Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan: Poor Daniel Bryan. He didn’t even have time to shine at the biggest stage of them all. I’m all for realism in wrestling, but this was the wrong time. If they were going to do this, they should’ve took the kiss of death out of this match, so it didn’t look like a fluke. People were also pro-Daniel Bryan and anti-Sheamus so it kind of backfired on WWE and didn’t get the reaction they were expecting. They were going for Ulimate Warrior vs. Honky Tonk Man but ended up being Bob Backlund vs. Kevin Nash.
Divas Tag Match: Celebrities always go over at Mania, so the outcome wasn’t surprising. It’s just tough to watch one of the most talented divas doing a job to a celebrity. And seriously, Kelly Kelly needs to learn how to hit the ropes. You cannot even blame it on her being green. She’s been in WWE for six years. They did too many dangerous spots that they should’ve been allowed to do, especially since it was a filler match that hardly any people cared about.
GM Takes All Match: Well, something had to go after Undertaker-Triple H. It was way overbooked and too many people not in the match got involved. The obvious team went over, but this wasn’t even a good spot-fest. The Extreme Rules commercial gave me some comedic relief because they were pitching it as a PPV where rules are broken for only one night right after Hornswoggle and Eve, who weren’t in the match, getting involved right in front of the referee in a regular match.
Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes: The right man went over but could’ve been better. They had the right sense of mind not to go out and try to put on a great match, but I don’t believe Cody Rhodes really got humiliated. He just lost. I rather have seen the Big Show playing around with Rhodes making him look like an idiot or just ended it in 5 seconds. That said, I liked the finishing sequence. Big Show looked like he was in peril at that moment. Fine match.
Randy Orton vs. Kane:Kane needs to dictate the pace of the match on offense as a heel better and wrestle in character. I don’t see how chin-locks and normal wrestling moves equals a psychotic individual. When Kane was on offense, it was boring. When Orton was on offense, he was charismatic and the match was fun. It started off slow and had spots that looked contrived because of lack of communication between the two, but once it shifted into 2 gear, the match got very good. It’s interesting to see Orton do a clean job here to Kane. I wonder if he pissed someone off. Boring first half. Very good second half.
Rock vs. John Cena: Maybe I’m in the minority, but this match didn’t do that much for me. The work was fine. They were on the same page throughout the match, but it just didn’t seem epic. The reason I believe it was lacking epicness was because it lacked a story that took you to each point of the match. Rock selling the ribs went nowhere as did everything else they before it shifted into madness, which, as a result, made everything leading up to them kicking out of finishers seem like filler. They were also calling spots so loudly that the last seat in the arena could hear them. We’ll see where Rock winning leads. The match was mostly fireworks and a bit underwhelming, but it was still an enjoyable match mainly because Cena’s cockiness getting the best of him. If they’re going to do a rematch (which most likely will happen), allow Cena to take some time off due to being in awe that he lost and at least see if him being off TV affects the ratings that much. I don’t believe it will because back in 2008, Cena was off TV due to injury and the sky didn’t fall.
Chris Jericho vs. Punk: Chris Jericho trying to get into Punk’s head in the beginning was a great display of how cunningly evil the Jericho character can be to win the championship. They also had a very good wrestling match. The only minor complaint I have is I never thought for a second Punk was in peril of losing the match. Anyway, lots of back and forth action and near-falls. Overall, just a pure wrestling match with some great mat work in the final sequence. Since Jericho tapped out, it makes me wonder if he’s leaving the WWE again.
Triple H vs. Undertaker: This wasn’t a battle. It was a war. *This* defines sports-entertainment. There’s a difference between being overbooked and heavily booked. This was heavily booked. A lot of stuff happened, but it never took away from the match’s momentum and all fitted the context of the story. And speaking of the story, how many times did you believe the match’s story was heading in one direction and then completely shift in another direction? That’s called having the fans on the edge of their seats and in the palm of your hands. They just built layers on top of layers. That’s called having the fans on the edge of their seats and in the palm of your hands. Plus, there were other great moments in here as well. The selling, the intensity, the great selling of desperation and peril at the same time, the ability to convince us nobody was in control and it was anyone’s match, the incredibility close, perfectly timed near-falls and dramatic false-finishes by both men, and the extra element HBK brought into the match because of his amazing knack for timing about when to get involved while he also sold the match’s violence with great facial expressions and mannerisms. It was the best guest refereeing I ever saw.The finish might’ve been clichéd and not a spin-off like everything else, but it made perfect sense to sell the point Undertaker can’t be beaten at Wrestlemania. This match sold me that the Undertaker is truly immortal. Plus, it was a great job to bring in Jim Ross for this match to be able to sell how important this match was. Well booked, worked and announced. What else could you ask for?
Overall: A gigantic step up from the previous Wrestlemania, and one of the better in the 20 era of Wrestlemanias. Of course, I would’ve enjoyed seeing Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus have a competitive match up and could’ve done without the GM match and divas match, although aside from the GM match and divas match, nothing else was bad. Chris Jericho and CM Punk put on a pure wrestling and Undertaker and Triple H put on something truly special. If Rock and Cena had a great match and finished strong, this could’ve been one of the best Manias of all time. But even though they didn’t, I still give Wrestlemania 28 a thumbs up.
Why The Streak is one of the last important things left in wrestling:
When someone loses a title match, they are able to get another rematch. Even if they lose the rematch, they still eventually can get one down the line. Hell, we’ve even had people like Edge hold the title 10 times just off month title runs, proving the era of being champion and then losing isn’t important as it once was. Even career matches do not mean much because wrestlers usually come back anyway or it’s part of a storyline. But when Taker loses at Mania, the streak is over. He cannot have a rematch that will counter his lost. It’s over and there’s nothing he can do about it. There’s not many things in wrestling where something can just end and this is why it’s one of the last important things left in wrestling.
Until then, that will do it. Thanks for reading. And be sure never to kiss your girlfriend before you fight someone.
