It’s only few weeks before the wrestling’s biggest stage will take centerstage at the huge venue the Big Easy peeps known as the Superdome.
And much as I am expressing my dismay on my local TV channel for not airing the WWE’s flagship program RAW, the only thing I can do at the moment is to do a flashback review: and I am talking about the three huge main cards of the WWE WrestleMania 29 held at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey last year.
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| http://www.thewrestlingmania.com/ |
I remember, I used to be on the multi-tasking mode then when my ultimate-fave-but-now-defunct Studio 23 aired its Philippine telecast during that one fateful Wednesday night of April. I was working in front of my computer, and at the same time – was watching the 240-minute event (you do the math, please?) on my Cherry Mobile phone (yes, I’m proud to say that. U mad?). At that time, I was a team leader in my graveyard shift (10 p.m. – 6 a.m.) which did not really had much problem with me.
And what more can I say? Aside from those 80,676 patrons from East Rutherford whom witnessed this event, which is considered as the second largest all-time Wrestlemania event in terms of attendance?
But only three things really stuck my mind. What are those? THE UNDERTAKER VS. CM PUNK |
DISRESPECTING THE STREAK
First: The Undertaker versus CM Punk match. The so-called ‘Deadman’ did not have any single defeat in two decades of Wrestlemania matches. But after few months of feuding with the so-called “Best in the World,” the rivalry intensifies even higher due to the death of William Moody, known popularly as the “oh yeeeeesss” chant-maker Paul Bearer.
It was during one RAW episode when the Undertaker led the WWE in paving its tribute to the 58-year old ‘unique’ manager (as chairman VinceMcMahon describes it). Until a huge act of disrespect came along. And… you guess that right, it was Punk and his advocate – whose also a ‘Paul’ by first stage name.
But fast forward to April 7 evening (the real Wrestlemania event before the S23 broadcast it in the PH shores), the dead man wants respect. But Punk did not want to do so. And the straight edge superstar went even beyond expectation in his aim to deliver that “1” in a 20 and 1 record.
But with that one fiery look (more than a tiger nor even a zombie), the old school wrestler was totally got the hand in the game, and he got his 21st win in the same number of battles.
I called it ‘disrespecting the streak,’ but honestly, after reviewing the match during one Saturday midnight, damn it’s not just the streak. It’s the term itself – disrespect. And the Death Valley-native totally avenged the humiliation he got from his last nemesis.
Now, he is about to face Brock Lesnar, (which by the way, is another Paul Heyman talent). The question now is can the Beast destroy the Dead? Or will the Deadman tame the Beast Incarnate?
I only saw the match for fewer times; but I think it will be the match of the night… if we’re talking about the level of emotion here. Actually, another huge Wrestlemania match came close (by a very slim margin) to the Undertaker-CM Punk tussle.
TRIPLE H VS. BROCK LESNAR |BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION
And I am talking about Brock Lesnar versus Triple H. The Hunter wanted revenge as his anger level brought the demon in him after suffering broken arm injuries for twice, as well as for Shawn Michaels and even sending to Vince McMahon to a hospital stretcher which requires him to have a hip-replacement surgery. All that came from only one man, err, beast (should I say)… and that’s Lesnar for you.
And it went even brutal with that so-called ‘no holds barred match.’ After those steel steps, barricade, steel chair and sledge hammer shots, it was the now-COO who won the game. For 38-something minutes full of gross-like action.
I think I can call it the match of the night for being ‘too ugly.’ It’s also too personal. But maybe, some bits of predictability was present in the storyline.
JOHN CENA VS. THE ROCK FOR THE WWE CHAMPIONSHIP |CHAMPIONSHIP AND REDEMPTION
The championship match between John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock’ Johnson seemed to be much souring, considering that Tock has been the people’s champ, and Cena, though always a fan favorite, was tagged as the ‘heel,’ after suffering huge blows in the past year (2012). Cena lost to the Rock twice in the same stage before their ’13 face-off. And even the ‘U Can’t See Me’ superstar has been on the verge of pulling a comeback following his Royal Rumble triumph, still he’s been owned in terms of history book records.
It was the battle of popularity. The Rock may ended up conceding the match after being pin-falled by Cena, but it also gave fans something they forget when they watch such wrestling matches: sportsmanship. Seeing them shaking hands and praising each other despite trash-talking their hatred on each other is just proving to you that even in the world of sports entertainment, where one must act like a more alpha male than the other to be entertaining, it’s still a sport. Yes, wrestling is still a sport after all.
Maybe, I’ll do a recall more on Wrestlemania 28 matches soon if I had time. But I recommend their promo soundtrack which is titled "Civil Twilight," a track made by the band Letters from the Sky.
But if you asked me, I think we should see the upcoming matches the same way as how the Wrestlemania 29 really rolled. Some of the pay-per-view fans have been ended up in dismay after series of matches did not met their expectations. Like Orton taking the W via the Authority’s distraction against The Big Show in the Survivor Series, Batista defeating an emerging Samoan wrestler Roman Reignin the Royal Rumble, and just recently, the Elimination Chamber which Cena lost to another Wyatts’ distraction, as well as Daniel Bryan’s to the disrupting element known as the Kane, the WWE director of operations.
Now, if you asked me? Nah, I can’t tell which wrestler should win or go home in April. Maybe we’ll tackle that soon.
Before I leave you all guys, here's a bit of rumors-slash-news (depending on how would you perceive this thing; I just got it from the internet):
ABS-CBN has its contract with the WWE expired, according to an unknown source. The agreement between the Philippine television network and the Connecticut-based sports entertainment promotion has reached its two-year agreement.
Well, so we should not wonder why after the finale of WWE Tough Enough, we had not seen any clip from any of their four programs slated on their UHF channel ABS-CBN Sports + Action. Let's just hope FOX Philippines will carry over the RAW and other programs as well as the Philippine primetime telecast of WWE Wrestlemania XXX!
Author: slickmaster | © 2014 september twenty-eight productions
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