WrestleMania 29 Reaction!

WrestleMania. The biggest show in WWE's industry. The showcase of Immortals. Let's see how the show went. BIG crowd. BIG arena. LITTLE hype.

Pre-Show:

The Pre-Show was pretty damn good. Reminded me of Sunday Night Heat. An hour long, covering all the matches, and we have a panel now. This Scott Sanford guy, Jim Ross (who should be commentating), Kofi Kingston, and The "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match

Wade Barrett (c) vs The Miz

Not much of a feud between these two, but these two had a nice little match. Back and forth and not much lagging or lull in the action. I'm not a fan of the characters, but I know Barrett and Miz can go in the ring. A short match to set the pace, and Miz wins with the figure four. Miz is the new IC Champion like I called.

The Pre-Show closed with one last look at The Rock and John Cena.

Not a bad Pre-Show. I remember when they had Sunday Night Heat before each pay-per-view in the Attitude Era showing promo packages highlighting the main feuds and I loved that. This was a nice little show to get everybody hyped and ready for WrestleMania. JR and Kofi were the two best commentators/analysts. I would've preferred it was just those two to be honest.

And now, on to WrestleMania!

WrestleMania 29:

No celebrity singing the National Anthem. We instead get a video covering Hurricane Sandy. Ok? Moving on.

We get a pretty sweet video package and it's time to get this show started!

6 Man Tag Team Match
Randy Orton, Sheamus, & The Big Show vs The Shield

WrestleMania kicks off with the The Shield taking on Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus. The fans were HOT for The Shield. Everything about these guys is great. I've said it on many occassions, so I won't repeat myself. I'll get to the match.

Definitely one of The Shield's shorter matches, but you don't want a LONG opener for WrestleMania, so this match was satisfying. The Shield looked great in their Mania debut. They kept that fast pace and quick tags. Rollins looked like he took one too many flying moves because when went for a suicide dive, he looked he flew right into the barricade.

Show was in for a while, but Sheamus was the best member of that team. He brought it tonight. The ending saw Orton reaching out and stealing a tag from Show and that was a theme in this match. Orton didn't want to tag Big Show. Reigns hit his HUGE spear on Orton and Ambrose got the cover and win while Show didn't do anything.

After the match, Show knocked out both Orton and Sheamus because he literally only got ONE tag in the match. Specifically, it was Orton who didn't want to tag him in. So, this whole time, I thought Orton would turn heel, but he sort of did. He acted a little heelish to a Big Show who was trying to be good.

Maybe a Show/Orton feud in the works?

All in all, The Shield looked great in their WrestleMania debut and scored a strong win over Show, Sheamus, and Orton. It was a decent opener missing a little something, but a good match to get the crowd riled up. Maybe now, The Shield can move on to other things. Sheamus can move on. Show will probably go on to feud with Orton after tonight.

But what does The Shield move on to? They've beaten every top star in the WWE? Where is this going? We'll have to wait and see.

Ryback vs Mark Henry

This is one of the matches I was looking forward and I was underwhelmed.

Love Mark Henry. His attitude, theme music and Monster gimmick. Ryback was supposed to be his Kryptonite, but didn't look like it here.

The started with a staredown and got it on. Mark Henry dominated pretty much the whole match, making Ryback look very weak in the bulk of the match.

Here's where I get confused. Ryback start to build momentum and hits the meat hook clothesline. He gets him up for the Shellshock, but Henry grabs the rope, Ryback crumbles under the weight and falls and Henry gets the win. What?

But then Ryback hits the Shellshock and celebrates. He didn't win the match. Yeah, he looks strong, but HE DIDN'T WIN THE MATCH. Ryback has jobbed the last 5 pay-per-views. I'm not a big Ryback fan, but constantly losing makes him look very weak.

That was bad. Really one sided and Ryback didn't get the win. And they were pushing him as one of the top faces? He needs to WIN some pay-per-view matches first.

WWE Tag Team Championship Match
Team Hell No (c) vs Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston (w/AJ Lee)

Tag Team Championship Match for the first time in 3 years. I was excited to see this match. I was hoping Team Hell No dropped the belts, but boy was I wrong.

The match itself was another short one. Bryan and Ziggler worked a bulk of the match. Big E. looked strong in his debut. He manhandled Kane and when he was in, he displayed a lot of power moves. I'm not a fan of this guy yet, but he could grow on me.

I like the tease they did with Bryan/Ziggler/AJ. They were trying to do to Ziggler what Sheamus did to Bryan last year. That was funny. I would've been legit upset if the match ended there.

Not much to say with this match. It was a good match, don't get me wrong. I felt like it could've been a little longer. Too short, and seemed rushed. Kane and Bryan double team Ziggler and Bryan picks up the win after a flying headbutt.

Team Hell No wins and retains the tag titles. Ok, I like Team Hell No. I really do, but their tag team title reign has gotten very stale. This was a fresh feud for the tag team scene, and I really thought Ziggler and Big E. were going to walk away with the belts, but I guess WWE still wants Team Hell No to parade around with the tag titles. I hope this feud isn't over. I would like to see these two teams feud a little more.

Chris Jericho vs Fandango

The WrestleMania debut for FANDANGO and he's taking on Chris Jericho. Fandango had a pretty cool entrance with multiple exotic dancers. Fancy entrance for a guy who's making his debut at WrestleMania.

I was excited to see this match and it didn't disappoint. Jericho dominated a bulk of the match, but when Fandango got it going, he pulled off some great moves. The kid sold moves well, when he countered Jericho, he hit a great kick, and he can get some air when he wants to. I thought it was over when he hit that legdrop. Jericho wasn't going to be outdone hitting the spot of the match with a BIG cross body on the outside.

Something I liked about this match is that it had a fast pace to it. When they moved slow, it wasn't for the whole match, it would be for a little while. These two guys put on a show in that ring and told a good story. It was physical, fast, and had a good pace. Not too long, or short. Great match. Ending saw Fandango counter Jericho and get him into a small package for the upset win. It could'be been executed better, but it was nice that the upstart heel got the win over the top face.

Not surprised here in the least to be honest. Who didn't think Fandango would win? For a guy who's first match was at WrestleMania, I say he did a damn good job. It also helped that he had a guy like Chris Jericho to work with. The ending was VERY sloppy, but the rest of the match was good.

I don't think this feud is over. I'm not sure how long Jericho is around for after tonight, but if he's sticking around for a while, I would love to see this feud continue.

Match of the Night so far for me. I may be biased because I like this Fandango guy, but this was still a good match.

For all the people complaining about Jericho losing, he's back to PUT PEOPLE OVER. Get over it. It's his job. You can't build new stars by having them lose. Jericho is being a company guy.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs Jack Swagger

The World Heavyweight Championship didn't last 18 seconds this year. Good start. Jack Swagger got a jobber entrance. As in, we didn't get to see him even enter the ring. I knew then, he wasn't going to win.

I'll keep this brief. The crowd was dead, but the match was pretty solid to me. It seemed sluggish and lagged at times, but it kept a consistent pace and we got to see a little interaction with Zeb Coulter and Ricardo on the outside. I really can't say much about this match. It was a good, solid match with one cool spot where Del Rio countered the ankle lock into his cross arm breaker. That was a great reversal. Never seen somebody counter the ankle lock like that before. Del Rio and Swagger wrestled as good as they could, but in the end, it felt like I was watching a SmackDown Main Event.

It's a shame. I had high hopes for this match. Don't get me wrong, it was good. I just felt like more could've been done with it.

Del Rio retains and Ziggler does NOT cash in. Told ya.

The Undertaker vs CM Punk

Most of the hype was on this match. A LOT of people were calling this the match of the show. I thought it was going to be slow and methodical, but I was blown away. Taker maybe an old man, but he can still work a damn good match and move like he's around his 30s.

This match started off fast and the crowd was HOT. Some of what Punk did in this match reminded me of what Randy Orton did in his match Undertaker at WrestleMania 21. He slapped Taker a few times to set the tone and get him riled up. They took it to the outside where Taker beat him down and dominated the early goings in this match. Taker missed a big boot in the corner and Punk took advantage. He hit a great crossbody, did old school, and dominated the latter parts of this match. They went back and forth a few times, but ultimately, they wanted to make Punk look dominant for most of this match and this man was good. Punk hasn't wrestled in a while, so I forgot how good he actually is in the ring.

Let's move on a little bit. Punk tries to pull a Shane McMahon later in the match hit an elbow from the turnbuckle to Taker on the announce table. Unfortunately for them, the tables don't break as easily as they used to. The ref gets knocked out and Punk uses the urn to drop the Undertaker. Punk does Undertaker's pin much like HHH at WrestleMania 27 and he kicks out! Taker hits the Tombstone and Punk kicks out! I gotta admit, I'm not a fan of the whole kicking out of finishers thing except when it's at WrestleMania.

CM Punk goes for the GTS one last time, but Taker comes back with a sweet reversal and hits the Tombstone for the 2nd time. 1, 2, 3!

21-0.

THAT is now Match of the Night. It's gonna be a tough act to follow without question. The pace in this match was so well done. Taker proved he can still work a good match at his age and Punk showed he can hang with The Deadman. This was a great match. BUT Taker vs HHH in Hell in a Cell last year was better, and there no point where I said, "OMG IT'S OVER!" but this was a great match for those who said Taker didn't have it anymore. I'll put this in Taker's top 10. Maybe.

This match really reminded me of Orton vs Taker at WrestleMania 21. Go back and watch that match. You'll see I'm right. Only difference here is the crowd was better and the match was longer.

The Streak will never die. Is Taker done? After tonight, he can probably do this for one more year or two. I heard Punk was going to take time off so I'm not sure if he'll be on RAW tomorrow night.

This will be a tough act to follow.

No Holds Barred
Triple H vs Brock Lesnar

This was the match I thought would be match of the night, but it didn't really live up to what I thought.

This was a GREAT brawl, but I expected a little more from it. There was a lack with weapon use. They barely used the chairs and HHH only used the sledgehammer ONCE. It started out fast and Lesnar suplexed HHH through the announce table that Punk tried to break earlier. I liked the story they built. Lesnar is a Monster so I'm not surprised that he dominated almost the whole match. I think it would've been better that instead of punishing him with wrestling holds, it would've been more suitable in a No Holds Barred Match to punish him with weapons, make him bleed, make him suffer. This is what this match needed.

Anyway, it picked up more towards the end when Brock Lesnar introduced the steps into the match hitting Triple H with them twice. Triple H came back and tried to use Brock Lesnar's submission move to beat him and Lesnar powered out of it THREE times, showing how strong he is. It would've been pretty weak to make Lesnar, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, TAP OUT to his own submission move.

Triple H hits the pedigree on the steps for the win over Lesnar. Not too surprised there.

Great brawl. I'll say that. It towed the line between wrestling and brawling. Lesnar dominated the match to push his Monster gimmick so that HHH could stage that comeback. The fans were drained from Taker/Punk so they didn't get loud until the closing moments of this match. It got good and they turned it up. As a old school guy, I needed to see more violence in this match. It seemed too laid back and normal for a No Holds Barred match. The match told a great story, but more violence, adds to that story. Great match though. I'm not taking anything away from the match. They worked their asses off. Just expected a little more.

8 Person Intergender Tag Team Match
Tons of Funk & The Funkadactyls vs Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins

The match didn't happen. All 8 of them got hosed. Poor Damien Sandow. Moving on.

WWE Championship Match
The Rock (c) vs John Cena

No special entrances for either men and no last minute hype/sell right before the match. Interesting.

Right off the bat, the crowd was a dud for a good portion of the match. The match started out much slower than last year. They spent like 5-10 minutes in the feeling out process trying to get the upper hand on each other. The crowd was bored. I liked the storytelling early on, but they spent just a tad bit too much time on it. It took a while for the match to really get going. There were a lot of holds and a very slow, methodical pace. And no, it wasn't because Rock was gassed. It's called selling. Sheesh.

Let's get to the part where the crowd woke up. Cena was going for the 5 knuckle shuffle and the crowd exploded with boos. Rock counters and goes for the People's Elbow and the crowd erupts! From that point on, it was an endless number of reversals, near falls, kicking out of finishers, and etc. Too much for me to even go into. I do know that Cena kicked out of THREE Rock Bottoms. THREE. Sheesh. I knew that only one thing could make this match better: Using each other's finishers! Cena used The Rock Bottom and I was waiting for Rock to use the AA, but it never happened. Cena reversed the Rock Bottom for the umpteenth time and hit the AA for the third time, if I remember correctly and got the win.

Rock and Cena then pulled a Rock/Hogan and shook hands in the middle of the ring. Cena left and Rock soaked in the cheers. This is most likely his sendoff. I'll miss The Rock unlike some marks that confuse him with David Arquette circa 2000. But The Rock made WWE watchable for a while when it was unwatchable. I thought he was advertised for Extreme Rules but I guess not.

Rock and Cena raise each other's arms at the top of the set and the pyro goes off.

Show ends.

NO CENA HEEL TURN! I told you WWE doesn't have the guts to turn Cena heel. Maybe now people will drop that subject because it's not going to happen. Cena is once again WWE Champion. Lord help us.

I'll admit, last year's Rock/Cena was better. Much better. Even the crowd was better last year. There was no 10 minute feeling out process and it was more fluid. It's weird because that was their FIRST meeting. You would think Part 2 would be better. As much as I don't like Cena, I admire the whole Rock/Hogan way to end the show. The match didn't have that one HUGE moment. It had good moments, but you kinda expected what was going to happen in this match.


So, THAT was WrestleMania. I will say this. WrestleMania 28 was better. MUCH better. It started off really good. I thought we were in for a show that blew WrestleMania 28 away, but nope. WM 29 was good, but I was expecting more. It didn't beat WrestleMania 28 in my view. I'll give it a 7/10. Generous number. Henry/Ryback was horrible, Rock/Cena was a letdown, and only ONE title changed hands. Tag Title match and Jericho/Fandango was too short, Del Rio/Swagger was meh, The Shield match was good, HHH/Lesnar was still good, but missed something, and Punk/Taker stole the show.

I enjoyed the show, but nothing about it was exciting. No twists, no turns, no HUGE moment that you'll go back watch over and over.

Let me know what you think.


Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WrestleMania Predictions

This Sunday is WrestleMania 29. I sound excited don't I? WWE's biggest show. The grandest stage of them all. The showcase of Immortals. The build has been very lackluster, but it's WrestleMania. When you've been a fan for as long as I've been, you don't miss a WrestleMania. If you're going to watch at least ONE WWE show, make it WrestleMania.

9 matches, 3 titles on the line and 3 HUGE Main Events. Despite the poor build, I'm sure this show will deliver. The crowd is sure to be hot. It's in New York. These crowds are almost always HOT. Let's get right down to the card and my predictions and thoughts for each match.

The Rock vs John Cena. One more time for the WWE Championship. It's no secret who I'm gonna be rooting for. Last year, the build these two had was pretty good cause it was the first time encounter and we got to see them interact with each other and build their feud every week leading up to Mania. This year, the WWE Championship was thrown into the mix and Cena is looking for redemption. That makes sense, but what doesn't make sense is that he's saying his loss to The Rock ruined his whole year? I guess headlining every pay-per-view and even becoming Mr. Money in the Bank since then must've been really depressing. 

But anyway, Rock/Cena has been fine this year. They weren't at each other's throats every week, because too much would be an overkill. That's why Rock was gone for a few weeks. There's a difference between selling and overselling. There were two face offs and then the final words between both men last Monday on RAW. It was also wise not to have them face to face too. Adds tension to their match. I think these two will put on a better match than last year. Their match was last year wasn't garbage, but it was solid. It was neither man's fault. Just a lack of chemistry between the two. But there has been a lingering question going on....

Will John Cena turn heel? They've been teasing it an awful lot. The way he ended his promo on RAW by dropping the mic and soaking in the boos, a few weeks ago he said, the people might see something they've never seen before, and even the return of John Laurinatis teasing maybe Cena joining him. I don't think they'll do it. I don't think they'll turn their top draw into a heel. They could do it with Austin because they had other top faces to carry the load. I don't think WWE has the guts to flip the switch and turn John Cena heel and lose all the little kiddies. If they do it, then it's a HUGE move. If they don't, they teased it awfully well. But as for now, John Cena beats The Rock. This is one is terribly predicable. Cena wins and he rides off into the sunset with the WWE Championship. I hope he is prepared to get booed HEAVILY. 

Prediction: John Cena wins the WWE Championship -____-

CM Punk vs The Undertaker. The Best in the World vs The Streak. This feud has been a colossal let down, in my opinion. They focused this storyline TOO much on the death of Paul Bearer. That would be fine if it was a normal feud, but this is The Undertaker's Streak. That should've been the central theme of this feud. Interrupting Paul Bearer's tribute was a good touch, but that should've been the end of it. Now, we'll never know what it is they were going to do with these two had Paul Bearer not died. Instead, we get Punk doing funny voices with the urn, and no sense of consistency during the feud. 

Last Monday on RAW was the only time I felt like Punk truly got the upper hand on Taker and looked a threat to the streak. Everything before that fell flat. They were milking the whole Paul Bearer thing to death. It just felt lazy. But of course the Punk marks are saying Punk is a legitimate threat to the streak. If there was anything this feud told me is that Punk has absolutely no shot of ending the streak this Sunday. This is wrestling 101, when the bully keeps poking and prodding at the face, eventually he's gonna get what's coming to him. The feud has really been one sided and that's why I think Punk has no shot. 

It's going to be a solid match. I love Punk's work in the ring and I think he and Taker are gonna have a good match. Great storytelling and it should be a classic. I had high hopes for this feud and it's a shame that it only got good last Monday. Despite all that, the match is still going to deliver. I'm not too worried about that. But Taker goes 21-0.

Prediction: Undertaker defeats CM Punk and goes 21-0

I personally don't get how Triple H's career is on the line when he barely wrestles to begin with. It should've just been a typical No Holds Barred match. You don't always need a stipulation thrown in. I liked the base for how this feud started. Triple H said he was waiting for a reason to come back and Brock Lesnar gave him that reason by attacking Vince. I liked that. Paul Heyman's been the best on the mic in this feud since Lesnar can't speak for himself. And now there's the ace in the hole in HBK. He will be in Triple H's corner this Sunday. Last Monday's segment was anti climactic. Very poor final sell before WrestleMania. 

The match itself is gonna be physical. In a normal match, these two worked well, but in a No Holds Barred match at WrestleMania, I hope Vince lets these guys loose. Lots of weapons, violence, and at LEAST some  blood. I'm expecting a knock down, drag out, WAR between these two. Triple H used to be THE MAN in these types of matches. I'm hoping he taps into his inner Triple H. I don't care very much for the stipulation, but I'm looking forward to this match. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.

As far as my prediction goes, it's gonna be Triple H. Lesnar won at Summerslam and "broke" his arm. He's not only fighting for himself, but he's fighting his career and the McMahon name. No way he loses this match.

Prediction: Triple H defeats Brock Lesnar

For the first time in two years, the World Heavyweight Championship scene has a decent feud behind it. 2 years ago, Del Rio was a heel challenging for the World Title. Fast forward to today, and he's a face defending it. Not bad. Then you have his challenger, Jack Swagger. I'll tell you, if not for Zeb Coulter, I don't know if I would've bought into old Jack Swagger.

This feud started out with some potential, but the build slowly started to fall flat in my opinion. They sort of wasted all their ammo in the beginning. That segment with Del Rio/Ricardo/Swagger/Coulter on MizTV happened a little too soon in my opinion. Especially if they couldn't keep the feud interesting for the next few weeks. Last Monday, Swagger cut a decent promo about what winning the World Title means to him and what it could mean for the people of America. It was good, but the brawl on RAW needed something more. I should've ended with Swagger posing with the World Title over Del Rio's body with his music playing. The heel has to pose with the title at least once. I felt like this feud was inconsistent at times and very on and off. One week they would pull off something good, but do something stupid the next, so on and so on. 

I had high hopes for this feud and it delivered for the most part, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. They're really pushing Swagger being the next American Patriot heel type of character. But will they give him the win over Del Rio? I don't see it happening. I feel that Swagger will win the World Title in the near future, but we'll just have to wait for Jack Swagger's America. I see Del Rio retaining, and then MAYBE Dolph Ziggler cashes in the Money in the Bank. But seeing as how that would be a little too predictable as everyone's been saying it for quite some time, I don't think it'll happen. I think Del Rio will have his moment on top this Sunday.

Prediction: Alberto Del Rio retains the World Heavyweight Championship

Oh yes. The WrestleMania debut of The Shield. It's no secret that these guys are one of my favorites of the WWE right now and they're undefeated on pay-per-views at the moment. I've mentioned this before, but even their wrestling styles are amazing. I love the fast pace, quick tags, power of Reigns, speed and agility of Rollins and mixed with the technical prowess of Ambrose and The Shield is one hell of a unit. Love these guys.

I enjoyed the early stages of this feud for a few reasons. The Shield were attacking a heel character for once in Big Show, and instead of being The Shield for injustice, they were dealing a thorn in their side. And then, there was the variable of can Big Show get along with Randy Orton and Sheamus? It seemed like they finally got their act together on RAW last Monday. I like they kept it simple between the three. They didn't over do it by Show, Sheamus, and Orton being all buddy buddy. Let's not forget Show and Sheamus feuded a few months ago as well.

This feud hasn't been really eye popping either in the last few weeks. It was just lacking something. The Shield cut good promos and I like the whole Big Show/Sheamus/Orton trust angle, but it was just missing something. It was already solid, but it needed something more to make it good.

I think The Shield takes this one. Why? Because I think Randy Orton will turn heel. Orton will turn, screw Sheamus and Big Show allowing The Shield to pick up the win. Orton's been wanting to turn heel for a while. Orton turns, The Shield get the win and everybody goes home happy. Besides, if Sheamus can't beat The Shield with Ryback and John Cena of all people, what makes you think he can get it done with Randy Orton and The Big Show?

BELIEVE IN THE SHIELD!!

Prediction: The Shield defeats Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus

One of the matches I'm looking forward to. It's been a while since WrestleMania had this kind of "Invincible Force meets Immovable Object" type of match. Mark Henry has been another favorite of mine since he returned and his attitude fits him perfectly. The way we walks, how he cuts his promos now, and even his music have evolved his character so much.

And now, he's gotta face Mr. "FEED ME MORE" in Ryback. The feud was pretty decent, it kinda spiced things up with the no contact clause and it adds some tension and makes the people excited to see them finally get their hands on each other at WrestleMania. I think these two can put on a good, short match. They don't need 20 minutes. These two big guys can make a 10 minute match look good. Start with a staredown, a few power moves, and we're gonna find out if Ryback can get Mark Henry up for the Shellshock.

Ryback struggled to do his finisher on Paul Heyman for God sakes. Mark Henry is going to have to REALLY help out Ryback to make sure he hits it. This is Ryback's WrestleMania moment right here.

Prediction: Ryback defeats Mark Henry

THIS match is going to be GOOD. This is the ONE match that I'm legit excited to see. Everything they've done in this feud has been amazing. From the moment Jericho and Fandango had that backstage segment, I knew they would have a good feud. I just didn't know they would have these two face off at WrestleMania. At first, the only thing I liked about Fandango was his cool ballroom dance entrance music, but the more he teased wrestling, and left, he sorta grew on me. 

His feud with Jericho has been good. Because you know what it has? Consistency. Jericho made fun of Fandango, Fandango struck back by attacking him, Jericho jumped him the following week, and then last Monday, Fandango held up scoring cards rating Jericho on his moves during his match with Cesaro. Once Jericho got the win, he attacked him and hit his legdrop twice on him. 

Whether people want to believe it or not, Fandango's got potential to be a star in this company. You give him and Jericho 15 minutes at Mania and they can steal the show, no match would come close. Fandango has the traits of an old school heel. He's got character, he's got a mean streak, he's got the looks, and loves shouting "WHAT'S MY NAME?!?!" in people's faces and has a valet. This kid has all the traits. He and Jericho are going to have a good match. Fandango should go over Jericho here to give his career a proper start, but there is a way that Jericho can win and still make Fandango look like a stud. If anyone can make somebody look good in a loss besides HBK, it's Y2J.

There literally is not one bad thing I can say about this. The feud's been good and the match will be even better. Can't wait.

Prediction: Fandango defeats Chris Jericho

Another match that I'm excited to see. I'll say this, I'm more excited about WrestleMania's undercard than their Main Events. That's....sad. 

But getting to this match, it's 3 years since the Tag Titles have been defended at WrestleMania and this is going to be a great match. Team Hell No dominated the Fall season as one of the best acts in the tag team division and slowly fizzled out around Winter time. Ziggler and Big E. are the biggest challenge to the Tag Team Champions by far. Their feud with The Rhodes Scholars was so one sided. 

What I like about this feud is a few things. For starters, they're bringing up the past between AJ/Bryan/Kane and using that in this feud. Also, all four guys bring something to the table. Ziggler's selling and athleticism, Bryan's wrestling expertise, Kane's Mania experience, and then you have the mystery of Big E. Langston. All we've seen is his finisher. What can he do in a full match? What role will AJ play? A lot of variables go into this tag team title match. I personally think Kane and Bryan's time as the Tag Team Champions are up. They haven't done much with them. These four guys are gonna bring it and I can't wait. This is going to be a really great match, and I have a feeling we might crown new tag team champions.

NOTE: This match may be changed to include AJ and Kaitlyn to make this a Winner Take All match for the tag tiles and Divas title. That's what they should've done IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Prediction: Ziggler and Big E. win the WWE Tag Team Titles

I'm a BIG fan of Damien Sandow and Cody Rhodes. I'm happy these two made it onto the main card for WrestleMania, but it's a shame that this is the match they're in. A match they're probably going to lose.

The team of Brodus and Tensai has been ok. They're like a wannabe Too Cool, but at least they don't over do the childish antics and humor.No offense to Cameron and The Bellas, but Naomi is the best Diva wrestler out of the four. Not saying they're all bad, but Naomi is an exceptional athlete. Rhodes Scholars and Bella Twins are a solid on-screen unit and have the momentum going into this match. I think they can add a lot to The Rhodes Scholars.

As much as I would like to see the heels pull this one out, it's not going to happen. Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls are gonna get the win which means all the kiddies are gonna get to dance in the ring. Lovely.

Prediction: Tons of Funk and the Funkadactyls defeat Team Rhodes Scholars and The Bella Twins

Two years ago, The Miz headlined WrestleMania and beat John Cena. Two years later, he's facing Wade Barrett on the WrestleMania PRE-SHOW. This match WAS a part of the card, but it was moved to the pre-show.

I really could care less about this match. It's a shame because the Intercontinental Championship is supposed to be a major title. It hasn't been since last year when Cody Rhodes held it. Miz's face turn has fell flat. His jokes are forced and corny and he's much better as a heel. Wade Barrett has had almost no air time, no promo time and is on a losing streak as the Intercontinental Champion. It'a amazing how the Intercontinental Champion is a weekly jobber.

Anyway, I see Miz winning this. Having the face win sets the tone for the show and Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship. They can put on a solid wrestling match, but I'm not invested in it at all.

Prediction: The Miz wins the Intercontinental Championship

Ok, so there you have it. My WrestleMania predictions. Oh and let's not forget, the Hall of Fame Inductees will be there and P. Diddy will be performing. 

All in all, WrestleMania should be a great show. It's a shame that the build wasn't good enough to justify looking forward to the payoff for all the matches. I mean, I'm more excited to see Jericho vs Fandango than Punk vs Undertaker. But of course, it's WrestleMania. It always delivers one way or another. 

For those will be going, I hope you all have fun. I'll be watching from my house and I hope to see some great wrestling and an overall great show. And of course, I'll be back Sunday Night with my post WrestleMania reaction blog.

Feel free to comment.

By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WrestleMania Season?

Is it WrestleMania Season? Besides all the returns, I haven't noticed. There's still two weeks of build left, but it's been bad. I mean, really, REALLY bad. Did anybody watch RAW last Monday? Last year's build to Mania was MUCH better. For the first time in a long time, EVERY match had a decent story and build behind it. All these storylines, and of course Rock vs Cena, is what got WrestleMania 28 its 1 Million buys. I have no doubt WrestleMania 29 will be great, but the build has been subpar at best.


The Rock vs John Cena for the WWE Championship

- I've heard A LOT of pissing and moaning about how The Rock hasn't been on TV in 2 weeks to promote his match with John Cena. First of all, the match is already sold. It's THE ROCK VS JOHN CENA. What more do you want? They already sold the match with their amazing promo on Old School RAW a few weeks back. Secondly, there's a difference between selling and OVER-selling. Having Rock and Cena take jabs at each other EVERY week would get boring. It got a little boring last year. What more can be said between the two?

The RAW ratings have dropped week after week on this Road to WrestleMania and people are blaming The Rock for that? It's not The Rock's fault that 90% of the roster can't keep the people entertained for 3 hours. It's not his fault that his match is already hyped. If you think ratings are bad now, wait until you see how they are when Rock, Lesnar, HHH, Jericho, and Undertaker all leave. You'll be begging for them to come back.


CM Punk vs The Undertaker

- A lot of Punk marks have been saying this is the best feud going into Mania and how Punk is a legitimate threat to the streak. You have got to be kidding me. I love CM Punk just as much as the next guy, but I am not convinced Punk is a threat to the streak. I understand what they're doing. They're making Punk use the whole Paul Bearer thing to get under the skin of Taker. They're trying to have Punk be the first guy to play mind games with Undertaker so that the "jackass" will finally get what's coming to him. Too bad it's already been done before. Remember DDP from 2001? This isn't the first time somebody's tried to play mind games with The Deadman. It's just expert timing to do it at WrestleMania with the streak on the line.

That would work in a normal feud. But at WRESTLEMANIA with THE STREAK on the line, it's time to get serious. Show us how aggressive CM Punk can be and prove to us that he might have a legitimate shot at ending the streak. So far, this feud is telling that Punk has absolutely no shot in ending the streak. The last time I thought somebody had a legit shot at ending the streak was Triple H last year and before that Randy Orton in 2005.

This is what the feud should be. Not CM Punk making funny voices with Paul Bearer's urn:

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar

- THIS is the match I'm looking forward too. Brock vs Triple H in a No Holds Barred match at Mania. I can't see this being a normal match with chairs involved. These two are gonna go the extra mile. It's WRESTLEMANIA. As for the build.....it's lacking. How can you put Triple H in a Retirement match when the man barely wrestles as it is? Maybe if the stipulation was, he must step down as COO if he loses, then that's better I guess, but this seems...meh. That contract signing on RAW dragged on forever and it took a long time to get to the point. They have two weeks to make people interested again.


Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger for the World Title

- If not for last Monday on RAW, I would have zero interest in this match. When the feud first got started, it started off a little slow. It got a little TOO political for my taste and drifted away for the central objective and that's the World Heavyweight Championship. What happened on RAW got me right back into it. That Del Rio/Swagger brawl on RAW was very well done and gave the World Title match some much needed build up. For a while, I thought they forgot about it. But it's sad that this match is the only match with some decent build behind it.


As far as the other matches go, there isn't much to talk about. The Shield vs Orton/Sheamus/Show is intriguing, but I don't why they had that to go with that charade of putting Ryback in the match only to take him out after he had a face to face to Mark Henry and The Shield clearly wasn't bothering him anymore. But whatever. Most of the build for this has been on SmackDown. Nuff said. While we're on Ryback, I can probably already tell how they're gonna build the feud with him and Mark Henry: a bunch of staredowns. But seriously, Ryback has lost some steam lately and this is the feud to get him back on track. And then we have Ziggler/Big E vs Hell No for the Tag Titles. I don't mind this match. I'll leave it alone because the Tag Titles haven't been defended at WrestleMania since WrestleMania 26 and NO the preshow match last year didn't count.

This leaves us without no US Championship match, no Intercontinental Title match, no match for the Divas, and Jericho is probably going to face Fandango. The US Championship hasn't been defended at WrestleMania in 6 years. Let me repeat, SIX YEARS.

The build has definitely been underwhelming, but the card leaves me optimistic that every match will deliver. It's WRESTLEMANIA. A lot people like me may bash the card, but am I really going to NOT watch WrestleMania? Of course not. I may be opinionated, but I'm not stupid. I've been a fan of the WWE for a VERY long time. WrestleMania is still WrestleMania. I'm going to be watching, and I know you will be too.

They have 2 weeks left and I feel like they haven't really kicked it into full gear. I mean, a complete kickass show from start to finish. They've got 2 weeks to really put some intrigue in these matches and make us feel like WrestleMania is upon us. So far they haven't and the ratings have clearly shown that.

People have been blaming low ratings on The Rock because the rest of the roster can't pick up the slack. But when The Rock shows up for the home stretch, all they'll do is complain. Fans are hard to please these days.

How do you feel about the build?


Feel free to Comment.



By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WWE Elimination Chamber Reaction

The Elimination Chamber pay-per-view: the final pay-per-view before WrestleMania. And with a predictable card with a horrible build up, I wasn't expecting much from this show.

Pre-show:

Brodus Clay & Tensai vs Team Rhodes Scholars

My, we're off to a great start.

A Rikishi wannabe and Prince Albert vs a team that broke up, and out of nowhere got back together. I guess we're supposed to forget that they ever broke up in the first place. Go figure.

Anyway, the match was solid. Clay and Tensai showed some great teamwork. Rhodes Scholars always had great tag team presence, so it's nice to see nothing's changed. Slow, short match. Not bad. Clay and Tensai get the win with a double flop and Clay getting the pin.

I'll admit, the team of Brodus and Tensai has potential. I just PRAY they don't go overboard with the comedy stuff. A few short skits here and there and they'll be fine. There's no need for any long winded segments that get less funny as they go on. Keep it at a minimum, don't overload on the Nickelodeon humor and we've got something. Just keep Tensai as the serious guy with some flashes of dancing. No need to totally turn him into dancing goof like Brodus.

Looking at the other side of the spectrum, they break up Team Rhodes Scholars and have them get back together only to LOSE their first match back together. Um....?

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Alberto Del Rio (c) vs Big Show

I was expecting the Elimination Chamber match to kick the show off, and this is quite a change.

This was a standard Del Rio/Show match. They told an ok story in the ring. Nothing really jumped out at me except Del Rio's change in moveset. Since his face turn, he's wrestled better and looser. In this match, he showed he had some serious hangtime on a couple of occasions. Del Rio gets the win making Show tap out to the cross arm breaker.

I just noticed, this was the first actual one-on-one match without an added stipulation to the match. It was just a straight forward match and it was good. Like I said above, Del Rio wrestles better as a face, There's just something different about how his moves flow.

Oh yeah, and there was a BOTCH! Del Rio missed a spot where he supposed to kick a bucket back into Show's face, but he missed him. He tried it again, but barely grazed the bald head of Show.

I'm pretty sure this is the end of their feud. Show has lost to Del Rio three times in a row now. Three strikes and you're out Big man. Their feud was enjoyable, I will say that. Started out good, but didn't have the same fire leading up to this match. I was also hoping Ziggler to cash in, but nope. Sooner or later, Ziggler has to cash that bad boy in. For now, Del Rio is going to WrestleMania as the World Champion and I don't have a problem with it.

United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (c) vs The Miz

A match that I was somewhat excited to see. I've been telling people that Cesaro is the next big thing in this business. This match was pretty solid with both men telling a great story in the ring. This is one thing I love about Cesaro: not only does he show how good he is week by week, he can also tell a great story in the ring. This match was short, but still exceptional. The ending was kind of screwy. Miz was going for something, and Cesaro kicked Miz's leg and he landed on Cesaro's thigh, and he sold it like he got low blowed. The ref bought it and Miz was disqualified with Cesaro keeping the US Title. Miz gets angry and low blows Cesaro for real after the match.

The ending could've been a little better, but as long as Cesaro keeps the US Title, it's whatever. Because of this finish, I can see this feud going up until WrestleMania, but to do that, they're going to need to give this feud more life and substance. We had a taste of that on RAW last Monday when Cesaro threw Miz around the barricade like a rag doll. But it's not enough. The Miz's face run has been BAD so far. They need to tweak that a little bit. But anyway, the match was good, nothing special and Cesaro holds on to the US Title heading into WrestleMania and since I'm a big Cesaro fan, I don't have a problem with this.

Early on, I can see the crowd isn't that good, and the commentary is worse. Hopefully things pick up in this next match.

Elimination Chamber Match: Winner becomes #1 Contender for the World Title at WrestleMania
Chris Jericho vs Daniel Bryan vs Kane vs Randy Orton vs Mark Henry vs Jack Swagger

This was a surprisingly GREAT Elimination Chamber match! I didn't expect much, this match played out very well with stories told throughout. It was lengthy with great wrestling and near fall moments that got the crowd out of their seats. Kane and Bryan going at it, Mark Henry coming in and cleaning house, and Jack Swagger's new attitude coming full circle at Elimination Chamber. Great match, solid spots, but I knew before the match started who was going to win. Zeb Coulter and Swagger came out first and cut a promo. Then it hit me, a proud American is in this match and there's a proud Mexican as our World Champion. Predictable much? Swagger's new heel character, his heel manager pushing American Patriotism and there's a Mexican as the World Champion. Giving away the ending before the match even goes down. For shame.

If Ziggler cashed in, then things would've been a lot different as to who could've won, but since Del Rio debuted and Swagger's mouthpiece cut that promo for him, it was an open and shut case. Jericho, Orton, Kane, and Bryan were all faces; no way they were going to win. The ending looked like this: Orton eliminates Jericho, Swagger comes out of nowhere and rolls up Orton for the win. That ending could've gone better, but it shows Swagger as the opportunist and he's going to WrestleMania.

Getting back to the match, again, it was pretty good. I was really taken back by the great wrestling and moments in this match. All 6 of these guys did a great job putting this match over and going all out. Of course, there was the OMG moment when Henry tossed Orton through the Chamber Pod glass. Henry was the best part of this match.

Jack Swagger, the proud American vs Alberto Del Rio at WrestleMania. This reeks of JBL/Guerrero or  even Angle/Guerrero from WrestleMania 20 in terms of storyline purposes anyway. The whole racist American/Mexican storyline heading into WrestleMania has potential, but how far are they willing to go to make it interesting without offending anybody? WWE is PG after all. They need to tread lightly with this thing We're not in the early 2000s anymore.

Now that Swagger has a mouthpiece, I see a lot of potential in this feud. This could make up for Jack Swagger's last abysmal appearance in the World Title scene. Should be interesting to see.

6 Man Tag Team Match
John Cena, Sheamus, & Ryback vs The Shield

Going into this match, I was saying how The Shield needed the win, but would WWE really let their top 3 faces lose? This match answered my questions and then some.

The Shield have only had one match in the WWE and it was a Match of the Year Candidate at TLC. This match was no different. The Shield are an exceptionally gifted trio. The way they wrestle brings me back to the Attitude Era. The Shield don't have slow, methodical paces. The pace is fast, quick tags and great athleticism and team wrestling. This, along with their personalities, are why I love this unit.

The way the match started got me worried. I thought it was gonna be a straight burying of The Shield, but the match progressed and I was impressed. These young guys put on one hell of a show with the three top faces in the WWE at the moment. It did drag at times, but it was still a great match that got even better towards the end. Roman Reigns is a very underrated member of The Shield. First, he spears Sheamus through the security wall almost taking out Lillian Garcia in the process and then just flat out takes Ryback down with a Rhyno-esque GORE while Ryback had Rollins on his shoulders. Rollins gets the win over Ryback.

I am SO glad The Shield got the win here. A loss for The Shield tonight would've deemed them irrelevant. How could we have taken them seriously if they got squashed by the Justice League of the WWE? They needed this win and they did it impressive fashion. Great match, great job. Believe In The Shield!

What they do now is going to be most interesting indeed.

John Cena and Sheamus don't lose anything here. John Cena is still going to WrestleMania to challenge for the WWE Championship and Sheamus is the face of SmackDown. They'll be fine. Ryback on the other hand has not won a single pay-per-view since September I think. You could see how mad he was when he just walked away. Ryback maybe a big deal, but with each loss, his credibility takes a hit. This may have been the boiling point.

Dolph Ziggler vs Kofi Kingston

I love seeing Dolph wrestle, but what was the point of this? To get Ziggler on the card? A backstage promo would've sufficed.

These two have wrestled a dozen times, so it was really nothing new. Don't get me wrong, it was a solid match, but these two wrestle each other all the time. You almost come to know just what they're going to do. Ziggler wins with the Zig Zag.

Once again, what was the point? If they wanted to fill the time, where was the Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett? Didn't he have a feud going with that kid Bo Dallas? So, they take those two off the show to job Kofi out to Ziggler when he could've just cut a promo.

Moving on.

Divas Championship Match
Kaitlyn (c) vs Tamina

There's not much I can say about this match. It didn't even last that long. After Tamina missed the Superfly Splash, Kaitlyn hit a sloppy looking spear for the win.

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I need to rant about this again. It's sad to see what the Divas Division has become. The Divas today have no personality, barely any wrestling ability, their matches are less than a minute, the crowd is asleep during their matches, and even the commentators sound bored. For God sakes, Michael Cole was telling some dumbass story while the match was going on! The action was barely called!

The Divas Division needs a SERIOUS facelift and breath of fresh air because the way this keeps going, there will be no Divas Division a few years from now.

By the way, why is WWE trying to make Kaitlyn look like Trish? I'm talking about ring gear, hairstyle, stuff like that. Look at that picture and tell me she doesn't look like a buff Trish Stratus.

WWE Championship Match
The Rock (c) vs CM Punk

The build up to this match has been good, and I expected a match that surpassed their match at The Rumble and I think they did just that. I think this rematch easily surpassed their match at The Royal Rumble. Sure it was a tad bit shorter than their Rumble encounter, but there was better storytelling and better back and forth action between both men. Rock still can sell with the best of them, making Punk look like a ring general. The crowd was pretty HOT for this match and rightfully so, and both men delivered. Even the commentary, for the first time tonight, was spot on and well and sold this match as well.

As far as the ending goes, I thought when the ref went flying to the floor, The Rock would get DQ'ed, Vince would come out, restart the match, etc, but one ref after the other went down and after the 2nd Rock Bottom, Rock pins and beats CM Punk. I feel as if this isn't over. I feel like Punk is going to come out on RAW tomorrow and replay the clip of Rock hitting the referee and implying that Rock should've lost and Punk will ask for another rematch.

But The Rock retains and I'm fine with it. The CM Punk fanclub on the other hand are probably throwing tantrums, taking their anger to Twitter, and recording themselves to go on Youtube later as I type this. I wouldn't be surprised. The surge of Punk fanboys that have come out of nowhere is very annoying. I feel sorry for all of you. But I'm pretty sure that with Rock-Cena II pretty much set for WrestleMania, The Rock retaining shouldn't be much of a surprise to anybody. If you expected anything else, you need help.

For the past two months, I have enjoyed the Rock/Punk feud. I say it was better than Rock and Cena's feud. I mean, what is there to look forward to with Rock and Cena II? They're going to hurl out the same insults they did last year. Only the WWE Title is going to be mentioned more.

We'll know in the next couple weeks if Undertaker will be at Mania. If Punk is added to make it a Triple Threat, either no Taker or Taker vs Lesnar. If there's no appearance by Taker tomorrow night or next Monday, we'll have our answer.



This pay-per-view was pretty good. The Rock and The Shield saved it from being a straight faceplant. Not to mention The Elimination Chamber match was damn awesome. Jack Swagger is going to WrestleMania, the Intercontinental Champion was nowhere to be found, Ziggler had a pointless match, the Divas continue to be irrelevant, and Del Rio retains the World Title. Thank God for The Rock and The Shield. They stole the show with their matches.

I'm going to be VERY generous and give it a 6.5 out of 10. If not for an epic Chamber match, The Rock, and The Shield, score would've been much worse, but I'll stick with this score and call it a night.

The Road to WrestleMania gets started tomorrow night. This is when WWE usually turns it up a few notches. Hoping for some great TV between now and WrestleMania.


Feel free to Comment.


By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete

WWE TLC Reaction

The Barclays Center is Sold Out for the final pay-per-view of 2012 and the last stop before The Road to WrestleMania begins. The card itself looked very impressive. Let's see how the show stacked up.

WWE TLC Preshow

Santa's Little Helper #1 Contender Divas Battle Royal:
Alicia Fox vs Rosa Mendes vs Layla vs Kaitlyn vs Tamina vs Aksana vs Natalya vs Cameron vs Naomi

Nothing much to say here. Just your standard Divas Battle Royal. Best looking goes to Layla, but the winner of the match was Naomi. Yes, one of Brodus Clay's dancers, Naomi. But don't get it twisted, Naomi can actually wrestle. She last eliminates Kaitlyn and has earned herself a shot at the Divas Championship later on in the show.

#1 Contenders Tables Match
Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara vs Damien Sandow & Cody Rhodes

These two teams facing off again, to determine the #1 contenders for the tag titles AGAIN. I'm pretty sure there are other teams that need some air time, but I digress.

This match was pretty solid. Lots of fast pace action, Rhodes & Sandow dominated for a good portion of the match, but at times all four of them looked lost like they were missing spots or something, and Sin Cara looked legitimately injured. But they made up for it with a great spot to finish the match. Sin Cara springs off the ropes and only to be pushed off by Cody Rhodes and go flying through the table on the outside. Great spot to make up for the sloppy match.

Nice way to set the tone for the night with this match.

WWE United States Championship Match
Antonio Cesaro (c) vs R-Truth

Another short match, and a little better than their match at Survivor Series. Cesaro wins the Neutralizer. They are finally looking to push Cesaro to the next level now and I say good. He gets better with every match and brought some much needed prestige to the US Title. Prestige that it hasn't had in a LONG time. This guy is the real deal. Looking forward to seeing how he gets handled heading into WrestleMania.



Miz TV:

Miz hosts Miz TV and his guests are 3MB. Good God...

They ramble on for a while until 3MB decide to make fun and bully the Spanish announce team. Then, out comes Ricardo Rodriguez to help them and from here I think people knew what was going to happen next...

Alberto Del Rio comes to the aid of Ricardo and attack the 3MB. Then, The Miz gets involved and helps Del Rio clear the ring of the 3MB. 3MB then makes the challenge to Miz, ADR, and a partner of their choosing.

For a minute there, I was worried that this segment was going to absolutely suck, but this was actually pretty good. Miz wasn't too over the top as a face here and ADR got a good reaction when he came out to help Ricardo. I didn't mind this segment and it sets up another match for tonight at TLC. I guess that explained the two short matches to start off the show. Still think this sort of thing should've been saved for an episode of RAW, but meh.

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match
Kofi Kingston (c) vs Wade Barrett

The action continues with Kofi putting his IC Title on the line against Wade Barrett. Another great, solid match and surprisingly good. Not too many slow moments and was pretty fast paced for the most part. Kofi hits the Trouble in Paradise and retains the title.

I gotta tell you, there were moments in that match where I thought that Wade Barrett was gonna win the IC Title, but Kofi lives to defend his title another day.

On another note, the crowd was pretty hot for this match. This crowd is pretty damn good so far. There hasn't been a quiet moment for them. They aren't rowdy, but their making some noise.




CM Punk Segment:

CM Punk is up in his skybox sporting a shirt that says "Knees 2 Faces." Hmm.....sounds VERY familiar to The Rock's "Boots 2 Asses". Oh, the irony...

He talks trash about Ryback and says nobody can take the WWE Title from him. Usual stuff. He has a Bird's eye view of the next match: Ryback and Team Hell No vs The Shield.

6 Man Tag Team TLC Match
Ryback & Team Hell No vs The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, & Roman Reigns)

Already? Ok. Here we go!

The Shield entered the ring like Edge & Christian circa 99-00 and this match was just superb. It had the chaos and carnage and the TLC stipulation made it even better. I can't even begin to say how great The Shield looked in their debut. Reigns was dominating, Ambrose is so skilled in the ring and sells like a champ, and the same with Rollins. Best spot of the night is a tie between Rollins and Ambrose delivering a double superplex to Bryan or Ryback sending Rollins crashing through four tables! A spot you had to see!

All 6 of these guys put their all into this match and the crowd was loving every minute of it. Nonstop action and even some great wrestling in between. There were so many spots throughout this match that had the crowd on their feet. It was like we were re-living the glory days of the Attitude Era through this match. Ending of the match saw Reigns and Ambrose drive Bryan through the table to get the win.

I LOVED this match. This is what I missed about the WWE. Simply put, this was a WAR. Great action, great spots, and great wrestling and The Shield gets that much needed win! This could be a late Match of the Year candidate. That match was just way too good, and way too perfect. I can't find a bad thing to say about it. One of the best matches and brawls WWE has put on in a LOOONNGGG Time. It was anything and everything you could ever want in a match and more. Good luck following this act.

THIS is Match of the Night and it's not even close. Ziggler and Cena won't touch this.

Divas Championship Match
Eve (c) vs Naomi

What is there to say? Naomi started the match off strong, but once Eve took control, it was a done deal. I thought they were actually showcase what Naomi could do in the ring, but silly me, this is the Divas we're talking about. WWE gives Zero fucks about the Divas anymore.

For those who care, Eve won.

The Divas Division CAN be saved. It takes effort, the right storyline and the right Divas to make it work.

Chairs Match for the World Heavyweight Championship

Big Show (c) vs Sheamus

The Third Act of Big Show vs Sheamus and I can't say a lot about this match. For starters, the crowd is still out of breath after being so loud during the 6 Man Tag Team Match.

I loved the last two matches these two had, but this was easily the poorest of the their three matches. For starters, it was short, both men hardly displayed as much as they did and the ending was rather anticlimactic.

I guess I forgot that the first person to hit their opponent with a Chair wins. Show went under the ring and pulled out a HUGE chair. I mean a Chair that was almost the size of Big Show himself. He hits Sheamus with it and that's it. I think they need to change that little rule of theirs. I was disappointed and quite underwhelmed.

That's pretty much it. No drama and no Ziggler surprise cash-in. This should be the end of the Big Show/Sheamus feud......hopefully. Losing three times in a row usually means you're done getting title shots for a while.

6 Man Tag Team Match
The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, & The Brooklyn Brawler vs 3MB (Heath Slater, Jinder Mahal, and Drew McIntyre)

The Miz and Del Rio's mystery partner is the Brooklyn Brawler. Yes, the Brooklyn Brawler. Yes, he is still alive. Yes, he's from Brooklyn and Yes he's even sporting a Brooklyn Nets Jersey.

You can already guess who won this match. Yup. And guess who got the pinfall? Yup.

3MB gets all that air time earlier and lose to the team of the newly face turned Alberto Del Rio, The Miz, and The Brooklyn Brawler. As far as the match goes, it wasn't anything technically sound. It was pretty made to be an entertaining little filler match. Not too horrible, but not that good either.

Ladder Match for Ziggler's Money in the Bank Briefcase
Dolph Ziggler vs John Cena

John Cena and Dolph Ziggler for the Money in the Bank Contract. Here we go!

Ziggler comes out and the crowd LOVES him. Same thing can't be said for Cena though. This is nowhere near as good as the 6 Man TLC Match, but still great. A lot of wrestling for a Ladder match and a couple of good spots, but I liked it. Throughout the whole match, the crowd loved Ziggler and he put on a show. He made Cena look better than he actually is with his great selling. One thing that I love about Ziggler besides the fact that he's a hell of a wrestler is that he can sell moves like nobody else and make people look like GOLD.

A lot of fast pace action and a few times with Ladder use, but here comes the ending. Ziggler is sent spilling to the outside and it looks like Cena is going to win. Vickie comes out with a chair to stop him, but AJ comes out and takes care of Vickie. Cena sets up the Ladder as AJ skips around and you can feel that it's coming. Once Cena is halfway up, AJ topples the Ladder and sends Cena down. Ziggler caps it off with a superkick knocking Cena out. AJ smiles at Ziggler and leaves the ring. Ziggler climbs, gets the briefcase and the crowd went absolutely CRAZY for it!


Although, if they really wanted AJ to turn heel, when she and Dolph had that staredown, they would've made out. That would've been the ICING ON THE CAKE. It would've been awesome if Dolph and AJ planned this from the beginning making both Cena and Vickie look like complete fools. Dolph and AJ have the potential to be the next Edge & Lita of the WWE and that's saying something. A heel turn of that magnitude would've been MASSIVE.

But I guess they're going to have AJ going back to being crazy like she was before.


But more importantly, Ladies and Gentlemen, Dolph Ziggler has officially arrived in the WWE. In the Main Event of a pay-per-view with the crowd behind him taking on the top face in the WWE with his Money in the Bank contract on the line and he not only puts on a great match, but he defeats John Cena. Tonight was perhaps the biggest win in Ziggler's WWE career. After tonight, this man DESERVES the World Heavyweight Championship. I will riot if he is not Champion by WrestleMania. This was Ziggler's night. Job well done Dolph.



All that being said, this pay-per-view was a BLAST. The crowd was amazing and HOT the whole night, great action and overall great show. I'm giving this show an 8/10. I WILL be re-watching that 6 Man TLC Match tomorrow.

I could've done without the 3MB vs Miz/Del Rio/Brawler match, the Divas match and the tables match was meh, and the World Heavyweight Championship Match disappointed me. Everything else was great.

Cesaro & Kofi retain, Miz TV wasn't too bad, The Shield stole the show, AJ's turn was well done and Dolph Ziggler has finally arrived in the WWE. Well done WWE. Well done.

But now, The Road to WrestleMania starts and things are going to get very serious, very fast.


Feel free to Comment.

By: Gerald "Showstopper" Prophete