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The biggest show of the year has come and gone, and what a show it was! By now, we all know what happened, so I'm not going to spew results; I'll simply give you my opinion on what I saw. I'll start with the title matches. First, I did NOT like the quick title change between Daniel Bryan and Sheamus. WrestleMania would've been a perfect time to showcase the talent that Daniel Bryan possesses; however, Creative had other ideas. I've taken into consideration the reasons that the Internet has stated -- the shock value, making Sheamus look like a monster, etc. I just cannot agree it was a good idea, but I digress. The second title match was Cody Rhodes defending his IC title against Big Show, and if you've read ANYTHING I have written leading up to 'Mania, you know that I couldn't possibly be any more disappointed in the outcome. In what bizarre world does the Big Show need to go over on Rhodes? Apparently, in the WWE's. The only thing I can hope for is there's some big mastermind plan and Rhodes ends up with that title someway, somehow. The last title match of the evening was the best one: CM Punk defended against Chris Jericho. These two lived up to the level that wrestling fans set for it. It was a great match that everyone should have known was going to go the way of CM Punk. It was almost like Jericho was too heel going into this to win, if that makes sense.
The Streak was alive at 19-0 and moved to 20-0 when the Undertaker beat Triple H. They tried to have blood; I couldn't really tell what happened with that. Was he trying to bleed more? Was it an accident? I don't know, but I'm not going to completely crap on the lack of blood simply because there was still a lot of brutality in the match. Did you see Undertaker's back? Good Lord! A side note: I watched the PPV with my girlfriend and some friends, and there was a cry to “please hit him in the head with the chair†from one particular friend. Sadly, Chris Benoit ruined chair shots to the head like he ruined a lot of other things in the WWE. Overall, I enjoyed the match. I thought it came across like it needed to. I just have one final hope: PLEASE LET IT BE THE LAST. I want the streak to end at 20-0, I want Triple H to go back to his office, and I want Shawn Michaels to go back to killing animals.
Now, after a year of build up (not really a full week-to-week year), we finally get to see The Rock take on John Cena. Before I get to my opinion, I've read on the Internet, that “it didn't live up to the hypeâ€, and in the defense of Rock and Cena, it would be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for these guys to do that. Unless one of them throws the other off the top of Sun Life stadium, there would be no way these two really live up to the hype that lasted as long as theirs did. It wasn't their fault -- VKM & Co wanted to book the main-event a year in advance. With all that being typed, I give you this: the match was great. I enjoyed the hell out of it, and even though I predicted The Rock to win, I was shocked he did. I'm from the “attitude era,†so OF COURSE I was pulling for The Rock, but in the back of my mind I thought, “They’ll give this thing to Cenaâ€. I'm happy I was wrong. I'll also add that the finish was great. Having Cena going to do the people's elbow and BOOM, The Rock hits him with the rock bottom was excellent. Whoever booked that finish deserves a little extra sugar in their morning coffee for that one.
Overall, I'll give 'Mania 4 stars out of 5. It was worth the $65 I paid, and that's all I can really ask for. Right?
The RAW after 'Mania has always been -- and will always be -- can't miss, and last night, we found out why. I enjoyed this RAW from the beginning to the end. There are a couple highlights that stick out in my mind 24 hours later. First, the crowd in Miami. I tweeted during RAW (@FordPWInsider) that every crowd from next week on needs to take notes on that crowd in Miami. If you watch RAW on mute (minus promos), this show possibly isn't half as good. These fans brought it. If you happen to be in that crowd and you're reading this, two things, 1. THANK YOU and 2. Give yourself a pat on the back. I could only hope that the “YES, YES, YESâ€, the “NO, NO, NOâ€, and the “Ooooo YES†become staples in crowds across America. I can only hope that the crowd at Extreme Rules is half as good as I will be in that crowd.
The second moment that sticks out in my mind is the return of Brock Lesnar. I've been begging for it since January, and it finally happened on Monday. What a moment! As I sat and watched Cena's promo and heard the crowd (here they are again getting put over by me) chanting “We want Lesnarâ€, I thought this had to be the time when he came out. Low and behold, VKM & Co didn't disappoint one bit. They sent Lesnar out there, and the place went NUTS. They popped louder for Brock than they did for Rock -- no doubt in my mind. Again, what a moment!
