WrestleMania 28 Recap

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WrestleMania 28 Recap

 

World Heavyweight Championship

Sheamus def. Daniel Bryan (c)

 

What I liked: The people sitting in the front row will all the “YES” signs.

 

What I didn’t like: Everything else.  Eighteen seconds for a World title match is UNACCEPTABLE not to mention embarrassing to all involved.  Every wrestler works their ass off all year round just to get on the WrestleMania card.  It’s hard to secure a spot unless your an established star and it’s even harder to be involved in one of the World title matches.  Daniel Bryan worked hard to become one of the best heels we’ve seen in awhile and what does he get for his four months of hard work?  A humiliating loss in the opener of the biggest show of the year.  I thought they shafted these two when they bumped their U.S. title match to the dark match last year, but in this case they probably would have been doing them a favor.  Maybe then they would have actually been allowed to have a match instead of making some pathetic attempt at a time record.  Apparently those have more meaning to Vince than the World title.  If that truly is the case, then the World title should be abolished instead of being dragged through the mud.

Maybe next time instead of wasting time with rappers and Brodus Clay’s “momma” maybe they should think about putting more effort into the actual product.

 

How I would have booked it:  Sheamus is ok.  I’m not a huge fan of his, but I can see why others are.  However, that doesn’t justify him being World champ.  I felt that Bryan should have retained given how strong his run had been.  He went from being just an internet darling to the most hated man on Smackdown in less than four months.  That’s a pretty big accomplishment for a guy who allegedly has no personality.

 

Kane def. Randy Orton

 

What I liked: It was nice that they didn’t give this match more times than it deserved.  It was also surprising and refreshing to see Kane get a win in a big spot.

 

What I didn’t like: The fact that these guys got booked on show just because their established stars.  I mean there were other veteran guys who got higher spots because of their past, but they had better (storyline) reasons for being booked.  These two got what amounts to a pity spot.  There was just so little effort put into this feud and it just felt tacked on.

 

How I would have booked it: As tired as I am of Orton going after the title, that’s where he should have been. A triple threat with him, Bryan, and Sheamus would have been better if for nothing else to force creative to put on a real match and to make the title seem more important.  Kane could have been left off the card and no one would have said “boo”.  He just isn’t relevant anymore and when they try to make him relevant its always part of some over convoluted mess of a storyline.

 

Intercontinental Championship

The Big Show def Cody Rhodes (c)

 

What I liked: Again, keeping it short was the right call.

 

What I didn’t like: Most of you who read my stuff (all 2 and a half of you) know my disdain for Botch Show.  I really don’t think he’s ever been worthy of his status and is just an injury waiting to happen.  Unfortunately, this was one of those feuds where WWE booked themselves into a corner and the face HAD to win.  I just hope Show doesn’t keep it long and we can quickly forget this Giant mistake (see what I did there?).

 

How I would have booked it: Rhodes should have been given a run at Honky’s record for longest I.C. title reign, but alas that dream is dead because Big Slow needs a WrestleMania moment.  Sigh.

Live it up while you can you overgrown, 500 lb bag of monkey CRAP

Obligatory Womens/Celebrity match

Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos def. Beth Phoenix & Eve

 

What I liked: I’m thinking…

 

What I didn’t like: Where to begin…Kelly’s face, Beth’s head dress, Maria’s horrible selling, Kelly’s face again, oh yea and…A CELBRITY PINNING THE DIVAS CHAMPION.  Aside from Bryan losing in 18 seconds this had to be the biggest “what the fuck” moment of the whole show.  Beth deserves better than this.

Tonight on 20/20: Twin sisters reunited by their love of blow jobs and not opening their eyes

How I would have booked it: Beth Vs Kharma (or Natalyia) for the Divas title because even a sparkly, purple, Barbie butterfly fairy belt is more meaningful than the crap that actually took place.

 

“End of an Era” Hell in a Cell match w/HBK as the special guest referee

The Undertaker def. HHH to go to 20-0

 

What I liked: Now we get to the good stuff.  This match was beyond incredible. It had all the drama you could possibly want from a match of this magnitude and then some.  The brutality that you would expect from these two was also highly present.  The shots these guys gave to each other were painful to watch at times.  Even HBK had to turn a blind eye to some of it.  All you had to do was look at Taker’s back and HHH’s face to realize how much pain they put each other through.  In the end, HHH lost because he just had no strength left to fight.  After a defiant crotch chop, Taker put HHH away and HBK happily counted the three to stop the brutality which he tried numerous times to stop.  I also want to say how awesome Taker’s jacket and hair cut was. If he can’t have the long hair, I think the Mohawk suits him well.  I also find it crazy how after all these years, his entrance still gives me chills.

 

What I didn’t like: Other than maybe using the cell a little more, I felt this was a complete match from start to finish.  There’s really nothing much to improve on here.

 

How I would have booked it: WWE seems hesitant to put career ending stipulations on these matches, but it certainly was an option given the names involved.  I’m sure HHH just wants to leave his career open ended so he can fight whenever he wants, but it’d be nice if he would say this is it and leave the future big matches to the younger guys.

 

Team Johnny def. Team Teddy to give Johnny full control of both shows

 

What I liked: I really thought this one would be a mess, but everyone seemed to get their moment to shine especially the ones who deserved it like Ziggler, Miz, and Ryder.  The timing and placement were also very good.  As for the result, as much as I hate to admit it the right team won. Teddy Long was never a great character and I’m sure they’ll find some other role for him to fill and if not it’s no big loss.

 

What I didn’t like: Eve’s involvement was painful and unnecessary.  We already know she’s bitch and yet they just had to have her screw Zack again.  There was already so much going on with the RAW and Smackdown hanging in the balance it just seemed tacked on and since when does a diva get TWO segments at WrestleMania?  Even Rock and Cena only got one and this broad gets two?  Who is she blowing backstage?  Oh right…

 

Even being in Miami for a week can’t make them as orange as they wanna be

How I would have booked it: As much as I hate Johnny cakes, his character makes for better television than Teddy’s so I still would have put his team over just with less women involved.

 

WWE Championship

CM Punk (c) def. Chris Jericho

 

What I liked: Seeing Punk walk into and out of WrestelMania as champion was a sight to behold in and of itself because just one year ago at the same PPV he was in a meaningless and forgettable match with Orton.  After seeing the turn around his career has had since June, it’s just so satisfying to see how far he’s come. The match itself was great.  Was it a classic?  No, but very well done nonetheless.  The finish where they were exchanging pins and holds was a thing of beauty and ultimately ended with Jericho tapping out to the Anaconda Vice.  It was a great culmination of Punk’s long climb to the top of the wrestling World and I am very excited to see what the future holds for him.

 

What I didn’t like: Jericho was very chatty in the beginning when he was taunting Punk about his family and it came off as very over the top, but once he stopped talking the pace got better and they focused on the wrestling.

 

How I would have booked it: Little more hold for hold, move for move rather than typical WWE face gets beat up the whole match then make a big comeback stuff. We get enough of that with Cena and Orton.

Punkalicious?

 

Main Event

The Rock def. John Cena

 

What I liked: John Cena losing – As someone who grew up on the Attitude era, this could not have been sweeter.  Having Cena get dropped was one of the best moments a true fan could have wanted.  The crowd was great and these two put on a very entertaining match that exceeded my expectations.  Did it live up to the year long hype? No, but it came damn close.

 

What I didn’t like: John Cena losing – leave it to John to evoke two very different emotions from the same person.  As much a fan of the Rock as I am, I am also a traditionalist so I believe in the time honored tradition of passing the torch down to the next guy.  I understand having the Rock win in order to make the fans happy, but it doesn’t make good business sense to have the face of the company lose to a part time performer UNLESS they plan on having a rematch.  Maybe I’m being too anal and business will go on as usual for John Cena, but it just sends the wrong message.  I think it opens the door for more leeches (Hollywood celebs and former wrestlers) to jump on board so they can make a shit load of cash, get all the glory, and then leave.

 

How I would have booked it: If this truly was “once in a lifetime”, then Cena should have went over clean to validate his career and his spot as leader of the PG era.  Now he will walk around having a cloud of doubt over his whole career with a lot of people thinking that he was never worthy of being “the man”.

 

And then there’s this:

MIND = BLOWN

Overall, I thought it was a great show.  The first half was completely forgettable, but the big matches delivered and that’s really all you can ask.  If they can stack the card like this again for next year I think that’d be sweet especially since I plan on being there in person.

CAN’T WAIT!!!

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