Slyfox696 posts rare review of Wrestlemania 27

[Slyfox696]

So I don't review shows very often, but after paying $55 for the dud the WWE called Wrestlemania this year, I'm frustrated enough that I must vent. I have no idea how anyone else likes reviews done, and I don't really care, so just come along for the ride. Oh, and as a side note, everything I mention will just be about the show itself, not the booking of the angles leading up to the show. Keep it in mind, as I talk about the booking of the show itself.

Overall thoughts: This entire show felt forced from the very beginning. The game show introduction of the Rock was kind of amusing, and the Rock had a decent promo, but once the actual Wrestlemania started, it all went down hill. This show was simply missing something the whole way through, and it seemed as if all the wrestlers were just a step slow.

Booking of the show: Whoever did the booking for the show ought to be fired, or put out to pasture. Awful match placement, too many "segments", too much ridiculousness, and it felt way to much like a Monday Night Raw, instead of the crowning PPV of the year.

First of all, the WHC on first? Really? I get the fact you want to separate your biggest matches out, and I have no problem at all with that. It's smart. But you put your Royal Rumble winner in the World Heavyweight title match to do the curtain jerking honors at the biggest show of the year? Whose decision was that? Then we see an incredibly long, yet incredibly awful Mysterio/Rhodes match, followed by a 2 minute 8 man tag (what was even the point of having 8 men?) then a solid Orton/Punk match right before the craptastic booking of Lawler vs. Cole? Then we see Trips and Taker put on a mediocre match, followed by the also short 6 person tag (why was Morrison, Ziggler and Layla even out there?) and then the shoddiest booking of a Wrestlemania main-event ever. Awful booking of the show.

Here's how I would have booked the matches:

Kane, Show, Santino, Kozlov (or Kingston) vs. Corre (and give them 8-10 minutes)

Rhodes vs. Mysterio

Del Rio vs. Edge

Lawler vs. Cole

Orton vs. Punk

Trips vs. Undertaker

Morrison, Stratus, Snooki vs. Ziggler and LayCool

Miz vs. Cena

Match Quality - Every match felt as if it started at the middle of the match, rather than the beginning, with the exception of Miz vs. Cena, which jumped to the middle of the match far quicker than it should have. And too many matches featured too much "both guys are tired and hurt and have to lay around on the mat instead". What happened to the days when there was always one guy on the offensive, except for those rare times when both guys lying on the mat feels natural and logical within the context of the match? I don't know, because it certainly wasn't the case here.

Atmosphere: Stadium shows look great, but sound like crap. I was watching The True Story of Wrestlemania on Netflix, and they talk about stadium shows and how Vince has said he wants every Wrestlemania from now on to be a stadium show. I hope he changes his mind, because while it looks impressive and I'm sure gets a great gate, it really does hurt the atmosphere for the show.

And now, onto the matches themselves:

Edge vs. Del Rio - I've said it already, but how can your World Heavyweight title match featuring your Royal Rumble winner be the curtain jerker at the biggest show of the year? How is that possible? Then we get onto the match, which I would call average, but still one of the best of the night. Of course, that doesn't change the fact it seemed incredibly spotty, and not until the end did it seem to have any flow to it. And then, after a pretty good pop for the win, we have to suffer through 5-10 minutes of Edge and Christian beating on ONE of Del Rio's cars (you know, he has a different one every week, or so we're told), and this caused such great personal anguish to the crying Del Rio that he grabbed a weapon, stormed up the ramp, and tried to scare Edge and Christian off laid on the ramp and did absolutely nothing until he could nuzzle his nose against the Rolls Royce emblem. What? Average match and TERRIBLE post-match booking. The booking thing is a theme.

Mysterio vs. Rhodes - My first reaction was to call it "awful". I stand by that reaction. Spotty, wrestlers missing their marks, no flow, no transitions, and it looked like there was very little planning involved in the match. The fact some people liked it boggles my mind. The fact it got as much time as it got just floors me. I don't THINK it got 2 hours, but it sure did feel that way.

Kane, Show, Santino, Kofi vs. Corre - This is where I knew Wrestlemania was in for a bad night. First of all, Kofi subs for Kozlov...why? Did anyone know? Oh sure, Matthews took 2 seconds to say Kozlov got beat up during the week, but I guess no one has ever been beaten up in wrestling a day or two before a match before, right? Then we get Kofi in the match, and as someone who never watches Smackdown, I'm completely at a loss as for why Kofi was in the match. The announcers sure never bothered to tell me. Perhaps there's a reason that I don't know about since I don't watch Smackdown, but from where I'm sitting, I have no idea why he was in the match.

Then we get to the match...well, kind of. Can you even call it a match? Did even 4 guys get to be officially in the match? What was the point of this match? Why didn't this match get bumped off the main show and keep the much better built angle between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus on the show? Can anyone explain what we saw in these 2 minutes?

Orton vs. Punk - I remember telling KB this was the first decent match of the night. A shame I'd have to say it was the only decent match. I feel as if this match, even though it had the "too much of both guys laying around" in it, was the only match in which it felt like a wrestling match. It wasn't a good match, but I think it was Wrestlemania worthy.

Cole vs. Lawler - Absolutely terrible booking of this match. Everything was fine until the moment Swagger takes out King. This match should have been Lawler whipping Cole from ring post to ring post. It should have been about Cole finally getting the come-uppance he has had coming to him for over 6 months. Instead we have to watch Cole "hurt" King while Austin is trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness. Then King starts to make his comeback...and the match is already over? Really? We listened to Cole torment King for months, just for King to get only 2 minutes of satisfaction in return, half of which was spent in an ankle lock? Awful booking.

Then we get the cliche Austin "stun everyone in sight" moment at Wrestlemania, which is more predictable than Hogan "Hulking Up". And then, and this is important, we get the announcement that because Austin physically involved himself in the match, Michael Cole wins the match. No real problems with this (although it was kind of cheap), but this is important later.

Undertaker vs. Triple H - Another terrible match. Were they even 5 minutes into the match before they started the "both guys lay around in fatigue and pain"? This match should have been better, since both guys are decent sellers and strong offensive wrestlers. To be fair, even though Undertaker was obviously going to win, when Triple H hit the Tombstone I was all prepared to be incredibly offended for Triple H breaking the streak. So they got me there. But do we really need to listen to Triple H yell at Taker for 2 minutes? Couldn't he have done it a couple of times, and then get trapped? Oh, and for all of you "Super Cena" fans, are you just as offended with "Super Undertaker"? He never loses at Wrestlemania, the guy couldn't even sit up during the match, and then suddenly he goes "Super Undertaker" and has so much energy he can lock on his submission for a minute and a half, and make Triple H tap out. Then, apparently, he has to be carried to the back. And this whole process takes something like 10 minutes.

Congratulations WWE, you found the only thing which takes longer than the Undertaker walking to the ring, and that's the Undertaker leaving the ring. Terrible.

Morrison, Stratus, Snooki vs. Ziggler and LayCool - Thanks to the Undertaker being so kind as to letting me bake a pizza in the time it took him to get the win and then make it backstage, this match was cut so short, that three of the participants never officially got in the ring. Good booking someone in WWE...two of the guys you are pushing as future main-eventers do not even get in the ring, while a non-active worker and a celebrity are featured prominently.

Miz vs. Cena - The intros to this match were probably the best part of Wrestlemania. Even though I knew better, I thought perhaps this match would deliver. I was so wrong. Cena and Miz did something most other matches didn't do and that's started the match at the beginning...and promptly jumped headlong into the middle. And the middle...it just proves Miz isn't yet ready for carrying the offensive portion of a main-event. While it probably hurts the whole "heel beatdown face, face makes comeback" routine the WWE loves so much, John Cena should have been the one to carry the offensive portion of this match, because the Miz did not do very well. There were a couple of mishaps, and it wasn't until Cena started making his comeback that the crowd really began to get into it. Cena makes his comeback, gets rid of Riley, hits the AA on Miz, gets a near fall, the crowd is going nuts...and then we go to a double countout. Umm...what? A double countout, in the Wrestlemania main-event for the WWE title? Geez, I wonder what's going to happen next?

So the Rock comes out, says a bunch of useless things, trashes the GM laptop, and then orders the match restarted. That's great and all, but the energy has been completely sucked out of the crowd and all the momentum built in the match is gone. So, the two guys hustle into the ring (because time's running out on the PPV slot), and we hotshot to the end where Rock lays out Cena and Miz wins.

But wait, did I just say the outside influence got physically involved in the match? Since Rock was only the guest host, and obviously didn't have the support of the GM, he had no real power to change the match, and according to previous precedent, doesn't that mean Cena should be the winner? After all, if Austin got Lawler DQ'd, then shouldn't Rock get Miz DQ'd? Perhaps that's coming tonight, after all, Rock did trash the laptop. So, tonight we'll get a new laptop, and Cena becomes the winner at Wrestlemania, right? Don't bet on it.

Oh, and just for good measure, after laying out Cena, Rock lays out the Miz, and Wrestlemania goes off the air with the celebrity guest host who hasn't been on the show in 7 years laying out the two top guys in the company who were wrestling over the top title in the company at the top PPV in the company. Good idea, guys.


I am so thoroughly disappointed in this show, words simply cannot express my feelings. The booking was simple horrific, and someone needs to go. I should have used my $55 dollars to buy WWE All-Stars. At least then I could have gotten maybe 2 hours worth of entertainment out of my money.

 

[Dwayne_Jason]

So I don't review shows very often, but after paying $55 for the dud the WWE called Wrestlemania this year, I'm frustrated enough that I must vent. I have no idea how anyone else likes reviews done, and I don't really care, so just come along for the ride. Oh, and as a side note, everything I mention will just be about the show itself, not the booking of the angles leading up to the show. Keep it in mind, as I talk about the booking of the show itself.

Overall thoughts: This entire show felt forced from the very beginning. The game show introduction of the Rock was kind of amusing, and the Rock had a decent promo, but once the actual Wrestlemania started, it all went down hill. This show was simply missing something the whole way through, and it seemed as if all the wrestlers were just a step slow.

Booking of the show: Whoever did the booking for the show ought to be fired, or put out to pasture. Awful match placement, too many "segments", too much ridiculousness, and it felt way to much like a Monday Night Raw, instead of the crowning PPV of the year.

First of all, the WHC on first? Really? I get the fact you want to separate your biggest matches out, and I have no problem at all with that. It's smart. But you put your Royal Rumble winner in the World Heavyweight title match to do the curtain jerking honors at the biggest show of the year? Whose decision was that? Then we see an incredibly long, yet incredibly awful Mysterio/Rhodes match, followed by a 2 minute 8 man tag (what was even the point of having 8 men?) then a solid Orton/Punk match right before the craptastic booking of Lawler vs. Cole? Then we see Trips and Taker put on a mediocre match, followed by the also short 6 person tag (why was Morrison, Ziggler and Layla even out there?) and then the shoddiest booking of a Wrestlemania main-event ever. Awful booking of the show.

Here's how I would have booked the matches:

Kane, Show, Santino, Kozlov (or Kingston) vs. Corre (and give them 8-10 minutes)

Rhodes vs. Mysterio

Del Rio vs. Edge

Lawler vs. Cole

Orton vs. Punk

Trips vs. Undertaker

Morrison, Stratus, Snooki vs. Ziggler and LayCool

Miz vs. Cena

Match Quality - Every match felt as if it started at the middle of the match, rather than the beginning, with the exception of Miz vs. Cena, which jumped to the middle of the match far quicker than it should have. And too many matches featured too much "both guys are tired and hurt and have to lay around on the mat instead". What happened to the days when there was always one guy on the offensive, except for those rare times when both guys lying on the mat feels natural and logical within the context of the match? I don't know, because it certainly wasn't the case here.

Atmosphere: Stadium shows look great, but sound like crap. I was watching The True Story of Wrestlemania on Netflix, and they talk about stadium shows and how Vince has said he wants every Wrestlemania from now on to be a stadium show. I hope he changes his mind, because while it looks impressive and I'm sure gets a great gate, it really does hurt the atmosphere for the show.

And now, onto the matches themselves:

Edge vs. Del Rio - I've said it already, but how can your World Heavyweight title match featuring your Royal Rumble winner be the curtain jerker at the biggest show of the year? How is that possible? Then we get onto the match, which I would call average, but still one of the best of the night. Of course, that doesn't change the fact it seemed incredibly spotty, and not until the end did it seem to have any flow to it. And then, after a pretty good pop for the win, we have to suffer through 5-10 minutes of Edge and Christian beating on ONE of Del Rio's cars (you know, he has a different one every week, or so we're told), and this caused such great personal anguish to the crying Del Rio that he grabbed a weapon, stormed up the ramp, and tried to scare Edge and Christian off laid on the ramp and did absolutely nothing until he could nuzzle his nose against the Rolls Royce emblem. What? Average match and TERRIBLE post-match booking. The booking thing is a theme.

Mysterio vs. Rhodes - My first reaction was to call it "awful". I stand by that reaction. Spotty, wrestlers missing their marks, no flow, no transitions, and it looked like there was very little planning involved in the match. The fact some people liked it boggles my mind. The fact it got as much time as it got just floors me. I don't THINK it got 2 hours, but it sure did feel that way.

Kane, Show, Santino, Kofi vs. Corre - This is where I knew Wrestlemania was in for a bad night. First of all, Kofi subs for Kozlov...why? Did anyone know? Oh sure, Matthews took 2 seconds to say Kozlov got beat up during the week, but I guess no one has ever been beaten up in wrestling a day or two before a match before, right? Then we get Kofi in the match, and as someone who never watches Smackdown, I'm completely at a loss as for why Kofi was in the match. The announcers sure never bothered to tell me. Perhaps there's a reason that I don't know about since I don't watch Smackdown, but from where I'm sitting, I have no idea why he was in the match.

Then we get to the match...well, kind of. Can you even call it a match? Did even 4 guys get to be officially in the match? What was the point of this match? Why didn't this match get bumped off the main show and keep the much better built angle between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus on the show? Can anyone explain what we saw in these 2 minutes?

Orton vs. Punk - I remember telling KB this was the first decent match of the night. A shame I'd have to say it was the only decent match. I feel as if this match, even though it had the "too much of both guys laying around" in it, was the only match in which it felt like a wrestling match. It wasn't a good match, but I think it was Wrestlemania worthy.

Cole vs. Lawler - Absolutely terrible booking of this match. Everything was fine until the moment Swagger takes out King. This match should have been Lawler whipping Cole from ring post to ring post. It should have been about Cole finally getting the come-uppance he has had coming to him for over 6 months. Instead we have to watch Cole "hurt" King while Austin is trying not to laugh at the ridiculousness. Then King starts to make his comeback...and the match is already over? Really? We listened to Cole torment King for months, just for King to get only 2 minutes of satisfaction in return, half of which was spent in an ankle lock? Awful booking.

Then we get the cliche Austin "stun everyone in sight" moment at Wrestlemania, which is more predictable than Hogan "Hulking Up". And then, and this is important, we get the announcement that because Austin physically involved himself in the match, Michael Cole wins the match. No real problems with this (although it was kind of cheap), but this is important later.

Undertaker vs. Triple H - Another terrible match. Were they even 5 minutes into the match before they started the "both guys lay around in fatigue and pain"? This match should have been better, since both guys are decent sellers and strong offensive wrestlers. To be fair, even though Undertaker was obviously going to win, when Triple H hit the Tombstone I was all prepared to be incredibly offended for Triple H breaking the streak. So they got me there. But do we really need to listen to Triple H yell at Taker for 2 minutes? Couldn't he have done it a couple of times, and then get trapped? Oh, and for all of you "Super Cena" fans, are you just as offended with "Super Undertaker"? He never loses at Wrestlemania, the guy couldn't even sit up during the match, and then suddenly he goes "Super Undertaker" and has so much energy he can lock on his submission for a minute and a half, and make Triple H tap out. Then, apparently, he has to be carried to the back. And this whole process takes something like 10 minutes.

Congratulations WWE, you found the only thing which takes longer than the Undertaker walking to the ring, and that's the Undertaker leaving the ring. Terrible.

Morrison, Stratus, Snooki vs. Ziggler and LayCool - Thanks to the Undertaker being so kind as to letting me bake a pizza in the time it took him to get the win and then make it backstage, this match was cut so short, that three of the participants never officially got in the ring. Good booking someone in WWE...two of the guys you are pushing as future main-eventers do not even get in the ring, while a non-active worker and a celebrity are featured prominently.

Miz vs. Cena - The intros to this match were probably the best part of Wrestlemania. Even though I knew better, I thought perhaps this match would deliver. I was so wrong. Cena and Miz did something most other matches didn't do and that's started the match at the beginning...and promptly jumped headlong into the middle. And the middle...it just proves Miz isn't yet ready for carrying the offensive portion of a main-event. While it probably hurts the whole "heel beatdown face, face makes comeback" routine the WWE loves so much, John Cena should have been the one to carry the offensive portion of this match, because the Miz did not do very well. There were a couple of mishaps, and it wasn't until Cena started making his comeback that the crowd really began to get into it. Cena makes his comeback, gets rid of Riley, hits the AA on Miz, gets a near fall, the crowd is going nuts...and then we go to a double countout. Umm...what? A double countout, in the Wrestlemania main-event for the WWE title? Geez, I wonder what's going to happen next?

So the Rock comes out, says a bunch of useless things, trashes the GM laptop, and then orders the match restarted. That's great and all, but the energy has been completely sucked out of the crowd and all the momentum built in the match is gone. So, the two guys hustle into the ring (because time's running out on the PPV slot), and we hotshot to the end where Rock lays out Cena and Miz wins.

But wait, did I just say the outside influence got physically involved in the match? Since Rock was only the guest host, and obviously didn't have the support of the GM, he had no real power to change the match, and according to previous precedent, doesn't that mean Cena should be the winner? After all, if Austin got Lawler DQ'd, then shouldn't Rock get Miz DQ'd? Perhaps that's coming tonight, after all, Rock did trash the laptop. So, tonight we'll get a new laptop, and Cena becomes the winner at Wrestlemania, right? Don't bet on it.

Oh, and just for good measure, after laying out Cena, Rock lays out the Miz, and Wrestlemania goes off the air with the celebrity guest host who hasn't been on the show in 7 years laying out the two top guys in the company who were wrestling over the top title in the company at the top PPV in the company. Good idea, guys.


I am so thoroughly disappointed in this show, words simply cannot express my feelings. The booking was simple horrific, and someone needs to go. I should have used my $55 dollars to buy WWE All-Stars. At least then I could have gotten maybe 2 hours worth of entertainment out of my money.

Great review Sly, it pretty much expressed everyone's opinions who did buy Mania. I think WWE needs to reconsider their creative team because whoever DID book Mania they need to be burned on the cross. But I think Vince, the evil genius he is, expected this. I think Wrestlemania 27 was the sacrifice for 28, 29 and 30 where we'll most likely see Dolph, Miz and Morrison as head liners. The good thing with all this is a match the IWC jizzes about: Rock vs Cena is set up. Don't know when it'll be but man, I'd sacrifice a wrestle mania for this match.

 

[Rusty]

While I did enjoy the Triple H/Undertaker match, I have to agree with you on the main event. The ending really pissed me off, and you hit the nail on the head. I HATED how the Rock closed Wrestlemania, despite not even being in a damn match. The HHH/Taker match should have gone on last, just so a freaking WWE Superstar closes the show. And all these people complaining that Cena always win at Wrestlemania, now they know why.. because when he doesn't, it freaking sucks.

My main issue is that NOBODY benefited from the main event. The Rock got revenge, something he could have gotten on Raw the next night, John Cena got fucked over and was somehow unable to make it back to the ring in time to end the count, after hitting, not receiving, a clothesline onto the Miz. And The Miz, who I would have thought should have been put over the most in the match, barely walked out with the title, only thanks to outside interference from the guest host of Wrestlemania, in other words, without the Rock, he would have gotten his ass handed to him.

Next time you complain about John Cena being shoved down our throats, you smarks should remember the conclusion of Wrestlemania XXVII sucked ass because for once, Cena lost at the big dance, and instead his moment was stolen from a guy that hasn't wrestled in 7 years.

 

[JGlass]

I mentioned at the end of my own review that if you watch for the wrestling, it was a good Wrestlemania. If you watch for the storylines, you got fucking screwed. If it's somewhere in between, it's still an underwhelming PPV.

I'm really surprised you didn't like the wrestling. I thought the Rhodes/Mysterio match was fantastic, especially from Cody's end of things. I also thought Triple H vs. The Undertaker was the match of the night. It kind of reminded me of Takers famous Hell in a Cell with Mankind, in that it was composed mostly of huge spots with big breaks in between. The match didn't have a flow for the post part, but it helped sell the brutality of the match.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk was the third best match on the card from where I sit. Triple H and Taker pulled out all the stops and were brutal as hell. Cody showed us some new stuff and really made his Wrestlemania moment count. Orton did all the things he did in every match and nothing more. Punk helped matters by pulling a few new tricks out of his hat, but nothing nearly good enough to make this standout. This would have been a really good match at a lesser PPV, but not Wrestlemania. However, Punk and Orton may not be the ones to blame as the WWE fucked up majorly with the time allotted for the matches.

Finally, I'm totally with you on the stadium thing. The crowd sounded dead because of the acoustics in the arena, though I'm sure they were fine. That said, the smarky crowd absolutely murdered the Cena/Miz mainevent. There were moments in that match where they should have been shitting their pants with excitement, but they had already made up their mind when the match began that they were going to hate it. The set-up was absolutely breathtaking though. The tron and the cube that hung above the ring were nothing short of beautiful.

 

[Freakinflax]

I think that review was a little too much. I'm sorry if you feel short-changed due to paying $55, but for us who enjoy wrestling, this was a good show. Just like every other Wrestlemania, there were good matches, bad matches, celebrity guests and backstage segments. It happens at every Wrestlemania. Was there ever a Mania where every match was perfect? Even the best Manias (3, 10, 17) had lackluster matches. This year it was not the greatest but not the worst.

I heavily disagree with all your negativity. Rey vs Cody was very good and was one of the better matches of the night. No flow? They have great chemistry and this feud is not done. Edge vs Del Rio, while I agree should not have been placed first, was good too. Edge finally defended his World Title for the first time in 3 years. E&C have another Wrestlemania moment. Taker vs HHH was good if not better than 17 and better than Taker vs Kane II, Orton, Batista and Edge from Manias past (not HBK, well, maybe last years). Plus, you try having a 30 minute match at 40+ years of age and not get winded. It's easy apparently.

I cannot defend the tag matches or the way things were booked, but all I can do is comment on the entertainment factor. It was very entertaining, Rock was great, Miz was great, Cena lost (which is what the WWE Universe has been wanting. Rock said he would deliver what they wanted), and show ended accordingly. Still better than Wrestlemania 11.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Sly I agree 100% with what you said about the HHH vs Undertaker match. I know some people may not like my saying this but WWE really tried to push a classic down our throats here. At 29 minutes, most of which featured both guys lying around a lot, it was just too long. It should have been cut down to 20 minutes and I would have liked to see that time being given to either Edge/ Del Rio or Orton/ Punk. Better still you could have had the Sheamus/ Bryan match on the card as well.

Another thing I did not like about this match was the finisher abuse. Seriously three pedigrees and a tombstone could not keep Undertaker down? And remember we are talking about two of the most protected finishers in WWE history. I know WWE tried to really sell us on the will power of both guys but there is a point at which it gets unrealistic.

There is not a lot I disagree with here. I believe Orton/ Punk was the best match of the night followed by Edge/ Del Rio. The booking was shady all night long. The point you made about Rock was interesting though. The only reason I can muster up as to why Miz was not disquaified and Lawler was is because The Rock made it a NO DQ match. Also I guess a lot of people wanted Rock to screw Cena and that is why we got that finish but Cole/ Lawler does make it look bad.

The Miz looked good though, in my opinion. His video package was great and he kicked out of an FU. I cannot remember the last time a heel did that.

 

[SinCityBlitz]

Sly I have to give you credit, you kept it civil. I watched it for free and thought I paid too much. If I paid, I would be livid.

Edge vs Del Rio to open Wrestlemania is flat out horrible. The ending of the King/Cole is a disgrace. Triple H and the Undertaker just do not work well together. Snooki....really? I wasn't impressed with Orton at all. Why in the hell did Christian not turn on Edge? Finally I am just not into the Rock anymore.

The only positives I took from the event were Edge vs Del Rio, CM Punk and the Miz. The Miz really came through IMO. I enjoy watching Punk just as much as I enjoy watching Jericho. IMO Edge and Del Rio put on the match of the night.

Whoever booked that show should be taken somewhere and flogged repeatably. WTF was Vince thinking? Sting vs Hardy was better than half of the WM matches.

 

[deforty]

Sly. You are right on the mark. I got so bored of the whole thing I actually started playing games on my computer and left it on just to see who won, but I usually get that feeling with every WM i get. I haven't watched a WM that had me on my seat to see what was going to happen in a very long time. The whole show felt rushed and left to many things open, probably on purpose to keep things going on RAW. We should have had feuds end and start new ones but it seems like every feud is going to continue for awhile except for Cena/Miz, but they will probably drag that one out till we puke.

 

[The Brain]

Sly, you are 100% correct in everything you said. I was going to type out my own review but I may as well just copy and paste what Sly said. Those are my feelings exactly. I will throw in a few more thoughts.

I hated how the show started. I get that The Rock was the guest host and probably the biggest draw to this WrestleMania, but his opening promo was just lame and killed twenty valuable minutes that could have been used elsewhere. People praise the Rock but call Cena lame? Really? “When I say wrestle, you say mania.” Give me a break. “The people’s water.” How special. “When I say yabba you say dabba.” I’m so glad Rock is so much more mature than Cena and doesn’t bother with all that kiddie stuff. I would have much rather seen Rock start the show on the stage, say a few words, and leave after three minutes. That way we could have actually seen the advertised US Title match instead of a fifteen minute Yabba Dabba promo. I hate it when advertised matches don’t take place.

I absolutely could not believe the World Title match went on first. I was really looking forward to this match. I thought this could be a potentially show stealing match right in the middle of the card. What possible reason was there for this to open the show? I personally feel the wrong guy won too but I could easily overlook that if not for the moronic booking. The stuff with the car was just stupid too.

Along with Sheamus and Bryan, the people in the 8 man tag got screwed because of horrible time management. Did we really need to see Rock talking to Mae Young and Pee Wee Herman? That stuff would have been fine if he didn’t already hog the first twenty minutes of the show. Also the stuff with Snoop was a waste of time. I wouldn’t mind so much if it were funny, but instead it was just lame.

How could they mess up something as easy as Lawler vs. Cole? This should have been a complete squash with Cole getting his ass handed to him. The crowd would have been into that the whole time. Instead the life was sucked out of them when Cole was actually controlling the match. This match got too much time and wasted even more time after it was over. I didn’t see the point in Booker being involved at all.

The six person tag was another disappointment. I understand that Snooki was the draw here and that’s fine. I figured at least Morrison and Ziggler would give us some good action before the divas took over. Instead we got one move from them. Terrible.

I have similar complaints regarding HHH vs. Taker and Cena vs. Miz. It’s actually a complaint I have about several matches for the past few years and Sly already addressed it. A lot of matches these days are missing the beginning. People are selling moves like they’ve been through a thirty minute war three minutes into the match. My friends and I couldn’t believe that HHH and Taker were crashing through tables less than five minutes after the bell rang. But Taker kicked out of twelve pedigrees so I guess it was awesome.

Cena and Miz started off ok but that quickly went out the window. A few minutes in my friends and I were wondering why Cena was so hurt. One guy said Cena’s selling like this is the forty fifth minute in an iron man match and we were about five minutes in. He did this last year against Batista too. Even though it was obvious the double count out wasn’t the end of the match it was inexcusable that they even went down that road. Neither man suffered anywhere near enough punishment to be down for the ten count; especially since I’ve seen Cena survive several last man standing matches that were far more physical. Rock should have just come down while the ref was down. I guess we had to hear him get on the mic again since we hadn’t seen enough of him during this RockaMania, I mean WrestleMania. Miz won the mania main event and successfully defended his title and no one cared. Great job.

This show was disappointing on so many levels. I don’t expect a perfect show and I didn’t expect this to be a top mania, but it could have so easily been better. WrestleMania 11 has a reputation as one of the worst manias. At least they did the best they could with what they had at the time. Sometimes a show just isn’t that great and that’s understandable. I just hate it when there are some obvious things that are well within the booking team’s control that could be done to make a show far better than it was.

 

[klunderbunker]

At the end of the show I sat there thinking to myself, "that's it?" That was Wrestlemania? The problems I had overall with this show are similar to what Sly said.

First and foremost: this felt rushed. Like really rushed. They cut a match, Taker took forever to leave so the following match was cut short, the 8 man was short and the whole thing felt like a big disjointed mess. Rock had a total of one cool segment all night: the staredown with Austin. I had been wanting to see that since the night Rock returned and it felt great.

Another major problem here: two title matches and no title changes. Dude even the first Mania when they had NO IDEA what they were doing got a tag title change to make it feel important. Throw Eve vs. some random chick out there. It's not like that title means anything anyway.

As for the matches, yeah Sly's right on a lot of this. I liked Rhodes vs. Mysterio but when a midcard match 2nd on the card is one of the highlights of your show, that's a big problem. I had people telling me that Taker vs. HHH should have been an A+. No. No it shouldn't have been. The match was fairly good but not a classic at all. HHH did nothing but spinebusters and Pedigrees while Taker did only a bit more. Not once in this entire match did I think that the Streak was in jeopardy. Not at all.

Edge vs. Del Rio going on first was idiotic. There's a reason this is called a MAIN EVENT. The match was totally forgotten an hour later and with good reason: it wasn't that good in the first place. Put the damn 8 man in there to make it seem like things can end quickly. Or better yet: don't have Rock say the same stuff he always says for 15 minutes to start the show!

As for Cole vs. Lawler, the answer I've heard is that it was to get Ross and Lawler to be able to call the last few matches. Here's a thought: leave Booker out of it and have Matthews just step aside and allow the legendary team to call it. Why is that so complex? Instead, Lawler looks weak, Cole wins and the entire stadium and a lot of the audience is deflated. Absolutely idiotic on all counts here. Six weeks ago we were discussing if Lawler should have won the WWE Title and now he's losing to Michael Cole? Seriously?

This wasn't the worst Mania ever but it was very lousy. I kept thinking to myself, "that's it?" No Wrestlemania moments, nothing felt final and the matches themselves weren't that great at all. Weak show.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Sly I agree completely, you wrapped up Wrestlemania very well.

Personally I thought the HHH/Taker match was overrated. I'm seeing people say that its the best match Taker has ever had at Mania and personally I laugh at that. I thought the match was good, but certainly nothing spectacular. Besides it hurts a match BIG TIME when you know exactly whats going to happen. Obviously they were gonna try and make people think that HHH was gonna win the whole match to just have him lose in 1 last ditch effort by Taker. I thought this match should have been much better and the match itself was predictable as hell.

On top of that, what the hell was with that ending? After the double countout it was so obvious that the Rock was gonna cost Cena the title (Side Note: How many title matches of the Miz are gonna have false endings?) and the worst thing of all was that Wrestlemania ends with your 2 biggest stars laid out while the Rock poses. If people didn't think Rock looked superior before I'm sure they do now.

Personally I thought Rhodes/Mysterio was good and mostly I'm just happy they gave Rhodes the win as he deserved it.

I couldn't believe how badly Del Rio got buried at WM, that was ridiculous. You spend all this time building Del Rio, he wins most matches clean, wins the Royal Rumble, and now he opens Wrestlemania in a World Title match, no matter how much he cheats he CAN'T win and then cries over his car like a little bitch, I don't think its possible to make Del Rio look weaker unless you put him in a diaper and hand him a rattle.

I didn't hate Cole/Lawler (although I think that it should have just been Cole getting his ass kicked for 10 minutes) and at the very least it moves the Michael Cole storyline along. It sounds like they are setting him up as the GM of RAW and thats probably the best place to put him at this time.

Punk/Orton was good enough, but was a little to slow-paced. At the same time its what you expect from Punk and Orton so no big deal there.

The other matches were so asaninely bad that they don't even merit a comment.

I think they did a terrible job building storylines and feuds, all we got now really is Cena vs. The Rock and nothing else. I know WM is supposed to be a blowout for the year but I felt most of the matches I just didn't care for at all.

I was hoping for a better Wrestlemania from last year and instead it was worse. Utterly forgettable and I feel someone in the back needs to be disciplined for some of the worst booking top to bottom I've ever seen.

 

[lionyates]

Got to say I agree with you 100%.
The only really good thing I got from it, ws that it only cost $20 at cineplex, and they were handing out free general admission passes for a movie of my choice.

 

[Kaneanite]

This guys right. That sucked. I love Cody Rhodes but that match is being overrated by the people trying to salvage what was really just an atrocious 'Mania.

The Cena haters need to take a step back, punch themselves in the mouth, and re-evaluate why exactly they hate Cena. LOL LETS HAVE A GUY WHO HASN'T DONE SHIT FOR US IN 7 YEARS, REJECTED HIS TITLE AS A 'WRESTLER' AND 'THE ROCK', END THE BIGGEST SHOW OF THE YEAR BY LAYING OUT OUR TWO BIGGEST SUPERSTARS THAT BUST ASS FOR US EVERY WEEK. YEAH! XD


Total idiots.

 

[iwinulose]

some points i gotta argue with Sly.
1) yes the match booking was poor, but, it was a decent WM overall, other then sheamus vs daniel being a dark match, i was mad about that.
2) del rio really sucks and doesnt deserve to be champ, him winning was a complete joke so it didnt bother me with him losing.
3) mysterio vs rhodes was alright, though i agree it could have been better.
4) you obviously dislike kingston even though he is good, as for him replacing kozlov, didnt entirely understand, but whatever it was another one of wwe's random angles that they tossed in.
5) lawler vs cole could have went on longer mad about this as well, really really really mad that cole won, cause i really hate coles guts. enjoyed stone cold stunning everyone, mad that booker was stunned though. good to see JR.
6) obviously you dislike taker, super undertaker? not at all. wwe decides if taker wins, and they have decided to let him win for 19 years. triple hhh let taker win again, cause lets face it, w/o taker's streak at mania, mania would have no point. as for taker at the end, i wonder if he really couldnt leave the ring or if it was storylined? i dont expect to see taker for a few months now.
7) i to was mad about this, but dolph isnt a main eventer, he is terrible so i wasnt mad about him getting no inring time, very mad that john morrison didnt get any time though.
8) decent match, WM worthy, well, other then the miz being in it cause the miz sucks.
9) really?? the miz isnt a big wwe star, he is one of the worst. really mad that he won.
10) as for the rock, he was one of the best parts of WM, aside from taker, triple hhh, stone cold, though i was mad that the show went off air for him beating down the miz.

 

[Starchild]

The main parts where I disagree with you Sly are on the quality of the matches themselves. I was very impressed with Cody Rhodes for starters. He and Mysterio got some time and ended up having one of the better matches of the night. Go figure. I think it's interesting how everyone just knew after Legacy that Dibiase would be a main eventer by now and Rhodes wouldn't be anything; now we have Rhodes being one of the better performers on the entire Wrestlemania card and Dibiase has been mia for months.

Next, while I don't think the HHH/Taker match was as good as Michaels/Taker I or II, I still think it was good for what it was. It was no holds barred and was always going to be a knock down, drag out brawl. I too didn't enjoy the time spent lying around as probably 7 minutes could have been cut off without that and it would have been a better match overall, but such is the way these kinds of matches go. Taker and Michaels layed around alot too. By absolute biggest gripe is how long it took Taker to leave the ring. I get that he was selling the beating he'd just taken and how close the streak had come to ending, but it took like 10-15 minutes. Morrison and Ziggler didn't get to do shit on the biggest show of the year because of things like that and Sheamus/Bryan didn't even get on the show. Overall though the match did something I didn't expect and had me doubting Taker would win for a second. We all know the only real threat to that streak is Cena, but after Trips hit the 3rd pedigree, beat the shit out of him with a chair, and even tombstoned him I was thinking, "Holy shit, their actually gonna have Trips beat Taker at Mania." So kudos for that WWE

Finally, I come to the main event. Let's avoid the conclusion first; I'll get to that later. If you look at the match before the count out finish, it wasn't all bad. I was in no way expecting a technical masterpiece so I wasn't disappointed too much in what it was. First off, the intros were (no pun intended) awesome. Some of the best I've ever seen for a Mania really. When they had that and then Cena and Miz were standing on either side of the ring, I was thinking "Now THIS is Wrestlemania." I liked how it started out with two guys who get bitched about constantly not knowing how to wrestle doing some basic wrestling 101 to start. It was how a typical Hogan main event would have started years ago. I would have liked for that whole thing with Miz dominating to go a bit faster and for the match to have given another few minutes before it got to Riley interfering and all, but it wasn't bad. Also, people say how the Miz was booked weak again, but if I can say something here ... he kicked out of an AA immediately after getting hit with it. I don't think there's too many guys that can make that claim since Cena isn't normally known as one to do 3 AA's to get the pin.
This brings me to the conclusion. Up to this point, we were seeing a decent match though a little shorter than I'd have liked. The whole outside thing was good too until the double countout. That was a serious WTF moment for me. This is the Wrestlemania main event, not just some throwaway ppv. I think had they just gotten back in the ring at 9, gone a bit more, done a ref bump, then had Rock screw Cena it would have been substantially better. I don't see the point of the way they did it. I am very mixed on being left with Rock taking out Miz too. He wasn't provoked or anything and had already done the same thing on Raw, so I thought it was pointless other than your typical having a face close out Mania. If Rock will be making more appearances in the coming months and perhaps have a match or two, then it's cool but that remains to be seen.

Certainly not the worst Mania in my book, but the booking and match placement was undeniably horrid and maddening. It's certainly in my bottom 5 or so Manias.

 

[blockanWo]

Yeah I agree with you for the most part. As a person who really only buys Wrestlemania now , this left me with a bitter aftertaste in my mouth and dont know if I will buy another one (wasnt really a fan of last years either...)

CM Punk and Orton and HHH and Undertaker were the only matches that really got my attention the whole night.

 

[ITurnGirlsGay]

I mentioned at the end of my own review that if you watch for the wrestling, it was a good Wrestlemania. If you watch for the storylines, you got fucking screwed. If it's somewhere in between, it's still an underwhelming PPV.

I'm really surprised you didn't like the wrestling. I thought the Rhodes/Mysterio match was fantastic, especially from Cody's end of things. I also thought Triple H vs. The Undertaker was the match of the night. It kind of reminded me of Takers famous Hell in a Cell with Mankind, in that it was composed mostly of huge spots with big breaks in between. The match didn't have a flow for the post part, but it helped sell the brutality of the match.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk was the third best match on the card from where I sit. Triple H and Taker pulled out all the stops and were brutal as hell. Cody showed us some new stuff and really made his Wrestlemania moment count. Orton did all the things he did in every match and nothing more. Punk helped matters by pulling a few new tricks out of his hat, but nothing nearly good enough to make this standout. This would have been a really good match at a lesser PPV, but not Wrestlemania. However, Punk and Orton may not be the ones to blame as the WWE fucked up majorly with the time allotted for the matches.

Finally, I'm totally with you on the stadium thing. The crowd sounded dead because of the acoustics in the arena, though I'm sure they were fine. That said, the smarky crowd absolutely murdered the Cena/Miz mainevent. There were moments in that match where they should have been shitting their pants with excitement, but they had already made up their mind when the match began that they were going to hate it. The set-up was absolutely breathtaking though. The tron and the cube that hung above the ring were nothing short of beautiful.

I am actually inclined to agree with you, JGlass, more than Sly. Although, I do think the majority agree with Sly (Some of my friends are no exception to this and I understand). For me, I understand why they would agree with Sly, but my personal preferences are more in line with you, JGlass.

I liked the Mysterio-Rhodes match quite a bit. It was one of my favorite matches of the night and I thought both superstars really went all out. Was it the best, or even one of the best, matches WrestleMania has ever seen? Absolutely not, but it was very entertaining.

As far as Triple H and Taker, I understand why some people didn't like it, but once again I'm inclined to take your stance, JGlass. Matter of fact, I said the same thing to my friend who said he didn't like the match because of all the lagging. I said, yeah, there was a lot of lag, but there were HUGE spots in-between. As big as you're probably going to be allowed on a PG show.

Also, one of the things I loved the most about it was that, as far as I knew, only three wrestlers were authorized to use a piledriver in WWE competition; Taker, Kane, and Lawler. So, when Triple H hit that Tombstone on Taker, I marked the fuck out. I thought that was huge that Mark allowed Paul to use his own finisher on him on the biggest stage of them all when Piledrivers are pretty much all but banned unless you've grandfathered them in.

Lastly, my buddy was at WrestleMania and was texting/tweeting with me off and on for most of the night, I can assure you that it was, in no way, shape, or form quiet in that Dome. My buddy said there were times when he could barely hear himself think. So, it must have been the audio set up for broadcast because he said it was absolutely deafening inside the Georgia Dome.

 

[Long Island Iced WXYZ]

I loved HHH/Taker so I don't agree with you on that one. Great mtach I thought.

Punk/Orton was decent and that main event sucked, I agree.

Miz is not ready to be a serious headliner/maineventer, yet.

Oh, and just for good measure, after laying out Cena, Rock lays out the Miz, and Wrestlemania goes off the air with the celebrity guest host who hasn't been on the show in 7 years laying out the two top guys in the company who were wrestling over the top title in the company at the top PPV in the company. Good idea, guys.

I agree with this 100%.

The Rock went into business for himself, all these people that condemn Hogan I wonder if they'll be so quick to condemn Dwayne?

Probably not.

 

[AnvilForever]

A rule of thumb about crowd volume: Don't take it at face value. It's almost always WAY louder IRL than on TV.

I think Sly is a little harsh in some aspects. I thought Rhodes-Mysterio and Orton-Punk were good, enjoyable matches, and HHH-Taker was a great match, and the only moment besides the Miz-Cena entrances that truly made me feel like I was watching Wrestlemania. Still, I agree with him that this was EXTREMELY underwhelming. Like many people here, I left this thinking, "that's it?"

Given what was on WZ.com saying that Vince edited a lot of the script for Mania and rearranged the time distribution, I placed the majority of the blame on his shoulders.

 

[Daniel.Wood]

Just to add a few points to Sly's review. Which I mostly agree with.

Alberto Del Rio Vs Edge - I'm glad Edge retained, Alberto wasn't ready and he'd be better off going over both Edge and Christian at Extreme Rules as i'm fairly sure that's what will happen. However my main gripe with this match (which was average) is the car smashing. Edge was there for ages, Del Rio has himself Brodus and Ricardo but all three of them were too mega hurt to do anything? Then Christian comes out FROM BACKSTAGE (Why was he backstage already) with TWO weapons. Gives one to Edge and DOES NOTHING. watch it, Christian doesn't touch the car, he doesn't attack Del Rio why?

Cody Rhodes Vs Rey Mysterio - my main gripe is that Cody wrestled half the match with his mask off and reverted back to 'dashing gimmick'. When the match was over he suddenly became dash-kind again . He didn't even sell the mask coming off. he was like "oh my mask has fallen off.... ". However I thought the wrestling was pretty decent in this match. and it was good Cody went over.

Eight man tag match - a lot of people are saying this match was 5 minutes? No. This match was 1 minute long. The entrances to the match were longer than the actual match. WHY go through the trouble of booking a kayfabe kozlov injury and putting Kofi in. to give them 1 minute. What a waste of time for everyone. The build up was hashed together (Yes it made sense but it was shoddy) and the match was the epitome of that.

CM Punk Vs Randy Orton - Randy is Super Orton ? Who apparently is in so much pain he's almost crying and can't even crawl and the next minute he's able to hit a super-plex... This was worse than SuperCena because at three or four separate points during the match Orton suddenly forgot he had an injured leg. The RKO from nowhere I can deal with, it's the nature of the finisher. the 5 minutes of vintage Orton moves because he's forgotten he's injured I can't. Punk should have won. (don't get me started with how he eliminated everyone in the nexus one by one and then Punk thought right at the end 'i'll take his leg out' and the ******ed sudden realisation that Orton has a bus)

King Vs Cole - Okay. I can only assume the WWE have plans for Cole Vs Taker at WM28 with their streaks on the line. Why else would he even get a punch in ? .. But Lawler won. Okay good stuff. next mat......Oh. oh no wait. We need to stun both of the announcers for no reason at all and we'll have Lawler and Austin go heel for like 5 seconds to do so. "but creative booking guy, shouldn't Austin stun Swagger or Cole" - "No sensible person... No, he'll drive to the ring on quad bike as well".

Triple H Vs Taker - I enjoyed this match. But it was a spot monkey match. Yes Taker and Triple H are spot monkeys. Morrison can f***ing main event. It was a brawl, a massive 'smashing stuff up' excercise (TAKE THAT YOU SPANISH ANNOUNCE TABLE). But it was good , the Tombstone sold me a HHH win. Taker kicked out I marked. But then he took forever to leave. Forever. I still think he was legitimately hurt. That's just me. Because if he wasn't hurt , why else would they do what they do next

six team mixed gender celebrity tag thing. - Snooki was a gymnast. Not surprised at all. What did surprise me was well. "So yeah um, Morrison and Ziggler have been like #1 contenders for the titles on their respective shows, and Lay-Cool are the most dominant diva's in the last two years".... "all good points sensible person, Trish and Snooki will get all the match time" ... "what about the fact Snooki and Vicky hate eachother will they have a brawl as it makes sense". ... "no sensible person, no, no they won't"

Main Event : Alex Riley. He's awesome. Promo's were awesome. Cena overselling so much that the announce team had to come up with some mythic reason why Cena was so hurt "Cena just isn't right today", "Something is wrong with Cena". Yes he's about to get raped by the company he loves and more specifically.

By the Rock. I am confident and certain that Wrestlemania would have been infinitely better without The Rock.

 

[Uncle Chester]

Out of the 5 Mania's I've seen, this is without a doubt the worst one. The only great match it contained was the HHH/Taker match and even then I'm probably exaggerating it's quality due to the low expectations I had of it going in. Nonetheless I thought it was tremedous. Nothing else was very good, just some decent shit. Rhodes Mysterio was good not great and Rhodes should have reacted better for his demasking. Orton and Punk was a solid match with a awfully predictable ending. I get you're trying to sell the spontaneity of the RKO but even so the match felt like it finished too abruptly, for such a slow match and ending like that is underwhelming. The main event was shit. This didn't in anyway showcase the abilities of the participants but the booking was atrocious. The main event should be a WHOLE match with a conclusive ending not something worthy of RAW.

And the Rock promo was wayyyy to long. I skipped it after I realised I had been watching it for a dull 5 minutes and was shocked to see the amount of time it actually recieved. Daniel Bryan and Sheamus would have put on a great little match if it wasn't for the shitty time management.

 

[ABMorales787]

I liked the Rhodes/Mysterio match. If anything because a story was told well. The match itself wasn't that big a deal, but like with Orton/Punk, Rhodes and Rey told their story successfully. Regardless of Rhodes and his consistently exaggerated overselling or how ridiculous the deal with the protective mask, it was still one of those matches that played on it's story to a tee.

I feel the main issue is the show itself seems to be more dependent on it's presentation than the actual wrestling. Every year entrances become more gimmick driven and time consuming and it showed heavily in the main event. It looked like one very very fancy In Your House PPV.

 

[LoudClearVoice]

The whole thing was garbage other than CM Punk vs. Orton and Triple H vs. Undertaker.

I thought Edge vs. ADR could have been a good match if it was later on the card.

Other than that though, I've never seen so much nonsense at a Wrestlemania. Honestly, no one gave two shits about the Corre or the 6 person tag team match or really even Cole and Lawler.

 

[GrandSword]

I agree with everything Sly said.
I just finished watching it and I have got to say this ppv was an absolute stinker, but it was also a Wrestlemania, so this is truly a huge dissapointment for wrestling fans.

The card was horrible to start with, the booking was idiotic and seemed to be more set up booking for Wrestlemania than Wrestlemania...

If Vince wanted Cena vs. Rock then he should have done Cena vs. Rock. And for godsakes I'm sick of the RR winner being not in the main event. If you don't want that guy in the main event then don't have him win the RR...

Your review was spot on Sly, I've seen recent TNA ppvs better than this pile of cow dung.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

$55 and 4 hours of your life you'll never get back Monsieur Fox, you have my sympathy. I agree with the most of your post but wanted to add a couple of things, if you don't mind some uncouth comments from my relatively untrained non-pedicured fingers...

A 15 minute promo to start the show... did the clocks go on a day instead of an hour in the States, I thought this was Wrestlemania not RAW? And the other vignettes brought me back to the bad old days of the Guest RAW General Manager!

Edge vs. Del Rio - The guy seen as the last man standing in arguably the WWe's second biggest PPV is curtain jerkin and FAILING and worse still comes out looking like a complete baby who's more distraught about one of his fleet of cars getting trashed than LOSING the WHC? Okay, the curtain jerk match is one of the most important on the card as it's meant to build the crowd, but Sheamus versus Bryan screamed for this position... apparently they were to busy losing out to the Great Khali.

Mysterio vs. Rhodes - Dead on match but except for 'Captain Amisterica' nothing stood out about this over many matches shown on Smackdown. The actual most interesting thing about this match was Rey's knee brace and I'll address this in a future bout. Cody may have looked pretty competent (apart from not acknowledging the loss of his mask that is) but don't get to excited guys - Sheamus, Jack Swagger, and Big Zeke & Wade Barrett of the Corre both looked strong at a time too... speaking of whom...

Kane, Show, Santino, Kofi vs. Corre - I could understand if Kofi had been brought in to add something to his team that they would have been severely lacking - mobility, but the fact it lasted 95 seconds made this a complete joke. Between this and Cena/ Rock on RAW the next night, I'm thinking the Corre should rename themselves Spirit Squad 2011.

Orton vs. Punk - I actually really enjoyed this match and thought it was actually a pretty well told slow burn in ring story without the lack of logic some other bouts encompassed... BUT, Randy was meant to be suffering more from his knees than Rey Misterio in that he couldn't walk and yet he wasn't wearing a brace. Booking two storylines with the babyface suffering the same ailment on the same show is bad enough, not having logical continuity is absolutely baffling. Oh yeah, and I'm sure the new Nexus will be welcome in Spirit Squad 2011 after the jobbing roles they played to Mr Orton in the WM build up.

Cole vs. Lawler - This match was allocated 2 and a half minutes more than the WHC match - I think that pretty much covers it. A 62 year old versus a commentator who has to think about which direction he's meant to twist the foot in the AnCole Lock have a terrible comedy match with a screwjob finish that takes the Anonymous General Manager about 5 minutes to reverse... maybe his internet provider was down As for the Austin involvement , cliché abounds - Swagger gets buried (again), Booker T and Josh Matthews just looked like what they are - not on a lower rung of the ladder than Austin, Lawler, Cole or Ross but in the sub basement - great burial, a picture really does speak a thousand words.

Undertaker vs. Triple H - Firstly, 'Taker HAS to stop diving over the top rope, he is going to kill himself! This match was poor to a large degree, it can be classed into two parts - the early impact spots (including the destruction of the Cole Mine and Spanish Announce Table) and the later kick out of speciality moves. The upside was some 'Oooh!' moments but the downside was there was no story told, it was kind of like a geriatric version of a TNA X Division multiperson event like the Thunderdome were all the competitors get to hit their finishing moves and 'Oh my god' spots but no one ultimately wins because of it! Really, this match could have been so much better very simply, the match was no dq, thus no count out - all it would have needed was to intersperse some old fashioned brawling up the ramp without 'I'll lie here and catch my breath' timeouts (both guys have made careers out of doing this). As to the finish, my initial thoughts are that this is a build up for WM28 - sometime in the next year, Hunter will start taunting 'Taker about how he could walk out of Mania 'like a man' while you were carted out and that the only reason you escaped with the 'W' was because the Game showed some compassion instead of bashing your dead head in with the sledge hammer - 'A mistake I'll not make this time!' (On a sidenote, I never thought Trips was winning with the Tombstone in the same way I couldn't have seen 'Taker winning with a Pedigree - there is a reason why top stars monopolise their finishers, they're meant to be the only ones that execute them in a unique way that'll guarantee them the win.)

Morrison, Stratus, Snooki vs. Ziggler and LayCool - An insult to fans and four of the six in ring participants. Three regular in ring performers lost to one regular wrestler (who was barely involved), the female equivalent to Hugh G Rection and an Umpa Lumpa

Miz vs. Cena - This match was a dead man walking before it began, everyone knew the Rock was going to get involved at some point and nobody was going to get excited because there was no danger of the event ending without an iconic WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT(TM). As such I thought the match was okay but like Cody/ Rey, it felt like a normal match on their brand program. The way they went about the finish actually left me slack jawed though, a double countout followed by a show ending Rock promo leading to a restart leading to an IMMEDIATE screw job by Johnson that we found out at the end of the following nights RAW is a build up for next years WM... and where was the Miz, well he was left as a bitch - he couldn't beat Cena himself, he received a post match smackdown by the Rock and his only involvement at RAW was to help promote Tough Enough by appearing intimidated by a physically incapable Stone Cold.


So what happened at WrestleMania?

• Everything was padded - promos, comedy vignettes, post match vandalism, big fancy entrances, entrances for commentators, post match beer & stunners... and yet one advertised match was dropped and two others were under 5 minutes COMBINED!

• The Royal Rumble was buried as a worthy event to win, it's winner came out looking the weakest millionaire since JBL lost to Rey in Jeff Hardy time.

• 8 former Champions were further weakened (Sheamus & Khali didn't even make the show, Kane & Show had no real air time, Rey couldn't beat a guy who ain't ever gonna be anything but a mid carder, Swagger was made a bitch by Austin, CM Punk came out unable to beat a top liner AGAIN when Orton could hardly walk! and worst of all even after winning the main event at the biggest PPV of the year the Miz has still come of weak as the slave wheel in the Cena/ Rock story).

• Guest appearances are more valued than the guys and girls you'll be relying on after the show.

• The two 'Main Events' were advertisements for next years show. 'Taker's win was extremely weak assed, mark my words - Triple H / Taker 3 is coming!