I'm of two minds about tonight's Wrestlemania. Perhaps it's because I'm tired and I've overdosed on wrestling, or maybe, like a child who has opened all his Christmas presents, I'm just upset that it's all over. Whatever the cause, I can't help but feel a little disappointed right now. I enjoyed watching Wrestlemania and thought some of the matches were terrific, but I can't help but worry about what's next for the WWE and its wrestlers.
I'm still trying to make sense of my feelings about this show, and I hope doing this review will help me make up my mind.
Edge (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio- World Heavyweight Championship Match
I was surprised to see this open the show, but that doesn't mean I wasn't excited as hell. Del Rio entered to a beautiful backdrop of a Mexican estate, and he came out driving a very elegant Rolls Royce. His entrance was nothing short of spectacular. Edge's entrance was also pretty epic. I was amazed by the size of the tron and the cube hanging over the ring. The set up was absolutely beautiful.
The match itself was very good. Good ring psychology by both men, and we got to see each man hit the best of their offense. Personally, I thought this was the best paced match of the night. It felt kind of like an old school match with all the managers at ringside and the sorta surprise ending with Edge hitting a spear he didn't even set up for.
This match was short, but still sweet. I think they could have put on an even better show if they were given another 5-10 minutes, but they put on a very solid match with the time allotted to them.
6.5/10
Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio
I haven't seen Cody's entrance yet, and I don't know if this tron was new, but his entrance was nothing short of awesome. Fits his whole "Phantom of the Opera" persona perfectly. Rey's entrance was equally epic, and I dug the Captain America getup.
The match itself was incredible as well, possibly the match of the night. This was, in my opinion, Cody's best match yet. He hit some great moves like the Alabama Slam (a shout out to his early days in the WWE when he tagged with Bob Holly), a cool springboard kick, and an AMAZING delayed vertical superplex. The ending was clever when Cody hit Rey in the face with his own knee brace (which is what Rey did to Cody that set this whole feud in motion for those interested in great storytelling) and then hitting CrossRhodes. I was surprised to see Cody pick up the win, but I'm happy for him. I see big things in this kid's future if he puts on more matches like this.
8/10
The Corre vs. Big Show, Kane, Santino, and Kofi
This was a silly squash match. All the faces got to hit some offense, and Big Show picked up the win by hitting the knockout punch on Slater after Santino hit the Cobra. I don't understand why the WWE decided to put the faces over The Corre (whom hold both the IC and WWE Tag Titles right now), but it was fun for what it was. I love seeing Santino celebrate with the trombone. It was fun, but kind of pointless.
4/10.
CM Punk vs. Orton
Get your rep fingers ready ladies and gents, because JGlass is about to go on one of his patented anti-Orton rants... You'd like that wouldn't you? But I was actually quite pleasantly surprised with this match, and thought it was the third best match on the card. It looked like Orton had it in the bag for a while, then it looked like Punk had it, then Orton, then Punk, then Orton pulled a win out of nowhere. In addition to keeping you guessing, the match itself was pretty good with some very cool spots, a really surprising ending, and good story telling. I will say this, I thought Punk did most of the heavy lifting in this match. Punk showed some very innovative offense and new stuff while Orton basically went through the motions of what he does in almost every match. That said, Orton was by no means dead weight. It takes two to tango, and Orton's role in this match can not be over looked. The RKO at the end was sweet, and he did a good job of storytelling. I still don't like his wrestling skills, but he did put on an entertaining match here. 7/10.
Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole w/ Jack Swagger and Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Special Guest Referee
I can't believe that the WWE botched this. I'll break down the roller coster ride (and not the good kind) that was this match.
Good- JR enters to call the match!
Bad- Cole enters to antagonize JR, King, and get some extra heat he didn't need.
Good- Stone Cold enters while Swagger is midpush up, almost runs down Swagger with an ATV, and then scares Cole back into the Cole Mine.
Bad- Lawler enters and stands in the ring with Stone Cold for a solid 3 minutes while Cold just hides in his box.
Good- Lawler finally exits the ring, takes out Swagger, then goes up to Cole and does a funny bit where he huts Cole's arm. He proceeds to go into The Cole Mine and beats the crap out of Cole.
Bad- Lawler gets attacked from behind by Swagger and then Cole goes on to get about 10 (at least it felt like 10) minutes of offense in on Lawler. Cole clearly has no idea what he's doing in the ring and spends most of the time working the ankle with awkward looking rope moves.
Good-Lawler reverses the An-Cole-Lock with ease and beats the crap out of Cole. Stone Cold hits a stunner on Swagger after Swagger tries to throw in the towel. Lawler hits the Diving Fist Drop and locks on an Ankle Lock of his own. Cole is taps for about a full minute as Lawler and Stone Cold antagonize him. Lawler wins and celebrates in the ring with Stone Cold. Booker T gets in the ring and does a Spinarooni. It's all downhill from here.
Bad- Stone Cold hits Booker with a stunner. Poor Book. We get a message from the RAW GM. Josh Matthews reads it and announces that because of Stone Cold's obvious bias Lawler has been disqualified and Cole wins the match. Cole and Swagger laugh about their victory, and Stone Cold stuns Josh. Lawler and Stone Cold don't even bother chasing after Cole or Swagger, both of whom are easy targets.
I don't know why the WWE did this, but they fucked this up badly. It would have been so much better if they just let Lawler beat the crap out of Cole for 3 minutes and get a quick win.
2/10
Oh, but one last piece of good... dare I say great? JR stays out and Lawler returns to call Wrestlemania. So we have Good Ol' Jim Ross and Jerry the King Lawler calling Wrestlemania, just like it should be.
Triple H vs. The Undertaker No Holds Barred
What a brutal match. A great, but brutal match. There was never any doubt in my mind that Taker would win, but Triple H gave him all that he could take. Triple H put Taker through the Spanish announce table with a HUGE spinebuster, pedigreed Taker three times, hit him with a steel chair 13 times (including one unprotected shot to the head) and hit him with the tombstone. Taker still managed to win after he caught Triple H in the Hell's Gate submission hold. Triple H tried to fight out of it by hitting Taker with his sledgehammer, but before he could use it he dropped it and tapped shortly after.
I'm not really selling the excitement of this match, but it was easily the best match of the night.
9/10
John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool
Trish started things off with some offense against Michelle McCool, but McCool got the upperhand when she stomped on Trish's stomach when Trish was using the Matrix dodge. Michelle almost hit Style's Clash/Faith Breaker, but Trish countered it into head scissors. Then everything got confusing. JoMo hit a cool Star Ship Pain on Ziggler who was standing outside the ring, but neither man was ever tagged in.
Eventually Snooki was tagged in, and... she wasn't bad at all. She hit a really sweet handspring splash onto Michelle McCool in the corner, and then a weak looking but somewhat impressive splash to get the pin and the win for her team. I was laughing hysterically over how Snooki managed to put on a half decent show. JoMo and Ziggler were totally wasted though. Once again, good for what it was, but it wasn't much.
5/10
Miz (c) vs. Cena WWE Title Match
Miz had an epic video package where it juxtaposed his television/WWE career with the careers of WWE legends. His entrance was pretty cool too as the word "AWESOME" was blown up on stage. Alex Riley was there too and he was still carrying the briefcase.
John Cena's entrance was epic. There was a huge choir and they sang an epic version of his theme. DMX also lead a prayer, which was special for everyone in the arena who believed in Jesus. Eventually Cena's music hit and he came out with fire and a new red t-shirt. The crowd did not appreciate Cena's awesome entrance and new threads, and they booed him heavily.
This match was ruined by the audience. It was by no means a masterpiece, but both men wrestled their asses off and the audience spent the entire match either taunting the competitors or being dead silent. There were a few really exciting moments, but the atmosphere did not match the intensity of the match. It ended with a double count out after John Cena decked the Miz as Miz was trying to run away.
Then The Rock came out and said he was going to give the people what they wanted and he restarted the match. John Cena threw Miz back in the ring and immediately went for the AA, but Miz grabbed the ropes. Cena let go, but The Rock was still standing there and hit the Rock Bottom on Cena, and allowed Miz to get the pinfall. The Miz retains the WWE championship by defeating Cena at Wrestlemania in a one on one match, something nobody has been able to do yet. Think about that for a second, The Miz has done something that neither Triple H or Shawn Michaels could do.
6.5/10
After Miz wins The Rock beats the crap out of him, and Wrestlemania ends with The Rock standing tall.
This is what bothers me the most. Where do Cena and Miz go from here? The two guys in the championship picture were just made to be fools by a guy who isn't going to be here after tomorrow night. What's the payoff besides a cheap pop to end Wrestlemania? Can Cena recover from AAing The Rock and then getting Rock Bottomed? Can Miz spin this to be some sort of victory for him? He still hasn't proven he can beat John Cena, and he got beaten down by the guy who allowed him to win.
Don't get me wrong, I fully expected and almost wanted The Rock to screw Cena, but now that he did I'm second guessing how good of an idea it was.
A few other things I want to bring up...
I was really disappointed by The Rock. I don't know what I was expecting out of him, but he just didn't deliver. His opener was decent at best, but all his backstage segments bombed. Old Mae Young jokes have been done to death, the Pee Wee segment was stupid, and while seeing him shake Stone Cold's hand was cool, it only got a very short lived pop, and it's not the type of thing you'll bring up around the water cooler tomorrow.
The WWE Hall of Fame Segment was nice. Seeing Drew Carey get booed was amusing, though I feel kind of bad for him since he's not the one who asked for it. Sunny looked AMAZING, like she was 25 years old! If I was the praying type, I would have been on my knees with my hands clenched begging for a wardrobe malfunction.
I found the Snoop Dogg segment funny as hell. Hornswoggle rapping was absolutely hilarious.
I can't believe they fucked up the Cole/Lawler match so badly. What are they gonna do with Josh and Booker now? Are they just gonna laugh it off and keep being face announcers, or are they gonna turn heel too? If it's the latter, we are in for some AWFUL announcing over the next few months.
Overall the wrestling was really good, but the booking was really stupid. If you watch for the wrestling, you got about a 7.5/10 for your Wrestlemania. If you watch for the storylines, you got a 4/10 for your Wrestlemania. If you're like me and it's a mix of the two, you got a respectable 6.5/10.
F****** pissed about this. I knew it was not going to be a 5 star match up but I was sort of looking forward to just seeing Kane in action, and Ezekiel Jackson in action which Jackson hasn't had any official in ring action for months and months. Only 1 tag in the entire match. And the length of the match was ridiculous I know they had to cut the length of some matchs but still could've been given over 2 minutes or so. Also very disappointed to see the Corre get buried like this. 
Possibly the best match I've seen in my life. No one bash me for this because I've seen plenty of WWE matches both now a days and from way back when. I was rooting for Taker. At one point I did think we would see 18-1 but that wasn't the case. I think the streak should remain intact forever which now I think it will. Some really good devastating moves in this match. Undertaker sold the pain really well. Does anyone think he might actually have an injury? I don't think so but not sure. 
Overall incredible match and it saved WM 27 from being bad. Possibly the best match I've ever seen.
