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Rate the Mania build up

So Let's Rate This "Road To WrestleMania"

5K views 72 replies 67 participants last post by  AmWolves10 
#1 ·
Now, I've only watched the last three Raw episodes having not watched since last summer, so I'm looking at this through pretty refreshed eyes. By last summer I was so pissed off with it all I could barely watch 10 minutes of Raw without wanting to strangle myself with my tv electrical cable, so there was some bias there.

However, I have to say, as one of WWE's biggest critics on here, I've thought the last three Raws, tonight's in particular, have been very good.

Not perfect, not even great. But a lot of it has made sense and has been logical from what I've seen. I like the Triple H - Rollins 'non-sanctioned' shit and I'm intrigued by Taker - Reigns, even though it will probably be a car crash. But, objectively speaking, when you look at this Mania card it is very good in my opinion. Shits all over the last few years, anyway.

Maybe I'm enjoying because I'm not worn down by the week-to-week slog that all of you have to go through, I don't know.

Anyway, on a 1-10 scale, where does this 'road to Mania' rank for you? Where could it have been done better?

(Mods, feel free to move this over to the Mania thread if that's where it belongs).
 
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#2 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

I didnt like it. I gave it a 2, this WRESTLEMANIA SEASON, the time where WWE should be must watch or cant miss TV, but I cant bring myself to take out 20 minutes to watch Raw or SDL. Triple H/Seth Rollins has been done well considering the Rollins injury. KO/Jericho is good. Other than that, nothing else is any good or intriguing.
 
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#10 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

I know everyone’s going to shit on it but here is how I look at it:

Jericho vs. Owens is the culmination of a storyline since last summer. Wyatt vs. Orton is the culmination of a storyline from last summer. Rollins vs. HHH, although it had a lot of bumps in the road, has some good momentum for it now. Lesnar vs. Goldberg, while the match will probably be shit, has a story behind it with Goldberg being the one guy Brock can’t figure out. Miz and Cena (mostly Miz) have gotten people interested in their mixed tag. AJ & Shane have good tension built up in their feud. Ambrose and Corbin have a simple but solid story.

I’m not going to sell you that every match going into it is great or they’ve built every match up great but for a lot of the main events, they’ve put in the effort to promote them.
 
#12 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

There's really strong stuff (Aries/Neville, Jericho/Owens, the last month of HHH/Rollins), but it's buried by a weirdly anticlimatic Taker/Reign feud with no real substance, a Lesnar/Goldberg feud that is relatively meaningless in scope, and a bunch of pretty horrid booking surrounding it. I'd say 3-4 out of 10, a third of this stuff is good, everything else is MEH.
 
#17 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

Better than last year's and not as disheartening as 2015.

And thus, I give it a 6. Very similar to the state of WWE, a lot of great pieces but they're just not in the right places.
 
#18 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

3

Festival of Frendship
Samoa Joe called up to Raw
Bayley vs Charlotte title change match
Lesnar F5s Goldberg
Taker chokeslams Reigns

Great moments that bring my ranking up but ultimately as a whole it's been pretty poor.

And don't get me started on Smackdown. I'm definitely not part of the apologist hoards for that no starpower/geek roster.
 
#19 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

8
I don't see how you look at all the work put into the key matches and claim it's been a bad build up. The majority of the big feuds are working with several​ months of build, with tons of segments and brawls building towards Sunday.

Even the last minute feuds like Reigns and Taker or Shane vs Styles has back story and some physicality with it.

I think the only reason the build would seem bad (outside of both divisions Tag and women's division) is if you're more concerned with who's going to be where, than the build up.

Most people here equate a bad build up to "my guy isn't in the spot I deem appropriate, so the build is bad" doesn't seem like a really valid reason on why the build up is bad.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

This Mania has the best build for a Wrestlemania in YEARS. Top to bottom, there are hardly any weak spots.

Wyatt/Orton, Rollins/HHH, Owens/Jericho, and Goldberg/Lesnar have been built for MONTHS and very well in those several months. I find myself heavily invested in all of those matches one way or another. But of course you'll have the feuds that get kickstarted at around Rumble time. AJ/Shane, Cena/Miz mixed tag, Reigns/Taker, and Corbin/Ambrose have been good to great in build with proper stories.

Ambrose vs Corbin - Ambrose pins Corbin in the EC and strips him of his chance to be world champ. Corbin wants revenge. Simple but effective.

Cena & Nikki vs Miz & Maryse - Basically tug-of-war between pride and ego, plasticity and authenticity.

AJ vs Shane - Shane doing his job as the neutral commissioner. AJ feels screwed and explodes on the person in charge. Although AJ's frustration is understandable, you do NOT put your hands on the boss. Shane is out to avenge himself.

Women's Open Challenge - Daniel Bryan challenges Alexa to put her money where her mouth is and defend against all.

Orton vs Wyatt - Orton infiltrates the Wyatts and betrays Bray when the time is right. Orton destroys Sister Abigail which is everything Bray loves. Trust has been broken all over within the Wyatt family and now Bray has to rebuild from within, alone. We can only suspect that is true as we don't know who Rowan will align with, most likely Bray to help rebuild and repay his loyalty.

Owens vs Jericho - The best friends that never were. Owens uses Jericho to get what he wants and simply dumps him when the time is right. We get possibly the most emotionally invested reaction to a betrayal in a good while on WWE programming. The two guys that have carried Raw for the last seven months coming to a head at the biggest stage of them all.

Neville vs Aries - We have Neville as "the king" and Aries as the one that has been passing time, waiting to be the one to dethrone Neville. Aries has been effectively groomed as a star of the CW division and has established himself quite well with the help of commentary. This match should put the CW division on notice.

Women's Elimination Title Match - Are Sasha's intentions wholesome? Does she really value Bayley as a friend, or is Charlotte right? Does Sasha have ulterior motives? We will also see how Nia holds up. She is the darkhorse, and kayfabe wise she is not on the level of the other three, but could this be a breakout performance?

HHH vs Rollins - The Architect vs The Creator. The Golden Boy vs The Authority. Three years in the making. Rollins is a disappointment to HHH and needs to be dropped since he cannot live up to his standing. Rollins needs redemption and things come full circle for the man that caused the same pain to his former Shield brethren.

Reigns vs Taker - Whose yard is it? Pretty simple storytelling, but made intriguing by the heelish, cocky demeanor of Roman. This is THE best case scenario for Roman moving forward. Embrace the heat and make him full blown heel. He is in over his head over Undertaker here. Or is he?

Goldberg vs Lesnar - Goldberg has Lesnar's number. Lesnar is absolutely obsessed with getting his comeuppance over Goldberg. Classic storytelling in pro wrestling and combat sports. Mega box office star power between two powerhouse, larger than life talents.

I just think some people are grasping at straws with this RTWM being bad but really when it's broken down there is a lot of good to great build. The brand split has - for the most part - forced creative to come up with new ideas to make feuds intriguing. Despite how lackluster the product can normally be, I can hardly argue that everything after Royal Rumble has been stellar. I praise WWE for the best RTWM in years, comparable to WM 30. Maybe not better, maybe. But certainly leagues above WM 31 and 32 combined.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

It's hard to rate, some feuds have been better than others.

The only good builds to feuds have been...

Owens/Jericho
Neville/Aries
Ambrose/Corbin
AJ styles/Shane
Wyatt/Orton

Everything else has been poor.

I think there are like 14 matches listed now.So out of those 5 listed by me, 5/14? Whats that, 40%? So 4/10
 
#23 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

5 On the fact that they have so much talent this year compared to last year but have given us a less-than-stellar build up as opposed to last year where they have to work with a depleted roster. Worse than last year (arguably) but not as bad as 31.
 
#25 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

4/10 at just below average. Just because the build up was better than the past 2 years doesn't mean it was good and doesn't excuse them for being lazy. Some feuds have been built pretty well like Rollins vs HHH but others have just been lazy like Reigns vs Undertaker
 
#27 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

I'd give it a 4, except the Jericho and Triple H matches I don't know what the fuck there is to care about the other buildups. Just take a look at the Styles/Shane buildup, honestly.
 
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#28 ·
Re: So Let's Rate This "Road To Wrestlemania"

I'd say 7/10. Numbers 8-10 would be reserved for when the build is absolutely electric, must see TV, and WWE hasn't produced that. What they have produced though, is long-term, meaningful, logical story arcs, which count for a lot. The Orton/Wyatt feud has the most build in terms of long term planning that I can remember for several years. Granted, some of the supernatural elements have been hit and miss with Wyatt (rubbing Abigail's ashes on himself? Really?), but the whole thing of Orton infiltrating the Family until he can do the one thing that would really fuck with Bray's psyche, great.

Jericho vs. Owens is the best feud in WWE right now. I'm an unashamed Jericho fan-boy, but the Festival of Friendship was genuinely one of the best angles I've seen. Jericho going from comedic heel, to sincere and sympathetic babyface, while Owens unleashed a new level of sadistic heel that was bubbling away through his visible annoyance at Jericho's shenanigans, note-perfect. I think they'll really set out to do something special at Mania.

Reigns gets to show a cocky heel side, Cena gets to loosen up a bit not having the pressure of a top Mania match. We see a different side of AJ Styles in a Shane O Mac stunt show. Rollins gets a chance to really establish himself as a top face in a sympathetic role in the unsanctioned match.

Bottom line is, there's a lot to like, and it has been built very well, if you get past the tantrum-throwing of "these aren't the matches I wanted". That's what most of the criticism boils down to, and it sounds really juvenile when the matches haven't happened yet.
 
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