Thursday, 12 February 2015
Monday, 7 April 2014
What happened with Arsenal in Wenger's 1000th match
The stage was set for Arsene Wenger, but instead, there was Jose Mourinho, conducting the orchestra as Chelsea humiliated Arsenal in London, at Stamford Bridge.
When Wenger led his Gunners for the 1000th time, everybody acknowledged his long association with one of the best known football clubs in the world. Fans all over the globe appreciate his vision and purpose and of course, the frugality imbibed in the London club in an age when the sport is becoming the favourite pastime for billionaires.
Hiring, firing at will, et all.
But when the packed-crowd applauded the 64-year-old before the kick-off, it was good enough a focus ahead of one the best known derbies in the world. Then as things would have unfolded, it proved a premature celebration for the touring party. As Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho later said, the match was “resolved” in the first 10 minutes.
The Portuguese did try enough to avoid smirking whole 90-odd minutes, probably trying to show his respect to the man he once called a `specialist in failure`, or to a fellow manager who is leading a group of professional players for the 1000th time. However, it wasn`t his fault the famous grin finally arrived in his post-match interview.
Resolved, it was such a pity and the former Real Madrid manager deemed it fit to mention that, that it “was the most important match of the season for Arsenal”. But just another important one for the Blues. And in it, Arsenal failed. It pretty well summed-up the widening gap between these two sides, and in between a couple of clubs thrown in.
It seems, Arsenal are not just good enough to win any silverware, with this squad. Sunday`s defeat at Stamford Bridge was the telling point of a campaign going awry after initial promise. The 0-6 drubbing from Chelsea was, in fact, yet another meek submission to one of their title challengers this season, if at all Wenger`s men were ever considered one.
Earlier, Arsenal conceded six goals to Manchester City and another five at Liverpool for a combined total of 17 goals in just three games against the three teams above them. Another startling fact is, they have conceded just 17 to other 17 teams in 27 games.
In a day, when Liverpool fought from a goal down to beat Cardiff City 6-3 with Luis Suarez scoring his sixth hat-trick of the season, Manchester United getting better of West Ham United thanks to a brace from Wayne Rooney including a wonder-goal a la Beckham, and the other `noisy` Manchester side routing Fulham 5-0 with indomitable Yaya Toure scoring a treble, Arsenal failed to find any leader, on or off the field.
The sending off of a wrong man in Kieran Gibbs for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did divert the focus from a utterly lacklustre performance, thanks to the match referee Andre Marriner. But overall, it was such a poor display of football from the Gunners that there wasn`t a single clear goal scoring opportunity for them.
It is another story that Wenger took full responsibility for ruining his own historic day. He rightly admitted that it was “not a nice experience” to “go into a big game and it is over after 20 minutes.”
History. Tradition. Pride. They all need refurbishments from time to time. However, the Halloway-based outfit has been treading a hollow path. Their last title came way back in 2005. And it seems, it doesn`t seem they will lift one any time sooner.
When Wenger led his Gunners for the 1000th time, everybody acknowledged his long association with one of the best known football clubs in the world. Fans all over the globe appreciate his vision and purpose and of course, the frugality imbibed in the London club in an age when the sport is becoming the favourite pastime for billionaires.
Hiring, firing at will, et all.
But when the packed-crowd applauded the 64-year-old before the kick-off, it was good enough a focus ahead of one the best known derbies in the world. Then as things would have unfolded, it proved a premature celebration for the touring party. As Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho later said, the match was “resolved” in the first 10 minutes.
The Portuguese did try enough to avoid smirking whole 90-odd minutes, probably trying to show his respect to the man he once called a `specialist in failure`, or to a fellow manager who is leading a group of professional players for the 1000th time. However, it wasn`t his fault the famous grin finally arrived in his post-match interview.
Resolved, it was such a pity and the former Real Madrid manager deemed it fit to mention that, that it “was the most important match of the season for Arsenal”. But just another important one for the Blues. And in it, Arsenal failed. It pretty well summed-up the widening gap between these two sides, and in between a couple of clubs thrown in.
It seems, Arsenal are not just good enough to win any silverware, with this squad. Sunday`s defeat at Stamford Bridge was the telling point of a campaign going awry after initial promise. The 0-6 drubbing from Chelsea was, in fact, yet another meek submission to one of their title challengers this season, if at all Wenger`s men were ever considered one.
Earlier, Arsenal conceded six goals to Manchester City and another five at Liverpool for a combined total of 17 goals in just three games against the three teams above them. Another startling fact is, they have conceded just 17 to other 17 teams in 27 games.
In a day, when Liverpool fought from a goal down to beat Cardiff City 6-3 with Luis Suarez scoring his sixth hat-trick of the season, Manchester United getting better of West Ham United thanks to a brace from Wayne Rooney including a wonder-goal a la Beckham, and the other `noisy` Manchester side routing Fulham 5-0 with indomitable Yaya Toure scoring a treble, Arsenal failed to find any leader, on or off the field.
The sending off of a wrong man in Kieran Gibbs for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain did divert the focus from a utterly lacklustre performance, thanks to the match referee Andre Marriner. But overall, it was such a poor display of football from the Gunners that there wasn`t a single clear goal scoring opportunity for them.
It is another story that Wenger took full responsibility for ruining his own historic day. He rightly admitted that it was “not a nice experience” to “go into a big game and it is over after 20 minutes.”
History. Tradition. Pride. They all need refurbishments from time to time. However, the Halloway-based outfit has been treading a hollow path. Their last title came way back in 2005. And it seems, it doesn`t seem they will lift one any time sooner.
Perez gets Force India's second ever podium
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton clinched victory after he overtook teammate and pole position man Nico Rosberg at the start. The Briton maintained the lead throughout to win his consecutive Grand Prix in the first ever night race in the gulf nation.
Meanwhile, Perez` teammate Nico Hulkenberg made sure that the team got a double points finish by coming home in brilliant fashion with fifth position.
The first and the last time the Vijay Mallya-led team got a podium was in 2009 when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second behind Ferrari`s Kimi Raikkonen at the Belgian Grand Prix.
With the 25 points that the team brought home -- Perez with 15 and Hulkenberg 10 -- Force India have leapfrogged former champions McLaren, Ferrari and Williams to be placed second in the constructors` standings with 44 points.
In the drivers` standings, Hulkenberg is third with 28 points while Perez is ninth with 16.
Liverpool keep eye on the prize, Everton glimpse top four
On a weekend when the sporting eyes of the nation were turned to the city following Saturday`s Grand National, Everton crushed a woeful Arsenal side 3-0 at Goodison Park to boost their chances of a top-four finish and a possible place in next season`s Champions League for the first time in nine seasons.
The two crucially important games had a big bearing on the top of the table with Liverpool reclaiming top spot from Chelsea with 74 points from 33 matches, two ahead of Jose Mourinho`s side who have also played 33 and went top for 24 hours after beating Stoke City 3-0 on Saturday.
Manchester City, who play Liverpool in a crunch clash at Anfield next week, have 70 points with two matches in hand, followed by Arsenal on 64 from 33 and Everton 63 from 32.
Liverpool, chasing their first title since 1990, continued where Everton left off by chalking up their ninth successive league win, although this one was more about grit than the style of late against a resilient West Ham side.
There was controversy too with Gerrard`s second penalty looking like a poor decision by referee Anthony Taylor who was also under the spotlight for allowing West Ham`s equaliser.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce moaned that Liverpool`s second penalty should never have been given but he also appeared to blame poor officiating for West Ham`s equaliser that came a minute after Gerrard had put Liverpool ahead following a clear handball by James Tomkins.
"Here we are talking about refereering decisions and not a game of football," he told reporters. "Big mistakes were made on those goals."
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers thought Liverpool`s second penalty was merited and that his team "dominated the game and deserved to win it."
He added: "We are enjoying our football, of course there is pressure on us, but we have won nine in a row which is a phenomenal achievement at this level and we will see what happens. It was a tough game today, but we deserved to win it."
West Ham equalised a minute after Liverpool took the lead after former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll appeared to foul Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet in the build-up. The ball dropped to Guy Demel who swept it in.
Referee Taylor had a long discussion with his assistant before allowing the goal to stand.
There was also controversy surrounding Liverpool`s winner.
Taylor ruled that West Ham keeper Adrian brought down Jon Flanagan although TV replays showed the goalkeeper got a hand to the ball first.
Gerrard, who also scored two penalties against Manchester United last month, made no mistake with his second spot kick, blasting the ball past Adrian into the corner of the net.
West Ham remain in 11th place and ran Liverpool close with Carroll crashing a header against the bar early in the second half that would have put them ahead.
EVERTON WIN AGAIN
Everton`s sixth successive Premier League win meant that although they stayed in fifth place, they are only a point behind fourth-placed Arsenal with a match in hand in the tight race for Champions League qualification.
They would move above Arsenal next weekend if they avoid defeat at bottom club Sunderland.
Steven Naismith, following up a rebound off the legs of goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, put Everton in front after 14 minutes before a superb solo effort from Romelu Lukaku after 34 put Everton in total command.
They wrapped up the points on the counter-attack after 62 minutes when a Kevin Mirallas shot went in off Arsenal`s former Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta for an own goal.
It was Arsenal`s second heavy defeat on Merseyside in two months after they lost 5-1 at Liverpool and it ended any lingering hopes of a late title challenge.
Everton manager Roberto Martinez was understandably a happy man afterwards saying: "In terms of satisfaction that you can get as a manager, that`s as good as it gets.
"I thought the performance from the first minute to the last was very strong in every department of the game.
"The players were phenomenal - their awareness, work rate and discipline made it as good a performance as you can get from that point of view."
Arsenal have won only one of their last six league matches and manager Arsene Wenger agreed his side were second best.
"Everton were better, sharper and deserved to win," he said.
"It will be difficult to finish in the top four but first we have to focus on the quality of our performance."
Their gloom deepened with Mathieu Flamini`s 10th booking of the season ruling him out of next weekend`s FA Cup semi-final against holders Wigan Athletic at Wembley.
Australian eves complete hat-trick of World T20 titles
Australian captain Meg Lanning smashed her way to 44 off 30 balls, helping her team surpass a paltry target of 106 with as many as 29 balls to spare.
Lanning`s innings had four boundaries and two sixes. The first six - a lofted shot over long-off ropes off seamer Anya Shrubsole - was a treat to watch. It was a copybook backlift and one can`t take away anything from that shot although the boundary ropes have been brought in by at least 10 yards for the women`s final.
The second six that Lanning hit was off a full toss by another seamer Jenny Gunn which she dispatched over mic-wicket ropes.
She was finally dismissed trying to hit the winning runs off medium pacer Natalie Sciver as Heather Knight held on to a smart catch at mid-off.
Lanning along with the most celebrated women`s cricketer and also a women`s World Cup footballer, Elysse Perry (31 no) added 60 runs for the third wicket. Perry, on her part, hit three fours and a six.
Earlier, Australian bowlers led by medium pacer Sarah Coyte (3/16 in 4 overs) restricted England to a paltry 105 for eight in 20 overs. Save Heather Knight, who scored 29 off 24 balls with three boundaries, none of the other English batswoman were able to cross 20-run mark. The next highest score was Sarah Taylor`s 18.
England were comfortably placed at 55 for one in 9.3 overs before a mini slump proved to be a hindrance towards accelerating the score. From 55 for one, they were reeling at 67 for four at the end of 13 overs and did not recover from there.
Perry also excelled with the ball as she grabbed two for 13 in four overs while another opening bowler Rene Farrell also chipped in with two wickets. Erin Osborne was the other wicket-taker.
Brief Scores: England Women 105/8 in 20 overs (Heather Knight 29, Sarah Coyte 3/11, Elysse Perry 2/13). Australian Women 106/4 in 15.1 overs (Meg Lanning 44, Elysse Perry 31 no). Australian women's team won by 6 wickets.
WrestleMania 30 results, recap, reactions from April 6, 2014: The streak is over
Complete results, recap, and reactions to last night's (Sun., April 6, 2014) WrestleMania 30 pay-per-view (PPV) event from New Orleans. What an unbelievable night.
WWE ran its biggest show of the year last night (Sun., April 6, 2014) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the WrestleMania 30 pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza that featured an interesting night of odd booking, then great booking, then baffling booking, but a lot of really fun stuff.
To get complete blow-by-blow coverage of the entire event .
With this being WrestleMania, a regular reactions theme simply won't cut it, so we'll go through the card match-by-match and respond accordingly. As usual, these were written in real time as the show went along. Let's get to it:
USOS VS. RYBAXEL VS. REAL AMERICANS VS. LOS MATADORES
Dear god, the Ryback/Curtis Axel mash-up theme might be the worst sound ever produced by WWE, and that's really saying something. Axel was at his most annoying on the biggest stage, screaming uncontrollably for reasons no one has figured out jst yet.
The one thing we really got from this match was how amazing the stage set up and entrances would be for all the big names to come later. It looked about as aesthetically pleasing as possible, all things considered. That's a weird thing to be excited about, of course, but that's what WWE does for big shows like this. They somehow get you hyped for entrances.
Los Matadores going out first surely had those of us who watched the Hall of Fame ceremony thinking Carlito was to blame, right? If so, to hell with Carlito because this meant we didn't get to see a Cesaro Swing on El Torito. To say that was disappointing is putting it mildly.
Greatly enjoyed the spot late in the match with The Usos and Real Americans working their gimmicks to the crowd and squaring off like two titan tag teams. The Usos double suicide dives were rough, but the chaotic nature of tag team matches is always fun, especially when everyone's got their timing down just right.
I would have rather Cesaro broke up with Swagger on Raw tomorrow night but it sure was fun watching him refuse Swagger's handshake while 70,000 fans were begging for him to lay waste to his partner.
Hulk Hogan opening WrestleMania was fine with me because while I may not necessarily practice tradition, I do have respect for it. This man WAS WrestleMania for the first decade of its existence. It's entirely possible we wouldn't be here if not for Hulk Hogan. It doesn't matter how much you know about his politics and his gigantic ego and ridiculous lies.
Then he botched the line about being in the Silverdome instead of the Superdome. They were turning on him. It was amazing.
Then the glass shattered and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out to interrupt Hulk and I was done. This was a special moment, even though I knew there would be no Stunner and no real confrontation. They had a staredown and it was great. This was huge. It was everything we could want. Then Austin ribbed Hogan for botching his lines and my god, BEST NIGHT EVER. Short but sweet promo.
Then The Rock's music hit and I just cannot fucking do this anymore. I died. In that moment, I died. I shouted like a kid who just opened the best Christmas present he would ever receive. They really did manage to do something special and I can see why Rock and Austin came back for this. WrestleMania 30: Austin, Hogan, Rock; all in the same ring at the same time. This was just so damn cool.
DANIEL BRYAN VS. TRIPLE H
Opening with this match feels like the right call to me, depending on how they play the booking later.
Triple H's entrance theme was awesome. I read arguments that it was campy and silly and other lame terms like that but I wonder why the hell those people watch such a campy and silly thing like pro wrestling then bitch about it being too campy and silly. Of all the things to be critical of, WWE going all out Game of Thrones style for Triple H's entrance really isn't one of them.
We knew the "YES" chants from the crowd would both sound and look impressive. But actually seeing it in HD on a big screen television was something to behold. It was almost as surreal as Mr. T talking about his mom's urinary tract at the Hall of Fame ceremony during his induction speech.
Loved Triple H opening the match by hanging back and letting the moment breathe. He's got years and years of experience in the industry that have led him to knowing exactly how to play a moment like this. It was already going to feel big because of the stakes and the build to the match, but he made it feel that much bigger.
I can't do the match justice. Triple H was rocking moves he should never rock, Bryan was masterful in his selling of the shoulder injury, and they absolutely did the right thing booking this exactly the way they should have booked it. Kudos to all involved here.
ANDRE THE GIANT MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL
Immediately it was a disappointment because Big Show and Sheamus, the two blandest of babyfaces, were the only two to get entrances and the three unannounced spots weren't made a big deal at all. Why bother leaving those three spots open if they weren't going to make a big thing of it, or even a thing of it at all?
Did Sheamus really have to beat the eve loving shit out of Fandango the way he did? And after New Orleans brought Fandangoing back?
Kofi Kingston is an insane person who does insane things every time he's asked without ever failing. They book him to do crazy spots that have a high risk of making him look silly in front of the largest audiences WWE draws, and he always comes through. His entire career is being built on this.
Cesaro winning this match was a legitimately awesome surprise. He wasn't even supposed to be in it, then Christian suffered a concussion and WWE decided to get behind Cesaro and push. The way he won was a nice little homage to Andre too, what with the whole amazing feat of strength picking Big Show up like he was slamming him over the top for the victory. Super, super cool that the Super, Superdome immediately recognized the spot and went nuts for it.
BRAY WYATT VS. JOHN CENA
Bray Wyatt's character lends itself wonderfully to the campy and oftentimes creepy world of pro wrestling. And while many thought a heel act shouldn't get a live band playing him out to the ring, they really set the mood just right for the match by having them play him out and giving him plenty of time to freak the crowd out.
Okay, I was freaked out too.
John Cena started off by treating the match seriously, so at least he didn't just totally forget the story they were trying to tell and bury it completely by laughing and smiling while talking to the camera during his entrance. I absolutely expected as much.
This match. Cena really chewed up the scenery here and while the hamming it up is normally grating, it worked here. This is everything Kane was supposed to do when he was telling John to "embrace the hate" instead of rising above it. Wyatt was just here to expose the hate and this actually worked because Bray was getting to him and it felt like it meant something.
We've now seen the very best counter to that stupid ass five-knuckle shuffle. I'm not sure we'll ever get anything better than Wyatt doing that spider crawl right when Cena came off the ropes and Cena selling pants shitting terror at the sight that greeted him. Extra points for Cena adjusting later when he went through with the move the second time.
Heels are born to lose. With that being said, John Cena winning was not the right decision here, not even a little bit. Maybe they stretch this and Wyatt eventually does something special but while the storytelling in this match was amazing, the end was not. I was thoroughly enjoying the proceedings all the way up until the end when WWE just gut punched me with the same old bullshit we've been getting for nearly a decade. And John Cena will have you think he's really helping the young guys here, working the mid-card and giving them good matches.
HALL OF FAME 2014 CLASS
Ultimate Warrior got his entrance music played over the speakers for a nice little moment during the show. But he didn't run down and shake the ropes. That made this a waste of time, though they only spent a couple minutes on it.
UNDERTAKER VS. BROCK LESNAR
Undertaker's entrance wasn't as good as last year, but I really liked the hubris of having the caskets laid out and Lesnar's already there with 22-0 on it. There's something to like about extremely talented stars who know they're extremely talented and aren't afraid of pushing that they're extremely talented. This was Undertaker's small way of doing that.
The crowd was absolutely dead for most of this match, and rightfully so. They worked it really, really slow. I don't mind having Lesnar play up his power but it felt contrived somehow, like we knew what was coming and we also knew Lesnar had no shot at winning. You could argue the booking of the story leading into this match had a lot to do with the muted reactions, and you wouldn't be wrong.
To really demonstrate the problems with this match, the Old School getting countered into an F-5, the second of the match, should have been a truly thrilling false finish. Instead, it was just another kickout while we waited for the end.
Lesnar's ass crack made an appearance in this match. It was awful. This was bad.
Welp, just let me sit here and hate everything about this. I cannot believe they ended the streak like this. Undertaker's streak has finally fallen, and it has fallen to Brock Lesnar. That dude is probably my favorite pro wrestler and I hate this. The match was shitty and they gave the streak to a part-timer. I just don't know.
DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATIONAL
After the streak ended, it was impossible to get into this. These ladies were given the death spots of all death spots and it showed. No one cared, including me and I can't act like I did.
Okay, I will say the Bella twins confrontation was kind of cool and AJ Lee winning was even cooler.
RANDY ORTON VS. BATISTA VS. DANIEL BRYAN
Again, still so much shock from Lesnar's win that these Rev Theory clowns coming out and playing this awful metal bullshit song for Randy Orton sucked so much harder than it would have otherwise. Like, it was always going to suck something fierce but wow, the last thing I need is some weird looking black haired screaming idiot screaming about voices talking to him.
They were selling Extreme Rules during Batista's entrance and I couldn't help but think about ending the streak on the first ever WWE Network PPV. I just don't know.
When Daniel Bryan was making his entrance, the idea of his losing made me think there would literally be riots at the arena. We say that so much it has no real meaning, especially considering there absolutely are instances when fans riot at events they aren't happy about, like sporting outings. There were reports of fans leaving after Undertaker lost, Cena had won... I just don't want to think of it.
It also occurred to me that maybe Undertaker's streak would hurt the impact of Bryan's title win, if that's what would happen. The fans were loud and proud for the introduction, though, so we'll see.
As expected, Bryan was absolutely the reason the fans managed to continue to care about this event, and he carried the match like WWE was expecting him to. I cannot even begin to fathom what would have happened had Orton vs. Batista gone on last after everything that's happened tonight.
Then Triple H and Stephanie McMahon ran in and after all this time, Scott Armstrong made a comeback. It was a really great bit of continuity, and after some insanity that featured Bryan hitting a suicide dive on Triple H, Stephanie, and Armstrong, the sledgehammer showed up and things got really crazy. The crowd was fully invested by this point, and all of them were behind Bryan in a big way.
Michael Cole is AWFUL.
This match, by its end, was something special. The air was still sucked out of the building because of the Undertaker loss but they still created some incredible moments. One of the best was Orton jumping over a spear from Batista that crashed into Bryan, causing him to roll out of the ring, and Orton's follow up RKO felt like the end. After everything, it would have been the ultimate gut punch, a serious shot to the nads that you couldn't recover from. But Batista kicked out, and we cheered him for it. But we cheered because it meant Bryan was still in it. Then Bryan came back in and hit the flying knee on Orton but before he could get the pin, Batista threw him out, making us hate him that much more. This match was laid out beatifully, especially because the finish was Batista bombing Orton then Bryan hitting the flying knee on Batista and tapping him with the YES Lock. It was perfect. It was an amazing way to end a surreal night filled with greatness.
To get complete blow-by-blow coverage of the entire event .
With this being WrestleMania, a regular reactions theme simply won't cut it, so we'll go through the card match-by-match and respond accordingly. As usual, these were written in real time as the show went along. Let's get to it:
USOS VS. RYBAXEL VS. REAL AMERICANS VS. LOS MATADORES
Dear god, the Ryback/Curtis Axel mash-up theme might be the worst sound ever produced by WWE, and that's really saying something. Axel was at his most annoying on the biggest stage, screaming uncontrollably for reasons no one has figured out jst yet.
The one thing we really got from this match was how amazing the stage set up and entrances would be for all the big names to come later. It looked about as aesthetically pleasing as possible, all things considered. That's a weird thing to be excited about, of course, but that's what WWE does for big shows like this. They somehow get you hyped for entrances.
Los Matadores going out first surely had those of us who watched the Hall of Fame ceremony thinking Carlito was to blame, right? If so, to hell with Carlito because this meant we didn't get to see a Cesaro Swing on El Torito. To say that was disappointing is putting it mildly.
Greatly enjoyed the spot late in the match with The Usos and Real Americans working their gimmicks to the crowd and squaring off like two titan tag teams. The Usos double suicide dives were rough, but the chaotic nature of tag team matches is always fun, especially when everyone's got their timing down just right.
I would have rather Cesaro broke up with Swagger on Raw tomorrow night but it sure was fun watching him refuse Swagger's handshake while 70,000 fans were begging for him to lay waste to his partner.
Hulk Hogan opening WrestleMania was fine with me because while I may not necessarily practice tradition, I do have respect for it. This man WAS WrestleMania for the first decade of its existence. It's entirely possible we wouldn't be here if not for Hulk Hogan. It doesn't matter how much you know about his politics and his gigantic ego and ridiculous lies.
Then he botched the line about being in the Silverdome instead of the Superdome. They were turning on him. It was amazing.
Then the glass shattered and Stone Cold Steve Austin came out to interrupt Hulk and I was done. This was a special moment, even though I knew there would be no Stunner and no real confrontation. They had a staredown and it was great. This was huge. It was everything we could want. Then Austin ribbed Hogan for botching his lines and my god, BEST NIGHT EVER. Short but sweet promo.
Then The Rock's music hit and I just cannot fucking do this anymore. I died. In that moment, I died. I shouted like a kid who just opened the best Christmas present he would ever receive. They really did manage to do something special and I can see why Rock and Austin came back for this. WrestleMania 30: Austin, Hogan, Rock; all in the same ring at the same time. This was just so damn cool.
DANIEL BRYAN VS. TRIPLE H
Opening with this match feels like the right call to me, depending on how they play the booking later.
Triple H's entrance theme was awesome. I read arguments that it was campy and silly and other lame terms like that but I wonder why the hell those people watch such a campy and silly thing like pro wrestling then bitch about it being too campy and silly. Of all the things to be critical of, WWE going all out Game of Thrones style for Triple H's entrance really isn't one of them.
We knew the "YES" chants from the crowd would both sound and look impressive. But actually seeing it in HD on a big screen television was something to behold. It was almost as surreal as Mr. T talking about his mom's urinary tract at the Hall of Fame ceremony during his induction speech.
Loved Triple H opening the match by hanging back and letting the moment breathe. He's got years and years of experience in the industry that have led him to knowing exactly how to play a moment like this. It was already going to feel big because of the stakes and the build to the match, but he made it feel that much bigger.
I can't do the match justice. Triple H was rocking moves he should never rock, Bryan was masterful in his selling of the shoulder injury, and they absolutely did the right thing booking this exactly the way they should have booked it. Kudos to all involved here.
ANDRE THE GIANT MEMORIAL BATTLE ROYAL
Immediately it was a disappointment because Big Show and Sheamus, the two blandest of babyfaces, were the only two to get entrances and the three unannounced spots weren't made a big deal at all. Why bother leaving those three spots open if they weren't going to make a big thing of it, or even a thing of it at all?
Did Sheamus really have to beat the eve loving shit out of Fandango the way he did? And after New Orleans brought Fandangoing back?
Kofi Kingston is an insane person who does insane things every time he's asked without ever failing. They book him to do crazy spots that have a high risk of making him look silly in front of the largest audiences WWE draws, and he always comes through. His entire career is being built on this.
Cesaro winning this match was a legitimately awesome surprise. He wasn't even supposed to be in it, then Christian suffered a concussion and WWE decided to get behind Cesaro and push. The way he won was a nice little homage to Andre too, what with the whole amazing feat of strength picking Big Show up like he was slamming him over the top for the victory. Super, super cool that the Super, Superdome immediately recognized the spot and went nuts for it.
BRAY WYATT VS. JOHN CENA
Bray Wyatt's character lends itself wonderfully to the campy and oftentimes creepy world of pro wrestling. And while many thought a heel act shouldn't get a live band playing him out to the ring, they really set the mood just right for the match by having them play him out and giving him plenty of time to freak the crowd out.
Okay, I was freaked out too.
John Cena started off by treating the match seriously, so at least he didn't just totally forget the story they were trying to tell and bury it completely by laughing and smiling while talking to the camera during his entrance. I absolutely expected as much.
This match. Cena really chewed up the scenery here and while the hamming it up is normally grating, it worked here. This is everything Kane was supposed to do when he was telling John to "embrace the hate" instead of rising above it. Wyatt was just here to expose the hate and this actually worked because Bray was getting to him and it felt like it meant something.
We've now seen the very best counter to that stupid ass five-knuckle shuffle. I'm not sure we'll ever get anything better than Wyatt doing that spider crawl right when Cena came off the ropes and Cena selling pants shitting terror at the sight that greeted him. Extra points for Cena adjusting later when he went through with the move the second time.
Heels are born to lose. With that being said, John Cena winning was not the right decision here, not even a little bit. Maybe they stretch this and Wyatt eventually does something special but while the storytelling in this match was amazing, the end was not. I was thoroughly enjoying the proceedings all the way up until the end when WWE just gut punched me with the same old bullshit we've been getting for nearly a decade. And John Cena will have you think he's really helping the young guys here, working the mid-card and giving them good matches.
HALL OF FAME 2014 CLASS
Ultimate Warrior got his entrance music played over the speakers for a nice little moment during the show. But he didn't run down and shake the ropes. That made this a waste of time, though they only spent a couple minutes on it.
UNDERTAKER VS. BROCK LESNAR
Undertaker's entrance wasn't as good as last year, but I really liked the hubris of having the caskets laid out and Lesnar's already there with 22-0 on it. There's something to like about extremely talented stars who know they're extremely talented and aren't afraid of pushing that they're extremely talented. This was Undertaker's small way of doing that.
The crowd was absolutely dead for most of this match, and rightfully so. They worked it really, really slow. I don't mind having Lesnar play up his power but it felt contrived somehow, like we knew what was coming and we also knew Lesnar had no shot at winning. You could argue the booking of the story leading into this match had a lot to do with the muted reactions, and you wouldn't be wrong.
To really demonstrate the problems with this match, the Old School getting countered into an F-5, the second of the match, should have been a truly thrilling false finish. Instead, it was just another kickout while we waited for the end.
Lesnar's ass crack made an appearance in this match. It was awful. This was bad.
Welp, just let me sit here and hate everything about this. I cannot believe they ended the streak like this. Undertaker's streak has finally fallen, and it has fallen to Brock Lesnar. That dude is probably my favorite pro wrestler and I hate this. The match was shitty and they gave the streak to a part-timer. I just don't know.
DIVAS CHAMPIONSHIP INVITATIONAL
After the streak ended, it was impossible to get into this. These ladies were given the death spots of all death spots and it showed. No one cared, including me and I can't act like I did.
Okay, I will say the Bella twins confrontation was kind of cool and AJ Lee winning was even cooler.
RANDY ORTON VS. BATISTA VS. DANIEL BRYAN
Again, still so much shock from Lesnar's win that these Rev Theory clowns coming out and playing this awful metal bullshit song for Randy Orton sucked so much harder than it would have otherwise. Like, it was always going to suck something fierce but wow, the last thing I need is some weird looking black haired screaming idiot screaming about voices talking to him.
They were selling Extreme Rules during Batista's entrance and I couldn't help but think about ending the streak on the first ever WWE Network PPV. I just don't know.
When Daniel Bryan was making his entrance, the idea of his losing made me think there would literally be riots at the arena. We say that so much it has no real meaning, especially considering there absolutely are instances when fans riot at events they aren't happy about, like sporting outings. There were reports of fans leaving after Undertaker lost, Cena had won... I just don't want to think of it.
It also occurred to me that maybe Undertaker's streak would hurt the impact of Bryan's title win, if that's what would happen. The fans were loud and proud for the introduction, though, so we'll see.
As expected, Bryan was absolutely the reason the fans managed to continue to care about this event, and he carried the match like WWE was expecting him to. I cannot even begin to fathom what would have happened had Orton vs. Batista gone on last after everything that's happened tonight.
Then Triple H and Stephanie McMahon ran in and after all this time, Scott Armstrong made a comeback. It was a really great bit of continuity, and after some insanity that featured Bryan hitting a suicide dive on Triple H, Stephanie, and Armstrong, the sledgehammer showed up and things got really crazy. The crowd was fully invested by this point, and all of them were behind Bryan in a big way.
Michael Cole is AWFUL.
This match, by its end, was something special. The air was still sucked out of the building because of the Undertaker loss but they still created some incredible moments. One of the best was Orton jumping over a spear from Batista that crashed into Bryan, causing him to roll out of the ring, and Orton's follow up RKO felt like the end. After everything, it would have been the ultimate gut punch, a serious shot to the nads that you couldn't recover from. But Batista kicked out, and we cheered him for it. But we cheered because it meant Bryan was still in it. Then Bryan came back in and hit the flying knee on Orton but before he could get the pin, Batista threw him out, making us hate him that much more. This match was laid out beatifully, especially because the finish was Batista bombing Orton then Bryan hitting the flying knee on Batista and tapping him with the YES Lock. It was perfect. It was an amazing way to end a surreal night filled with greatness.
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