Wrestlemania 27: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This is the 27th of 29 threads looking back on previous Wrestlemania events. Every couple of days I have been submitting a new one and will continue until all of the past Wrestlemania events have been discussed, leading up to the big day in April where Wrestlemania 30 will take place. We are almost through!

In this thread we will be discussing.... Wrestlemania 27! This is an extremely unpopular Wrestlemania, and I share that opinion personally, but it's still part of the brand's history.

Wrestlemania 27 took place on April 3, 2011. It was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia. There were 71,617 fans there that attended the event. Here are the results of the matches from the show:




0. Sheamus (c) faced Daniel Bryan in a lumberjack match for the WWE United States Championship that ended in a no contest (04:20)

0. The Great Khali last eliminated Sheamus to win a 23-man battle royal (08:34)

1. Edge (c) (with Christian) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay) in a singles match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (11:09)

2. Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio in a singles match (11:58)

3. Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater) in an eight-man tag team match (01:34)

4. Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a singles match (14:45)

5. Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger) defeated Jerry Lawler (With Jim Ross) by disqualification in a singles match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee (13:46)

6. The Undertaker defeated Triple H by submission in a No Holds Barred match (29:32)

7. John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Nicole Polizzi defeated Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (with Vickie Guerrero) in a six-person mixed tag team match (03:17)

8. The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated John Cena in a singles match to retain the WWE Championship (19:51)




Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 27, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in April 2011. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 27 in this thread. The remaining Wrestlemania events will be getting their own retrospective threads shortly, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[AegonTargaryen]

In this thread we will be discussing.... Wrestlemania 27! This is an extremely unpopular Wrestlemania, and I share that opinion personally, but it's still part of the brand's history.

0. Sheamus (c) faced Daniel Bryan in a lumberjack match for the WWE United States Championship that ended in a no contest (04:20)

0. The Great Khali last eliminated Sheamus to win a 23-man battle royal (08:34)

1. Edge (c) (with Christian) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay) in a singles match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (11:09)

2. Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio in a singles match (11:58)

3. Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel, and Heath Slater) in an eight-man tag team match (01:34)

4. Randy Orton defeated CM Punk in a singles match (14:45)

5. Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger) defeated Jerry Lawler (With Jim Ross) by disqualification in a singles match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee (13:46)

6. The Undertaker defeated Triple H by submission in a No Holds Barred match (29:32)

7. John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Nicole Polizzi defeated Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (with Vickie Guerrero) in a six-person mixed tag team match (03:17)

8. The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated John Cena in a singles match to retain the WWE Championship (19:51)

Certainly I got lucky for the first time to be able to be the first one to post in the discussion of one of the Wrestlemanias during which I actually was old enough to regularly watch and follow and endure and live the WWE! Without a shadow of a doubt, Wrestlemania 27 was crappy and pathetic and disgusting.

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

My favourite match on the show was Randy Orton vs CM Punk for three major reasons- 1. Randy and Punk being the most entertaining wrestlers in the ring and on the mic IMO, and a whole lot better than John Cena. 2. My being biased because I like them. 3. The history they had with Orton having punted Punk and cost him the WHC and the animosity that progressively developed between them, and the chemistry, was organic and IMO was the greatest/best build-up for the feud leading into Wrestlemania, even surpassing HHH-Taker.

Except Taker-HHH, Edge-Del Rio, and Rhodes-Mysterio, every other match on the card is my least favourite and unworthy to even be on the card, IMO. So basically WM 27 to me is just 4 singles matches, including the aforementioned 3 and the Punk-Orton match.

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 27, what would it be and why?

As I said above, I'd practically revamp, remould, and reshuffle the entire card. Here's what I'd not change:-

1)CM Punk vs Randy Orton.

2)Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio

As for the rest of the card, this is what I'd do:-

3)Title vs Streak
John Cena vs The Undertaker.
Reason:- The Miz being a contender/champion leading into WM was absolute garbage and there was nothing more annoying than to endure Miz week in and week out. This match should've happened there, and with The Rock's presence, it'd have made it so much more exciting. Would the Rock get involved? How would Taker react to The Rock? Could the Rock conduct a face-to-face between Cena and Taker on the go-home show?

4)Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan for the US title. I'd say have a stipulation like 2-out-of-3 falls.
Reason:- It's easily a favourite undercard match to steal the show and with debacles like the John Morrison match, or Kane &co. vs The Corre, this match deserved to be on the card the most.

5)fatal-4-way elimination match for the WWE tag team championship
Kane and Big show vs Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel vs Ziggler and Swagger vs Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov.

6)IC championship triple threat match
Wade Barrett vs Kofi Kingston vs Drew Mcintyre

7)Divas garbage match

8)World heavyweight championship
Edge vs Christian.

9)HHH vs Alberto Del Rio in an ordinary match , in a similar vein as HHH vs Sheamus, the sole purpose being to put Del Rio's character over as a Mexican aristocrat and to allow Edge vs Christian in Edge's final match. If not Del Rio, there is nobody whom HHH could've faced and besides, just because HHH wouldn't have a match if Cena faced Taker doesn't mean you'd go along the Miz path and create a disaster like WM 27.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Wrestlemania 27 was an abomination. The only thing saving it from being the worst event in the history of the brand was the Triple H VS Undertaker match. That match is one that I enjoyed. The cool entrances were a big plus and the match itself kept me interested the whole time. So which match gets voted as my favorite on this show? Take a wild guess. Easily the Undertaker & Trips match. They legitimately saved this show. I've hosted countless WWE PPV parties and the Wrestlemania 27 party is to this day the only time I have ever apologized to my guests for completely wasting their time.

So we start off with Daniel Bryan VS Sheamus for the US Championship not making it onto the main card. This was a horrible decision! That was one of the matches I was most looking forward to at the time and it deserved to be on the main card. Then, they start the actual show with the World Heavyweight Championship match between current champion Edge and Royal Rumble winner Albert Del Rio. Del Rio won the Royal Rumble to give him a chance to OPEN Wrestlemania AND HE LOST. What the hell were WWE thinking on this!? If Edge was going to retain no matter what, fine, I won't really argue that due to his retirement coming. Don't open the damn show with your Royal Rumble winner losing. That's one of the stupidest booking decisions of recent years. The match itself was ok, but it should have been much higher up on the card.

Cody VS Rey as well as Orton VS Punk weren't awful, they just didn't live up to the hype for me. The Orton VS Punk match should have had the New Nexus members helping Punk. This match's angle destroyed the stable when it still had potential to return to what it was previously. Then you have the 100% pointless tag team match between The Corre and APPLE (or whatever Santino's team's name was) that lasted less than 2 minutes. Why wasn't THAT the dark match instead of Sheamus VS Bryan? Morrison/Snooki/Trish VS Ziggler/LayCool was a cluster mess. Trish deserved better. Ziggler and Morrison could have put on a cool match together while Trish with Snooki in her corner could have taken on Michelle with Layla in her corner. Then we have my pick for the worst match of the night. Cole VS Lawler. Why would they have Jack Swagger train an announcer when it could just as easily have been Swagger with Cole in his corner facing Lawler? Poor Stone Cold, he got stuck having to ref this sad excuse for a "match".

Let's not forget the ridiculous joke of a main event. The Miz walked into Wrestlemania as the WWE Champion and closed the show having retained against John Cena. The Miz was never world title material and never will be. I knew going into the show that it would be a bad match, and it wasn't anything to write home about. Not only should Miz have never been WWE Champion, but this match should never have happened. Everyone wanted Cena VS The Rock. There's a reason Miz was an afterthought in this match despite retaining the belt in the final match of the night. The match would have been a lot more easy to tolerate if Cena won.

The end result? A Wrestlemania that SUCKED!!!!

I would make more changes to this event than pretty much any other Wrestlemania. I generally prefer to keep the cards they way they are, but this one was so bad it justifies making switching some things up.


Dark match: The Corre VS Santino's APPLE Team
Corre wins.

1. Daniel Bryan VS Sheamus
Sheamus retains the US Championship.

2. Cody VS Rey
Cody wins.

3. Jack Swagger (with Michael Cole) VS Jerry Lawler
Swagger wins.

4. John Morrison VS Dolph Ziggler
Morrison wins.

5. Edge VS Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship
Edge retains.

6. Undertaker VS Triple H
Undertaker wins.

7. Trish Stratus (with Snooki) VS Michelle McCool (with Layla).
Trish wins.

8. Randy Orton VS CM Punk (with New Nexus)
Orton wins.

9. The Miz VS John Cena for the WWE Championship
Cena wins, but then The Rock hits him with a Rock Bottom to end the show.


These changes would have made the show better. It was going to suck regardless with the card they decided on and I struggle to think of what other changes to make that could have made sense going into the show, but the booked themselves into a corner where all signs pointed to a terrible show no matter what they did. Worst Wrestlemania of recent years and in the bottom tier for worst of all time alongside 11 and 9.

 

[JJV]

Wrestlemania 27 was a missed opportunity. It didn't have that much star power as the next year's Wrestlemania, but it definitely had a lot of talents that should have been used properly. I would have booked it like this:

John Morrison def Sheamus, Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler
Morrison and Sheamus were feuding in late 2010. They continue their feud while Bryan and Sheamus also start a feud. After getting fired from Smackdown, Ziggler returns to Raw and becomes the no 1 contender to the US championship. A fatal 4 way is set for Wrestlemania and Morrison wins. At Extreme Rules, Sheamus def Morrison to end their feud in a tables match and he gets a run as champ for a few months before losing it to Kofi or someone in the weeks heading to Summerslam. After losing the championship he turns face and feuds with Henry.

Big Show and Kane def Ezekiel Jackson and Wade Barrett to win the tag titles
Instead of having a lame eight man tag, they could have build a storyline for the tag team championship.

Cody Rhodes def Rey Mysterio
This was awesome. There really is nothing to change here.

Jerry Lawler def Michael Cole
This match wasn't necessary but it wouldn't hurt so much if they kept the time limited and had Lawler win and end the feud there, instead of stretching it for two more PPVs!

Michelle McCool def Layla
These two had a great divas match at Extreme Rules, so why not just have them feud heading to Wrestlemania and end the rivalry at the next PPV instead of having a six persons mixed tag match? Or just have Trish face McCool and Layla turns on her at WM, setting up their match at Extreme Rules.

The Miz def John Cena in a No Disqualification match
Either Rock is special guest ref or just have him interrupt the match the way he did, but the match should have been booked as a No DQ match before itself, the whole double count out situation was stupid, and this match shouldn't have ended the show.

Edge def Christian in a Ladder, TLC or just a regular match to retain the world championship
This should have been the match for the world heavyweight championship. ADR vs Edge was good, but Christian vs Edge would have been better because these guys had history. They could have involved ADR in the feud and had ADR win a battler royal after WM to become the no 1 contender. Then build up the whole 'Christian has never won a world championship' storyline heading to Extreme Rules.

The Undertaker def Triple H
This match was awesome. I wouldn't change a thing.

Randy Orton def Royal Rumble winner CM Punk to retain the WWE championship
This feud had a better storyline than the Miz-Cena match. Punk wins the Rumble last eliminating a returning Christian, while Miz eliminates Cena from the Rumble. Miz retains against Orton with help from Punk in some sort of No DQ match. Orton wins elimination chamber. This begins their feud over the WWE championship. Have Christian def Punk at Elimination Chamber winning the no 1 contendership to face the world champion Punk doesn't go after.

ADR's storyline with Edge was good, but he just debuted in late 2010 so it was too early for him to win the Rumble and headline WM; Christian vs Edge was a better choice anyway. Miz-Cena was alright, but the feud was more of a build up to Rock-Cena at WM 28, so why put the WWE championship on the line?
Punk wins Rumble and feuds with Orton but doesn't win at WM. Orton is forced to vacate the championship after WM since he gets drafted to Smackdown. Punk continues to feud with Orton and a tournament is set for the championship. Miz-Cena-Morrison is set for Extreme Rules.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Wrestlemania 27 was an abomination. The only thing saving it from being the worst event in the history of the brand was the Triple H VS Undertaker match. That match is one that I enjoyed. The cool entrances were a big plus and the match itself kept me interested the whole time. So which match gets voted as my favorite on this show? Take a wild guess. Easily the Undertaker & Trips match. They legitimately saved this show. I've hosted countless WWE PPV parties and the Wrestlemania 27 party is to this day the only time I have ever apologized to my guests for completely wasting their time.

So we start off with Daniel Bryan VS Sheamus for the US Championship not making it onto the main card. This was a horrible decision! That was one of the matches I was most looking forward to at the time and it deserved to be on the main card. Then, they start the actual show with the World Heavyweight Championship match between current champion Edge and Royal Rumble winner Albert Del Rio. Del Rio won the Royal Rumble to give him a chance to OPEN Wrestlemania AND HE LOST. What the hell were WWE thinking on this!? If Edge was going to retain no matter what, fine, I won't really argue that due to his retirement coming. Don't open the damn show with your Royal Rumble winner losing. That's one of the stupidest booking decisions of recent years. The match itself was ok, but it should have been much higher up on the card.

Totally agree , and I didn't even know/remember Stone Cold being ON this wrestlemania, leave aside being a referee. The Cole-Lawler abomination should've never happened, but the best you could do if you only intended to change matches slightly would be make Swagger face Lawler. As for Del Rio winning the rumble, another point I forgot so I made a change with Christian facing Edge in his last match, and losing to him, or winning. I agree with the opinion that it's stupid to make the royal rumble winner lose in the opening match. I for one thought Del Rio shouldn't have won it in the first place. May be Taker. He needed this year with Cena because Cena had no possible challenger except either of HHH or Taker because Punk and Orton were destined to feud that year. Another thing they ruined was the WWE title pic from November 2010 when they decided to give it to The Miz. Worse, deciding for THE MIZ to face John Cena for the title. Ridiculous. With the Rock mixed in, easily the worst main-event in Wrestlemania history. Even worse than WM 2000.

Cody VS Rey as well as Orton VS Punk weren't awful, they just didn't live up to the hype for me. The Orton VS Punk match should have had the New Nexus members helping Punk. This match's angle destroyed the stable when it still had potential to return to what it was previously. Then you have the 100% pointless tag team match between The Corre and APPLE (or whatever Santino's team's name was) that lasted less than 2 minutes. Why wasn't THAT the dark match instead of Sheamus VS Bryan? Morrison/Snooki/Trish VS Ziggler/LayCool was a cluster mess. Trish deserved better. Ziggler and Morrison could have put on a cool match together while Trish with Snooki in her corner could have taken on Michelle with Layla in her corner. Then we have my pick for the worst match of the night. Cole VS Lawler. Why would they have Jack Swagger train an announcer when it could just as easily have been Swagger with Cole in his corner facing Lawler? Poor Stone Cold, he got stuck having to ref this sad excuse for a "match".

I'm not so sure how average/mediocre the Rhodes-Mysterio and Orton-Punk matches were. I did not dislike Orton-Punk, that's all. But they didn't quite have a roster studded with great peformers at then and thus made too many mistakes in 2010. Wade Barrett and Nexus debacle. Del Rio debacle. Del Rio had hardly debuted and he goes on to win the rumble? Absurd. The Miz debacle. Thus a totally lacklustre ppv which did not really live up to anything, except for the HHH-Taker match, as you proposed.

Let's not forget the ridiculous joke of a main event. The Miz walked into Wrestlemania as the WWE Champion and closed the show having retained against John Cena. The Miz was never world title material and never will be. I knew going into the show that it would be a bad match, and it wasn't anything to write home about. Not only should Miz have never been WWE Champion, but this match should never have happened. Everyone wanted Cena VS The Rock. There's a reason Miz was an afterthought in this match despite retaining the belt in the final match of the night. The match would have been a lot more easy to tolerate if Cena won. The end result? A Wrestlemania that SUCKED!!!!

Taker-HHH could've waited another year, Punk-Orton in 2012 would've been too late because the rivalry had its initial spark in 2008. There were virtually no big stars John Cena hadn't already faced and defeated numerous times , that year. With Orton and Punk gone, the only logical choices were Undertaker, or HHH. The more I think of it, the more I have this conviction that The Miz being booked into the main event was the worst decision they made. Especially when they had decided to let The Rock be the guest host. It'd have made much more sense in The Rock screwing John Cena out of winning against HHH/Taker.

I would make more changes to this event than pretty much any other Wrestlemania. I generally prefer to keep the cards they way they are, but this one was so bad it justifies making switching some things up.


Dark match: The Corre VS Santino's APPLE Team
Corre wins.

1. Daniel Bryan VS Sheamus
Sheamus retains the US Championship.

2. Cody VS Rey
Cody wins.

3. Jack Swagger (with Michael Cole) VS Jerry Lawler
Swagger wins.

4. John Morrison VS Dolph Ziggler
Morrison wins.

5. Edge VS Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship
Edge retains.

6. Undertaker VS Triple H
Undertaker wins.

7. Trish Stratus (with Snooki) VS Michelle McCool (with Layla).
Trish wins.

8. Randy Orton VS CM Punk (with New Nexus)
Orton wins.

9. The Miz VS John Cena for the WWE Championship
Cena wins, but then The Rock hits him with a Rock Bottom to end the show.


These changes would have made the show better. It was going to suck regardless with the card they decided on and I struggle to think of what other changes to make that could have made sense going into the show, but the booked themselves into a corner where all signs pointed to a terrible show no matter what they did. Worst Wrestlemania of recent years and in the bottom tier for worst of all time alongside 11 and 9.

Alright changes but it doesn't mitigate it at all. What do you think about the changes I made? I tried being realistic and did not throw random matches with superstars jumping their spots or brand positions at that time. The only really unusual match I made was Alberto Del Rio vs HHH, or HHH would simply have no opponent that year.

 

[Elchicano15]

This was the second worst Mania next to 11. Sure, I know a few people that went their live and they told me how epic it was, and maybe it felt better being there live but I remember when I ordered it I felt that was one PPV i got ripped off on. It was pretty much a glorified RAW. We had lost MITB to it's own PPV at this point. I know the Rock was the host and it was his first time back in years but I still don't think he should have opened the show. Hell! the world heavyweight title match - which I thought the title itself was losing it's prestige at this point - shouldn't have been the opening match. Why it was?.....is still a mystery to me. Cody Rhodes and Rey should have been the opening match, then afterwards have the Rock come out.

To be honest I would have had Edge and Del Rio close the show. This was Edge's last match he went out victorious in style and the title would still have had a meaning should it have gone last. I was fine with Miz going over Cena but I don't think it should have closed the show.

My favorite match of the night was Randy Orton vs CM Punk. They had a great build to the match. Undertaker/HHH was alright, but I always liked to see Taker go against someone fresh when he's defending the streak. Of course the HBK/Taker feud is an exception. Then there's the H.O.F segment which helped make me enjoy the show because of the class of 2011 lineup.

 

[LODemolition]

WM27 is easily one of the worst 5 Manias of all-time, and if not for Triple H vs. Taker and Orton vs. Punk, it would've probably easily been the worst. Orton and Punk were my favorite match and should've been for the WWE Championship in my opinion. I would not have had Miz cash in successfully on Orton and I would have had Punk win the Royal Rumble in 2011. Del Rio won MITB the same year, so he did not need the Rumble win. As for my least favorite, it would have to be Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler. That had no business holding a spot on the biggest stage of the year. The 6 person tag with Snooki was pretty terrible as well. I've never been a fan of matches involving celebs, but I can deal with them if the celeb can at least put on a good show. Snooki did not exactly change my opinion lol. So there's quite a few things I'd change around, in fact this might be the WM card that I've made the most changes to since Dagger began these posts.

1. Tag Team Championship: Justin Gabriel & Heath Slater vs. Santino Marella & Kofi Kingston

I hated the idea of the tag champs and IC champ taking part in an 8-man tag rather than defending their titles. The Corre was horrible. The Nexus shouldn't have split to begin with, but if they were going to split, it should have ben split atogether. Not somewhat reformed under a different name. With that said, I'd have let Gabriel and Slater retain here as I thought they made a decent team. This could've been a dark match.

2. United States Title: Sheamus (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio

It didn't make sense to me that Del Rio didn't win the World Title against Edge. He had a lot of momentum, winning the biggest Royal Rumble in history. So as I said above, I would've had Punk win the Rumble and kept ADR in the midcard until after winning MITB. I'd let Sheamus retain by DQ.

3. Big Show vs. Ezekiel Jackson

Put the biggest 2 men from each side of the 8-man tag and give them their own program. Put Jackson over to make him look like a legitimate threat.

4. Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett (c) vs. Kane

Again, what I've done is basically split the 8-man tag into 3 separate matches. Kane was the captain, or at least co-captain of his team, so I'd have him challenge the captain of The Corre for his IC Title. Barrett retains.

5. Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

I would've kept everything the same here. I liked their feud quite a bit and at the time I thought this would make a great leaping off point for Cody's singles career.

6. World Heavyweight Championship TLC Match: Christian (c) vs. Edge

As I said in the WM26 thread, I would've had Christian win the MITB match instead of Swagger. That was one of the worst decisions in MITB history (along with Mr. Kennedy). Christian could've cashed in the same night and this could've capped off a year long feud, or maybe they wait til the Rumble or Elimination Chamber and this would be Edge's rematch. Either way, I would've had Edge regain the championship here. That's of course without the foresight that it would be Edge's final match of his great career. But with the hindsight, however, that I'm sure there's no one he would've rather been in the ring with if he had known it would be his last match.

7. Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Triple H (with special guest referee Shawn Michaels)

I would've simply moved their match up from WM 28, which was much better in my opinion. There was no need for them to be opponents at 2 Manias in a row if the 2nd didn't involve Triple H putting his career on the line. The story would've been simple: Triple H seeks revenge against Taker for retiring Shawn Michaels at WM26.

8. John Morrison & Trish Stratus vs. Dolph Ziggler & Michelle McCool

Though I'd have rather seen Morrison and Ziggler go one on one, this at least gets the divas involved. Put Snooki and Layla in the corners of each team if you must, but don't put Snooki in the freakin' match.

9. Triple Threat Match: John Cena vs. The Miz vs. The Rock

The Rock was in the middle of this feud all along, so it didn't make sense to me to have him only host WrestleMania 27. It was an easy fix in my opinion. A triple threat with no titles involved. Rather than keeping the fans waiting on a storyline that dragged out for an entire year, put The Rock in this match. Maybe let The Miz win so he has bragging rights about how he's the only man who could defeat 2 icons like Cena and Rock at the same time.

10. WWE Championship: Randy Orton (c) vs. CM Punk (w/ The New Nexus)

I've said it many times that one of the main reasons WM27 tanked was because Miz was WWE Champ and in the main event. I don't know what they were thinking. Yes, this is obviously the most he ever got over with the crowd, but even so, he wasn't that over. It's almost like they decided to do an experiment to see how the show would do with him in the top storyline. You don't experiment with the biggest event of the year. You make sure you know what you have beforehand to put together the best card possible. Orton and Punk would've made for a much more respectable main event.

 

[Aquaman6686]

This was definitely a weak WrestleMania, especially after an awesome show like WM26. I didn't have a problem with Miz going in as WWE Champion and retaining, it's an all-too rare event for a heel champion to pick up the win at WrestleMania. But this show was hurt badly by poor match order and a lack of title changes, which makes the show feel small-time. Also, Alberto Del Rio won the Royal Rumble, not John Cena, ADR's title match should have closed the show. Without changing the matches TOO much, here are the changes I would make (Cole vs. King is removed entirely because it was the worst part of an already awful show):

Dark Match: Mark Henry wins the WrestleMania Preview Battle Royal (use everyone who was in the Battle Royal except for Sheamus and Bryan, plus add in Jack Swagger)

1 - Cody Rhodes def. Rey Mysterio

2 - Big Show, Kane, Kofi Kingston, & John Morrison def. The Corre

3 - Dolph Ziggler def. Sheamus and Daniel Bryan in a Triple Threat Match to win Sheamus's United States Championship

4 - CM Punk def. Randy Orton

5 - Eve Torres def. Trish Stratus, Layla, and Michelle McCool in a Fatal Four Way Match to retain the Divas Championship

6 - The Undertaker def. Triple H in a No Holds Barred Match

7 - The Miz w/Alex Riley def. John Cena to retain the WWE Championship (no interference from Rock, instead have Rock grant Cena a rematch the following night on RAW and screw him out of that instead)

8 - Edge w/Christian def. Alberto Del Rio w/Brodus Clay & Ricardo Rodriguez to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

 

[Wolf Pac]

This didn't feel like a Wrestlemania to me, it was more like a B-PPV. I don't think Miz and Del Rio were as awful as everybody makes them out to be, but they weren't ready to main event a Wrestlemania just yet, and it showed in their matches. Rhodes vs. Mysterio, Taker vs. HHH, and Orton vs. Punk were solid matches but everything else was weak and in Lawler/Cole's case, just plain embarrassing. The booking in the WWE Championship match was horrible, a double count out in the main event? And The Miz was just the third wheel in that feud. The match was nothing more than just a set up for Wrestlemania 28. I know the popular opinion is that Wade Barrett (again, not ready to headline a Mania yet) or Punk should've faced Cena, but I think they would've been better off bringing back The Rock one year earlier and booking Cena vs. Rock in the main event. It would've saved this PPV from being a disaster and made it a huge success instead. Plus another reason why I'd book Rock vs. Cena here is because I think the "Summer Of Punk" storyline should've culminated at Mania 28, but I'll go into more detail on that one in the 28 thread. Also, this was Edge's last match so he should've went out to Christian instead.

My changes...

Pre-Show: Wade Barrett & Ezekiel Jackson (c) vs. Big Show & Kane for the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles

Put the belts on Barrett & Big Zeke instead of Slater & Gabriel and have them defend it against Show & Kane in a clash of the titans.

1) Sheamus (c) vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE United States Title

I would rather have seen this on the main card. Could've been a good match if they had booked it normally at 27 or 28. Let it go on for some time and end with a winner.

2) Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

3) Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Alberto Del Rio for the WWE Intercontinental Title

This was a good match at Elimination Chamber, so move it up to Mania and put Kofi's title on the line here, with Del Rio walking out as the new champion.

4) Drew McIntyre (w/ Kelly Kelly) vs. Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero)

Remember that storyline between McIntyre and Kelly? Well I would've had lead it to Drew rescuing Kelly from an attack at the hands of Vickie who was feuding with her at the time, turning him babyface, and he & K2 would feud with Ziggler & Vickie.

5) The Miz vs. John Morrison

They had a couple of good matches with each other at Bragging Rights 2009 and on an episode of Raw that year. I'd have The Miz lose the WWE Title in the Elimination Chamber match to Randy Orton, but I'd book Morrison to eliminate Miz early in the match, so that Miz could go after and blame his former tag team partner for losing the belt at the EC PPV.

6) Randy Orton (c) vs. CM Punk for the WWE Title

Put the belt on the line here but still have Punk lose the match, so it can set things in motion for his shoot in the summer.

7) Michael Cole & Jack Swagger vs. Jerry Lawler & Jim Ross with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the Special Guest Referee

I didn't like any of the Cole-Lawler matches but if I had to book one of them for Mania, it would've been their tag team match at Extreme Rules, just with Austin as the referee. It sucked but it was a bit of an improvement over the match at Mania, and Lawler & Swagger would be carrying most of the match here.

8) The Undertaker vs. Triple in a No Holds Barred Match

9) Edge (c) vs. Christian for the WWE World Title

Like I said above, Edge should've faced Christian in his final match. It would've been a fitting and perfect end to his wrestling career, win or lose, going out to the guy he has the most history with. I'd book Christian to win the 2011 Royal Rumble. I wanted to go with Punk but in order for his shoot promo to work and be believable, he really shouldn't.

10) Trish Stratus (w/ Snooki) vs. Michelle McCool (w/ Layla)

Snooki doesn't need to be in the match. Just let Stratus and McCool put on a good match one-on-one, while she stands in the corner (a place she's familiar with) and supports Trish.

11) The Rock vs. John Cena

Bring The Rock back one year earlier, but don't involve him in Batista-Cena's feud and let Batista be a third wheel. While Cena's mainly feuding with 'Tista, let him battle with Rock in promos on the side and then the day after Mania 26, announce the match between the two for Mania 27. As for the rematch, well as I said I would book Punk vs. Cena for 28, but they could still book "Twice In A Lifetime" for 29, just 2 years later where it would be a lot more fresher in our minds by that time.

 

[Mac]

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

My favorite match was Undertaker vs Triple H, they told a good story and they delivered a good match. This match saved this show from being completely terrible. CM Punk vs Randy Orton and Rhodes vs Mysterio were solid matches as well.

My least favorite match is easily the abomination that was Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole. This match went on for far too long and Cole looked awkward trying to attempt wrestling moves.

This WrestleMania was completely botched and they had a good enough roster to book a much better show. I liked the Miz as WWE champion and I felt that he could've been a big star for the WWE but they buried him after Mania. These are the changes I would make.

WWE Championship Match- The Miz(c) vs Randy Orton
After cashing in on Orton they begin to build towards this match. After being denied his rematch Orton had to win the Rumble to get his rematch. Miz defends the title against Morrison at the '11 Rumble and Orton wins the Rumble.

Grudge Match- John Cena vs CM Punk
After Punk ordered an attack on Cena at the last Raw of 2010 that could be the perfect way to build towards a match at Mania. Instead they threw it away and rushed a weak feud with the Miz.

World Heavyweight Championship Match- Edge(c) vs Alberto Del Rio
This match still happens but it's further up the card and Edge retains.

Undertaker vs Triple H
This stays as is.

United States Championship Match- Sheamus(c) vs Daniel Bryan
This match makes the show.

John Morrison w/Snooki vs Dolph Ziggler
This match happens and Snooki can still be involved without having to actually wrestle.

Grudge Match- Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes
This stays as is.

Clusterfuck battle royal
This gets everybody else involved in the show.

I'm completely scrapping Lawler/Cole. And the Rock would only do his opening segment and that's it.

 

[AJ1981]

Wrestlemania 27 is not one of my favourites. The Rock overshadowed everything apart from Triple H vs. The Undertaker and I still can't get my head around how WWE believed The Miz vs. John Cena was a 'Mania calibre main event given their previous lack of chemistry.

Given the chance this is how I would have booked the card. Please bear in mind I have taken some liberties with the roster and delayed/altered some events.

Firstly I would have put The Rock's return off until Summerslam, I know it helped the buyrate but having him return in LA would have made more sense and the build to Rock/Cena would have begun then.

Onto Wrestlemania 27 itself:

Match 1 - World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Christian

Christian returns from injury and wins a 20 man battle royal on Smackdown! to determine the number one contender to the WHC by last eliminating Alberto Del Rio (In this build Del Rio does not win the Royal Rumble). The match would be built on mutual respect and would feature highlight packages detailing their relationship from childhood. Edge retains with a spear. They shake hands and hug after (this isn't the end of the matter, I will explain further on)

Match 2 - Money In The Bank Ladder Match: Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Wade Barrett.

I firmly believe MITB should have never left 'Mania. I understand why the PPV was spun off from this match but it gave guys who got lost in the shuffle a meaningful and exciting match at Wrestlemania. ADR wins the briefcase and cashes it on Edge after he announces his retirement due to injury. Christian chases ADR in revenge and beats him to win the WHC

Match 3 - Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

Happens just as it originally did.

Match 4 - WWE Tag Team Championship: The Corre vs. Kane & Big Show

Kane & Big Show defeat Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel to capture the Tag titles.

Match 5 - Randy Orton vs. Chris Jericho

There were rumours when Jericho left WWE in late 2010 that he would return for WM. As Orton was credited in storyline for Y2J's exit, I would have Jericho make a surprise return at Royal Rumble and cost Orton the WWE title during his rematch with The Miz. Jericho would also attack Orton at Elimination Chamber setting up this match which Orton would win.

Match 6 - The Miz vs. Jerry "The King" Lawler

Instead of having Miz/Lawler for the WWE Championship at EC 2011, Miz would have defended the title in an Elimination Chamber match and would be the first one eliminated. Miz and Lawler had been having confrontations for a while and Lawler would mock Miz for losing so quickly. Miz would snap and the they Lawler would put up a valiant fight but the younger Miz would win. All the Michael Cole/Jack Swagger nonsense never happens.

Match 7 - No Holds Barred Match: Triple H vs. The Undertaker

No changes needed here

Match 8 - WWE Divas Championship: Michelle McCool w/ Layla vs. Trish Stratus w/ Kelly Kelly

Built as a last hurrah for Trish as she overcomes Laycool to capture the Divas title and vacates it the next night on Raw. Laycool split and turn on each other during the subsequent tournament leading to McCool's exit from WWE.

Match 9 - WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. John Cena

Punk returns from injury and attacks Cena as he originally did. Punk goes onto to take control of New Nexus. Punk and Cena enter the Royal Rumble and Cena wins by last eliminating Punk. Next night on Raw New Nexus beat down Cena causing an injury angle with Cena being held off TV until the night after the Elimination Chamber (it would be speculated that Cena might not be able to main event 'Mania). Punk would go onto the Chamber match and win the WWE Championship. The next night on Raw Cena would return and attack Punk and challenge him for the title at Wrestlemania. Cena would go on to win the title after a super heated main event

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

This was a pretty bad Mania. Its not just revisionist history but as it was happening having Miz main event with Cena was a bad idea. As a few have mentioned here, I would have had the Orton/Punk match centered around the WWE title. This should have been Orton's time to shine at Mania as a face. Maybe if he had gotten this chance with a better and longer match against Punk he would have gotten more over as a face. I would still keep the Cena/Miz match and have the same outcome of Rock screwing Cena to set up their match the following year. There was no reason to throw away a title match just to set them up.

While I enjoyed the Rey/Cody and Orton/Punk matches, my favorite match on the card was HHH/Taker. This was a great match because it was so different than any of the past 5 or so Taker Mania matches. HHH controlling the majority of the match made it seem as though him winning was a possibility. The way Taker won the match was fantastic with the drama around weather or not Trips would be able to grab the sledgehammer. Even better was post match with Taker not able to walk out. It perfectly set up their rematch the following year. For me that match hit on every level.

 

[Pedigree1]

This WM was a complete disaster to put it nicely. In fact you can say its on par with WM11 as being the worse one ever. The mere fact that Daniel Bryan and Sheamus match didnt even make it onto the main card,speaks for itself.

That match should at least made it to the main portion of the card... That was a huge missed opportunity. As Dagger Dias said,having your royal rumble winner open the WM card,was a complete and utter shame.. Edge retaining for me is okay i guess. But to make ADR and the edge match the opening bout,come on WWE, that match should have been way higher on the card.. Another bout i would have liked to seen would have been Morrison and Ziggler go at it.

At that time,those two would have put on an amazing match with both guys being extremely athletic that would have been a great bout.. That match should have kicked off the card not ADR vs Edge!

Do i dare start with that horrible godawful celeb match with snooki in it. For one thing,that match should have never been a thought never mind putting it in writing. If you wanna bring Trish back,have her go one on one with Michelle McCool.

That feud could have written itself,with McCool saying she is the best diva of all-time and no one can beat her.. Not Lita,not Kiebler definitely not Trish. So thats a possible match that could have happened.. I would have scrapped the entire Lawler vs Cole bout,save Swagger vs lawler for the following Raw..

Punk was with the new nexus,so why didnt they help Punk cheat to win.. Thats the idea of being with a stable,they help you out when the ref isn't looking.. Punk should have gone over in that one not Orton..

If you wanna have the rock be the guest host of WM fine... That i have no issue with. Miz in no way shape or form ever or will ever deserve to go over Cena in any capacity. Having Miz win was a horrible booking decision,that should have never happened. Im fine with Rock giving Cena the rock bottom,but that should have happened after Cena won his title..

That would have made more of an impact IMO. Those decisions would have made this WM card at least watchable

 

[The Brain]

This one is sure to get a lot of hate and I'm not going to be one to defend it. This was a very weak mania. It could have easily been better but I just don't think we were meant to get a great one in 2011. My favorite match was CM Punk vs. Randy Orton. The match was very good but not stand out great. It just happened to be the best of a bad bunch. I hate to say it but my least favorite was probably the main event. I wanted to be sold on Miz in that spot. I tried to talk myself into it. I just couldn't buy it. Miz was out of place, the match was not good, and the finish was awful.

Some of the changes I would make involve actual matches being booked differently. Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio should have gone on later in the card. About half way through would have been fine. Putting this match on first was a clear indicator that the titles were not even close to being equal anymore. Also the match could have used a couple more minutes and Del Rio should have won the title. Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole should have been booked differently too. Cole should have gotten zero offense. This should have been all Lawler and should have been five to ten minutes shorter. It could have had the same result with the reverse decision but there was no way this should have been nearly 15 minutes bell to bell.

My big change is with the main event. Like I said, Miz was out of place. I would have had Wade Barrett go in as champion and lose the title to Cena. You're probably thinking Barrett isn't really any better than Miz but the Nexus angle dominated WWE in the second half of 2010 and Barrett had all the momentum to become champion. He should have won the title at Survivor Series and the Nexus angle should have concluded at WrestleMania instead of TLC. I don't know if Barrett would have been able to sustain any momentum after mania but considering Miz hasn't done anything since it couldn't be any worse.

Since I'm pulling Miz out of the main event I would have him in Dolph Ziggler's spot in the six person tag. Obviously he had history with Morrison and with his reality tv past he would have fit right in with Snooki. Dolph can then wrestle Kofi Kingston one on one just to get them on the card. With Barrett in the main event the eight man tag would not take place. No one else from Nexus would need a match. They could either try to help Barrett in the main event or have been taken out by Cena prior to mania. Kane could wrestle Sheamus and Big Show would be the odd man out. These changes may not have made WM27 a great mania but I think it would have been better than what we got.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

Yeah, there's not much to say about this one that hasn't been said already. The Miz never worked in that main event spot, particularly at that point in time, and possibly never would've even with the right grooming. Second, as soon as Rock was brought into the mix, The Miz...the WWE Champion...became incidental to the main event of WrestleMania.

What a shame.

I know that the WWE made a shit ton of money from Cena and Rock, and so it's almost impossible to argue against it from a business standpoint, but I really think they set themselves back in terms of creating new stars capable of standing in the main event role.

Anyways, in my perfect world, the biggest change that I would've made would be to bring Rock in earlier, around the time of the Royal Rumble and make WrestleMania 27 their big showdown. Three months that condensed the year long bullshit that derailed so many great possibilities. Perhaps this is wishful thinking, but I think it could've been done.

The Main Event - WWE Title Match
John Cena Vs. The Rock - This one would be for the title. I would find a way to get the belt back on Cena, possibly having him beat Miz or Barrett at Royal Rumble for the title (I personally thought Barrett having a title run during his Nexus phase made more sense). The Rock goes over and wins the title. Rock would eventually drop the title back to Cena at Extreme Rules, and boom, done. You've had a great feud that went 4 months, and everyone goes home happy.

World Heavyweight Title Match:
Alberto Del Rio Vs. Edge - This match would stay the same but wouldn't open the card -- it would be moved up further.

Undertaker Vs. Triple H - Hell in a Cell: Yes, I'm moving their WrestleMania 28 match and putting it here. I have plans for Undertaker next year and they don't involve another match with Trips.

The Miz Vs. John Morrison - This was a feud that needed to be given more time, and I enjoyed their matches together. I personally would've had Morrison go over Miz here after some big high spot.

Randy Orton Vs. CM Punk - The best match on the original card. Leave this one unchanged.

Daniel Bryan Vs. King Sheamus - US Title Match - C'mon....this should've been on the card and given some time. I would've had Sheamus go over and take the title as I thought he was a great heel at the time.

Cody Rhodes Vs. Rey Mysterio - Good match, leave it be.

Wade Barrett Vs. Christian - Barrett goes over

Triple Threat Tag Team Title Match:
Slater and Gabriel Vs. Kane and Big Show Vs. Air Boom - Don't recall if Air Boom came about a little later, but what the hell...I think this could've been a really entertaining opener.

 

[Reflection]

My favourite match was The Undertaker retaining the Streak against Triple-H... On one side, we had so many people on the internet saying that Taker and Hunter were too old and slow to put on a great match, but when the match actually took place- the long battle, the signature moves, the near-falls, the fight till the end- everyone was awestruck.

My least favourite match would be Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler. It was easily one of the worst wrestling feuds I've ever witnessed in my life, and all the matches and segments that they had during this feud were terrible. Even Stone Cold's presence didn't help things. They didn't even deserve to be on a B-show, let alone the grandest stage of them all.

Overall, Wrestlemania 27 was a below-mediocre PPV by Wrestlemania's standards. But there were a few bits and parts that I enjoyed, like The Rock coming face to face with Stone Cold in a backstage segment, and The Rock giving Miz a People's Elbow in the end. Also, this would go on to to be Edge's last match, so if I knew, I would have paid more attention. I guess Edge was the first of the list of people getting injured while working with Alberto. In addition to that, there was this funny report online that Trish Stratus was mad/offended because she wanted to do a double team move with John Morrison, but the latter have her a cold shoulder about it

 

[HeymanHustler]

This WrestleMania was atrocious. I think what makes it even worse is that it could have been so much better with the roster that was around. I think the card should've looked a little more like this...

0. Pre Show= 20 man Battle Royal- Just put everybody who didn't make it to the main card here.

1. Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus (c) - United States Title - Bring this to the main show and give them a good 7 or 8 minutes to put on a show where Sheamus retains. It made no sense to put this on the pre show to begin with. For one thing, both of these guys were pretty over at the time and in Sheamus's case, I don't understand how they had him in a high profile Mania grudge match against Triple H one year and then pushed to a pre show the next. If you're trying to push a guy like Sheamus as a top talent (which they must've since, apparently, they wanted to have HHH vs Sheamus 2 in a King vs King match before they sent HHH to Taker) then putting him on the pre show is taking steps backwards.

2. Cody Rhodes vs Rey Mysterio- stays as is. It was one of the few good matches on the card.

3. John Morrison vs The Miz- I remember they had The Miz in a little mini feud against Morrison leading into Mania while Cena worked promos with The Rock, but I think Miz should've had this match instead. For one thing, it's no secret Miz was basically irrelevant during the whole Rock/Cena thing. He was overshadowed and his career suffered because of it. I say have Miz drop the title at Elimination Chamber the month before because of interference from Morrison. This turns Miz into a man on a mission declaring he wants revenge on Morrison. Plus, it would've made an interesting turn for their ongoing rivalry in terms of their appearances at Mania. I'm sure they could have gotten this match to sell by mentioning they lost the tag titles at WM25, then they faced each other on opposite sides for the tag titles at WM26, and now they're one on one at WM27.

4. Michelle McCool and Dolph Ziggler vs Trish Stratuss and Kofi Kingston- I don't think anyone cared much for the six man tag to begin with, but you can make it a short mixed tag match with Kofi taking Morrison's spot. Snooki can be in Trish's corner for cheap pops while Vicki Guerrero and Layla are in McCool's corner.

5. Nexus vs The Corre - Yeah, I know both teams were heel and that's the reason WWE decided to sack this development in it's early stages, but I think the recent Wyatts vs Shield match prove that fans don't mind heel vs heel factions. And I remember a lot of the crowd going nutswhen it was teased in that promo between Cena, Nexus and The Corre; especially when Mason Ryan and Ezekiel Jackson went face to face. Plus, it's easy to make Corre the faces with how much people pop for Justin Gabriel's 450 splash.

6. Christian vs Edge (c) - World Heavyweight Championship - Now, I know this might sound screwy, but here me out...you have one of two options. One...make Christian heel and have him win the Rumble. Del Rio was really too green if you ask me when it comes to main eventing WrestleMania so make it a personal feud between Christian and Edge. Option two (and here's the screwy part) have Edge vs Del Rio still built up as it was. Since, from what I remember, Del Rio hadn't gotten over as well as WWE hoped and no one was that excited for Del Rio to face Edge. So, knowing this will be Edge's last match, during the Pre-Show, have Christian and Edge in some backstage brawl because Del Rio wants take him out of Edge's corner. Del Rio ends up being "injured" in the brawl and is announced he can't compete. In the middle of the show, The Rock tells Christian "You screwed the main event! Now you're gonna fix it! You're facing Edge tonight!" Then the crowd goes nuts to see an impromptu match they actually want to see. Again, screwy I know, but I just think Edge would rather go out on a high note by retaining in a match against his best friend opposed to being a guy no one believed would beat Edge at Mania. Sounds like a decent final match for the Rated R Superstar, don't you think? In either option, Edge retains.

7. Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay vs Kane and Big Show - In case option 1 from above (which is probably the better option) have Del Rio go up against two monsters with his monster heel bodyguard Brodus by his side. Decent way to give him something to do without pushing him too fast and also a decent cool down match. I guess you can have Brodus win by pinning Kane.

8. HHH vs Undertaker - No Holds Barred - Stays as is, only the story actually involves HHH trying to get revenge on Taker for retiring his best friend. Which was a no brainer of a story. I don't understand why they never went there in the program. If they did, it had to be a brief mention because I didn't catch it nor do I remember it.

9. CM Punk vs Randy Orton (c) - WWE Championship - I remember the story for this was great and they had a pretty great match so why not put the title in there to spice things up a bit? Miz didn't work as champion in the main event so to save the title from being merely a prop in the mix between Miz/Rock/Cena, make it mean something in a great feud like this. Orton retains.

10. The Rock vs John Cena - Give us this match a year earlier because it really didn't make sense to built this up for a year. Keep their storyline as it went with them taking these jabs at each other and Rock talking about how Cena talked trash on late night and how Cena thinks Rock abandoned WWE Universe, yadayadyada...then while Rock is the host, he makes the match between himself and Cena. Rock wins and sends the majority of the crowd happy.


Then just sack Lawler vs Cole completely. There was no recent for this match or this feud. It didn't lead to anything other than Lawler having a heart attack so don't have this feud happen to begin with. You can keep Cole heel on commentary, but not in a feud with Jerry.

 

[MMA Mark]

Randy Orton(c) vs CM Punk (Rumble winner) - WWE
Orton wins the title back from Miz, Punk wins the Rumble and the rest of the feud stays the same mostly. I would give Punk the win.

Edge(c) vs Christian - WHC
Christian wins a #1 Contender match and the two best friends face off for the WHC at Wrestlemania.

Cena vs Taker
This would have been perfect timing for the dream match. Taker wins of course.

HHH vs Barrett
Nexus (original group, still intact) targets HHH and HBK, leading to this match.

Stratus & Natalya vs LayCool
Stratus returns to help her fellow Canadian and take down the bullies.

Rhodes vs Mysterio
Keep this the same.

Sheamus(c) vs Bryan - US
Keep it on the main card as its own match. Winner isn`t important.

Morrison w/Snooki vs Miz
Replacing Ziggler with Miz to make up for his lost main event, Morrison and Miz also have history together.

Lawler vs Cole
Lawler gets the win in a very quick squash, just to give him a Wrestlemania match that isn`t a loss to Cole.

World Title #1 Contender Battle Royal
Del Rio wins this to make up for taking his Rumble win away. Faces Christian after Edge retires in the same feud they had anyways.

 

[Mustang Sally]

My favorite match, by far, was Undertaker-Triple H. It reminded me of something we rarely see anymore; old-time wrestling. Two grind-it-out, methodically proficient performers who know how to work and know how to keep the audience spellbound.

Yes, we knew 'Taker was going to win......yet, as the match went on and on, I became convinced it was 50-50, that Triple H might very well turn the trick. But he didn't, which is partially a tribute to Paul Levesque, whom many wrestling fans figure will do whatever it takes to make himself shine rather than adhere to the principles of good booking and good theater. But it was a also a tribute to World Wrestling Entertainment as a keeper of the traditions of professional wrestling. Here, we had two guys well beyond their primes; management could easily have called for a quick, low-impact contest with almost no twists and turns in the plot.....something that would allow 'Taker's glorious streak to continue without taxing the bodies of the two old warriors.

Don't fool yourself; veteran pro wrestlers are quite capable of working matches like that.....and many onlookers would be perfectly satisfied with it. Instead, these two went just short of a 1/2 hour, giving it everything in their aged bodies to give the fans the best of everything.....and as I said, keeping us uncertain as to the result, which is what you want in any match.

****************

My least favorite match of WM27? I suppose any Battle Royal that ends with the Great Khali as the last man standing would have to automatically qualify. There's something about Khali I like.....I can't even say what. But even while matches which feature 30 people in a wrestling ring seldom amount to anything significant, they don't have to "prove" the worthlessness of it all by having Khali win it.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Randy Orton(c) vs CM Punk (Rumble winner) - WWE
Orton wins the title back from Miz, Punk wins the Rumble and the rest of the feud stays the same mostly. I would give Punk the win.

Edge(c) vs Christian - WHC
Christian wins a #1 Contender match and the two best friends face off for the WHC at Wrestlemania.

Cena vs Taker
This would have been perfect timing for the dream match. Taker wins of course.

HHH vs Barrett
Nexus (original group, still intact) targets HHH and HBK, leading to this match.

Stratus & Natalya vs LayCool
Stratus returns to help her fellow Canadian and take down the bullies.

Rhodes vs Mysterio
Keep this the same.

Sheamus(c) vs Bryan - US
Keep it on the main card as its own match. Winner isn`t important.

Morrison w/Snooki vs Miz
Replacing Ziggler with Miz to make up for his lost main event, Morrison and Miz also have history together.

Lawler vs Cole
Lawler gets the win in a very quick squash, just to give him a Wrestlemania match that isn`t a loss to Cole.

World Title #1 Contender Battle Royal
Del Rio wins this to make up for taking his Rumble win away. Faces Christian after Edge retires in the same feud they had anyways.

nobody has to believe me, but many of my ideas for Mania 27 are the same or similar to MMA Mark's stuff here. thus, he is my new hero.

yeah, Mania 27 was pretty terrible. didn't have to be but it was. so here are my official changes since MMA Mark and i aren't identical in the matches we'd make for this event...

World Title #1: Orton vs. Punk. Orton wins the title back from Miz at the Rumble and Punk wins the Rumble. feud and build up can pretty much stay the same. and i'm really okay with either man winning. it's a step up from Miz walking in and out of Mania as WWE Champion no matter how you look at it.

World Title #2: Edge vs. Christian. i had Christian win MITB at Mania 26, so he simply cashes in at Mania for the World Title against his best friend Edge. that gives him a full year to build up his heel status. if Edge is willing and able, make it a Ladder/TLC Match.

Streak: Taker vs. Cena. this really is a dream match of sorts and the perfect timing for it. in fact, at this point, it'd be Streak vs. Streak as i'd have had Cena winning the World Title at Mania 24 in his Triple Threat. thus, Cena would be undefeated at Mania and not only that, he'd have won either the US or World Title in every one of his matches at Mania. so it could have been a pretty great encounter between the two. keep in mind that i've already booked Taker to retire HBK and have his Hell in a Cell match with Trips in the prior Mania events (in my fantasy booking world).

Triple H vs. Wade Barrett. i'd have booked Barrett stronger throughout the end of the last year and especially targeting Triple H as he's one of the primary faces of WWE. so Triple H really at this event is defending the very fabric of the WWE company and universe. easy match and easy build. might need Barrett to go over here to keep/rebuild his momentum.

Women's Title: Michelle McCool vs. Layla. this match happened a month later but i'd have it happen here instead. let Trish referee instead of wrestle.

Mask vs. Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio. Cody was going thru a storyline of trying to unmask Rey and Sin Cara. i'd have Cody put his protective mask on the line against Rey's IC Title. and yes, that means i'd have Rey holding the IC Title at this point instead of Barrett or Ezekiel Jackson later. just let Cody win the IC Title here instead of a few months later.

Submission Match: Daniel Bryan vs. Alberto Rio. both of these guys need a match on this card since Daniel Bryan was left off and ADR (again, in my world) has not won the Rumble and is not in the World Title match. give these guys some time to put on a great show. either man can win here.

Tag Team Titles: Big Show/Kane vs. Justin Gabriel/Evan Bourne. Big Show and Kane seemed to always get paired up when there was nothing else for them to do. they can do so again here. pair up Gabriel and Bourne since they've got the coolest finishers ever. the Tag Team division was so poor at this point, it doesn't even matter who wins.

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Miz vs. Morrison w/ Snooki. Snooki doesn't need to wrestle but she can accompany Morrison. with Miz having a background in reality tv, she'd be a logical celeb to be ringside. Miz/Morrison had a great match on Raw around this time that had this stip. i'd just move that match onto this stage. easy build with the history between the two. Morrison can win since he has Snooki in his corner.

Lawler vs. Cole: this match needed to be 2 minutes or under. Lawler hits a piledriver on Cole. he goes to the second turnbuckle and drops the fist. then he pulls Cole up and hits him with another piledriver. pin and win. Lawler needed to destroy Cole and end this feud forever. nobody wanted to see it end the way it did. which is to say, drag on for several months.

US Title: Four Corners Flag Match: Sheamus vs. Santino vs. Ziggler vs. Kofi. these are 4 of the most talented and popular superstars on the roster. loved or hated, these guys get reactions. put them in a match for the title. anyone can win here.

so that's my card. let Rock still host. he can even interact with Stone Cold and Cena and anyone else he wants to. in fact, i might have Rock hit a People's Elbow on Cena after his match and challenge him to a match one year later. doesn't have to happen that way but it'd be okay if it did.

this stage was a great opportunity to start building some of the new stars into credible title holders and contenders. instead, here we are 4 years later with the same guys doing the same things. i think this Mania might have a lot to do with that. tons of dropped balls and missed opportunities.

 

[Judah's Lion]

i just found an old thread, dated December 1, 2010, in which Mania 27 was discussed in a "what would you like to see at this year's Mania?" type of discussion.

here was my idea for the Tag Team Titles at the time. i didn't remember it in my first response here, but this was my idea going into Mania 27 was opposed to looking back on it now years later...


how about letting the Uso's fight against Ted Dibiase and his Fortunate Sons stable? that would mean that brother Bret needs to return from injury and this stable created, but there's plenty of time to do that. in fact, have the Uso's and Fortunate Sons and Hart Dynasty (don't split this team up! have Bret Hart return to mend the fences because these guys may not make it as singles stars and the WWE needs more actual tag teams!) and make it a triple threat tag match. maybe even have some legends accompany each team: Bret Hart and Hart Dynasty vs. Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Fortunate Sons vs. Rikishi and Uso's. that's my tag titles match for WM.


as it turns out, Bret Dibiase never returned from injury and literally retired around this time. but Joe Hennig could have teamed with Ted Dibiase Jr. and those two could have made up the Fortunate Sons. so still a Triple Threat Tag Team Title match with some Legends accompanying each team. that's my idea for Mania 27.

 

[Cub McCallister]

This wrestlemania for me was terrible tbh and I would change te majority of the card starting with:

Dark Match
Ezekiel Jackson Vs Masom Ryan
This would be avoid dark match and is have Jackson go over to try and build the corre up

1) Daniel Bryam (C) Vs King Sheamus
United States Title Match. I'd have his as a nice opener sheamus going over after he wins the king of the ring he gets a title shot at the us title this match would be a great one to start off with.

2) Cody Rhodes Vs Rey Mysterio
This stays the same.

3) Big Show & Kane (C) Vs New Nexus Vs Corre Vs Marrella & Kozlov
Wwe Tag Titles 4 Corners Elimination Match. Again I'd have this instead it's not star studded but it's better then what we were given and I'd have the corre going over to continue momentum

4) Trish Stratus Vs Michelle McCool
This would be better and just keep it short with Trish going over.

5) Kofi Kingston (C) Vs Dolph Ziggler Vs John Morrison Vs Wade Barrett
Intercontinetal Title Fatal Four Way Match. I'd have this as a nice addition with Barrett going over to keep the Corres momentum coming full circle.

6) Edge (C) Vs Alberto Del Rio Vs Christian
Triple Threat World Heavyweight Title Match. This would be much better and is have edge retaining with del rio and christian being co number one contenders after the battle royal match

7) John Cena Vs The Miz
Keep this the same except without the wwe title and I'd have the miz go over again but cleanly this time.

8) Triple HHH Vs The Undertaker
Stays the same.

9) Randy Ortan (C) Vs Cm Punk.
Wwe Title Match. This stays the same but it's the main even and it would be better with punk winning the title and then perhaps loosing in the main event after his stable cost him the match by accident and is have ortan being built up as a credible champion and let punk win the rumble but come up short.

That's my wrestlemania and in IMO it's much better than the original card.

 

[MCMG]

To be honest, I don't hate this Mania. It certainly wasn't one of the worst Wrestlemania of all time.

I'll start with the obvious, what the fuck was going on with Lawler vs Cole. Who honestly sat down and booked that match thinking it would work. I'll try to defend it: Cole was a great heel and continued that momentum. Lawler got his Wrestlemania match. J.R got to do commetentary. However, they could easily have had Swagger and Cole vs Lawler at half the time and ticked all those boxes.

It was stupid what they did with The Corre as Wade Barret was in desperate need for a win. All his momentum was dying and this certainly didn't help. Punk vs Orton and Rey vs Cody were both entertaining matches and feuds. I'm fine with what they did with Snooki and at least she did some flips and shit. However, I think this is the place where Morrison fucked up everything. He complained about Trish being involved which was stupid on his part.

Sheamus and Bryan both deserved better than a dark match and I suppose they could chopped time from the Lawler match (or binned it completely) Edge vs Del Rio was the perfect send off for the Rated R superstar although I wouldn't have minded a triple threat with Christian. Indeed, I'm sure Edge would have preferred that as well.

Taker vs Triple H was just awesome. I didn't think the streak was going to end but Triple H and the Undertaker made me believe otherwise. They were awesome and this was easily the match of the night.

They wanted to set up Rock v Cena. Fine by me and The Rock provided some funny moments throughout.The Miz was doing pretty well at the time and, in my opinion, deserved to be WWE champ. I thought this worked quite well and got me interested for the following year. Of course, Wrestlemania should always be about the here and now but Rocky wasn't able to wrestle at 27 and this was a logical solution. The match itself was a little underwhelming as Miz and Cena have had better matches than this.

Overall, it was a Wrestlemania that was OK. There were some great feuds and promos leading up to the night. The majority of the matches were fine but they really needed to cut the Lawler/Cole match. Give Barrett a match were he can shine (maybe one-on-one with Kane) and try to find a place for Sheamus/Bryan. Other than that, I don't think this is as disastrous as others think and was an acceptable Wrestlemania.

 

[LSN80]

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

Matches I liked:​

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio (***)-While some would argue that the company's second biggest title shouldn't be opening the show, I disagree. Because of the drama with Cena and Rock, it was obvious Cena and Miz would be closing the show. The opening match is the second biggest match on the show, often setting the tone for the showi. And for the most part, this match delivered. There were a couple of spots where Del Rio appeared to have Edge in trouble, locking in the cross-armbreaker in the middle of the ring. In what would be Edge's final match, he hit the spear out of nowhere, somewhat, for the win. It was a solid match that had the crowd firmly behind (a recently turned face)Edge. Having Christian there to neutralize the interference from Brodus Clay worked, although I'd liked to have seen Christian in his own match. Say what you will, but this hooked the crowd and was a good match. Del Rio lost nothing in coming up short, as he was drafted to Raw two months later, and won Money In The Bank and became a two-time WWE Champion that year.

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes:(***1/4) This was Rhodes' biggest single's match to date, and getting a win over Mysterio at Wrestlemania in a single's match was something CM Punk couldn't do the year before. It was personal, as Cody's client was suffering from Body Dysmorphic Disorder. He believed that he had a damaged face from a match with Rey from a few months prior, although everyone could see he was fine through the face guard he wore. In some good psychology, Cody removed Rey's knee brace earlier in the match and hit him with it before using CrossRhodes for the win. This was the same brace that had "injured" Cody's face, so this was some nice psychology. Mysterio is like teflon.He can bounce back from a loss without his stock dropping, and this was the biggest victory of Rhodes' career.

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk: (***1/2)This was a nice throwback match: Punk wanted revenge for Orton punting him in the head, costing him his first World Championship. Punk waited until the Royal Rumble 2010- a year and a half later- to get his revenge. He snuck in the ring while the ref was bumped at hit Orton with the GTS, costing Orton his match for the WWE Title against Miz. This was the beginning of the 'RKO out of nowhere, as Punk went for a springboard closeline and Orton RKO'd him in mid-air. It was a cool spot a good finish to a nice match. Punk never got his revenge, and the heel/face alignment was somewhat messed up. Orton had gotten hot as a face at this point, however, and Punk was leading the Nexus. These two always had good chemistry, and this match was no different.

HHH vs. Undertaker: (****)While nowhere near the classic match we'ld get from the pair inside the Cell at the following years Mania, it was still a very good No Holds Barred Match. HHH hit Undertaker with everything he had to try and end the streak, but he got caught. Simple as that. Undertaker couldn't even get up after the match. Normally you would see Undertaker make a comeback, but he had been so beaten down at this point. With anyone else, it would be impossible suspend disbelief. But this was Undertaker at Wrestlemania, if anyone would find a way to win from his back, it's him. Not a classic, but still very good.

Matches I disliked:

The Corre vs. Santino/Kofi/Big Show/Kane(N/A): Kofi should have gotten his rematch here against Barrett for the IC Title instead of this ridiculous match. It went less then two minutes, Big Show knocked out Slater, and the match was over. Instead of using these men(or others) in the MITB ladder match, they threw a bunch of guys into a random tag match.

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler(1/4*): This was simply awful, and gets the lowest star rating I can give. Lawler should have beaten Cole decisively and ended the feud, but after a back and forth match, Cole won by DQ. The man who wasn't a wrestler and held over 40 titles. Cole had taunted Lawler and cost him the WWE Title against Miz, and they decided to settle it in the ring. This was a joke and an embarrassment.

-Snooki/Trish Stratus/John Morrison vs. LayCool/Dolph Ziggler(3/4): I understand that Vince is enamored with celebrities, but Snooki in Georgia was the best they could do? If my memory serves me, Ziggler and Morrison weren't even tagged in, or they started the match and quickly tagged out. Having Snooki defeat a trained wrestler who had been a multiple-time Divas champion was a rediculous notion, and with a handspring elbow? Trish looked good in her brief action, but this should have been Ziggler vs. Morrison one-on-one in an entertaining spotfest with the Snooki in Morrison's corner and LayCool in Ziggler's. Or have a gauntlet match for the girls for Eve Torres' Divas titles. This was a waste and ultimately meant nothing.

-The Miz vs. John Cena(**): I understand it was for the biggest prize in the company, and Rock was certain to be involved. But the match itself was awful, and the original finish was a double count-out. How does that even happen in the first place, and in the Main Event of Wrestlemania makes this 10 times worse. Miz had shown he can go competently with Cena in the past, and apparently he had a concussion. And I know this set up the Rock re-starting the match and Rock Bottoming Cena, but they couldn't have ended it less creatively.

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 27, what would it be and why?
-Bumping Sheamus and Bryan was a mistake, as the match the night after on Raw was very good. Sheamus was losing steam as a heel, so he was booked to win the U.S. Title from Bryan three weeks before Wrestlemania. This was to be Bryan's rematch. Bryan was having excellent match after excellent match, and to cut them in favor of the likes of Snooki's match, the 8 man tag that was a squash, or Rock's opening lovefest for himself was insulting.

-I would have cut Rock's opening monologue. It went 10 minutes, I believe. They could have used this to put Bryan and Sheamus for the U.S Title on the main card, rather then bumping it to a dark match.

-Have Morrison and Ziggler go one-on-one: Instead of using the pair to be sidekicks to Snooki, Trish, and LayCool-with no offense to the women wrestlers, these two cas an insult to the wrestlers in the back who didn't make the card. And to the audience who paid for the show, only to see this.

-I would have put Lawler over Cole, and ended their program. It was terrible, as matches between wrestlers and non-wrestlers are.

- I would have changed the ending to the main event. I understand that they wanted to set up Cena vs. Rock for the following year. But they essentially screwed fans who attended and those watching at home because they delivered a bad ending in a match that was supposed to determine the top star in the company.

Overall(4.5)​

I can't quite give this show a 5 here. The main event was awful, and there were no great matches on the card to offset it. Three of the first four matches were good. But except for a very good(not great) match between Undertaker and HHH, there wasn't a match like Wrestlemania 25's HBK or 'Taker to offset a bad main event. The 'special attraction' match went from Money In The Bank to a match with Jersey Shore's Snooki. A couple matches had nice backstories-Punk/Orton and Mysterio/Rhodes-and were good matches. But there was nothing memorable here, and other then perhaps for being Edge's last match. A thumbs down PPV.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Taker VS Triple H is an easy pick for one of the high quality matches on this card. It's not as a good (or great) as the Mania 17 or 28 match, but it's still an entertaining match. It's a hard hitting brawl, with a handful of memorable spots (Triple H slamming Taker through the Cole Mine booth, the Spinebuster through the announce table, and Triple H's hard Irish Whip into the security barricade).

Orton VS Punk is a sleeper pick for the best match in 2011. Unfortunately, it's forgotten, because when you think of Wrestlemania 27, you think of The Rock hosting, you think of Taker VS Triple H, and Taker needing help to make it to the back, and Miz VS Cena VS Rock, so Orton VS Punk is an afterthought.

Miz VS Cena is the obvious stain on this card. Miz was nowhere near ready to face Cena as a formidable opponent in the main event of Wrestlemania. In the end, he was just a fall guy, so The Rock could run in and interfere for his payback on Cena for the AA on the previous Raw. With the right build, I seriously believe WWE could've used any serviceable mid card heel on the roster to fill Miz's spot as WWE Champion, because it didn't matter. The focus was on building Rock VS Cena for next year, and that's it.

The one match on this card that really pissed me off was Cole VS Lawler, with the Anonymous GM (Hornswoggle ) reversing the decision to give the win to Cole. The match was atrocious, and the wrong man walked away with the victory. This was supposed to be Lawler's triumphant night for vengeance, but they wasted it with a stupid decision to prolong a tedious feud.

I also believe Del Rio should've won the WHC from Edge in his last match. From what I remember, Edge having this need to successfully defend the WHC at Wrestlemania played a part in the storylines, but Del Rio needed the win for a boost.

Overall, Wrestlemania 27 is a forgettable show, and it's one of the worst Wrestlemanias ever. Taker VS Triple H and Orton VS Punk are the only must-see matches, but everything else is either mediocre at best, atrocious, or barley decent.