411’s Instant Access 04.04.11: WWE WrestleMania XXVII

Hey kids, I’m Mike, and this is 411’s Instant Access: WWE WrestleMania XXVII. Instant Access is the companion piece to 411 Live Pay-Per-View Coverage and features immediate reaction to wrestling pay-per-views. The focus in Instant Access is on first thoughts and initial reactions instead of play-by-play with the goal of providing you with instant access to one two three four five SIX writers’ thoughts on the show. That’s right, Instant Access will now feature multiple analysts for all WWE pay-per-views. Here’s the team for WrestleMania XXVII:

• Mike Uphoff, author emeritus of 411’s WWE Smackdown Report.
• Randy Harrison,
Okay kids, enough with the explanations. Let’s get to the wrestling.

World Heavyweight Championship Match
Edge (Champion) w/ Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio w/ Brodus Clay
Match Result: Edge pins Alberto Del Rio with a Spear
Match Length: 11:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: This was a really good match, but I don’t know why this match was decided to be the opener for the show. I thought Bryan and Sheamus were opening. Christian and Clay’s interference was very little in this match, which helped, but Del Rio and Edge just had an amazing chemistry in that match. They pulled some sweet counters, and Del Rio targeted the arm and showed why he is a master of psychology. It felt like they could have had more for this match, but that may be because they were switched to being the opener, so they had to abandon some things.
Harrison: Kind of a shocker for them to put the World Heavyweight Championship bout first. I mean I know it wasn’t considered to be a “Main Event” caliber match, but at least in most other years they stick it in the middle of the card or something. The match was actually pretty good with the involvement of Christian and Brodus Clay being kept to a minimum until the end of the match. I liked that they had Del Rio continuing to focus on the arm as he has for the past few weeks and that they paid a lot of that off with his psychology in the match. The whole thing felt almost like they were holding back because they were opening the show and weren’t in the mindset of stealing it outright, but it was a short, solid opener and will probably set up a longer rematch at the Extreme Rules, especially after Edge and Christian had their impromptu episode of Pimp My Ride on Del Rio’s Rolls Royce after the match. ***1/4

Match Rating:
Uphoff: ***1/2
Harrison: ***1/4
Average Match Rating: ***1/2

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes
Match Result: Cody Rhodes wins via pinfall with Cross Rhodes
Match Length: 12:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: Rhodes has been playing the dastardly disfigured heel really well, and it continued here. They showed some innovative stuff in this match, and the right man won. I would guess that this feud continues since Rhodes won. Mysterio brought his usual to WrestleMania, and Rhodes was motivated, and we got a really good match out of it.
Harrison: I’ve been loving Rhodes’ gimmick as of late, including this whole storyline between him and Rey and I was really looking forward to this one. As usual, Rey brought out the superhero big guns with a Captain America inspired outfit this year, which was cool but not quite the best he’s done. As for the match itself, Mysterio kicked things off strong by attacking Rhodes while he was still trying to cover his face, but Rhodes turned it around fairly quickly and took things over for the majority. I LOVED Rhodes’ delayed superplex and it even earned him a smattering of “Cody” chants, which was pretty cool for a guy that is slowly starting to turn himself into a viable star in the company. The stuff with Rhodes taking off Mysterio’s kneebrace and Mysterio taking off Rhodes’ mask before hitting the 619 and putting on Rhodes’ mask for a flying headbutt was cool and Rhodes WAFFLING Mysterio with the kneebrace for the finish was even better. This was a huge win for Cody and it looks like he’s ready for some big things this year on Smackdown. Good on him and nice to see his hard work paying off.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: ***1/4
Harrison: ***
Average Match Rating: ***1/4

Eight-Man Tag Team Match
The Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, & Vladimir Kozlov vs. The Corre
Match Result: Big Show pinned Heath Slater via KO punch
Match Length: 2:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: Too short to mean anything, but nice way for everyone to earn a paycheck. Too bad the Corre got buried.
Harrison: Santino gets a match on the WrestleMania main card and Daniel Bryan and Sheamus both get bumped to the pre-show. Things that make you go “Hmmmmmmm?”. This one was pretty much what you would expect from a multi-man tag match at WrestleMania with lots of guys hitting lots of spots in pretty short succession until Santino was the only guy left, knocking Slater silly with the Cobra before The Big Show dropped him with the knockout punch to finish the job. The entrances lasted longer than the match and the best part of it was probably the slow-mo replay showing Slater’s pretty awesome selling of the knockout punch. That should tell you something about the quality of this one.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: *
Harrison: *
Average Match Rating: *

Randy Orton vs. CM Punk
Match Result: Orton pinned Punk via RKO
Match Length: 15:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: This was one of the better matches on the card. I like how the videos for the match went back to 2008, and I had really high hopes for this match. This match delivered in many ways. Punk relished his role as the heel in going after Orton and dominating the match. Orton sold more in this match than he may have his entire career. The end was great, but I could see it coming from a mile away. Good solid outing from both men, and I would like to see more.
Harrison: First off, I love that Josh Matthews said that this one was two and a half years in the making and that they’ve tried to kind of retro-book this one to mean way more than it could in just a couple of months of build if they chose to ignore their history. Hell, the video package for this one almost made it seem like a main event level match. In the opening moments, Punk hit a great move by running over the steps on the outside off of an Irish whip to kick the steps back into Orton’s injured leg, which gave the match the majority of its structure with Punk alternating between mocking Orton and relentlessly attacking the leg as Orton desperately tried to make various comebacks. Orton did a great job in selling the knee injury throughout rather than just selling when it was convenient and Punk was absolutely ruthless, even bringing back Bret Hart’s figure-four around the ringpost. With the focus being mainly on Punk assaulting Orton’s knee, this one was worked at a slower pace and the crowd seemed a little dead for it, but this was a really good old-school wrestling match. We even got to see the Anaconda Vice, which was a nice little extra something for Punk to bring out at WrestleMania. Everything from his moves to his facial expressions as he avoided the RKO and the punt were just perfect. As you’d expect with most matches at WrestleMania, the heel got his in the end as Orton caught Punk with the RKO out of nowhere, but Punk gets a ton of credit from me for carrying the majority of this match on his back and executing it to perfection. I really enjoyed this one and it’s the best match of the card up to this point.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: ***1/4
Harrison: ***3/4
Average Match Rating: ***1/2

Special Guest Referee Match
Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole w/ Jack Swagger
Match Result: Cole wins via disqualification
Match Length: 14:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: The feed at the bar that I was watching went out during this match, so I cannot rate this match.
Harrison: Before the match even began, things took an awesome turn with Booker T and Jim Ross joining Josh Matthews at the commentary desk. Cole came out and did more heel schtick on the mic as he made his way down to the ring, cutting down JR and Lawler to put a little cherry on top of the heat sundae that he’s been serving up for the past few weeks. This one was pretty much exactly what everyone thought it would be with Lawler beating up Swagger to get his hands on Cole and then just beating the hell out of Cole. I literally laughed out loud when Lawler shook Cole’s hand and then smacked his face into the front of the Cole Mine.

Swagger did his job well to attack Lawler and let Cole take over and build some more heat with his offense. Cole even managed a fairly decent baseball slide dropkick that allowed Swagger to do more cheating and while we knew he wasn’t putting on a five-star performance, Cole actually didn’t embarass himself too badly in the ring at all when he was in control. He worked over Lawler’s leg pretty well and sold the comedy of nearly falling off the ropes when he tried the Swagger Bomb. The crowd gave it to him pretty good throughout and the Georgia Dome showed some real life when Cole dropped the strap for the An-Cole Lock and Lawler finally started hitting the comeback. Austin stunning Swagger was exactly what was expected to let Lawler finally start wailing on Cole and the Lawler beating was what everyone had been waiting for for months. The only thing that would have made it perfect would have been for Lawler to drop the piledriver on him, but at least it was still more entertaining than Hart/McMahon from last year’s show. The anonymous Raw GM overturning the decision and giving the match to Cole was just the icing on the cake and hopefully we’ll finally find out who the GM is to pay this all off in style. Lots of sizzle and very little steak, but it was pretty entertaining sizzle.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: N/R
Harrison: *1/2
Average Match Rating: *1/2

No Holds Barred Match
The Undertaker vs. Triple H
Match Result: Undertaker wins via Hell’s Gate
Match Length: 30:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: I knew that this match was not going to be as good as Shawn/Taker I and II. However, I knew that these men were capable of a great match, and they both delivered in spades. This match was going to be nothing more than a brawl with two men beating the absolute hell out of one another, and I was fine with that. They played off previous matches well (especially X-Seven) and the Hell’s Gate finishing with Triple H not being able to break it with the sledgehammer was a nice touch. All in all, a phenomenal match.
Harrison: It feels like I’ve said it three or four times during this show, but the video package for this one was absolutely tremendous. No one can top the WWE when it comes to putting together these kind of packages and it was awesome. Triple H played his role as the guy cocky enough to end the streak really well and Taker was in great shape for this one, something I was worried about after his injury woes in the past couple of years. This one had a completely different feel from their epic battle at Wrestlemania 17, but it was just as good a match, if not better. The Taker backdrop off of the table to the floor leading into dueling “19-0” and “18-1” chants from the fans was a great moment that set up Undertaker’s customary WrestleMania suicide dive. I’m starting to get more and more worried with every year that he tries that one, but he made it look pretty good this year and didn’t spike himself into the floor so that was a plus. The crowd really seemed split between the two of them and they turned it on once they got back into the ring, which was nice after the first half of the match felt like it was running in slow motion. The crowd seemed to really bite on the second Pedigree as the finish, especially with how close Taker cut it before kicking out, which speaks to how well the psychology was working here. This one wasn’t quite up to the lofty standards of Taker/HBK from the past two WrestleManias, but it was still able to get me onto the edge of my seat in a different way. Without having HBK’s speed to pick up the pace of the match, HHH and Undertaker slowed things down and made everything mean that much more. HHH waffling Undertaker with the chair about a dozen times while screaming at him to stay down, along with his reaction after Taker kicked out of the Tombstone are moments that will stand out in WrestleMania lore forever. The finish with the sledgehammer and the Hell’s Gate into the tap was something special and it’s now three straight years that The Undertaker has put on an absolute classic at WrestleMania.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: ****
Harrison: ****1/4
Average Match Rating: ****1/4

Six-Person Mixed Tag Team Match
John Morrison, Trish Stratus, & Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler & LayCool w/ Vickie Guerrero
Match Result: Snooki pinned Michelle McCool with cartwheel splash
Match Length: 4:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: This was the definition of a piss break. Still an entertaining match, though, as Trish looked great in the ring and Snooki actually was a little entertaining as well.
Harrison: Trish looked rather good for being out of the ring as long as she has been and it felt like she hadn’t missed a beat in her time away. Morrison hit the huge spot of the match with the Starship Pain to Ziggler on the floor and it was shocking to see Snooki actually showing some athleticism with her handspring elbow and another handspring into the splash to pick up the win, but if you look up this match in the dictionary, it’s the literal definition of a piss-break match to let the crowd cool off before the main event.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: *
Harrison: ½*
Average Match Rating: ¾*

WWE Championship Match
The Miz (Champion) w/ Alex Riley vs. John Cena
Match Result: The Miz pins Cena after a Rock Bottom
Match Length: 16:00
Match Analysis:
Uphoff: Absolutely disappointing main event. This match had some good build and really should have been more. The match wasn’t anything special, and that is what the problem was with the match. It was forgettable. Your main event at WrestleMania should not be forgettable. They have had good chemistry, but it just didn’t click today, and the crowd didn’t help either, as it was dead for parts of the match. All in all, a disappointing main event.
Harrison: The video package that led to The Miz’s entrance was probably one of the best things I’ve ever seen to make someone look like a star and it’s a shame that it only aired on the pay-per-view itself. I can’t even begin to describe how awesome it was, but it tied in everything Miz has done in his career from MTV to Tough Enough to his WWE Title reign and made it all seem tremendously important as it made The Miz seem important. Hell, the Cena package was just as strong, but he obviously doesn’t need it as much as Miz does so that’s why I give it a little less love. Unlike some of the other matches on the card, the crowd was right into this one from the get-go, which was nice considering how important this match is for both of them. I liked having Miz work on Cena’s head to keep him off a step and it made sense because that’s exactly how Miz would have to beat him as he couldn’t fight strength against Cena so he tried to turn Cena into a vegetable. Unfortunately, the whole thing felt like it was a step off, even when Riley helped Miz into the Skull Crushing Finale by ramming Cena’s head into the exposed turnbuckle. I can’t put my finger on what exactly it was, but this match just felt like it was missing something all the way up to the ref bump. The crowd was sitting on their hands for a while, but got back into it after Cena kicked out of the Riley briefcase shot and Miz kicked out of the huge Attitude Adjustment. As soon as Cena hit the move over the barricade, it was tailor-made for Rock to come out and even though the double-countout was a BS finish, they needed to figure out some way to have Rock inject himself into the match that made sense and I guess that was it. The Rock restarting the match and cutting the promo before he Rock Bottomed Cena out of his shoes basically put himself over the match and The Miz retained in a match that seemed like it was only there to set up another angle. WrestleMania is about closing out the WWE’s year and finishing storylines and that finish to me made WrestleMania feel a lot like any other pay-per-view that can end with a screwy finish instead of the biggest event of the year.
Match Rating:
Uphoff: **1/2
Harrison: **1/2
Average Match Rating: **1/2

Final Thoughts

Match of the Night:
Uphoff: Undertaker vs. Triple H- Phenomenal match that defined the show and fully exceeded my expectations.
Harrison: Undertaker vs. Triple H-Undertaker vs. Triple H did it for me, especially in the wake of the main event shitting the bed the way that it did. The two remaining legends from the WWE’s glory days did all that they could to outshine the younger class and while it’s not head and shoulders above the rest of the card like the HBK/Taker matches, it was still a master class in psychology and making everything mean something, which makes it the blue ribbon winner in my book.

Trash of the Night:
Uphoff: Intergender 6-Man Tag Match- Piss break.
Harrison: 8-Man Tag Match- As much as I want to say the main event for the way that it was booked and the way that it set up more questions than answers, it has to be the eight-man tag as it was practically over before it started and did next to nothing for any of the eight guys involved. I don’t understand why they couldn’t have taken this match to turn into the battle royal so that we could have actually had a one-on-one match for a secondary title that might have gotten some time, but I guess it’s all about getting as many guys on the main card as possible.

Final Analysis:
Uphoff: This Wrestlemania started out so well and then after Undertaker and Triple H, it just died off. The main event was severely disappointing, and Miz still can’t buy a convincing a win in a title defense. The fact that that was disappointing, and the fact that we didn’t get the Daniel Bryan/ Sheamus match pissed me off to a degree that I haven’t been to in a long time. This WrestleMania was so promising, and while it was still decent to good, it was underwhelming. And underwhelming is not a feeling I want to have when WrestleMania ends.
Harrison: This was a very middle of the road WrestleMania with nothing really standing out aside from Triple H vs. Undertaker. Sure, The Rock added a bit of excitement to a dull main event with the Rock Bottom and the People’s Elbow, but other than that there was hardly enough excitement to deliver on his promises from the beginning of the show. The overwhelming feeling that I was left with when the show was over was “Is that it?” and that’s definitely not the feeling I want to have coming out of WrestleMania. Yeah, people will fall all over themselves to tune into Raw tomorrow to see why Rock did what he did, but it made the main event itself feel like an afterthought. Like I said, not the worst WrestleMania in the world (XI, IX and 13 say hello), but definitely not one of the best, which is strange to say about a show that had Stone Cold, The Rock, The Undertaker, Triple H, John Cena, Randy Orton etc. and could have been something spectacular.

Verdict:
Uphoff: ***
Harrison: **1/2

Average Verdict: **3/4