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WWE’s biggest show of the year has come and gone. Now it’s time to break down WrestleMania XXVIII, review our predictions, and discuss the results! RPadholic Iceman was also kind enough to send in some original photos from the event. As a whole, I thought it was a good show that was far from great. The second half of the card was much better than the first and there was one match that was severely (and sadly) cut off due to time restrictions. Let’s go down the list!
Sheamus Defeats Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship: As I predicted, Sheamus got the win here. What I didn’t predict was the match being cut off for time considerations. I was totally bummed that two young WWE Superstars didn’t get time to shine. Danielson is one of the best pure wrestlers in the world and he rarely gets to show off his skills in WWE. This match — all 20 seconds of it — was completely disappointing.
Kane Beats Randy Orton: I called this one wrong and was surprised that Kane got a clean win. The match was okay, but I don’t get the result. It made Orton look stupid and he needed the push for the rest of 2012.
The Big Show Wins the Intercontinental Championship From Cody Rhodes: This was another match I predicted incorrectly. The result surprised me. Show does not need a minor WWE belt. Rhodes does.
Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos Beat Eve and Beth Phoenix: The good girl team — with the celebrity — won. Of course they did. I was actually impressed with Menounos, who was working with a legit rib injury. She was a trooper! Unfortunately, the match was total filler. I can’t wait for Awesome Kong to come back. Maybe she’ll get the writers to do something interesting with the Divas division.
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The Undertaker Extended His Streak to 20-0 Over Triple H: Of course ‘Taker won! Selling t-shirts that brag about a 20-0 record is easy. 19-1…not so much. This match actually exceeded my expectations. The psychology and storytelling were fantastic. Of course I was thrilled to see “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels as the guest referee; he added a lot to the matches storytelling, given his history with both wrestlers. While it wasn’t a technical classic, there were some cool and brutal spots in this match. Great stuff.
Team Laurinaitis Beats Team Long: Johnny Ace is simply a better TV personality than Teddy Long. This was also the match used to bring the crowd down from Hell in a Cell. In other words, this was when you were supposed to go pee or buy beer from the refreshments stand. Woo woo woo. You know it.
CM Punk Retains the WWE Championship Over Chris Jericho: For me, this was the best match of the night from a wrestling standpoint. The ring work was tight and the psychology was awesome. I love the way Jericho taunted punk. Complementing, “Ask him!!!”, were, “How’s your father, Punk?!?”, and, “Punk, how’s your sister?!?” That said, I still think Punk needs to go into chase mode. He’s getting stale as champion.
The Rock Beats John Cena: I’m still shocked by how this went down. These guys put forth a great effort and put together a very good match. The Rock sold Cena’s moves like crazy. He actually made Cena’s lame STF look believable! While I’m personally happy that The Rock won, I question the booking. What happened to Super Cena?!? How does a guy that can beat three WWE Superstars by himself lose to someone that hasn’t wrestled a match in years? I’m curious to see how Cena is booked now that he was made vulnerable. Do you turn him heel? Or does he cut a brush-off promo similar to how Shawn Michaels brushed off his loss to Hulk Hogan? Does Cena build up to a revenge match next year? While he’s not my favorite wrestler (using the term loosely) in WWE, he’s a promo and merch machine that has carried the company for a long time. I’m curious to see how he’s booked for the rest of the year.
Cena is a roody poo candy ass!
That's true, but he actual wrestles full-time. Depending on how he's booked, the loss could be damaging to his character.
The match with Sheamus was less than 20 seconds.. I literally turned around to tell something to my buddy and all of a sudden, I hear the crowd cheering. I look back at the ring and I see Sheamus with his arms raised and I said "WTF just happened?!"
Everybody applauded and cheered when Shawn Michaels offered his hand to help 'Taker up and again when they all walked back up the ramp together. I saw grown men crying when they all hugged at the end. It was pretty gay, but it was still awesome.
You are absolutely correct about the Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy observation. A lot of people did get up to get a beer or go to the toilet. I had people turn to me and ask "Who the hell are these guys? It was funny, because I was asking the same question. The only guys I knew were Booker T, Mark Henry, and The Great Khali.
I see what you mean with Cena's popularity. Almost every other person I saw had some kind of John Cena shirt or hat or douche tote bag. At some points of the final match, you thought that half the crowd was for Cena while the other half was chanting "Rocky!" Ultimately, though, the majority of the crowed favored The Rock and drowned out the Cena people. My guess to your question would be for Cena to pull off a "Shawn Michaels" and just brush it off and keep going to the next feud. He just seems to make way too much money for WWE to turn him to a heel. But who knows, maybe Cena pulling an "nWo" will make him even more popular later.
-M
P.S.- I did not take a picture of it, because I didn't get an opportunity, but I thought this was the best shirt I saw someone wearing at the event:
<img src="http://www.studiotees.com/images/yi18/38389.jpg">
The thing with Cena's loss is that it potentially makes him more interesting than he's been in a long, long time…but I don't have faith in WWE creative to pull it off. I'm sure he'll cut some great promos regarding the loss, but the angle has the potential to reform his character for the rest of the year. I'm just waiting for the writers to drop the ball on this one.
You need to go work as a writer for the WWE. It's like your calling in life. And if they don't take you, have you considered calling Terry and asking him if you could write for TNA? I mean, he obviously needs the help.
-M
I don't know that I could live in Stamford. I'm also pretty sure they don't want to hire people that are actually fans of the product; they seem obsessed with Hollywood talent.
I don't think I'm talented enough to fix TNA. Ha!
"The result surprised me. Show does not need a minor WWE belt. Rhodes does." A facebook friend of mine who is a Big Show fan mentioned this in a status. Apparently this belt means that he has held every title possible. Just what I heard, which could explain why he got the win despite it not making the most sense out of the particular matchup.
He never had the European Championship. Technically, he never qualified for the Cruiserweight and Light Heavyweight Championships.
I too am kinda pissed about Seamus/Bryan. That match had potential to be an epic show-stealer. Damn WWE brass.
I think Show winning the IC belt was not only a respect play to the Show (who deserves it), but it puts an end to his streak of being the comic relief of WM. That torch has been passed to Broadus Clay. I believe that no matter what, WWE could never use Show to his full potential. It's just a different era now than Andre was privy to.
What the hell is the point of a Hell in a Cell if they don't utilize the cell? I was pissed. At that point, all it does is limit the camera angles and makes the audience look harder. Not using the cell in an HIAC match is like having a potato sack race with no potato sacks and everybody just runs. Asinine.
Punk/Jericho actually let down my expectations. They put on a hell of a show, but I guess I expected more. That's probably my fault.
I think the Rock/Cena thing isn't done yet (haven't watched Raw yet). The fact that they gave the nod to the hometown hero in the main event is very predictable. I could also see Cena being happy to job to him. Not only that, I could totally see it as being in WWE's best interest to keep relations with the Rock positive on all levels (including fan patronage). I think they sent the majority of the fans home happy and chucked standard politics out the window. An all-in-all classy move.
What I'm getting sick of, is the "kick out of both finishers" matches. It was cool at WMXV… now it's old.
Overall I thought wrestlemania was ok. I agree with n8 it seems like wrestlemania is the one day that wrestlers can kick out of their opponent's finishers once or twice; it gets annoying.