Last night was the largely panned WrestleMania XXVII PPV. While I don't think it was the worst WrestleMania ever, it certainly wasn't one of the better ones. However, for me, The Undertaker vs HHH match alone kept it from getting a thumbs down rating. Here's my quick rundown of the show:
- A bizarre SNL type intro kicked off the show before The Rock made his way to the ring. The crowd was on fire for him, but the promo itself wasn't very good. For the first time since returning, it sounded like he was reciting a Brian Gewirtz script written for John Cena rather than speaking with the usual Rock attitude. I didn't mind the first time I watched because I was fired up for the show, but watching the replay made me cringe. Leading the crowd in chants? Really?
- Edge d Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. The match was good, but I certainly would have had Del Rio win. Yeah, Del Rio will almost certainly win the title in the next month or two, but it will have no where near the impact of winning the title at Mania. Plus, putting this match on first was disrespectful to the title and the fact that winning The Royal Rumble is supposed to guarantee you a spot of headlining WrestleMania. The post match stuff of Edge and Christian destroying Del Rio's car was awful, especially with Del Rio crying over it. It was another case of Edge being a face but playing the role of a heel. ***1/4
- Cody Rhodes d Rey Mysterio. I liked this match more than a lot of people, maybe because I was really rooting for Cody. The only problem is Rhodes promised that they would steal the show, and they were no where close to doing that. It was a good television match, but it will be forgotten within a few months. ***1/4
- The Snoop Dogg segment backstage was awful and a complete waste of time.
- The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, & Kofi Kingston d The Corre - If this was a regular PPV, I wouldn't be mad about putting a squash match on the show. But this is WrestleMania. What's the point? No one cared about this match to begin with, so it might as well have not been on the show. 1/2*
- The Rock was backstage with Eve. He had the comedy segment with Mae Young which was actually very funny. And then he had the face to face with Austin. This was the only backstage segment they needed all show.
- Randy Orton d CM Punk - A slow, deliberate match, but it was very good. The only thing is, they shouldn't have done the identical spot with Orton's leg giving out that they did on Raw. They should have just saved the spot for last night. Overall, a good match with a nice finish with Orton catching Punk in midair with the RKO. ***1/2
- Another backstage segment with The Rock, Mean Gene, and Pee Wee Herman. Not funny, and wasn't needed.
- They rushed through the Hall of Fame announcements.
- Booker T and Jim Ross came out to call the next match along with Young Josh Matthews.
- Michael Cole d Jerry Lawler via DQ. I hated this match, and this was the match I was looking forward to the most. Lawler sold way, way too much to a guy who obviously wasn't an athlete. Cole played the match as comedy rather than a serious confrontation. For how much bad blood was between these two for months, this match was a huge letdown. This is the match that should have been a squash with Lawler beating the hell out of Cole for 5-7 minutes before pinning him (with a piledriver). Having Lawler disqualified because of Austin means we're going to see this match again, and after last night, no one wants that. *
- The Undertaker d HHH to move to 19-0 at WrestleMania. Amazing match, especially considering the age and physical condition of these two. Great psychology and selling of spots. Story of the match was HHH hitting The Undertaker with everything he could (three Pedigrees and a Tombstone), but The Undertaker wouldn't die. Taker caught HHH in the Hells Gate gogoplata to get the submission. Awesome match. Both men sold huge after the match. ****1/2
- John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Snooki d Dolph Ziggler (w/ Vickie Guerrero) and LayCool - Another short, squash match, but that was fine for this one. Snooki was heavily booed but was actually the highlight of the match with a great looking back handspring elbow. I had no problem with her involvement. *1/2
- The Miz d John Cena to retain the WWE Championship - They had an amazing video package for The Miz before his entrance. Why this didn't air on free TV to sell this PPV is beyond dumbfounding. John Cena got a live choir entrance which was a bit strange and didn't work to turn the crowd on his side. Cena was a hated man. The match didn't begin until 10:35, so I was constantly watching the clock. This was not a good match. Both men were off, especially Cena, who almost never has a bad main event. Cena missed a crossbody block in a particularly bad blown spot. The initial finish had Cena clothesline The Miz into the crowd. Neither man could answer the 10 count, and we had a double countout in the main event of WrestleMania. The Rock then came out and said the show wasn't ending like that and the match would be restarted. The GM rang. The e-mail started with "I think" before The Rock yelled "It doesn't matter what you think" and smashed the computer. The match restarted. Cena went for the AA, but The Rock hit Cena with the Rock Bottom. The Miz made the cover and got the win. After the match, The Rock laid out The Miz and hit him with The People's Elbow to end the show at 10:59 pm. **
They should have cut the Snoop Dogg and Pee Wee Herman segments. Not even to allow the Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan match to make the show (which was actually a match I was looking forward to), but because the main event felt terribly rushed. Vince is so desperate to be entertainment that he uses unfunny comedy segments at the expense of putting on a better show. The other thing that made me feel a little cheated about spending my $55 is that I was paying to see what The Rock would do, thinking it must be something special for WrestleMania. Instead, he had much better promos on the Raw's leading to the show, and had just as much physical interaction this past Monday. We got nothing special out of The Rock. I've been thinking about this all day, and I've decided to give the show a 5/10. If you were to take away The Undertaker/HHH match, it would have been around a 2/10.
Tonight is a huge night for WWE on USA. At 8pm ET, we will have the airing of the Hall of Fame ceremony from Saturday night. They will air shortened induction speeches for:
- Sunny (Inducted by all of the current WWE Divas but LayCool did all of the talking). Sunny's speaks largely about Smokey Mountain Wrestling. She also declares herself the Original Diva and takes a subliminal shot at Sable.
- The Legion of Doom (Animal and Paul Ellering) (Inducted by Dusty Rhodes). Animal speaks for over 20 minutes talking about career stories while trying to remember WWE buzz words like sports entertainment and superstars.
- Shawn Michaels (Inducted by HHH). HHH's induction is said to be a hilarious roast of HBK. Michaels speaks mainly about his family and friends and very little about wrestling. He thanks a man he's not allowed to name (Ric Flair).
Raw at 9pm ET will have the WrestleMania fallout. A few key things for tonight's show:
- The Cole Mine will almost certainly return. Jim Ross is not expected to be on the show or be part of the announce team going forward. At least not until the probable Cole/Lawler rematch.
- The Rock will be on the show. He has promised to have a very special announcement. Considering he promised that last night's WrestleMania would be the most memorable WrestleMania of all time, I don't put much credence in The Rock's promises right now.
- The Miz will likely brag that he defeated John Cena at WrestleMania in the main event. Of course, anyone who watched the show knows this is crap. Miz may be champ, but he once again looked like a punk.
- I am very interested to see how Cena reacts and responds to The Rock. I know I'm not the only one who expects Cena to run through the curtain with a huge, goofy smile on his face.
- This of course leads to the million dollar (literally) question. When/if The Rock and Cena match will happen. At this point, it has to. I would assume Summerslam. If they have it at one of the B show PPVs before that, it's a huge waste. If they are waiting until WrestleMania XXVIII next year, that's a huge risk with so many uncertainties.
- Sin Cara debuts tonight. I'm excited for this one.
- HHH and The Undertaker are both expected to be off of television for quite some time, so don't expect anything out of them tonight.
- Stone Cold Steve Austin will be on the show, most likely to promote Tough Enough.
And finally, Tough Enough debuts directly after Raw at approximately 11:05pm ET. I don't have any type of preview here. The video previews have done nothing to get me excited about the show. My expectations are pretty low, so if the show is good, I will be pleasantly surprised. But if it's bad, I will probably stop watching after a few weeks. Stone Cold and Trish aren't enough incentive to keep me watching.
