WrestleMania XXVIII thoughts

WrestleMania XXVIII
 

Now over two weeks late on this, but here are my thoughts on this year's WrestleMania. In general, it was a pretty solid show. The unfortunate trend of wasting time on pop music acts continues. When I buy a pay-per-view or attend an event, I'm there to see wrestling. Do not waste the time on this crap when it could be devoted to the Daniel Bryan-Sheamus match. Overall, I give this year's WM a six out of ten. Not the best, but better than last year. 

WWE Championship

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho

Match rating: Three and a half stars.

When you take away the rather pointless build-up and actually let these two wrestle, you get a great match. There was a good pace, lots of back and forth, and a good ending with Punk making Jericho tap out to the Anaconda Vice. Punk establishes that he is the Best in the World. Too bad he didn't actually get to close out the show. 

Winner: CM Punk (retains WWE Championship)

World Heavyweight Championship

Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Sheamus

Match rating: One and a half stars.

Ridiculous. First, that they again start out WrestleMania with a World title match (isn't this enough to indicate that two World champions are no longer necessary?). Second, Sheamus squashes Bryan in 18 seconds to win the title. If you had been 10 minutes late getting into the arena, you would have missed this entire thing. Horrible. The aftermatch has been good though as Daniel Bryan's heel personality has really caught fire. I suspect he'll find his way back to the championship within the next year.

Winner: Sheamus (New World Heavyweight Champion)

John Cena vs. The Rock

Match rating: Three and a half stars.

This match did not disappoint.  The Rock and Cena both showed up to entertain and they definitely did.  The ending was great with Cena teasing that he was going to hit The People's Elbow only to be met with a Rock Bottom.  Pretty surprised that The Rock won since Cena's the one they really need to make strong going forward.  Maybe they are building towards a SummerSlam rematch?  Winner: The Rock

Hell in a Cell - The End of an Era

Undertaker vs. Triple H

Special Guest Referee: Shawn Michaels

Match rating: Four stars.

Like last year's WrestleMania, this match stole the show.  While it was clear that Undertaker was going to end up with the win, the manner in which they got there was thrilling.  In the early goings of the match, it was clear that HBK had nothing to do.  In Hell in a Cell, the referee's only job is to count the 1-2-3 or submission.  So Shawn ended up bouncing around and grimacing a lot.  Newly en-mohawked Undertaker took some brutal chair shots to the back leaving horrible bruises and welts up and down his back.  Looked pretty painful.  Despite their advancing age, Undertaker and Triple H both tore down the house.  The last images of this End of an Era match was great as Shawn and Undertaker helped Triple H walk to the back and the three of them shared a hug on the big stage.  Maybe Undertaker will call it a career at 20-0 at WrestleMania.  You will notice that he is no longer part of the SmackDown video montage.  Triple H seems like he's comfortable where he is on the business part of WWE so this truly was the End of an Era. 

Winner: The Undertaker

Intercontinental Championship

Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show

Match rating: Three stars.

Given that Big Show is often offered up for the slaughter at WrestleMania, it was nice to see him prevail over the excellent Cody Rhodes.  Honestly, having Big Show as Intercontinental Champion doesn't really do anything for him or the title.  The IC Title belongs on up and comers like Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, or Jack Swagger.  Big Show is a multitime World Champion so I don't expect him to hang onto the IC Title for very long.  But Cody and Show seem to have a good chemistry going so maybe they can squeeze out a few more matches. 

Winner: Big Show (new Intercontinental Champion)

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Match rating: Two and a half stars.

A bit of a throwaway match.  Nothing super memorable about it.  Certainly Orton and Kane are both veterans who can put on a decent match but their feud is a little dry.  Surprised to see Kane get the win here, but it doesn't really amount to much.  Expect Orton to re-enter the World title hunt soon after this feud ends. 

Winner: Kane

General Manager 12 Man Tag Team for Control of RAW and SmackDown

Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy

Match rating: Two stars.

Serving the role of fitting in as many of the other WWE Superstars that didn't have a major feud was this match.  Also unmemorable.  But the win by Team Johnny makes the most sense story-wise.  Good to see that The Miz get the win for Team Johnny over Zack Ryder and at least contribute to the show (you know, the show that he headlined last year and won the Main Event).  This actually begs the question of which main eventer for the previous year's WrestleMania had the biggest fall from grace?  King Kong Bundy went from the Main Event at WrestleMania 2 to fighting Big John Studd and a couple of little people at WM3.  Sgt. Slaughter was WWF Champion at WM7 and then was in an 8 man tag match at WM8 against Repo Man, The Mountie, and the Nasty Boys.  Let me think about this some more... 

Winner: Team Johnny [David Otunga (Captain), Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, & Drew McIntyre]

Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounous vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve

Match rating: Half a star.

I don't remember anything about this match at all.  Wait, I think Maria Menounous won the match for her team by pinning the Divas Champion Beth Phoenix.  Ridiculous. 

Winner: Maria and Kelly

Summary: Again, overall, not a bad show.  More emphasis on the World Title matches would have been nice.  Beyond John Cena, CM Punk, Sheamus, and Randy Orton, WWE needs to start filling the holes for legit faces that Triple H and Undertaker leave behind.  There is a huge swelling of excellent heels in WWE (Alberto del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, Kane, Cody Rhodes, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry) and they need faces to feud with.  The returning Brock Lesnar looks like he's leaning heel (but will probably end up a tweener).  I think WWE can expect a good year as a few of their midcard superstars are catching fire (Daniel Bryan) or seem to be on the brink (Ziggler, Rhodes).