Wrestlemania 27 – A Review
And so, the dust settles on another Wrestlemania. Only one question really needs to be asked at this point: was it any good? Well, yes is my answer. Wrestlemania XXVII was a flawed but mostly very strong show for my money, which featured some good wrestling, some comedy of variable quality and a few surprises. With all that said, let me now look back at the show in order.
Things got off to a bad start when the news began to leak over the internet that the US Championship match between Sheamus and Daniel Bryan had been bumped from the main card and relegated to the status of “dark match” (for those of you not in the know, a dark match is a match that takes place before the cameras start rolling at a televised event – there’s usually at least one of these to warm up the crowd). This sadly appears to be becoming a familiar theme at Wrestlemania (witness the bumping of the Colons versus The Miz and John Morrison at Wrestlemania 25). I know that I was not alone in looking forward to this match, so for it to be cut was a disappointment. In any case, the match went to a none finish when the ringside lumberjacks got involved and the Raw General Manager ordered a Battle Royal to begin instead, eventually ending in a victory for The Great Khali.
Anyway, on with the show. Midnight (UK air-time) came and a singer I don’t know did a passable rendition of “America the Beautiful”. After that, we had our host, the most electrifying man in ALL of entertainment, The Rock! Rock proceeded to have fun interacting with the crowd but I felt that this segment dragged a little at home. It was eighteen minutes past midnight before we saw a wrestler (sorry, superstar) finally make his way to the ring! One can only imagine what Sheamus and Daniel Bryan were thinking. Surprisingly, it was Alberto Del Rio. The decision to start the show with the World Heavyweight Championship match was certainly an eyebrow-raiser. On the one hand, it did give a certain “let’s get started with a bang” vibe to the proceedings but at the same time it seemed somewhat unfair to relegate the winner of the Royal Rumble to curtain-jerker status. Having said that, I have heard wrestlers say that, if you can’t go on last, you want to go on first, so maybe Edge and Del Rio didn’t mind.
The match itself was very good, although undoubtedly too short. I felt that the finishing sequence was very well executed and the fact that Edge actually got the victory certainly surprised the crowd. Many fans seem upset with this decision but as I said in my predictions, waiting a little longer for the championship won’t do Del Rio any harm. Plus, the unpredictability of this outcome makes the whole show more enjoyable. The aftermath, in which Edge and Christian smashed Del Rio’s Rolls Royce was amusing enough, I suppose but didn’t really do it for me. They should have trashed the car more severely if they were going to, Stone Cold style. I must also say that Del Rio’s entrance was one of the most awesome wrestling entrances I have ever seen. Driving onto the ramp, with an image of his mansion on the screens behind him, it really looked as if he had driven straight out of his driveway and onto the stage. The set design and visual guys deserve whatever their equivalent of an Oscar is for this.
In fact, I’d just like to take a moment to congratulate WWE’s production team as a whole here, not just for Wrestlemania but for all of their work. WWE has the best camera crew, directors, sound guys, pyro and effects specialists, video editors and set designers in the business. The slick, glossy and professional nature of their productions is a major reason why nobody can compete with them and the men and women behind that do not get enough credit for it, in my opinion. At Wrestlemania they once again did themselves proud with a beautiful set-up. Nothing, however, would out-do Del Rio’s entrance, at least not in my opinion.
Back to the show. The next match was Cody Rhodes versus Rey Mysterio. In keeping with his usual tradition, Rey adopted a variation of a superhero costume on his way to the ring, this time coming out as Captain America. Which was awesome. I suppose if he ever tries to use Superman’s costume he’ll get sued by John Cena! The crowd took a little while to warm up to this match but warm up they did. Cody had a new entrance, focussing on his supposed “disfigurement” from the fateful 619 delivered by Rey back in January. The only thing that baffles me about this angle is that nobody, thus far, has simply pointed out that there is nothing wrong with Cody’s face! In any case the match got better as it went on and ended with a victory for Cody, meaning that one of my predictions had gone right.
Next up was the eight-man tag, pitting The Corre against Kane, The Big Show, Santino and Vladimir Kozlov. However, it transpired that the Corre had already assaulted Kozlov during Fan Axxess, so Kofi Kingston subbed in for him at the last minute. In all honesty, this match was purely about getting the guys on the card. All of the baby-faces got to hit one big spot before Big Show knocked Heath Slater out and Santino scored the pin-fall. It was all over in about ninety seconds. I had predicted a victory for The Corre here but again, I don’t see this as a major problem. I’m sure that they’ll soon be back to running roughshod over Smackdown again. However, I would point out that if WWE expect us to care about Heath Slater they are going to have to do better than simply having Michael Cole say “The One-Man Rock Band!” every time Slater tags into a match. How lazy is that? Oh, he’s got long hair; let’s call him the one-man rock band. Right now, Slater looks like a guy that will be wished well in his future endeavours about a nanosecond after The Corre breaks up. Ezekiel Jackson has size and power, Wade Barrett has had lots of mic time, even Justin Gabriel has a cool finishing move. What does Slater have? Long hair.
After three matches, therefore, we had seen two good matches and one throwaway bit of fun. It was time for things to be kicked up a notch and so they were with the fourth match, Randy Orton versus CM Punk. A great video package recapped the feud before the match, which went on to be one of the best of the night. The story of the match turned out to be Orton attempting to fight through the pain of his leg injury in order to deliver enough offence to Punk. Eventually, he succeeded with a beautiful spot, in which he caught Punk, attempting to deliver a flying clothesline off of the top rope, in the RKO. The two men pulled this potentially difficult manoeuvre off flawlessly and it looked awesome. Unfortunately, this left me one for three on predictions at this point, so I was really hoping that things would change soon. Some have complained that this match was too short but it went nearly fifteen minutes; that’s not terrible. Others have complained that Punk lost the match. I was also rooting for him but then, Wrestlemania is generally about the baby-faces.
Halfway through the matches and it was finally time for Jerry “The King” Lawler to get his hands on Michael Cole, in what has been one of the best-built angles in some time. Cole, dressed in a garish orange wrestling singlet (a nod to a former announce team colleague, perhaps?) came to the ring insulting Lawler and JR, who by now had arrived to do commentary. And there was much rejoicing. Early on, the match went well with Lawler getting the better of Cole’s coach, Jack Swagger, and beating the heck out of Cole in his own “Cole Mine”. Soon after, Swagger put Lawler in trouble and we began the phase of Cole’s dominance. While Michael Cole did some amusing spots, particularly his attempt at Swagger’s “Swagger Bomb”, this section of the match dragged on far too long. A “boring” chant began which, to his credit, Cole quickly paid attention to and finally Lawler got the upper hand again. Swagger got a Stunner, Cole got a whuppin’ and finally tapped out, Lawler and Stone Cold celebrated with beers that Lawler surreptitiously did not drink (being a teetotaller) and all was right with the world.
The match had gone on far too long (it was actually longer than Edge and Rey Mysterio’s matches) and, given the length of the celebration afterwards that was especially unforgivable but that was okay – Lawler had won. Except he hadn’t. After Stone Cold had given Booker T a friendly stunner, we got an email from the Anonymous Raw General Manager, informing us that due to Stone Cold’s involvement, Lawler had been disqualified and Cole was the winner. In a case of shooting the messenger, Stone Cold then stunned Josh Matthews. The upside of this was that this left us with the team of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler on commentary for the rest of the show. The downside was that Cole had won and one of my banker bets had backfired. I was now one for four in the predictions!
After that, we had a long sequence of video packages, recapping Fan Axxess and various of the other events from Wrestlemania week. It really shows how far Wrestlemania has come over the years – and how worthwhile it is for a city to actually host the event. Then, the match we had all been waiting for. The match that surely should have been the main event. Triple H versus The Undertaker, No Holds Barred! Triple H came out first, preceding his standard entrance with an excerpt of Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls” and dropping the lights. The Undertaker’s entrance was awesome, as ever, though somewhat subdued by his Wrestlemania standards. Then, finally, the match began.
This was, as expected, a brutal affair. The first half of the match was a back and forth street fight in which the two traded big moves and went toe-to-toe. Highlights included Hunter’s vicious spine-buster through the Spanish announce table to the Deadman and a frankly evil-looking back body drop from the announce table to the floor delivered by The Undertaker. Eventually, the match slowed down and the second half of this battle saw Triple H gain the advantage and the action mostly take place in the ring. From hereon it was a case of Triple H dominating the match and attempting to do enough damage to his opponent to end it, while The Undertaker made sporadic and ever shorter but still dramatic fight-backs. However, no amount of big moves could quite get the three count for The Game. Finally, having already delivered three Pedigrees and countless chair shots, Triple H nailed The Undertaker with his own Tombstone Piledriver.
The Undertaker kicked out. Triple H backed across the ring, a look of actual fear on his face. It was as if, in that moment, Triple H suddenly believed the legend of the Deadman. Recovering his composure, Triple H went for his last signature weapon – the sledgehammer. Entering the ring with the hammer, Hunter advanced on his prone but stubborn opponent, only to get suddenly caught and dragged into The Undertaker’s deadly submission hold, Hell’s Gate! Hunter fought it for an incredible length of time, repeatedly trying to regain his hammer but the hold was locked in and he had no leverage to deliver a blow even if he could have maintained his grip. Finally, he tapped out. The match had lasted almost half an hour but it had told a great story. Triple H had brought more firepower than anyone had ever brought to The Undertaker but in the end the Deadman had preserved his streak, beating Triple H as much through sheer willpower as by any wrestling moves.
One last story was told after the match, as The Undertaker, in usual fashion, attempted to walk backstage under his own power rather than be helped or stretchered out. For once, he failed. He had won the battle and preserved his streak but at the end, The Undertaker was carried off while Triple H walked away from the fight. This was outstanding, everything I hoped for and I just hope that the two men get the credit that they deserve for it. The two men far exceeded their match at Wrestlemania 17, as good as that was and Triple H finally has that defining Wrestlemania match that his career has arguably been lacking. This was truly the story of an oft-used cliché, the Unstoppable Force meeting the Immovable Object. In the event, the Object remained unmoved but may have been irreparably damaged by the collision.
Following that was not going to be an easy task. There is no way that that match should not have closed the show and I began to worry that Vince had only gone with the running order he had because he wanted a feel-good moment to end the show. Did this mean that Cena was going to win? I hoped not but had no time to worry about it – Vickie Guerrero was on her way out with Wrestlemania-sized “Excuse Me”s! That meant that it was time for this year’s celebrity match, pitting Dolph Ziggler and LayCool against John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Jersey Shore star Snooki. This wasn’t too much of a wrestling match, as one would expect. The regulars all got to strut their stuff, the highlight being Morrison’s stunning version of Starship Pain to the outside. Finally, Snooki got the tag, with Michelle McCool trapped in the opposite corner.
A chorus of boos greeted Snooki as she entered the ring but she ignored them and then delivered a perfect double handspring into a butt bump on McCool. It was quite amazing. I’ve never heard grudging respect forced out of seventy-odd thousand people at once before. One moment there are all these boos, the next moment there’s some applause and you could almost hear thousands of people thinking “actually, that was pretty cool”. Snooki followed that with an odd but still quite cool cartwheel into a splash on the now prone McCool to pin her and win the match. All things considered, this was as good as one could have hoped. Wrestling fans may deplore the involvement of celebrities such as Snooki but the fact is that she got WWE an absolute ton of publicity, so one can’t blame them for hiring her. Plus, she seems to have got into the spirit of it and she didn’t stink up the joint. So I’d say this was a win for the company.
So, finally, the main event. John Cena versus The Miz for the WWE Championship. This began with an outstanding video package recapping The Miz’s rise to the top, going all the way back to his Real World and Million Dollar Tough Enough days. Some people have complained that WWE have frequently made The Miz look too weak during his WWE Championship run but they must have loved this. More than anything he has done so far, this said that The Miz is big-time. Unfortunately, WWE followed this with the low-point of the show. We had a choir come out and sing randomly, if well, before a video package started that basically could have been summed up as “John Cena sucks for Jesus”. I have never been a Cena hater but this was beyond crap. The saccharine treacly nature of this video package was just ridiculous and how anybody thought it would do anything other than even further incense the people that already disliked Cena is beyond me. The only theory that I could come up with was that Vince thought if he bored the audience for long enough they might cheer Cena out of sheer relief. In Atlanta, the buckle of the Bible Belt, seventy thousand people booed a choir! If that doesn’t say it all, I don’t know what does.
Finally, Cena actually came out, delivering his stupid marine salute and then making his way to the ring, somehow managing not to tell anybody to drink their milk or take their vitamins on the way. The match began. Unfortunately, for three reasons, it sucked big-time. Firstly, the crowd were largely burned out from Undertaker-Triple H. Secondly, the crowd also knew that nothing interesting would happen until The Rock came out, so that kept a lot of them sitting on their hands. Thirdly, John Cena was not at his best and The Miz, vastly improved as he is, is not yet a competent enough hand to cover that. Even Cena’s biggest detractors would agree that he is normally better than this. He seemed to lack energy, to the extent that JR and Lawler were forced to address it on commentary and speculate that something The Miz had done had had some kind of lasting effect.
In any case, the match ended with, of all things, a double count-out and frankly, I was fine with that, since it meant The Miz kept the championship. However, we were, of course, not done. With tedious inevitability The Rock came out and, after a little shenanigans with the Anonymous General Manager, announced that the match would be restarted with no count-outs and no disqualifications. I feared the worst as Cena went straight for the Attitude Adjuster. However, The Miz wriggled free and Cena turned around, straight into a Rock Bottom! One more time we heard JR calling “Rock Bottom! Rock Bottom!” and The Miz took advantage, covering Cena and retaining his title. After that The Rock battered The Miz and gave him the People’s Elbow, thus ensuring that a guy that left seven years ago had left two of the company’s top current stars lying but I didn’t mind. John Cena had not won the title! It left me three for five overall on my predictions but I really didn’t mind that. This story really has the potential to go somewhere now (more on that in my next blog) and the show, despite a major wobble in the last match, had managed to finish on a decent note after all.
All in all, I really enjoyed Wrestlemania XXVII. It was probably better than any of the last three Wrestlemania events, at least, and comparable to some of the best. I wouldn’t say it was the best of all time but it was a lot nearer to that than it was to being the worst. Oh, and one last thing. The world NEEDS to see William Regal on tour with Snoop Dog. Now.
Wrestlemania 27 Predictions
We are only a few days away from Wrestlemania 27, so I thought that it was about time I posted my predictions and thoughts for what is shaping up to be a fine show. Hot on the heels of an excellent “go-home” edition of Raw, this show features some matches that have been extremely well built up; as well as some that seem rather more thrown together. I feel that this has the potential to be one of the best ‘Manias ever but rather than just offer you my perspective, this year I’ve decided to freshen things up a little. So, offering their own predictions and insights will be my good friends and long time WWE observers Wayne “The Heart-Brack Kid” Brackenbury and Ian “Don’t Call Me Pat” Patterson. As always, I am your host, “The Lawman” Martin Marshall. To get ourselves in the mood we also went back ten years to revisit what many believe was the best Wrestlemania of all time, Wrestlemania 17. Hopefully, I’ll have our thoughts on that shortly. In the meantime, here are our predictions, hopes and expectations for Sunday night. By all means weigh in with yours!
Sheamus (c) vs Daniel Bryan for the US Championship:
IP: Sheamus to beat Bryan, he hasn’t had the belt long enough to lose it. I also think they’re booking him too strong to lose (unless they’re trying to build the upset win for Bryan).
WB: Sheamus to win for me.
MM: And I also think Sheamus gets the nod here. However, I could see Bryan getting a DQ win or something, especially if a lot of other heels are winning. Vince likes ‘Mania to be about the babyfaces.
Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes:
IP: I think this match could be really good. I want Rhodes to win but I think Rey probably will. I also think we might see the debut of Sin Cara here.
WB: I see Rhodes winning, beating on Rey after the match until Sin Cara makes the save. Then Rey gets put on the shelf for a little while and Rhodes feuds with Sin Cara.
MM: Well, I’m voting for two heels in a row but I think that Rhodes will take this. Having said that, I could see it going either way but I think the win would be huge for Cody. I hope Dusty is in his corner for the match. However, I don’t think that Sin Cara will appear here – I think we’ll see him on Raw the next night.
Randy Orton vs CM Punk:
WB: I think Punk will win, with the help of a new Nexus member.
IP: I want Punk to win but Orton probably will. We may see new members of the New Nexus.
MM: The last few weeks, as Orton destroyed the New Nexus, I was convinced Punk was going to win. However, with Punk suddenly being booked so strong the last two weeks I’m no longer so sure. Of course, after Punk’s promo this week it’s possible members of the New Nexus will cost him the match. I’ll still go for Punk, with no great confidence.
Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole:
MM: Of course, this match features Jack Swagger in Cole’s corner and Stone Cold as guest referee.
WB: Lawler will beat the heck out of Cole and Swagger!
IP: I’m a bit of a Cole Miner but I think Lawler will win when Austin stunners everybody.
MM: I’m hoping WWE will let Jerry break out the piledriver for this match! In any case, it only ends one way: Lawler wins, and he and Austin share a beer over the prone figures of Cole and Swagger. Incidentally, this has been one of the best builds to a match I can remember in a long time.
Snooki, Morrison & Trish vs Laycool and Ziggler (with Vickie):
IP: Probably Snooki’s team to win, I can’t see them bringing her in to lose.
WB: Snooki gets the win.
MM: Agreed, this seems like one of the easiest picks on the card.
Undertaker vs Triple H:
WB: I’m going out on a limb here. Triple H will beat ‘Taker (maybe with the help of some old DX buddies if they are at the Hall of Fame). I want him too, as well. I think it would be such a shock.
IP: No-brainer for me: Undertaker wins. He should never lose to anyone at Wrestlemania (except Bret Hart).
MM: I agree with Ian (except the bit about Bret Hart). If they break the streak now, they can’t use it next year. I do think that this will surpass their match at Wrestlemania 17. I also think that, if Triple H were to win, then this would replace Nash breaking Goldberg’s streak as the IWC’s most hated act of booking oneself strong!
Alberto Del Rio vs Edge (c) for the World Heavyweight Championship:
WB: Del Rio beats Edge then goes on to a program with Christian.
IP: I can see Christian turning heel on Edge in order to get Del Rio the win.
MM: I also think Del Rio wins this one. However, I’d prefer to see Edge retain the title, just to make things more unpredictable. Then, at the next show, Christian could join in a triple threat match, Del Rio could pin him to win, Edge blames Christian and turns heel to feud with him. So far, Del Rio has got everything he wanted at the first opportunity. I think making him wait a little longer might pay off in the long run.
John Cena vs The Miz (c) for the WWE Championship:
MM: Of course, the big elephant in the room here is The Rock. How will he affect this match, especially after Cena hit the Attitude Adjustment on him this Monday?
WB: I think and hope The Miz will win. If I see one more ‘Mania with Cena winning I’ll have to smash my TV! I think Rock will screw Cena.
IP: I really want The Miz to beat Cena. I can’t see it happening, though, so I’m picking Cena to win, with possible help from The Rock.
MM: Again, I’d love to see The Miz retain here. It would really solidify his standing as a top guy but up until this week I was firmly leaning to a Cena win. Now, I’m not so sure. Maybe Wayne’s scenario is right and will build to a Cena-Rock match down the line (I bet Vince is already wetting himself at the thought of the buy-rate that would bring in).
Also on this week’s Raw, another match was added.
The Corre vs Kane, Big Show, Santino and Koslov:
WB: I don’t care. I don’t even want to see it! How’s that?
MM: Fair enough.
IP: I think the Corre will probably win.
MM: I agree. It’s another thing for them to brag about.
WB: Seriously, I would have much rather seen Wade Barrett defend his Intercontinental Championship. And that means there’s no Tag Team Championship match either.
MM: Yet again.
In Conclusion:
Looking at all that, one thing is obvious to me: there are too many heel wins. Some of them will probably be wrong. Vince likes to finish Wrestlemania on a feel-good note and I think that will be difficult this year. I suspect that he will send Cena and Miz on last and have Cena win, although I hope that I’m wrong. However, realistically, it may not be wise for anybody to try and follow Triple H and the Undertaker. The problem is that that match can’t really have a feel-good ending. Both men are insanely popular so at least a large minority of the crowd are going to be disappointed with the finish of this one, no matter what happens. Rumour has it that Kofi Kingston and Drew McIntyre will also be added to the card as a singles match. If that happens, I definitely think Kofi scores the victory. In any case, I’d like to thank my guests and we’ll revisit this next week – when we’ll know what happened.
Let’s Get Ready to Ruummmmblllllllllle!
Ask any WWE fan what their favourite time of year is and they’ll likely answer right now. This period, starting with The Royal Rumble and ending in Wrestlemania, generally known as The Road to Wrestlemania, has for some years now been associated with a general rise in the quality of WWE programming. For creative and backstage personnel, this is the time to step up one’s work since the success (or lack thereof) of Wrestlemania is the key barometer by which the overall success of WWE will be measured. For wrestlers and other on-screen talent, this is also the time to step it up, in order to ensure an appearance at Wrestlemania, and the prestige, not to mention additional payday, that goes with it. In short, this is the time of year in which everyone in WWE is, or should be, giving everything their very best.
Judging by this year’s Royal Rumble, the 23rd since Pat Patterson had what was quite possibly the greatest single match idea in the history of wrestling, this year will be no exception. Sunday’s pay per view was undoubtedly the best thing that WWE have put on for some time, and bodes very well for the future. The show opened with a good match between Christian and his challenger, Ezekiel Jackson, for the ECW Championship. The match sensibly played to the strengths of both men, the power and size of Jackson being contrasted with the veteran guile of Christian. It was nice to see that, even given the lowly position of ECW in the WWE priority list, the match was given a reasonable length of time. The only problem with it is that Christian has become such a dominant champion. It’s hard to see where we go next for him, which in turn, makes one question whether or not the ECW Championship will be featured at Wrestlemania. A strong feud is required to get the brand on the biggest show of the year, and currently it’s difficult to see where that is coming from. Certainly, Christian can give Jackson a rematch – the victory was hardly so dominant as to deny the big man that. Unless something happens to lift Jackson to another level, however, it’s hard to imagine that contest taking place on pay per view at all, much less on the grandest stage of them all.
Elsewhere in the WWE Universe, there are people with clearer futures. Next up, after some backstage “comedy” shenanigans, was an impromptu match between MVP and The Miz, for the United States Championship. One of the great success stories of 2009, it is nice to see that The Miz has not yet started to rest on his laurels. One just senses that he knows how close he is to achieving real success, and he is not going to let up until he gets there. This feud is also invigorating MVP, as well. Porter, once tipped to be a future top guy, has seemingly floundered for some time, particularly since moving to Raw. Going after the US Championship has helped restore his profile, which is no bad thing. This sort of feud is exactly what secondary championships are made for, in my opinion. One only has to look back at The Rock versus Triple H in 1998 or Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit in 2000 to see that these kinds of mid-card feuds can enhance the profiles of all concerned.
The match itself was entertaining without being a classic. There was good back and forth, and either man could believably have won. The booing from the crowd came after the match. The Miz won with a sneaky roll-up, and then began taunting MVP, who promptly nailed him with the Playmaker. Most of the crowd seemed to regard this as sour grapes, which also indicates the rising popularity of The Miz. One can’t help but remember that MVP was far more successful as an arrogant heel than he has been lately, so maybe this would be a good feud to accomplish a double-turn, when the time is right.
Staying with the Raw brand, we moved from the US Championship to the WWE Championship, with a rare heel-heel match, Randy Orton versus Sheamus. Before the match, both members of Legacy separately found Randy to assure him of their loyalty and support, while casting doubts on that of their team-mate. Understandably, Randy grew tired of this and told Ted DiBiase that he did not want help from either of them in his match. The match itself was fine, and featured a few nice moments, such as a brawl outside the ring where Sheamus sent Orton into the ring-post and, as Orton staggered back, shoved him straight into the same post again. A very simple manoeuvre, but one that looked effective and made sense. Orton appeared to have the upper hand when Cody blindsided Sheamus in clear view of the referee. Although Orton hit the RKO on the Irishman, the ref called for the bell and Orton was disqualified.
After the match, Orton attacked Cody, to the delight of the crowd, and dealt with Ted in similar fashion when he came out to intercede on his partner’s behalf. A recovered Sheamus then levelled Orton with a bicycle kick and left the ring. Obviously, Orton had the crowd during this match but I had to agree with Jerry Lawler when he remarked that the audience were not as vocal in Orton’s support as he (or I) had expected. To be honest, I have heard Orton garner bigger pops when wrestling faces (and not just John Cena). Orton got more cheers for his post-match attacks than anything in the match. It seems clear now that Randy is turning face again and I do believe that that is what the crowd wants. However, he has built up a very distinctive in-ring style that I believe is more suited to a bad guy. To really go over as one of the good guys, although it would be a mistake to alter too much of his character, Orton needs to adopt a faster pace in the ring.
Next up was the conclusion to the “Piggy James” feud over the Women’s Title on Smackdown. I have enjoyed this feud a lot, more than any women’s feud I can remember for a long time. It’s the same formula as Miz and MVP – take two characters that can’t stand each other and give them a championship to fight over. Works every time. In this case, Women’s Champ Michelle McCool was being challenged by Mickie James, so, she decided to combat this threat by undermining the challenger’s confidence. For the last few weeks, McCool and her friend Layla (LayCool) have subjected James to increasingly nasty and brutal taunts regarding her weight. Many fans have taken offence at this, proving two things. One, that the issue is a good one since it clearly gets under people’s skin and two, that many wrestling fans seem to forget that it is the job of wrestling villains to be hateful, nasty and un-likeable. LayCool managed this very well. In this case, the match was extremely brief, which was not really a bad thing, since this story was not about the match, it was about retribution and vindication. Swiftly winning the championship (her fifth) with a typically brutal looking DDT, James was joined by the other baby-face women of Raw and Smackdown, led by her friend and ally Maria, bearing an enormous cake. As her friends held down LayCool, Mickie smashed the cake in their faces, gaining her final revenge. The two heels sold the humiliation beautifully, so this was a segment that was satisfying.
After that it was back to the business of world championships, specifically The Undertaker’s World Heavyweight Championship. Rey Mysterio, who has really been on fire for the last few months, was challenging the Deadman in a match that I was really looking forward to. The awesome video recap of their feud only heightened my anticipation. The match itself was, far and away, the best match of the night thus far, a classic case of little man with heart taking on dominating big man. Mysterio kept coming, ‘Taker kept swatting him down, Mysterio kept coming back again. The two men worked numerous and inventive counters and reversals and Undertaker did a wonderful job of selling Mysterio’s offensive moves. Finally, ‘Taker nailed the victory with The Last Ride but honestly, Mysterio came out of this defeat looking more credible than he did any of his world title victories a few years back. I would happily watch these two again.
Finally, then, The Royal Rumble Match itself, one of the most hotly anticipated matches of any year. At its worst, this match is always entertaining. This year, it was a long way from its worst. Many people complain nowadays that the prize for the Rumble, a shot at a title at Wrestlemania, makes the match more predictable, guaranteeing that only a handful of entrants have any chance of winning. So what? In any real sporting contest – be it a golf major, a tennis championship or whatever – only a handful of the entrants have a genuine chance of winning. The dream, however, is there for every entrant, however faint it may be. Moreover, the Rumble isn’t just about the winner. Done right, this match can elevate a number of guys, and that is exactly what this year’s Rumble did.
Firstly, we had CM Punk, who dominated the opening stages of this Rumble. Fair enough, Punk lasted only a few minutes and got nowhere near victory. The point was what he was allowed to do with his time. He eliminated five competitors personally and he underlined every aspect of his character by virtue of his little speeches in between waiting for opponents – his cowardice, his arrogance, his dishonesty and his skill. This was Punk’s fourth Rumble but it felt like his first as it was the first time he was in the match as a major star. Further, his elimination at the hands of Triple H, coming hot on the heels of their excellent match on Smackdown last week continues a potential feud that I would love to see played out further.
No one, with the possible exception of Matt Hardy and Zack Ryder, really came out of this match looking weaker than they had going in and almost every entrant was allowed to hit at least one finishing move on somebody, if not score any eliminations. Several guys were allowed to be extremely dominant, if only briefly, including Carlito and Kane. Beth Phoenix popped the crowd big-time when she eliminated the gigantic Great Khali with a kiss, in what has to be one of the greatest bits of booking I have ever seen. Nobody wants to see Khali main-event Wrestlemania but this allowed him to be taken out of the match while in no way diluting his aura as a dominant giant, gave the crowd a good laugh and gave Phoenix a major feather in her cap all in one moment. The feud of MVP and The Miz also continued to heat up. First, Miz regained his status as bad guy by blasting MVP in the back of the head with the US Title belt, before MVP could even get to the ring, then later, a recovered Porter eliminated both himself and Miz from the match with a clothesline, before they continued to fight on the outside. These two characters now really hate each other.
R-Truth did his cause a world of good by simultaneously eliminating both Mark Henry and The Big Show, which comes as a welcome addition to his recent victories over Chris Jericho and proves that he is moving in the right direction. And, of course, there is Shawn Michaels. HBK was both dominant and desperate in his quest to win the Rumble and challenge The Undertaker at Wrestlemania for the second year running. The moment when he eliminated his tag-team partner Triple H with a blindsided Sweet Chin Music underlined both his determination to win and the growing tension between DX. Once again, it also allowed Triple H to be eliminated while in no way detracting from his status as a dominant ass-kicker. When Michaels was himself eliminated by Batista, he played it beautifully, moving from disbelief to frustrated rage very quickly. Re-entering the ring, he super-kicked referee Charles Robinson, who was attempting to persuade him to leave, only to seemingly be overcome with remorse as he realised that he was reacting badly. This story is fascinating, and could go in many directions as yet.
But the ultimate story was, of course, the return of Edge. His shocking return from an injury that, we were told, might even keep him out of ‘Mania itself may have been reminsicient of John Cena’s 2008 victory but so what? Edge’s return shakes everything up and gives a whole host of new possibilities for ‘Mania. I also love the fact that he has opted to postpone his decision as to who he faces until after The Elimination Chamber in three weeks. The tension should only continue to rise. All in all, then, this was a cracking pay per view, with an excellent conclusion. We had both conclusions and beginnings on the show and, as The Road to Wrestlemania stretches out before us, it looks both exciting and unpredictable.
Marshall Law 