Official Wrestlemania XXVI Thread: 3/28/10

LOL FINISH

HOLY

Wow, so glad I didn't order for this crap

goodbye shawn

what the is gonna happen now?

Exit on your left Shawn!!!

Crowd blows, btw.

Great Match goodbye Shawn

My instant review:

Show and Miz vs Morrison and R-Truth: A nice opening bout, but very short and seemingly rushed. It was colorful, but the crowd were oddly quiet and took some high spots to get up the reaction. Show and Miz got bigger reaction than Morrison and R-Truth. Show knocked out Morrison in the finish in a disappointing finish to a very disappointing opener involving two stars that were predicted to headline or be vital to WrestleMania this year. *1/2

Rhodes vs Orton vs Dibiase: The attire Dibiase has is pretty neat. It was a long match for me, mainly because this storyline has been poorly built; Orton against Legacy, basically. Not too interesting for me, Orton dominated both, but Legacy dominated him in other occasions, it was like a handicap match. Legacy disbanded to little reaction, like WWE wanted a reaction. Anyways, Orton punted Rhodes, Dibiase tried the Dream Street; Orton snapmared and RKO for the win for Orton. Thrice as long as the opener, but not as interesting. *3/4

MITB: Hmm, this should have opened. Kofi's attire looks sweet, I swear Swagger thinks he looks like he's a member of Team Angle. Ten man really makes this match look like a clusterf*ck. Matt thought his pants were new, but they resemble his 2002 pants. The crowd are louder for this one, but finishers hit pretty often in the opening minutes. The match was pretty slow in the opening minutes for me, but obviously fast paced still, completely contradicting myself. Ziggler gave us the first ladder toss spot, which was nice. Kofi botched as he tried running up to hit Kane in the corner, but at least he wasn't as bad as last year. Swagger also seemed a little off tonight to me. Great spots after that from Bourne, Hardy took a sick hip toss off the ladder onto a horizontal ladder. Original stilts technique with Kofi in this one too. Overall, though, this match seemed like a massive relay race; everybody had spots and breaks, but there were periods where it got repetitive. Some of the spots weren't as great as in past years. Swagger won it, but took moments to unhook the briefcase. Overall, it was sweet, better than Mania XXV, but not as much as XXIV or 23. **3/4

Sheamus vs HHH: For what was supposedly going to be a random feud actually turned significent. Sheamus didn't have bad momentum in this one, in fact Triple H made his buddy look credible. The in ring style however made me slightly feel bored and tiresome, awaiting more excitement to happen. It seemed though that this match was a big set up for HHH to win, and I believe everybody expected Hunter to win. It longed about five minutes too long in my opinion; I lost came for it soon enough, and it just seemed more and more likely that HHH would win. One thing though, is that the pace of the match balanced slow and fast. There was little botches made, to their credit. My interest however...Meh. Triple H reversed the Razor's Edge into the Pedigree for the win. **

Punk vs Mysterio: This was one of my favorites that I'd have liked to open the show. My personal favorite on the show, the build has been extravagant, and the gimmick fits. One of three or four matches on the card that I hope will resume going into Extreme Rules' rematch factor. Fast paced start, but the involvement of Gallows and Serena distracted some matter for me. Anything's a stepup from last year's Mysterio vs JBL affair, though. Punk and Rey did some hard hitting stuff, very nice in a street fight. This match was more technical and aerial based than other bouts, shows that you don't need ladders to have a good match at WrestleMania at all. So did HBK/Taker last year, and most likely this year. But we'll see about that later on. There was a mild botch where Mysterio moonsaulted into a DDT from the top rope and landed on Punk's head, but it looked convincing regardless. Could have been a longer match, but the finish was well executed. That referee was a little fast to count, though. **1/2

Bret vs Vince: Couldn't imagine this being too great a match in quality, as Bret is barely stable to throw equipment around, as shown in previous RAWs in 2010. Two gimmick matches in a row surprised me, though honestly. Expecting some interference in this one. Funny thing is, we're not even two hours into this four hour event, and about two thirds of the card has been shown. Vince made the match a lumberjack match beforehand, but just led to the storyline advancement. The Hart Family turning on Bret is actually very intriguing but should have been done on RAW last week. The Hart Family was soon revealed as being with Bret against Vince...and this is TNA like. Especially after the occurence with Bret's fake leg injury. Bret tried to look alright, but nothing risque was done. Would have liked a little blood, but obviously with Vince's wife being on for senator position, it wasn't likely. Hart Dynasty suddenly appeared as faces as the Hart Family beat up on Vince. Sad how the Hart Attack by Tyson and DH was probably the biggest pop the duo ever got; and it didn't get too big a reaction. The crowd were in actual fact pretty quiet. As an entertainment factor to me, it was very. But to the crowd, they weren't too pleased. I got confused with the amount of swerves done in this; it was bigger than TNA's swerves. Hart battered Vince with a chair, maybe a little longer than necessary before predictably making Vince tap to the Sharpshooter. I can't really give this a high rating, with that Hart Attack being mere highlight of action. 3/4*

Edge vs Jericho: It seems likely as though Edge will win, in fact it seems like it'd be the perfect way to go about, considering that Edge has had the triumphant return comeback. I sense some sort of rematch at Extreme Rules; a Submission match would be great, but nonetheless. Edge and Jericho started off slow, was a technical match; thing is, it didn't quite appeal to this aduience. They wanted excitement, excitement like the Money in the Bank match, but the quality did appeal to me personally. What baffled me was Jericho working the body as opposed to the obviously weak tendon of Edge. It did go around ringside more often, however, and that was something I liked. The psychology in this one was certainly great, though. The crowd soon got into things, though; the match just kept going and steam picked up, I started enjoying how both Canadians competed, Jericho won with a belt shot and the Codebreaker, but the finish was anticlimatic. I predict a rematch, especially when Edge attacked Jericho post match. Slightly unnecessary, but it was good to see Edge regain the sadistic side of him. Edge got booed, which isn't quite the good effect for the top babyface of a brand. ***1/4

Divas vs Women: A very weak and useless filler setting up for the next match. Used it as a piss break, got myself a snack and a drink. Screw it, I'll tell you this; that Pepsi was a lot more tasty than any of these whores. Can easily predict it was better than the terrible battle royal last year, though. I caught the final minute though, every woman and diva just nailing finishers in another case of clusterf*ck, less organized than Money in the Bank, Ridiculous idea for Vickie to nail the Frog Splash at WrestleMania in a solely comedic moment. Beth Phoenix embarrassed here. Oh yeah, Mickie returned; I forgot. N/A

Batista vs Cena: Good idea for this not to main event, but this build has been amazing, and the characters have been portrayed amazingly. Definitely has brought the best out of both men's promos. Unfortunately, both men are unfortunatley known for being weak when it comes to in ring skills, but this one...let's see. It wasn't that bad a match, actually, but it was no Batista vs 'Taker/Cena vs HBK from WrestleMania 23. Batista nailed a NASTY spiked DDT, he worked the neck so convincingly and it paid off very well. The crowd were interested, and these two certainly knew how to keep them entertained for twenty minutes; props to both men for even going through that length of time. The suspense was unbelievable for Cena kicking out or laying down for a Batista Bomb or Attitude Adjustment, as well. For those who hate Batista or Cena, then prepared to be overshadowed with hate from me, because these two's reversals between Batista Bomb and Attitude Adjustments showed me how agile these two were for musclemen. Cena soon won with the STF, not a fan of the finish, but it did the job. Just glad that one title changed hands and one didn't. **3/4

HBK vs Taker: I doubt that it could start off being over the top spectacular, but it started off incredibly quickly, which I'm not sure about to be totally honest. Shawn and 'Taker in my mind cannot duplicate WrestleMania XXV's classic, but the thing I liked about the opening minutes to this match was the fact that 'Taker tried to finish Shawn off quick, as quick as possible. I liked the psychology, and 'Taker selling of the hip and leg problems he has been known to suffer from showed the evolution of a superstar; how wrestlers manage in the ring. It showed how much both men had been through in the past twelve months; 363 mere days. The crowd seemed oddly quiet on occasion, but they kept peaking up. Shawn kept working on the legs of 'Taker, but 'Taker tried to simply put HBK out with whatever it took, a Tombstone on the floor as an official tried to help Shawn, but HBK refuse to quit. The heart of HBK was shown, and his character was shown as being more courageous than ever fighting his career for a win over one man at an event he'd never lost at before. 'Taker attempted the Hell's Gate...and Shawn reversed. Genius reversal and almost stole the win in fact. Like last year, false finishes went all around, as the match reared on for about half an hour like last year. The match got more and more into a brawl as time went on, though, as HBK nailed an oustanding moonsault, putting his body on the line; again for something as special as this. Hate Cole if you must, but his announcing was so great in this encounter, it reminded us of all of HBK's previous efforts, and he kept going. HBK slapped 'Taker, 'Taker Tombstoned HBK and that was it. The emotional backstory to this was amazing and so in depth. HBK's career capped off perfectly; unfortunately to say, it didn't beat last year's effort. ****