Official "BOOOOO-lieve DAT" RAW Thread 3-21

They waited too long to announce Taker's career is on the line. If this was announced from the get go, it would have made things SO much better and interesting.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Shane goes over, and next year Shane grants Taker one more match.

That's a real piss poor way to book a top guy of a quarter century. Let a 45 year old non wrestler beat him at WrestleMania then grant him another match.

Honestly, that butthurt comment was a pretty good sign he's just trying to bait people. Again. I already fell for one of his traps earlier in the thread, but I know better now. It's something about Wrestlemania season that brings the trolls out in full force. And in some cases it's bringing out some poor behaviour in otherwise good members which is also disappointing.

Roman Reigns looks like the biggest joke ever and it's not even his fault

Felt like a total maintanence show, which is not something you want with only thirteen days to go until Mania.

Roman's promo to start the show was pretty miserable, but he redeemed himself in the later segment. The garage door opening to reveal him standing there was a little hokey, but it's the best use of him I've seen in this entire angle up to this point. Had the fans not been entirely fed up with him and completely unwilling to accept him, I think that segment would've come off quite well. Instead, it was met with lackadaisical silence.

Taker's career being on the line finally adds a little bit of sense to this whole thing. Vince is essentially holding Taker's career as ransom. That should've been announced from the start. With that being said, it doesn't change the fundamental problem with this match, which is that I don't want either of them to win. I don't want Shane to end Taker's career, and I certainly don't want to see Triple H and Stephanie continue to run Raw as heels. There's no positive outcome here.

Not to mention, Shane already said that the product isn't good and will continue on a downward spiral if Vince continues to run the company. So, if Taker wins, you've told your audience that the product is bad, and it's getting worse.

AJ's trajectory seems to be on a downward spiral. The fact that he couldn't get Philadelphia, a crowd that should, in theory, pop huge for him, to chant his name when he was leading them, is a really, really bad sign. I wouldn't even be remotely surprised if Vince pulls the plug on any hint of a push post Wrestlemania.

We're way past the point of logic with this year's Wrestlemania. If you can somehow put all of that aside, the show looks like an half-baked Summerslam at best. But, it is what it is.

2 things that would have improved the Shane/Taker match....

1) had Taker been undefeated still. Imagine if he had never lost yet and in his final match he lays down for Shane at the end of it, allowing him to beat him and sticking it to Vince, who would have never guessed in a million years that Taker would fall on his own sword and end the streak by his own hand. Taker "loses" but in everyone's heart is still undefeated

2) They keep addressing Shane as a risk taker....a simple re wording of this would add so much value and depth to that phrase. They should say, everything VINCE McMahon will risk in business, Shane will risk in the ring. As a McMahon himself, all the big risks Vince has taken with his company, Shane McMahon applies to his body. He, like his father, will do anything, risk anything, to come out on top. Now your thinking, yes Taker is better, but wasn't WCW more powerful than WWF for a time? YES, but a McMahon will not lose, despite the odds because they will leave it all on the line and take the ultimate risk to come out on top.

Shane should be described as the literal visual of all of Vince McMahon's financial risks he made in building the WWE. YOU CAN SEE just how much a McMahon is willing to lose in order to win

I'd say outside AJ vs Owens, nearly everything else was bad. A lot of it was horribly bad. Nice hype package for Shane/Taker as well.

Everything Roman does just makes me dislike him more. He's such a fake tough guy. I know there's very little chance of it happening, but I will mark out so much if Triple H beats him. It's not even that I want Triple H to win so much, it's that I want Roman Reigns to lose so much. Similar to Cena vs Rollins at Summerslam.

Wow.

As crap as the shows leading up to it have been, I'm sure I'll still enjoy WrestleMania itself. I think the Hell In A Cell match will be exciting, lots of drama.