Wrestlemania XXVIII

I normally watch Wrestlemania with a bunch of friends and we all chip in a little. Due to circumstances that didn't happen this year. To all my friends who read this blog, the experience was missed. I normally do not pay for anything Vince McMahon produces; I do not order any PPV's at all. However, Wrestlemania was the exception this time around and I bought it for $54.

I have been watching Raw leading up to Wrestlemania this way I wouldn't be in the dark. I must say I thought on paper this was one of the worst under cards that I can remember. I tried to justify paying the $54 by breaking down how much I thought each match was worth. I thought Rock/Cena was worth about $15. Jericho/Punk about $20. Taker/HHH about $15. And the rest of the card about $4. I had little to no desire to see anything else.

I know Randy Orton was injured and so therefore Sheamus ended up winning the Royal Rumble. I know Orton returned at the Rumble but I believe the storyline had already been written. Sheamus won the Rumble and would face Daniel Bryan for the world title. While people praise Sheamus and feel he is worthy of main event and championship status, I just don't see it. Conversely, I am a huge fan of Daniel Bryan's work; I have followed his career for over 10 years. I still call him Bryan Danielson or American Dragon.

I just didn't care to see this match. Now allow me to preface that I really don't read the internet for inside news anymore. I have no idea whether or not either wrestler was injured prior to the show or if someone was in the proverbial Vince McMahon doghouse. If neither was the case it must mean the WWE had little desire to see this match as well, because it lasted an entire 18 seconds. Now if they were trying to be unpredictable and shocking, they succeeded there and most of the night.

I had written and talked about with friends recently how Kane just never wins any big match. They build him up only to lose what seems to be every PPV match. Him losing to Randy Orton at Wrestlemania was almost as definite as death and taxes. Had the ability to bet on wrestling matches existed, I think the majority of wrestling fans would've wagered any amount of money on Randy Orton winning this match.

The match itself was a rather snooze fest. This match had zero 'Wrestlemania' feel to it. In fact, it felt like a regular match on Monday Night Raw. I think the crowd fell asleep. Just as everyone in the building and the millions watching around the world was expecting an RKO out of nowhere; Kane delivered the choke slam from hell off the top ropes, and I bet those same people were just waiting for Orton to kick out at 2. When the ref counted to 3 it was like a state of shock struck the world. Kane won a PPV match, and a Wrestlemania match to boot. WWE was 2 for 2 with being unpredictable.

As little as anyone may have cared about the Kane/Orton match, the Big Show/Cody Rhodes match was even more of a who gives a shit Smackdown match. The only good about the match was bringing the Intercontinental title back to the big stage. The title has been neglected several times in the past at Wrestlemania, so that was where the interest in this match ended. WWE once again agreed as the match was only given 5 minutes and 18 seconds. For those who give a shit, the Big Show won the match and is your new intercontinental champion. What year is this? Sad state of affairs when in 2012 the Big Show is being pushed to any singles title. Where's the youth movement?

The first of two bathroom break matches was next. Yes, there goes our $54. The only odd thing was the awful Divas match actually had more time than the previous IC title match. What a shock it was that Maria Menounos picked up the win for her team. WWE had great publicity on whatever show it is she is on.

Next was the streak vs the son-in-law aka the ego aka the nose aka HGH. I predicted this match was going to bomb as a sequel. I felt the second match between Taker and HBK didn't live up to their first match, so I had the same thoughts for this sequel. I will say I thought HBK's involvement was well done. The match was okay at best. I did like the usage of the steel chair. Boy did these two take some stiff shots to the back. I did think putting the match in Hell in a Cell would create a Wrestlemania moment, but the Cell wasn't really utilized too much. Now while the match lasted 30 minutes, I was somewhat surprised by the finish; I expected to see about 50 false finishes, so WWE once again wasn't predictable. I never thought Taker would lose.

The end of an era they say. I have heard rumblings of Taker having one more match next year when Wrestlemania is at Met Life stadium in New Jersey. Whether or not Brock Lesnar comes back can impact that possibility. Others say Taker vs Cena could happen as well.

Bathroom break #2 was this painful 12 man tag match for meaningless control of both shows for either GM. I know they want to involve as many guys as they can on the show to get them a pay day, but this junk of a match isn't the way to do it. When I watched this match I couldn't help but notice how far R-Truth, the Miz and Mark Henry have fallen. WWE really dropped the ball when they decided to break up the tandem of R-Truth and the Miz. It's a shame how quickly they switch things up without much reason. I recall R-Truth being suspended due to the Wellness program, but that shouldn't have resulted in the end for them as a duo.

Next was the WWE title match. This match had all the internet buzz. CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho is what people call a dream match, and what greater stage for it to happen on than Wrestlemania? In a perfect world this would've been the Main Event, but I think most will settle for these two great 'wrestlers' competing for the WWE title at Wrestlemania. Perhaps Jericho and the Mayans are right--could this be the end of the world as we know it?

I'm happy I went back and watched this on the replay, because my initial thought of the match was it was good but not great. After a second viewing I was blown away by the chemistry these two had in the ring. Jericho's use of the Walls of Jericho, countering Punk twice, was just perfectly done. I never thought Punk would tap, but with the way the night was going, would you have been shocked? Me neither. I loved when Punk had the Anaconda device on Jericho and yelled 'tap you son of a bitch.' Really good finish too. Hopefully these two can do it again down the road. I'd love to see an 'Iron man match' for the title in the main event at Summerslam.

And now the Main Event. The surprising thing to me was albeit the Rock had the majority of the crowd in his corner, the support for Cena was very loud. I remember Cena referencing the adversity he had faced in the past; his match at One Night Stand in NYC where he actually feared for his safety, or the match against CM Punk in Chicago. I expected the crowd to be on that level for this match. Now I don't know if the event being outdoors hurt the crowd noise, or did fans change sides during the last month of face-offs between Cena and The Rock?

At one point a 'fruity pebbles' chant broke out but was instantly countered by a 'tooth fairy' chant. I expected louder 'Cena sucks' chants but didn't get it. In fact, I don't recall any overwhelming 'Rocky' chants. Now the crowd did explode when The Rock won. You can add that to the list of surprises on the night. I think a lot of people speculated that the Rock may put Cena over. However, now the talk is of a re-match at next years Wrestlemania. I've even read a best-of-3 scenario taking place. The match itself was okay, not bad at all as I anticipated.

Overall this was not a great show at all. As I said earlier a weak under card hurt this show a great deal. Was it worth $54? No. Am I annoyed I bought the PPV? Not really--it's more about the event, so I don't mind eating the money. I do feel 4 hours is way too long. They had a total of 115 minutes of in ring action, which is less than 2 hours. Way too much filler and stalling. Either add 2 more matches or go back to 3 hours. I could've done without most of the garbage in between matches. Please share your thoughts after reading. Thanks.