[Wrestlinfan35]

Surprised to see many very positive reviews about the match after watching it. I'd give it maybe ** at best. Awful, and nearly impossible to get into. Which shows because the crowd was silent throughout the thing. I didn't like Cena/Lesnar that much either, but it was miles better than this. It was boring, with an awful pace. As for the rest of the show,

Ziggler vs. Jericho - ***1/4
Bryan vs. Kane - **1/2
Miz vs. Mysterio - **3/4
Sheamus vs. Del Rio - ***
Punk vs. Cena vs. Show - ***

Nothing spectacular. Only match I was invested in was the WWE championship match. The best on the card however was the opening match.

[Starbuck]

Originally Posted by KingCal

Cena/Lesnar was pretty much the same on here the day after. Some people loved it, some hated it. Lesnar matches in 2012 are just so different from what we're used to with both Lesnar and WWE in general. Understandable that some people wouldn't like them.

Yep. If you can't dig Lesnar in his current form then you really aren't going to enjoy his matches for the most part. I personally love the aura he brings. If he had beat Cena at ER I would have given that match the full 5. I actually did at one point, rewatched it, got seriously pissed the hell off at the finish and realized I couldn't call it perfect lol.

[NearFall]

Originally Posted by Brye

I'm so impressed that Cole actually calls the Kimura correctly. All last night the Koji Clutch was suddenly the Anaconda Vice.

I am more surprised Lawler called ADR's enziguri on Sheamus. Rather than "right leg".

[Huganomics]

I rewatched the two world title matches from WM23 back to back, and I've got to say, I think HBK/Cena is far and away the better match. DAVE/Taker is just a fun *** spotfest imo, but HBK/Cena is brilliant. ****1/2, verging on ****3/4.

[Starbuck]

HBK/Cena Raw > Taker/Batista Mania > HBK/Cena Mania imo.

[Big Z]

Taker/Batista WM > Taker/Batisa CS > HBK/Cena Raw > Taker/Batista BL (LMS) > Taker/Batista SS (HIAC) > HBK/Cena WM > Taker/Batista SD (Cage)



Lowest rated match there is ***3/4 too. Highest is ****1/2.

[Gamblor]

Taker/Batista WM is considerably better than the HBK/Cena WM match imo. Granted HBK/Cena isn't bad, but Taker/Batista is a classic. The HBK/Cena Raw match however is very very close to the Taker/Batista WM, but I still gotta give it to Taker/Batista WM and I have it as my MOTY.

[FluxCapacitor]

Taker/Batista @ Wrestlemania - **** 1/2
HBK/Cena on Raw - ****
HBK/Cena @ Wrestlemania - *** 3/4

[WOOLCOCK]

Like I said, HHH/Lesnar did things well, but there just wasn't enough good in it to make up for the slow pace and plodding nature. The main problem I had with it is how personal and 'violent' they were hyping the match to be...when I knew full well HHH would never take the sort of beating that would reflect the promotion of the match. That isn't me advocating HHH to let Lesnar stiff the shit out of him and blade or anything, its just that you knew someone like Cena would bump huge and eat that sort of beating, whereas HHH would make it a WWE style brawl filled with a slow pace and more emphasis on 'DRAMA' & 'STORYTELLING' and it would just not live up to what they billed it as.

I can see why people liked HHH underestimating the power and monster Lesnar is, but tbh both Lesnar matches should prove just how far ahead of HHH Cena is as a babyface worker. He bumped massively and let himself work from the bottom the entire match, he let himself look entirely vulnerable and like he was fighting for his life throughout and timed his big comeback spots superbly, HHH spent the first portion of the match working fairly evenly with Lesnar and as a result of not having anywhere close to the beating Lesnar gave Cena, as well as working far more even rather than be a clear underdog the match had little heat and HHH's hope spots despite being well thought out in a psychology sense just didn't come off nearly as well as Cena's hope spots. The Lesnar intestine/stomach injury was a smart plan which I have no issues with, but despite Lesnar selling the injury superbly the poor structure and pace meant it didn't come close to the Cena deadlift powerslam out of the Kimura spot.

I just think HHH more often than not tries admirably to promote his big matches like you're going to see something unique and life-changing, but he's insistent on keeping to his played out main event formula that no matter how big his opponent is his very big matches feel the same. Did HHH really feel in that much of a war with Lesnar compared to Undertaker at Wrestlemania? Was there really ever a sense that HHH's career and body was about to be destroyed by Lesnar? If anything it was a surprisingly clean albeit stiffer than usual HHH match, but it never came close to replicating the animosity and violence Lesnar unleashed on Cena, which really hurts the match when the feud was promoted as supposedly more personal than the Cena match and which had received infinite more promotion and build as something HHH would live to regret.

I dunno, point of this really is that HHH needs to throw away the Harley Race tapes and start watching some Jerry Lawler, Jim Duggan, Terry Funk & Stan Hansen tapes in order to understand how to properly work a violent and hate-filled brawl.


EDIT:

I prefer Cena/HBK Wrestlemania & London to Batista/Taker as a series, but I really do love Batista/Taker for whatever reason. Given my tastes I really shouldn't like it nearly as much as I do, but I always come out of it thinking they worked a very smart sprint match which perfectly captured the 'Clash Of The Titans' atmosphere surrounding the match and which was a very well worked face/face main event match. The big spots are built to well and they don't go into finisher overkill but rather end the match just as it peaks with the nearfalls and questions about whether Batista can end the streak.

[TheShowstappa92002]

HBK/Cena Raw > HBK/Cena WM > Taker/Batista WM IMO