BY MIKEY MIGO
People have Birthdays, special events, and family gatherings. Sports fans have their championships, Christians have Christmas, fat kids have Halloween, and midgets have half off day at Kids R Us... What about us wrestling fans?
I think gifts should be exchanged between wrestling fans during WrestleMania weekend. Kids should have the following Monday AND Tuesday. This would allow the kids to stay up and cool down from the buzz of the show and properly take in the following nights RAW. The RAW after Mania has been important for years. Some years it’s not as grand as others, but all in all it’s part of the festivities. I was admittedly really hyped up for this show. Pretty much all wrestling fans that I know were amped for it. More so than normal. WrestleMania is always a big deal to any die hard wrestling fan. This year was different. As cynical and bitchy wrestling fans were, they were talking. The anticipation for the show has been built up better than any show in recent memory. They wanted this show to succeed. They put their cards on the table and went all in here.
In the end the buy rate for the show is what many will measure as the success for this show. I think the bigger picture should be looked at. How many casual fans stuck around to bump the ratings moving forward as professional wrestling and the WWE move forward? Who REALLY benefits? The fans? The wrestlers? The aging veterans? The younger rising stars? The WWE? That was the challenge. Everyone needed to benefit in some way or another.
CM Punk and Jericho put on a great match. It wasn’t the Steamboat/Savage match everyone was hoping for, but it was great on it’s own. If I were a “star rater” I’d give it 4 stars out of 5. The Triple H/Undertaker match was better. I REALLY didn’t expect myself to be saying that. Going into this show I was cringing about this one. Taker is getting up there so I was worried he was going to be slow and embarrassing. He carried himself well. Triple H, Taker, and Michaels gave us that balls-out Attitude era-style main event match. Awesome shit.
The Rock and Cena match was great too. It was exactly what it needed to be. The Rock was impressive in there. He was blown up and pouring sweat, but he hung with the rust-less Cena. The story and war they put on was dramatic and exciting. I think I’d be much less enthusiastic if Cena had won, but dammit… he didn’t. The Rock’s reactions, sells, and presence were magnificent. I don’t know if anyone else realized it, but his selling was some of the best acting I’ve ever seen the dude do. Cena could be going “heel” soon so that’s cool too. I know they’ll want to milk this Cena/Rock stuff as much as they can, but I hope Rock puts someone else over. A Rock and Miz match would do wonders for everyone. I don’t HATE Cena, but I just really can’t get into him. When he shows up my attention span for the WWE product goes elsewhere. I don’t dislike him in a “boo!” type of way or anything in a “mark” nature. I just find him stale, boring, and over rated. I respect the man, but I just don’t like his work. I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. The problem is that instead of just ignoring the guy and giving him ANY attention people are drawn to chant “Cena Sucks!” Do you folks realize that kind of reaction is why he’s continued to be pushed? ”. In many ways, this match was ALL about John Cena. Rightfully so too. He’s the guy right now. I’m not a fan, but I accept that for what it is. As long as you’re talking about him and responding then he’s “doing his job. The crowd wasn’t going ape shit with “Cena!” and “Rocky!” chants. They were going ape shit with “Let’s go Cena!” and “Cena Sucks!” As much as we’d like to think The Rock is the second coming, let’s be real. Those chants and reactions are just as much anti-Cena than pro-Rock. I think a lot of us older fans that cling on to our fandom for dear life NEEDED The Rock to win.
There are complaints and things I wasn’t exactly satisfied with. I feel that Dolph Ziggler should have been in a singles match. Mainly, I would have wanted to see Daniel Bryan and Sheamus get some actual time. The lame ass Brodus Clay segment could have been scraped and Bryan and Sheamus could have at least gotten six to eight minutes. Its two years in a row that they were booked to face each other at WrestleMania. If you ask me, it still hasn’t happened. The Diva match was forgettable. I had to rack my brain to remember many details about it. I’ll get over these things. Sure the Bryan and Sheamus match could have been great, but the rest of the card makes up for it.
Favorable critics are quick to say it was the best WrestleMania of all time. I can’t argue with that. It very well could be. I can’t give it a fair assessment without some time to gain perspective. I was recently trying to figure out what my favorite WrestleMania was. I went with 10, but 3 and 17 were close runner-ups. I can safely say that this WrestleMania was on par with THOSE. The good was great and the bad was in lower supply than normal. All in all, it was a great show. The Rock winning, the Hell in the Cell, Jericho sorta passing the “worker” torch to Punk, Kane getting a clean win on Orton, and Big Show capturing the only title left for him to win in the WWE was closure on that era. Meanwhile, it transitioned us nicely into the next era. The WWE we’ve grown bored of and used to is changing. The nostalgia trip is over. Now is now.
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