Wrestlemania 29: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This is the last 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 there!

In this thread we will be discussing.... Wrestlemania 29!

Wrestlemania 29 took place on April 7, 2013. It was held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. There were 80,676 fans there that attended the event. Here are the results of the matches from the show:




0. The Miz defeated Wade Barrett (c) by submission in a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship as the Pre-Show (04:06)

1. The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns) defeated Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show in a six-man tag team match (10:35)

2. Mark Henry defeated Ryback in a singles match (08:02)

3. Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) (c) defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston (with AJ Lee) in a tag team match to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship (06:16)

4. Fandango defeated Chris Jericho in a singles match (09:17)

5. Alberto Del Rio (c) (with Ricardo Rodriguez) defeated Jack Swagger (with Zeb Colter) by submission in a singles match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship (10:28)

6. The Undertaker defeated CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) in a singles match (22:07)

7. Triple H (with Shawn Michaels) defeated Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) in a No Holds Barred match where if Triple H have lost he would've had to retire. (23:58)

8. John Cena defeated The Rock (c) in a singles match to win the WWE Championship (24:32)



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 29, 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 2013. 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 29 in this thread. The other Wrestlemania events have their own retrospective threads, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

This is the last topic in the thread series, hope you enjoyed them.

Discuss!

 

[Aquaman6686]

Huge improvement over the previous editions in my book, and the first WrestleMania I was able to attend live.

My favorite match by far was CM Punk vs. Undertaker. I've never heard a crowd so loud and split down the middle. The entrances alone were more exciting than some entire events I've attended, and the match kept the crowd white-hot from start to finish.

Least favorite was Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H. There was nothing wrong with the match, I just wasn't at all interested in the storyline. Brock Lesnar has never interested me, and the fact that Triple H's career was on the line made it beyond obvious that he was winning.

Changes I would make:

1 - I would switch Barrett/Miz to the main card and demote Jericho/Fandango to the pre-show. Even as a huge Jerichoholic, there was no reason for his match with a total nobody to be on the main card while the Intercontinental Championship didn't make the PPV.

2 - Cancel the P. Diddy musical crap. Use the extra time to let Jack Swagger have an actual entrance and add a few more minutes to his match with Del Rio, which I felt ended just as it was getting REALLY good.

3 - I would have re-ordered the card a bit. After moving Jericho/Fandango to the pre-show, I would have opened WrestleMania with the Intercontinental Championship. From there, keep the order the same until the four main events, but re-order them to HHH/Lesnar, then Punk/Undertaker, then Del Rio/Swagger, and then Rock/Cena.

So, a few minor complaints, but overall, I thought this was a very strong WrestleMania. The event gets a lot of hate and I really don't see why, especially after a horrible WM27 and a mediocre WM28.

 

[sjdigitall]

My first ever Wrestlemania, came all the way from Sydney, Australia to attend and will always be special to me. Loved everything, only thing i will change is have Punk & Taker close out the show and have Rock V Cena in at second last. This would have given more believability that Punk could have ended the streak and avoid the Wrestlemania ending on a bit of a sour note with Cena winning and the whole crowd booing him out of the building.

 

[Y2J 6 TIME WORLD JOBBER]

the greatest jobber of all time on the pre card are u mad

 

[rge2010]

Hmmm this wasn't a bad card....

But for me...

Alberto Del Rio vs Ryback
I think this really could have been the making of Ryback had he won the gold. He was hot at the time but instead of squashed (literally) by Mark Henry.

Triple H & Undertaker vs CM Punk & Brock Lesnar
Both were great singles matches, but this match just made sense and was a great point of difference for a streak match. Punk could have cost his team the match and Lesnar and Heyman could have turned on him. This would also preserve Lesnar from another pinned loss at Mania.

 

[MMA Mark]

My first Mania after returning as a full-time fan and I was disappointed big time. Rock vs Cena was a waste of the title AND Rumble for a predictable ending in a rematch nobody was asking for. Ryback losing to Henry was only used as a cheap surprise, when Ryback NEEDED a win, and he ended it with a Shell Shocked anyways. Antonio Cesaro wasn't even included on the card. Lesnar vs HHH was pointless, and the stipulation guaranteed a HHH win. Punk dropping the title made the ending of his match predictable, despite how good it was. Punk putting his title and streak of 500+ days (by that time it would have been) against Taker's streak would have been an epic feud.

My completely revamped card:

WWE Championship - Streak vs Streak
CM Punk(c) vs The Undertaker
During Punk vs The Rock at Rumble The Shield come out, but John Cena comes out to help The Rock. They clear The Shield, but Cena accidentally distracts The Rock, allowing Punk to retain with a GTS. Later in the Rumble match (which should always be last) Cena and Ryback are the final two and Rock comes out to distract Cena, Ryback eliminates him and Rock raises his hand to end the show as Cena looks on. Combine Rock vs Punk and Shield vs Cena, Ryback, Sheamus at Elimination Chamber to an 8-man tag match. Rock/Cena/Ryback arguing costs them the match.

Next night on RAW Punk reveals the new title design and Ryback interrupts. Punk says something about nobody ending his streak and the gong hits and RAW ends with Taker staring them down on the ramp. Ryback then bows out and faces the World Heavyweight Champion out of respect for Taker, as well as the fact that a match with Punk is never a fair fight. The build could still include the Paul Bearer stuff, but wouldn't rely on it. The match could be the same and nobody would complain, there would just be a bit more added drama.

Afterwards, since Taker wrestled a few matches in the following weeks anyways, he could drop the title back to Punk OR The Shield could still write him off TV. The title is vacated and a tournament is held for the vacant championship. Punk is upset in the first round and goes on his hiatus as he did.

Twice in a Lifetime
The Rock vs John Cena II
Cena costs Rock the title, Rock costs Cena the Rumble. Cena challenges him, saying Rock got 3 chances against Austin, he just wants one more. Play up his need for a win after losing at WM 27 and 28, losing to Lesnar (yes, LOSING, like he should have), Ziggler, Shield, Punk, Ryback, etc. Cena wins and then sets his sights on the vacated WWE title, possibly winning the tournament.

World Heavyweight Championship
Big Show(c) vs Ryback (Rumble winner)
Big Show never loses the title to Del Rio. During their Last Man Standing match on Smackdown Jack Swagger returns out of nowhere and costs ADR the match, with Coulter making his debut on-screen also. Show retains in a Triple Threat at Rumble. He retains in an Elimination Chamber match also and is built as a major force. Ryback wins the Rumble and chooses to challenge Show for the WHC after Taker challenges Punk. Match is built on Ryback being unable to lift Show, falling on his face like he did against Henry once or twice trying to hit Shell Shocked. Maybe he beats Henry with Shell Shocked on Smackdown before Mania while Show watches.

Ryback wins at Mania with a big Shell Shocked (why he did it on RAW only for Show to kick out, I don't get) and wins the title. Next night on RAW he is injured by Show and Ziggler cashes in to take the title (great moment, don't want to lose that). Ziggler vs Show vs Ryback at Extreme Rules. Eventually Ryback wins the title back from Ziggler.

United States Championship
Antonio Cesaro(c) vs Jack Swagger vs Alberto Del Rio
The Swagger-ADR feud and match were both great, would tie in easily to the US championship, and give Cesaro his deserved spot he never got. Coulter could make a remark about the title being held by a non-American and Cesaro is inserted. Another option might be to have ADR vs Swagger as a pre-show match or the show opener, with the winner facing Cesaro later in the night for the title. That keeps their great match, adds Cesaro to the show without Cesaro getting in the middle of a solid feud, and a US title shot on the line only makes sense given the theme of the rivalry.

The Shield vs Sheamus, Orton & Henry
Same build/match but replace Big Show with Henry.

Tag Team Champions Face Off
Daniel Bryan vs Kane
Their breakup was being teased for a while, pull the trigger on the big show. Similar to Guerrero vs Mysterio at WM 21. They lose the titles anyways at the next PPV to The Shield. The match with Ziggler and Langston was thrown together and not a Mania worthy feud at all.

HHH vs Brock Lesnar w/Heyman
Heyman was allowed to name the stipulation. Make that stipulation Heyman becoming either COO or RAW/SD General Manager if Lesnar wins. And then have Lesnar win. It would have Lesnar 3-0 in the WWE since his return. My booking has Lesnar beating Cena at ER, HHH at SummerSlam and again at Wrestlemania. Heyman back as a GM would be brilliant. Heyman favors Lesnar over Punk to tease their eventual SummerSlam match. Brock demands a title shot, but Heyman can only offer him a spot in the tournament, which was set up by a higher power than him. Brock doesn't accept and leaves until rescuing Heyman against Punk before SummerSlam. He'd be 4-0 after Punk, 5-0 after beating Big Show at Rumble and more of a threat to The Streak.

Fandango vs Chris Jericho
In retrospect Fandango over Jericho at Mania is laughable, but with the Fandango-ing craze at the time it wasn't too bad. It makes for decent filler also. If Fandango was given better storylines maybe he could have been more successful, who knows. If he wasn't injured he could have won the IC title instead of Axel, then feuded with Miz.

Intercontinental Championship
Wade Barrett(c) vs The Miz
The match was okay and the finish was pretty cool. It really only serves to keep The Miz's Mania streak alive.

Divas Championship
Kaitlyn(c) vs AJ Lee
Same feud they had when AJ first won the title, but done for Mania instead. Give AJ the win and a big Wrestlemania moment that she deserves.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

Of all the Wrestlemanias I've attended live, this left me the most underwhelmed. Some of the card was very good, some very poor.

I'm not a fan of advertised matches being bumped to the pre-show. Also, given Barrett regained the title the following night on Raw (in an excellent match), not sure why Miz won the IC title here, in a pretty dull match to be fair.

The tag titles should have been replaced by Kane v Bryan, they were teasing it long enough but it never happened.

Ziggler should have cashed in 24 hours earlier, but under the exact same circumstances. Would have been epic!

Fandango-Jericho was terrible, Fandango miscued so much, even a simple roll-up. Jericho was the hardest working wrestler of the night here, just to salvage this match! (Nb. The 'Fandangoing' craze began the following night on Raw, not before. And it was actually started ironically, as a way of the fans saying his music was the best part of his act, ie his character sucked!)

Ryback should have beaten Mark Henry. This loss finally killed off the Ryback character IMO.

The 6-man and the HHH v Lesnar matches were awesome and I'd keep them the same

My favourite match was the streak match. That said, I'd have swapped Punk for Cena. It would probably have still been one of the matches of the night!

The WWE title match should have been Punk v Rock. Punk had the longest reign since Hogan's first (1985-88) so it should have culminated at WM - Punk would have just topped 500 days (504 to be exact), so the very obvious final build would be Punk's 500 day celebration on Raw or Smackdown, crashed by the Rock. If you can get Rock to stay around a couple of months, he keeps the belt for that long. If he's got other commitments, he loses it - to Cena - either the next night on Raw, or (preferably, as I'm not a fan of rapid changes) at Extreme Rules. That one would make more sense - Cena couldn't beat Rock one-on-one but wins a gimmick match.

 

[LODemolition]

Most of WMXXIX was pretty lackluster if you ask me. Cena/Rock II was a bad main event, and Rock should not have been champion in the first place. CM Punk's title reign should've lasted through the Rumble, even if he only kept the belt by a DQ finish against The Rock. I would've changed just about everything except for Triple H vs. Lesnar and The Shield vs. Orton, Sheamus & Big Show. Here's how my card would look.

1. United States Championship Fatal 4-Way: Antonio Cesaro (c) vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger vs. Alberto Del Rio

Both Cesaro and Kofi were deserving of being put on the card, even if it was the dark match. Del Rio got no reaction as a face, but he was the best one on the roster actually for Swagger to target, since Mysterio was injured. Cesaro retains. At least with Cesaro as champ, the belt gets defended more often. It's tough to have Ambrose defend it when he's always in 6-man tags.

2. The Miz vs. Fandango

I didn't care much for Jericho's program with Fandango, and would've put Miz in that spot to take the loss.

3. World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry (c) vs. Ryback

These 2 should've been battling for the WHC instead of Del Rio and Swagger. 2 beasts going head to head with a title on the line would've brought a much more important feel to the match. I liked seeing Henry go over, but must admit it confused me.

4. Six-Man Tag Team Match: Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show vs. The Shield

I'd leave this as it was.

5. Divas Championship: Kaitlyn (c) vs. AJ Lee

I really thought these 2 had the most meaningful Divas feud in a long time and it should've been given it's spot on the card.

6. Intercontinental Championship: Wade Barrett vs. Chris Jericho

I basically think Jericho and Miz were in the wrong feuds and would've switched them. I think Jericho and Barrett would've had a much better match and a better story with Jericho going for his 10th IC Title.

7. Triple H vs. Brock Lesnar

This is only the 2nd match I felt was scripted out just fine.

8. Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Ladder Match: Team Hell No (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston vs. Rhodes Scholars vs. The Usos

While the match was ok how it was, it could've been better. Leaving Rhodes Scholars and Usos off the card was a mistake imo, and should've been utilized here. Having Bryan and Kane face eachother would've been fine with me too. Maybe have them drop the titles to one of these 3 teams at the Rumble or EC and let this be a triple threat. Then that team loses to Rollins & Reigns at Extreme Rules.

9. The Undertaker vs. The Rock

Rock/Cena II was a big mistake I thought. Everyone not only saw it from a mile away, but they weren't nearly as interested as the last time around. Rock and Taker is a WM match I've always wanted to see, and I think they dropped the ball here, despite Taker/Punk being the best match on this card.

10. WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena

I had no problem with Cena regaining the title here, but it should've been against Punk, who would've been champion for 500+ days at this point. This would've been a much better main event than a Cena/Rock repeat. Just my opinion.

 

[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 CM Punk. This was a good match, but I never felt that the streak was in jeopardy at all. I liked the buildup and the feud was good.
My least favorite match was Chris Jericho vs Fandango. The match itself wasn't terrible. But I hated the fact that they wasted Jericho in a match with that guy, and also Fandango didn't belong on a WrestleMania show at that point. Maybe a backstage segment and that's it.

As for changes to this show I'd do the following.

WWE Championship Match- CM Punk(c) vs The Rock
No one except the WWE wanted to see Cena/Rock II. It was supposedly "once in a lifetime". They should stick to their guns with that. The Rock challenges Punk for the title after Punk declares that he's beaten everybody. Punk gets goaded into accepting the challenge and we're off to the races. Punk retains over the Rock in a classic.

Undertaker vs John Cena
The WWE is dropping the ball by not doing this match at a a Mania. Taker doesn't have much time left and WM 29 would've been the perfect place for this to happen. And if the streak has to be broken then a true and proven company man like Cena should be the one to do it. But then again the WWE doesn't want to lose these streak matches because they are an attraction themselves.

Triple H vs Brock Lesner
This stays as is. If it were up to me they never would've fought at Summerslam in the first place. I would've saved this for WrestleMania.

World Heavyweight Championship Match- Alberto Del Rio(c) vs Ryback
Jack Swagger had no business being in a World title match period. Let alone at a WrestleMania. Ryback was hot at this time. In my world Ryback wins the Rumble and challenges Del Rio. Ryback gets the win here. In the post match Del Rio delivers vicious chair shots to Ryback. Weakening him. Then out comes Ziggler to cash in on a weakened Ryback.

Intercontinental Championship Match- Wade Barrett(c) vs The Miz
This belongs on the main show.

Kane vs Daniel Bryan
This could've been set up similarly to Rey/Eddie from WM 21. Bryan gets the win here.

United States Championship Match- Antonio Cesaro(c) vs Jack Swagger vs Chris Jericho vs Mark Henry
This would be a way to get Swagger on the show, and Jericho is involved in a better match, and Cesaro gets a much deserved WM spot.

Shield vs Randy Orton, Sheamus, Big Show
This stays as is.

 

[JJV]

This PPV had great talents, but it still wasn't that good. I wasn't interested in seeing Rock vs Cena II. I don't think most people were. Triple H vs Brock Lesnar was a good match, but there was something missing in this feud. Maybe it could have got a bit more personal by adding Stephanie into the storyline. Putting Triple H's career on the line was kinda stupid. I liked the match, but there was something missing in it. Undertaker vs CM Punk was truly the one match worth remembering. It would have been one for the ages if it had gone for about 8 more minutes (a 30 minute match), with some more big spots and the WWE Championship on the line. Streak vs Streak would have been great! This match deserved to end the show. I really wanted Chris Jericho to win the Rumble that year since he couldn't win the previous year and he never won a Rumble. Honestly, I would have rather had Undertaker win that year's Rumble for the second time and headline Wrestlemania with CM Punk. That was the match people were really into anyway.

Fandango vs Chris Jericho. REALLY? At least if Jericho won it wouldn't have been so bad. Come on, just because Jericho is a part-timer doesn't mean he has to put over every f'n superstar who's gonna end up jobbing to jobbers in no time! This was one of the worst decisions of Wrestlemania. Period.

The Shield's match was alright. But it needed a better build up and the match needed some more time. Mark Henry vs Ryback could have been scrapped. The tag team match was good, but it had no backstory to it. ADR vs Swagger was quite intriguing when they began feuding, but they got boring in no time. Why not have Jericho win the Rumble and face ADR rather than having Cena win and face Rock?

I would have booked Wrestlemania like this...

Team Hell No def Dolph Ziggler and Big E and Team Rhodescholars in a triple threat tag match for the tag titles
Sandow and Rhodes weren't on the card. Why? These guys just had a long feud with Kane and Bryan but they don't make it to Wrestlemania.

Kofi Kingston def Cesaro to win the US championship
These guys had a great match on Raw sometime after Wrestlemania. Why not have this match at Wrestlemania? This would have given Kofi some time as champ before losing to Ambrose, and both these guys could have been added to the card.

The Shield def Randy Orton, Sheamus and The Big Show
This match needed a great build up. I would have booked it from the Survivor Series when Shield made their debut. Instead of Ryback vs Cena vs Punk, Orton vs Punk vs Cena should have been the match. Shield attacks Orton and he's out of action for a month. He returns at the Rumble, and Sheamus begins feuding with the Shield after Rumble. After Elimination Chamber, Shield continues their attack on both Orton and Sheamus and they cost Big Show a number one contender's match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Then they get some promo time and some intriguing segments than just repeating the same thing like they did in their feud.

Chris Jericho def Alberto Del Rio, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger to win the World Heavyweight Championship
Henry def Ryback to become the number one contender. Ryback doesn't make it to Wrestlemania. He then gets a rematch against Henry in a tag match, with Cena on his team and Swagger on Henry's team. Rock gets involved in some way and Cena leaves, costing Ryback his opportunity to become number one contender. The night after Wrestlemania, Ryback turns on Cena for costing him his spot. This would have given the Ryback-Cena feud some meaning. Their feud began just like that with no meaning!

Either at Wrestlemania or the night after Wrestlemania (since the crowd was just awesome on the fallout night), Ziggler cashes in on his rival Jericho.

Triple H def Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match
I would have given some more intriguing segments for this feud. Throw Stephanie into the feud, kinda like Brock's feud with 'Taker back in 2002, and you have one hell of a feud!

John Cena def The Rock
This match was not needed, but since it just has to happen...
After losing to Rock the previous year, Cena loses to Brock and gets injured. He returns after a month to defeat Big Show and end Laurinaitus' reign as GM and win the MITB. But since then, he loses every match. He loses a triple threat at Summerslam, to Punk at NOC and Hell in a cell (he had to be the one to face Punk at Hell in a cell. I know he was injured but Ryback vs Punk was not supposed to happen) and Survivor Series, and loses to Ziggler at TLC. He loses the Rumble and to Shield in 2013. This is when he claims that ever since losing to Rock he has gone downhill and he wants to beat Rock. He challenges him to a match.

The Undertaker def CM Punk to win the WWE Championship
Taker returns after Elimination Chamber. Punk defeated Rock at Rumble and retained in an elimination chamber (scrap Punk vs Rock II). Punk challenges Taker to a match at Wrestlemania, streak vs streak. Punk claims he has done it all and the last thing he needs to do is headline Wrestlemania and end the streak to retain his championship.

The next night on Raw, Shield-Taker-Team Hell No segment, next week the six man tag takes place and on Smackdown, the Shield takes out Taker. This forces him to vacate the championship and a tournament is held for the championship. Cena and Ryback are the last two and the two will face at Extreme Rules for the championship.

The loss at Wrestlemania hurts Punk and he leaves (exactly what actually happened), and returns only at Payback.

9. The Undertaker vs. The Rock

Rock/Cena II was a big mistake I thought. Everyone not only saw it from a mile away, but they weren't nearly as interested as the last time around. Rock and Taker is a WM match I've always wanted to see, and I think they dropped the ball here, despite Taker/Punk being the best match on this card.

10. WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena

I had no problem with Cena regaining the title here, but it should've been against Punk, who would've been champion for 500+ days at this point. This would've been a much better main event than a Cena/Rock repeat. Just my opinion.

The Undertaker vs The Rock is one match I really wanted to see at Wrestlemania, and it would have been way bigger than Rock-Cena II. So I wouldn't really mind if Punk vs Cena and Rock vs Taker took place at Wrestlemania either.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I thought this was a good show and I truly don't understand the criticism it gets around here. If that puts me in the minority, then so be it. I really enojyed Cena VS Rock 2. That match doesn't deserve the hate that it gets. Yeah, I understand WWE had said "Once In A Lifetime" the previous year. It could have remained as such had they not made the worst booking decision of the past decade by making Rock beat Cena in the Wrestlemania 28 match. This match became necessary in order for Cena to obtain redemption. A year long internal struggle, it's a tale that many should be able to relate to.

Cena's Royal Rumble win may have seemed predictable, but it restored some prestige to the Royal Rumble that it desperately needed. Cena became a multi time Rumble winner and he became the first Royal Rumble winner to CLOSE Wrestlemania since Orton in 2009. He became the first Royal Rumble winner to close AND WIN since Batista in 2005. Previous Rumble winners were victims to bad booking decisions, this storyline brought some importance back to that win. You had two iconic generational heroes going at it AGAIN at the biggest show of the year, with the biggest prize in the business on the line. How can you NOT like that and call yourself a fan? If you don't, you are entitled to your opinion. I for one loved it.

That wasn't my favorite match though. Undertaker VS CM Punk was. While both of the Michaels matches and the Triple H matches were better, Punk got one of the best matches of the year out of this and it more than delivered. The worst match of the night was Mark Henry VS Ryback. What a waste of a roster spot that was. They could have gotten Brodus Clay & Tensai the tag team match they missed out on, but nope they had to go and give us this match instead. Other than that, quite solid show. I would have wanted to see Kaitlyn defend the Divas Championship on the show, against Natalya in a match right before the main event so that fans could get a chance to relax in between the bigger matches. I'd also have replaced Ryback VS Henry with the Brodus Clay tag team match that got scrapped.



Here's how my card would have looked:


1. The Shielld VS Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show.
Shield wins.

2. Brodus Clay & Tensai VS Rhodes & Sandow
Brodus & Tensai win.

3. Team Hell No VS Ziggler & Langston for the Tag Team Championship
Team Hell NO retain.

4. Chris Jericho VS Fandango
Fandango wins.

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

6. CM Punk VS Undertaker
Undertaker wins.

7. Brock Lesnar VS Triple H
Trips wins.

8. Kaitlyn VS Natalya for the Divas Championship
Kaitlyn retains.

9. John Cena VS The Rock for the WWE Championship
Cena wins.



I'm mostly fine with the show staying the way it went but this would have made it even better. Honestly, this show is underrated. It's not one of the greatest of all time. I admit that. 21, 23, and 26 were better from recent years. It's much better than people give it credit for. People crying and whining about how predictable the main event was are hypocritical. These same fans sit back and enjoy the Undertaker's matches yet those are ten times as predictable. Forget about how predictable it may seem and just sit back to enjoy the show. You might be pleasantly surprised if you do that and give this show a second chance. Nostalgia is a crazy thing, I predict in future years fans will look back on this show more fondly. 23 is getting mostly positive reviews yet 5 or 6 years ago, it was looked down upon. Fan opinions change over time. Unless it's about Wrestlemania 27 being garbage or about 17 being great. Regardless.... Wrestlemania 29 was in fact a good show. I preferred it over Wrestlemania 28 and a number of recent editions as well.

 

[MCMG]

This Wrestlemania was fine but there was definitely a sustained drop in quality of Wrestlemania's. 26 was the last with a high standard which is pretty poor for such a grand spectacle.

Most of the matches were passable in terms of quality but only one match really stood out. Punk vs Taker stole the show even though the winner was obvious and it was the "worst" streak match for some time. Triple H vs Lesnar was pretty good but that is to be expected. I loved Heyman doing double duty.

Cena v Rock was predictable and the match was average. The Rock had more time in the ring this time but it didn't help. Can't help but think they could have made this No DQ. Looking back through history a lot of The Rock's matches involved brawling and chairs. They could have given them a bit more freedom to deliver a top match.

Henry vs Ryback was odd. Ryback was still popular and Henry winning was a strange decision. The match itself was poor as well. If they really wanted, Ryback could have been the World Heavyweight Champ heading in or the victorious challenger. I understand the situation with Ziggler but they could have used him better.

It must be said, I still feel for Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. At the time, I was kind off glad because I was focusing on the Divas, Clay and Sweet T but it was unfair on Rhodes Scholars. Both were told they were wrestling at Wrestlemania and that was taken away from them at the last minute. Cody Rhodes said it on the WWE Wrestlemania podcast a few weeks ago that the match didn't belong on the card but he did. I absolutely agree. Same with Cesaro.

It was a solid show but just didn't feel like Wrestlemania. There were three big matches and the rest was just there. Nothing stood out or stole the show from the undercard matches which is a real shame.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Compared to the previous year's Wrestlemania, this was such an underwhelming PPV. People were begging for new, fresh main events and instead we got "RematchaMania". This Mania turned out alright but nothing memorable here at all.

Favourite match - Taker vs. Punk, but even this wasn't great. Good match but not great. It was a step down from Taker's series with Michaels and Triple H from the last four Mania's. Also, I disliked that they booked a Fatal 4 Way on Old School Raw to determine who would face Taker at Wrestlemania. They treated the Streak as if it was a belt.

Least-Favourite match - Tie between Ryback vs. Henry and Fandango vs. Jericho. Ryback/Henry was supposed to be Ryback's redemption, he was supposed to look like a monster here, but instead he just got destroyed cleanly in about 8 minutes. Jericho usually manages to get a great match out of anybody but not on this day. This was Fandango's opportunity to shine but he failed to impress as his only one big move is his Legdrop, which he tried a dozen of times in the match.

I remember the card I wanted last year very well, so here it goes.

Pre-Show: The Miz vs. Fandango

Not something I wanted last year but with the way things turned out, it would've been better sticking Fandango on the pre-show with Miz.

1) Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger for the WWE United States Title

Would've kept this feud and match but it should've been for the US Title instead. This was just a upper mid-card feud for a World Title belt. Even with Swagger's new character change, he still shouldn't have been anywhere near the belt. The man just ain't main event material. This match would've been more logical for the US belt.

2) Sheamus vs. Mark Henry

So Henry could return the favor from Summerslam and Sheamus could get a PPV victory over The Worlds Strongest Man.

3) Wade Barrett (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Title

We all know their history from back on NXT and this would've been the perfect time to finally book these two against each other especially with Jericho going after the belt he's held 9 times. This could be about Barrett trying to prove that he's a better IC champion and a better superstar than his mentor.

4) Ryback vs. Big Show

Give Ryback the win here and let him have his Wrestlemania moment, hitting the Shell Shock on Big Show.

5) The Shield vs. D-Generation X (Triple H & The New Age Outlaws) in a Street Fight Match

So basically The Shield's match this year, just with Triple H replacing Kane and a Street Fight added as the stipulation. And DX would be the faces of course. Yeah, this sounds a lot better than the one happening this year.

6) Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

I know the break up of Team Hell No would lead straight into Bryan going for the WWE Title, but I thought the Team Hell No story should've ended here. They didn't get a proper break up, they just both decided to go their seperate ways one day, and there was no need to keep the belts on them or keep them as a team around this time. They stopped being funny a long time ago and they had run their course. I don't think either guy needs to be a heel for this match, but if I had to go with one then I would turn Kane heel. And to keep Bryan busy until Summerslam, have him rematch Kane at Extreme Rules in some gimmick match, still team him up with Orton to take on The Shield at Payback, and then put him in Money in the Bank.

7) Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Title

I think this was one of the options that WWE were considering for the World Title match last year. I'd have Orton win the title back at Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber or on Raw, and Ziggler cash in Money in the Bank right after Orton wins the belt to set up this one. I know they had a few matches in late 2012 but this still would've been worth seeing again, just with the belt on the line this time.

8) The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

Thought they should've booked this one last year and booked Taker vs. Cena at Mania 30 instead.

9) The Rock (c) vs. John Cena vs. CM Punk for the WWE Title

I'm not really a fan of Triple Threat main events at Wrestlemania, but after all the trash talking, the jabs and the insults between the 3 of these men, both in and outside of the ring, this would've been an absolutely perfect one to book at last year's Mania. Has there have been a 3-man feud that was more personal and intense than this one? These 3 had beef with each other for the last 2 years and it was time for them to settle it once & for all. Shame WWE didn't see it that way. Plus Cena would beat 2 guys he had never defeated on PPV before, in this one match.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 29 was hit or miss for me. the matches weren't bad, per se, in terms of quality. but the three big main events were all rematches and super predictable. unpredictability doesn't necessarily mean better. i'm truly all for predictable if the end result is logical and something the fans wanna see. but these were a different kind of predictable. like a sad and mostly lazy kind of predictable. before i go into my changes, props go to Macho for putting together a pretty sweet card for the event. here are his ideas...

Pre-Show: The Miz vs. Fandango

Not something I wanted last year but with the way things turned out, it would've been better sticking Fandango on the pre-show with Miz.

1) Alberto Del Rio (c) vs. Jack Swagger for the WWE United States Title

Would've kept this feud and match but it should've been for the US Title instead. This was just a upper mid-card feud for a World Title belt. Even with Swagger's new character change, he still shouldn't have been anywhere near the belt. The man just ain't main event material. This match would've been more logical for the US belt.

2) Sheamus vs. Mark Henry

So Henry could return the favor from Summerslam and Sheamus could get a PPV victory over The Worlds Strongest Man.

3) Wade Barrett (c) vs. Chris Jericho for the WWE Intercontinental Title

We all know their history from back on NXT and this would've been the perfect time to finally book these two against each other especially with Jericho going after the belt he's held 9 times. This could be about Barrett trying to prove that he's a better IC champion and a better superstar than his mentor.

4) Ryback vs. Big Show

Give Ryback the win here and let him have his Wrestlemania moment, hitting the Shell Shock on Big Show.

5) The Shield vs. D-Generation X (Triple H & The New Age Outlaws) in a Street Fight Match

So basically The Shield's match this year, just with Triple H replacing Kane and a Street Fight added as the stipulation. And DX would be the faces of course. Yeah, this sounds a lot better than the one happening this year.

6) Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

I know the break up of Team Hell No would lead straight into Bryan going for the WWE Title, but I thought the Team Hell No story should've ended here. They didn't get a proper break up, they just both decided to go their seperate ways one day, and there was no need to keep the belts on them or keep them as a team around this time. They stopped being funny a long time ago and they had run their course. I don't think either guy needs to be a heel for this match, but if I had to go with one then I would turn Kane heel. And to keep Bryan busy until Summerslam, have him rematch Kane at Extreme Rules in some gimmick match, still team him up with Orton to take on The Shield at Payback, and then put him in Money in the Bank.

7) Dolph Ziggler (c) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE World Title

I think this was one of the options that WWE were considering for the World Title match last year. I'd have Orton win the title back at Royal Rumble or Elimination Chamber or on Raw, and Ziggler cash in Money in the Bank right after Orton wins the belt to set up this one. I know they had a few matches in late 2012 but this still would've been worth seeing again, just with the belt on the line this time.

8) The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar

Thought they should've booked this one last year and booked Taker vs. Cena at Mania 30 instead.

9) The Rock (c) vs. John Cena vs. CM Punk for the WWE Title

I'm not really a fan of Triple Threat main events at Wrestlemania, but after all the trash talking, the jabs and the insults between the 3 of these men, both in and outside of the ring, this would've been an absolutely perfect one to book at last year's Mania. Has there have been a 3-man feud that was more personal and intense than this one? These 3 had beef with each other for the last 2 years and it was time for them to settle it once & for all. Shame WWE didn't see it that way. Plus Cena would beat 2 guys he had never defeated on PPV before, in this one match.

IC Title: Miz vs. Big Show. last year, i had the IC Title match be between Cody and brother Goldie. so this year i'd do the storyline from Cody/Big Show but with Big Show/Miz instead. the build was solid with Show never having a big Mania moment, so this would be the feud. plus these two had history as former Tag Team Champs. this year Show wins the IC Title and becomes a Grand Slam Champion, thus creating his Mania moment.

US Title: Del Rio vs. Swagger. this was a really good feud put on by really good wrestlers. it was just for the wrong title. with Zeb Colter pushing the "Jack Swagger's America" angle and the whole "we the people" slogan, the US Title is an easy target and easy storyline to follow.

Fandango vs. Santino. hear me out on this one. it doesn't need to be a long or great match. but Santino is super over with the fans and i think these two could put together something decent in between a few of the bigger matches. this gives Fandango a win in his debut on the big stage but also frees up Jericho for something more important.

Shield vs. DX. i absolutely loved this idea of the Shield vs. Triple H and the New Age Outlaws. this would have been a great 6 man tag and told a much more logical story than the 3 man teams that were being thrown together just so the Shield could have a match. with the Shield destroying the top stars of the WWE, Triple H, as COO, calls on his buddies to help him save the company. easy story and a much better match, which again, frees up the other guys that were originally booked here to do something different.

Kane vs. Daniel Bryan. these two were clearly teasing the split up for literal months. give them their blow off match here.

Tag Team Titles: Rhodes Scholars, as the defending champs having beaten Team Hell No maybe at the Rumble or thereabouts, vs. Uso's vs. Brodus Clay/Sweet T. the Shield can win the straps from Rhodes Scholars next month.

so i've got lots of guys left off this card so far and i'm not sure what to do with them. Orton, Sheamus, Mark Henry, Ryback, Ziggler, Cesaro, Big E Langston, Rock, Cena, Punk, Brock Lesnar, Jericho, Wade Barrett and Taker.

i like the idea of Ryback vs. Mark Henry for the World Title. and Rock/Cena/Punk in a Triple Threat for the other World Title as well. Punk/Taker was a great match but i think would have been better if it was for the WWE Title in a Streak vs. Streak match.

here's what i'm gonna go with...

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena. their match at Extreme Rules had way too short a build. let that build up for the majority of the year. let Brock go over guys like maybe the Rock at SummerSlam (10 years after their first match together) and Big Show at Survivor Series (same thing in that it's 10 years after their first match together) and do John Cena defending the WWE roster against the monster Lesnar. Lesnar could even win this match if you wanted to keep him looking strong, or Cena could pull out the win. either way.

Taker vs. Punk for the WWE Title in a Streak vs. Streak match. the build gets a bit of a boost being for the title that Punk has held for 500+ days and the coincidental/unfortunate passing of Paul Bearer (RIP), so even though the match is predictable, it's a bit more dramatic maybe.

i'm gonna do Sheamus winning the Rumble here and going for the World Title against Mark Henry and Orton in a Triple Threat. no matter who wins, Ziggler cashes in Money in the Bank.

Ryback vs. Jericho. Jericho would get a better match out of Ryback than just about anybody. keep pushing Ryback's momentum with a big win here.

and then how about Barrett vs. Cesaro in a #1 Contender's Match for really any title. both guys are hard hitting and could probably give a decent brawl of a match.

my lineup is looking a little shaky, as it did when i was trying to close out my Mania 28 show, but truth be told i'm just not a fan of repeat Rumble Winners, repeat MITB Winners and repeat matches at Mania. that probably books me into a corner sometimes, even in my fantasy world.

props again to Macho. really liked your card.

 

[Pedigree1]

WM29 wasn't a bad event that people make it out to be at least some of them do. Its hard to switch around this card though to make it more appealing. Going into the event,I knew Swagger was going to lose,due to his screw-up some weeks earlier. I didn't like the fact that Jericho put over Fandango at WM,as that rub has done absolutely nothing for his career. I would have had Jericho go over in this match,FanDanGo just simply wasn't ready for the rub he got.

IF your going to put over someone like that,at least do it on the Pre-show and bring up the Barrett vs Miz IC match to the main card. That match deserved to be on the Main portion of the main card. Dump the P Diddy shit,as it takes valuable time away from the matches.

The Main event could have been so much more.. It really was a lackluster ME,due to in part of the Rock getting hurt,and the fact his shitty cardio played a major role in that.. The Rock was gassed as soon as the bell rang... A complete shame their match a year earlier was pretty good.. Not a bad WM,favorite match is obviously Punk Vs Taker

 

[Rocky84]

I got so much flack last year for knocking the card on the road to Mania. I HATE knowing the ending to a movie I never watched before, and that is essentially what happened here with all 3 main events.

Rock vs Cena- "Once in a Lifetime"?? Not twice. Like I said in the Mania 28 thread...Cena has been put over enough and is on a top level already...he didn't need to go over The Rock at all. He went over HBK, HHH, Batista, Edge, Big Show, JBL etc already. Enough. If he beat Rock, that would've been the most ridiculous resume I've ever seen at Mania. I realllly find it annoying that people complain about this. The same with the people who complain about part timers.

HHH vs Brock- predictable as well. Brock wins SS and HHH wins Mania. Not hard to figure out. Horrible booking.

Taker vs Punk- over-rated. The card was so bad that this good match is perceived as "great"...couldn't disagree more. 100% predictable too as are all Takers matches, but at least don't throw away Punk like that after the year he had.

I would've made a lot of changes...


John Cena vs Cm Punk (c) w/ Paul Heyman-WWE Title

Triple H vs The Rock- "Long Time Coming"

Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs The Undertaker

Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler (c) w/ AJ & Big E - World Title

Team Hell No vs The Shield- Handicap Tag match

Sheamus vs Randy Orton

Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter vs Alberto Del Rio w/ Ricardo- US Title

Wade Barrett vs Big Show- Street Brawl

Mark Henry vs Ryback
--------------------------

The Miz vs Fandango (c) -IC Title (Pre Show)

Natalya vs Kaitlyn (c) - Divas Title (Pre Show)



I think this card would be much much much better. It was the time where Punk vs Cena should've happened at Mania. They battled at SS in 2011, but Punk was fully established at this time. I'd have Punk retain for sure. Would've had Cena win the Chamber for his spot...not the Rumble.

Rock vs HHH in the place where they've made magic before SS 98'...their rise to the top has so many parallels...HHH went corporate and Rock went Hollywood. Would be several ways to spark this fued. Tagline this fued with "Long Time Coming" since it's their first 1 on 1 Mania match.

Taker vs Brock would've been better here so we had some other possibilities for Mania 30. This needed to happen at Brock's first Mania since his fued with Taker had been established a year before.

Jericho vs Ziggler at this stage would've been great. With Ziggler at his best with his crew of Big E and AJ, he was on the rise. They wrestled a few times last year, but I would've kept them away from eachother until this night so that it was their first meeting. I'd have Y2J win his first Rumble to get the shot. Make him choose Zigs because he didn't think he and Punk could top their match last year. Also, Zigs always gets a huge pop in NJ/NY...he should've had his time to shine here at Mania.

The Del Rio vs Swagger match and fued, I'd keep the exact same but swap the World Title with the US Title. I'm sure that it being the US title would give Zeb and Swagger all the necessary reasons to pick a fight with Del Rio being that he's not from the US. They could still spread their hate with this change.

This card would've been fresh, new and unpredictable. All of which the real card was not. Anyways, to answer the questions...best match, Ryback vs Henry...seriously. I just was bitter about the top matches, but loved the build for this one and the finish surprised me.

Worst match...all 3 main events imo. Not that the matches themselves sucked but I was sour watching them so they might as well have sucked.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Not a very good Mania to be honest. It's not all time bad like 9, 11 or 27, but it is down there for sure. For me the best match was Trips/Brock. They put on one hell of a physical intense match. Each guy looked great in the match and it just worked. Rock/Cena 2 and Taker/Punk were good, but nothing special. Although I did enjoy the Attitude Era sequence of false finishes in the Rock/Cena match.

The real problem with this card is outside those matches nothing else that registered. Even rebooking the card becomes a tough task because the 3 main event matches make sense. The big problem here is that there was nothing good for Kane and Bryan to do. They were so over as a team and had no legitimate contenders. They probably should have had a singles match here. It didn't even have to be with one of them turning heel. They had the whole weak link thing going and a singles match to determine that would have worked.

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

The definition of an average WrestleMania. Rock/Cena II was alright but didn't have that strong a build and wasn't as memorable as Rock/Cena I by any stretch. HHH/Lesnar was alright, Punk/Taker was good but would've benefited more from having the Title involved than Rock/Cena did.

This is one of those events that particularly frustrating because there were so many better options at the time. Even with slight changes they could vastly improve the show.

Scenario 1: Rock wins the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble

WrestleMania 29 looks like this:

John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship
In this scenario Rock goes over Punk at the Rumble like they actually did. Cena would win the Rumble match to earn the Title shot, but then Punk would somehow get added to the Title match at Mania, making it a triple threat. You build the match by saying Cena has to face the two guys he's never beaten in his career. I'd probably put Cena over at WrestleMania, pinning the Rock.

Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred Match
Brock Lesnar broke Triple H's arm and made him tap out at SummerSlam, now he's coming to destroy the Undertaker. Play off of the fact that last year's match between Taer and HHH was hyped as the "End of an Era", and have Heyman say that Lesnar is the one who is actually responsible for ending the era. I'd also hype the fact that Taker is undefeated at Mania, but he's never beaten Brock Lesnar in any of their past matches (which I'm pretty sure is the case...). Adding the No Holds Barred stip makes the match better because this isn;t going to be a technical wrestling match, it's going to be a brawl.

Scenario 2: CM Punk retains the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble

Cena gets eliminated from the Rumble Match, the returning Undertaker wins it. Then in the main event for the WWE Title, Rock has Punk beat but Cena comes out of nowhere and hits him with the AA. Punk capitalizes to retain.
WrestleMania 29 looks like this:

Undertaker vs. CM Punk, The Streak vs. The Reign
By WrestleMania, CM Punk's huge Title reign would be over 500 days long. Having that reign being put up against the streak makes a lot of sense, and is a hell of a lot more interesting than Punk/Taker without the Title. Punk's reign would be pushed so hard there would actually be some doubt about Taker winning at WrestleMania. People know that Taker usually just comes back for Mania season so they would question if the WWE would actually put the belt on him. Of course he ended up staying for about a month after Mania 29 anyways, so you could keep the streak alive, give him the Title, and then have him drop it to someone new at Extreme Rules.

John Cena vs. The Rock
So in this scenario John Cena was frustrated that he couldn't get the job done in the Rumble Match, and he took it out on the Rock. It makes sense, since the Rock cost Cena the WWE Title, which led to their match at Mania 28, and now Cena costs the Rock the Title, leading to their match at Mania 29. Cena would blame his loss to the Rock for his career kind of falling apart over the last year (he never won the WWE Title, lost his MITB cash-in, failed in the Rumble), and say that he needs to avenge that loss for his career to get back on track. The key here is to not make the build about "Will Cena win?", because most fans know he will. Instead, you make it about "What will Cena do to win?". You have to hype up that Cena has become a desperate man, and that he will do whatever it takes to avenge that loss. In other words, you tease the heel turn and have fans speculate on whether or not we will actually see him cross the line at Mania in order to beat the Rock. That's how you make Cena/Rock II interesting. No belt required.

Scenario 3: Rock Doesn't challenge for the Title at the Rumble

Instead, the Rock announces that he will enter the Royal Rumble Match, and he wins it. WrestleMania 29 looks like this:

CM Punk vs. The Rock for the WWE Championship
This was a great Title match at the Rumble, and I could easily see it happening at WrestleMania. It would mean even more because Punk's reign would be that much longer. Have Punk say he's gonna do what Cena couldn't do, and that's beat the Great One. I'd probably put Punk over in this scenario for the big push, and he'd carry the Title until the Payback PPV, where he'd drop it to Cena in Chicago.

Undertaker vs. John Cena
I love the idea of this match and this would be the perfect opportunity to do it. Cena is the biggest star in the company and would be a legit threat to the streak. This would be a very exciting match to watch. You can set this up however you want. John Cena can call out Taker, maybe he wins a Chamber match to earn the right to face Taker. The set-up doesn't really matter for this match, what matters are the two guys involved.

-----------------------------------------------------

So there you go. All three of those scenarios are infinitely better than what they actually went with.

 

[Cub McCallister]

This was an alright wrestlemania but there are some changes that need to be made such as:

1) The Shield Vs Randy Ortan, Cody Rhodes & Sheamus
Six Man Tag Team Match. This would stay the same except put Rhodes into the match and be Henry's replacement in there and have the same outcome.

2) Wade Barrett (C) Vs the Miz Vs Drew Mlcyntyre Vs Tyson Kidd Vs Justin Gabriel Vs Damien Sandown
Six Pack Challenge Intercontinental Title Match. This would be a great match on the main card and I feel that it would be better if there were more participants in a match to give guys a go so I'd have a new champion in sandow give the title some credibility.

3) Fandango Vs Chris Jericho
This match stays the same I enjoyed this feud.

4) Antonio Cesaro (C) Vs Jack Swagger Vs Alberto Del Rio Vs Kofi Kingston
Fatal Four Way United States Title Match. I'd have this instead of del rio and swagger I heard the original plan was to have swagger win the world title but he got done for drinking so I put together this match instead and I'd have swagger winning the title and claiming that foreign people shouldn't be here.

5) Team Hell No (C) Vs The Prime Time Players Vs The Uso Vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E
World Tag Team Title Ladder Match. I'd have this match instead and it could steal the show IMO with some great spots and have kane and Bryan retain the titles

6) Big Show (C) Vs Ryback
World Heavyweight Title Match. Have Ryback win the rumble instead of cena and do the shell shock on big show giving him his mania moment and build him up as champ

7) Triple HHH Vs Brock Lesner
No Holds Barred Match. Have Lesner go over instead and give the stipulation that if he wins heyman is the general manager of wwe.

8) The Rock Vs John Cena
The Rematch. Have this without the title but make it a number 1 contenders match and have cena go over still to get retribution.

9) Cm Punk (C) Vs The Undertaker
Wwe Title Vs The Streak Match. Have this as the main even instead and put the streak on the line against the wwe title and it would be a great build up at the end undertaker wins the title but drops it a month later due to injury so therefore a tournament is set up an te winner faces cena at extreme rules.

That's my mania card.

 

[The Brain]

WM29 was a pretty good show but it wasn't very memorable compared to other manias. We remember it well right now because it was only a year ago but I have a feeling five years from now this one will just kind of blend in and not get talked about much. My favorite match was Undertaker vs. CM Punk. This wasn't as good as some of Taker's other mania matches in recent years but it was still a solid match. Unfortunately this mania did not produce a match of the year candidate, however nothing was really bad either. If I have to pick a least favorite match I'll go with Ryback vs. Mark Henry. It was very disappointing and I felt the wrong guy won.

For each of these threads I've kept my changes realistic and didn't let any past fantasy changes play a role into how I booked the next year's show. For the final installment I'll change that up a bit. In the WM28 thread I said John Cena should have beaten The Rock. If that had happened there would be no need for a rematch at WM29. The second match wasn't nearly as good as the first and it felt like they were just going through the motions to get Cena his win. If they did the right result the first time we could have been spared the lackluster rematch.

Instead we could have gotten the epic match we've all been waiting for. John Cena vs. Undertaker. This has to happen some day and with Taker looking like he ages five years every year now it needs to happen soon. It could have happened at WM29 and been one of the best mania main events of all time. That would leave Rock to take on Brock Lesnar. A simple story would have been in place with Rock coming back for the people and Brock coming back for the money. That's enough to start the feud and it could just develop from there. That would save us from another lackluster rematch in Brock vs. Triple H. Triple H could then wrestle CM Punk. We never got the big match between those two that the pipebomb promo should have led to. It could have easily happened at WM29. Mixing up the six guys in the big three matches would have made for a better and more memorable show.

I've also thought about a triple threat main event involving Rock, Cena, and Punk. I don't normally care for triple threat main events but this would have been an exception. This would have been an appropriate triple threat considering how these three were always involved with each other going into mania. If that happened Taker could have wrestled Lesnar with the same setup that's going on this year. That leaves Triple H. I know he's retired but how about Shawn Michaels? I felt the story was being set up since WM27 when HBK said HHH couldn't beat Taker and HHH was trying to prove he was better than HBK.

Even if none of the matches were changed some changes should have been made to make this feel more like WrestleMania. Other than the huge stadium this didn't have enough of a mania feel. Every year Cena has some kind of big entrance. At WM28 both Cena and Rock had a little concert before they made their entrances. This year they just walked down the aisle to their normal music as if they were at a house show. There was no magic which is really surprising from WWE in this day and age. I would have loved the matches to have been juggled around a bit but I would have rather had a little more sizzle added to the show.

Great job keeping up with this series Dagger. I really enjoyed it.

 

[The Jeff]

This was the shittiest of the 8 WrestleManias I had attended thus far. I didn't even want to be there. No match excited me, not even that internet darling Punk/Taker. The hype wasn't there for any match. It was like the WWE was so smug in putting on such a shitty that people bought into it as being good. The pointless concert, the stupid main event and overall disappointment really killed the excitement of WrestleMania. I'd rank this as the worst WrestleMania I've been to, and bottom 3 overall with only 11 worse for sure.

 

[Elchicano15]

I'm quite surprised with the number of positive responses I'm hearing about this Mania. I thought it was alright. I gave it a B+ last year, but last year I saw so many butt hurt responses. I do admit that it had a weak build, which is why I'm actually looking forward to this year's Mania maybe because this build is a lot better. I was very pleased to see that the World Heavyweight title wasn't opening the match. It never should've. I enjoyed the Punk/Taker match. Even though Punk wasn't much of a threat to the streak compared to past years, both performers delivered. I loved both entrances as well. One match I didn't care about was the Ryback and Mark Henry match.

Now for what I would change, would be to scrap the P.Diddy piece and have Swagger's entrance be shown. P.Diddy wouldn't be performing because I wanted the venue to be at the Superdome and this year's Mania be at Metlife. I understand you can't fit a Mania at the MSG and I've come to terms with that but it should be at NY/NJ every milestone and have that "Coming Home" theme to it then.

I would have also turned the Fandango/Y2J match into a Fatal 4 way between Fandango,Y2J, Barrett and the Miz for the I.C title with Fandango going over especially since he got over that week. I would have had Rhodes Scholars in the pre-show Tag Team title match and find something else for Tons Of Funk like a backstage segment or something.

Thank you Dagger for starting up these Awesome threads. It was a great idea. Enjoy this year's show.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

This is the WrestleMania that finally capped off a two year railroad of a program between John Cena and The Rock, that in my opinion, held the entire WWE hostage. By this point, the ending was a given. It was debatable how many people really desired this rematch. We had another undercard rematch in Triple H vs. Lesnar that was anti-climatic. So yeah...I'm not a fan, and I've been proposing a redo of the last few WMs that saw Cena/Rock back at WM 27, with the Rock coming back in successive years to fight different opponents and spread the wealth so to speak.

WrestleMania 29 should've been the year CM Punk and John Cena shared the grand stage for an all out battle. I would've kept these two apart for the better part of a year with their last match coming at Summer Slam 2011 when Punk defeated Cena. At that point, the WWE had to know that they had gold with these two together in the ring, so why not build a program around them that showcased them on the biggest event of them all? I'm not certain that I would've had Punk's streak intact by this point. Instead, dropping The Rock from the title match would've actually given Ryback the opportunity to take the title off of Punk briefly at Hell in a Cell back in October. This would've continued Ryback's build as a legit main eventer/upper card guy. Sure, Punk would've regained it in plenty of time for his match with Cena, but Ryback would've been solidified as a threat.

The Rock would've come back this time to face Brock Lesnar with some possible teasing of a tag team dream match up of Cena and The Rock vs. The Heyman Guys -- Punk and Lesnar, which could possibly be the followup at Extreme Rules, or the main event of the previous PPV, Elimination Chamber.

With Punk in the main event, and Rock/Lesnar matched, this leaves a question for the Undertaker's match. I can see one of two options: Ryback, who in my scenario never gets derailed in such a dramatic way, has a brief World Title run under his belt now, and is still considered very much a top contender OR Sheamus, who IMO always excelled as a heel, and would be for such an encounter. I'm going to go with Ryback for shits and giggles. My reasoning is that for the 21-0 encounter, the WWE could toy with the idea that maybe, just MAYBE, they're gonna give Ryback the win as a "passing of the torch" moment. I know this assumes a lot that seems crazy now -- Ryback has essentially been buried today. But then, it could've worked. In the end though, UT would've still prevailed but would've been tested by Ryback.

The Main Event - WWE Title Match:
CM Punk Vs. John Cena - Cena regains the title and finally beats Punk clean

The Rock Vs. Brock Lesnar - Lesnar goes over

The Undertaker Vs. Ryback - 21 and 0 for UT

World Heavyweight Title Match:
Alberto Del Rio Vs. Randy Orton - No way does Jack Swagger sniff the main event here, nor does Del Rio ever have a face turn. Instead, Orton gets the nod here, as I feel he would've been a stronger champion overall throughout the coming year.

World Tag Team Title Match:
Team Hell No Vs. The Shield - Moved up from Extreme Rules, this would've been a great match at WrestleMania and a possible show stealer if they showed the same intensity they had later that Spring in matches.

United States Title Match:
Antonio Cesaro Vs. Kofi Kingston Vs. Dolph Ziggler - Instead of The Miz's lame attempt to be a face, I like this triple threat match up. Ziggler wins the title with the help of Big E Langston.

Intercontinental Title Match:
Wade Barrett Vs. Chris Jericho - No Fandango...instead Jericho gets to face off with the guy he mentored in NXT for the IC title. Barrett retains.

Sheamus Vs. Mark Henry - Sheamus wins

Fandango Vs. Damien Sandow - I know, I know...weird pairing. Don't care. It's suitably goofy and would've been fun. Fandango wins in his debut and fans have no idea whether they should cheer him or what.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I mellowed on my disdain for this show after buying the DVD. I would make a few changes, but I always run into one big problem: The Undertaker. He needs a high profiled match at Wrestlemania, so my ideas for Punk VS Cena or The Rock VS Brock Lesnar fly out the window.

All four men are busy with each other, and Triple H is the ONLY one left on the roster, who could measure up to Taker for a formidable opponent, but you can't do Triple H VS Taker 4 at Wrestlemania for obvious reasons.

So I'll go with the card as is. There's nothing wrong with the quality of the big rematches, but the outcomes for Lesnar VS Triple H and Rock VS Cena were too obvious. There was no reason whatsoever for Rock to retain the WWE Championship, and there was no real reason for Lesnar to beat Triple H again. To make matters worse for Lesnar VS Triple H, with Triple H's "Let us fight" demand, their match at Summerslam was a no dq match, so the stipulation didn't feel fresh, and nobody bought into the possibility of Lesnar retiring Triple H.

Undertaker VS CM Punk was a good match, but Del Rio VS Swagger needed more time. In hindsight, Jericho VS Fandango feels like a waste of a rub, because Fandango disappeared off the face of the earth after this match.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I attended this wrestlemania and being in that atmosphere was awesome! The card itself was ok. Favorite match was definitely Undertaker vs CM Punk and Ryback vs Mark Henry the least favorite. Miz vs Barrett and the 8 person tag should have been on the ppv. They should have also added a match with Cesaro. I remember being really angry he didn't have a match after a year of working so hard and having nothing but good matches. Wrestlemania should have at least 10 matches on the ppv so I hate that the last few have only had 8. Being that I was there I love that I was part of the second highest attended wrestlemania behind wrestlemania 3!