WWE WrestleMania XL - Night One Discussion Thread (Spoilers)
Here we are folks. Night one of the biggest show of the year!
Tonight, WWE brings us night one of WrestleMania XL live from Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! Our card for tonight includes:
Tag Team Match
Andrade & Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar
Six Man Tag Team Match
Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill & Naomi vs. Damage CTRL (Asuka, Dakota Kai & Kairi Sane)
WWE RAW Tag Team Title / WWE SmackDown Tag Team Title Six-Pack Ladder Match
The Judgment Day (Damian Priest & Finn Balor) (c) vs. Austin Theory & Grayson Waller vs. Awesome Truth (R-Truth & The Miz) vs. #DIY (Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa) vs. The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne & Tyler Bate)
Singles Match
Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso
WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Gunther (c) vs. Sami Zayn
WWE Women's World Title Match
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Tag Team Match
Cody Rhodes & Seth Rollins vs. The Bloodline (Roman Reigns & The Rock)
and more!
The show will start tonight at 7ET/4PT live on peacock.
I'll probably just wait until tomorrow to watch so I can just get to the matches. I don't need to see 15-25 minutes of ads and video packages in between each match. I hope to be proven wrong, but I ain't holding my breath.
To quote my SLF during last year's 'mania.
"For a show called Wrestlemania, there's not a lot of actual wrestling."
You still won't necessarily get away from the ads, for NXT it seemed every match had a sponsor, Fallout TV Series, Knuckles TV Series, and some others with graphics on the wall and floor. They didn't hype it up or talk a lot about it though so it wasn't horribly done, but UFC-style ads are coming sadly.
I would give just about anything for the Dr. Of Thuganomics to come back, thick gold chain that vanilla ice style cut dropping rhymes on people left right and centre.
I'm just gonna toss my NXT Stand & Deliver comment here... WWE saw us thinking AEW/ROH had too many titles and decided to join the add more titles party, like why does NXT need a secondary women's title? They introduced the WWE NXT Women's North American Championship. Main roster, it might could work they have a lot more tv hours to work with, NXT has 2 hours, like why?
(Considered making a discussion thread but wasn't sure if it would be used, so do feel free to use this one for it too)
ugh they did? I'm in the same boat thought wise. I don't watch NXT since they did NXT 2: Rainbow Boogaloo a long while back but is the NXT women's roster anywhere near deep enough for a midcard title?
I don't watch NXT a lot, but probably more than Rampage, and while they have a lot of women on the roster, I don't see how it can support two singles and a tag title on 2 hours per week, they don't even have monthly PLE's.
Those crazy spots always scare me a little, but JD really does great at being the ragdoll of the group, I wasn't sure I liked him joining but they proved me wrong with him.
@Brain@Travon333 JD has so much more potential than we've seen yet. At NXT he was always a top contender. On the main roster he's a clown. I'm disappointed, but he's a professional.
I know it's a tag match and will have Bloodline interference but I'd be concerned about The Rock trying to go that long, depends on how long he's known he was wrestling and how long he's been training for it I guess.
Everytime I see a Lucha style match with super talented wrestlers, I'm just in awe at how they can do it, always something memorable in those matches for me.
Lucha was never my favourite type of wrestling, but growing up with WWF, WCW and ECW I can never argue that Luchadores have always been some of my favourites.
Due to NXT having several major sponsors on things today, I kept track of Mania as best I could... it's a new day, yes it is, in terms of advertisements.
Becky vs Rhea
Dude Wipes - Ring Post
Prime Energy - Turnbuckle
Prime Energy - Ring Mat center
Replay - Snickers
Official Energy Drink of WWE - C4
Sneak Peak - Something on Netflix hyped up a bit by announce team before trailer.
Six Pack Ladder Match for WWE Undisputed Tag Team Championship (Each set is up for grabs according to the rules the announce team read. So splits?)
Steady Cam brought to you by Xfinity
Wheatley Vodka - Apron, Posts, and Walls
Prime Energy remains on turbuckles and mat for remainder of show.
SmackDown tag team champions are now A Town Down Under... match continues...
Awesome Truth win the RAW Titles. The titles are officially split apart.
Replay presented by Wheatley Vodka
Sky Cam is presented as Sky C4M for the C4 Energy Drink.
LWO vs. LDF
Minimute Maid Aguas Frescas Presenting, plus WWE 2k24 & Snickers logos in each corner for announcer hype and graphic about upcoming LWO vs. LDF with Dom.
Announcers announce the Match is presented by Minutemaid Aguas Frescas refreshing AF. They are also sponsoring the match apron, mat, posts.
Snickers Replay
Uso vs. Uso
Dude Wipes sponsoring the Usos match, walls, apron, posts.
Wheatley Vodka sponsors Cody Rhodes' bus and WrestleMania!
Six Women's Tag (Jade, Bianca, Naomi vs. Damage Ctrl) Match will be presented by WingStop! Snickers logo in corner of graphic.
3 on 3 Women's Match
Wingstop Apron, Wall, Posts.
Gunther - Sami Zayn
Prime Hydration Station at Ringside, announce team pimping the energy drink.
Dude Wipes on the ring post.
Telestrator brought to you by Xfinity recapping Eagles players interference helping Rey.
Run down of tomorrow's card... Slim Jim presents LA Knight AJ Styles... Gin & Juice something I couldn't read presents Bobby Lashley's group vs Testament. Snickers/WWE2k24 on all the others but it doesn't say specifically presented by.
Rollins Cody - Rock Reigns
American Home shield pimped by announce team as Rollins enters.
American Home Shield logo apron, mat, post.
Prime Hydration station used by Rollins, announcers say he needed a little prime.
WWE 2k24/Snickers replay of superman punch
American Home Shield logo appears in corner of screen for a few seconds after match has been going on about 20-30 minutes or so. I also just realized these ads were on the arena banners too.
Replay of Rock winning presented by American Home Shield.
That closes out the ads of Mania. It truly is a new era in advertising for WWE as TKO gets into the full swing of things.
Oof, christ. Really goes to show how little I've come to notice them over the years, I think I'm just autoblurring em in my mind but that's a big list..
That is the first match I completely disagree with the winner of. I absolutely do not believe Sami was the right choice to take down Gunther's long-ass reign, it should have gone to somebody up and coming, who I don't know, but not an established upper card star.
I feel the same way with the caveat that I can’t think of anyone in the short term that fits that bill and Gunther should also be moving up the card. Great match regardless, but I was rooting for Gunther to retain as well.
I forget which game it was like...maybe within the last 10y, but was a wrestling game that came out and all the wrestlers were 90s Rob Liefeld Captain America-esque no matter who they were, and when I see Rock all i think of is the wrestlers in that game.
He has said he won't just disappear going forward, so I would think that is highly likely, maybe not around a lot, but a lot more than we are used to from The Rock.
I'm kinda hoping he takes the heel boss route, Mr McMahon Was a great character and the rock is a natural at that overly over confident ego filled narcissistic asshole.
Triple H would have been great but I don't want to see him in the ring taking bumps anymore, plus everyone knows he's a big softy who loves his wrestlers like his own children.
I'm down for this. As you said HHH can't bump anymore and (any problems aside) he's too face right now and should remain so as long as he's around. Rock can do the things that are needed for an evil boss character real well (as long as he doesn't overstay his welcome. Don't leave, but don't be on every episode for 30 mins either.)
Having an asshole boss who gets what's coming to him is how you get the older viewers back, it's what made Austin V McMahon so popular, most workers have had the thought of fighting their terrible boss and got to live vicariously through Austin beating his boss up every single week., that and the fact Austin is the greatest crowd worker in WWE history.
I have been wondering about that too, the story looked like it was going to be Chad's to me, then they injected Sami into it, I really wonder if Chad is turning on him.
Prime Logo's on the turnbuckles, Dude Wipes logos on the ring posts, Giant Prime Enegery logo on the mat... the replay presented by Snickers... the ads are taking over...
I can't believe they opened with Rhea and Becky, They are doing great and will take some great wrestling to follow up with.
I like to think that Seth busted into Cody's bus dressed like this, threw Cody his attire while singing "I made this for you" then struts off cackling to himself.