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EditorialWrestlemania I-XXX Series (28/30)

Wrestlemania I-XXX Series (28/30)

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Daniel Bryan (c) (w/ AJ Lee) vs. Sheamus – World Heavyweight Championship

It feels like such a long time ago. I was a fan of Bryan Danielson, had seen his work as “The American Dragon” on the independent scene on The Wrestling Channel over here in the UK (sadly the channel was axed), and I was happy to see him turn up in WWE. But soon enough, I wasn’t happy with Bryan being a rookie on NXT. If you look at the statistics, Bryan worked more matches in his career than The Miz by a country mile, yet The Miz was his mentor?

Also, remember when Bryan was fired for choking someone out during the NXT angle? Remember when the fans chanted “DANIEL BRYAN!” despite knowing he was fired from the company? Now, I realize I’m going on a rant here, so bear with me, but surely the WWE realized how over he was? How can anyone sit there week in, week out, and NOT hear the fan support for Daniel Bryan? As WWE continued to ridicule Bryan and try to hold his popularity back , it ended up having the opposite effect.

The fans hated WWE for keeping one of the best wrestlers in the world in mediocrity. At the previous Wrestlemania, fans expressed their frustation with WWE for reducing their encounter to the dark match, so they were looking forward to seeing Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship, one year later on the main show. The fans expected to get their money’s worth, and when that didn’t happen, the outrage was enormous.

There were several problems with the feud. 1) Sheamus wasn’t being cheered as the babyface, and 2) Daniel Bryan, and sometimes AJ Lee, would get babyface reactions despite playing the heels. Again, the World title match was reduced to the opener, which I saw as a reduction in prestige; the World Championship had become as secondary as the IC and US titles. Even the WWE Championship was playing second fiddle to the main event.

The World Heavyweight Championship match began with fans chanting “Yes!”, with a large following of fans holding “Yes!” signs. The bell rang. AJ Lee got on the ring apron to give Bryan a good luck kiss. Bryan turned around, Sheamus hit the Brogue Kick .. 1-2-3. 18-second match. The End. New World Heavyweight Champion. There’s many reasons why WWE would book it this way, so here’s me trying to make sense of it.

1) They weren’t thinking, and assumed fans would cheer Sheamus, and love that he got revenge on Bryan by humiliating him. They were going for the quickest World title change record, but they botched it and the match went longer as planned.

2) They knew Sheamus was going to get booed, and they wanted to protect him. They realized Bryan’s heel character was becoming “cool”, so to extinguish his momentum, they made him look weak in his first Wrestlemania match.

3) Shock value. They knew that internet fans would be livid with the booking decision and would start a craze across social media. This would help awareness of the show, and possibly bring in some late viewers. Also, they knew Bryan was too popular as a heel, so they needed to get the belt off him and repackage. They also assumed AJ Lee would get good heat with Bryan fans.

It’s a tough one to call, but you cannot deny that this is just one of many examples of WWE directly (or indirectly) holding Bryan down. Eventually, they realized that by stacking the odds against him, and continuing to talk down to him, the bigger face reaction he would receive. Sadly, in 2012, they didn’t understand how popular Daniel Bryan would become. It’s easy in hindsight, but you can look back and see it as Bryan being a professional and doing his job. As always, Bryan was humble and amused by the fan reaction.

Randy Orton vs. Kane

Hmm. Yeah, Randy Orton vs. Kane. Have they ever had a great match together? Even after this one? I can’t remember. The match was strange, because Kane had “returned” with a new mask, and he was strong again. Orton was going through a severe rough patch, which to me was the best thing ever; I was tired of seeing the same old crap.

The match trundled on for ten minutes, and don’t get me wrong, it was a decent match, better than the previous, but I just kept feeling like it should have opened the show. The end was the surprising part, because I forgot it was Kane who won with a super Chokeslam from the turnbuckle. Randy Orton losing the second match of the show in ten minutes? Someone was in the WWE dog house.

The next segment was comical. At first it was just Santino and Foley talking about crabs with some dude from the Deadliest Catch. And then it got a little too silly with Foley pretending to be a pirate, just because. In the end, they were using Mr. Socko, The Cobra, and elbow drops (from the Deadliest Catch dude) to beat up on their crab dinners. Ron Simmons walked in ………………. (see below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

………. DAMN! (Thanks Ron, saved it again)

Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes (c) – Intercontinental Championship

Gah. You know what I hate? Telegraphing. For those who don’t know what telegraphing means, it’s basically spoilers without putting the spoilers in front of you. Sometimes subtle, sometimes obvious to anyone with a few brain cells, the video package of Big Show’s hilariously bad Wrestlemania record told everyone who was going to win before Show made his entrance.

Poor Cody Rhodes, I mean, he’s young, in his prime, and yet he’s forced to job out to Big Slow because he’s looking for his Wrestlemania moment .. boo hoo. Oh yeah, the match itself. Cody never looked like he would beat Show. He tried working on his knee, and eventually got him down to his knees to set up the Disaster Kick, but no .. Show attempted the spear in mid-air .. botched, and it ended up looking like a low blow. Show ended the farce with his “Weapon of Mass Destruction”, straight forward punch to the face. Does anyone else HATE that finisher as much as I do?

The positive to come out of it was Show’s reaction. He looked legitimately stoked to get his Wrestlemania moment. Not only did he win the IC Championship, he became a Grand Slam Champion as well (something the commentators didn’t care to mention), all the while doing it in front of his wife, who he embraced afterwards with a kiss. It felt more like a long-time service award for his continued loyalty to WWE.

Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres

At this point of the show I was like .. no, just end this before it begins and put a main event caliber match on; preferably before I fall asleep. Oh man, it’s one of those moments where I want to get angry and swear excessively. Where do I start? There’s too much wrong doing from the booking alone. Let me make an aggressive list of my dislikes for your amusement.

1) Beth Phoenix was the freakin’ Divas Champion and she was reduced to being PINNED by a little twinky celebrity like Maria Menounos. If that doesn’t irk you, the rest of my points will.

2) Despite already being shown with the babyface team of Team Teddy, Eve was playing the heel. Keep going.

3) Maria Menounos had only wrestled twice before in tag team matches, yet was allowed a match at Wrestlemania above other Divas who were cleared to wrestle. Maria worked the match with two cracked ribs which she suffered during Dancing With The Stars practice.

4) Just like previous matches, the crowd were deadly silent. They only perked up when Beth Phoenix got the hot tag.

5) Kelly Kelly still didn’t know how to run the ropes. She did her swinging headscissors thing, followed by a somersault senton from the top turnbuckle. The biggest surprise of the match,

The only saving grace of the match was Beth, otherwise it would have been a total disaster. Still, it came pretty close to one. Afterwards, Maria and Kelly reluctantly celebrated in the ring.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H – Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee

Business is about to pick up! Jim Ross was announced as the special guest commentator. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to call it, all the while saying it in Michael Cole’s face. Felt some underlying tension there.

What I couldn’t understand about this was .. why was it an “End of an Era”? It’s not like it was their last match. Unless they meant it was the end of Undertaker vs. “someone from the Attitude Era”? That’s the only thing I can think of.

Shawn Michaels made his entrance with lots of energy; he certainly had not slowed in retirement. Triple H had a smaller entrance than usual, but still included a King of Kings theme. Undertaker’s was grand, as he adopted the old “spiky” Ministry look, a shaven head, and the old piercing stare.

The Hell in a Cell was lowered and got its own entrance music; Memory Remains by Metallica. I can’t recall an inanimate object getting its own theme. The cell was lowered, and it’s safe to say the show was saved.

Like my previous articles, I’ve decided to post the match in a video, and I’ll do so again. I’m interested to hear your opinions on this, because it seems you either loved it, or you hated it. You might want to watch the match before you read further. Let me try and break it down in to positives and negatives.

Positives – The story-telling. The streak had become so important HBK didn’t want to screw Undertaker over, even for his friend. He was put in a position to end the streak, or make the match “pure”, as The Undertaker demanded (with consequences).

The toughness. If you consider it a continuation of their previous encounter at Wrestlemania XXVII, it makes more sense. The Undertaker was sidelined for a full year after his previous “victory” over Triple H, and this time he wanted to be the guy walking out. HHH put Taker through more punishment than their previous encounter, yet the “super powers” of The Undertaker continued to keep the streak alive.

HBK. He was in the middle of it, and expressed his emotions clearly. He gave Taker the Sweet Chin Music after a Hell’s Gate, and soon regretted the decision. More so, because he allowed his old temperament to get the better of him, and he didn’t want to disrespect Taker and cost him the streak in an act of revenge. The fans were reacting to HBK’s reactions.

Negatives – The cell. What’s the point in having it if it’s not going to be used? I think the only time the cell was used was to stop The Undertaker’s weapons from flying in to the crowd.

Lack of Blood. Self explanatory, you would expect a Hell in a Cell of this nature to have more blood. Michael’s selling might have been more convincing if they both wore crimson masks.

HBK overselling. It was quite early in the match when he started to show anxiety for Taker’s well-being. Taker had taken much more punishment in other matches and won, so it didn’t make sense for him to be upset so early. Had they started the “end the match, or I will” thing later on, when it was more believable, it would have worked better.

Mixed – Brutality. If you enjoy a match where wrestling is abandoned for callous torture, this is the one for you. For the more squeamish, the repeated chair shots may be disturbing

Back-to-Back finishers. To some it seemed inevitable they would perform 3-4 finishers (or more) and kick out late. It diminishes the meaning of the term “finisher”, and instead creates a back-and-forth of both men going through disbelief, despite going through the same experience with the same opponent previously.

Conclusion – It was like Macbeth in wrestling form. While the story could have been told better, it was miles above anything on the show in terms of drama. The fans were going crazy for it, and that’s what matters. Yes, the cell wasn’t used, and it could have been the same match using a different stipulation, but it was never going to please everyone because it was not Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels.

You don’t need a million wrestling holds in a fight like this, or the necessity to use the cell. What it did was show everyone how you can grip an audience with a match which would have sucked had it been anywhere else with different opponents.

The personalities, the experience, and the chemistry between Taker, HHH and HBK shone through, and that’s why many praise it. I enjoyed it, and although it was definitely better to watch it live, watching it again was a nice trip down memory lane. And I almost forgot, the ending was absolutely fitting.

12-man Tag Team Match to determine GM for Raw and Smackdown.

Team Johnny: Otunga (captain), Henry, Ziggler, Swagger, Miz & McIntyre (w/ Laurinaitis, Vickie Guerrero and Brie Bella)

Team Teddy: Santino (captain), R-Truth, Kingston, Ryder, Khali & Booker T (with Teddy Long, Hornswoggle, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella and Aksana)

The Hall of Fame class was shown before the match. Edge and The Four Horsemen were the biggest inductions. Flair became a two-time Hall Of Famer, and a short-haired Edge was overwhelmed with emotion; almost crying uncontrollably.

So on to this 12-man tag, they were all wearing Team Johnny and Team Teddy shirts, and they entered with their respective GM’s theme. Otunga and Santino as captains? Is it bad that I didn’t care who won? I only watched it last night but I can’t remember much about it. Watching The Miz do his thing while Cole referenced his main event victory from the previous year was amusing .. considering he was slotted in this tag team match at the last-minute.

Best part of it was the triple suicide dive to the outside by Team Teddy; in stereo! And there was also a cat fight. Zack Ryder had a nice reaction as well. The match ended with Ryder setting Miz up for the boot, Eve Torres got in the ring to do the “WOO! WOO! WOO!” stuff, the referee tried to get her out of the ring, distracting Ryder long enough for The Miz to hit his finisher and win the match for Team Johnny, Yay?

As Team Johnny celebrated, Eve Torres got in the ring to apologize to Zack. As he stood up to listen to her, she kicked him in the nuts and walked off. And we all know what happened to Zack, his career was buried so far under he’s still trying to recover in NXT. In the end, this tag team match was all about Booker T taking the punishment, then “boom boom boom”, and end with the screwy finish.

CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho – WWE Championship (had Punk been DQ’d he would have lost the championship)

Before the match, Johnny told Punk he was adding the stipulation of him losing the title if he was to be DQ’d; angering the champion. A video package aired highlighting the dark tone of the feud, with Jericho revealing sensitive information about Punk’s family. The feud was also about plagiarism, as Jericho cited Punk as a “cheap Y2J copy”, as Punk used the phrase “Best In the World”, while Jericho had used “Best In the World At What I Do” for several years prior.

As both men waited to start their match, the crowd seemed split, so the chanting was a little chaotic. Jericho immediately played mind games with Punk by asking him “How’s Your Father?” with a creepy smile. An angered Punk attacked Jericho, who held the ropes trying to get Punk to attack him til the referee would disqualify. Punk wrestled with his anger and ultimately decided to take the high road and follow the rules.

A short time later, Jericho asked Punk “How’s Your Sister?” again with a creepy smile. Punk grabbed a chair and held it up to swing at him as Jericho awaited contact. Jericho repeatedly told Punk to hit him, while the ref informed Punk he would lose the title if he was disqualified.

A dangerous spot soon followed, Jericho delivered a suplex on Punk from the ring apron, over the ropes and to the floor on the outside. You don’t see that often! After that they traded moves for a while, and the match went in to a down period. Hard to remember much, the crowd were pretty quiet for it. It’s almost like they forgot about the stipulation angle .. or decided to drop it entirely.

Jericho took the advantage with the Walls of Jericho, which perked the crowd up. Punk escaped and nailed Y2J with a high kick. A Macho Man Elbow drop was countered in to a codebreaker for two. Punk rolled to the outside, so Jericho threw him back in. Playing possum, Punk quickly hit the GTS for two. The next spot was excellent, as Punk tried for the hurricanrana from the top, but Jericho reversed it, jumped off the turnbuckle while keeping hold of an upside-down Punk, and locked in the Walls! Punk quickly made the ropes.

Some more counters of finishers ended up in the Liontamer (which Cole called the Walls as usual). Nostalgic. Punk got out of it by rolling through for a pin, picking up a near-fall. Some nice pinning reversals followed, (chain wrestling at Wrestlemania!) and ended with Punk locking in the Anaconda Vice! Jericho broke it up with some knees to the head, and locked in the Walls again! Punk kicked him in the face to break, and quickly got him in the vice again. This time noticing Jericho’s knees and re-positioning himself to stop Y2J from hitting him in the head. With no way of escape, Jericho tapped out and Punk retained.

Punk celebrated in the ring and claimed the title “Best In The World”. And I enjoyed it, it did drag in the beginning, but in the end it really picked up and provided a solid WWE Championship match worthy of Wrestlemania. But there was something missing, and it could have been the buildup, or it could have been the last-minute stipulation meaning nothing in the long run, either way it was far superior to Cena vs. The Miz from the previous year.

Jericho fans hated it, as they felt his return had been nothing but him losing to everyone, and they couldn’t see a way forward. Punk soon turned heel and joined Paul Heyman, and continued to be booked outside the main event for guys like Cena, The Rock, Triple H and Brock Lesnar for the rest of the year.

The Rock vs. John Cena

Once in a lifetime which ended up not being Once in a lifetime! I’m sure everyone remembers the year-long buildup of Twitter exchanges and “via satelite” promos. It worked though, as this Wrestlemania remains the highest grossing event in wrestling history. For the fans to know a year in advance really helped the hype, and WWE pulled it off. The feud was scattered throughout the year in pockets, with The Rock returning for a tag team match with Cena against The Awesome Truth.

Needless to say, there was a definite big match feel, even if you hated both guys. Also it’s The Rock’s hometown so there was much anticipation over whether he could beat Cena after a 8+ year absence from the ring in his hometown. There were some awkward exchanges in their feud, which included many to believe they didn’t respect each other outside kayfabe. The Rock had disrespected Cena for his attire, and his pandering to kids, while Cena disrespected The Rock for being away doing movies while the active roster put in the hard work so he could take their spot. They played it like they really hated each other.

Before we get to the match, I have to go through what happened after Jericho and Punk. Brodus Clay came out with his Funkasaurus dancing, asked everyone to call their momma’s. He called his own momma and told her he was at Wrestlemania. Soon enough, his momma made her entrance and danced away with her big fake booty. It didn’t just end there, an army of momma’s from the “bridge club” danced on the stage with Brodus Clay. It was definitely a Vinny Mac idea.

The music didn’t stop there. Next was Machine Gun Kelly with Ester Dean. Kelly made the bad choice of telling everyone to “fight against hate”, and stood up for John Cena, which the fans hated passionately, booing their performance. Cena entered with his typical heel reaction. He got in the ring and had to stand there as a wild Flo Rida appeared.

Yeah, he got two songs, and he didn’t preach about The Rock either. At this point all I wanted was the music to end, because it’s a four-hour show and if I wanted to listen to these guys, it’s not hard to find them on YouTube. Finally! Flo Rida stopped and The Rock’s music hit. There was a slight delay, but the crowd popped when they realized.

I have to be honest, I’m tired and I have a cold, and to make it this far has been difficult. So again, I’m going to leave a video of the main event at the end of my conclusion of the event. Call it cheap if you like, but I’m done here, I’ve checked out. All I’m going to say about the main event is it truly was a main event, and whether you loved it or hated it, it was a huge draw, and the numbers don’t lie. There were certain moments when Rock and Cena didn’t click, but that has to be expected considering Rocky wasn’t wrestling Cena every other week and was working his first match in 8+ years.

Conclusion

The first hour was as painful as you will find in any Wrestlemania; probably one of the worst hours in the events history. Bryan and Sheamus ending in 18 seconds, and three matches to follow which were only fitting for an episode of Smackdown. The show truly started when Mr. Wrestlemania popped up, and aside from the 12-man tag, was very entertaining til the end. It’s a show of two halves, but at least there’s three really good matches to sink your teeth in to.

The commentary was really good as well. I haven’t mentioned commentary in a positive light in the series for a long time, but I felt that Michael Cole was as good as he’d ever been. Jim Ross was a little awkward, trying too hard to introduce complex adjectives, and for some reason, not calling the action with the same fire he’s known for. He was missed after the Hell in a Cell though, and King mentioned JR’s absence.

It’s a recommended watch. If you manage to make it through the first hour you will appreciate the rest of the show a lot more. It’s not one of the greatest Wrestlemania’s in terms of overall quality, but it definitely delivered in the big matches, and it was a massive draw for the company. I’m done, thanks for staying with me, and rest assured, I’ll feel better when I return with Wrestlemania 29. Good day, evening and night wherever you may be.

**Last Edited on August 11th, 2020**
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