*OFFICIAL WRESTLEMANIA XXIX THREAD*

[Goldash]

Original post updated with what I think is the final card (unless WWE decides to cram Cesaro or Kaitlyn into the show somewhere).

[Goldash]

At the bar for WMXXIX. Getting ready!

Unfortunately Community Countdown is taking forever to render, so that may be up tomorrow.

We shall see what happens tonight. Let's go!

[Goldash]

The show was fairly underwhelming overall. I didn't walk away from it angry, nor did I walk away from it amazed like in past years...it's a fairly middle of the road, no nonsense, low risk event on a large scale.

Closest thing to an "all-time classic" was Punk/Taker, which I enjoyed a lot. The rest of the matches were good, neither great nor excellent. Rock/Cena II didn't have anything we haven't seen from either man and the countless reversals just seemed to be there for the hell of it, not necessarily for any type of reason.

Many negative reviews I've seen harp on the predictability/staleness of WWE's current product, which it's struggled with for a long time. The optimist that I am thought they'd at least throw in a few surprises. Unfortunately, they stayed the course. The Streak goes on, HHH will wrestle again, Alberto Del Rio and Team Hell No are still champions, and (of course) Cena "wins the big one" (not counting the damn near 50,000 other big ones he's already won over the past ten years).

WWE is obviously playing it safe and going for as many casual viewers as they can. I mean, they don't have to take any risks for the hardcore fanbase because there's no need. They're trying to satisfy a population at large --- not JUST hardcore fans --- by bringing in part-time stars like Rock and Lesnar. I'm hot and cold about the role of part-timers at the biggest wrestling event of the year, but Justin Henry of Wrestlecrap said it best: "Only the current WWE product would allow you to hate The Rock". They're all about being the leaders of social media and will do anything to get major mainstream media outlets to draw attention to their product (in positive ways, at least).

There was also something quite off about the show as well, probably due to time constraints. Note these exact timing errors have now happened three times since Wrestlemania 25. Though I'm sure none of the hardcore fanbase really wanted to see the Intergender 8-Person Tag match, it's a shame for the workers involved.

WWE will continue to make safe choices as long as they're alone at the top of the wrestling pecking order. Hardcore fans will continue to scoff at their decisions and execution, but until ratings, buyrates and funds plummet, there's hardly any need to take risks. They'll continue to appease the "purist" sector of their fanbase with great wrestling compilation DVD's, video games and the one or two hot angles/matches per year. In the grand scheme of things, it's entertainment and our passion, but not our way of life --- that is, unless we're in the ring ourselves. Rated actually said it best in our RBN group chat: "Like in any other sport, there's people who forget about reality and live a fictional one", referring to both ends of the mark and smark culture online. I couldn't agree more. Are we wrong for criticizing their product? Absolutely not --- but the WWE is not going to drop their tried-and-true philosophy and return to the Attitude Era overnight. It will continue to be business as usual until it bites them in the ass.

How does this long rant about the WWE product relate to the aftermath of Wrestlemania 29? I went in with optimistic expectations that this event would be a notch above the status-quo because of the bigger scale. Instead, Wrestlemania was as safe and predictable as its card. Not amazing, not horrible. Just an overall "meh" vibe. I doubt there's any other expectation from the current WWE.

[Joshua Bishop]

WWE is taking no risks in a risk-taking business. That's why they've gotten stale, and according to the decline in ratings for 3 hour Raws, they're becoming stagnant