I know some of those names you mentioned, but just don't know them by sight. We're going to watch Mania of course, for $6 for the month, why not? I tried watching some of NXT but after a couple minutes I just didn't care enough to keep it on. I'm not even overly interested in Mania, maybe a little, but that's a ton of matches to sit through. I'm sure they'll be mostly good, I just find a lack of interest in most of the wrestlers. Not to say AEW has been good of late. Honestly, been kind of bored with AEW for the last few months. Good matches and another tournament can get you only so far, and AEW lacks really interesting stories from week to week.

That's what this generation of people & wrestlers are going to be in the future...if the viewers ain't happy with that it's another reason why the future isn't going to be that fun compared to the past and another reason to look back cause despite what WrestleCrap, OSW, this generation and critics say I ignore them and follow My own wants, needs & gut cause I experienced it then while they didn't and only make fun of it cause really they have no idea how good it was. If t was so bad then why was kids afraid of Giant Gonzales but laughing at Doink when he'd pop their balloons and women going gaga over Lex Luger, Billy Gunn & Val Venis That's because it was a fun time in the 90s. Yeah, I can tell your bored with AEW and apparently everybody else is. That's why I haven't posted in that topic like I used to cause I'm like there's a lot going on yet nobody is saying nothing. Heck there's many talent from AEW that is in WWE right like Cody, Fallon Henley, Cora Jade, Gigi Dolan, Shawn Spears and others. Shame your not into NXT, they really built up Trick & Carmelo, Dragunov, Roxanne Perez and the monster Oba Femi. In fact when them and most of the roster goes to the main roster people is going to say who is that and why should I care That's really bad because they already had a great establishment in NXT...look at Johnny Gargano...it took him forever to get recognized on the main roster...same thing with Chiamapa...I still feel like they should have stayed in NXT cause that's where the loyal fan base is and it's like that with many if not all of the NXT wrestlers but they did that do make for the up and comers. Even though today's wrestling is not as fun as the past, I'm very thankful that I can watch this

As bonus I just saw this on Bing about Cody's Bus



OK, I saw the Hall of Fame and I will talk about it soon & I'll post the clips of it plus NXT & Wrestlemania 40 XL when it's all done so if you want to post stuff before hand put it spoilers because I'm avoiding any method of spoilers at all costs so I won't be checking My Topic till WM is over and I've seen it

Yeah, I saw something tweeted about Cody's bus. Can't believe that's the picture they used in your image, lol. He hasn't looked like that in years. No spoilers, but not going to lie, I didn't think tonight's Mania was very good at all. I thought there were maybe two matches that felt like Mania matches, the rest weren't very good or exciting at all. They all felt too short. Maybe because I have no emotional attachment to any of the stories, but I wasn't really impressed tonight. Worth $6? Sure. But as WrestleMania, not really. I expect tomorrow to crank it up to 11, but if I had tickets for tonight, man, I would be bummed at what I got.

Again, no spoilers, but night 2 was infinitely better than 1. There was really only one match that wasn't great, and even that wasn't too bad, it just seemed unnecessary.

Yes PB, that's the picture, go to your Bing and stuff, you'll see it on your end too Again, your not attached to this because you haven't watched it while. I know the feeling, I'e been there & done that as it happen to Me with WWE years ago. When AEW started I was like why should I care about these wrestlers that I ever heard of before but I gave it all a big chance with patience & time and it all became really fun, not as fun as the 80s & 90s wrestling from any Federation but fun none the less. Honestly I'm kinda impressed how some of these has been built up in recent times and this is coming from somebody that usually says that WWE has no logic I have been really impressed with the build of Judgement Day especially the chemistry with "Dirty" Dom and Rhea Ripley. In fact Ripley's build up is just as equal as Roman's really. I've been talking about it for months. I do feel that the stuff with Bayley needed more building I mean there was hardly any attention after she won the Rumble. Now they really built Cody & The Bloodline excellently, that's really one of the best in a very, VERY long time. Sure, they can't build everything the same but at the moment, they're doing pretty good IMO. Oh of course the Peacock price is a bargain. I felt many matches was worthy of Wrestlemania but some were maybe a bit less but really I always felt that way about WMs and basically any event for that matter but you gotta shape up the card somehow

Before I start, here's this news-bit about Vinnie Mac



They are now calling this the Paul Leveque Era and had a brand new NOW, THEN & FOREVER intro which was awesome



OK, first off I haven't seen NXT Stand & Deliver yet as I'm a bit behind on NXT but once I've seen it i will post the results. So first here comes the highlights of the Hall of Fame. I found this was very odd yet pretty entertaining. It was actually 2:30 so it was an hour and a half longer than last year so that is an unexpected fun thing there Now I'm going to post this in random order from My least to My favorite so here we go

Thunderbolt Patterson was good but his speech really had nothing to do with his history, just his religious stuff. It was cool that the New Day inducted him because before they were The New Day, they were actually going to be these religious zealots instead of a comedy act...shame that never happen however




I was wrong about Muhammad Ali's daughter, it was actually his wife and the Undertaker This was pretty good





The Paul Heyman one was arguably the best one of all. It was wonderful that he came out to the ECW theme as still one o the best wrestling themes and it was great that he reunited with RVD, Tommy Dreamer & The Dudley Boyz. I loved all of the history he talked about but of course he badmouthed 93 which he then said it was the start of ECW so whether he & others want to admit it or not like Me, 93 was again, a very important year in wrestling and it just wasn't for ECW. I love that he became Paul E. Dangerously once again and it was very apropos that Roman Reigns inducted him too






I knew Alundra "Madusa" Blayze would induct Bull Nakano...if you know their history then it was a complete no-brainer, no looking up who it would be and this was such a great reunion. She came out wit her theme that was originally The Orient Express...Nakano looks so different now as she is shorter & thinner, she no longer looks like the beast beauty she once was but I'm so glad she's in the HOF




Now this here IMO was the most important one and should have closed the show but of course it didn't. A few days ago I expressed deeply about the US Express and their great history. If you missed My love for them then go back to My HOF spotlight that I made It was great seeing Mike & Barry together after all of these years. I was right about Taylor & Mika inducting them but still such a missed opportunity that Dan Spivey wasn't involved here. I think that they should have had them last in order to have a "real proper" tribute to Windham "Bray Wyatt" Rotunda that would not be overshadowed by WM's storyline with the Rock & Cody The video package was done well while they did show Rotunda as I.R.S., they didn't show him as Michael V.K Wallstreet nor Windham as "The Widowmaker" & "The Stalker". I liked it that Barry hugged his cousin JBL aka Bradshaw when he came out, I was like there's the REUNION of THE NEW BLACKJACKS so that was sweet while that lasted





Here we go with the results of the Wrestlemania 40 XL card with quick comments by Me. These WWE NOW clips play the results backwards which I don't prefer that method so I'm doing it in the order as it happen NIGHT 1: The match with Ripely was great and she looked as hot as before. Lynch seemed like an easier opponent to beat compared to Nia and others however, Becky had a 102 temp so this was a good reason why she didn't win. The Ladder Tag Match was spectacular, I love that two teams won two different titles so now we're back to where we were which is good and I was for A-Town Down Under which I'm glad they won of course but I should be glad that The Awesome Truth won as well. The Luchadore match was really good and Zelina & Electra looked great. When the huge invading Luchadores came in I was like who are they then when they took the masks off I was like oh no, it's Jason Kelce...didn't he have enough publicity with his brother, government idol Tay-Tay and Shaq When this happen it was kinda bittersweet because really they overshadowed the LWO Was this supposed to be better the great football stuff at WM11 Whatever about Lil Wayne. The Uso Civil War was good but it was a slow, repetitive match and Jey needed the win and like I said before, I've seen better jobbers 30 years ago that was better looking than Jimmy. The big women's tag match was decent. Dakota looked like she just came back from something extreme or perhaps a little hardcore which is fine with Me I loved how Jade looked with that short silver hair and I'm glad her team won. Now perhaps the biggest outcome of the whole weekend that is really being overshadowed by the other matches and really is NOT being acknowledged by people as much as it should...Sami Zayne beat Gunther...I repeat SAMI ZAYNE DEFEATED GUNTHER Gunther has had such a huge build-up since he's been on the main roster and especially surpassed The Honky Tonk Man's all-time Intercontinental Championship record The event was is Philadelphia...home of Rocky Balboa...this was like a Rocky match similar like Rocky fighting Ivan Drago overcoming the impossible odds This match I think is one of the biggest upsets in WM history The Bloodline match was fantastic. I loved the build toward this. The Rock actually looks bigger without his vest. He did so many good heel things, he & Roman had great chemistry. I loved the spots outside the ring. The climax was very fitting and this is one of My fave matches of the whole year



NIGHT 2: the entrances of drew was great and Rollin's was really strange, it was like it was Mardi Gras. I knew Rollins would have a major disadvantage from the previous night. It took 4 Claymores to beat Rollins and I'm glad Drew won but darn CM Punk had to be there and trip-up McEntyre and holy crap here comes Damian Priest cashing in his MITB Contract and he was successful That was great, I loved that The street fight one was pretty good. Both B-Fab & Scarlet looked really fine. This was kinda disappointing how the AOP was barely in the match leaving Kross to rot I'm glad that the Last Testament was on this card however cause I hate it when cool talent like that has no to little exposure. The LA Knight & AJ Styles match was decent and I feel Knight definitely needed that win. That was cool when Kevin Owens was backstage looking at Sami's new title then he said it's your turn cause KO told Sami in similar fashion. The triple threat match was good with him, Logan & Orton. the spot with IShowSpeed & Randy was fine but I'm like

I feel that way with so many of these plebeians that we're "supposed" to know He's only 19 years old...think about WHERE you WERE at THE AGE OF 19 and now think about where he is I liked the Gatorade chant by the crowd which was kinda funny...Gatorade vs. Prime There was some great spots by Paul and I'm glad he won and is still US Champ The match with Bayley & SKY was superb, such tremendous spots there and I'm so glad that Bayley beat her and her win at the Rumble paid off The Roman vs. Cody match was spectacular. I was like what in the heck is going to happen here and will it be a repeat from last year The action was great and I loved the spots with the Usos then Solo comes then Cena get's his revenge then The Rock comes and gives some and then holy Toledo The Undertaker arrives and get's The Rock then Cody beats Roman and ends his 1000 + day reign of being champion This was a huge moment indeed and finally it happen



Again, here's The Rock & The Undertaker...I love how the Rock showed fear there. Notice that The Undertaker is now about the same height as The Rock now...unfortunately he has lost several inches of his height due to surgeries & age similar like Hulk Hogan



Now arguably the real big star of the event was the great looking ring announcer & Ricochet's Fiance Samantha Irvin. She's got such an incredible voice with so much spunk and every time she announces she's got My attention 100%. If you never noticed her for whatever reason start paying attention to her cause she's great. Here's this emotion video of her announcing Cody winning the bout



So that's My little bit of thoughts of Wrestlemania 40 XL. Both nights were dandy even though they really milked Snoop Dogg. I wasn't bored with it at all especially the HOF, I was very grateful that I saw it all. Of course it wasn't perfect but nothing is. Next is WWE BackLash in France which is going to be really good and I can't wait for that

Ok, I was waiting for you to say something before I actually talked in depth so I didn't spoil anything for you, so as a lapsed fan that probably very little WWE programming before WrestleMania, here's what I thought.

A year ago I would've had no clue who the band with Rhea Ripley was, but since Halloween I knew them, lol. I thought her entrance was really cool. A lot of times you barely see the band interact with the wrestler, but I thought this was really well done. And the match between her and Becky was one of the better matches the first night.

The Ladder Match was ok. Not really invested in anyone but it was cool seeing R-Truth finally win a WWE title since he's always entertaining no matter what he's doing. His appearance on Raw was pretty good, too.

Rey Mysterio match didn't really do much for me. Never was a huge Rey fan, nor Dom. Luckily it wasn't super long. In fact, most matches felt a little short to me besides the two main events.

The six-women match was ok. Jade is getting the green Goldberg treatment by not being asked to do much, but by this time I would've thought she would do more in a match, and what she did didn't seem particularly crisp to me. Another match that was just there and not that interesting to me. I hope that isn't upsetting, I just don't find many WWE wrestlers particularly engaging. I like the women in Damage CTRL. Never cared for Bianca going all the way back to her NXT days, and Naomi is just there. She never really did much for me as a wrestler. She probably should've stayed on Impact, but I'm sure the WWE pays much better, and of course her husband is in the WWE so...

Speaking of the Usos. Man, was this a huge disappointment. I was never really a big Usos fan or anything, but I expected so much more from this match knowing a little bit about the storyline the last couple years. I wasn't expecting technical masterpiece like Brett vs Owen, but when you set up a brother vs brother match like this, I thought you'd see more than just kick kick kick kick. The Young Bucks approve. Jim Cornette probably had a coronary. It just seemed too short and wasn't really intense at all. A big disappointment, probably the biggest of the weekend to me.

Sami vs Gunther was ok. I have no emotional attachment to Sami, but I thought Gunther would've looked stronger. I suppose people that watch weekly would've enjoyed this more. The funniest thing about this was before the match Sami told his wife to keep their kid backstage, but then she was ringside. I'm like, who's watching the kid? Lol.

The main event was pretty good. After the hour of entrances, lol. The entrances were all cool. I was a little surprised there wasn't as much shenanigans with run ins, but I wasn't surprised at the outcome. Plus it really sets up the future because the Rock pinned Cody, and Cody never beat the Rock. WWE really does a great job at dotting the i's and crossing the t's.

Seth Rollins entrance: what the hell?? Lol. He is definitely trying to out Macho Man the Macho Man with these outfits. Wasn't surprised that Drew won, but the aftermath was played out really well and builds on the Drew-Punk feud. Started the night off great after the first night to me was just ok. Props to everyone involved.

The Philly Street Fight? Meh. The best part was seeing Bully Ray come out. A lot of these 4-6 person matches just felt like we need to get these people on the show because we have to fill 2 nights. As street fights go this didn't really do much for me.

LA Knight vs Styles. Eh, I don't get the LA Knight hype. I liked him as Eli Drake, and he's decent in the ring. I didn't think AJ was going to win here. He deserves to be higher up on the card but I fear he's going to fill the Dolph Ziggler role for the rest of his career. Seems to be a waste of his talents. But man did he get ripped.

The Triple Threat Match was pretty good. I never liked the Paul brothers, but every time I see him wrestle he looks better at the part than a lot of people who have been around for years, lol. I had no idea who I Show Speed was but my boys did and they popped for him and the Prime stuff. Kids love Prime. Don't ask me why, it's just smaller bottles of more expensive Gatorade, lol. But this match was done well.

Women's match was pretty good. Not a huge Bayley fan, but her and Iyo told a good story.

The main event. Where to begin? People say Tony Khan makes good matches but WWE makes great stories. At the end of the day, that's the difference. I mean, they took years worth of stories and stitched them seamlessly into an epic WrestleMania main event. My wife was working, and my boys went to bed before this match started, so I had to show them Minday morning what happened. I watched the end twice Monday morning and I still got chills when Takers gong hit. I know enough of the story to know that Sikoa and Cena had a connection, and of course Rock and Cena. And then Rollins told Cody to let him be his Shield. I was a little confused when the music hit, but it made sense, and Reigns stopping him was timed very well. But I did not expect Taker. I thought maybe Austin because of his history with the Rock, but the Taker was so much cooler. I think about the Law of Diminishing Returns. When someone like the Rock swears on a WWE show it seems like a big deal because you don't see it anymore. So when the lights go out, you know something is about big is about to happen unlike AEW where Tony likes to turn off the lights once every night it feels like sometimes lol. And then the gong....and a long delay...anther gong...and the lights come on and there's the Undertaker right behind the Rock and everything was done so well. And then it's just Roman with a chair and Cody and Rollins on the ground, and Roman could've hit Cody and won but he had to get his revenge on Rollins from how many years ago? And it was that moment that allowed Cody to get the win. Like I said, when the WWE dots all the i's you get something really special, and that main event was really special. And for all the interference, it wasn't someone who helped Cody win, it was Reigns hubris. It's not like Rollins hit Reigns with the chair and Cody stole the win. In the end, Roman took his eye off the ball for a split-second and it cost him everything.

Just wonderful. A masterful job of booking a story, a match, and a moment. It may not have been where they wanted to go originally, but they got there and it was terrific.

My question is this, where do they go from here? Cody is a terrific underdog. But now that the story is finished, I'm not sure if he's string enough on the mic or as a wrestler maintain that enthusiasm. It's like when DB had the Yes Movement, but once he won, his title run wasn't that great. It looks like he may be champ until next Mania to face the Rock, so can they tell enough good stories to get him there? We'll see. Certainly a story with Orton is easy. But who else? I don't know.

I watched all of Raw Monday, and it was ok. The Rock-Cody segment was a little weird and long, but honestly there wasn't anything in the 3 hours that convinced me I need to start watching every week again. But that's just me. I was just a casual fan at the moment anyway, maybe people more invested will disagree,

Thanks for waiting I agree with a lot you said PB. Yes, I forgot to mention I liked when Bully/Bubba Ray put his glasses on. Yes it is, Imagine if Metallica & Sting did what Ripley did in 99 I would have loved that so much So you didn't think the Sami & Gunther match was like a Rocky vs. Drago match in Philly Great you watched that twice. Also what is your thoughts about Samantha Irvin and her ring announcing...I think she does a great job I mean she puts a lot of emotion there. Yes, it was great story building and I think your right there about Cody being champ Oh since I don't have a DVR, I just watch SmackDown Lowdown & Raw Talk and on Peacock. Each show is less that 30 mins...sometimes when i miss them shows i see This Week in WWE that'abut an hour. IMO it's a great and short way to catch up on weekly WWE programming. Thanks for the lengthy write-up & thoughts PB

I get what they were going for with Sami and Gunther, and if I cared it may've meant more to me. But to me, it felt like it needed another 5 minutes to really play up that storyline. Actually, a few of the matches felt like they needed a little more time. The Usos needed more time and more action. It just lacked intensity or drama.

Oh yes, the matches did seem short and I think many could have used more time. Yes, like I said, the Uso match was very repetitive and yes it lacked a lot if stuff included intensity & drama like you said. Back to what you said before. Huh, I always thought Bayley was cool & fun. You said about AJ, yeah, he put on like 10 pounds of muscle, possibly more and I don't know about LA Knight. Is all I know is that he lost to Bray Wyatt, Wyatt disappeared for a long time and LA suddenly became a huge babyace then Wyatt passed on I think your right about them treating Jade green like WCW did Goldberg. I'm glad you finally talked about Rhea PB, I just don't find her really hot but she's a natural at wrestling I mean she can do it all and every she does looks really sweet especially her dropkicks. Also I'm glad you talked about this event here with Me PB

Oh sure, I was actually interested in the main event this year because it felt more special than the standard Mania main event. I probably pay more attention, but I can't see myself watching much weekly. Though I did happen to catch the Solo Sikoa segment from Smackdown that should make for interesting stories down the line.