Wrestling’s 4R’s PPV Edition 4.03.12: WWE WrestleMania 28

HELL IN A CELL – The Undertaker defeated Triple H: While the first hour felt like a disappointment, when hour two began, it finally felt like WrestleMania. It started with Jim Ross’ appearance to commentate on the match, and even just in the set up announcing, it felt way more important. Shawn, Taker and Triple H entered, the cell lowered and you just had the feeling that shit was about to get real, and it did. Now like last year, I am fully aware that people are not going to like this match for one reason or another, but as JR would say, this was a damn fine piece of business. From the bell these guys came to put on a show, all three, and they did so maybe better than anyone can. That’s not a shot at other performers; it is a compliment to these three men. From the brutality and attack of Triple H, where he did cross that line to try and end Taker, to the fact that Shawn was so conflicted in whether to stop the match or not, it was clicking. The superkick from Shawn makes sense, due to the fact that Taker put him in Hells Gate, so that he would NOT stop the match. From there, we had scintillating near falls, including the superkick from HBK, which led into the pedigree, and the crowd bought that near fall HUGE. They had more from there, Taker finally was able to fire up and come back, with more hot near falls and they had the audience in the palms of their hands. The brutality was evident on the backs of Triple H and Taker, as the chair shots certainly left their mark, they were not out there to fuck around. Much like the end of the second Taker vs. Shawn match, Triple H had one last try at ending things, but was soundly stopped by Taker, and was backed off to the corner. He told Taker to fuck off, gave him the crotch chop, ate the tombstone and that was it. From the brutality, to the conflict that Shawn Michaels has to battle through, the near falls and the reaction of the crowd, this match delivered and in a perfect storm, made this finally FEEL like WrestleMania. To add onto what they did, the post match where the mutual respect was evident, Shawn helping Taker to his feet, the two of them helping Hunter to his feet and hugging it out as they left the ring was the perfect end to the story that they told, which in many ways played perfectly off of the stories they told with Flair vs. HBK, the two HBK vs. Taker matches, and last year’s Triple H vs. Taker match. This was simply outstanding. Also, poor Triple H, he wanted to bleed the hard way and allowed Taker to Harley Race the fuck out of him, and it just didn’t work the way they had hoped. But yes, Triple H, Taker, Shawn and Jim Ross worked in chorus to create a spectacular match, and that is all I have to say about that…

CM Punk defeated Chris Jericho: Going into the show I had stated that these guys would deliver a very good match, if they had the time to tell their story and work, and I am pleased to say that they did. Before the match started, the new man in power Johnny “My Suit is Awesome” Ace made a stipulation, that if Punk were to get DQ’d, he would lose the title, because he didn’t want a fight, he wanted a wrestling match. That played well into the storyline that they wee building, and that I was a fan of, as well as the past history between Punk and Johnny. While the opening portion of the match was admittedly slow, it served its purpose well, with Jericho trying his best to piss off Punk and get the easy DQ victory and the title. It played perfectly into everything he had done before the match in the build, and they played off of it very well. From there the match did pick up, and as expected, they delivered a very good match. The counter of the top rope RANA into the Walls, into what were some great mat counters of the submissions leading to the finish were all well done, and really got the crowd into it. CM Punk retains in a very good WrestleMania match, in clean fashion, and again, not only was the work good, but they played perfectly off of the build tot the match. I know a lot of people were not fans of the build, but now that you see it played out, I feel that more people will appreciate that effort. The match was hurt by the crowd at the beginning, but I feel that they really worked hard to overcome that, and they delivered what I felt what was the second best match of the night.

The Rock defeated John Cena: The first thing that I want to say about this match is that I will give the Rock a lot of credit (and I am not taking anything away from John Cena) for performing at the level that he did in a 30-minute WrestleMania main event. When you consider the time off he had, I feel that it is a great accomplishment. The opening portion of the match was a little clunky at times I will admit, I got to do the second viewing and noticed that more on that replay viewing. But both guys worked hard, they used just about everything we thought they would use, and the crowd was electric for the whole thing. The final 10-minutes or so of the match really made it for me, and made it feel like a “WrestleMania” main event. I know that some were so happy to see Rock back, but he did get a bit tired, and there were a few small instances of timing problems, like when he let Cena stand up top for 45 seconds or so. Also, the blatant calling of spots really got annoying. And don’t get me wrong, spots are always called, but damn guys, could you at least TRY to be a bit more quiet and or covert about it? While they were generally small things, it did take away from my enjoyment. While I ended up not liking it as much as some, I do feel that they delivered a good main event, with the feel good moment of Rock winning, which is exactly what the crowd wanted. In some ways I feel the decision is questionable, since Cena is the one staying full time, but some times the simplest finish is the best, and in this case, that is what happened. The finish in particular really worked, as Cena, for lack of a better term, “heeled” it up as he mocked the Rock and went for his own people’s elbow, but as Lawler stated, “one mistake cost John Cena the match.” While I do not feel that it reached “epic” levels, I felt that it was good, and the atmosphere was really amazing, and at the heart of it, that is what WrestleMania is all about. I will be interested to see where they go on Raw with the Cena loss.

Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy: The battle for control of both show took place here at WrestleMania, and in many ways I felt really bad for these guys. I didn’t feel that the build was the best, but they unfortunately had to follow the Hell in the Cell, which really had drained the crowd. Again, for a match that was supposed to be pretty important if you think about it, I mean, control of BOTH shows, it came of much like the Kane vs. Orton match in my opinion, the run of the mill TV match. It broke down and became a bit of a cluster, which again was expected, but doesn’t really make things good. Zack Ryder got rolling, Ziggler was a bump machine, and it appeared as if Ryder would get the win, until Eve got involved. Her distraction was enough to cost Zack the match, and give Johnny and his suit control of Raw and Smackdown. To add insult to injury so to speak, Ryder got to look like a goof twice as Eve eventually kicked him in the balls and left. Also, they shifted the entire focus to THAT instead of the fact that Teddy Long lost his job, which remember, was the big angle here. Again, much like Kane vs. Orton, this wasn’t bad, but it just didn’t feel “WrestleMania” if you get my drift.

Maria Menounous and Kelly Kelly defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve: While they worked hard, and I certainly give Maria credit for working hurt when she obviously didn’t need too, the bottom line is that this was not good, went too long, and I hated the finish. I know that it is a “celebrity match,” but it just was not good, too many hiccups and it was sloppy. They went too long, the crowd really didn’t care, and the fact was we all knew that the celebrity would win, but did she have to beat Beth? Remember she is the champion? I have no issues with the celebrity winning, but you know, Eve was out there, and was perfect to take the loss. As Steve Cook would say, “it is what it is.”

BACKSTAGE BULLSHIT/Funkasaurus: I have to say that the backstage stuff with Flo Rida, Captain Keith from Deadliest Catch (which I am a fan of) and the Funkasaurus stuff did nothing for my enjoyment of this show. All I could think of is that, “this shit had to make the show, while Sheamus vs. Bryan only got 18 seconds.” Yeah, it still bothers me. No sir I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it at all. Throw the musical acts in there as well, it did nothing for me. I get what they wanted too do there, but it did not work for me, and took away important time.

You can listen to the latest edition of the 411 on Wrestling Podcast from Sunday night, where myself and Andrew Critchell broke down the show and took a ton of calls at this link!

YEAR IN REVIEW (PPV):
TOP PPVs:
I hope to catch all of the iPPVs from over the weekend, and when I do, I will update the listing.

* WWE WrestleMania 28 – 7.9
* ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – 7.5
* ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – 7.4
* TNA Victory Road – 6.5
* TNA Against All Odds – 6.5
* TNA Genesis – 5.0
* WWE Royal Rumble – 5.0
* WWE Eliminating Chamber – 4.0

TOP PPV MATCHES:
* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – Hell in a Cell: The Undertaker vs. Triple H [****½]

* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – WWE Title Match: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho [****]
* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – Last Man Standing Match – Kevin Steen vs. El Generico [****]

* From WWE WrestleMania 28 – The Rock vs. John Cena [***¾]
* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – ROH World Title Match: Davey Richards © vs. Roderick Strong vs. Eddie Edwards [***¾]
* From TNA Victory Road – Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy [***¾]
* From TNA Against All Odds – TNA X-Division Title Match: Austin Aries vs. Alex Shelley [***¾]
* From The ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – Eddie Edwards & Adam Cole vs. Davey Richards & Kyle O’Reilly [***¾]

* From The ROH Showdown in the Sun: Night One iPPV – Lance Storm vs. Mike Bennett [***½]
* From TNA Against All Odds – Kazarian vs. AJ Styles [***½]
* From TNA Genesis – Monster’s Ball Match: Abyss vs. Bully Ray [***½]
* From WWE Elimination Chamber – Raw Elimination Chamber WWE Title Match: CM Punk vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston vs. R Truth vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Jericho [***½]
* From The ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – TV Title Match – Jay Lethal vs. Tommaso Ciampa went to a 15-minute time limit draw [***½]
* From The ROH 10th Anniversary iPPV – No DQ Match – Kevin Steen vs. Jimmy Jacobs [***½]

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“Surprise, I’m not on the card, but you already knew that…” – Alberto Del Rio

“So I think you should be cool with Hunter and tell him that you forgive him for doubting you in the past…” – Shawn Michaels

“Hey dick face, remember when you called me an Indy superstar that won’t ever mean shit?” – CM Punk

“My God that DDP is a limber bastard…” – Chris Jericho

“18 seconds? Now that’s clobberin time…” – CM Punk

“HAHAHAHAHA… who said you were a better worker than me?” – Triple H

“Stephanie…” – Shawn Michaels

“So then Randy tells me, ‘Kane and I are a main event match anywhere in the country, and we’re gonna steal the show’…” – CM Punk

“I don’t always shit in old lady’s bags, but when I do, I do it while listening to the 411 on Wrestling Podcast!” – Randy Orton

And so the Mania ends for another year…