Wrestlemania

The Mania of March- The Spotlight On Wrestlemania 1

Tom Lynch Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Well it’s that time of the year again isn’t it. It’s that time after the superbowl and just a few months away from baseball season. For some sports fans, they consider this the lull of the sports year but for us wrestling fans we consider this the pinnacle of sports entertainment. That is because from the end of January until the beginning of April, the WWE takes us on the road to Wrestlemania. Hello everyone and thank you for joining me on this journey through the Mania of March. Get set for 31 days and 31 Wrestlemanias through the perspective of a lifelong fan. Every day I will present another Wrestlemania going over some of the biggest moments and the biggest matches that you can follow along with if you’re watching an old coliseum video or going back through the archives of the WWE Network. Even more than that I’m going to tie in personal stories & reflections about wrestling that happened for me as a fan each year. I’ll include pictures (and some videos) of some autograph signings and events I went to as well as memories of what it was like being a fan back during that period of time. This should be a really be a fun ordeal (Especially once we get to the Wrestlemanias that I was alive for) and I would love for it to be interactive. You can always join us on twitter @Daily_Spotlight or join me personally @TommyOnTheSpot. You can also reach us by email at thedailyspotlight2@gmail.com or leave a comment in the comment section below as I’d love to hear some of your feedback as we go through the month of March here.

It’s probably important that we start with the beginning of when I became a wrestling fan. Few people probably know the exact moment that they became a fan of something but I do here. See when I was born, my mother would go to work on the weekends, at least after maternity leave, and so my father watched me. Before the days of Raw & Smackdown, wrestling was on TV on the weekends, usually in the mornings. My dad was a big fan at the time and so while I was in my carriage I’d sit next to my dad as he watched six hours of wrestling every weekend. I really believe that at this time, I was destined to be a big fan. I’ve been a fan my entire life and I’m 29 now. Amongst wrestling fans these days, the lapsed fan podcast has become a big hit (hell I’ve basically stolen this idea from them but that’s a great show I’ve talked about many times so hopefully they won’t mind), well I can say that for better or worse I have never been lapsed. I have followed the WWE from those days with my father in that carriage thru today. Any time I have some down time at work or in my personal life I always like to mention that I’m a big wrestling fan. On the first day of school every year, I would wear my favorite WWF T Shirt as this was my way of making friends. Today I’m a coordinator for human resources and spend my time editing resumes for people all of the time. This didn’t stop me from proudly displaying my volunteer work at Wrestlemania 29 on my resume for every future employer to see. I’ve always been a big defender of all things wrestling. It’s always irked me to hear people scoff and say that wrestling is fake or question why anyone would watch it. For me I’m as passionate about wrestling, if not moreso, than I am about professional sports.

As for Wrestlemania, as I go through each of the different shows, you’ll see this changes but when I first started watching Wrestlemania, I didn’t realize it was such a big deal. This was because, as a kid, I loved gimmick matches. Thus, I’d go back and rewatch the Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble over and over and rarely would Wrestlemania until I got older. To me the Rumble was the biggest show of the year followed by the Series, Mania and Summerslam. Don’t worry though, sooner than later I was able to figure out what the true grand daddy of them all truly was… Wrestlemania! These days, my girlfriend and I attend every wrestlemania since we’ve been together (since the middle of 2012). We’ve been able to turn Wrestlemania into one of our annual vacations, for my girlfriend’s birthday no less. Thus, the further along we go through these wrestlemanias, they in many ways change as I have changed in my 29 years of life. I’ll go from reminiscing a lot about my family and in particular my father, who tragically passed away just a few months ago. We’ll go from the likes of attending fan fest with my dad during Wrestlemania 10 weekend to what it was like to be there the night Brock Lesnar ended the Undertaker’s streak and everything in between. Without any further ado let’s start at the top, with the very first Wrestlemania.


Wrestlemania 1: 

Photo Credit: USA Today

I wasn’t born yet for the first two manias. But I think I could sum my feelings of that first Wrestlemania by recalling a conversation I had with my girlfriends dad last week. There was a commercial that aired in the middle of the Knicks game (why I still support that terrible team I couldnt tell you) in which the MSG network was promoting a documentary they were airing on the original Wrestlemania. He said “The first Wrestlemania was the best, you had everyone on that show from Cyndi Lauper to Mr T to the Rockettes, even Muhammad Ali! That’s when wrestling was at its best!”. Now if you’d notice there, my girlfriend’s father didn’t mention one wrestler in that bunch and I can’t say I blame him. Other than Hull Hogan, on that first mania it was really more about the celebrities. The matches weren’t given too much time and for the most part don’t really hold up today. I mean on the first few matches alone they contained the likes of Special Delivery Jones, David Sammartino and the Executioner, not exactly first ballad WWE Hall of Famers. That being said, if you do go back and watch the celebrity involvement from the first Wrestlemania, whether it be Liberace dancing with the Rockettes, Pat Patterson doing everything he could to hold back Muhammad Ali or Mr. T teaming with Hulk Hogan, these are moments that stand the test of time and can be looked at fondly today.

Of course when looking at the first Wrestlemania you would be remised to mention the major financial risk that Vince McMahon took with Wrestlemania. This was really the first Wrestling event that was being pushed as a live pay per view event broadcast live through closed circuit telvision. Thus, the production for such an event was very expensive as was having so many A List celebrities as a part of the show. But through unbelievable promotion such as an appearance on Saturday Night Live for Hulk Hogan & Mr. T as well the rock and wrestling partnership with MTV, Wrestlemania was a smashing success. Not only did Wrestlemania sell out Madison Square Garden but it also raised over 1 million dollars on closed circuit television. If you’re unfamiliar with closed circuit, by the way,I really like the idea that the first Wrestlemania was mostly seen primarily through closed circuit, this was when fans would gather in arenas or theaters to watch Wrestlemania together because it was before the days of pay per view. I have always thought this would still work today. I think it would be really cool to go down to the Garden to watch Wrestlemania live on the big screens with a bunch of screaming WWE fans or even in the local AMC movie theater.

The One Match You Should See:

As far matches go with the first Wrestlemania, if you’re looking for that Shawn Michaels- Undertaker Wrestlemania 25 level match, you’re just not going to find it here. That said, the main event between Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff was a lot of fun with all of the celebrity involvement as well as Jimmy Snuka and Cowboy Bob Orton. I also really enjoyed the Andre The giant/ Big John Studd match if for nothing else than Andre The Giant getting the babyface spotlight. He’s just adored by that Garden crowd.

Well, that’s going to do it today but I’ll be back tomorrow as we’ll look at Wrestlemania 2!

Traveling Insanity, Conor McGregor & Wrestlemania March- The Daily Spotlight for 2/25

Tom Lynch The Daily Spotlight , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and a very happy Thursday to each and every one of you.  It’s a very happy Thursday for me as I’m working just a few blocks away from where I live.  There is, to me, nothing better aside from being off altogether than working so close to home.  I get to sleep for, I kid you not, anywhere from an hour to 2 hours more when I work in Queens then when I work in Brooklyn.  Thus, I circle the day on my calendar and look forward to a day like today more than any other.  Even with heading to the city later this afternoon I can’t complain whatsoever.  Heading to the city is delightful for me as I hop on the LIRR and away I go, no I don’t care if the LIRR is relatively boushey.  Anyway, let’s get into the spotlight.

– One thing that has really zapped me throughout the week (and one of the reasons why I was in desperate need for a queens day) has been my lack of recovery from my vacation this week.  That’s right it is officially vacation season for me and this kicked off for me in a big way.  I was able to go visit some family on Valentines Day weekend (relax slappy I took the lovely lady out on Saturday and she came with me for the weekend) over in Hershey, Pennsylvania.  I then returned to work for two days in Brooklyn on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Wednesday night we took off for Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  Now I’m the type of guy who hates taking off work for an illness or just to recover from a trip because my agency doesn’t offer specific sick time.  Thus, we spent Wednesday night to Monday night at 10:30 when we arrived back in New York.  My girlfriend was able to take off until Tuesday but I was up at 5AM, worked two jobs and then hit the gym until the gym closed at midnight.  At 22 years old I would have been just dandy but I was beat up and struggling through all of Wednesday.  I was running on straight coffee just to get through the day and crashed hard a little after midnight last night (I rarely hit the hey before 2).  Thus, it was really good to get a few extra z’s last night.  One great thing about going away by the way was how I was able to pick up a lot of great video content for the site that you can expect to see in the coming weeks.

– I consider myself to be a pretty big baseball fan.  Aside from football and wrestling, baseball is my favorite sport and the only other sport in which I follow the league inside and out.  That said, I am not the same about baseball that I am about football in that when baseball ends, I’m good until about a month before baseball before I feel like I need to get fully invested.  I don’t care about when pitchers and catchers report and if I watch more than 1 spring training game, it’s probably more than usual.  The 175 games that emcompass the baseball season are good enough for me.  This isn’t to say that I’m not invested, I’m a nats fan and one of the reasons I subscribe to Sirius XM is to make sure I can listen to all of the games while in the car and I purchase the mlb package so I can watch all of the Nats games (and I love a good west coast game that starts at 10:35PM our time).  That said, it just isn’t baseball for me until football is long and gone. With football now gone, however, it is in fact time to get into baseball.  I’ve been going through all of the different rosters and have to be honest, it could be a very tough year coming up for my Nats.  I’m not sold on any other team in our division but the middle of our infield is really weak defensively and while I’m happy we went out and got Ben Revere (and more to the point dropped Drew Storen and actually got a return!), I can’t believe that the Nationals did very little to improve our rotation.  While, Bronson Arroyo is a gamer and a winner, he’s in his late thirties now and coming off Tommy John surgery.  That means we’re depending on Gio Gonzalez, Tanner Roark and Joe Ross which scares me.  Maybe instead of trying to stick it to the New York Mets (and more or less failing) this offseason, we should have been worrying about improving our rotation.  Could be a long season, hope I’m wrong.

– I’m pretty bummed that Rafael Dos Anjos got hurt and won’t be facing Conor Mcgregor on March 5th, but honestly I feel like Nate Diaz is a great replacement.  The press conference yesterday was a lot of fun and I think that you have the two perfect guys to prepare for a fight like this on such short notice.  Conor is an absolute must see attraction whenever he fights but it will be interesting to see if Diaz and Mcgregor will be the main event now since it won’t be a title fight and Tate-Holm will be.  Even though everyone assumes this will be a sure fire win for McGregor, I wouldn’t be too shocked to see Diaz put up a really good fight.  Diaz is a gritty fighter who has a big time reach advantage on McGregor and Mcgregor is going up in weight class so much and fighting at 170 so I wouldn’t put the house on Conor in this one.

– Last piece of business to take care of.  As many of you know WrestleMania is under six weeks away.  In the past I’ve been reminiscing on different Survivor Series events and Royal Rumble events of years past.  Well in the month of March, I’m going to take things to the next level and bring you a WrestleMania a day.   I’ll break down a different WrestleMania from my perspective as a fan.  It works out perfectly with 31 days of March and 31 Wrestlemanias.  I’ll break them down each event from my experiences (the biggest moments, the best matches) as a fan and then I’ll parallel each WrestleMania with what I remember most from each year of being a fan of WWE.  I’ll include everything from pictures to videos, if I have them, to everything in between.  I want to really intertwine this idea with the youtube channel and get that off the ground as well.  This will all lead you right up ro WrestleMania weekend in which I will be on hand live to get you the most comprehensive coverage that someone who attends the event with his girlfriend, for her birthday, can possibly give you.  It’s bound to be a lot of fun and I’m excited for it.

Bret Hart, UFC on Fox & More- The Daily Spotlight for 2/1/16

Tom Lynch The Daily Spotlight , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hello everyone and happy Monday to ya, this is the Daily Spotlight for Monday, February 1st! Can you believe it is already February 1st? I sure can’t! My goal for this month is quite simple, to post a daily spotlight update for all 28 days of the month and I’m sticking to it! Of course, for those who don’t know (and how don’t you at this point?) the daily spotlight is a separate entity for the usual reviews you see here on the site and instead is a running blog of my day to day thoughts and adventures. Let’s get right into it.  

-Have to start with a real sad note to start with here, literally as I was piecing together the pieces of the spotlight, word came down that WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart has been diagnosed with Prostate Cancer. In a Statement released on Bret’s Official Facebook page, Hart posted the following

 “It is with great remorse that I feel compelled to speak truthfully to my friends, family and my millions of fans around the world. In the past few years, I’ve spent more than enough time paying the price for all those years trying to be the best there ever was as a professional wrestler. I executed excellently and my proudest claim was that I never seriously hurt or injured another wrestler in my 23 year career. I’ve paid a price for all that “fake” wrestling. Aside from a devastating career-ending concussion and numerous surgeries when I was younger, in recent years I’ve had two knee replacements, two hernia operations, surgery on my right elbow, and, just a few months ago, I underwent a four-corner fusion of my right wrist that even now makes it most difficult to write or type.
Mark Helprin wrote: “We are all perfect clocks that Divinity has set to ticking when, even before birth, the heart explodes into a lifelong dance.” I’ve had a great lifelong dance and I’m a survivor of many hard battles. I now face my toughest battle. With hesitation and fear, I openly declare myself in my fight against prostate cancer. In the next few days, I will undergo surgery with the hope of defeating this nemesis once and for all.

My fans have always looked upon me as a hero and I’ve always done my best to live up to that in and out of the ring. I beat the odds when I suffered my stroke in 2002, but it is now yet again, that I draw upon the many adults and young children I’ve met throughout my life who courageously fought and usually lost in their battles against this deadly disease. One year ago, I watched a brave young man named Whesley fight brain cancer to the end. If I can find even an ounce of his courage to stand unafraid and face the tough road ahead of me, I will march toward this destiny with his spirit chanting in my ear.
I make a solemn vow to all of those that once believed in me, the dead and the living, that I will wage my fearsome fight against cancer with one shield and one sword carrying my determination and my fury for life, emboldened by all the love that’s kept me going this long already. Love is my weapon and I’ve got much of it around me all the time, for which I’m truly blessed and eternally grateful. My children, grandchildren, and my loving wife Steph have been and will constantly be at my side. I refuse to lose, I will never give in or give up, and I will win this battle or die trying.

Most important of all, I hope I can take the fight to prostate cancer. To be a leader in awareness and to set the example for men everywhere who find themselves in my very same shoes, that prostate cancer can be beaten.”

Bret Hart is one of the all time greats in the history of WWE and one of my favorite Superstars of all time. I wish Bret a speedy recovery and my thoughts and prayers go out to he and his family during this difficult time.  

– I had a chance to check out UFC Fight Night on Fox Saturday night and let me tell you, when I first looked at this card I wondered how this show didn’t make it to a pay per view. You had one of the most exciting young fighters in Sage Northcutt, you had Josh Barnett returning for just his second fight in two years and you had Ryan Bader riding an impressive 5 fight, 2 year win streak going up against one of the best pound for pound fighters in Anthony Johnson. In the end, Northcutt was handled easily, early in round 2, Barnett tapped out for the first time in his career and Bader was knocked out in less than 90 seconds. It ended up being a pretty good for nothing show but what I will say is that the presentation on fox is a lot of fun (with the classic NFL music), and the highlight of the show for me was Daniel Cormier in the analyst role. He’s got such a natural good guy charisma and I can’t wait to see him and Jon Jones go at it, if and when that fight takes place.  
– We’re on the road to Wrestlemania and that really kicked off for WWE in a big way last week when The Rock made his return to Raw. What a fun appearance by the great one who is simply incomparable. It doesn’t appear that The Rock will be back on television until Wrestlemania and that’s ok in my book as he was able to get his moment in Miami and also establish that he’ll be at Wrestlemania. A few folks seem a little dejected that it doesn’t appear that the Rock will be back in the ring at this year’s Wrestlemania (and that hasn’t been confirmed by the way but that is the widespread belief) but I don’t think it’s particularly necessary for the Rock to be back in the ring. Sure his two Wrestlemania matches with John Cena were a lot of fun but I feel like the Rock has added so much to the show in his non wrestling appearances. Starting with his return as the host of Wrestlemania 27 to the opening of Wrestlemania 30 with Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin to showing up in California last year the night after hosting Saturday Night Live for an unforgettable moment with Ronda Rousey, the Rock always finds a way to steal the show whether it’s in the ring or out of the ring and it’s just great to have him as a part of the show.  
– Lastly, it’s been a busy time with my girlfriend’s family over the past two weeks. Just two weeks ago, my girlfriend’s niece turned 18 and held back to back (and belly to belly) birthday celebrations, culminating with a great meal over at Blend on the Water in Long Island City. Just last night my girlfriend’s other niece and our god daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday in grand fashion with a standing room only guest list of over 60 family and friends (54 more guest than I had at my plenty of seating room birthday party back in October, what’s up with that?). This all leads to tonight where we’ll be celebrating my girlfriend’s sister’s birthday in New york City, taking full advantage of Restaruant Week and trying Nobu (Nobu, Nobu, Nobu, Whoo…what no other Drake fans?) for the first time. I’m excited about that and will report back to all of you guys tomorrow about that experience.  By the way, this is a surprise party so I sure hope she isn’t reading this. 

That’s going to do it for me, but I will be back a bit later on with more fun content right here on thedailyspotlight.com… Until then, let’s knock this week out of this park! 

The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts- The Lapsed Fan 

Tom Lynch The Spotlight On Wrestling Podcasts, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Forget about Cesaro, they’re the real Kings Of Swing”

As I mentioned on the first post on the spotlight on wrestling podcasts, my idea with these blogs isn’t only to update everyone on a podcast you should go out of your way to listen to for a particular week.  That said,  I’m also looking to make wrestling fans more aware of  podcasts they maybe haven’t heard of or paid as much attention to as they should in the past. Today I’m going to talk about Wrestlezone.com’s Lapsed Fan Wrestling Podcast.

The Lapsed Fan hosts, JP Sarro & Jack Encarnacio, choose a classic wrestling pay per view from the archives of WWE, WCW or ECW that are currently in the on demand section of the WWE Network at random. When I first heard of the concept, I thought it was genius! This is the type of stuff us wrestling fans need as these podcasts encourage us to go back & watch an old pay per view we may have forgotten in the vast, sometimes overwhelming, library of wrestling events on the Network. Let’s get into some of the highlights of why I feel this is a must listen podcast you should go out of your way to hear.

Highlights 

1) A podcast for wrestling fans by wrestling fans- The thing about this podcast that I really enjoy is that both hosts are obviously lifelong fans of WWE. Even if they may have had periods of being “Lapsed”, at their core they are fans of the industry. Throughout the podcast not only is their attention to detail second to none but they also mix in a variety of stories from their past in which they went to different shows or signings that add a lot to the show or, in my case, lead me to reminisce about my experiences. There is one story, from the Wrestlemania 30 lapsed fan, where JP talks about how Jack got Virgil, yes wrestling superstar Virgil!, to appear at JP’s bachelor party, it has to be heard to be believed. The two hosts are also best friends & you can tell they love being around each other & talking about wrestling so, in turn, listeners like to listen to them talk about said wrestling.

2) 30 Weeks Of Wrestlemania- What’s great about The Lapsed Fan is that they pick the shows at random and so you don’t know which show will be reviewed next. With that said, the best feature theses guys have done thus far, in my opinion, has been there 30 week journey for Wrestlemania.  Every week they did a podcast dedicated to each one of the Wrestlemanias leading up to this year’s big show and even brought in Dave Meltzer for each show to get more of a historical perspective.  It was a great way to get excited for Wrestlemania and I would suggest that everyone who loves Wrestlemania history (what wrestling fan doesn’t? ) go back and check these out, maybe on the road to next year’s Wrestlemania.

3) The impressions-  All too frequently with wrestling podcasts, the material is discussed too seriously.  Well that isn’t the case here as Jack & JP remind you that, at the end of the day, wrestling is supposed to be fun.  JP Sarro in particular does a great job with his impressions of anyone from Vince McMahon to Jesse Ventura to Helen Hart to even Ludvig Borga.  These impressions are done just enough to keep you laughing without getting annoying.  Jack also does great as a counterpart to JP’s antics as the straight man that they end up balancing each other out very well.  The guys even find a way to get you to laugh at the some of the more tragic details of wrestling history such as with their death toll to start each show.

Closing Thoughts

At the end of the day I really think the Lapsed Fan is something that any long time wrestling fan should check out.  It’s important to point out that most episodes will give you entertainment for the entire week as each podcast goes for about four hours, sometimes as many as 7 but the guys do a good job starting off each episode with about an hour breakdown of the show which you can listen to if your short for time.  They then tie in fan feedback even encouraging fans to record audio of their own to send in.  Lastly, they move into a “deep dive” of the show which is the most comprehensive coverage of a wrestling show I’ve ever heard as they cover every match and story from the show.  This past week they just dropped their coverage of WWE Survivor Series 1993 and this week they’ll drop their coverage of WCW Great American Bash 1995.

The Lapsed Fan Podcast can be found at www.wrestlezone.com/tag/the-lapsed-fan

They can also be followed on twitter @thelapsedfan

And if you’re interested in supporting the guys monetarily you can do so here https://www.patreon.com/thelapsedfan?rf=751612&ty=2

That’s gonna do it for this week’s spotlight on wrestling podcasts, until next time, take care!

 

The Spotlight On The WWE Network- 24: Roman Reigns Never alone

Tom Lynch Spotlight On The WWE Network, Wrestling , , , , , , , , , ,

This past Monday night WWE launched the latest “24” Mini documentary following Roman Reigns on his road to Wrestlemania on the WWE Network.  First off, let me start off by saying how great it is that the WWE Network is producing more original programming for the Network.  I returned from my vacation Monday and while there I tried to keep up.  I watched Extreme Rules (How cool is that by the way? I watched a pay per view from my phone from my hotel room the same night as the show.  I used to have until the end of my vacation in order to catch the show that I missed but with the network this isn’t the case) and caught some of Jerry Springer’s “Too Hot For TV” but once the wedding craziness took over (my best friend got married and I was his best man) and then my family and I embarked on 3 days at Disney World and 2 days at Daytona Beach, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with all of the new content.  Honestly, I was pleased with this. I want the WWE Network to have so much new programming that it’s hard to keep up with everything.  I would love to see a time when the WWE Network has three hours of original programming each night during the primetime hours like most other networks & I think they’re moving in that direction.

As for the 24 series, it is quickly becoming my favorite series on the Network.  Being that I went to Wrestlemania this year I was intrigued to see how Roman Reigns’ Road to Wrestlemania unfolded from a behind the scenes perspective.  I can tell you now that you should go out of your way to watch this piece.  The piece, at only 33 minutes long, flies right by and even leaves a bit more to be desired.  I think the piece did a good job in showing the man behind Roman Reigns.  I feel like if this type of special were to be released while Reigns was recovering from his injury at the end of last year, then people may have gotten a bit more behind him in going for the title at Wrestlemania.    Let’s get into some of the highlights and lowlights of the piece.

Highlights

1) The Mania of Wrestlemania–  I always love to see the crazy schedules that the WWE superstars go through during Wresltemania week.  Does it look hectic?  Of course it does, but it also looks like such a good time and all of that is featured in this piece.  Reigns is followed going through all of his different media appearances, the hall of fame, his autographs signings and more.  They even show some footage from the Wrestlemania dress rehearsal, as you see Triple H preparing for his entrance.  It’s all really cool material that amplifies how big time Wrestlemania is.

2) I Can I Will- I enjoyed the parts of the piece that focused on Roman Reigns interacting with the fans as he seemed like a guy that you’d want to meet at a signing.  I particularly enjoyed the part where he was talking about being a role model and how he was embracing the role.  I’ve always admired Tim Tebow for the same thing as Reigns explains that he wants to be a role model despite the reputation he knows he has to live up to in being one.   Having kids then explain how the “I Can, I Will” catchphrase inspired them was a great tie in and showed how Reigns was already becoming a role model to many.

3) The Family Man–  All you hear about the famous Samoan wrestling family is how close they are and here you really got to see it.  It was nice to see how much support Reigns gets from his family especially when they showed his mother watching from the rafters at WrestleMania.  I enjoyed the scene which featured his family sitting at the table on the deck relaxing and reminiscing about the past.  Then the stuff with Reigns and his wife and daughter tugged at the viewer’s heart strings to show that he is a pretty good guy and a family man in every essence of the word.

4) “Everyone Stays At The Fairmount”-  Anyone who went to Wrestlemania knows that the Fairmount was one of the busiest places in San Jose that weekend as fans quickly found out that this was the WWE hotel.  If you were able to get into the building, you would have enjoyed the WWE replica chocolate belt but many fans seemed to enjoy waiting outside for a glimpse of their favorite superstars.  I really enjoyed the piece on the Fairmount as it showed that the building had history and gave a nice tour.  One of the first things I remember from Wrestlemania week was when Roman Reigns & Hulk Hogan took to the balcony of the Fairmount to greet the fans, really nice stuff.

Lowlights

Again this was a great piece that flew by and that I would really suggest checking out, I don’t think there were any clear lowlights of the film.  That said, there were a few things that I would have personally changed.  For one, I don’t think it was necessary to show as much of the main event in the documentary.  The match was great but that’s what the show itself was for.  Instead, if they are married to the 33 minute running time, I would have liked to see a lot more of the crowd reactions and maybe some of the wrestler reactions instead.  Where I was seated, on the floor towards the entrance ramp, there were many WWE superstars, NXT superstars and divas enjoying the main event live in person.  I would have loved to see some of those talents’ reactions as it would have added to importance of the match.  I would also have loved to see some of the crowd reactions and hear some of their reactions left in rather than the music.  Being a part of that crowd, I can tell you it was one of the best live crowds I’ve ever seen and the fans passion enhanced the match that much more.  Yes, Reigns was booed a good amount during the match but that’s ok as they established that some of the fans booed him at the Rumble and he’s just going to work hard to win them over.  I believe that Reigns is starting to win people over and pieces like this will only help his cause.  Imagine the story of Reigns getting booed out of the building during Wrestlemania 31 and then coming back to win the title at Wrestlemania 32 to much fanfare and adjulation.

Well that is going to do it for me, another strong documentary for the WWE Network.  Feel free to let me know what you think.