Ring Of Honor
Date: March 23, 2022

We continue the road to the relaunch and this time around we are looking at one of the most important people in the company’s recent history. The next two weeks will look at Jonathan Gresham, the reigning World Champion, including his rise through the company. Gresham has been one of the best things about Ring Of Honor for a long time now so let’s get to it.

Quick video on Gresham.

From Final Battle 2021.

Ring of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Jay Lethal

For the vacant title, as Bandido is out with Coronavirus. The fans are rather happy with this one as they trade wristlocks to start with no one getting anywhere. A headlock takeover doesn’t do much for Lethal either as they’re certainly starting technical. Gresham manages to send him outside and catches Lethal with a kick in the arm on the way back in. A headlock takeover with an armtrap keeps Lethal down but Lethal cartwheels into the basement dropkick to get a breather.

Lethal slams him down to work over the back a bit more but Gresham small packages him for two. A slap to the face drops Gresham and a flapjack does it again. It’s too early for the Lethal Injection and the Figure Four, as Gresham rolls him up for two more. Another kick to the arm cuts Lethal back down and Gresham needs a breather. They chop it out with Lethal getting the better of things but telling Gresham to chop him again.

A ripcord powerslam plants Gresham again but he catches Lethal on top. What looked to be a superplex is broken up so Lethal tries Hail to the King. Lethal is ready for Gresham’s raised knees but can’t get the Figure Four either. Instead it’s a reverse Regal Roll to set up Hail to the King to give Lethal two more.

Gresham is right back on the arm and grabs a crossface chickenwing. Lethal flips forward for a cutter and they’re both down again. That means it’s time for the locker room to come out and watch as Gresham hits some running forearms for two each. The arm gives out and Gresham hits another forearm for two. The Lethal Injection is countered into a rollup for two, setting up the Octopus to make Lethal tap at 15:35.

Rating: B. Gresham absolutely had to win here as that is the story that has been set up for months. I can imagine that this would have been the ending whether Bandido had been around or not and that is the right way to go. Gresham has been the workhorse of the company since its return and going with the Pure Rules wrestler as the final shot at the final show is a smart move.

The celebration is on, including Gresham’s wife, Jordynne Grace, getting in the ring.

Gresham talks about what Lethal means to him and how much it meant to win the title from Lethal.

From GCW Blood On The Hills on December 17, 2021.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. AJ Gray

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. Gray grabs a lockup to start and takes him to the mat to hammer away but Gresham is back up to start in on the leg. Another shot sends Gray outside and there’s the big flip dive through the ropes. Back in and Gresham slaps on a Figure Four but Gray escapes.

We’re clipped to Gray getting pulled down into an ankle lock before a German suplex gives Gresham two. Gray is right back with a powerbomb into a lariat for two. Gresham is right back up with the Octopus and pulls him down to the mat for the rapid fire right hands to the face. That’s enough for the stoppage at 11:10 (total match time).

Rating: C+. We didn’t get to see much here but they were beating each other up fairly well. Gray is someone I’ve liked before and I could go for seeing more of him in the future. Gresham is someone who can work well with anyone in any promotion and it was nice to see him having another one of his matches here rather than doing more of a brawl as you might expect from GCW.

From New South Wrestling’s The Dump Sanders Holiday Special on December 22, 2021 (not 2022 as the graphic says).

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Adam Priest

Gresham is defending and we’re joined in progress with the two of them fighting over wrist control. That’s fine with Gresham, who takes him to the mat and cranks away on the foot. Priest reverses into a Figure Four as we get a rare edition of Gresham losing a grapple on the mat. Gresham grabs a rope for his first break before pulling Priest down by the legs to take over.

With that broken up, we’re clipped to Priest suplexing him down but Gresham reverses into an Octopus. Priests uses his first break to escape so they lock hands and chop away at each other. That’s good for a double knockdown and we’re clipped again to Priest hitting a top rope superplex but their legs interlock to give Gresham two. They go to the mat again with Gresham grabbing a few rollups, with the second one getting the pin to retain the title at 16:34 (total match time).

Rating: C+. This was another match that seemed like it could have been a lot better if I could have seen the whole thing. I’ve seen Priest a bit before and he is often treated as one of the bigger deals in southern independent wrestling. It was weird to see someone getting the better of Gresham on the mat, but that makes him look better when he comes back and retains the title on the mat in the end.

From Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill on January 8, 2022.

Ring of Honor World Title: Chris Sabin vs. Jonathan Gresham

Gresham is defending and it is under Pure Rules, meaning each wrestler only gets three rope breaks, closed fist punches are not allowed (warning for the first, DQ for the second) and 20 counts on the floor. Gresham flips out of a wristlock to start as they’re going technical early. Sabin flips him over and that’s good enough for a handshake. A takedown lets Gresham work on the leg but Sabin pulls him into a cradle for two.

You don’t do that to Gresham, who ties up the arms and cranks on the leg at the same time. Back up and Sabin sends him outside, setting up a hard kick to the chest to drop Gresham hard. They get back inside and fight over a backslide until Sabin plants him with a DDT for two. A hanging swinging neckbreaker drops Gresham again so he uses his first rope break to escape.

Gresham is fine enough to moonsault Sabin down and stomp on the arm, setting up the armbar with elbows to the head. Sabin has to use his first rope break to escape an armbar so Gresham slaps on the Octopus. That’s broken up as well and Sabin hits the Cradle Shock for three….but Gresham’s foot is underneath the rope for the second break. After the premature celebration ends, they lock hands to trade a bunch of chops. Make that overhand chops to the chest before they exchange enziguris. Sabin tries another enziguri but Gresham pulls him down into something close to a European Clutch to retain the title at 12:40.

Rating: B. That’s the kind of match you can expect from Gresham and it was another good one. He can work with anyone and the fact that it was someone like Sabin, who can hang in there with that style very easily made it even better. It’s so nice to see the Ring of Honor World Title sticking around, though I’m still not sure what the future holds for the whole thing. This was quite good though and a nice bonus for the pay per view.

From GCW Say You Will on January 15, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. 2 Cold Scorpio

Gresham is defending and this should be good. Joined in progress with Scorpio getting the better of a test of strength before they go to a short pinfall reversal sequence. Scorpio flips away though and we’re clipped again to Gresham losing a chop off. Gresham tries to slap him in the face and is chopped right back down.

A rather loud yell sets up a forearm to drop Scorpio so Gresham snaps off a German suplex. We’re clipped again to Scorpio snapmaring him off the middle rope but Gresham grabs a choke. That earns him a flip into the corner for the break but Gresham pulls him into the rear naked choke for the win at 13:58 (total match time).

Rating: C. I could go for more of these two but that might be due to being a Scorpio fan for about thirty years. He’s definitely beyond the peak of his career but he is still looking good enough in a match like this. It’s more along the lines of a legends fight for Gresham and that is not a bad thing, as it would certainly get my attention more than Gresham fighting most current stars.

From Terminus: All Roads Lead Here on January 16, 2022.

Ring Of Honor World Title: Jonathan Gresham vs. Josh Alexander

Gresham is defending and this is under Pure Rules. They fight over wrist control to start (seems to be a common idea) and it’s an early standoff. We’re clipped to Alexander headlock takeovering him down and Gresham can’t get a headscissors to escape. Another technical off gives us another standoff and we’re clipped again to Gresham armdragging him out of the corner. A dropkick puts Alexander into the corner but he’s back with a running big boot. Alexander cranks on the foot on the ground and the ankle lock sends Gresham to the rope.

We take a break and come back with Gresham going after the knee and putting on a Figure Four. That means Alexander needs his first rope break so Gresham snaps off a springboard hurricanrana. Another Figure Four attempt is broken up with a right hand to Gresham’s jaw and we’re clipped to Alexander not being able to hit the C4 Spike. Clipped again to Gresham hitting the leg again and hitting a springboard moonsault to a standing Alexander.

Another moonsault is countered into a Tombstone for two on Gresham but Alexander’s knee is banged up. We’re clipped again to Alexander countering a Figure Four attempt into the ankle lock, which sends Gresham to the ropes. That means nothing this time though as he is out of rope breaks, meaning Gresham has to pull Alexander throat first into the ropes to escape instead. Alexander takes him to the middle rope and hits a superplex but the two of them interlock their legs and it’s a double pin at 16:52 (total match time), meaning Gresham retains in a draw.

Rating: B. Just hearing that it is Gresham vs. Alexander is all you need to hear as there was almost no way that it was going to be bad. Both guys can work well with anyone and they were able to do some very good stuff here. Then again there is only so much that you can get out of a match with this much clipping involved. Good match from what I could tell though, and that shouldn’t be a surprise.

Overall Rating: B+. Now this was a very different way to go and I liked it quite a bit. They went outside of the Ring Of Honor here and showed a bunch of different stuff, which is a lot more interesting than seeing the same promotion over and over. Gresham really is a star today and he is able to overcome the size issues to the point where you forget that they are there. Great show here and I’m looking forward to the second part next week (because there is a second part next week).

 

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2007
Location: NEC, Birmingham, England
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Things picked back up last week as Shawn Michaels made his return to the show and took out Raw World Champion Randy Orton. That seems likely to be taking us to Cyber Sunday, which is going to need a card set up in a hurry as the show is less than two weeks away. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Randy Orton winning the WWE Title at No Mercy and being congratulated the next night, only to have Shawn Michaels return and go after him, including a heck of a superkick.

Orton comes up to William Regal in the back and thinks Regal should be the one picking his opponent at Cyber Sunday. For tonight, Orton wants a warmup match, plus a triple threat between his three possible Cyber Sunday opponents: Mr. Kennedy, Jeff Hardy and Shawn Michaels.

Opening sequence.

Here is William Regal to announce that Randy Orton will be facing all of his Cyber Sunday opponents tonight in a series of singles matches, starting with this one.

Jeff Hardy vs. Randy Orton

Non-title and this isn’t what Orton seemed to want. Hardy armdrags him down to start and Orton doesn’t look happy with any of this. Some more armdrags set up an armbar and there’s a running clothesline to put Orton on the floor. Hardy dropkicks him through the ropes and we take an early break. Back with Orton working on a chinlock, setting up the powerslam for two. The knee drop gets the same and we’re back to the chinlock. Hardy fights back up and hits his mule kick but here is Mr. Kennedy to break up the Swanton. The RKO finishes Hardy.

Rating: C. This was a pretty dull match until the finish, as Hardy can make a comeback like few others. Kennedy distracting Hardy makes sense, as he not only has recent issues with Hardy but also doesn’t want Hardy to beat Orton and get momentum in the voting. Logical move here and it gives Hardy some protection in his loss.

Santino Marella vs. Val Venis

Maria is here with Santino and commentary tries to figure out what she sees in him. Before the match, Santino mocks England for not being as good as Italy and starts going after the Condemned, which brings out Venis to get things going. Venis hammers away to start but Santino ties his legs in the rope to take over. We hit the leg crank on the mat as Maria looks….I think pleased? A half crab stays on the leg so Val makes it over to the ropes. Venis fights up with the usual assortment of strikes to the face before trying a sunset flip out of the corner. That’s fine with Santino, who sits down on it and grabs the ropes for the pin.

The Diva Search girls did a search and rescue competition on the beach. This is in no way, shape or form an excuse to have them run in slow motion. Next time: they’re going to arrest people.

Carlito and Coach talk about small apples, which leads them to a discussion of Hornswoggle. Coach seems to have a plan to murder him but Hornswoggle comes in, meaning the chase is on.

Post break, Coach chases Hornswoggle through catering and gets a lot of food thrown at him. Hornswoggle escapes again and Coach is frustrated.

We look back at Vince McMahon tormenting HHH last week in the form of a handicap match against Umaga and Randy Orton.

William Regal comes in to see Vince, who asks how old the Queen really is. Regal, looking at the photos on his wall, including Queen Elizabeth and Elton John: “Which one?” Vince has something in mind tonight, but first he has to correct Regal: it’s UMAGA, not YOUMANGA.

Randy Orton vs. Mr. Kennedy

Non-title. Kennedy grabs a headlock to start and gets two off a quick rollup. The headlock goes back on and it works so well that the third version frustrates Orton even more. Orton finally hits him in the face but Kennedy does it right back and swats the dropkick away. Some more right hands get Orton out of trouble and the backbreaker gets two. Kennedy is right back with the Regal Roll but here’s Jeff Hardy to jump Kennedy for the DQ.

Rating: C-. They didn’t have much time here and a lot of it was spent on headlocks and punches. The ending wasn’t quite the biggest surprise, but then again they aren’t exactly going for subtlety with what Orton is going to be doing at Cyber Sunday. Hardy coming in makes sense to even things up as he and Kennedy can be on the pay per view in some match of their own.

Post match Hardy beats on Kennedy even more.

Here is Vince McMahon for a chat. He puts over the idea of Cyber Sunday again and brings out HHH’s opponent for the show: Umaga. Vince says that we could be having a street fight at Cyber Sunday, so let’s do that with this young man already in the ring.

Umaga vs. Andy Simmons

Street fight. Umaga knocks him outside to start and throws him over the announcers’ table as the destruction is on. Back in and a Samoan drop onto a chair finishes Simmons fast.

Hold on though as Vince wants a demonstration of the second option.

Umaga vs. Andy Simmons

First blood. Umaga puts him in the Tree of Woe for the running headbutt (Vince: “That’s gonna leave a mark.”) and there’s the running hip attack in the corner. The Samoan Spike ends whatever is left of Simmons and Umaga hammers on him until the blood flows for the win.

Oh wait though as there is one more option.

Umaga vs. Andy Simmons

Inside a cage with escape only. It takes a second for the cage to be set up, so Vince narrates some highlights of the previous two matches. Simmons is sent head first into the cage to start and then the ribs go into the steel as well, allowing Umaga to walk out for the easy win.

Coach and Hornswoggle have a bicycle race and Ron Simmons does his catchphrase.

Jillian Hall vs. Candice Michelle

Before the match, Jillian mocks Lilian Garcia’s singing abilities and accuses her of lip syncing last week. Also, a real singer doesn’t need a band, so tonight she is singing acapella British! Candice cuts her off so Jillian gets in a cheap shot to start fast. The Candy Wrapper finishes Jillian in less than a minute.

Beth Phoenix is ready for Candice Michelle getting her rematch next week. She’ll make Candice worship her.

Hardcore Holly comes up to Cody Rhodes and doesn’t get why Cody is challenging him again. Cody thinks he has a chance but Holly says this is his last shot and slaps him. That’s the look Holly wants.

Smackdown Rebound.

Brian Kendrick vs. Rory McCallister

Their respective partners are here and Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch are on commentary. Kendrick hammers away to start but gets knocked into the ropes for his efforts. Rory knocks him outside and a rather delayed cover gets two back inside. The chinlock goes on and brings Kendrick back to life, only to have Robbie offer a distraction. A reverse suplex gives Rory the pin.

Rating: C-. What were you expecting here? As nothing as the match was, I can appreciate the idea of adding a fresh team to the division. There is only so much you can get out of two teams fighting each other over and over so this is a nice addition. The match wasn’t exactly good, but the Highlanders can add a bit of spice to the division.

Here’s the same video that opened the show.

Shawn Michaels promises that he’ll be waiting around every corner for Randy Orton and is ready to go to Cyber Sunday and take the WWE Title.

Coach chases Hornswoggle into the Divas locker room and leaves with some underwear. The women throw things at Coach until he leaves.

SAVE US, with commentary acknowledging it for the first time.

Hornswoggle runs into the arena and Coach follows him, with Hornswoggle going underneath the ring. Coach pulls out a Wile E. Coyote style red box explosion trigger, but nothing goes off. Then Coach goes underneath the ring to check the cord and….yeah you know what’s coming. Hornswoggle blows Coach to smithereens as I try to figure out how I got here.

Cody Rhodes vs. Hardcore Holly

Cody forearms away to start but has to skin the cat. Back in and Holly fires off the chops but Cody gets in a crossbody for two. Holly isn’t having that and ties him in the ropes for some shots to the chest, setting up the chinlock. That’s broken up so Holly hangs him in the ropes for the kick to the ribs that looks rather low. Cody manages a crucifix for two, followed by a rollup for the same. Back up and Holly hits that dropkick of his, followed by a high crossbody and the Alabama Slam for the pin.

Rating: C. They’re building a little something here, even if it is pretty low level stuff. What matters is that they are giving Rhodes some kind of a story and that is more than a lot of people get around here. Granted it is with Hardcore Holly, but that is at least something, so he has somewhere to go from here.

Cody keeps pulling himself up and Holly looks kind of impressed.

Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

Non-title again. Shawn wastes no time in knocking Orton outside to start and a clothesline gets two back inside. A rollup gets the same but Orton elbows him in the face to take over. The top rope superplex is broken up though and Shawn drops the elbow. Sweet Chin Music is loaded up but Mr. Kennedy comes in for the DQ.

Post match Jeff Hardy comes in for the save but gets shoved off the top, leaving Shawn to fight off both villains. The superkick drops Orton to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This was one of those shows with a running theme going throughout the show but it was only so interesting as we are on the way to a pretty foregone conclusion. That isn’t a terrible thing, though it doesn’t make for the most thrilling week as we wait for Michaels to get the title shot. Other than that, there was an explosion and Umaga squashing a guy three times in a row. The UK shows tend to be bad but this felt like they were especially out of ideas on the way to the pay per view.

 

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

I’ll be heading down to Dallas for Wrestlemania week and as you might have guessed, I’ll be taking in quite a bit of wrestling.  Here’s what I have on tap, with reviews of each one coming as soon as possible (thankfully I’m flying this time so I’ll be back Tuesday afternoon with no exhaustion):

 

Thursday (March 31)

Axxess

WrestleCon 1

AAA Show

WrestleCon SuperShow

Friday (April 1)

WrestleCon 2

WrestleCon 3

Zicky Dice’s Trouble In Paradise 2

NJPW Strong

Impact Wrestling

Impact Wrestling Retro Show

Saturday (April 2)

WrestleCon 4

NXT Stand & Deliver

WrestleMania Night One

Sunday (April 3)

WrestleMania Night Two

Monday (April 4)

Raw

Undertaker Panel At Axxess

I’m going to be really, really tired.

Dynamite
Date: March 23, 2022
Location: HEB Center, Cedar Park, Texas
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur

We’re still in Texas and this time around CM Punk is back for a match with Dax Harwood. Other than that we are probably going to hear something from Thunder Rosa after she won the Women’s Title last week in her hometown. If we’re lucky, we might even get more of the Young Bucks trying to find out who their real friends are. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

CM Punk vs. Dax Harwood

Cash Wheeler is here too. They grapple into the corner to start and Harwood takes him down for an early breather. Punk is back up with a hammerlock but Harwood elbows him in the face to break it up. Back up and Punk gets kneed in the ribs, setting up a snap suplex. A backbreaker doesn’t even get one so Harwood grabs a chinlock. Harwood misses a headbutt though and it’s time to forearm it out. Punk gets the better of things and goes up top, where he has to cut Harwood off from trying a superplex.

The Macho Man elbow takes WAY too long though and Punk gets crotched down and now the top rope superplex connects. The top rope headbutt connects to give Harwood two and Punk is back up without much trouble. They suplex each other over the top for the nasty crash to the floor, setting up a high crossbody for two on Harwood back inside. The Anaconda Vice goes on but Harwood goes to the hair for the break.

Punk kicks him in into the corner and grabs a rollup, only to have them trade small packages for two each. Harwood is back up with a slingshot powerbomb for two, with Cash Wheeler being pulled up off the floor on the near fall. Punk fights up and sends him into the corner, setting up the GTS, which is countered into a Sharpshooter of all things. That’s too far for Punk, who gets out and pulls him into the GTS for the tap at 12:54.

Rating: B. Like this wasn’t going to be good, as you have Harwood who can wrestle an old school style and Punk who can work with anyone. It made for a good match and I wanted to see more, which is about as good as you can get. What I especially liked here was they took a tag wrestler and let him hang with Punk for a bit before ultimately falling. Punk gets a workout and Harwood isn’t going to be hurt by an out of his element loss to a top star. Rather good opener here.

Punk signals that he wants the title.

The Jericho Appreciation Society love that there is a photo of John Silver meeting Chris Jericho as a kid. Being in the same ring puts Silver on another level but not on the same level. The team looks around for Eddie Kingston, Santana and Ortiz, who they know are gone, because that’s entertainment.

Sting/Darby Allin/Hardys vs. AFO

Tornado tag match with Private Party/Butcher and the Blade for the AFO. Allin and Sting start fast with the dives and the multiple brawls start on the floor. Jeff charges at Blade to take him over the barricade and Sting actually hits the Stinger Splash on Kassidy against the barricade. Allin gets powerbombed up against some walls and Butcher tosses him down the steps as we take a break.

Back with Private Party giving Matt a double Side Effect off the stage through a table as we cut to the concourse, where Jeff Hardy climbs up a ladder, goes up onto a ledge, and Swantons onto Butcher and Blade through some tables. With that huge spot out of the way, we head back to the ring where Sting shrugs off a chair shot to the back and fires up on Private Party. Matt is back up (because of course he is) and a stereo Twist of Fate and Twist of Fate set up the double pin at 9:24.

Rating: B-. It was another fun match with some crazy spots, but I can’t bring myself to get that invested in these things anymore. Sting and the AFO just had one of these big wild brawls earlier this month and there is likely to be another one not too long from now. Jeff diving off of stuff doesn’t do much for me anymore, but the AFO losing is always good for a bit of a smile.

FTR is all fired up and wants to fight the Gunn Club next week, with Harwood going into a good rant about how they’re the best tag team around here.

Varsity Blonds vs. Jon Moxley/Bryan Danielson

Julia Hart sits on the steps with her back to the ring and William Regal is on commentary. Moxley and Danielson jump Garrison to start and the fight is on fast. Danielson knocks Garrison down and we take an early break. We come back with Garrison backdropping Danielson to the floor but getting dropped with a right hand from Moxley. Back up and a dropkick/spinebuster combination gets two on Moxley. Danielson is back in with the running knee to Pillman and a bunch of hard strikes to the head knock the Blonds silly. Stereo submissions are enough to make the Blonds tap at 6:00.

Rating: C+. That’s the kind of squash Danielson and Moxley should be having, as they beat up a team with a bit of credibility and did it fast. The Blonds had no change here but they got in a bit of time to keep it from being total destruction. As for Julia….does she really need some story? She can’t just keep being the pretty cheerleader for the time being while she builds up some experience?

Post match Regal comes into the ring, where Moxley talks about how there is no greater honor than to learn from Regal. He wears the Blackpool Badge of Honor and along with the perfect wrestler Bryan Danielson, they were forged in combat. If you want to step up to them, you better be ready for some violence. Of note: Julia Hart sat on the steps throughout the match and the post match promo.

Here is MJF, flanked by Shawn Spears and security. MJF mocks Wardlow for lowing to Scorpio Sky last week, but for now he wants to talk about CM Punk some more. Punk knows that he was beaten at Revolution, just like he did in Chicago, but rest assured that there will be another match. Then MJF will take him out and give him the most embarrassing loss ever.

Back to Wardlow, there are people who like him and that is because they are inbred. MJF is going to start calling Wardlow “Pig”, because he is a greedy little pig. When MJF met him, Wardlow had nothing and no one would know who Wardlow was without him. Now Wardlow actually has something, but he dared to cost MJF the biggest match of his career. Then Wardlow DARED to ask for MJF to release him from his contract? That was a deal with the devil, and it is iron clad.

Wardlow is going to ask how high when MJF tells him to jump, but MJF might even throw Wardlow’s mom out of her house anyway. Cue Wardlow, but a ton of security holds him back. MJF says he’s going to keep paying Wardlow, but it is to keep him at home until everyone forgets he ever existed. Security gets Wardlow to the back, with MJF saying that the Pinnacle has never been better. Next week FTR is in action and the Pinnacle is going to move up.

Trent Beretta throws Wheeler Yuta out of the Best Friends for suggesting he wanted to join William Regal and company. Yuta never liked Trent either and says he’s here to be the best wrestler, not to be the best friend. Trent should get that.

Adam Cole vs. Jay Lethal

Lethal takes him into the corner to start but gets elbowed in the face. Back up and Lethal starts taking things a bit more seriously, including a waistlock to the mat. Cole fights up with an enziguri but Lethal grabs the Lethal Combination. Lethal gets knocked outside so Cole poses, allowing Lethal to knock him outside. The series of suicide dives connects until Cole runs away from the last one, only to have Lethal hit another one. Cue ReDRagon to watch as we take a break.

Back with Lethal’s Figure Four attempt being countered into a small package for two, so Lethal tries it again. This one works a bit better, with the hold actually going on and Cole having to go to the ropes. Cole grabs the ring skirt to distract the referee so ReDRagon can distract Lethal. That lets Cole roll Lethal up for two but the Boom is countered with a cutter. Cole superkicks the Lethal Injection away though and the Panama Sunrise gets two on Lethal, leaving Cole stunned. The Boom misses again but ReDRagon offers another distraction so Cole can hit Lethal low. Now the Boom can finish Lethal at 10:03.

Rating: C+. They did their thing well enough here and that shouldn’t be a surprise. These two have a history together and they got to have their match until the villain cheated to win. Lethal is someone you can send out there and guarantee at least a pretty good match and Cole gets a nice win too. It’s cool to see a match where you know it’s going to work and then it does just that for a change.

Post match Cole says no one deserves to be the World Champion more than he does and he is going to ruin Hangman Page’s life. Page is scared of him but here is Page to interrupt, even though it’s 3-1. The title is dropped so Page takes the belt out of his jeans and starts whipping away. Cole manages a low blow though and the beatdown is on, with Cole holding up the title. Jurassic Express and Christian Cage run in for the save, but Cole leaves with the title.

Video on Lance Archer vs. Dustin Rhodes, which is coming up on Rampage. Rhodes wants revenge (for Archer beating him up a long time ago on Dynamite) in his hometown because monsters die too. Point for a good last line.

Sammy Guevara is in the ring with Tay Conti and isn’t happy about losing the TNT Title. He wants to be the guy that fans want to pay to see because he is going to do something so crazy that you have to see it. Yes he knows he can’t do this style forever, because it’s going to catch up to him eventually, but it’s worth the whole thing. Conti rants in Portuguese and translates it into a threat to Paige VanZant.

Sammy wants the two of them to fight any two of the Men of the Year, so here is the team (minus VanZant) to rant about how great they are. Did you know that Sky hasn’t lost a match since Tony Khan hit puberty? That was more than a year ago! Dan Lambert says not so fast on the match and kisses the interim TNT Title, but Sammy says if Lambert only knew what Sammy and Conti did while they wore that title. Lambert’s disgusted reaction is hilarious.

Video on Shane Strickland vs. Ricky Starks for the FTW World Title on Rampage this week.

Leyla Hirsch vs. Red Velvet

Kris Statlander is barred from ringside and Hirsch knocks Velvet off the apron before the bell. Velvet sends her into the barricade though and they go inside for the opening bell and a lot of stomping. Hirsch knocks her back down though and we take a break. Back with Velvet hitting a running knee to the back and pounding away a bit. The springboard is countered into a German suplex but Velvet catches her on top. The Mix connects so Hirsch rolls outside and pulls out the turnbuckle. That’s taken away, so here’s another piece of the turnbuckle out of her gear to knock Velvet silly for the pin at 6:24.

Rating: C-. This is a good example of a match that didn’t need to be on Dynamite as it was there to help advance a midcard feud at best. Velvet continues to look pretty lame by comparison and this was a pretty big downgrade over everything else on the show so far. Keep this on Rampage or Dark.

Post match the beatdown stays on and Kris Statlander runs in for the save.

Jade Cargill wants plans for the after party of her thirtieth win, including a lot of green stuff and exotic dancers.

Here is Thunder Rosa for her first chat as the Women’s Champion but Vickie Guerrero interrupts. Vickie does not like Rosa acting like she is really from Texas so she can “backstroke back to Mexico”. This turns into an argument about citizenship until Nyla Rose jumps Rosa from behind and beats her down. Two people arguing about the love of Texas. This sounds familiar for some reason.

Dark Order vs. Daniel Garcia/Chris Jericho

John Silver/Alex Reynolds for the Order. Before the match, Matt Minard praises Jericho a bit. Silver armdrags Jericho down to start and the Order knocks Jericho outside, setting up a brainbuster/dive combination. Back in and Garcia gets launched into a forearm to the face, leaving Jericho to pretend that the rest of the Order sent him into the steps. That’s enough for a big ejection and we take a break.

We come back with everything breaking down and Silver getting to clean house. Silver even takes down Jake Hager on the floor and a high crossbody gets two on Jericho. The Codebreaker gives Jericho two of his own and Jericho is shocked. The Order hits the running boot into the German suplex into the flip over rollup for two on Garcia but Hager starts wrecking people on the floor. Reynolds hits Garcia with a pop up knee but Jericho uses Floyd, setting up Garcia’s Scorpion Deathlock to make Reynolds tap at 9:59.

Rating: C. That’s your main event? It wasn’t awful but Jericho and company needing a numbers game and a baseball bat to beat some midcard guys isn’t a good sign for them. This didn’t feel like a main event match and it needed something bigger going on to get to that high of a spot on the show. Silver continues to shine in this role, and an underdog run after the TNT Title would be fun.

Overall Rating: B-. This show started off red hot and then dropped a fairly good bit. There was no way they were following those two openers, with the crowd carrying both of them to even greater heights. As usual, a weak AEW show is still good and the fans made this one feel that much better. Mix up the order on this and it’s a lot better, but for now it’s just another entertaining show.

Results
CM Punk b. Dax Harwood – Anaconda Vice
Sting/Hardys/Darby Allin b. AFO – Double pin to Private Party
Bryan Danielson/Jon Moxley b. Varsity Blonds – Rear naked choke to Garrison
Adam Cole b. Jay Lethal – Boom
Leyla Hirsch b. Red Velvet – Turnbuckle rod to the face
Chris Jericho/Daniel Garcia b. Dark Order – Scorpion Deathlock to Reynolds

 

 

 

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Wrestlemania XXVIII
Date: April 1, 2012
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida
Attendance: 78,363
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

As big as HHH vs. Undertaker is, everything pales in comparison to Rock vs. Cena. This was the biggest match since Rock vs. Austin’s heyday and the money it brought in more than validated an entire year spent setting everything up. There’s no way the match isn’t going to be great and everyone was ready to see it. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Tag Team Titles: Usos vs. Primo/Epico vs. Tyson Kidd/Justin Gabriel

Primo and Epico (Carlito and Primo’s cousin) are defending and this is one fall to a finish. Primo, Jey and Kidd start things off and you have to tag your partner. Kidd sends Primo to the floor and jumps into a rollup for two. The champs start stomping Tyson gets caught in a DDT for two more. Primo loads up a superplex on Jey but Kidd springboards up to make it a Tower of Doom in a cool spot.

Jimmy and Epico get hot tags and everything breaks down. Jey throws Gabriel up for a Samoan drop but Justin kicks out. Epico gets backdropped over the top and out onto Primo, setting up a dive from Jey. Gabriel moonsaults out onto all three of them, leaving only Jimmy on his feet. Jimmy throws Gabriel back in for a cover, only to have Epico come in for a Backstabber to Jimmy for the pin at 5:11.

Rating: C. Fun tag match here and much better than most of the pre-show matches in recent years. Epico and Primo certainly weren’t great champions by any stretch but there were far worse options out there. This wasn’t meant to revitalize the division or anything but it was very suitable for a quick match to fire the crowd up.

Lillian Garcia sings America the Beautiful. The show is outside again and the stadium looks amazing.

The opening video shows the paths that Cena and Rock took to get here in a really nice concept. We also see the montage of Wrestlemania moments before focusing on HHH vs. Undertaker as the last of a generation. Just like two years earlier, they’re making no secret of the fact that this is a two match card.

World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Notice that the Raw and Smackdown names have been dropped as the Brand Split officially ended in August 2011. Sheamus is challenging after winning the 2012 Royal Rumble and choosing to fight Bryan, who won the title by cashing in a Money in the Bank contract at Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2011. Bryan also has his girlfriend AJ Lee with him. The bell rings, Bryan kisses AJ, and it’s a Brogue Kick to give us a new champion at 18 seconds. That fall would haunt Bryan for over a year and indirectly lead to his rise up the card which we’ll get to later.

Team Johnny (as in John Laurinitis, one of McMahon’s longtime yes men) is ready for the ten man tag later tonight. Miz tries to captain the team but they’re not interested in listening. David Otunga (a wrestling lawyer) introduces Johnny in his white suit. Johnny talks about what a big moment this is going to be, just like Austin not submitting and Hogan slamming Andre. There’s no punchline or anything here and it’s just building up the match later. It’s Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy with the winning GM controlling both shows.

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Kane is upset that he shook Randy’s hand last year after a street fight and needs to become a monster again. Cole explained that as Kane made his entrance and it was simple, to the point, and told you everything you need to know. Why is that so hard the rest of the year? The fans chant for Bryan as the sun is starting to set.

Orton pounds him down to start and loads up the elevated DDT (which Cole calls a bulldog), only to get draped over the top rope. A big boot to the face sets up a chinlock as the match slows down a bit. Kane’s side slam gets two more and we hear a weak BORING chant. Orton gets taken down in a vertical suplex and Kane puts on his third chinlock of the match. They get back up and Orton hooks his backbreaker, followed by the elevated DDT (AGAIN called a bulldog by Cole).

It’s Kane up first though and he tries the top rope clothesline, only to dive into the dropkick. The Punt is countered into a chokeslam for two (Do they really need to have finishers kicked out of so often? This is a midcard match, not a main event.) so Kane heads up top. Orton breaks it up and tries the superplex, only to get countered into a super chokeslam to give Kane the pin at 10:57.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad and it’s nice to see Orton lose a match after getting dominated and not just nail a quick RKO for the pin. You can tell this is designed to set up a bunch of rematches, which is part of the problem with Wrestlemania: it should be the big ending to a feud, not the start of one. I liked this more the first time around but the chinlocks really hold it back on another viewing.

Santino Marella talks to a cast member from Deadliest Catch and Mick Foley is there eating crabs while talking like a pirate. Mr. Socko and the Cobra make cameo appearances and destroy the crabs until Ron Simmons comes in for his catchphrase.

Intercontinental Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show

Show is challenging but more importantly he’s in search of his Wrestlemania moment. Cody had made fun of him for weeks over being a joke at Wrestlemania because in this universe, Wrestlemania XVI where Big Show was in the main event doesn’t exist. Yeah he lost quick but how many main events has Cody been in? Cole makes it even worse by saying Show has won some tag matches but was never involved in the pinfall victory. I guess that quick match last year doesn’t count either.

Cody gets Show to chase him to start but dives into Show’s arms, meaning it’s time for the beating to begin. There are the loud chops in the corner and Show adds a Stinkface to make up for some of the humiliation. Cody comes back with a series of dropkicks, including one to the leg for a smart move.

Show gets his leg cranked as Cole says he isn’t as big when he’s on the mat. As usual, this is inaccurate. Actually Show is the same size but he can’t use it to his advantage. I know it’s stupid but that always gets on my nerves. Show fights up and the Disaster Kick doesn’t even knock him down. Cody tries another but gets “speared” (more like a shoulder block which went very low), followed by the WMD (KO Punch) for the pin and the title at 5:20.

Rating: D. So Big Show has the title now, but I guess the whole Wrestlemania moment is the real prize. It’s not like the title had meant anything in years anyway so that makes as much sense as anything else. It makes more sense than saying being in the main event of a Wrestlemania doesn’t count as a major moment at least.

Video on what it means to be a WWE Diva, which seems to translate to wearing very little clothing and dancing a lot.

We recap the Divas tag match. Kelly Kelly had been a guest on Maria Menunos’ (a good looking TV host) Extra when Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix came in and said they should be interviewed. The solution was a tag match of course.

Maria Menunos/Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres

Beth is Divas Champion (and has wings on her head for no apparent reason) while Maria has cracked ribs and stress fractures in her feet. A quick rollup gets two for Kelly but her cartwheel into an elbow hits feet to the legs. Eve’s moonsault is broken up and Maria comes in for a double Stinkface. Off to a bodyscissors on Maria until Beth comes in for a bearhug from the side.

Eve tries another dancing moonsault but gets kicked out to the floor, allowing for the tag off to Kelly. The screaming headscissors puts Beth down and a top rope seated senton gets two. Beth’s Glam Slam is countered into a bulldog (actually a bulldog this time) and the tag is made to the still injured Maria. Kelly saves her from getting slammed and Maria rolls Beth up for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: D+. I know Kelly is supposed to be this big deal but her theme song is still about hollering in a club to a hot beat. Then you have the Divas Champion lose to a celebrity, who to be fair was clearly trying. The match could have been worse but the division was just dying at this point and this was great proof. Watchable match, horrible ending. You really can’t have Eve get pinned here? Really? Also: only Maria would be involved with the next Wrestlemania.

Shawn Michaels says this next match will be the end of an era. It’s ironic that he gets to decide which era that will be.

The attendance record is announced.

Jim Ross, now with a goatee, comes out to do commentary.

There’s no recap for the Cell match (if you were watching the show you probably knew the story already) but as I said it’s the final chapter in the story between these three men. HHH wanted one more shot at the Streak (though the way he talked you would think he already broke it) and Undertaker agreed if it was inside the Cell. Shawn is guest referee to add some more drama.

Undertaker vs. HHH

Inside Hell in a Cell with Shawn as guest referee. Shawn takes a quick lap around the stage before coming to the ring. HHH comes out through a miniature set designed like a war helmet and shoulder pads. Undertaker’s hair now now shaved into a mohawk with the first reveal coming here, much to the crowd’s shock. The Cell is lowered to The Memory Remains by Metallica, allowing JR to talk about how the Cell is morally corrupt.

Undertaker slugs him down to start (with carcinogenic right hands according to JR) and HHH can’t hang in a fist fight. They head outside instead with Undertaker backdropping him onto the floor. The announcers talk about how this is the end of an era and we’ll never return to it. Undertaker sends him into the cage as Cole’s latest stat is HHH winning every match in which Shawn is a guest referee. So he’s what: 2 or 3-0?

Back in and the facebuster has no effect on Undertaker and it’s Old School putting HHH down again. The steps off HHH’s head surprisingly don’t draw blood. The apron legdrop keeps HHH in trouble before we get to the real violence. HHH finally gets in a DDT for a breather but the Pedigree onto the steps is quickly broken up. The spinebuster onto the steps works a lot better and Undertaker is in trouble.

HHH walks right into Hell’s Gate from the steps so he lifts Undertaker up (JR: “Sinful strength by HHH!”) into a powerbomb onto the mat for the save. The steps are sent to the floor and it’s time for the chair shots to Undertaker’s back. Shawn tries to pull HHH off but JR accurately says that there are no rules (unfortunately with no strange word choices). Michaels tries to talk Undertaker into quitting (out of sympathy, not cheating) but Undertaker demands that it not be stopped.

That earns him a chair to the ribs and the back for a pretty slow two count. HHH goes to get more weapons and tells Shawn to end it before he does. That means sledgehammer time but Undertaker says keep it going. There’s a sledgehammer shot to the face for two (we’re getting close to that ridiculous point). Shawn breaks up another one to the back of the head to avoid being a murder witness and thinks about calling the match to save Undertaker.

You don’t threaten the Undertaker though so he chokes Shawn out to break it up. That earns him another sledgehammer to the head but there’s no referee. Undertaker is still able to kick HHH low, despite probably having about 18 concussions at once. The Hell’s Gate has HHH in trouble and here’s another referee to take Shawn’s place. A chokeslam gets two so Undertaker chokeslams the new referee (barely getting him above shoulder high).

Shawn gets back up and superkicks Undertaker into the Pedigree for maybe the hottest near fall of all time, sending Shawn nearly into tears in the corner. I totally and completely bought that it was over on that cover. HHH gets the sledgehammer and throws an intervening Shawn to the floor…..and Undertaker sits up with that look in his eye. You can take your Brock Lesnar, your old school Vader, your Mankind and your Mr. McMahon at his craziest. For me, ticked off Undertaker is the scariest thing in wrestling.

The big boot and Snake Eyes set up a Tombstone for a very close two and Undertaker’s adrenaline comes to a sudden stop. They slug it out from their knees and then their feet until a quick Pedigree gets two. Shawn is still on the verge of tears. Undertaker sits up again but falls when he tries to get to his feet. HHH gets the sledgehammer again but Undertaker steps on it before unloading on HHH with a chair.

The chair is bent over HHH’s back and now Shawn has to try to stop Undertaker. All those shots are only good for two and Shawn begs HHH to stop. HHH tries to get the sledgehammer back up but Undertaker easily blocks a swing. Barely able to stand in the corner, HHH fires off a crotch chop as Shawn turns his head. A sledgehammer to the head means it’s time for the straps to come down and the Tombstone finally ends HHH at 30:54.

Rating: A+. What a ride. Those are the first words to come to my head after seeing this again because that went from one end of the roller coaster to another with every kind of emotion you could find in the middle. This is one of the best stories ever told in a match and a perfect way to conclude a four year saga between these three men. I’m glad the Streak didn’t end here, but that superkick into the Pedigree had me ready to believe that it was over. This is an absolute masterpiece and the definition of wrestling as art. There’s nothing left for these three to do and they left it all in the ring. See this if you haven’t before.

Shawn has to pull Undertaker up as HHH is still unconscious. They eventually help HHH out and get him up the ramp where they all hug to truly end this in a show of respect. That’s what the entire story was based on, even if they went to war for years. It was never a war based on hatred and it’s very good that they showcased that at the end.

We get the Hall of Fame video from last night with the Four Horsemen being inducted as a team so Flair could be put in twice. This wound up biting them though as Flair was officially still under contract to TNA so WWE had to send Christian to Slammiversary 2012 as compensation (while Christian was still Intercontinental Champion).

Here’s the Class of 2012: Mil Mascaras, Yokozuna (represented by his children), Ron Simmons, the Four Horsemen (Flair, Arn Anderson, JJ Dillon, Tully Blanchard and Barry Windham. I believe it’s just this incarnation and not the group as a whole), Mike Tyson and Edge.

Heath Slater wants to sing a duet with Florida (“That’s Flo Rida.”) but Rida isn’t interested in any sort of partnership. Slater gets beaten up.

Team Teddy vs. Team Johnny

Teddy: Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, Great Khali, Booker T.

Johnny: David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, The Miz

The winner’s team gets to run both shows. Johnny has Vickie Guerrero and Brie Bella, Teddy has Hornswoggle, Eve Torres, Brie Bella and Aksana (Teddy’s would-be girlfriend). Ryder is fresh off becoming a grassroots hero who won the US Title, only to lose it all (presumably because he isn’t what WWE wanted as a star, as brilliant an idea as that is). Johnny is in a white suit and red tie, making him look like a thin Colonel Sanders. All of the wrestlers (including Captains Otunga and Marella (US Champion)) are in red or blue shirts.

Kofi and Ziggler start (makes sense as they’ve fought literally about thirty times on TV alone over the years) with Kofi grabbing a headlock and bringing in Truth for a double hiptoss. Ziggler comes back with a dropkick and it’s off to Drew as Cole and Lawler bicker over who would be the better GM.

Khali comes in for the big chops before handing it off to Booker (a last minute addition to the team) for two off a side slam. Booker gets in trouble though and it’s time for the face in peril (along with Vickie screaming). Mark comes in and throw Booker into the corner before Miz comes in, much to Cole’s delight. Booker fights out of a chinlock as the discussion turns to Vickie’s looks.

The World’s Strongest Slam drops Booker and everything breaks down. A double flapjack drops Khali but Kofi, Ryder and Truth hit triple flip dives to take out most of Team Johnny. Aksana and Vickie brawl which gets the Bellas into it. The hot tag brings in Santino to clean house, including his saluting top rope headbutt.

There’s the Cobra to Miz (Cole: “Oh my God, oh my God.”) but Ziggler breaks it up at two. Ryder comes in and takes down Miz and Ziggler, including a Rough Ryder (leg lariat) to Dolph. Eve gets in the ring for no apparent reason other than to distract Ryder, allowing Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale for the pin on Zack at 10:38.

Rating: D+. Big mess here but that triple dive was really cool looking. This was another step towards Ryder’s complete burial after he ran from Kane, was destroyed by Kane, lost his US Title and lost Eve (the woman of his dreams) a few months ago. It was depressing how bad things got for him and he never recovered. As you probably guessed, this was your annual get everyone on the show match.

Eve kicks Ryder low to make sure you get the idea: don’t cheer for people WWE doesn’t pick.

Alex Rodriguez and Torrie Wilson are here.

Wrestlemania week video.

CM Punk is ready to defend his WWE World Title but Johnny comes up to say the title can change hands on a DQ.

We recap Jericho vs. Punk. Jericho returned again and accused Punk of ripping him off when Punk called himself the best in the world. Punk eliminated him from the Elimination Chamber by knocking Jericho out due to injury without pinning him. Jericho then won a battle royal to earn this shot and started accusing Punk’s family of being a bunch of alcoholics and drug addicts. That’s too much for Punk and now he’s out for blood.

WWE World Title: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

Punk is defending if that wasn’t clear and he can lose the title on a DQ, just in case they didn’t hammer the idea in well enough at Wrestlemania XXV. The champ takes it to the mat to start before taking Jericho down again with a knee to the ribs. Jericho gets sent into the corner where he shouts “HOW’S YOUR FATHER” to send Punk over the edge again. Punk beats him down again but the threat of the top rope elbow sends Jericho to the floor.

That’s fine with Punk as he dives onto Jericho, who then asks about Punk’s sister. Punk grabs a chair but opts to kick Jericho in the ribs instead. Just like three years ago, these pauses are killing the flow of the match. A quick dropkick gives Jericho a breather and he suplexes Punk over the top and out to the floor for a big crash. You don’t often see that work. Jericho starts working on the back to set up the Walls with a kick to the spine and a backsplash for two. A double arm crank keeps Punk in trouble until he dropkicks Jericho into the corner.

The running knee in the corner sets up the bulldog but Jericho slams him down instead. Punk has to counter the Walls and gets two off the high kick to the head. The Macho Elbow hits Jericho’s knees though and a Codebreaker puts Punk on the floor. Back in and a GTS out of nowhere gets two (no way a title match ends on the first finisher). Jericho drapes him ribs first over the top rope and the Lionsault gets two. Cole: “Not often you see somebody kick out of the Lionsault.” I don’t remember the last time it pinned someone.

The Walls have Punk in trouble but he makes the ropes as you would expect. A knee to the head staggers Jericho but Punk springboards into another Codebreaker for another two. Punk kicks him down again and tries the GTS (Punk: “BEST IN THE WORLD!”), only to be countered into the Liontamer (kneeling Boston crab) and then the Walls. Punk counters into a small package and then the Anaconda Vice. Jericho counters THAT with knees to the head but can’t hook the Walls again, allowing Punk to hook the Vice (and duck his head this time) for the tap out at 22:20.

Rating: B+. This got so much better once they got away from the stupid DQ stuff (which would be remedied at the next pay per view with an awesome street fight). I really don’t get the thinking behind the DQ idea. I know it’s the evil GM screwing with Punk but it cripples whatever the match could get going. Either let them do the violent stuff that fits the story or just have it be an awesome match like they’re clearly capable of having. This half and half stuff almost never works and this only succeeded because of how good both guys are.

Wrestlemania XXIX is in New Jersey.

Here’s the still mostly new Funkasaurus Brodus Clay to tell us to call our mamas. Brodus calls his own mama and finds out that she’s here, complete with the bridge club. Cue mama and said bridge club (all a bunch of older women (clearly in makeup) and matching dresses) for a massive dance number. This got twelve times the length that Sheamus vs. Bryan had.

Video on G.I. Joe 2, which wasn’t released for over a year due to re-shoots.

After all that, we recap John Cena vs. the Rock. This has been built up for over a year now and both guys have spent so much time heavily insulting each other that it actually is epic, as described by a bunch of legends in the video. Several years back, Cena had been on a radio show where he talked about Rock saying he loved WWE and then leaving. Cena on the other hand was here every single day because this is what he loved more than anything.

This turned into a back and forth war until Rock finally returned over a year ago. This is the match that has been set up by both guys trading huge bombs on the mic with Rock saying Cena wasn’t serious enough and Cena calling Rock out for using wrestling to become an actor. They flat out did not like each other and made that very clear, setting up this match as the biggest in a generation, which it certainly was. The tagline for the match and the show: Once in a Lifetime.

Since we haven’t dragged it out enough, here are Machine Gun Kelly and Skylar Grey to perform the show’s theme song and define the word underdog.

John Cena vs. The Rock

Cena is booed out of Miami the second his music hits. And wait again because here’s Flo Rida to perform two songs and eat up even more time. Of note: he has a bunch of backup dancers, who I’m assuming are the bridge club after a costume change. After that eats up WAY too much time, Rock’s ovation is thunderous. Ignore him having to walk through the posing dancers to look out at the people. They talk trash after the big match intros and we finally get the opening bell, nearly twenty minutes after the video package began.

We get the big lockup and Cena shoves him away. Rock does the same as we’re firmly in Hogan vs. Warrior territory so far. Some quick armdrags and a majistral cradle get two for Rock, sending Cena into the corner with a stunned look on his face. Rock can’t get a Sharpshooter and Cena bails to the floor for a breather.

Back in and Cena takes Rock’s head off with a clothesline for one and we hit a bearhug on the mat. That goes nowhere so they head to the floor with Rock being dropped ribs first over the barricade. Cena stays on them with a belly to belly and now it’s off to a bearhug. Rock fights back with right hands and the spinebuster but Cena grabs the leg for the STF to break up the People’s Elbow. He can’t get the hold on so it’s a ProtoBomb instead, followed by the Shuffle.

Back up and it’s a double clothesline to give us another breather. Another slugout goes to Rock but he tries his own You Can’t See Me and walks into the AA for two. The Rock Bottom gets the same but Cena comes back with a side slam. The top rope Fameasser gets another two and both guys are spent. Something like a spear (it was supposed to be a spinebuster) sets up the Sharpshooter (with Rock pulling back with his hands instead of his arm), only to have Cena quickly make it to the ropes.

Rock sends him hard into the steps to keep Cena in trouble but he grabs the STF (with almost no torque). The hold stays on WAY too long and Rock starts to fade, even drawing an arm check. Rock finally makes the ropes after about two minutes and grabs a Samoan drop to get a breather.

The AA is countered into a spinebuster (Rock might have said “Yabba dabba” on the way down) and the People’s Elbow for a really close near fall. A catapult of all things sends Rock into the buckle (as opposed to a Buick sending him into it), only to have Rock break up a superplex. Rock goes nuts with a high cross body but Cena counters into an AA for two more. With nothing else working, Cena tries his own People’s Elbow but charges into the Rock Bottom for the pin at 30:54.

Rating: A. Just because it’s not quite as good as the Cell. That was the main event of Wrestlemania. What else can you ask for from these two, especially after all this build and the Rock having one match in eight years? This was almost all about the atmosphere coming in and then they had a great match on top of it. It’s one of the best main events ever and certainly one of the biggest, which is exactly what it needed to be.

So did the right guy win? I really don’t think so the more I look at it. Everything that Cena had said over the year was true: win or lose, Rock was going back to Hollywood to star in another blockbuster so why should he win here? It really doesn’t help Cena either as he got beat by a guy who hasn’t wrestled in eight years, though at the same time I don’t want to imagine how bad the reaction would have been if Rock had lost in his hometown. I would have gone with Cena, though I think I can understand their reasons behind going with Rock. Maybe.

Now for the second iconic image of the show: Rock poses on the ropes and Cena sits on the ramp, totally lost.

Overall Rating: B+. This is almost all about the two main events which ate up nearly half the show when you consider buildup and fallout. Those two matches were both home runs and that’s all you need to make this a good show. Jericho vs. Punk is good but not great….and that’s about the extent of the positives on the show. Everything else is just ok at best but again, nearly two hours of great is more than you get on several months of shows most of the time, which easily makes this a very good show.

Ratings Comparison

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: C-

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show

Original: D+

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

Kelly Kelly/Maria Menunos vs. Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres

Original: C+

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D+

HHH vs. Undertaker

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A+

2015 Redo: A+

Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy

Original: C

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D+

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

Original: A

2013 Redo: A

2015 Redo: B+

The Rock vs. John Cena

Original: B+

2013 Redo: A+

2015 Redo: A

Overall Rating

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A

2015 Redo: B+

The top matches on this card are as good as WWE has done in a long time.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2012/04/01/wrestlemania-xxviii-one-of-the-best-shows-of-all-time/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/06/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xxviii-this-show-got-me-excited-all-over-again/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

As usual, WWE makes things a lot more complicated than they need to.

 

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/kbs-review-stupendous/

Make sure you check out some recent reviews.

Wrestlemania XXVI (2015 Redo)

Wrestlemania XXVII (2015 Redo)

Smackdown – October 12, 2007

NXT – March 22, 2022

---

 

WWE Announces WrestleMania Virtual Restaurant (With Punny Names).

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-announces-wrestlemania-virtual-restaurant-punny-names/

WWE Announces A New WrestleMania Guest.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-announces-new-wrestlemania-guest/

WWE Took Several Hours To Film Individual Monday Night Raw Matches.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-took-several-hours-film-individual-monday-night-raw-matches/

Big Shakeup To NXT Stand & Deliever Card, Plus Grudge Match Added.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/big-shakeup-nxt-stand-deliever-card-plus-grudge-match-added/

Paige VanZant Explains Why She Chose AEW Over WWE.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/paige-vanzant-explains-chose-aew-wwe/

Update On Injured WWE Star’s WrestleMania Status, Possible Plans For Him.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/update-injured-wwe-stars-wrestlemania-status-possible-plans/

WRESTLING RUMOR: WWE Has Special Plans For Raw After WrestleMania.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wrestling-rumor-wwe-special-plans-monday-night-raw-wrestlemania/

Wrestling Legends Have Different Takes On Kevin Owens’ Steve Austin Impression.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wrestling-legends-different-takes-kevin-owens-steve-austin-impression/

 

 

As always, hit up the comments section to chat about what is going on and get on the Wrestling Rumors Facebook page.

NXT
Date: March 22, 2022
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett

Stand & Deliver is coming up soon and now we have the main event set, as Bron Breakker will get his rematch against Dolph Ziggler for the NXT Title. Other than that, we have some qualifying matches for the North American Title ladder match and the finals of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Trick Williams and North American Champion Carmelo Hayes arrive and don’t care about who make it into the ladder match.

North American Title Ladder Match Qualifying Match: Roderick Strong vs. Solo Sikoa

Malcolm Bivens is at ringside. Strong grabs a choke to start as Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams join commentary. Sikoa fights out and the strike off is on, with Strong getting knocked down against the ropes. Back up and Strong knocks him down again to take over, setting up the reverse chinlock. That’s broken up and Strong chops up against the ropes with a knee to the ribs getting two.

A powerslam gives Strong two more and here is Santos Escobar sauntering down to ringside. Sikoa tosses his way out of the corner to start the comeback though and some right hands set up a headbutt to put Strong down again. The Samoan drop gets two and Malcolm Bivens is starting to panic. Sikoa gets crotched on top but Strong’s superplex is broken up. The Superfly Splash sends Sikoa to Stand & Deliver at 9:18.

Rating: C. This was pretty simple and to the point and the right person won. Strong might not be the most interesting star in the world but he is going to give you at least a decent match every time. That is the kind of guy you can use on a show full of inexperienced guys and he was doing hit thing again here.

Persia Pirotta and Indi Hartwell bickered about men earlier today, setting up Pirotta and Duke Hudson being at ringside for Dexter Lumis’ match tonight.

Tony D’Angelo vs. Dexter Lumis

Indi Hartwell, Persia Pirotta and Duke Hudson are here too. Dexter scares him into the ropes to start but the early Silencer is broken up. D’Angelo hammers away until a fall away slam sends D’Angelo flying. A slam into the jumping legdrop gets two and we hit the chinlock until D’Angelo jawbreaks his way to freedom.

They fight outside with D’Angelo sending him into the steps and doing Tommaso Ciampa’s pat on the back as we take a break. Back with Lumis hammering away, setting up a bulldog and a belly to back suplex. A double clothesline puts both of them down so D’Angelo goes over to his crowbar. Pirotta tries to take it away from him but the crowbar gets swung into Lumis’ face. The swinging fisherman’s neckbreaker finishes Lumis at 10:32.

Rating: C. The stuff with the woman continues to be one of the dumbest things going on around here and this didn’t help things. D’Angelo’s gimmick is still as over the top as it gets in NXT, but he can have a pretty good match and is certainly dedicated to what he is doing. He also needs the boost on the way to Stand & Deliver so they had the right idea here.

Post match D’Angelo talks about how Tommaso Ciampa knew he was done last week and the new Don of NXT arrives at Stand & Deliver. Cue Ciampa through the crowd with the Fairy Tale Ending to lay D’Angelo out. Stand & Deliver might be Ciampa’s final chapter in NXT and he’s writing his own fair tale ending.

Robert Roode isn’t happy that people have forgotten what he has done around here. Dolph Ziggler wants Roode to take out Bron Breakker tonight before Stand & Deliver.

Grayson Waller is ready to go to Stand & Deliver and will take out A-Kid to get there.

Elektra Lopez vs. Fallon Henley

Legado del Fantasma, Brooks Jensen and Josh Briggs are all here. Lopez jumps her to start and stomps away against the ropes. A toss by the throat sends Henley flying and we hit the double arm crank with feet in Henley’s back. Hold on though as the guys brawl on the floor, allowing Henley to get in an elbow for two. Lopez isn’t having that though and it’s a Blue Thunder Bomb to give Lopez the pin at 3:42.

Rating: C-. The lack of Briggs and Jensen talking made this that much better, as Henley continues to be worth a look and Lopez is getting the near monster vibe down. You can pencil in the six person tag pretty soon and that is not a bad use for everyone involved in this whole thing. The match wasn’t great, but Lopez threw Henley around well enough to make it work.

Draco Anthony is in the back when Xyon Quinn comes in. Anthony gets a call from Joe Gacy, who basically invites him to join the cult. Quinn says Anthony knows what he has to do.

Wendy Choo has had a lot of orange soda and is ready to win the Dusty Classic. Dakota Kai wasn’t sure about the team but now she knows it was the right thing to do.

Robert Roode vs. Bron Breakker

Dolph Ziggler joins commentary as Roode runs Breakker over to start. Breakker shows him how to shoulder someone down and then it’s a powerslam to drop Roode again. They go to the floor for more brawling until a Ziggler distraction lets Roode stomp away back inside. A suplex drops Breakker but he’s right back up with a certainly not Steiner Line. Breakker misses a charge into the post thanks to Ziggler, which is enough for an ejection.

We take a break and come back with Roode hitting a Scott Steiner style elbow drop into the pushups. This means it’s time for commentary to say they know who that’s referencing without actually saying it. Breakker fights up and takes him into the corner for a top rope Frankensteiner, only for Roode to come back with a spinebuster for two.

The Glorious DDT is broken up but a spear is cut off with a knee. The second attempt at the spear cuts Roode down for two. Breakker’s gorilla press doesn’t work and the Glorious DDT gives Roode two. Back up and Roode heads to the middle rope, only to dive into Breakker’s powerslam for the pin at 15:10.

Rating: C+. Again, putting someone as new as Breakker into a match like this with someone as talented as Roode is a good idea. Let people like Roode and Ziggler walk Breakker through the match to help with the inexperience, which you can still see at times. There are points where Breakker doesn’t seem to know what to do so having a veteran out there can help bring him back on track. It’s a good idea and he made it through a fifteen minute match as a result.

Post match Ziggler superkicks Breakker and says the title stays with him until he gives it away.

Indi Hartwell is checking on Dexter Lumis when Persia Pirotta and Duke Hudson come up. Pirotta says Hudson can beat anyone so Dexter….goes over to his sketch pad, where somehow he draws a picture of Gunther (in two colors despite using one marker).

We go back to Chase U where Bodie Hayward gives a speech on fortitude about Von Wagner attacking him. A student raises his hand, earning himself a profanity laden rant. Chase asks where Hayward learned to talk like that, with Hayward saying it was from Chase himself. After a second of thought, Chase says that’s one of the most beautiful things he’s ever heard and yells at the student too. This continues to be one of the funniest things going in NXT.

North American Title Ladder Match Qualifying Match: Grayson Waller vs. A-Kid

A-Kid starts fast with a springboard hurricanrana and an armdrag into a dropkick. Waller takes him down, only to get hurricanranaed again. There’s a dropkick to send him outside so Waller tries the rolling Stunner, only to get reversed into a choke. That’s reversed into a suplex and now the rolling Stunner connects for the pin on A-Kid at 2:48. Well it was nice while it lasted with him.

Post match Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams pops up to say the three losers in the qualifying matches can have a triple threat for the final spot. That means it’s A-Kid vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Roderick Strong. Williams suggests he’ll be with A-Kid’s mom tonight so A-Kid kicks him in the head.

Robert Stone and Von Wagner are ready for next week when the attractive woman who has been around Stone in recent weeks comes up, saying they need to talk business.

Creed Brothers vs. Grizzled Young Veterans

The Veterans talk about jumping the Creeds before the match and then do just that. Brutus says ring the bell and then suplexes Drake around without much trouble. The Veterans get Brutus into the corner to start hammering away but it’s off to Julius without much effort. A Stretch Muffler sends Gibson straight to the ropes so Drake can come back in.

Brutus gets knocked off the apron but Julius slugs away at both of them. Gibson grabs the leg though and Drake takes over again, meaning Julius can get forearmed down. What looks to be a Doomsday Device is loaded up but Julius slips out and Drake tweaks his knee. A shot to the knee sets up Brutus’ sliding lariat for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: C. They have something with the Creeds but like so many others around here, the team needs some more polish (and some better looking gear). The good thing is they have time to fix things up, even though it seems likely that the Creeds get the Tag Team Titles in the near future. As for the Veterans…dang they could have been a heck of a team around here but it isn’t likely to ever happen.

Post match a camera pops up in Diamond Mine’s locker room, showing two people trashing it. Texts appear on screen, saying the Creed Brothers can’t find them, so enjoy the view.

Gunther vs. Duke Hudson

The rest of Imperium and Persia Pirotta are here. Gunther grabs a headlock to start but Hudson slips out and fires off some right hands. Hudson’s elbow cuts off a charge as the camera cuts are on in rapid fire. Some chops cut Hudson down and Gunther cranks on the neck. There’s the big chop to rip Hudson’s skin off (that thing echoed) and the fans are VERY impressed. The sleeper is broken up and Hudson hits a big boot. A slingshot German suplex (that’s a new one) gets two and Gunther isn’t having any more of this. He unloads on Hudson in the corner and it’s a big boot into a powerbomb to finish Hudson at 3:52.

Rating: C+. That chop alone is worth the bonus points here as Gunther basically mauled Hudson. That’s a lot better than focusing on Hartwell vs. Pirotta again and it’s always nice to see Gunther getting to smash someone. Hudson is someone worth a look most of the time, but he had no business hanging in there with Gunther any longer than he did here.

Post match Gunther says he’s the toughest competitor around here and doesn’t like someone like LA Knight….and that’s enough for Knight to come to the ring. Gunther cuts off the catchphrase and says Knight needs to listen. Knight threatens to knock Gunther’s block head off his dad body before suggesting a match at Stand & Deliver. Instead of issuing the challenge though, Knight hits him in the face so the beatdown is on, with MSK running in for the save. Imperium is cleared out in a hurry.

Video on Cameron Grimes being disappointed in himself. His dad passed away just after Grimes signed to NXT and now it is time for the most important match of his career. Carmelo Hayes made the announcement of the triple threat match fifteen minutes ago and Grimes had time to get a video made, complete with clips of his dad edited in?

Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals: Wendy Choo/Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai/Kay Lee Ray

Toxic Attraction is at ringside. Ray and Choo exchange chops to start until Choo gets a near fall off a rollup. Kai comes in to kick Ray in the face for two but it’s off to Shirai to take over. The 619 is loaded up but only hits Choo’s raised pillow. Kai is sent outside anyway and Ray dives onto Choo. Shirai does the same to Kai and we take a break.

Back with Ray in trouble and getting taken off the top in a big crash. Shirai comes in for the save and everything breaks down, with Ray hitting a top rope flip dive. Kai kicks Ray down though and Choo hits the top rope Vader Bomb. Shirai dropkicks Kai into the cover for the save and then butterfly backbreakers Kai down. The KLR Bomb sets up the Moons Over Moonsault for the pin on Choo at 10:18 to give Ray and Shirai the tournament.

Rating: C+. They went with the right choice here as it was the better and more talented team winning over the underdogs. That’s how you have to go to make the tournament sound more legitimate, even if the whole thing felt like some thrown together requirement. Choo was more tolerable here as she wasn’t doing as much shtick (pillow spot aside) and got to show how good she can be in the ring when you ignore the ridiculous gimmick. I can go with that, and maybe now they can find something else for her.

Post match confetti falls but Toxic Attraction gets in the ring, with Mandy Rose saying Ray and Shirai won’t be winning the Tag Team Titles. Ray and Shirai say they’re ready to take out Toxic Attraction, but instead of going after the Tag Team Titles, they’ll use their title shot to make the Women’s Title match a fatal four way (because that’s a thing that can be done apparently). The brawl is on with Cora Jade running in to help clear out Toxic Attraction to end the show. It’s a weird way to get there but I’ll take the four way over the worthless Tag Team Titles.

Overall Rating: C+. The show had more bad than good, but the bad continues to be some really dreadful stuff. The good thing is we have Stand & Deliver all but set and that is going to make the next few weeks a lot better. They moved a lot of stuff forward this week and helped set up the big show’s card so it was certainly a productive week, which is more than you get around here sometimes. Good enough show and the better stuff seems ready to come.

Results
Solo Sikoa b. Roderick Strong – Superfly Splash
Tony D’Angelo b. Dexter Lumis – Fisherman’s neckbreaker
Elektra Lopez b. Fallon Henley – Blue Thunder Bomb
Grayson Waller b. A-Kid – Rolling Stunner
Creed Brothers b. Grizzled Young Veterans – Sliding lariat to Drake
Gunther b. Duke Hudson – Powerbomb
Kay Lee Ray/Io Shirai b. Wendy Choo/Dakota Kai – Moons Over Moonsault to Choo

 

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

Smackdown
Date: October 12, 2007
Location: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole

We’re done with No Mercy and Batista is still the World Champion, having vanquished Great Khali in the Punjabi Prison. That leaves a vacancy in the #1 contenders slow and there is a good chance we’ll get it covered this week, as Cyber Sunday is coming up. I’m just not sure who it is going to be. Let’s get to it.

Here is No Mercy if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the Punjabi Prison match, with Batista retaining the World Title over Great Khali.

Opening sequence.

Chuck Palumbo vs. Chris Masters

Palumbo has Michelle McCool with him and this is fallout from Masters attacking Palumbo last week. Masters gets driven into the corner to start and some forearms to the back set up a big clothesline. A suplex drops Masters again as this is one sided so far. Masters avoids an elbow though and hits his own suplex for two. The reverse chinlock doesn’t last long as Palumbo is back up, only to get slammed right back down for two more. The Masterlock attempt doesn’t work and Palumbo hammers away. Masters misses a clothesline and gets rolled up for the fast pin.

Rating: C-. I know they’re trying with Palumbo but he’s not exactly stealing the show and a feud with Masters isn’t going to do much better. You’re only going to get so far with such a low level opponent as it makes Palumbo feel like someone who doesn’t matter that much. Palumbo is ok enough, but this feels like such low stakes and it isn’t working.

Post match Palumbo gets back on his motorcycle but Masters jumps him and puts on the Masterlock. Great. A rematch.

The Brothers of Destruction are back tonight.

Video on Big Daddy V.

Jesse And Festus vs. Jay Adams/Conrad Carnes

Jesse explains the idea behind Festus again before locking up with Adams to start. Cole compares it to Spider-Man and Peter Parker, which doesn’t go well with JBL. Jesse takes Adams down rather easily and it’s off to Festus to knock Carnes down. Carnes tries some forearms to the back and gets knocked down with a big boot to the face. It’s back to Jesse for a sunset flip as we cut to Deuce N Domino and Cherry watching in the back. A few shots put Jesse down but get gets over to Festus to clean house. Everything breaks down and a Rocket Launcher top rope shoulder gives Jesse the pin on Carnes.

Rating: C-. Festus is a good idea idea and he looks good when he gets the hot tag but Jesse is just kind of there. What matters here is that there is a new team, as the division has been all of two teams for far too long now. Just having someone fresh in there helps and maybe they can help pick things up a bit.

Deuce N Domino mock Jesse and Festus when Jamie Noble of all people comes in. He isn’t trying to cause any trouble but he heard Jimmy Wang Yang making some suggestive comments about Cherry. Noble whispers them to Deuce and it’s off to Vickie Guerrero’s office, with Noble being dragged off with them.

Brett Major vs. Drew McIntyre

There’s your historical moment. This is McIntyre’s debut and he has Dave Taylor with him, as Brian Major is here with Brett. We get an inset interview with McIntyre, who is applying for dual citizenship and would love to hear some USA chants. McIntyre drives him into the corner to start and grabs a front facelock. Brett reverses into one of his own and takes McIntyre down. An elbow into a legdrop gets two but Taylor hits Brian on the floor. That’s enough of a distraction for McIntyre to grab a rollup pin to complete a rather lackluster debut. McIntyre was just there and had nothing to make himself stand out here, making this pretty dull.

We get some rapid fire questions with the final four Diva Search girls. Next week: Search And Rescue as this stuff gets dumber week after week.

MVP and Matt hardy make sure that they’re both ready for the Brothers of Destruction tonight. They seem to be good.

Brothers of Destruction vs. MVP/Matt Hardy

Non-title. Matt’s waistlock on Kane doesn’t exactly work as Kane elbows him in the face to drop him fast. Undertaker comes in but Old School is broken up, allowing MVP to get in a clothesline from the apron. This goes as well as you would expect, with MVP and Hardy being sent outside as we take an early break.

Back with Kane coming in to beat on MVP but he misses a charge into the corner, allowing MVP to hammer away in the corner. There’s the running big boot and it’s Matt coming back in. Kane seems to like this better as Matt is driven into the other corner for the tag off to Undertaker. It’s back to MVP, who gets dropped by Old School for two before Kane adds the side slam.

The top rope clothesline gives Kane two, setting up Undertaker sending him into the steps (leaving MVP’s eyes bugging out at the pain). The apron legdrop gets two but Kane charges into a knee in the corner, allowing Matt to hit the middle rope elbow. Kane isn’t having this Twist of Fate stuff though and kicks Matt in the face. The second attempt works better for Matt but MVP tags himself in. That’s enough of a delay for Undertaker to come back in and wreck some more things. For some reason MVP decides to kick Undertaker in the face, earning Matt a right hand off the apron. The Tombstone gives Undertaker the pin on MVP.

Rating: C. This was little more than a squash, as Matt and MVP seemed to be more annoying to Undertaker and Kane than anything else. That being said, while they’re the Tag Team Champions, Matt and MVP don’t get along and are hardly a dominant team in the first place. I’m not wild on the champs losing, but getting beaten up by Undertaker and Kane is hardly some stunning upset.

SAVE US!

Raw Rebound.

New interviewer Anastasia Rose talks to Rey Mysterio, who gets to face Finlay in a #1 contenders match tonight. Rey got played by Finlay at No Mercy and he didn’t like that, but he’s down to play dirty too. He and Batista are friends, but he wants the title. If he has to go through Finlay, Rey is ready to fight too.

We recap Teddy Long’s heart attack, though he is now out of intensive care.

Vickie Guerrero tells Jamie Noble that Teddy should be home by next week. Jamie brags about what he did to Jimmy Wang Yang earlier. As a result, Vickie gives him a match of his own….against Great Khali.

Great Khali vs. Jamie Noble

Noble looks terrified to start and gets shoved down with as much effort as you would expect. There’s the big chop and Noble gets tossed away again. The Vice Grip finishes Noble in a hurry.

Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Deuce

Deuce is annoyed to start and kicks him in the face before choking on the ropes. Yang comes back up with some chops though and a moonsault press gives him the face pin.

Post match Deuce N Domino beat down Yang.

Another video on the Punjabi Prison match. Batista’s leap from one cage to the other is still awesome.

Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay

The winner gets Batista, on commentary, for the title at Cyber Sunday. Hold on though as JBL announces that the fans get to pick the guest referee for the Cyber Sunday title match. The choices are Mick Foley, Steve Austin (pause for the reaction), or JBL himself! Rey hammers Finlay into the corner to start but for some reason he turns around so Finlay can knock him down. Finlay loads up the Shillelagh shot but Rey knocks him down and we take an early break.

Back with Rey going to the apron and turning his back on Finlay AGAIN, earning himself a posting. Finlay grabs a Boston crab with Rey going to the ropes, earning himself something like a swinging Boss Man Slam for two. A headscissors takes Finlay down though and a middle rope DDT gives Rey two of his own. Things get a lot more serious and it turns into a brawl on the mat with the referee not being able to break it up. Said referee is tossed down and that’s a double DQ.

Rating: C+. This feud has been working pretty well so far and I’m curious to see how they move forward at Cyber Sunday. I can’t imagine they go with a triple threat for the title as wedging Batista into this feud doesn’t really feel right. We should be in for a violent showdown at the pay per view and that could be a good one.

That leaves us with no #1 contender….so here is Undertaker to knock both guys down. Undertaker signals he wants the title so the staredown with Batista ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The main event stuff was just about all that mattered on the card as the rest was mainly about people who don’t matter all that much. McIntyre debuting is little more than a footnote and MVP/Matt Hardy, one of the only interesting stories on the show, was there to make the Brothers of Destruction look good. Smackdown hasn’t been that great in recent weeks and Undertaker vs. Batista is going to need some help to make things that much better.

 

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

Wrestlemania XXVII
Date: April 3, 2011
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 71,617
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews

There’s a bit more to the main event than Rock just returning. The night he returned, he cut a long promo about how things had changed, including John Cena being the top star in the company. There is real tension between the two of them and people are expecting it to boil over soon. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: US Title: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan (I think you know him) is challenging and it’s almost strange to see him with short hair and clean shaven. Daniel moonsaults over the champ to start before the yet to be named YES kicks send Sheamus outside. That’s not cool with Mark Henry as he throws Sheamus back inside for more kicks from Daniel. Sheamus grabs a quick tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two but the High Cross is broken up. The champ is sent to the floor where he gets in a fight with the lumberjacks, triggering a huge brawl to throw the match out at 4:19.

Rating: D+. These two would later get to show that they have good chemistry but the four minute clock here didn’t give them time to go anywhere. It doesn’t help that the match was designed to set up something else instead of having a definitive ending. We’re not done with these two though.

Smackdown General Manager Teddy Long comes out to say let’s have a battle royal.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

R-Truth, Great Khali, David Hart-Smith, Mark Henry, Johnny Curtis, Evan Bourne, Trent Barretta, Chris Masters, JTG, Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo Guerrero, Ted DiBiase, Tyler Reks, William Regal, Drew McIntyre, Curt Hawkins, Tyson Kidd, Primo, Zack Ryder, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus

Curtis is a generic guy who would later be known as Fandango and I think you know the Usos. Khali throws out Reks and Hawkins in the first twenty seconds and Henry tosses Tatsu a few seconds later. The match slows down a lot and everyone brawls with everyone with no one getting close to an elimination. Jimmy Uso is hanging onto the ropes and pulls them down to eliminate Truth.

Henry dumps both Usos a few seconds later and a big group of people gets rid of Mark. Primo and Ryder go out in quick succession and Drew has to last on the apron. Chavo tries to knock McIntyre out but gets backdropped to the floor and Khali knocks out Hart-Smith. JTG is dumb enough to go up top and gets chopped out by Khali. Bryan throws Kidd out and McIntyre eliminates Trent.

Curtis tries to fight Regal, Sheamus and McIntyre at the same time for reasons that aren’t clear, earning himself an elimination. Masters chops at Drew but gets sent to the apron where he tries the Masterlock. Oh come on dude you’re smarter than that. Drew goes down and Evan tries Air Bourne, only to have Sheamus throw Evan down after the crash. DiBiase eliminates Regal and Drew kicks Ted in the face for an elimination. Bryan dumps McIntyre but gets pulled to the apron by Sheamus who kicks Bryan to the floor. Khali and Sheamus are the last two in and a clothesline gives Khali the win at 8:29.

Rating: D. This is becoming the standard operating procedure for these matches and again, it’s hard to really complain when it’s a relatively short battle royal just there as a DVD bonus. Khali winning is fine as he hadn’t done anything for years at this point so throw him a bone to make a victory over him mean a little bit more.

Keri Hilson sings America the Beautiful.

The set is a big sign saying WRESTLEMANIA and a big arch over the stage. It’s a simpler design but it works quite well.

The cylinder from last year has been replaced by an even bigger cube.

We don’t go straight to the opening video as a voiceover which sounds like a daytime game show host or a late night talk show announcer introduces “a supernova of entertainment” named The Rock. It’s pretty safe to say that Rock is still incredibly over as the fans practically worship at his feet.

Rock walks around a bit before hitting the FINALLY line about Atlanta and Wrestlemania. He wants to know if we can feel, taste and smell the electricity. I don’t think you can taste electricity but if you try you’ll certainly feel something. It’s time to do something special and have some fun. Therefore, when Rock says wrestle, the fans will say mania. After that wastes some time, Rock wants to talk about someone who is deciding which Fruity Pebbles shirt to put on tonight (if that line makes no sense, Rock had said Cena looked like a great big bowl of Fruity Pebbles because of all his shirts).

The fans chant CENA SUCKS and then switch to FRUITY PEBBLES. Rock stops for some of the People’s Water (his words) before saying yabba, which means he wants the people to say dabba. He rhymes a bit with his catchphrases (“Always defiant and standing taller than Andre the Giant!”) and says this is bigger than Christmas (“Sorry Santa but the Rock is bringing it all over Atlanta!”) before having the people join him for IF YA SMELL to wrap up this ten minute monologue, which really wasn’t funny.

The opening video is the standard operating procedure: talking about the history of the event with the major highlight clips before an assortment of stuff on the major matches. This still works so why mess with it?

Cole: “This is the fabric of Americana!” Cole, in his own plastic box, is one of the top heels in the company and is already arguing with Lawler, who he’ll be facing tonight in Lawler’s first ever Wrestlemania match.

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge

Alberto (who won the 2011 Royal Rumble to earn this shot) is challenging and comes out in a Rolls Royce (he was a car guy, to put it mildly) with his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez doing his introduction. Del Rio also has Brodus Clay as his bodyguard so Edge brings out Christian as backup. Feeling out process to start until Edge gets shoved into the corner but he comes out with a slap to the face.

The champ gets stomped down in the corner and they head outside with Del Rio sending Edge and his bad arm into the barricade. Back in and we hit an armbar as Del Rio starts getting ready for his cross armbreaker. The bad arm is wrapped around the middle rope as you can’t argue with Del Rio’s psychology so far. Edge avoids a charge to send Alberto outside and follows with a big over the top flip dive.

Back in and Edge heads up top, only to get armdragged back down to the mat in a big crash. A big boot and flapjack get two for the champ but a Codebreaker to the arm looks to set up the armbreaker. Edge counters into the Edge-O-Matic for two but Del Rio grabs the armbreaker a few seconds later, only to have Edge roll his feet into the ropes. Del Rio follows up with a running enziguri but Edge gets his foot on the ropes again. Rodriguez tries to break it up, triggering a brawl between Christian and Brodus.

The Edgecution (impaler DDT) looks to set up the spear but Del Rio sidesteps it and Del Rio pulls the arm into the post. Now the armbreaker goes on in the middle of the ring until Edge rolls onto him for a cover, forcing Del Rio to break it up. There’s the Edgecator (a variation on the Sharpshooter) as Christian takes Brodus out. Del Rio escapes but walks into the spear (with the bad arm to no pain from Edge) to retain Edge’s title at 11:09.

Rating: C+. Good enough match but Edge not selling the arm really hurt things. If he’s not going to sell it, why waste our time watching Del Rio try to get the submission? That’s the major problem with a heel using a submission hold: almost no top face ever taps out so the finisher isn’t all that effective.

Now for the interesting part: this would be Edge’s last match due to another neck injury and the title would be vacated. If he was leaving less than a month later, why not drop the title here and put Del Rio over as a career killer? That’s never set well with me, but it did at least give us a good moment for Edge’s last win.

Post match Edge and Christian destroy Del Rio’s car. I’m sure there will be rapid legal ramifications for their actions of course. Then again, if Matt Hardy doesn’t get arrested for burning down Jeff’s house, this is pretty tame. Also you would think Del Rio would go up there to save his car or at least try to but the crowbars Edge and Christian are holding might have something to do with it.

Tough Enough ad.

Cole brags about his Slammys and promises to win tonight.

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

This was an interesting story as Cody had been a narcissistic man who believed he was the best looking person on the roster. Then Mysterio hurt Cody’s face with the 619, forcing Cody to undergo facial reconstruction surgery. Cody returned and wore a mask to hide the horrible surgery scars. Then the mask came off to reveal that Cody looked fine but he still swore the scars were there. He kept wearing the mask and looked like Dr. Doom for a really interesting psychological character which should have taken him up the card.

Mysterio is Captain America this year and he starts hammering Cody’s ribs as Cody is still in the hard mask. Cody headbutts him down and goes for Rey’s knee brace, followed by the Disaster Kick (springboard kick to the face) for two. We hit a one arm camel clutch followed by an Alabama Slam for two more.

Cody slaps on a nerve hold as Cole continues to rip on Rey for not doing enough to make up for the injury. A delayed superplex (that’s a rare sight) drops Rey for two but he gets out of Cross Rhodes (a rolling cutter) and sends Cody to the floor. Rey sends him into the apron with a headscissors but dives into a wheelbarrow suplex for two. The 619 is broken up (Cole is thrilled) and Cody gets the knee brace off.

Rey gets two more off a moonsault press but Cody loses his mask. The 619 to the exposed face sets up the top rope splash but Rey puts the brakes on when Cody raises his knees. Rey puts Cody’s mask on for some headbutts, sending Cole into hysterics. The fans chant for Cody as the referee gets rid of the mask, leaving Cody to hit Rey in the head with the brace. Cross Rhodes finishes Rey at 12:01.

Rating: B. This was a lot better than I was expecting, even if you ignore Cole’s incessant heel commentary (we’ll come back to that later). Mysterio putting the mask on was a stupid move on his part but at least the right guy won. Cody was running with this character but unfortunately this was pretty much the peak as he became just Cody Rhodes again, which isn’t really interesting. Good match here though.

Snoop Dogg is here to scout talent for his upcoming tour so Teddy Long has set up some auditions. Snoop: “Let the dogs loose.” First up is William Regal who raps about being a heel. Regal: “Was that gangster enough for you?” Beth Phoenix and Great Khali sing Summer Lovin from Grease. Zack Ryder sings Friday (a big hit at this point) until Roddy Piper breaks a coconut over his head. Yoshi Tatsu sings We Will Rock You as Chris Masters does his pectoral dance to the beat. Hornswoggle comes in but Teddy says he can’t talk so Snoop leaves. After they’re gone, Hornswoggle raps as the Bellas dance.

Kane/Big Show/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston vs. Corre

Corre is Justin Gabriel/Heath Slater/Wade Barrett/Ezekiel Jackson in a spiritual successor to Nexus. They’re having some success too as Slater (a country boy) and Gabriel (a high flier) are Tag Team Champions (finally with two belts between them) and Barrett (a British brawler) is Intercontinental Champion. Jackson is a very muscular powerhouse. Show has been having issues with the team as of late, Kingston lost the title to Barrett and Corre put out Santino’s partner Vladimir Kozlov. Santino and Slater start but it’s quickly off to Show to destroy Heath. Everything breaks down and Show KO’s Slater for the pin at 1:35.

Santino dances a bit, probably thrilled with getting a Wrestlemania payday for such a quick match (really the only reason for this match to exist and there’s nothing wrong with that).

The Rock is in the back with Eve Torres and lets her feel his arm. Eve describes the weekend as magical so Rock offers to make magic with the next person that comes around the corner. As you might guess, cue Mae Young who wants the people’s strudel (guess what that means). Rock makes some old age jokes (Rock: “This is Eve. Like your childhood friends Adam and Eve.”) so Eve gives him a little spank. Rock wants anyone else to come around the corner and here’s Steve Austin. It’s serious Austin tonight and they say it’s good to see each other and say they both remember. You could feel the electricity here.

We recap CM Punk vs. Randy Orton. Punk had taken over the Nexus after they threw out Wade Barrett and targeted Orton, costing him the World Title at the 2011 Royal Rumble. This was all due to Orton costing Punk his Raw World Title back in 2009, causing Punk to promise that Orton won’t be champion again on his watch. Orton took out the New Nexus one by one (in about six weeks after Cena couldn’t do it in six months).

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Orton comes in with a bad right knee after Punk hit it with a wrench. Punk dives after the leg but gets punched in the face for his efforts. They head outside where Punk dives over the steps and kicks them back into the bad knee to take over. A cross body gets two back inside but Punk stops to do Orton’s pose, earning himself a backbreaker. Something like a Stunner to the leg puts Orton right back in trouble though and Punk cannonballs down on it.

Orton gets tied up in the corner for a top rope double stomp. The GTS is countered into an RKO attempt but Punk kicks him in the face for two. Punk gets crotched on the top for a superplex but it bangs up the knee again. There’s a figure four around the post (you can’t fault Punk’s strategy here) followed by something like an Indian deathlock.

Some headbutts get Orton out and an Angle Slam gets two. The Anaconda Vice (Punk’s arm trap choke) out of nowhere has Orton in trouble until he rolls on top to make Punk break it up. The elevated DDT looks to set up the Punt but the knee gives out. Punk blocks an RKO attempt and goes up top for a clothesline, only to dive right into the RKO for the pin at 14:40.

Rating: B-. Another good match here as the first hour and a half of this show have been on a roll. Punk losing here was a surprise but it gave us the sweet RKO out of nowhere for the year. Orton was starting to get into a weird place as he was the upper midcarder on call for whatever you needed him to do. Punk would be back later in the year though so he didn’t have a lot to be worried about.

Gene Okerlund is in the back with Rock and they meet John Cena’s #1 fan: Pee Wee Herman. Rock recruits him to be a man and the payoff is Gene in Cena gear. This really isn’t funny.

No Hall of Fame video this year as they just come out. The Class of 2011 includes Abdullah the Butcher (legendary hardcore wrestler), Sunny (never likely to be mentioned again in WWE after basically going crazy), the Road Warriors (long overdue), Drew Carey (he was in the 2001 Royal Rumble), Bullet Bob Armstrong (famous Georgia wrestler), Jim Duggan (with a bowtie on the 2×4) and Shawn Michaels as the headliner, getting his own entrance.

Clip from this week’s Raw of Lawler beating up Cole’s trainer Jack Swagger. Lawler tried to go after Cole and got coffee thrown in his face.

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

Austin is guest referee and this is Lawler’s chance for revenge after Cole treated him like garbage for months, including costing him a Raw World Title shot. Booker T., Josh Matthews and JR will be on commentary. As he almost always did, Cole cuts off JR’s entrance to call Lawler and Ross old and fat. Swagger does his push-ups on the ramp entrance but Austin’s music and ATV cut him off.

Cole hides in the Cole Mine (his plastic box) and warms up until Austin rings the bell. Lawler takes out Swagger and Cole (showing off a lot of tattoos) immediately starts begging off. Cole offers a handshake through the box wall but Lawler doesn’t let go. Instead he pulls Cole’s head against the wall over and over before climbing in to pull Cole out (after a beating inside the box of course).

Lawler rams Cole head first into his public speaking platform (for official announcements from the anonymous Raw General Manager). Swagger gets in a cheap shot and puts on the ankle lock. Austin doesn’t see it but he counts even slower than Bruce Hart did last year. Cole bends the ankle around the bottom rope and does a very slow motion Vader Bomb from the middle rope for two. With Lawler in trouble, Cole pulls down the strap and puts on the Ancole (yes Ancole) lock.

Lawler gets out and stomps Cole down in the corner as Austin doesn’t seem interested in intervening. Swagger throws in a towel but Austin throws it back. That’s not cool with Swagger so he gets a Stunner for his troubles. Cole slaps Austin and eats a BIG right hand from Lawler, who easily pounds Cole down. The middle rope fist drop (with the real strap lowering) gets two as Lawler pulls him up. The ankle lock makes Cole tap (Austin: “DO……..YOU…….QUIT?”) at 13:45.

Rating: D. The match was bad for the most part and Cole got in WAY too much offense but the whole thing had to end with Lawler beating him definitively. I know they can’t use the piledriver but at least we got something good enough. Maybe this shuts Cole up for the night if nothing else.

Post match a lot of beer is consumed (not by Lawler, a noted non-drinker) and Booker gets in the ring for a Spinarooni for absolutely no apparent reason. Austin gives him a Stunner for coming in uninvited. Serves that rude Booker right. The celebration continues…..and we get an e-mail from the GM, saying that the decision is reversed due to Austin overstepping his bounds so Cole wins.

I know a lot of this show is poorly remembered and this is the biggest reason why. The first two hours of this show were breezing by and then this happened. You could feel the air going out of the stadium and that’s the last thing you want to do at any point and especially halfway through.

There was no logical reason for Lawler to lose here. Cole had been built up for months and was finally going to get what was coming to him. We had the moment and then he loses to keep this whole thing going for two more months, until Lawler beat Cole in a match no one remembers. This killed what the show had going and it’s going to take a miracle to recover.

Austin Stuns Matthews for making the announcement.

Wrestlemania week video.

We recap Undertaker vs. HHH which is really just the fallout from Shawn’s retirement and HHH trying to do what his best friend couldn’t. Both guys talked about how big this was but somehow avoided talking about their first Wrestlemania match. This is another match that really doesn’t need a big explanation.

JR and King are doing commentary now.

HHH vs. Undertaker

No holds barred. HHH comes out to Metallica’s For Whom the Bell Tolls with a phalanx of soldiers and battle armor. Undertaker doesn’t quite one up him with Johnny Cash’s Ain’t No Grave but it’s close. HHH punches him into the corner to start so Undertaker throws him over the top and out to the floor. A whip into the steps has HHH in early trouble and it’s already time to load up the Spanish announcers’ table, only to have HHH spear him through the Cole Mine.

That only makes Undertaker do the sit up and power glare, followed by a jumping clothesline back inside. Old School is broken up though and it’s time to load up the announcers’ table. The chokeslam and Pedigree are broken up, the latter with a backdrop to send HHH crashing back to the floor. Dueling chants of 19-0 and 18-1 are quickly broken up by the return of the Taker Dive and both guys are down on the floor.

It’s Undertaker up first and he sets up the steps in front of the Spanish announcers’ table, only to charge into a spinebuster through it instead. Back in and Undertaker grabs a quick chokeslam for two. The Last Ride and Pedigree are both countered, followed by Undertaker charging into a spinebuster for two. This has been a war with nothing but big bombs so far. Undertaker kicks a chair away, only to walk into a Pedigree for two.

The Last Ride and Tombstone (complete with tongue out) both get two and now it’s serious. A DDT on the chair drops Undertaker and a second Pedigree is good for another near fall. The third Pedigree gets the same so HHH massacres him with the chair, including a big shot to the head. For some reason HHH doesn’t cover so Undertaker gets up. HHH: “JUST DIE!” Undertaker grabs him by the throat but there’s nothing behind it and HHH easily shoves him away.

HHH uses a Tombstone for two and people act like it’s some huge deal. This never worked for me as I’ve seen people use that on Undertaker for years and save for Kane, IT HAS NEVER WORKED ONCE! Why is this supposed to be some big, huge deal? HHH goes to get the sledgehammer but walks into Hell’s Gate and finally taps after a ridiculous minute and forty eight seconds to give Undertaker the win at 28:54.

Rating: A-. It’s really good but the last five minutes or so where they tried to turn it into theater took a lot of it down. If HHH wanted to end him that badly, why didn’t he just cover? That and the big Tombstone spot really hurt it as it stopped making sense. This was treated as one of the best matches of all time and it’s just not at that level, especially with Punk vs. Cena coming later in the year.

That’s not to say this wasn’t an awesome match because it certainly was. These guys were just hammering each other out there and it made for some really entertaining spots. The problem for me though was I never bought the Streak as being in jeopardy. I felt that with Shawn at times but it never came here. If you don’t have that drama, you’re missing a little something. It’s a step beneath both Shawn matches, but not a long step.

19-0 flashes on the screen and both guys are done. HHH slowly gets up as the trainer comes in to check on Undertaker (thankfully in silence). Undertaker gets out of the ring and falls on his face, eventually needing to be carted up the ramp.

Wrestlemania XXVII is in Miami.

Dolph Ziggler/Laycool vs. John Morrison/Trish Stratus/Snooki

Snooki is from Jersey Shore, a fad which has thankfully died down. Vickie Guerrero introduces Laycool because she’s still around. The bad guys jump our heroes from behind so Snooki slaps Dolph. McCool and Trish get us going and Trish takes over with chops, including one with Snooki licking her hand for good luck. An early Faithbreaker attempt is countered with a facebuster and a big Chick Kick gets two. The guys come in and Morrison knocks Ziggler to the floor for Starship Pain (split legged corkscrew moonsault). Snooki comes in with a handspring elbow into the corner followed by a splash to pin McCool at 4:16.

Rating: D. This was your lame celebrity match of the year but at least they kept it short and didn’t do anything too bad. They didn’t try to do anything too complicated or big here, even though the show really didn’t need anything else packed into this. Trish hadn’t lost a step either.

The new attendance record is announced. Notice that they said for any entertainment event, which excludes football.

We see someone watching videos jumping back and forth between wrestling legends and Miz on the Real World and his rise up the WWE card from joke to World Champion. The song playing talks about how someone isn’t stopping even if everyone hates him. This is really, really good stuff and a great middle finger to all of Miz’s detractors. The problem for Miz is the shadow of the Rock over this entire thing which no one was going to be able to shake. Cena won an Elimination Chamber to earn this shot.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Cena

Cena is challenging. Miz and his crony Alex Riley walk through balloons spelling out “AWESOME!”. Cena’s big entrance involves a gospel choir and a man saying a prayer talking about how Cena is here to do good work and that he wished he had more than one life to do it. Cena might actually be booed louder than Miz. Feeling out process to start with Cena getting dropped off a shoulder but coming back with a hiptoss.

Miz takes over in the corner and whips Cena hard across the ring, setting up his running clothesline for two. A gutwrench suplex gets the same for Cena as the crowd is just silent. Miz misses the second running corner clothesline and takes the top rope Fameasser for two. The champ slowly stomps him down and a baseball slide sends Cena out to the floor. Back in and a knee lift gets two as Cena has shown no fire so far.

Cena fights back with some of his normal stuff including the Shuffle but the AA is countered into a low DDT for two more. Miz goes over and rips off a turnbuckle pad but we’re not ready for that yet. Instead Miz has to counter another AA so Cena takes him down into the STF, sending Miz crawling for the ropes. Back up and Miz sends him into the buckle, setting up the Skull Crushing Finale (full nelson faceplant) for two.

There goes the referee (of course) and Cena hits the AA (to silence, as the fans aren’t that stupid) for no count. Riley sneaks in with a metal briefcase shot to the face for two and now the fans are waking up. Now it’s Miz trying his own briefcase shot but it hits Riley by mistake, followed by one of the biggest AA’s of all time for a very close two (and the fans applaud). Miz heads outside so Cena spears him over the barricade (legitimately giving Miz a concussion)…..and that’s a double countout at 14:43.

Rating: D-. The last few minutes got better but this was AWFUL otherwise as the fans were sitting there in silence. Miz had a great build to this match but that didn’t mean he was ready for the main event of Wrestlemania. Also, A DOUBLE COUNTOUT? That’s dull on Raw and they try it here?

Never mind maybe because here’s the Rock. Before he can say anything, we get an e-mail from the GM. Rock reads the message but decides it doesn’t matter what the GM thinks. Wrestlemania isn’t ending like this so let’s keep going with No DQ. The bell rings and Cena takes a Rock Bottom, giving Miz the pin to retain about 40 seconds after the restart.

Miz goes after Rock for no logical reason so Rock lays him out and drops the People’s Elbow. A lot of posing and four minutes of highlights end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. It’s amazing how much two matches can destroy an otherwise solid show but that main event and the Lawler decision being reversed crushed this thing into the ground. Aside from those two matches, this is actually a heck of a show with nothing really bad (aside from the mixed tag which was kept short). Those two bad matches are devastating though and the ending left a REALLY bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, which I can easily understand.

The other major issue is the Rock, who loomed over the entire thing. That opening monologue was something a 16 year old could have written and after the thing with Austin, he pretty much disappeared. The ending sets up more down the road, but that doesn’t make for a good way to close out the show. It’s not the worst show ever but those two holes are way too much to overcome.

Ratings Comparison

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+

2013 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: C+

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B

Corre vs. Kane/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston/Big Show

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B-

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D

Undertaker vs. HHH

Original: B

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: A-

Snooki/Trish Stratus/John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler/Laycool

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

Miz vs. John Cena

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D-

Overall Rating

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: C-

That HHH vs. Undertaker match really is great.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/04/03/wrestlemania-27-not-sure-on-this-one/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/05/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xxvii-rocky-cant-save-this-one/

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

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