Mafro

Brief thoughts on Wrestlemania.

Edge v Alberto Del Rio

Starting off with a match for the World Heavyweight Title pretty much set the tone for the night. Decent match with inevitable interference from Christian and Brodus Clay. Bullshit finish with Edge winning after building up Del Rio so much over the past four months. The Royal Rumble becomes more and more meaningless every year. Rematch of some sort at Extreme Rules next month, no doubt. I still find it astonishing the amount of title reigns Edge has.

Cody Rhodes v Rey Mysterio

Good match, glad Rhodes won. He deserves a push, and I love his American Psycho-esque gimmick (but not the dull entrance music). Mysterio, on the other hand, is just ridiculous these days. Nice finish to the match with Rhodes using Mysterio’s knee brace to aid the win.

The Corre v Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, Kane & Big Show

Nonsense match which was over quicker than my usual “Diva match shit break”, which I should have used up here in hindsight. Ridiculous that the more-deserving Sheamus/Bryan US Title match was dropped from the card for this. I’d have happily taken Kingston v Barret for the Intercontinental Title in place of this too.

CM Punk v Randy Orton

Best match of the night so far. Punk is one of the few wrestlers on the roster these days that can drag a decent match out of Randal. His mockery of Orton’s injured knee was brilliant. Orton winning with the predictable random RKO out of nowhere on Punk as he was diving off the turnbuckle. The end to the match seemed too forced, how often do you see Punk coming off the top rope like that? It wasn’t as impressive as Orton catching Evan Bourne mid-Shotting Star Press.

Michael Cole v Jerry “The King” Lawler

Joke match saved by guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin. Similar to the Vince McMahon v Bret Hart match from last year’s ‘Mania. Cole got the win after the Anonymous Raw General Manager chimed in and disqualified Lawler. Inevitable ending to the match with Austin giving the Stunner to Booker T and Cole as a cheap way to get them off commentary and make way for Jim Ross returning to cover the last few matches with Lawler.

Triple H v The Undertaker

Wasn’t looking forward to this at all, but it ended up surpassing my expectations. Pretty much just descended into a brawl with a bunch of big spots such as the backdrop off one announce table, and later on a spinebuster through the other. Triple H giving the Undertaker the Tombstone Piledriver was a great moment, and the chair shot to the head is something never seen in the WWE these days (they were both actually fined due to this afterwards). An interesting finish with Triple H tapping out to the Hell’s Gate, and ‘Taker did a great job afterwards of selling his injuries. It could have been the worst match of the night, but turned out to arguably be the best.  

John Morrison, Trish Stratus & Snookie v Dolph Ziggler & LayCool

Another joke match, but Snookie’s backflip handspring elbow to finish the match was a sight to behold, and she pulled it off better than all of the Diva’s roster could.

The Miz v John Cena

The video packages to introduce each wrestler were fantastic, in fact they were great throughout the show. Wasn’t too impressed with the match, although the airtime Miz took in the Attitude Adjustment was pretty insane. The match initially ended in a double count-out after Cena clotheslined Miz over a barricade (Miz actually smacked his head really hard on the concrete when he landed, it was a cringer). In a moment that was apparently booked by Russo and Bishoff, The Rock’s music hit and he came out to the ring. After that and some more Anonymous Raw General Manager nonsense, the match was restarted. When both stars were back in the ring, The Rock hit the Rck Bottom on Cena and Miz covered him to get the win. Afterwards, Rock beat down Miz as he was celebrating and gave him the People’s Elbow. Nothing like making the champion look even weaker than he already appears to be.

Random thoughts:

• Hacksaw Jim Duggan’s 2x4 wearing a bow tie for the Hall of Fame was hilarious.
• Austin/Rock segment backstage brought back memories.
• Probably the best Wrestlemania stage in years.
• Jack Swagger’s face when Austin’s music hit was just brilliant.
• always good to hear JR back on commentary.
• I like that weird cube titantron thing above the ring.
• Undertaker’s entrance was somewhat subdued compared to previous years. Disappointing.
• Was it just me, or did the bell ring on two separate occasions at the start of Miz v Orton?