There’s a lot of data here.First up is the always important PPV data:

WrestleMania 29 – 1,039,000 buys

Extreme Rules – 231,000 buys

Payback – 186,000 buys

These numbers are all slightly down a bit from last year, but Wrestlemania was more expensive this year and there were more HD buys which make up the difference.  Overall the quarter is down from last year, but there was a fourth PPV in the second quarter last year as well which explains the loss.

Television revenue, another huge money market for the company, was up $5.6 million (17%) from last year due to the extra hour of Raw and Main Event.

Live event/merchandise revenue were up as well.

Digital media (WWE.com) was up 27%.

Even WWE Studios made a profit.

All in all, this is an excellent report for WWE as the company continues to rake in money hand over fist.

At least in North America.  According to Meltzer, it had 750,000 North American buys, putting it slightly ahead of last year’s show.  It also made approximately $5 million more than last year.

WWE really is dying with Cena on top though.  No one would EVER pay to see him in the main event of Wrestlemania in a match where it was pretty obvious he was winning the title.

I’m rather surprised but also rather pleased with these results so far.

Smackdown
Date: April 5, 2013
Location: Verizon Center, Washington D.C.
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Jerry Lawler

This is the very final show before Wrestlemania and therefore there isn’t likely to be much going on in the ring. Expect to see a lot of buildup for Sunday which makes sense given that the whole show is already set in stone unless they add in a battle royal or something. This isn’t likely going to be much but it’s the price you pay to get to Wrestlemania. Let’s get to it.

Ryback vs. Primo/Epico

The cousins have new music. We cut to Cole and JBL at Axxess to talk about how awesome things are there. Primo starts and is quickly powerslammed. Ryback pulls Epico in and throws him into the corner before hitting a gorilla press slam. Back to Primo for a nice springboard dropkick. Epico comes in for a chinlock but gets caught in the Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder (that’s the real name) and it’s back to Primo. A double spear puts the cousins down and the double Shell Shock gets the pin at 3:15.

Rating: D+. What do you want here? This was exactly what it was supposed to be: a quick squash to make Ryback look strong going into the showdown on Sunday. Ryback needs the win on Sunday a lot more than Henry does as he hasn’t won a big match since before the Cell loss in the fall.

We look at some more Axxess stuff like Mr. McMahon’s office before looking at the Wrestlemania auction for Hurricane Sandy relief.

Video on Lesnar vs. HHH.

We get a video on Hall of Fame inductee Bruno Sammartino.

Video on Fandango and the pronunciation of his name. This transitions into a recap of Fandango attacking Jericho on Raw.

Video on this history of the Shield. This transitions into the end of last week’s show with Shield being beaten down.

Here are Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls, tonight as played by the Bellas (complete with some extra padding in the shorts and the Rhodes Scholars dancing while eating some cookies. Daniem Sandow in a Brodus hat and dancing is too much. Cody has a bald wig with the Japanese characters thrown in. The dog and pony show ends on Sunday. This brings out the real Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls for the ring clearing brawl.

Video on the Wrestlemania press conference.

Video on Punk vs. Undertaker.

JBL and Cole talk about the exhibit where you can climb a ladder to get the MITB case. JBL to Cole: “You have the athletic ability of an Oklahoma chimpanzee.”

Donald Trump Hall of Fame video.

We get a main event preview, which means we see both Rock and Cena’s promos from Raw.

Del Rio says it’s a good thing that he’s at Axxess and not at Smackdown tonight, because Swagger would be suffering. He’ll be suffering on Sunday as well and America is made up of a bunch of cultures coming together.

Jack Swagger vs. Kofi Kingston

Feeling out process to start with Swagger grabbing a top wristlock and Kofi unsuccessfully trying to flip out of it. Kofi comes back with his double leapfrogs and a back elbow before knocking Swagger to the floor. We take a break and come back with Swagger putting on a double chickenwing. Kofi fights up but a sunset flip attempt is blocked.

Instead Kofi takes Jack down with a monkey flip, only to be awkwardly sent into the corner for the Vader Bomb. Kofi gets the feet up though and hits a top rope cross body for two. An attempt at a second is caught in mid air but Kofi escapes the gutwrench powerbomb. Kofi’s SOS gets two but a Colter distraction lets Swagger hook the Patriot Lock for the submission at 9:40.

Rating: C. This was fine but with less than ten minutes and about three of those spent on a commercial, there was only so much they were going to be able to do. That being said, this is the highest profile exposure Swagger and the title match have had since the title match was announced for Wrestlemania. Not bad here but it was just there.

Overall Rating: D+. That rating could be pretty much anything tonight because it’s basically just grading a two hour infomercial. This is one of those shows you have to sit through once a year and while it’s unpleasant, it’s just one time and it means there’s nothing left to sit through before Wrestlemania. The matches were just there to say we had wrestling tonight and again, that’s what you have to expect.

Results

Ryback b. Epico/Primo – Double Shell Shock

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston – Patriot Lock

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon at:

I’ll be on the Mouth of the South Shore radio show again tonight for about an hour starting at 10:30 PM EST, talking about the new book and making Wrestlemania predictions.  Check it out here and call in if you want to ask me something:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fanvsfannetwork/2013/04/04/mouth-of-the-south-shore-radio-show

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 1, 2013
Location: Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s finally the go home show for Wrestlemania which means we’re likely in for a slow evening tonight. These shows tend to be mainly talking with little action, as most of the wrestlers don’t want to risk injuries before the biggest night of the year. These shows don’t tend to do much, but to be fair most of the show on Sunday is already set in stone. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about the three main events for the PPV and how all six guys will be around tonight to hype up Wrestlemania.

Here’s Cena to open the show. As the crowd is split, Cena talks about how this is a house divided. Just like in Washington DC politics, we have Cenacrats and Rockpublicans here tonight. Cena says that a year ago he would have come out here and made a stupid joke while Rock would have thrown Cena’s shirt in a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. This time the match is serious because Rock has done everything he’s ever set out to do. Therefore, Cena winning is impossible right? Just like Cena winning the Rumble and Cena beating Punk to go to Wrestlemania were impossible tasks right?

This Sunday is going to be different because Rock has already stuck his foot in his mouth. Cena had to put up with Rock establishing a new era in the WWE, but on Sunday in Rock’s first defense he’s losing his own era. However, Cena will continue the People’s Era after the mighty Rock experiences failure. Cena isn’t going to replace the WWE Championship when he wins it because he wants to hold it as a symbol. The fans chant boring for some reason. Cena says he’s going to get the title back and the champ will be here.

We stop for Lawler to make a Tout about who is going to win the match between Rock and Cena on Sunday. Lawler picks Rock.

3MB vs. Randy Orton/Sheamus/Big Show

Orton and Slater start things off with Sheamus quickly coming in to work on Heath as well. Off to McIntyre who gets punched in the face and powerslammed down for no cover. 3MB finally uses their numbers to take Sheamus down in the corner but Slater walks into the Irish Curse. Hot tag brings in Show as everything breaks down. The brogue Kick puts Drew down and the WMD ends Mahal at 3:05.

Rating: C-. Total squash here which was what the entire idea was. The problem with this team is Shield is the only group that could give them a battle. Seeing them beat up 3MB isn’t going to do much good, but at least the match was short and we likely won’t have to see this again until Wrestlemania.

Shield comes down the aisle but stops halfway through. Ambrose congratulates them for such a big win. Rollins says Orton and company are only convincing themselves that they’re on the same page. Justice never lies and Shield knows the truth. That truth is that they’re not looking at a team but the people don’t believe in them. Once Sunday is over, the world will believe in the Shield.

Colter and Swagger were in Washington D.C. earlier today to talk about how America was broken. Swagger is the man to fix this because he’ll take care of the illegal immigrants and get them back to where they came from. He’ll start that at Wrestlemania by breaking the champion’s ankle as well as his spirit.

Del Rio says that America is a land of opportunity and Swagger has the right to free speech. If Del Rio doesn’t like what Swagger is saying, he can do something about it. Tonight it’s Del Rio vs. Colter and Zeb is a pinata with a mustache.

Daniel Bryan vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler grabs an armbar to start as AJ looks like her usual psycho self. Bryan fights back and catches Ziggler in a kind of spinebuster to send him into the corner. Bryan fires off some kicks to a kneeling Dolph and does his moonsault out of the corner. A clothesline puts Ziggler down but he makes the ropes before the NO Lock. Ziggler goes after the knee to take over before sending Bryan into the corner. A charge misses though and Bryan puts Ziggler in an old school Tarantula but has to stop to stare at Langston. Ziggler hits a quick Fameasser for two and we take a break.

Back with Bryan kicking Ziggler in the face out of the corner before firing off some NO kicks to Ziggler’s shoulder and chest. Dolph misses a charge in the corner and Bryan fires off more kicks. A hard kick to the head looks to set up a Swan Dive but Bryan only hits mat. Both guys try cross bodies and crash to the mat as AJ starts skipping around Kane. The distraction lets Langston run over Kane and that distraction lets Ziggler roll up Bryan for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C+. Semi-botched ending aside (Bryan’s shoulder looked to be up) this was a hard hitting match. The problem is this doesn’t exactly make me want to see the match on Sunday. Langston looked good but it would be nice to see him in a match, even a squash, before Sunday. This was good for what it was but it didn’t accomplish much.

Post match Langston lays out the tag champions.

Here’s Shawn Michaels who says you can’t have Raw without him. Shawn lists off the major matches before getting around to HHH vs. Brock. He has some doubts about something but here’s HHH to interrupt. HHH says he knows what he’s doing but Shawn says he doesn’t think so. Shawn thinks the situations the two of them in were very different.

When Shawn’s career was on the line, Shawn looked at someone he had great respect for and that respect was mutual. When Shawn lost, he was heartbroken but Undertaker was just as heartbroken. Undertaker never came out here and bragged because Taker cares about Shawn that much. Brock on the other hand respects no one and HHH doesn’t respect him either.

Lesnar is here for the money, but the two of them are here for love of the sport. HHH loves it more than Shawn though because it’s HHH’s life. HHH says Shawn can’t talk him out of it, but that’s not Michaels’ point. Shawn is here to tell HHH that he HAS to do this. He’s going to be in HHH’s corner but before they can do the catchphrase, here are Brock and Heyman. Heyman says Brock has two words for HHH but doesn’t say what they are yet.

HHH is going to have to live with the disappointment of the McMahons because he won’t be able to fight Vince’s battles anymore. He’s used to disappointing his wife and he’s going to disappoint Shawn too. Brock might break Shawn’s arm again because that’s what Lesnar does. HHH should have walked away like Shawn did because now he’s going to have to crawl away. Lesnar has forced HHH to commit professional suicide.

Wade Barrett vs. Zack Ryder

Miz is on commentary and will meet Barrett for the title on the preshow. Barrett kicks him in the ribs to start and gets two off a fast suplex. Ryder goes up top but is pulled down for another two count and Wade drops an elbow. A big boot puts Ryder on the floor but Barrett stops to jaw with Miz. Back in and Ryder hits a flapjack and some hard forearms to the head. The Broski Boot gets two but Barrett blocks the knees in the corner. The Bull Hammer ends Ryder at 3:46.

Rating: C-. Total squash here and a dull one for the most part. Barrett winning is nice but I’m glad the title match is going to be on the preshow as it’s the least interesting match in a long time. Nothing to see here for the most part as it was just there to push the idea of Miz causing problems for Barrett….which he didn’t do.

Santino tells Vickie and Brad Maddox that Vince is here and he’s MAD. Oh and April Fool’s. Santino gets a match as punishment.

Santino Marella vs. Mark Henry

Santino fires off some kicks and goes right for the Cobra, only to be run over by Henry. World’s Strongest Slam and we’re done in 52 seconds.

Post match here’s Ryback but Henry says hang on a second. Henry says that nearly breaking a bench press record doesn’t give Ryback the right to intimidate Henry. Besides, they have a no contact clause. Tonight, all Henry is going to do is smile. Ryback responds by picking up Santino and ramming him into Henry. Mark is knocked to the floor, so Ryback picks Santino up and throws him onto Henry.

Punk says he doesn’t care if he’s disrespecting the memory of Paul Bearer. He’s trying to get inside Undertaker’s head so he can win. Punk says that on Sunday, the only thing people are going to remember is Undertaker losing.

Zeb Colter vs. Alberto Del Rio

Swagger goes after Ricardo and the distraction lets Colter hit Del Rio in the back with a crutch for the DQ at 50 seconds.

Post match Swagger takes out the champion’s knee and beats on him with the crutch.

Here’s Rock with something to say. Rock says he’s here because of the connection between himself and the fans. He’s here to go to Wrestlemania and take it to John Cena before beating him all over Wrestlemania. Rock says he and Cena could change the world if the people will it. He gets on a bizarre tangent about being President someday and that he’s glad he can count on all of the fans’ votes.

When he’s inaugurated, he’ll start his speed by saying FINALLY he’s come back to Washington D.C. On Sunday, Cena’s time is never and it’s not about passing the torch, because the only way that happens is if Rock lights the belt on fire and puts it inside Cena. On Sunday, Cena is facing both Rock and the MILLIONS, if you smell what he’s cooking.

Chris Jericho vs. Antonio Cesaro

Cesaro throws him around to start but walks into a dropkick for two. A quick chinlock by the US Champion (non-title here of course) is broken up and Jericho loads up a top rope rana for two. Cue Fandango as we take a break. Back with Cesaro holding a cravate as Fandango is scoring Jericho’s moves. Cesaro pounds away for a few two counts and sends Jericho out to the floor before cranking on his neck some more. Antonio yodels a bit before charging into Jericho in the corner to pound away.

Jericho comes back with a top rope ax handle (4 from Fandango) and the bulldog to set up the Lionsault (3). Cesaro counters the Walls in a SWEET spin out into the gutwrench suplex for two. Jericho chops him down and goes up for a cross body (4) but he dropkicks Fandango down, allowing Cesaro to roll Chris up for two. Not that it matters as Jericho hooks the Walls for the tap out at 12:47.

Rating: C. My but this was disappointing. At the end of the day, Cesaro has been depushed harder than anyone I can remember since Zack Ryder and for no apparent reason other than the boredom of the writers. He’s a total jobber at this point and is US Champion for no apparent reason. Jericho better put Fandango over STRONG on Sunday.

Fandango destroys Jericho post match and hits two guillotine legdrops for good measure.

Stephanie McMahon is inducting Trish Stratus into the Hall of Fame.

We get some fan Touts on who wins between Rock vs. Cena.

Bella Twins vs. Funkadactyls

Naomi and we’ll say Brie start things off with Naomi taking the Bella down with the Rear View. I’ll let you figure out what she did there. Off to Nikki to crank on Naomi’s arm with an armbar as Tensai and Brodus play cheerleader. Naomi botches a sunset flip and it’s back to the armbar. She fights back and it’s off to Cameron for a bouncing headscissors on I think Brie. A legdrop hits Brie and a good DDT gets no count as Nikki makes the save. Everything breaks down and Nikki rolls through a Cameron cross body for the Bellas win at 4:46.

Rating: D+. The Bellas are intense and looked good in their tiny outfits, but at the end of the day there’s nothing to be seen in the ring. Cameron was especially bad and brought the athletic Naomi down. The eight person tag on Sunday should be ok but other than that there isn’t much to be seen here.

Here’s Undertaker for his “verbal evisceration” of CM Punk. Punk’s title reign lasted over 400 days but his punishment is going to last for eternity. The disrespect for Paul Bearer will cause Punk to pay the ultimate price. This brings out druids with torches but Undertaker looks surprised to see them. We hear Bearer’s OH YEEEEEES and here’s Heyman in a Bearer disguise.

Taker has had enough and goes up the ramp, only to be stopped by….nothing at all. Instead he beats up the druids to find Punk but picks the wrong one. Punk hits him in the ribs with the Urn and a few shots to the back for good measure. Punk yells that it’s over and that it’s going to be 20-1. With Undertaker down, Punk POURS THE ASHES ONTO UNDERTAKER.

Overall Rating: C. Right in the middle is perfect for this show. It was kind of entertaining and didn’t drag for the most part, but the show didn’t make me want to watch Wrestlemania any more or any less than I already wanted to. It enforced the matches well enough but didn’t do anything to excite me. Therefore, it’s right in the middle.

Results

Randy Orton/Sheamus/Big Show b. 3MB – WMD to Mahal

Dolph Ziggler b. Daniel Bryan – Rollup

Wade Barrett b. Zack Ryder – Bull Hammer

Mark Henry b. Santino Marella – World’s Strongest Slam

Alberto Del Rio b. Zeb Colter via DQ when Colter used a crutch

Chris Jericho b. Antonio Cesaro – Walls of Jericho

Bella Twins b. Funkadactyls – Rollup to Cameron

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of the WWE Championship from Amazon at:

Monday Night Raw
Date: March 25, 2013
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

It’s hard to believe that we’ve got less than two weeks before Wrestlemania. Pretty much everything is set and for the first time in weeks tonight, the WWE Champion is here to hype up the title match against Cena. Other than that we aren’t likely to get anything of note because the entire card is either set or obvious at this point. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of all of the major feuds for Wrestlemania.

Here are Punk and Heyman to open the show. Punk throws the urn in the air before setting it on the mat. He talks about Undertaker being the mystical being that Undertaker is built up as and how the urn gives Undertaker his powers. Apparently “they” say it all the time. Who are they actually? Punk says they are irrelevant and he’s the only one that matters. Last year, Undertaker hit 20-0 and the match had the perfect ending. Instead of skipping off with HHH and HBK, Undertaker came out here and pointed at Punk’s Wrestlemania sign.

The fans chant for ECW and Punk says “speaking of dead things.” Punk drops the urn because it means nothing to him, just like the Undertaker and his Streak. He’s the 1 in 20-1 and at Wrestlemania, the Streak will Rest in Peace. There go the lights and as they come back up, Undertaker is in the ring and pounding away on Punk. Heyman runs off with the urn as Punk escapes.

Fandango omes out for a match but before he can have an opponent announced, Jericho runs out and beats down Fandango with a vengeance. Fandango and his dancing chick run away and here’s Dolph Ziggler instead. Apparently this was a match for later but instead it’s happening now.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho takes him down to the match before pounding away at Ziggler’s head. A quick attempt at the Walls are countered but Dolph charges into an elbow in the corner. Jericho hits a top rope cross body for two and we take a break. Back with Jericho in a chinlock before coming back with a rollup for two. Dolph dropkicks him down for two of his own and hooks an abdominal stretch on the Canadian. Chris fights back and hits a top rope ax handle and the bulldog, but has to take out Langston with a springboard dropkick. A DDT gets two for Dolph but a Fameasser attempt is countered into the Walls for the tap at 5:53.

Rating: C+. Good stuff here with Jericho winning, although the booking continues to be stupid. Ziggler gets off a losing streak to go on a winning streak for the last few weeks, only to be jobbed out to Jericho to set up Fandango vs. Jericho. Now, Kofi loses, Ziggler loses, and Jericho is about to be beaten down by Fandango so Jericho looks weak. That’s WWE’s booking issues in a nutshell. With a roster as deep as they have, there is no reason to have Ziggler need to do this job. None.

Post match Langston hits the Big Ending on Jericho and here’s Fandango for another beating on Jericho.

We get a clip from Smackdown with Sheamus and Big Show arguing after beating 3MB, only to band together to glare at Shield. Sheamus is about to say something about that incident but Shield beats him down. Orton tries to make the save with a chair but gets beaten down as well. Big Show makes the real save.

Mark Henry vs. Usos

I believe that’s Jey starting things off but does it really matter? Henry throws him around but the Usos both hit superkicks to actually put him down. The Superfly Splash from Jimmy gets two but Henry sends Jey FLYING off the apron and into the barricade. A big clothesline on Jimmy and the World’s Strongest Slam ends Jimmy at 1:45.

Post match Jey gets a Slam of his own. Both guys are splashed too.

Antonio Cesaro vs. Alberto Del Rio

Ricardo is here on crutches and his ankle is in a cast. Feeling out process to start with Cesaro taking over via a European uppercut. Off to a cravate but Del Rio comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He loads up the low superkick but here’s Zeb Colter for a distraction. Cesaro gets in some shots but as Del Rio loads up a superplex, Swagger comes out and attacks Ricardo again. Del Rio chases after Swagger and beats him up in the crowd for the countout at 3:20. I’m not going to bother rating this as a good deal of the match was spent on the outside interference stuff.

Post match Del Rio beats up Cesaro despite the loss being his own fault.

HELL NO vs. Prime Time Players

Titus and Kane start with the masked man taking over almost immediately. Off to Bryan for some kicks in the corner and it’s back to Kane for more punishment of the Players. Here are Ziggler and Langston to distract Bryan and let the Players take over. Titus suplexes Darren onto Bryan for two and it’s off to a body vice by Young. Bryan fights up and brings in Kane for the side slam on Darren. Bryan takes out Titus with the running knee to the floor and the chokeslam ends Young at 4:37.

Rating: D+. Just a glorified squash here which didn’t do anything of note for anyone. It’s not like Langston and Ziggler did anything here other than make the match last a bit longer, so why should I want to see these teams fight now? Does anyone remember why they’re fighting in the first place? By the way that’s rhetorical. Don’t leave me comments explaining what started this because I remember it. My point is it wasn’t significant or memorable and WWE doesn’t ever remind it to us because they expect everyone to remember every single thing EVER.

Another example of this would be Lawler talking about washrags when Titus was in there. If you don’t remember that, you’re not alone. That was mentioned ONCE in a match back like last year, but Lawler brings it up whenever Titus is in there. If you didn’t see that ONE probably five minute tag match, you likely don’t get the joke. I barely remember it because it was a stupid discussion from that many months ago, but WWE brings it up like it went on for months and everyone knows it. That’s really stupid and annoying when they do it with such stupid stuff like that.

We recap HHH and Lesnar’s contract signing from last week.

Here’s HHH to talk about the match with Lesnar some more. If he loses at Wrestlemania it’s the end of his career. The thing is if you go to the ring thinking you’re going to lose, you’re already done because Lesnar is a destroyer. HHH has fought like his life and career depended on it every night for twenty years so these stipulations aren’t some coup for Heyman. It’s Lesnar that needs to fight like his career is on the line because that’s what he has to do. HHH isn’t coming to wrestle and he isn’t coming to fight. He’s coming to hurt Brock.

As HHH leaves, Wade Barrett interrupts him and stares HHH down. HHH kicks him low and keeps walking.

Wade Barrett vs. The Miz

Barrett is in agony here so Miz hits a quick atomic drop to mess with Barrett even more. The Figure Four is escaped as the champion (non-title here) bails to the floor. Back in and Miz hits a few more atomic drops but can’t hook the Skull Crushing Finale. Barrett pounds away as the announcers talk about movies. Off to a chinlock by the champion but Miz fights up and backdrops Wade out to the floor. An ax handle off the apron puts Wade down again and we take a break.

Back with Barrett pounding away at Miz in the ropes and kicking him out to the floor. Back in and Miz avoids a charge before firing off some left hands. The corner clothesline sets up the top rope ax handle for two but Barrett rolls out of the Finale. The Winds of Change get two for Barrett but Wasteland is countered. Miz dropkicks the knee out but the Figure Four is countered again. Barrett gets a rollup for two and a low kick to the head for the same. The Bull Hammer misses and Barrett crotches himself on the top rope after missing a big boot. Figure Four gets the tap out at 12:08.

Rating: C-. The match wasn’t bad and that’s a Wrestlemania match for you. No one cares about Barrett or the title, but it’s nice to see the match getting a spot on the biggest show of the year again. The Figure Four still doesn’t work for Miz, and I really didn’t need a match with the main focus being Barrett’s crotch, but the match wasn’t bad.

Bryan and Kane have a mini-argument about Kane’s mental stability before getting into a full argument about AJ. Kaitlyn pops up to say chill because she was the one screwed over by AJ. AJ is behind them as they argue. Kailtyn says AJ is a nutjob and AJ blasts her.

Shield vs. Great Khali/Zack Ryder/Justin Gabriel

Khali chops at Rollins to start but once Ryder comes in things fall apart. A middle rope dropkick misses Ambrose and the Shield takes over. Off to Gabriel vs. Reigns with Justin trying to speed things up. Ambrose gets a blind tag and clotheslines Gabriel’s head off. Dean puts on a surfboard hold as Rollins hits a top rope knee drop for the pin on Gabriel at 2:30.

Post match Khali tries to fight off the Shield but gets caught in the TripleBomb. Cue Sheamus, Orton and Big Show for the big brawl.

We recap Jericho and Fandango from earlier. Jericho is MAD and says he’s like a target now because of what he’s done over the years. He’s sporting a black eye here and apparently it’s Jericho vs. Fandango at Wrestlemania.

Brodus Clay/Tensai vs. Rhodes Scholars

Brodus and Sandow start things off but it’s quickly off to Tensai for some double teaming. Tensai misses a splash though and it’s off to Rhodes for an armbar. The not hot tag brings in Brodus who does his usual stuff like the throw and splash on Cody. The Bellas and Funkadactyls get in a brawl on the floor, allowing Rhodes to hit the Disaster Kick for the pin on Clay at 2:30.

Another video on G.I. Joe 2.

3MB vs. Ryback

Handicap match here with Slater starting for the band. A quick Thesz Press puts Heath down and there’s a splash for no cover. Off to Drew who is rammed into the corner for some hard shoulder blocks. After cleaning out the ring, Ryback is caught by a big boot from McIntyre to take over. Slater puts on a front facelock but Ryback easily throws him off. After the token beating from 3MB, Ryback fights back and throws Slater around a big. The double Shell Shock to Mahal and Slater are enough to pin Heath at 4:04.

Rating: D+. What do you expect here? Ryback did this for like a year and no one is surprised that he can do it again here, other than Cole and Lawler of course. Nothing to see here for the most part, but Ryback and Henry one upping each other with the destruction isn’t a bad idea.

Ryback and Henry have a weightlifting competition on Friday.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is inducting Sammartino into the Hall of Fame.

AJ Lee vs. Kaitlyn

Non-title here. Kaitlyn erupts on AJ to start and pounds her down, only to be slapped down by AJ. Kaitlyn will have none of that and hits a fireman’s carry gutbuster to send AJ to the outside. The spear misses AJ and hits the barricade, drawing a countout at 2:02.

We run down the Wrestlemania card.

It’s time for the final segment of the show: a Q&A panel with legends asking questions to Rock and Cena. Lawler is moderating and the panel is Booker T, Mick Foley, Dusty Rhodes and Bret Hart. Ric Flair was supposed to be part of this panel but health issues kept him out of the segment. Rock barely gets a reaction as this crowd is exhausted.

Foley gets to ask the first question and talks about losing the fall at Wrestlemania XX which was supposed to be Rock’s last match. He says that it was a relief that Cena lost the match because it wasn’t Rock’s Wrestlemania swan song. Foley’s question is to Cena: can he handle losing to Rock again? Cena says that he wins everything at once if he wins but losing is definitely an option as it was last year.

He brings up former Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb who was famous for getting deep into the playoffs but never winning a Super Bowl. The fans don’t like McNabb because it’s all about winning the big one. Cena is great but he needs that big win. Rock however can’t live with failure.

The champion responds by telling a familiar story about getting his mattress out of a dumpster. Then six months later he got his shot in the WWE but blew out his knee six months later. Then he worked even harder and came back, asking for a mic. Then Rock became the youngest WWE Champion ever and headlined Wrestlemania 15, right here in this very city. Cue FINALLY of course. Rock came into Philly with a Pat’s cheese steak in one hand and the WWE Title in the other….and Steve Austin beat him for the title. Rock came back as the hardest working man ever and the man that is beating Cena in thirteen days.

Bret (now with gray hair) says that both Rock and Cena are his friends but he didn’t like it last year when this became too close to Bret vs. Shawn. What changed? Rock says that it was two guys going at it for over 30 minutes and after Rock won, Cena took it like a man. Cena talks about calling Rock out years ago in an interview and then Rock proved it. After last year, Cena thought Rock was walking out but then Rock said he wanted to be WWE Champion and did just that.

Booker asks why Cena thinks he can win and John says it’s because he has to. Rock isn’t impressed and wants to know why Cena thinks that. Cena goes off by saying that Rock can’t beat him. Cena beat himself last year by making one bad decision. Every single week for ten years, Cena has come out to a mixed reaction but he’s walked through it. Only Rock has been able to get inside Cena’s head and after Cena survived everything Rock threw at him, Cena tried something stupid by trying the People’s Elbow and beat himself. John knows he’s better than Rock and says Rock knows it too.

Rock says he knows if Cena knew he had Rock beat, he would have beaten him. Cena threw everything he had at Rock and Rock kept kicking out. Rock talks about growing up idolizing Ric Flair who said to be the man you have to beat the man. Cena can’t beat the man, because he isn’t the man. John will never, and the Rock means never, beat the Rock.

Dusty likes them taking the gloves off and asks both guys what they want on April 7 (third time they’ve said the date of the show because the top guys know how to sell a show). Cena wants to win the big one and dominate the Rock. He’s going to prove that he’s better when Rock is looking up at the sky. Rock says he won’t be haunted by Cena and wants to fight right now. Cena says you can’t see me and gets shoved. AA is countered into a Rock Bottom and Rock stares at Cena to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The show wasn’t awful but say it with me: it dragged because it ran for three hours. It’s not terrible or anything but there’s nothing of note here until the ending which was more like what the world title feud was needing. The problem with the build at this point is that nothing is really exciting for whatever reason it may have. Cena vs. Rock will draw, but it would be nice to see the company actually try instead of just going on reputation alone.

Results

Chris Jericho b. Dolph Ziggler – Walls of Jericho

Mark Henry b. Usos – World’s Strongest Slam to Jimmy Uso

Antonio Cesaro b. Alberto Del Rio via countout

HELL NO b. Prime Time Players – Chokeslam to Young

Shield b. Great Khali/Justin Gabriel/Zack Ryder – Top rope knee drop to Gabriel

Rhodes Scholars b. Tensai/Brodus Clay – Disaster Kick to Clay

Ryback b. 3MB – Shell Shock to Slater

AJ Lee b. Kaitlyn via countout

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews

So apparently, Rock vs. Cena II is happening at Wrestlemania 29.  Naturally the general consensus is that this is a horrible idea and Punk HAS TO save it.  Let’s get this over with.1. John Cena vs. The Rock I was the biggest drawing match of all time.  It makes good business sense to try it again.

2. John Cena vs. The Rock has happened ONE TIME.  The way people are talking, you would think it was Sheamus vs. Ziggler or something that happens once a week.  It’s their second match ever, not their 19th.

3. The first match was pretty good to great.  My guess is the rematch will also produce an excellent match.

4. Punk has been defeated.  From a storytelling perspective, it makes little sense to include him.

5. Triple threats suck anyway.

This seems to be the general consensus about the match that is about as obvious as you could ask it to be.So at the Rumble, Cena won the right to fight for a world title at Wrestlemania.  As luck would have it, Rock won the WWE Title and will likely be defending it at Wrestlemania.  If you’re too dense to figure it out at this point, it’s pretty clear that Rock vs. Cena II is happening in New York at Wrestlemania 29.  However, every opinion I’ve read of it since then seems to be the same: people aren’t that thrilled with the prospect.

That’s about where I am on it too.  Now don’t get me wrong: the match is going to be solid as these two can, no joke intended, bring it.  The problem isn’t having the match be good.  It’s having the match feel huge.  Rock and Cena had a year to set up the previous match and by the end of it, I had to see it.  I didn’t care what happened or how good it was but I needed to see the match.  With two and a half months to go and nothing new other than the title being on the line, I don’t see how this is going to come off as something nearly as huge as last year.

Do I want to see it?  Eh…..yeah I guess.  If nothing else the promo work will be amazing as always.  However, that comes back to the same problem: we heard these two talk about each other over the course of 14 months already.  Basically this coming Wrestlemania feels like reheating the feast we had last year: it’s still good but it doesn’t taste like it did straight out of the oven.

Is anyone fired up at this idea?