So, we’re three days removed from the ‘Showcase of the Immortals’ Wrestlemania 29. It’s time to look back and rate the matches. The show closed with John Cena winning the WWE title after a night which featured matches that ranged from the enthralling all the way to the disappointing.
The event mixed the WWE’s best performers with a selection of debutants. The Undertaker returned again. Ryback fell on his head and nobody cared about Randy Orton. The question is did this make for an entertaining show?
Let’s see.
Intercontinental Championship
The Miz vs Wade Barrett
Grade: 3/5
In typical WWE fashion we saw the eventual loser dominate the entire match only to fall at the final hurdle and lose. On this occasion it was The Miz who was on the defensive for the majority of the match, but ended up with the win to capture the Intercontinental Championship and start Wrestlemania off with a title change.
The Miz started off with a flurry and landed a sunset flip early in the bout, but then Barrett took over. Barrett proceeded to rough Miz up with kicks and punches akin to his street fighting style.
Overall, both men amped up the ferocity of their move-set and utilised the small amount of ring time they had. The action was fluid and the pair have a good chemistry together. I doubt this will be the last we see of this feud.
The match ending saw the Miz apply the figure-four-leg-lock in a unique way, causing Barrett to tap. The match felt a little rushed but that is no slight on the performers, they used what they had.
I feel this should have been on the main card though. With the talents involved and the Intercontinental title on the line, putting this on the pre-show devalues the stock of all three in my opinion.
That being said, it was a pretty good opener to the show.
The Shield vs Randy Orton, Sheamus & The Big Show
Grade: 4.5/5
The only issue here was time. Had they been allowed a couple of extra minutes, this could easily have been the match of the night.
The match began with Sheamus and Roman Reigns in the ring. It was soon apparent that Sheamus and Randy Orton were not willing to risk letting the Big Show in on the action. So the giant forced his way into the action instead.
After a series of chest-reddening chops on Dean Ambrose, Big Show became overwhelmed by the numbers game. The Shield tagged in and out and kept the World’s Largest Athlete off his feet. Seth Rollins threw himself at him; Reigns pounced on him and Ambrose ran rings around him.
The match was full of little novelty spots that kept the crowd buzzing and really showed the awesome work we have come to expect from The Shield. Ambrose is simply brilliant and will no doubt be in the main event sooner rather than later.
It was only fitting then that Ambrose should get the pin over Randy Orton to chalk up another impressive victory for The Shield and to end one of the night’s best matches, certainly the best outside the big three.
However, the awesomeness of The Shield aside, their opponents were mismatched from the start and if you listen very carefully during the match, you can hear the sound of nobody caring about Randy Orton. He is a fantastic ring technician but his natural role is that of the ‘heel’, he is uncomfortable as the ‘babyface’ and it shows.
He wants the heel-turn, the fans want the heel-turn, so come on WWE let’s have the heel-turn already and send Orton back to the main event where he belongs.
Mark Henry vs Ryback
Grade: 2.5/5
Ryback and Mark Henry started the match face to face, charging at each other full force, neither giving an inch. The early signs were promising.
However, when the match actually started, I just wanted it to end. It dragged and laboured on at such a slow pace that at one point I genuinely thought the two behemoths were taking a little nap.
What started out as thunderous, earth shaking collisions had turned into a cuddle-fest and wear down holds as if both men were unable to last the pace.
The match slowly crawled to the finish, when Ryback attempted the Shellshock on Mark Henry only to fall over and bang his head allowing Henry to roll him over for the three count.
Ryback did get his Wrestlemania moment however, when he finally hit the Shellshock on Mark Henry after the match.
I have to question the point of this match however, it could easily have taken place on an episode of Raw and been replaced on the Wrestlemania card by talents such as Antonio Cesaro.
Team Hell No vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston
Grade: 3.5/5
Team Hell No and their challengers Dolph Ziggler and Big E Langston managed to put on a very entertaining match into the time they were given. But that was never really in any doubt with a match containing both Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler.
The match started well, with a clever little reference to Daniel Bryan’s last Wrestlemania appearance. Ziggler tried to recreate Bryan’s embarrassing WrestleMania from last year as he gave AJ Lee a kiss and came extremely close to getting pinned in mere seconds.
The action mixed slugfest with fast-paced wrestling, which allowed all competitors to show off their strongest aspect. Big E impressed with his power. Ziggler and Bryan showed off their great chemistry and outstanding technical ability again.
After yet again making his opponents’ offense look devastating, Ziggler attempted to end things with his Money in the Bank briefcase, only to find himself on the receiving end of a chokeslam by Kane. The quality of this tag team clash shows WWE it has an option for an entertaining feud with these two teams.
But, for me it is still a waste of Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler to be messing around in a flailing tag division when both could so easily be challenging for the major titles.
Chris Jericho vs Fandango
Grade: 3.5/5
Fandango’s debut was always going to be a tough one for him because his gimmick is so incredibly lame. The fans don’t like it, it doesn’t look like any of the locker room like it and I very much doubt that Johnny Curtis likes it himself.
From a wrestling standpoint though, the match was actually pretty decent. Chris Jericho was the consummate professional throughout and did everything he could to put Fandango over and Fandango hung on in there with Y2J.
Despite all this though, the match was just flat. It’s hard to tell whether it was due to the disinterested crowd or simply a lack of chemistry between the two but the match never really took off, and neither guy seemed to be able to connect with the audience and make them care.
The ending of the match was also a botched job which never helps, Fandango was too close to the ropes as Jericho went for the Lionsault causing him to overshoot, Jericho improvised by going straight into the Walls of Jericho, allowing Fandango to roll him up for the three.
Overall, Fandango showed potential and Jericho perfect in his role as the experienced veteran who guided Fandango through his first Wrestlemania.
World Heavyweight Championship
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger
Grade: 3.5/5
This was an intensely personal feud that had been booked to perfection and really had the crowd invested. Throw the genius that is Zeb Coulter into the mix and the combustible nature of this match should have allowed for a really high quality contest.
The only thing that could have derailed this was the wrestlers themselves. Alberto Del Rio still hasn’t managed to become the successful Latin ‘Babyface’ the company had hoped and Jack Swagger just isn’t that charismatic as a character, even with his new edge.
The chemistry between the two just wasn’t good enough to warrant a World Heavyweight title billing and in the end this match just feud didn’t deliver a good enough climax on the grandest stage of them all.
There were little to no highlights of which to speak of, even though the match itself was actually quite solid. The problem was the intensity and precision of each other’s move-sets was a total non entity throughout the match.
The match was very submission move heavy with both guys going for their finishing move on several occasions before Del Rio finally got the win with the Cross Armbreaker. The problem was that both Del Rio’s Cross Armbreaker and Swagger’s Patriot Lock were completely undersold by the other and neither looked devastating enough to submit a Diva let alone a World Heavyweight Championship contender.
With this feud pretty much dead in the water after Wrestlemania it is time for the WWE to rethink the Heavyweight title picture and I was not at all surprised to see Dolph Ziggler cash in his ‘Money in the Bank’ briefcase the following night on Raw.
The Undertaker vs CM Punk
Grade: 4.5/5
Despite the predictability of the match and the fitness levels of both competitiors this match was the best of the evening.
Both men hooked the audience from their entrances and held them captivated throughout the entire match.
CM Punk is ‘The Best in the World’ and he showed it again here, putting on a complete master class with the Undertaker despite the Undertaker’s physical limitations. This match was more about storytelling that wrestling, which is what professional wrestling is all about.
Punk played mind games with Undertaker, slapping him and then running away to annoy his opponent. The Undertaker’s anger led him to act rashly and make a few mistakes.
The Undertaker did go on to physically dominate the match for a while before CM Punk used the Undertaker’s ‘Old School’ against him and then later performed the move himself, much to the delight of the crowd.
At one point Punk went for a flying elbow onto the usually flimsy Spanish announce table, which on this occasion decided to stand firm which contributed to a pretty nasty bump for both guys.
The match was laden with near falls, at one point Punk had the ‘Anaconda Vice’ locked in, only to be faced with the Undertaker’s snarling face as he sat up.
Eventually ‘Taker finished off a very intricate set of move reversals with a devastating ‘Tombstone pile driver’ for the win.
This truly was a match of Wrestlemania standard and was in my opinion the show stealer of the evening.
Brock Lesnar vs Triple H
Grade: 4/5
This match was brutal, Brock Lesnar was the monster we all expected and Triple H was the tough warrior we have come to know and love. The match did start off pretty slow though and seemed to take a while to spark. But when it did, it was a very good match.
The match only seemed to spark in the final third, and this segment of the match was absolutely brilliant. Both men took the match to each other and left everything in the ring, this was more than just a brawl, it was an epic fight.
The match wasn’t contained by the ring for very long and the previously defiant Spanish announce table quickly went weak at the knees when faced with these two monsters.
Lesnar utilised his MMA skills throughout the match, but used them much more seamlessly than we are used to seeing. He looked every inch a WWE superstar. He looked every bit the beast he’s been billed as. Both men turned the match into an all out war.
Triple H looked to end the match with Lesnar’s own ‘Kimura Lock’ but Lesnar wouldn’t tap. Eventually the Game hit ‘The Pedigree’ on the steel ring steps to put away Brock Lesnar.
The Rock vs John Cena
Grade: 4/5
The good news is that this match was better than their attempt last year, the bad news is that these two men both being billed as ‘babyfaces’ have no chemistry together. The biggest draw of this match was exactly the same as it was a year earlier; WWE’s golden boy taking on possibly the most popular wrestler of all time.
Take away that novelty and what you are left with is a stale character and a part-time performer. This was never going to live up to expectations.
The match started very slowly, the two were embroiled in a stare-down which seemed to last an eternity.
Now, don’t get me wrong, the match itself wasn’t that bad both men told their stories pretty well. But, the match was hurt by the predictability factor, every man and his dog knew that Cena was walking out with the title and this caused a blasé feel to overwhelm the match.
The match also seemed to be the death of the finisher, as both men kicked out of each other’s finishing manoeuvre on several occasions as well as kicking out of their own Finishing move as well.
The talent on show in the match was enough to keep the crowd invested and did make for a pretty good match but, it was certainly not either man’s greatest match and for the main event of Wrestlemania I would expect a little more.
