From Miami, FL
WrestleMania Analysis: Here are my essentially obligatory remarks on the biggest show of the year, match-by-match. I conclude my remarks with a traditional star rating for the workrate of the match and a more important rating encompassing the overall effectiveness of the match (i.e. the famous Hogan-Andre match could rate at 0* / ****).
Edge v. Undertaker: Excellent match, hindered only a bit by periods where both guys lost the concept of selling. I also liked how much offense Edge got in the early part of the bout considering he was losing and everyone seemed to know it. The air of predictability surrounding the match combined with the relative weakness of the Smackdown title and brand probably should have led them to place the match away from the main event spot. Coachman, and to a lesser extent Cole, are terrible. ***¾ / ***½.
Randy Orton v. John Cena v. Triple H: After an underwhelming build to the match, they delivered a match which would be acceptable but not outstanding for a B pay-per-view. Technically, the match worked well but they did a terrible job in the build in making people really care about who won ***½ / **.
Ric Flair v. Shawn Michaels: The postmatch and last night’s Raw show was unforgettable, one of the most tender and joyful moments on a wrestling program ever. Both men emoted tremendously and told a great story in the ring. Years from now, that’s what people will recall from the last two days. The fact that the match was largely a mess will be overlooked or even forgotten. Make no mistake in that this match was poor, as two frightening blown spots and Flair’s athleticism reduced to nearly naught, led to the worst non-Khali long match on a WWE pay-per-view in years. Frankly, it matters not and it’s hard to expect more from two men who have paid an enormous physical price for their legendary in-ring exploits. Great charisma, emotion and drama overlooking poor classic wrestling: how ironic is it that Ric Flair’s career ends by doing a great Hulk Hogan impersonation? ** / *****, considering last night.
Big Show v. Floyd Mayweather: I don’t get it. Big Show never has entertained me (or anyone) all that much and Mayweather, who cannot wrestle, isn’t any better of a heel than the MVPs of the world. (Considering this isn’t his profession that’s actually a compliment). Mainstream publicity has not equaled buyrates in the past: Mania II got far more than III and the buyrates went in the opposite direction, ditto for XI and X, Manias 17 and 18 got none and did tremendously. There are exceptions as Mr. T and Mike Tyson boosted business noticeably, but both were far bigger mainstream stars than Mayweather and more importantly were booked with huge draws. They also were consistently a face and a heel throughout the build up. To me, the fact that they could not sell out the show even after selling seventy-five percent of the tickets on the first weekend has far more utility as far as projecting a buyrate than anything the optimists are offering. Whatever the lowest buyrate a Mania can draw, I’ll predict this show draws it (the brand and name itself is still worth at least 900,000 global buys and probably more). That puts my position up against that of some bright people, so we’ll see in time who’s proven right. As for the match, it was technically terrible (three bumps in all) but reasonably booked given the severe limitations of who was involved. Again, I don’t get it. No stars / **½.
Chavo Guerrero v. Kane: Simply, the worst way to book a champion who was seriously short of credibility going in to the night. Squash / ½*.
Batista v. Umaga: Do you realize Umaga has never had a win over a very top guy on pay-per-view, it’s to his credit that he remains as over as he is given this. Also overlooked as a worker, he’s one of the more underrated performers around. *¼ / *½.
Finlay v. JBL: The wrong wrestler went over for sure, here. You almost never should book the babyface to lose clean in a blowoff of a feud when his kin is injured. Even worse, Finlay has done far better with his push than JBL has with a larger one. **½ / ½*.
Money in the Bank: Only two performers in this match have overachieved given their push: one won the match (CM Punk) and the other was the standout performer (John Morrison). I could see the argument for MVP winning as well, as he has the most long-term upside, but have no quibble with how it actually went down. The notion of any of the other underachievers (Shelton, Kennedy, Jericho) winning would have been poor booking. ***½ / ****.
As for this show, I would suggest reairing the Flair segment from last night in lieu of the usual squash match. Given how well received that was, it merits a second airing and the more hardcore audience that watches ECW would appreciate it the most. Let’s see if they agree (they would).
Kane opened the show with an interview, putting himself over. Having an over-the-top character like Kane cut an opening promo like everyone else, saying words like sports entertainment, strikes me as counterproductive. There actually was a surprisingly loud “ECW” chant during the promo. CM Punk interrupted, prompting Tazz to ask if he was cashing in money-in-the bank now. Punk barely got into his promo before Chavo interrupted demanding a rematch. Punk ridicules Chavo for losing in the quickest fashion in WrestleMania, ever. That should have led to a King Kong Bundy promo, but instead all three bickered until Chavo, speaking for Estrada made a tag match between the three and Shelton Benjamin. I did not expect Shelton to wrestle this soon after taking that nasty fall on Sunday.
Stevie Richards v. Mike Knox
Stevie caught Knox with an enzuigiri; Stevie chased him out but got clobbered outside. Knox tried a suplex for a two count inside and went to a bear hug. The crowd actually rallied behind Stevie who head butted and bit his way out. Stevie made his comeback with his arsenal of kicks and knees. Knox retook control with a backbreaker and finished with his version of a swinging neckbreaker.
Knox d. Richards, Pin, 3:43, ¾*.
A brief review of Saturday’s Hall of Fame ceremony aired.
Colin Delaney aspires to come to WrestleMania next year after getting a WWE contract. Armando Estrada came out and offered Colin a contract, leading to some fine cornball, Saturday morning acting from Colin. “April Fools!” That actually was a good one. Colin does get a contract for real if he defeats. . .
Big Show v. Colin Delaney
Is Show a face or heel? Show toyed with Colin by getting in his face but not striking him. He then won quickly with a sleeper hold, slamming Colin after the bell. Heel, I suppose.
Big Show d. Colin, Pin, :44 squash.
They replayed an extensive set (about four to five minutes worth) of highlights of the last night of Ric Flair’s career. I wish they had omitted the overly dramatic background music and just played it straight, as the moment was powerful enough on its own. Still, I’ll give them full credit for replaying the segment.
CM Punk & Kane v. Shelton Benjamin & Chavo Guerrero
Punk and Benjamin got into a slugfest to start. Punk used a hammer lock to tag in Kane who worked on Shelton. Chavo and Shelton made a couple of exchanges with neither having any success. After a commercial break, Kane continued on the advantage before tagging out to Punk. He caught Chavo with a nice tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for a two count. While Chavo held the top rope preventing a go to sleep, Shelton (late coming in) hit Punk with a side kick to begin the belated heat segment at the nine minute mark. The heels did frankly nothing of note until Punk teased a comeback stopped with a dropkick. The heels went back to more rest holds as the match slowed to a crawl. Punk finally caught the knee and bulldog to get the hot tag. Kane and Benjamin had a good little run together with Kane dominating. The champion went up top but was crotched by Chavo. Punk tagged himself in at that point and quickly defeated Shelton with the go to sleep. The match picked up a bit at the end, but the first ten minutes were quite dull.
Kane & Punk (x) d. Shelton (o) & Chavo, Pin, 15:49, *¾.
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