WrestleMania 26 results and debrief

So WrestleMania 26 has come and gone. I have to give a thumbs up to WWE and Phoenix for putting on a great show. There were a lot of surprises and plenty to talk about so let's do this thing.

WrestleMania 26 results:

Streak vs. Career - No Count-out, No DQ: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker

Who won? The Undertaker. Not really surprising as Undertaker makes it 18-0 at WM, but HBK certainly had me believing that he would end The Streak a couple times. One of the biggest surprises of the night is that WWE decided to end the show with this clash of titans instead of a WWE/World Championship match. The only other time the last match of WM wasn't a title match was way back at WM11 when, for some reason, Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Lawrence Taylor closed out the show. I consider WM11 to be among the worst WMs in history and this is one of the main reasons.

Anyhoo, Taker and HBK did not disappoint on Sunday. I don't think that they were able to top their WM25 performance, but the emotions were running high since this was a career threatening match for HBK. Sadly, after 30 minutes, several chokeslams, a Last Ride, three Tombstone Piledrivers (the nail in the coffin being a brutal jumping Tombstone), HBK was forced to hang it up. The crowd gave him his due respect and, with tears in his eyes, Shawn Michaels left the ring for the last time as an active competitor.

To be sure, I was sad that Shawn's career was ended on Sunday, but I was still working under the impression that he'd be back in a few months and he'd pick up where he left off. To my surprise, it actually seems like he's going through with this retirement. The next night on RAW was a tribute to his career and he gave a pretty convincing farewell address. I'm still hoping that it's all a work and HBK will be back. But if he's done and wants to go home and be a father and husband, then no one else has earned that right more than him. I'm glad we got to be there to witness his final match. We'll always have the memories of the Showstopper.

My prediction: Undertaker (1-0)

WWE Championship: Batista (c) vs. John Cena

Who won? John Cena. John Cena and Batista had a great build up to their match and they didn't disappoint. Lots of back and forth, but in the end, Cena finally got his first win against The Animal by making him tap out to the STF. Cena's a good champ, but I'm hoping that his feud with Batista will continue.

My prediction: John Cena (2-0)

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge

Who won? Chris Jericho. Good job to WWE for not putting the World title on Edge who has failed to inspire many of the fans since his Royal Rumble return. The crowd in Phoenix seemed to be pretty 50/50 on Edge vs. Jericho. The funniest thing that happened from our seats was an Edgehead who totally LOST HIS SHIT when Edge came out. He was so excited that he literally tore his own sign in half. That's passion for you folks. Expect a continuation of this feud in the coming months.

My prediction: Chris Jericho (3-0)

No Holds Barred Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Vince McMahon

Who won? Bret "Hitman" Hart. Unfortunately, this was easily the worst match of the night. That's saying something considering we also saw Vickie Guererro wrestle and do the worst frog splash in the history of frog splashes. The build up was good, but the execution was not excellent. I will not bore with the details (because they are VERY boring), but it basically was a 15 minute ass kicking of Vince McMahon. Did Bret deserve to beat him so thoroughly and brutally? Absolutely. But they could have accomplished the same thing in 7-10 minutes. Hopefully this ends this feud and the Hitman can turn his attention to getting the Hart Dynasty some TV time.

My prediction? Bret "Hitman" Hart (4-0)

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Christian vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. MVP vs. vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston

Who won? Jack Swagger(!?). Wait, Jack Swagger?! What? Swagger winning Money in the Bank doesn't upset me, it just came totally out of left field. If WWE wants to elevate another young, talented guy then Swagger is certainly a good pick. I know some people haven't warmed to him, but I really like him. He's just such a doofus. It is hard for me to believe that Swagger will be elevated to the top spot, but then again, who would have thought that Sheamus would be WWE Champion for 3 months? The match itself wasn't as good as years past but it is always a fun time to watch. Kudos to WWE for surprising us, but really you couldn't cut Christian a break?

My predictions? 1. Drew McIntyre; 2. Kofi Kingston; 3. Christian; 4. Kane; 5. MVP; 6. Jack Swagger; 7. Matt Hardy; 8. Shelton Benjamin; 9. Dolph Ziggler; 10. Evan Bourne. (4-1)

Triple H vs. Sheamus

Who won? Triple H. This was a surprising win. Sheamus had much more to gain with a win and Triple H has nothing to lose. I'm assuming that there's some sort of master plan here (as evidenced by Sheamus's beat down of Triple H on RAW this Monday) but Triple H's win doesn't help him one bit.

My prediction? Sheamus (4-2)

Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz and Big Show (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth

Who won? Show Miz. This was the curtain jerker match (first match of the night) and it followed the path one would expect. Flashy entrances by Morrison and R-Truth. Typical back and forth between teams. Ends with a fist the size of a Honey Baked Ham slamming into John Morrison's skull courtesy of the Big Show. Still champs and now The Miz is 1-0 at WrestleMania! Next year he can fight the Undertaker!

My prediction? Show Miz (5-2)

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase

Who won? Randy Orton. This also played out as one would expect. Rhodes and DiBiase got distracted trying to be the one to actually pin Orton and get the win and the Viper struck from out of nowhere, punting Rhodes (who is now out "indefinitely) and RKOing DiBiase. The real surprise in this match was the crowd reaction to Randy. It's been so long since I've heard him cheered that it was totally foreign to me. But we all got up and cheered and clapped when he made his way down the aisle. Funny to see how characters develop.

My prediction? Randy Orton (6-2)

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

Who won? Rey Mysterio. This was also a confusing win. Sure it's nice that Rey gets to defend his family's honor and win out at WrestleMania, but Punk's momentum is sky high right now. If Punk had won, that would have forced Rey into the Straight Edge Society and that would have made for some good time for the next few months. I doubt this story is over, so hopefully we see more. The match was excellent. I can only imagine if these guys were given the main event slot on a pay-per-view and told to run with it.

My prediction? CM Punk (6-3)

10 Woman Tag Team Match: Michelle McCool (c - Womens), Maryse (c - Divas), Layla, Alicia Fox, & Vickie Guererro vs. Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Eve, & Gail Kim

Who won? Team Vickie. This match was thrown together at the last minute. Nice to see that Mickie is back from injury early. Unremarkable except for Vickie's horrible frog splash. But I bet Eddie was having a great time watching his wife from the Great Beyond. Hopefully this means that Beth will get a shot at taking away the Women's title from Michelle McCool soon.

Final Thoughts: So I'm 6-3 in my predictions, though can you call a loss in the MiTB match a real loss? There were 10 guys to choose! Maybe I'll take 6-2-1. So at WM26, we saw the end of a storied career. Some of the new blood that'll be WWE for the next couple of years (Sheamus, Swagger, Legacy). Now we just enjoy the ride and wait for WrestleMania 27 in Atlanta! My main event prediction: John Cena vs. The Undertaker. Discuss.