By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Dot Net reader Brian Oglesby attended WrestleMania weekend in Dallas, Texas and sent the following notes on various WWE events.
-Due to a delayed flight, I didn’t arrive at Smackdown until the beginning of the Baron Corbin and Drew McIntyre segment. When Drew first tried to put his sword through the ring, he missed the first time and it folded the sword. He got it in the correct spot on the second try. I don’t know if the first mishap was shown on TV or not.
-As for the WWE Hall of Fame, there were a couple of notable big reactions when everyone was coming out on the stage to take their seats. Rob Van Dam got a big pop, and the other was Triple H getting a huge reaction and a “Thank you, Hunter” chant.
-All of the inductors and inductees got a nice applause and reaction except for Dana Warrior. You just about could have heard a pin drop when she came out.
-The best comparison I can make for Undertaker’s crowd reaction was the reaction that Hollywood Hogan received from the Montreal crowd the night after WrestleMania 18. It was a monster reaction that just kept going. Everyone was on their feet for Taker, including those all the way up in the top row of the upper level. Other than a few fans yelling out from time to time, Taker held everyone’s attention and the fans were truly engaged during his speech. This was a very special moment to be in attendance for.
-As for both nights of WrestleMania, the crowd seemed to be about equal both nights. Night One had some riser seat rows that had a a lot of empty seats. There were also some empty seats on the floor seating as well. Night Two had more of those empty seats filled, but there seemed to be a few more empty seats towards the top of the upper levels for Night Two. Everyone around me had bought combo tickets.
-The stage seemed to come out further than when WrestleMania 32 was held here. The seats that I had for that show were tarped off this time and it seemed as though there was less seating available overall this time.
-I don’t know how it came across on television, but I could hardly hear America the Beautiful on Night One. The audio was better on Night Two for the song and overall in general.
-As far as crowd reactions, Steve Austin got the biggest pop of the night by far both nights. Kevin Owens got booed massively upon his entrance. On Night Two, the crowd really couldn’t do anything but laugh at how bad the Stunner to Vince McMahon went.
-I would say Undertaker was second both nights and that Cody Rhodes got the other biggest reaction of the weekend. Triple H also got a big reaction as he kicked off Night Two.
-Fans were the most invested in the Austin vs. Owens, Becky Lynch vs. Bianca Belair and Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins matches. The Edge vs. AJ Styles match seemed to have the most dueling chants out of any. The crowd was also really into RK-Bro and also got a lot of enjoyment and laughter out of the Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville match. The crowd also loved Pat McAfee’s intro song and was in to most everything he did.
-The crowd seemed pretty split when it came to the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match. The finish seemed to be abrupt as myself and those around me seemed to be expecting another 5-10 minutes. There was definite disappointment about the length and abrupt finish of the main event.
-Overall, a very fun weekend that I would say peaked with Undertaker’s Hall of Fame induction and for the return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the main event of Night One.
Spot on. Would also add that McAfee had “Seven Nation Army” as his theme when he came out for Smackdown and was getting a huge pop Friday night. Easily one of the bigger pops of the night until the RVD/HHH/Taker pops for HOF.
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-Overall, a very fun weekend that I would say peaked with Undertaker’s Hall of Fame induction and for the return of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in the main event of Night One.>>
Says all that needs to be said about the state of the WWE’s roster.
I am not sure the roster is the problem.