WrestleMania overall was good, but with technical complaints that could be made. RAW was not good, and there’s not much to say to redeem the day after Mania. WrestleMania had the big time feeling with Undertaker versus Batista and Shawn Michaels versus John Cena for their respected belts. Batista stepped up and delivered a solid performance with Taker that he can be proud of.
Michaels and Cena pushed themselves to their limits, and gave a good series of false finishes that had the audience believing in each man. However, Cena as the Hulk Hogan of this era, lacks psychology in the ring. Michaels punished his knee and leg for a good 10 minutes or so, and Cena forgot to sell it later. Cena truly lacks creditability and Michaels can carry anyone. This is a major problem for a guy they are pushing as the WWE Champion, and as a guy that has made Michaels and others before him, tap.
Michaels and Cena are carrying the storyline appropriately, Michaels saying that Cena won, but he is not the better man. Cena has no real response but to be a fighting champion, and of course, the fans will not get a repeat WrestleMania championship match for free. Instead, a good half hour or so of almost every tag team in the WWE/almost the entire company in a battle royale to ‘take’ the tag team titles from Michaels and Cena, further destroying the tag team division’s credibility. Not shockingly, Michaels eliminates Cena because they can’t work together and Michaels just wants to be WWE Champion without any partnership or distraction. This also serves to have another tag team getting the rub and win some gold that is pretty meaningless.
The Hardys win the match, which was the logical move, good luck to them as they defend it against a lackluster tag team title division that has only been in existence to serve the main event picture.
The main event picture still has Orton and Edge lingering in the background, both feeling they are gunning for Cena over Michaels and no surprise appearance by Kennedy, who would have undoubtedly stolen RAW. The Money in the Bank match on WrestleMania was solid and should have been pushed toward the middle of the night and not the opening match. Everyone worked hard, and Jeff Hardy and Edge should have been selling their pain more on RAW based on that intense ladder break. Kennedy was a smart choice to take the win and I’d like to see the writers take advantage of his charisma and intensity and tease him on both brands. Maybe Kennedy will be the one to finally beat Cena.
The women’s match on WrestleMania should have never happened. Thankfully, Mickie James interjected herself on RAW to give Melina her signature DDT, making us forget how bad Ashley works. What a bad experiment that was.
The Vince hat gag worked, but it took way too long to execute (it certainly explained Lilian Garcia’s skirt) and the lack of Stone Cold was strange. I understand if he’s not going to be working full time again, but why not one last jab at Vince the night after Mania?
Lashley versus Umaga and Estrada should have never happened as the main event to RAW, that drained the audience leaving both the paying crowd and the TV audience feeling like we were not given a good show. It was boring, awkward and about as entertaining as watching The Great Kahli perform. It would have been much stronger to leave the show on it’s strong points with Michaels and Cena.
Enjoy the outstanding post-WrestleMania coverage throughout Pulse Wrestling! Always remember, for things to change, you have to make movement. Thanks for reading and for all the feedback, feel free to contact me anytime at Bam@4sternstaging.com.
