WrestleMania 26 – Results/Reactions

WrestleMania 26 is in the books, and we have one new champion… Who is it?  Well you’re just going to have to read this review to find out.  Here’s what went down last night:

Unified Tag Team Title Match
Big Show & The Miz (Champions) vs. John Morrison & R-Truth
Should: ShoMiz Will: ShoMiz

WINNERS: ShoMiz via KO Punch from Big Show on Morrison off a blind tag.  Morrison had no clue it was coming.

• Glad to see that the conspiracy theory held true.  ShoMiz got whooped on the past week, and then get the win when it counts.  Morrison & Truth were in control late until the blind tag.  When Jo-Mo went for the Flying Chuck Kick, Show just shellacked him in the face with his fist.

Triple Threat Match
Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes
Should: DiBiase Will: DiBiase

WINNER: Randy Orton via pin fall after punting Rhodes and hitting and RKO on DiBiase

• Well, maybe after the way this went down, DiBiase & Rhodes will stay friends for another week or so.  They did have some spats within the match up, but no real huge blowouts.  It was mainly arguments over who would get the win, and ironically neither of them did because of it.  It was cool to see Orton use the punt again, but the only thing I’m wondering is if they’re going to have Cody sell the injury for more than a week.  If he’s on RAW, then I’ll say that’s pretty messed up and they’re not keeping with what they just did in the ring.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match (10 competitors)
Should: Christian WILL: Drew McIntyre

WINNER: Jack Swagger grabbed the case to become Mr. Money in the Bank

• I was shocked that this did not kick off the night.  I was also shocked that Swagger won.  I don’t think of all the predictions I’ve read or been told that ANYONE had Swagger pulling this one out.  The finish for this match was odd, and yet obvious.  Swagger and Christian were fighting for the case, and Swagger decided to hit Christian in the dome with it, knocking him off the ladder.
• There were also a few “oh wow” moments as Evan Bourne did Air Bourne off a ladder, and Kofi Kingston used pieces of a broken ladder as stilts, but in the grand scheme of ladder matches, especially MITB, it fell short of expectations for me.

Triple H vs. Sheamus
Should: Triple H Will: Sheamus

WINNER: Triple H via pin fall after hitting the Pedigree

• The Celtic Warrior put up a decent fight, but was no match for the King of Kings in this one.  Sheamus had his moments where it looked like he was going to handle his business… he had Trips up in The Edge and tried two Pump Kicks, but failed to hit any!  So of course The Game took advantage and got the victory!  I’m just wondering if this is going to continue on RAW tonight.  My gut says yes, maybe during Trip’s promo or something.

CM Punk with Straightedge Society vs. Rey Mysterio
Should: Mysterio Will: Mysterio

WINNER: Mysterio via pin fall after hitting 619

• C’mon!  Did you really think Rey was going to lose and join the Straightedge Society?  It’s Rey “Freakin'” Mysterio!  In a storyline like that where Punk was harassing his family, the good guy HAS TO WIN, especially when it’s one of your cash cows like Mysterio.  WWE, you did the right thing in the grand scheme of things.  Punk will get him back somehow!

No Holds Barred Match
Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Vince McMahon
Should: Hart Will: Hart

WINNER: Bret Hart via submission after locking on the Sharpshooter

• Well if this wasn’t the most one sided match of the night, I don’t know what one sided means!  Bret absolutely destroyed Vince McMahon in this one.  Hell, before the match started Vince thought he screwed over Bret again by paying off his family to be referee and lumberjacks, but The Hart Family has a strong bond and couldn’t be bought by the WWE Chairman.  It basically turned into a beat down of McMahon when he went to the outside, and that included a top rope Hart Attack from The Hart Dynasty.  Bret used a crow bar and chair to utterly demolish Vince and then when he felt like ending the match, Bret locked on the Sharpshooter and Vince tapped like a bitch!

World Title Match
Chris Jericho (Champion) vs. Edge
Should: Edge Will: Jericho

WINNER: Jericho via pin fall after hitting the Code Breaker

• This was a good back and forth match up.  Seriously, I thought as I was watching this that Edge was going to pull it out.  It took some shady moments for Y2J to get the win (hitting Edge with the World Title while the ref’s back was turned), but Jericho remains the Champion.
• After the match, Edge got the final stand.  He set up Jericho on one of the announce tables and then ran across both to Spear him through the barricade.

10 Diva Tag Team Match
Face Divas vs. Heel Divas
Should/Will: Who cares?!?

WINNER: Heels via pin fall after Vickie Guerrero hit a “Bull Frog Splash” on Kelly Kelly.

• This match was pointless and I don’t really know why they added this to the card.  It brought nothing to the table… actually I take that back.  It did bring something to the table, it brought weak women’s wrestling to the table and proved that WWE Divas don’t take their craft seriously.  There was a sequence where every Diva hit their trademark move, but half of them looked sloppy as hell.

WWE Title Match
Batista (Champion) vs. John Cena
Should: Cena Will: Cena

WINNER: Cena via submission after locking on the STF to become the NEW WWE Champion

• This match wasn’t bad, and it wasn’t great.  They essentially did the same spot, top rope counter into a power bomb, that broke Cena’s neck, and it seemed like everyone in the building for a moment was like, “OMG, it happened again.  Is he dead?”  C’mon people, it’s Superman!  He’s going to save the day!  Sure enough, Cena wins again… GAWSH!

Streak vs. Career
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Should: Taker Will: Taker

WINNER: The Undertaker via pin fall after hitting two Tombstones

• Well the Streak now stands at 18-0, and WWE’s roster is a little lighter now that Shawn Michaels must retire.  It was a good match, but for me, because of having this match last year, it didn’t have the same weight.  These two put on a showcase for their fans, but when you know that there’s going to be so many near falls off big moves it just isn’t the same.  The finish was well done though.  Taker hit a Tombstone and HBK kicked out.  Taker was about to motion with the throat slash, but stopped and looked at Shawn.  It was a tender little moment like HBK had with Ric Flair in his retirement match (“I’m sorry!).  This time though, Shawn glared at Taker, did the throat slash himself, and slapped Taker across the face.  Taker’s brain switched back on and spiked him again with another Tombstone for the win.

QUICK THOUGHTS:

All in all it was an average to good show for me.  I’m not going to say that it was great, and I know that some people will disagree with me and that’s fine.  Leave a comment and tell me why I’m wrong then.  I guess when it comes to WrestleMania I expect a little more.  I mean, in a four hour PPV I expected that we’d see some great matches and there were some good ones, but I think that the one thing that is lost with modern day wrestling (aka sports-entertainment) is the fact that WrestleMania was supposed to be that PPV that culminated rivalries, and for the most part that was lost with this PPV.  Only two matches had story lines that “ended” (Taker/HBK & Vince/Bret).  Every other story line will continue after this and maybe this is just me being an “OldSkool fan,” but I wish things would be a little different and get back to the roots of the business.  You know..?

Till next time.  Take care everyone!