I will preface this by saying that likely the women’s match will be topped but I mainly talking about the other four.
I actually think those four matches will not be topped by anything else at wrestlemania. Which is really sad when you think about how many matches are at wrestlemania and how 4/5 of the takeover matches will likely be better than anything.
Do you feel anything at wrestlemania will top one of these 4 matches?
I know people may say Bryan and Kofi but I don’t see it happening. I figure the crowd will chant like lemmings for Kofi but I still don’t think the overall quality of the match will top any of these 4.
I think all 3 title matches can. They’ll all have the crowd in those matches.
Bryan’s been great aside from the match with AJ at Rumble, and both those guys are gonna do everything in their power to get the match over.
Brock’s a great wrestler and people always bite on his matches when Roman isn’t involved.
And Bekcy and Charlotte have a great track record against each other (including a triple threat Mania match), Ronda’s great, and there’s gonna be a ton of people doing everything they can to make this genuinely deserving and historic come officially that way.
I also think AJ/Randy has a good chance if ya give em 12-15
For me this is the one time of the year where i say that you really can’t compare takeover with the main roster even.
Takeover as a formula that works for the fans of the brand. You give them overbooked match with simple storytelling and they will go ape shit for this,. The quality of the matches is there mostly because they know what fans of the brand want.
As far as mania is concern, it’s less about the match quality and more about the spectacle of it all. Fans will buy into the four main match and as far as reactions are concern, they will get into them especially if you deliver on the feel good ending.
They might not get 5 stars ratings like most of the takeover matches but they will get better reactions actually i could see miz vs shane being the surprise of the night and being a top most of the takeover matches,
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I hate Shane. He’s a horrible wrestler. Miz is just as bad.
I guess for me the crowd reaction isn’t what makes a match. It’s important yes but I know that most WWE fans are just beer drinking lemmings who like to chant WHAT lol. It’s not some high end sophisticated crowd or anything. So they will like anything even if it’s stupid.
I would much prefer a quality wrestling match over people going nuts over a Shane McMahon punch. So while I agree the crowd can make a match better (ie Hogan vs Rock as the prime example) its not nearly as big a factor as the in ring work for me.
I think Brock may be motivated but we shall see. He doesn’t usually have 4 star plus matches. Bryan and Kofi will be good - not sure if it tops any of those 4 Takeover matches but likely best of the night.
The main event will be good but in general triple threats are hard to book. I fear it will be overbooked liked their whole feud. WWE is dumb like that.
Finally AJ vs Randy may be really good. But I’ve been disappointed with AJ lately as many can’t miss matches have missed (AJ VS Nakamura, AJ vs Joe, AJ vs Bryan). So not sure if he will deliver like he has before. Recent track record hasn’t been that great.
Even the women’s match was top quality for me and will be hard to beat.
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This. I agree that you can’t really compare them. Or at least you need to acknowledge the two shows have two entirely different goals.
I’ve been trying to think of a metaphor and if watching a TakeOver is like watching an intense episode of Breaking Bad where you don’t look at your phone for an hour while watching Wrestlemania is watching a Friends or Office marathon.
Both are pleasurable TV experiences. But Wrestlemania is kind of meant to be “on in the backgound” of a party until the main events with enough downtime or midcard matches for you to tweet about it and be engaged online. Maybe do some shopping on Wweshop.com or order pizza from their sponsor.
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I think Take Over Likely has the top couple matches, but I could see Bryan V Kofi and The Women’s Main event hitting Dream V Riddle which for me was 3rd best on the card. Maybe it was lack of investiment but Dunn v Walter was good but I felt it and the women were a step down from the others.
For me that Dunne and Walter match was the one I was most invested and looking forward to so it was everything I dreamed it would be. Funny how that is compared to you not being invested. I’ve been a fan of Walters for a long time.
As for Dream and Riddle I agree that’s the one that might be topped but the sheer shock of Riddle losing I think good anything WM throws at me.
I expect Kofi to win - no shock there
I expect Becky to win - again no shock
I didn’t expect Riddle to lose - so that might put it over the top slightly
Nothing is touching Gargano and Cole or the tag match (and for me Dunne and Walter as well)
Yeah it was my first time really seen Walter as I don’t follow the U.K. scene much. I though Riddle would either lose or he would win but not take the title. It was too soon for Dream to drop the title. So that wasn’t a huge shock to especially the “roll up” win. If it was a purple rain maker pin I would have been shock
The NXT crowd overreacting to every little thing and Mauro Ranallo making constant pop culture references on commentary did become quite annoying very quickly. The endless “too sweeeet” and “NXT” chants were especially annoying.
Not saying the matches weren’t great, they were very good but the NXT crowd, as always, were up their own backside.
Agree about Mauro. Not sure why everyone loves him so much. Just sounds like an old man making pop cultures references that are forced. Nigel is way better
So after the weekend I would put Kofi and Bryan easily above the women and Walter v Dunne. Probably over Riddle Dream as well. Probably not as good in the ring as the other 2 matches, but I would say on par when emotion and story are put into it as well. So probably Gargano v Cole #1 and Kofi v Bryan # 2. I think the tag match was close and probably better in Ring but it wasn’t built with a story I cared about.
yeah I cannot disagree that was a great match
I would have ranked them
Gargano v cole
War raiders/Ricochet + Black
as the best two
then
Dunne vs Walter
Kofi vs Bryan
Riddle vs Velvteen
really in any order, all were about the same.
nothing else at WM was close to 4 stars. Sad that 4/5 are better than 16/17 lol
Kofi vs Bryan is my match of the weekend, personally. I thought that was better than anything on Takeover and I really enjoyed Takeover.
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I thought the women’s main event could have come close and was probably better than the women’s NXT match, but much like the NXT match the ending was disappointing.
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Gargano vs Cole was probably the match of the weekend, but I think the other 4 matches on Takeover were really nothing special. Walter and Dunne went way too long. The tag match was really good, but I’m not sure it was THAT much better than Lesnar/Rollins, Kofi/Bryan, or the women’s match.
If you list the top 5 matches of the weekend, only one comes from NXT.
No way does Lesner Rollins make my top 5. I’m not sure if it makes my top 5 at Mania.
If I listed mine it would be
1.) Gargano v Cole
2.) Kofi v Bryan
3.) NXT tag title match
4.) Dream v Riddle
5.) Women’s Main event
At Mania AJ Orton, the Smackdown tag match, and the Cruiserweighht match are all easier better than the Universal title angle (it wasn’t even really a match.). I’m glad Rollins has the title but let’s not pretend it was a great match. It was a pre match attack, then essentially a low blow and 3 finishers.
That said if your top 5 is largely from non-wwe events I cannot comment on that as I did not watch them.
Lesnar vs Rollins??
I would not have given that 3 starts. Other than the surprise of opening the show it had what 3 moves?
I’ll give you the universal title match being more of an angle than a match, but I enjoyed the heck out of it and it was definitely a highlight. Sometimes it isn’t all about stars and match length. If you liked something and it stood out, then it stood out.
The only thing that sticks out in my mind from that Dream/Riddle match is the German from the ropes. I didn’t think anything else was very memorable.
We will have to agree to disagree. Lesnar vs Rollins was probably my 2nd most disappointing match after the women’s Main event