Phoenix Arizona, 2010
We are introduced to the spectacle of Wrestlemania with the beautiful singing voice of recording artist Fantasia and WWE’s loyalty to the annual traditional rendition of Amazing Grace.
R-Truth and John Morrison vs. Showmiz
R-Truth eventually enters the ring and screams a final “what’s up?” to the delight of the excited enthralled crowd. Morrison shortly follows strutting down the aisle in his usual theatrical slow motion, to meet his partner in the centre of the ring. Their opponents Showmiz walk towards the squared theatre of pain ready to do battle although Wrestlemania nerves appear to be written on the face of the Miz. The match begins with an enthusiastic fast pace and a willing drive to perform, with more moves on display in the opening minute than any entire match on Raw. The energy of the crowd creates a nervous atmosphere of expectation but the performers seem to be able to meet the demand of the audience. The match ends unexpectedly with a big right hand from the Big Show securing a victory for the unified tag team champions. Why was it so short? 7/10
Triple Threat match
Ted Dibiase vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
The face turn of Randy Orton resulted in the disbandment of the stable Legacy and this concluding triple threat battle. As expected the two heels form an alliance and attempt to beat on the underdog face until a selfish opportunity presents itself. This match intends to tell the story of how bad guys will always falter and how good guys will always defy the odds, never give up and win. It’s a little bit predictable and not mega exciting to watch, but because their style is a direct influence and ode to that of their fathers, the match captured my imagination. Orton wins after delivering an RKO to the unsuspecting Ted Dibiase and getting the 123 pin. 7/10
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Kofi Kingston, M.V.P, Evan Bourne, Jack Swagger, Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Kane, Christian
Chaos breaks out in a ring simply not big enough, and so after the opening minute of the match, only Drew McIntyre remains in the ring ready to set up the first ladder……..and then Drew wins, ha, not really. The match is packed with non stop high paced action with simply too much going on to call but the stand out spots in which I particularly enjoyed included:
The ladder Swagger sandwich sequence which ended in Evan Bourne’s shooting star press, Matt taking a Wrestlemania bump onto a horizontally elevated ladder, and of course, Kofi using two ladders as a pair of stilts.
The match was very solid but because of the pressure surrounding it due to its predecessors, was always going to struggle to live up to our selfish expectations.
When I think of ladders, I think of TLC 1 and 2 but those kind of matches don’t happen so often because of the limitations of the body and the fact that having a ring full of ridiculously talented wrestlers in their prime at the same time is quite rare, which is why in my opinion it is unfair to compare. So although the relatively unknown Jack Swagger won, I think this match deserves an 8.5/10.
Hall of Fame
HHH vs. Shamus
At one time HHH was someone who would be constantly thinking of ways to make a match different and interesting, but in recent matches he seems complacent and content with merely going through the motions and believing his own hype. Even though HHH will quite happily do a job for youngsters as he has done for Shamus in the past, there is a certain smugness and filthy arrogance accompanying it that turns my stomach. Somehow HHH always wins, even if he loses and I don’t like it. This match is a typical HHH match where he assumes he is a master story teller and the best in the business…….and although I hate to admit it, it was a good match. However it is the same story every time, and HHH does stick to a formula these days, but probably because he has found a formula that always works. Both wrestlers were almost faultless within their style during this match, HHH won after a pedigree was applied to the face of Shamus and I really enjoyed it…….but didn’t want to. 8/10
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
CM Punk’s music is stopped abruptly to accommodate for another classic, flawless promo from the messiah of straight edge. Rey Mysterio is greeted to a thunderous applause by the good people of Arizona who are our already out of their seats for this one. The match starts off good and just keeps getting better. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best technical match of the card, with no faults, an electrifying pace and a perfectly executed finishing sequence. But now I have a bit of a predicament, I have not once given a 10/10 since reviewing but no matter how hard I try, I can’t find fault with this match. A well thought over combination of lucha libre and CM Punks’ Japanese influenced style resulted in some magnificent work that technically speaking, stole the show. This match set a new standard for the following acts to compete with, one that even Shawn and Taker will struggle to match. I think I have to give it a 9/10; I just can’t give it a ten.
Bret Hart vs. Vince Mcmahon
Bret Hart is possibly my favourite wrestler of all time, only Shawn comes close to competing for that number one spot, but as big as a fan that I am, I knew this wouldn’t be pretty. Bret Hart suffered from a stroke some time ago and as a consequence isn’t capable of wrestling to the same standard as he used to. I understand why this match happened, because of the real life back story between the two and all the money it drew, but maybe it shouldn’t have. Yes it was nice for all of Bret's fans to see him in the ring again but I would have preferred Bret to keep his technical reputation in tact and he isn’t capable of doing that anymore. The problem I have, is that all the younger wrestling fans who haven’t necessarily invested any real time in Bret’s masterpieces from the 80’s and 90’s, will maybe assume that Bret always used to wrestle in this way. However, there were definitely a few stiff chair shots that weren’t initially agreed upon, so a bit of payback maybe takes the sting away from this money making gimmick match. 6/10
Chris Jericho vs. Edge
This match was quite unusual; the pace suggested a heavyweight story match but the majority of exchanges, although slightly sloppy at times, included the high flying style manoeuvres that we are used to seeing from these two athletes. It is all too easy for a popular recognised wrestler to do as little as possible and still get a good reaction, but Chris and Edge wanted to do something that would be remembered. So even though Jericho and Edge have moved on to a different weight class in exchange for a better position in the company, they still performed as if they weren’t slightly overweight. Edge’s spear off the commentary desk was very rememberable and a nice addition to this valiant effort of a match. 7/10.
10 Diva tag team match
Beth Pheonix, Gail Kim, Mickie James, Eve Torress, Kelly Kelly vs. Michelle McCool, Layla, Maurice, Alicia Fox, Vicky Guerro
Some of the wrestlers showed signs of the ability they do indeed process when given the opportunity, but because the focus of the match appeared to be centred on Vicky Guerro, the opportunity rarely presented itself. Pathetic 2/10.
Batista vs. John Cena
Cena received the usual mixed response of boos and cheers which he has become accustomed to, but at Wrestlemania 26 the majority seemed to be booing. I have to be honest, I didn’t really expect much from this match and once again a Cena Batista match failed to deny my expectations. It reminded me of watching Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior at Wrestlemania 6 which was a shocker of a match, but without the extravagance. The speed of this match is very slow and boring, which is probably to accommodate for the way in which Batista gets a gas on very quickly. The Batista highlight was right near the beginning when he reversed Cena’s Attitude Adjustment into a DDT but he didn’t really do anything of note after that. The first series of fake finishes began quite quickly and ran throughout the rest of the match until the end where John Cena won by submission through his trademark STF. 5/10
Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker
They stole the show last year in what was one of the best WWE style matches I have seen in years, two veterans and masters of their craft. This one didn’t disappoint either but similarly to the MITB match there was a lot of pressure around it, only this time on a mega intense scale due to the fact that it was Michaels’ last match. If last years encounter was a 10 which it was, then this match is a 9.5 pushing a 10; there isn’t much separating them.
These two guys gave a master class in story telling at this years Mania, constantly keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat trying to anticipate what might happen next. We all knew Michaels wouldn’t win, but wouldn’t it be nice if he did, so come on Shawn tune up the band and beat the streak. The highlight for me was when Shawn delivered a perfectly executed moonsault off the top rope crashing through a laid out Undertaker and a Spanish commentary desk. This guy has still got so much to give!
The Undertaker picks Shawn Michaels up off the mat, manoeuvres him into the tombstone piledriver position, and lands it….1…..2………kick out. The Undertaker doesn’t let many people kick out this move but there is a lot of respect between these two wrestling warriors and that was the confirmation. Michaels won’t give up; he courageously climbs up the body of The Undertaker in a similar way to when Ric Flair had his last WWE match. He slaps the Undertaker hard in the face….. The Undertaker becomes outraged and delivers a second tombstone piledriver and covers Shawn for the last time.................the last time.
An emotional Shawn Michaels farewell almost had me in tears ha; it’s amazing how the idea of never being able to see someone again, someone who you only see on television, can be upsetting. But it strangely was.
While the Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk match was the most fluent and most technical match of the night, Shawn vs. Undertaker was the best overall match of the night. 9.5/10
Special Features:
Wrestlemania 26 man battle royal dark match
Mad Dog Vachon vs. Rick Mcgraw - 1985
Wendi Richter vs. The fabulous Moolah – 1984
Stu Hart feature
Antonio Inoki vs. The Great Hossein – 1979
Bob Uecker feature
Gorgeous George vs. Frankie Talliber – 1951
Ted Dibiase vs. Jake Roberts – 1990
Disc 3
2010 Hall of Fame
Overall Rating – 8.5/10
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