People putting videos of their stupid Xbox WWE game stuff are usually the nut low, but I stumbled on this and was mildly amused, so here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7aclrKe3Ww

Had planned on buying mania on the network but I won't be doing so now b/c I can't get myself to care about a single match on the card unless inexplicably bork kills reigns. I understand why they did this (stock price! got to get those people who don't watch anything other than the main ppv's at best to buy). Can't build a feud when one or both are never on TV and/or wrestle a match. Orton is above average on this card for his mania feud and he just got back ffs.

In 2003 Wrestlemania actually did fewer buys than the Royal Rumble. Since then, Mania has undeniably been by far the main show of the year, easily leading in buys over the other PPV. Is this the worst built Mania in that decade plus? I don't remember seeing so many devastatingly negative comments about a build. Not just that it isn't that good or lacking, but that they don't want to watch Mania, or want Mania to be done with so they can move on.

Yeah, the thing with this card is that certainly it has enough going for it that with a good build it would be plenty exciting. In a vacuum, it's a decent card on paper. It's not like they were being forced to build eight different Great Khali matches. They had enough to work with to make for an excited audience, and they've just botched every build to hell. It really isn't an exaggeration that two weeks of Owens-Riley build on NXT absolutely kills every build that the main brand has done for its biggest show of the year.

Raw the night after WM is the only thing about the main product that I can say that I'm looking forward to watching.

The ic ladder match is going to be the tits. Mitb always delivers as a match (cenaitb notwithstanding) and this is a pretty excellent cast.

I'm sure it will be an entertaining little spotfest, but it has a distinct disadvantage when compared to MITB matches: in MITB matches, we actually care who wins. This being for the IC Title, I don't even know who we're supposed to root for to win. The wrestler we like the least, I guess?

Yeah that's the same feeling I've got. It's no doubt going to be entertaining but I'm not going to care about the outcome unless they unify the titles with a Bryan/Cena match or something.

I like all 7 of the guys to some degree.

So I don't really care who wins because LOLIC Title. I'm just hoping none of them get seriously injured.

How did an 03' RR featuring Steiner/HHH get more buys than WM Rock/Austin, Hogan/Vince and Brock/Angle?

I was just asking myself what will cena do with us title if he nests rusev and your idea of him fighting Bryan for IC unification bout makes pretty good sense

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RR had Lesnar in a singles match and Benoit/Angle and Rock/Austin had faced each other a million times by then but it is a puzzle. Maybe they jacked up the price of Mania that year?

Not to complain about that Rumble, as I was ecstatic to have a ringside seat for it (and was 6 rows back when Bork won the title vs Rock at SS)

So I've been thinking about how a Shield 3x threat should have happened. My fantasy booking plan:

Dean is kept off TV after his ambulance match with Bray.

Roman is kept off TV until the Rumble and is a surprise entrant. He lasts a long time, looks strong, etc, gets eliminated and Bryan wins. Roman also debuts with a new look and new music (because when Shield eventually reforms, that needs to be THEIR music, not his- the pop we'll never get for that time "Sierra, Echo..." comes out of nowhere ).

At Fast Lane Roman wrestles somebody like Show/Kane in another "make Roman look strong" match. Goes over pretty easily.

At Fast Lane Seth tries to cash or maybe just goes for a vicious curbstomp on Cena or Brock, but Dean runs out to stop him. Shortly thereafter Roman does as well, tries to spear Seth, Seth dodges, Roman hits Dean instead. Tensions continue to escalate as they both basically fight eachother to get to Seth. Dean complains Roman didn't have his back, etc.

And that's almost the most minimally creative you'd have to be and it would still be over.

The rest of the DidsMania card as a result.

Lesnar/Bryan
HHH/Sting
Wyatt/Taker (although since it's my fantasy world, this could also be Wyatt/Harper (face)
IC ladder match with Ziggler, Cesaro, Harper, BNB, Orton, Miz, Mizdow (I think their story works well in a multiman match where Miz expects Mizdow to help. If Harper's fighting Bray, Sheamus can go here).
Golddust vs Stardust with Dusty as Ref.
Tyson Kidd and Big E (tag champs, since I stole Cesaro from Tyson to give him a singles push, he gets the next best Big Guy and you should take that an an insult Ryback) vs Usos.
Paige vs Nikki with AJ Lee as special guest GTFO and stay home.
Andre match, which Bo Dallas totally wins.

Does anyone else think Eric Rowan's current gimmick is unsalvageable?

I can't imagine anyone taking him seriously at this point. I think at this point the only options are to slowly shift his current gimmick into a quasi comedy character like kurgan in the oddities or whatever or just get him off tv for a couple months and completely repackage him.

It's a shame too bc I really enjoyed the wyatts

I think his music is a huge problem. It's like the least monstery music possible.

Nothing they've done with him as of late seems like it's really played with his gimmick, it's just that he's not over/not being put into spots to be over. Until they actually give him some time (which there's no real reason to do) I don't know what we can even really say it hasn't worked.

I think he might be best used as part of a big/small tag team.

I don't even know what his gimmick is supposed to be, so yeah, I'd say a change may be in order.

It's salvageable if you reunite him with Luke Harper, but that's the only way to salvage it.

just reunite the whole bunch after they all get wrecked at Wrestlemania and realize they complete each other or something

During the WM26 Lapsed fan podcast Jack and JP talk about this, ~1:33 in, it came up because this was the destruction of Legacy (Orton, Dibiase Jr, Cody Rhodes).

They have Matt Striker talking about how the WWE is about individual achievement... (JP: "Now that's a Vince line if I've ever heard one")

It's why we don't have stables or groups or even a decent 'non-Uso' tag team. The company doesn't want them, and it seems like the total being greater than the sum of parts is something they actively choose to ignore in the search for their vision of the next top 'star'.

WrestleMania that year was the first PPV that required Digital Cable/Satellite to order. Lots of people in the early 2000s were still calling their cable company to order and didn't have a digital box yet so they were shut out from ordering.

You booked a ****ing bella in to a fantasy mania card.

I'm lost for words.

Was checking out the Bullet Club on youtube to see what all the fuss is about, and found this...

That was awesome!

Time limit draw, right?