After the biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania, the landscape of the WWE has changed and the follow up on Raw should be extremely interesting. Since the pay per view was four hours long, this will be a somewhat abbreviated discussion in an effort to cover the main highlights on the show. Surprisingly, the show was opened with the World Heavyweight title match that saw the winner of the Royal Rumble, Sheamus challenge the champion, Daniel Bryan. You would see rest holds later in the night that were longer than the actual title match as it took Sheamus just eighteen seconds to become the new champion. Now, I understand that the storyline was based around Bryan using various ways to keep the title and thus it made sense to see a quick pin so that he couldn’t escape with the title, but at the same time, it’s a match for a major title that was made to seem minor on a four hour show. The main problem here is it didn’t do too much for Sheamus to establish him as the new champion because it took only one kick to win the title and the same title that was presented as a minor part of the biggest show of the year will probably be a major selling point of a PPV next month. An eighteen second match just doesn’t seem to do the world title justice and doesn’t really add to the credibility of the title, but hopefully there will be a rematch because I think if given the chance, Bryan vs. Sheamus could be a good title match. Also, it should be noted that Shameus has been evolving well the past few months and he should have a good run as champion.
Randy Orton vs. Kane was a solid match and it was good to see Kane get the win at a major event, considering that despite a world title run, he still seems under rated as a performer. The transition back to the mask lacked a little logic at the start of the storyline, but has progressed well and freshened up his character. Depending on how long Chris Jericho remains on the WWE roster or more specifically in the title picture, it seems possible that Kane could be the next challenger for the WWE title.
The IC title match was booked very well and accomplished its goal, both in terms of the actual match and from a storyline prospective. The match was kept short and Cody Rhodes showcased his in ring ability, while The Big Show gets the win for the storyline of a successful Wrestlemania match. Cody dropping the title seems to be an indication of an upcoming world title push and I think he will be a great champion in the future. Cody became a more established star during his run, while also making the title prestigious again and hopefully, the IC title will continue to be used to push young stars. That being said, Dolph Ziggler seems to be a good choice as the next young star to have a major run as IC champion.
The divas tag match was okay, but nothing too note worthy happened during the match. Jim Ross made his return to the announce table for the next match, which was a very wise decision because despite the WWE trying to replace him over the past few years, nobody calls a big time match quite as good as Jim Ross and his special appearance to call the following match actually added to the atmosphere of one of the show’s featured matches.
I have to say, I wasn’t exactly thrilled when The Undertaker vs. Triple H was booked for the second year in a row at Wrestlemania, mostly because another rematch might not be on par with the previous bout. The prime example of this was Shawn Micheals vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 26 where it wasn’t really believable that The Undertaker could actually lose the match and as a result, it wasn’t as good of a match as the Shawn Micheals vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 25 the previous year. That being said, The Undertaker vs. Triple H was a great match and it told a great story, including Micheals’ pivotal role as the special guest referee. It was probably match of the night and both competitors deserve a lot of credit for their performances in the match.
Team Johny defeated Team Teddy and John Laurinaitis is now the general manager of Raw and Smackdown. It was somewhat obvious that Laurinaitis was going to become the general manager of both shows, but he’s become a good heel authority figure and while he’s not as good of a heel as Vince McMahon, he get a lot of heat from the crowd. That being said, I think the CM Punk/Laurinaitis feud will continue on Raw and it has provided some interesting TV as well as helping to establish Punk as a defiant champion.
The WWE title match was a good match, but I expected it to be better. I don’t know if it was a case of WWE booking, where they didn’t want it to overshadow the main event, but with two great performers such as Punk and Jericho, the match just seemed like it could have been better. Don’t get me wrong, it was a solid match, but if there’s a rematch, I think it could be better than the Wrestlemania match.
The main event was a decent match and The Rock pinned John Cena, but it doesn’t make sense that the WWE would make everything on the biggest show of the year secondary to The Rock for the second year in a row. Yes, I know it was in The Rock’s hometown, but how does it help the WWE to have him beat John Cena, especially considering that Cena is the company’s top star, while Dwayne only shows up to promote a movie? The wrestler that won the main event of Wrestlemania probably won’t be on WWE TV in two weeks and during his return, who did The Rock make a bigger star? What younger star did The Rock help establish during his return? At least Jericho added credibility to CM Punk’s title run during his return. Is The Rock a draw? Without a doubt, but if the WWE is going to continue to push John Cena as the top star then why have him job in the main event of Wrestlemania?
Overall, I think Wrestlemania was a good show.
Until next time
That’s My Story and I’m Sticking To It
Dr. Wrestling
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