How much action was in the match?
WrestleMania 21 was an event that was chockfull of all kinds of action. It seemed as though Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels were in an all-out brawl until the winner was declared. The action was not only constant, I felt as though it was excessively brutal as well. From slamming into tables, slamming into corners of the ring, and the very long ankle lock submission. There was so much action that both contestants seemed to be completely exhausted by the conclusion of the match. There were also a lot of punches and slaps. This seemed to me to be very uncharacteristic for a wrestling match. So, overall I feel as though the action in the match was very high.
What moves were used during the match?
This question is a tough one for me to answer. Considering my lack of expertise on anything that has to do with WWE, I have absolutely no idea. I have zero knowledge on what certain moves are called, or what these moves look like. Though, I did hear them say “SUPLEX” a lot, so I am assuming that was a move that was used a bit. There was also a lot of ankle lock submissions and a lot of throwing each other off of and onto things. That is about all I can say about the moves that were used in this match.
How realistic was the match?
Realism, or the lack thereof, is the reason why I have never even been slightly interested in the WWE industry. I found that this WrestleMania 21 match, along with the rest of wrestling events, were very obviously staged. This event to me was extremely corny. The moves and the overall plot seemed to be very forced, as if the whole thing was planned. Though I will give slight credit to the fact that there are some moves that you cannot fake. There are throws and slams that look as though they genuinely hurt. But, if you were to judge off of the entirety of the event, the event was not realistic to me at all.
How unpredictable was the match?
Due to the fact that my knowledge about anything to do with professional wrestling is extremely low, I had no idea who these two wrestlers were, their backstories, or their talent levels. I had never heard the names Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angle before watching this event. So, with that being said, I can very confidently say that I had no idea who was going to win the match, let alone what was going to happen. So to me, this WrestleMania 21 contest was incredibly unpredictable.
Does the match tell a story?
Again, I will bring up my very lacking knowledge about anything that has to do with WWE. Due to this, I have no idea what kind of narrative that these wrestlers were trying to convey. Though I did get some insight into their background in the introductions and the commentating from the announcers, I still do not know anything about a story that was being told. Also, whatever this story was that was being told, it really meant nothing to me since I am unaware of what any of it means.
What was the match’s overall reaction from the crowd?
My lack of experience watching wrestling again sort of restricts me from comparing to past events that I have seen, since I have not really seen other ones. Though overall I feel as though the crowd could have been more involved. Based on an intense football or basketball game, I am used to seeing a lot more fan involvement than what I saw in WrestleMania 21. I felt as though there were a good amount of dedicated fans for each wrestler, and they would cheer heavily for each. But then at the end when Kurt Angle won, it seemed as if everyone was cheering. This really confused me, because I am not used to seeing essentially everyone cheering for a winner, even when the winner wasn’t their own. So, the overall crowd reaction was pretty weird and underwhelming to me.
When I was younger, I always showed interest in different sports and activities. I was extremely involved in watching sporting events and things of that sort on TV with my dad. I also was a very active participant in pretty much every sport. This love for things in the sport realm has carried on heavily and is still a huge part of my life today. But, I have never in my life even been slightly interested in WWE. (That is funny because I even used to wrestle when I was in middle school). This is actually only my second time watching a professional wrestling event. So I really did not know a single thing about what to expect from WrestleMania 21. Nor do I know anything about any of the wrestlers or their moves. So, my review and opinions on this event is extremely far from expert. With that, here’s my review:
• How much action was in the match? 4.5
• What moves were used during the match? 2
• How realistic was the match? .5
• How unpredictable was the match? 4
• Does the match tell a story? 2
• What was the match’s overall reaction from the crowd? 3
JACOB KARAGLANIS
Jacob is a 18-year-old freshman from Louisville, Ky. He's majoring in sport management at WKU and plans on being an athletic director .
Final Average: 2.67 out of 5
