan & More!!!!

I'm a bit behind on this post as wasn't able to watch Wrestlemania straight away!! After having caught up with Wrestlemania and this weeks RAW - I thought I would give an update!

I really enjoyed this years Wrestlemania - it seemed to have it all and was packed full of memorable moments. This is what I perceive to be the highlights of the past week.

Wrestlemania 30

Daniel Bryan

Daniel Bryan vs HHH was a great way to start the show - the match itself was excellent - in my opinion easily the match of the night.

My thoughts going into Wrestlemania were that Daniel Bryan was obviously going to win. The feud had been booked in such a fashion that there was no way that The Authority wouldn't get their comeuppance.

However, I watched the match unfold and started doubting myself - would the WWE throw another curveball? They did it at Summerslam 2013, so it's not out of the realms of possibility it could happen again? I have been watching wrestling for 22 years and like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable on all things WWE - however they still manage to shock me at times.

Luckily for all of us Daniel Bryan fans, they didn't disappoint. Daniel won and headed to the main event - where he won the WWE World heavyweight title in a decent, spot filled match. It was what we all wanted and it made sure Wrestlemania ended on a high.

What we all wanted......

Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar: End of the Streak

21-1

Unfortunately this had been ruined for me before I even watched it - I heard it on the news on BBC Radio 1 and even though I tried to cover my ears I caught the words 'historic loss'. So it was pretty obvious what was being referred to!

Regardless I enjoyed the match and thought it resulted in one of the most emotional Wrestlemania moments of all time. The stunned silence and shock on everyone's face when Taker lost was just unbelievable. I went into this match and had thoughts after on how much of a mistake it was to end the Streak. I'm still unsure of how I feel about it - on one hand I think it should have remained intact until his official retirement, on the other I feel that putting someone else over was the right thing to do. It says a lot of The Undertaker that he went with the latter.

Other random thoughts from the show

Loved Cesaro winning the Andre battle royal - the reaction from the crowd to the bodyslam on Big Show was great.

Future Main Eventer.....

I think Bray Wyatt should have beaten John Cena - hopefully he will win the rematch at Extreme Rules. A win on the "Grandest Stage of Them All" would have really helped Wyatts career.

"He's got the whole world in his hands"

The Crowd were awesome and always make such a big difference to my enjoyment of a show.

Watching the battle royal made me realise how many stars are there doing absolutely nothing - Ziggler, Kidd, Gabriel, 3MB, Ryder, Clay, R Truth, Miz - the list goes on.

I heard of the Ultimate Warriors death before watching Mania and RAW - it felt quite sad to watch knowing this already. RIP Warrior.

Like the opening segment with Hogan , Rock and Austin - it felt like a nod to the past and a toast to the future. Wrestlemania 30 felt like the end of an era and the beginning of a new one.

RAW 07/04/2014.

The post Mania RAW is always eventful and the New Orleans crowd were super hot from the start. It was a great episode of RAW - here are some quick thoughts!

Enjoyed the vignettes for Adam Rose (great character) and Bo Dallas (Bolieve!!!!). The debut of Paige and Alexander Rusev were also enjoyable. I can see Rusev being a monster heel and a big star.

Adam Rose - debuting soon!

Cesaro becoming a "Paul Heyman" Guy. Could be great for Cesaros' career but not sure where it's going? Seems like Cesaro is a face/tweener with one of the most despised men in WWE as his manager - I'm a bit confused.

"The King of Swing" with Paul Heyman

Speaking of Heyman - his promo with Lesnar was awesome.

Heyman can't be beaten on the mic...

Once again, felt sad watching the Ultimate Warrior make his final appearance.....

Goodbye Warrior....

The Wyatts vs Cena, Sheamus and Big E was an enjoyable match and made Bray look strong, even coming off his loss at Mania.

We're here...

It looks like Evolution is reforming and heading for a showdown with The Shield. I loved the show ending brawl with The Shield but wonder how long can they stretch the Authority vs Daniel Bryan story on for. We can add and take away other players in this story but the focus is still the same. One thing is for sure - we do not want to see Daniel Bryan lose the championship for a long time - especially not after all of this build-up!

The Shield and Daniel Bryan

So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed reading! Improvements coming to the blog soon- keep them peeled!!


Thanks!

RIP: The Ultimate Warrior

 

The Ultimate Warrior's Hall of Fame induction

"No WWE talent becomes a legend on their own. 'Every man’s heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath. And if what that man did in his life what makes the blood pulse through the body of others and makes them bleed deeper and something larger than life then his essence, his spirit, will be immortalized. By the story tellers, by the loyalty, by the memory of those who honor him and make the running the man did live forever.
'You, you, you, you, you, you are the legend makers of Ultimate Warrior. In the back I see many potential legends. Some of them with warrior spirits. And you will do the same for them. You will decide if they lived with the passion and intensity. So much so that you will tell your stories and you will make them legends, as well. I am The Ultimate Warrior. You are the Ultimate Warrior fans and the spirit of Ultimate Warrior will run forever."

 

The Ultimate Warrior, Monday Night RAW, The 7th of April 2014. 

 

Sadly this would be the last time we would hear from Jim Hellwig AKA The Ultimate Warrior. 

 

Hellwig, aged 54, passed away on the 08/04/2014, just 3 days after his Hall of Fame induction. Hellwig collapsed in front of his Arizona hotel room and was pronounced dead at hospital.

My earliest memory of  wrestling is watching Wrestlemania 8 with my Dad - I remember watching Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice in the main event. Papa Shango would interfere, helping Sid.All of a sudden that famous music hit. Warrior ran down to the ring in his trademark style and helped out his friend. I was hooked from that very moment and love wrestling to this day.

 

The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, Wrestlemania 8

Many wrestling fans have fond memories of the Ultimate Warrior and he will be missed. It seems poignant that he was able to get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, as well as appearing on RAW one last time. His promo almost seemed to foreshadow his death - "Every man’s heart one day beats its final beat. His lungs breathe their final breath".

His death has been covered in many news articles so I am not here to cover it again in any great detail. I just wanted to pay tribute in some way.

 

The Ultimate Warrior is a true legend in the wrestling business and will always be remembered that way. He may no longer be with us but his legacy will remain. He was a childhood hero to me and millions of others and will never be forgotten.

 

Thanks for getting me into Wrestling. 

Warrior, Icon, Legend, Hall of Famer

 

RIP Jim Hellwig

WWE - Would a Cruiserweight division work in 2014?

The WWE Cruiserweight Championship

In 2008 - the WWE officially retired their Cruiserweight championship. The division was home to many talented stars and only a handful of them managed to see success once it ended.

Brian Kendrick - one of the talented stars WWE used to have in their Cruiserweight division

I personally enjoy Cruiserweight wrestling and believe that the division, had it been given the attention it deserved could still have been viable in 2014.

So where did they go wrong? The belt wasn't taken seriously, full stop. It was consigned to a low card status and saw championship reigns by Jacqueline, Chavo Guerrero Sr and Hornswoggle. The division was never given the spotlight it deserved.

Killing the Cruiserweight division...

The WWE now seems to focus on smaller stars so I believe that 2014 is the time to bring the title back.

So how would they do it?

In my opinion, the Intercontinental and United States Championships have lost their prestige and are indistinguishable from each other. They are hardly ever defended as it is so why not get rid of one of them? This obviously wouldn't be the first time that WWE have retired a championship - hell they even unified the Intercontinental championship (a title with a lot of heritage) with the World Heavyweight Championship back in 2002.

The Intercontinental title has a strong lineage and originated in WWE - unlike the US title (which became WWE property following the purchase of WCW, back in 2001) So let's retire the United States Championship.

So the WWE could announce a unification match between their mid card champions. They should not announce the rebirth of the Cruiserweight title at the same time as it would take the focus off the unification and vice versa.

When the title is revived, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon should announce that the title is coming back and the champion will be decided with a tournament, culminating at a major PPV (Royal Rumble, Wrestlemania, Summerslam, Survivor Series). The participants of this tournament should be the folllowing:

Diego

These guys should be featured prominently in the new division.

Fernando
Evan Bourne
Rey Mysterio
Sin Cara
Justin Gabriel
Tyson Kidd
Yoshi Tatsu
Seth Rollins
Adrian Neville
Corey Graves
Cody Rhodes.

Every match in this tournament should be a show stealer. They should be hyped and should not be a 5 min match at the beginning of RAW.

Adrian Neville and Corey Graves could be called up from NXT.

The winner? I would like to see Tyson Kidd win but for exposure for the title I think Seth Rollins should walk away with the championship here.
Rollins should defeat Tyson Kidd in the final of the tournament and the two should go onto feud thereafter. This would be an awesome feud to kick-start the new division and give it the spotlight it rightly deserves.

Future Cruiserweight Champion?

Raw, Smackdown and NXT is full of smaller talent who could be utilised in such an awesome way. The WWE needs to give them promo time, ample match time and spots on every PPV. With this and the correct storyline the division would be a great success.

Give me your thoughts below! Thanks for reading!!!!!!