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The biggest event of the year has come and gone.  Did it live up to the hype?  I would have to say so.  Sure, not every match  was the greatest, but the ones that  mattered really did deliver.  And this year in a stroke of genius, they put the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match….Last. 

R-Truth & John Morrison vs MizShow.

     Quite frankly I really didn’t think this match was Wrestlemania worthy, and after watching it I stand by that thought.  It really wasn’t a bad match.  Its just that there was no real expectation for it.  Thankfully It was short, with Big Show scoring a knockout punch to Morrison.

Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes vs Ted Dibiase

    After all the build up for this one, and the multiple run in’s and beatdowns, I could not wait for this feud to be over with.  But would it be Randys revenge, or would one of the Legacy boys get the big win?  This one started off exactly like you would figure, with Legacy simply beating down Orton.  And right out of the playbook, they eventually come to blows when they stop each other from pinning Orton.  Then, what comes as a surprise to nobody, Orton comes back.  With a boot to the head of Rhodes, and and RKO for Dibiase, The Viper gets his revenge.  Despite being totally by the numbers, this was actually a pretty good match.

Money In The Bank Ladder Match.

     What can I really say about this?  MITB has always been a highlight of Wrestlemania sinces its debut.  This one featured ten men, and a whole lot of carnage.  I am still amazed at how they find new and interesting ways to use those ladders.  There were lots of insane moments in this one, but the big shock to me was who actually won.  Jack Swagger !  This guy has done a whole lot of nothing for the better part of the last year.  Perhaps this will be the first year that a MITB winner, fails to win a World Championship.

Triple H vs Sheamus.

     I have to say that despite not being a very big fan of HHH, this match was really good.  And it proved that Sheamus is definitely on his way to that main event status, and he deserves to be there.  Lots of give and take.  But in the end, Triple H gets the win.  I would like to see more of this feud though.

C.M. Punk vs Rey Mysterio.

     I was a tad let down by this match.  Usually Reys matches are more exciting.  I just don’t think they had enough time to really do everything they wanted to in this one.  And with virtually no build up, this could have just been the main event on Smackdown on any given week.  But that isn’t to say this match was bad.  It really was good.  Just not as good as it could have been.  And of course Rey gets the win.

Vince McMahon vs Bret Hart.

This really wasn’t so much a match, as it was a beating.  As you would have guessed, Vince thought he had pulled a fast one on Bret by buying off his entire family to be on his side, and surround the ring.  Even having his brother Bruce as the referee.  But I guess the tables were turned when Vince was informed that Bret knew about his plan, and the family simply took the payoff, but weren’t going to do help Vince at all.  Poor Vince, got screwed.  Then he got what I can only describe as one of the worst beatings I have ever seen McMahon take in the ring.  after getting pounded by Bret, his family, and taking multiple chair shots (wow there were a lot of them)  He finally tapped out to the Sharpshooter.

Edge vs Chris Jericho

     I had a feeling that this would be one of the better matches of the night, and it certainly was.  These two are masters at telling a story in the ring.  very well paced, with a few twists thrown in for good measure.  But in what I thought was a bit of a shock, Jericho hits a surprise Code Breaker, and gets the clean victory to retain his Title.  I am sure this feud will go on for a while.

The Divas have a ten woman tag match.  Everybody goes to the bathroom.  We find out later that Vickie hit some sort of Hog Splash and got the win for her team. 

John Cena vs Batista.

I guess I didn’t do too well in my predictions for Wrestlemania. Originally I had said I thought Cena would win.  Then took a chance and went with Batista.  Silly me, this is a John Cena at Wrestlemania match.  Honestly, this was a very good match.  I think the build up for it was done very well, and for once they did a good job of telling that story in the ring.  The moments where Cena looked like he was beaten mentally and physically.  And later the look on Batistas face when he just couldn’t put Cena away.  All good stuff.  But of course, Super Cena finds a way to do what he does best.  Pull off the big win, and become WWE Champion again.

Undertaker vs Sean Michaels.

     I thought this should have been the closing match of last years Wrestlemania.  But with the added stipulation of The Streak vs The Career, it did give this one something special to end the night with.  But could they do it again?  Could the sequel be as good as the original?  The answers are Yes, and YES !  I would still rate their first meeting a bit higher as a match, but this one was off the scale in terms of emotion.   These two threw everything they had at each other, and tore the house down.  This will easily be considered the best match of the year again.  And the ending saw a battered Sean Michaels climb up The Undertaker, who is yelling at him to “stay down”  only to mock Taker by drawing his thumb arcross his throat, then slapping him in the face.  This of course ended the brief moment of compassion, as Undertaker gave Michaels one last Tombstone, where he actually jumped in the air to deliver it, and pinned Michaels for the 1.2.3.  Thus Ending his career.

My final thought on this one, is that this was one of the better Wrestlemanias that I have seen in the last 5 years or so.  If you haven’t seen it yet, then what are you waiting for?

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The Elimination Chamber is over, and new Champions have been crowned.  And with that, we are now seeing Wrestlemania 26 begin to take shape.  The two main events are in place.  Batista will take on John Cena, and Edge will face Chris Jericho.  I have to admit, I’m a little surprised, yet relieved to see that HHH didn’t get himself put into the main event.  So how do these two Championship matches stack up?  I think the better of the two will be Edge vs Jericho.  Both of these guys have tremendous skill, and are very capable of putting on a good show, while telling a great story in the ring.  The built in story line that occured because of the injury to Edge just made it that much easier.  I don’t think this one will end the show, but it could very well steal it.  Then we have John Cena vs Batista.  I was lucky enough to go to Wrestlemania 23 in Detroit, and witnessed first hand the kind of energy that flows through an arena when Cena comes in.  Despite the mixed reactions he gets, he is still incredibly popular.  Batista being the bad guy in this one should mean more of a favourable response for Cena, but who knows for sure?  Either way, this one will most likely be the main event of the night.  Both of these guys are scary strong, but not the greatest Wrestlers.  I can see this being one of those, Cena takes a huge beating, yet comes out on top, type of matches.  What could be a good main event, but I don’t see it, will be the third match that has been announced thus far.  Sean Michaels vs The Undertaker…part 2.   Why on Earth they decided to try and replicate the great match they had last year is beyond me, but there it is.  This to me is like the feeling you get after you watch a really good movie, and knowing they will do a cheesy, money grab sequel that will never live up to the original.  I really hope I am wrong, but I have a feeling I won’t be.  The added stipulation that Michaels retires should he lose, does add to the drama, but thats about it.  The last thing that has been revealed so far, are some of the participants in the Money In The Bank, ladder match.  As of this post, we have Kane, Christian, Dolph Ziggler,  and Shelton Benjamin.  The ladder match was rumoured to not be happening at this years Wrestlemania, so I’m very happy to see that one being wrong.  And the field looks like Its shaping up rather well.  In fact, this years Wrestlemania in general is looking pretty good.  Lets see what they do to round out the rest of it though.

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Welcome to the last stop on the Road To Wrestlemania.

     I haven’t always been a fan of the Elimination Chamber concept.  Mostly because I felt that the WWE should have adopted the War Games style match instead.  But over time I have come to appreciate this unique match, and now it is the theme for an entire Pay Per View.  And being the last PPV before Wrestlemania, It’s importance is even greater.  I must say that I was expecting some surprised for this years edition, and I wasn’t let down.  Of course I won’t spoil those surprises, but I will say that the one at the end of the Smackdown, Chamber match was a good one.  Of course in hindsight I should have seen it coming.  First up though was the Raw, Chamber match.  This group had some interesting things going for it, story wise.  With guys like Randy Orton, and Ted Dibiase in there, who could work together.  And of course HHH, John Cena, and Sheamus, who all have their own issues as of late.  And last but not least, the high flying Kofi Kingston.  All the right elements were in this one, and It certainly delivered.  And as I said earlier, there was a nice surprise for the ending.  The Chamber match was followed by the Intercontinental Championship match between Drew McIntyre and Kane.  For me This McIntyre character is decent, but he has a long way to go to be as good as they are building him up to be.  Kane is always Kane.  Slow, methodical, and usually boring.  He is made out to be a monster, so It makes the other person look better if he can beat him.  This was a good match to head to the concession stand during.  Now, what could follow such a snorefest?  How about a Diva match.  What was supposed to be Gail Kim vs Maryse for the vacant Barbie Belt…aka, the Diva’s Championship. Turned into a tag match pitting Kim and Maryse vs Team Lametool. aka, Michelle McCool and Layla.  This being the work of the shrieking banshee known as Vickie Guerero.  As you can imagine this wasn’t too much of a match. Thankfully It was over fairly quickly and we moved on.  Next up was MVP facing The Miz for the United States Championship.  As much as I don’t care for MVP, I have to admit that this time out, he looked good.  This was a much better match than I expected, but of course had a typical sort of ending.  Either way, It was a good one to see.  Last of course was the second Chamber match.  This one didn’t seem to have as much in the way of storyline as the Raw, Chamber match did.  But it had some really good talent, that put on an excellent show.  How could you really go wrong with Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, R-Truth, C.M. Punk, Chris Jericho and The Undertaker?  Well, I guess one way, was to let C.M. Punk get his hands on a Mic.  But aside from that, this was a solid Chamber match, with that ending that again, I should have seen coming, but didn’t.

     So there you have it.  I would say that if you haven’t seen this PPV yet, then you need to check it out.  The stage is now set, so let the final push for Wrestlemania begin.

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About a year ago I did a post regarding the match between Sean Michaels and The Undertaker.  Now that we know that they will have their rematch, I thought It would be interesting to re-post this article, since it did have some interesting stats.  Enjoy.

So, for the last few weeks, In the build up to Wrestlemania 25, Sean Michaels has been taunting The Undertaker. And as per usual he is refering to himself as Mr Wrestlemania. I don’t really have a problem with that, but It did get me to wondering just how legitimate that claim was?
So after a little digging I came up with some interesting numbers and tidbits. Now, we all know that The Undertaker is undefeated going into this and he is currently 16-0. That right there could be his reason to lay clain to the “Mr Wrestlemania” title, but lets dig a little deeper.
The top 5 Win, Loss records for for wrestlers who have competed at 9 or more Wrestlemania’s is.
1) The Undertaker. 16-0
2) Hulk Hogan. 8-3-1
3) Bret Hart. 7-6
4) Randy Savage. 7-4
5) Sean Michaels. 6-7-2
So just going by Win, Loss records alone, not only doe’s Sean fall short, but he has lost more than he has won.
A few other big names who have been in less than 9 Wrestlemania’s, but are worth mentioning are.
7 matches…Steve Austin. 5-2
8 matches…Owen Hart. 5-2-1
8 matches…The Rock. 4-4
Now lets look at another interesting stat. Who has had more World Title victories at Wrestlemania? It is actually a 3 way tie, with all 3 men having won, you guessed it, 3 times. Those men are.
1) The Undertaker
2) Hulk Hogan
3) Steve Austin
But you may ask yourself this. Numbers aside, who has had more of those Wrestlemania moments? Who stole the show? And who really was, the main event, and the show stopper? Well here are two final stats for you to consider. The person who has headlined Wrestlemania the most in one of the main events is Hulk Hogan, with 8 main events. BUT!!! of all the matches that Sean Michaels has had, and despite his win, loss record, the last 5 Wrestlemania matches that Michaels has been in have won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s match of the year award.
So there you have it. Personally I think that Taker is the man, and that Hogan has a big claim to that Title of “Mr Wrestlemania” Especially since it was built around him for years. But after doing my homework, I have to give Sean his due. He also has the right to use that moniker. But I’ll leave you all to make up your own minds on this one.

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This years Royal Rumble  was billed as being the most star studded lineup ever.  Granted they say this pretty much every year, but this was definitely one of the best groups Ive seen in quite a while.  But before we get to the Rumble match itself, there were a few matches before the big dance to talk about.  The first of which was for the ECW Championship.  I have always been a fan of Christian, but I didn’t hold out much hope for this being any good since his opponet was Ezekiel Jackson.  Thankfully I was surprised by how good this match turned out to be.  Big Zeke has improved quite a bit over the last few months, and with Christians ability to make just about anybody look good, this was a very good way to start off the show.  Next up was the United States Champion The Miz, taking on MVP.  For the most part this was very much by the numbers, and I actually found my attention wandering.  I’m not sure If Its because I find MVP boring, or because of my lack of interest in this feud, but I was just happy to see this one come to an end.  Thankfully the next up was Randy Orton vs Sheamus.  I was really interested in seeing how the crowd would react to two “bad guys” facing off.  It didn’t take long to get my answer.  The crowd was behind Randy Orton, almost 100%  As for the match itself.  I have to say, It was better than average.  Sheamus has great potential, and seeing two heels try to out do each other with who can be more destructive was fun to watch.  I would love to see these two have at it a few more times.  The only down side to this match,  was that it was short. But because of the Rumble match itself, this was the case for pretty much all the matches.   Naturally after something heavy like that, we need a bit of comedy relief, which brings us to the Womens Championship match between Michelle McCool and Mickie James.  Mercifully I think this will be the end of the whole Piggy James angle.  There wasn’t a whole lot to mention match wise, except that it was very fast, and kind of funny.  Now that we have had a laugh, we get serious again, and settle in for Rey Mysterio vs The Undertaker.  You know with Mysterio you are going to get a lot of fast action and some high flying, which is probably why he was given this shot.  Taker is rather beat up, and probably shouldn’t even be holding the Championship right now, but he is a big draw, so we have him going against somebody exciting, that can carry the match for the most part.  And all things considered It worked.  I’m not sure I would like to see these two work together too much, but for one night It was a good pairing.  Now this brings us to The Rumble.  I was going to list the order in which everybody came in, but I thought that would be too much of a spoiler for those that haven’t seen It yet.  So let me just say that I was happy to see a good collection of top stars this year, with a few funny moments, a couple of twists, and at least one good surprise.  Overall this was a very good Royal Rumble.  Now to see how things play out on the Road to Wrestlemania.

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With the Royal Rumble less than a week away, I thought I would weigh in with my thoughts on the overall card itself, and how I think things might play out.  Like many of you, I do like to check out the most recent rumours and gossip, but when it comes to Pay Per Views, I try not to read them just prior to the show, so I can be surprised.  Especially since plans change so rapidly.  What somebody thinks is a possible spoiler, turns out to be nothing at all.  That being said, some of the recent things I have read, and watching the show’s leading up to the Rumble have me wondering if we are going to be getting a show with zero surprise factor at all.  First off, we have the ECW Championship being defended.  Christian vs Ezekiel Jackson.  Why on Earth Christian has been forced to sit this long in ECW is beyond me.  Sure he has been the Champion for quite some time, but he deserves to be on one of the main shows.  I see Christian losing this match simply so they can take the Title off of him in preperation for a move come draft time. Next up we have the Womens Championship match.  Michelle McCool vs Mickie James.  Normally I would think that James would win this one, just to finally put an end to the whole “Piggy James” nonsense.  But with talk of her releasing a Country album of all things, I have my doubts.  This might turn out to be a half decent match though, since these two can actually wrestle.  The first of the two World Title matches is The Undertaker vs Rey Mysterio.  Taker is in pretty rough shape these days, so I don’t see this being a very long one.  Rey will be fast, and make this look exciting, but in the end Taker wins and moves on to the main event at Wrestlemania.  The second Title defense is Sheamus, taking on Randy Orton.  Earlier I did a post on how I felt that Sheamus would not walk out of this match as Champion, because I did not see him headling Wrestlemania.  I still stand by that, but some rumours are going around about the Rumble match itself that puts a bit of doubt in my mind now.  And so that brings us to the Rumble Match itself.  As per usual, the build up has highlighted how this is every man for himself.  People making bold claims that they will win.  Silly over the top rope challenges, and teams having words with each other.  Teams like D.X.  And here is where things get a little strange.  The whole notion that if Shawn Michaels wins, he can get his shot at The Undertaker again.  And HHH, basically just wanting to win, because…..well, just because.  One rumour out there, has both men winning in a Tie, so that they both get what they want.  I certainly hope this doesn’t happen, as it cheapens the whole point of ” I am the one”  John Cena winning would simply be par for the course, but this scenario works for my prediction of Randy Orton having the Title.  Then there is Batista.  No doubt if he wins, its a rematch with The Undertaker.  But for some reason, I think that the Sean Michaels rematch would be pushed first.  As for a surprise winner?  I don’t see it happening, but I see Edge making his return at the Rumble.  I doubt he will win, but I think he will eliminate Chris Jericho, thus setting up a fine feud that could last all the way to Mania.  So, who do I pick as the overall winner?  If I must choose a name, I’ll go with Cena.  Not exactly going out on a limb with that one, but I see this Rumble being pretty much by the numbers anyway. 

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