Tuesday, April 4
Question: Instant reaction, is WrestleMania 33 a top ten Mania of all time? If not where do you rank it?
James Derbyshire: Lower-tier middle. Had better intangibles than a 25 or 13, similar quality main events but didn’t have the one blowaway match those two did.
Rob Kinler: It was a good middle of the road show. I thought Owens Jericho match was about 3-5 to long. I thought bray changing the ring was nice new touch. The powers he got from sister abagale was a nice way to explain why he never did that before, but he used it 2x to much. I hated how unclimitc that rko and pin was Brock Goldburg was not great but the best match they have had. Triple H had one of the weaker entrance. was it me or did he look like a 1/2 inflated balloon. I hated how defenseless undertaker was. made it feel like a young up and comer who is trying to get respect for not staying down (Jeff Hardy undertaker ladder match comes to mind)roman taker (maybe the whole show) was over shadowed by the end. I seem to remember that is the end they wanted with Shawn Flair at 24 but Ric said no the title goes on last. Anyone else remember this over all it felt like it never got out of 3rd gear top 15.
Steven Joseph Ferrari: I’d call it mid-range
Ronnie Vod: They were well on their way to an all timer but fell apart towards the end. Obviously higher to me: 7,8,10,17,19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 26, 30, 31. So gotta say it’s on the outside looking in.
Aaron George: Well what are the one’s that are obviously higher? For me it’d be
3, 7, 8, 10, 17,19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30 and 31. Whereas I think it’s obviously better than 1, 2, 4, 9, 11, 15, 27, 32. The debate for me would be in those middle ones.
Mister Ooh-La-La: Somewhere in the middle. It was great through the ladder match then fell of a cliff pacing wise after that. Top 10 in chronological order for me would be: 3, 8, 10, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 30, 31
Andrew BigSky Dunson: Top 15. I think they killed it with the “WrestleMania moments”, but there aren’t any matches I am dying to watch again, and the layout was rough. But it was really good, got me excited for the future.
Chris Jordan: Just the sheer length of it keep it out of the top 10. If the first 6 matches were the entire card, then yes.
Kevin E. Pittack: No, maybe in the range of 20th best or so. The 2nd half collapse was just awful.
Jordan Duncan: Definitely not Top 10 but probably not bottom 10 either.
Dustin Motley: I would say yes. To me it’s definitely top 10 but towards the back like 8th or 9th.
Todd Weber: Top ten, but time will tell. Certainly the best “long” Mania ever.
Darren Smith: Not top ten. A good event and not bottom ten for sure but there have been many better. Think there could have been more possibilities for run ins with a shorter ramp.
Matthew Drysdale: No. Probably around 20th or so
Wednesday, April 5
Question: What year would have made the most sense to run John Cena vs Undertaker at WrestleMania? How would you have booked the match and angle?
Kevin Bowers: This won’t be popular, I think I’m going 29, Rock is done after 28, Cena wants to redeem his biggest loss by going for the Streak, if you want the title involved one of them ends Punks title reign.
Aaron George: I would go with 27. That show NEEDS a great match and this way you lose that awful main event as well. Miz can fight Morrison and HHH can stay home.
Mike Thomas: 23…faces Cena instead of Batista, or 26 and Hunter retires Shawn in stead of Taker.
JT Rozzero: I will say WM29… I would have done Rock/Punk for the title (Rock wins the Rumble) and Cena/Undertaker.
Dennis Nunez: I might actually go with 29 as well…rest of that show is kind of forgettable and it would’ve been a great boost to the card.
Michael Kostka: 23. Taker won the Rumble, Cena was champion and in the midst of his prime, having a killer year in 2007. I think that was the time they could’ve had the best match, at least.
Andrés Martínez Zalamea: WM 30 and Wyatt instead teams up with Harper and Rowan to face The Shield in a another barnburner.
Neil Trama: WrestleMania 30 would have been good because that felt like a very marquee match for a milestone show. Realistically I think the only other good option would be 26 if Shawn doesn’t want to do to the retirement angle. Since Shawn/Taker 1 had set the new standard for the Undertaker WrestleMania match, hope would have been high that they could put on a tremendous match and Cena had certainly been elevated enough as a worker by that point that he could deliver. Plus people still completely hated Cena here, as it was long before people began to hate Roman instead. I think if the injury doesn’t happen, Taker/Cena was main eventing last year’s show. Shane was only brought back as a replacement for Cena in that match.
Kevin E. Pittack: WrestleMania 30 was the time. The Brock loss didn’t need to happen then, and the Cena/Wyatt feud, especially in retrospect, was a loser. Cena/UT would have enhanced an already very good card. The Streak was at its peak, and Cena was coming off a very good, legend-cementing year. This was the height of their powers and the perfect time.
Matthew Drysdale: WrestleMania 21. Heel Cena rap-shoots on Taker and the streak, but goes down in defeat.
Thursday, April 6
Question: Who are your top five play by play wrestling announcers of all time?
Steve McCullagh: I don’t think I could rank my favorites, but I will say that I think Gordon Solie was boring as shit, I can’t stand Mauro Ranallo, and I utterly, totally and completely detest Joey Styles.
Troy Brostrom: 1. Jim Ross 2. Tony Schiavone 3. Gorilla Monsoon 4. Bill Mercer 5. Roger Kent
Chad Campbell: 1. Lance Russell 2. Bob caudle 3. Jim Ross 4. Tony schivaone 5. Solo Vince
Greg Phillips: 1) Jim Ross 2) Tony Schiavone 3) Gorilla 4) Vince 5) Gordon Solie
Paul Kilburn: 1 Lance Russell (not a single voice in wrestling I trust more than Lance) 2 Jim Ross 3 Tony Schiavone 4 Joey Styles 5 Excalibur (not sure how he’d be elsewhere but he’s the perfect guy to watch PWG with).
Matthew Michalovic: I began to make a list but realized it was JR and a bunch of color guys. Play by play is the narrator of the match but color fills out the characters. Big ups to Joey Styles and Gordon Solie.
James Derbyshire: I suppose this is a bit of a hot-take but as someone who only got into wrestling in 1997 – I don’t fully ‘get’ Gorilla Monsoon in rewatching the old stuff. He’d still probably make my top 5 but I found myself constantly siding completely with Jesse or Bobby and being left feeling frustrated by Gorilla’s double-standards. I guess it was just a product of the time but when the babyfaces did something immoral or out of character, whereas JR would question them or lose faith in them, Gorilla would defend them to ridiculous lengths and turn around and call the heels for the exact same action.
Jeffrey Walker: 1. JR 2. Gorilla Monsoon 3.Jesse Ventura 4. Vince McMahon 5. Corey Graves
Mark Boomer: In no particular order:1. Jim Ross 2. Gordon Solie 3. Lance Russell 4. Bob Caudle 5. Jesse Ventura Honorable Mention:Tony Schiavone, Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Paul Heyman.
Kevin E. Pittack: In no particular order:JR, Vince, Gorilla, Michael Cole (Smackdown w/ Tazz version), Tony Schiavone.
Brian Brown: 1. Gorilla 2. JR 3. Schiavone 4. Styles 5. Vince
Mitch Rivera: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Jim Ross, Mike Tenay, Vince McMahon.
Chuck Ganc: Solie, Lance Russell, JR, Bill Mercer, Boyd Pierce.
David Gunter: Gordon Solie. Jim Ross. Harry Thornton. Lance Russell. Les Thatcher.
Samuel Johnson: Gordon Solie, Tony Schavione, Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan , Jim Ross.
Russ Mullins: Lance Russell, Jim Ross, Joey Styles, Gordon Solie, and Tony Schiavone.
Steven Willett: Jim Ross, Marc Lowrance, Gordon Solie, Jerry Lawler, Bill Mercer.
David Schletty: Gorilla Monsoon, Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Gordon Solie, Lance Russell, and also I liked Rod Trongard.
Adam Wirth: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura, Jerry Lawler, Gorilla Monsoon, Gordon Solie
Brian Piccione: Gordon Solie, Jim Ross, Mauro Ronallo, Gorilla Monsoon, Tony Schiovone.
Friday, April 7
Question: If you could time travel back to any live wrestling event in history, which would you attend and why?
Dustin Motley: WrestleMania 19. That was in the middle of my era and I love that show top to bottom and it felt electric there.
Ryan Harry: WrestleMania 14. I was at the house show in Chicago two weeks earlier, which was a house show with a HHH/Austin main event and even my non-wrestling fan dad who brought me to these events loved it and I would’ve loved to have seen the culmination of the build that most of those matches to Mania. I watched it scrambled but it would have been something live.
Jay Hinchey: I think one I would love to attend would be WrestleMania 6 with Hogan/Warrior and just feel that energy that whole night.
Chad Campbell: MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana from September 1983.
Scott Criscuolo: WrestleMania III
Patrick Fenton: First ever War Games match in ’87. Any of the Big 4 WWF shows early on.
Todd Weber: Wish I could contribute something original to this list but being at WM 18 would’ve been sublime.
Jason Sherman: Since I was at Manias 18 and 19, my vote is for Money in the Bank 2011. That crowd for that main event…wow.
Jordan Duncan: Misawa beating Jumbo maybe.
Kevin E. Pittack: I would love to be a part of those crowds in 97-98. They were unbelievably rowdy, hot, and brought an intensity and sense of urgency to everything. SummerSlam 1998 is one of my all time favorite cards, so I’d choose that one.
Nick Duke: Mania 18. The greatest crowd reaction in history.
Greg Phillips: WM III. To my eyes, anyway, the biggest crowd I’ve seen for a WWE event (maybe surpassed by Wembley and Dallas, but whatever), maybe the greatest match, and undoubtedly the biggest moment in American wrestling history with the slam.
Dennis Nunez: Easy one: WM III. I’ve always had a fascination with that show and usually imagined what it would have been like to have been there in the huge crowd with that atmosphere. Especially the pops when Steamboat wins the IC title and Hogan slams Andre.
Kevin Bowers: WrestleMania 3, to be among that huge crowd to witness Hulk/Andre and be blown away by Savage/Steamboat.
Paul Perryman: WrestleMania III to see Macho Man vs Ricky Steamboat and the possibly the biggest match in history at the time Hogan vs Andre.
Kevin Lagasse: Either to WrestleMania I in 1985 or to the Saturday Night’s Main Event TV taping in Hartford, back in December 1986 (airing January 3, 1987).
Steve LeVine: Cobo Arena to see the Shiek throw fire in anybodys face. I saw him do it to Johnny Valentine and it scared the crap out of me.
Eric Battle: Bret Hart v. Owen Hart WrestleMania X. The buildup leading to the match, and to watch a technical display that came from Stu Hart’s dungeon. It is my favorite WrestleMania match of all time, and it propelled Owen to stardom instantly.
Adrell Gibson: If I could take my father, we would go to WrestleMania 3. By myself, probably the first night of Ring of Honor.
Saturday, April 8
Question: What finishing move always made/makes you pop the most?
Chad Campbell: Arn’s spinebuster or the Burning Hammer
Scott Criscuolo: Total Elimination
Matthew Michalovic: Jake’s DDT, it was the Diamond Cutter before the Diamond Cutter. As a kid I popped for Bad News Brown’s Ghetto Blaster. Frog Splashes, be it five star, Eddie feelin’ froggy or Owen’s Bullfrog splash, a well done Frog Splash is a thing of beauty.
Kevin Bowers: I’m not sure if I’d call it pop but I definitely react when I see it, the Reverse Frankensteiner, I fear someone is going to botch that horribly one day and it won’t be pretty.
Andrew Barbarash: Stunner in WWE but Diamond Cutter for sure in WCW/Overall… every time DDP hit that damn thing I was out of my seat.
Jason Greenhouse: Total Elimination. Arguably the best tag team finisher ever.
Taylor Keahey: I wish finishers were still protected. The Razor’s Edge was always a great one to see live.
Dustin Motley: The Stunner. It may have been over used at times but every time it was used i loved it and popped.
Greg Phillips: Diamond Cutter comes to mind.
Jordan Duncan: I’ll throw some love to the spear/jackhammer combo.
Chris Mercurio: Stunner
Kevin Bowers: Canadian Destroyer
Logan Crosland: Past- Sweet chin music. Current- The Shatter Machine (The Revival)
Dan Dwyer: Burning Hammer
Stephen Dominey: Stunner
Kevin E. Pittack: Hogan Leg Drop, brother
Mike Thomas: Pedigree and Macho Man elbow. Also the curb stomp into RKO.
Jason Sherman: Swanton Bomb.
Angel Tobias; Sweet chin music. Anytime anywhere.
Kevin Richards: Nobody does the flying elbow like Savage, the height and distance was incredible.
Jason A. Martin Then – Tombstone Now – Magic Killer.
Paul Perryman: RKO or Superkick out of nowhere.
Linus Knight: Shane’s “Coast 2 Coast”
James Morgan: The Kawada driver. Even though both Kawada and his opponent knew it could potentiality turn out very bad, they still did it for the art of the match.
Danny Atwell: Jake Roberts’ DDT…the best.
Casey Bates: Perfectly timed sharpshooter from the Hitman
Adam Wirth: Jake the Snake’s DDT
Andrew Sanders: Tombstone & Sweet Chin Music
Zackry Zimmerman: Canadian Destroyer…such beauty.
Darren Smith: RKO, especially when it’s unexpected like WM 31
Eric Battle: Undertaker’s tombstone
Troy S Kenneson: Stone Cold Stunner. Quick and awesome!
Manny Bautista: Macho Man elbow, F5, Stunner and sweet chin music.
Sunday, April 9
Question: What’s your fondest memory of Saturday or Sunday morning wrestling?
Jason Greenhouse: Watching WWF Superstars Wrestling on WPIX in New York every Saturday morning. Andre turning on Hogan in Piper’s Pit will forever stand out.
Scott Criscuolo: Saturday mornings in channel 20 WTXX was Superstars, and I concur with Jason Greenhouse on the Andre turn.
Peter Smith: My favorite memory of Saturday morning wrestling was watching WWF mania and then WWF
Jim Manfredi: The banter of Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan
Rob Treviño: WWF Superstars, but it was the Spanish version so it was annoying with the Spanish guys translating every spoken word, but still fun…
Dennis Nunez: WWF Mania on Saturday mornings with Todd. That over caffeinated personality was perfect to get over all the storytelling that early in the morning when you were a kid.
Anthony Armentano: All American on Sunday USA at noon. Had some of the extra spots not shown on “regular tv” on Saturday
Jeff Allen: My favorite memory was the Saturday morning Gene Okerlund opened WWF Superstars bringing out the new WWF Champion Bret Hitman Hart. It was such a shock not being a televised match and it made me believe the times were changing in wrestling.
Paul Goldberg: Watching All Star Wrestling in Chicago with Dick the Bruiser, the Crusher, Baron von Raschke, Moose Cholak & Bobby Heenan in the old AWA days in the 60’s. Heenan & Nick Bockwinkle were great together.
Brian Rieger: I’ll never forget Jim Ross on the WCW Power Hour one morning. He opened with “We have a new world heavyweight champion! He’s Big Van Vader!” I was all “Damn, Sting lost.” My next one was similar. I was in 8th grade on a Sunday morning about to watch WWF. It opened in a different way, with Mean Gene standing in that old school platform by the fans near the entryway. He said “Ladies and gentlemen…please welcome the NEW World Wrestling Federation Champion…Bret Hitman Hart!” I was stunned. Flair had just won it back from Savage and Hart had just lost the IC belt. But once I saw him walk out with that belt on his shoulder, it really never looked better. He immediately made a great champion.
Alberto Ror Pagan: For me it would be really the only time as kids that me and my brother truly got a long. We had this thing called the “Saturday afternoon plan” which started with Saturday morning wrestling followed by G.L.O.W. and then a few hours of making luchador masks and title belts out of paper plates and aluminum foil. Good memories of me and my brother.
Brandon Hunter: Every Saturday when Superstars was on. My mom telling my brother and I to clean the room only to shove everything in the closet and her telling us after the show we were cleaning the room the proper way.
David Schletty: Watching WCW early in the morning, then cartoons, and then Superstars. And then Sunday watching All-American Wrestling.