Csonka Reviews The Mania Main Events (29-31)

WELCOME: Welcome back to day EIGHT of my countdown to WrestleMania series. You can read the first SEVEN parts here (part one), here (part two), here (part three), here (part four), here (part five), here (part six) and here (part seven). The deal here is simple, I will be looking at every WrestleMania main event. I will look at them in small batches, discuss some history, how my opinions may have changed over the years, rate them, and at the end of each column update the overall rankings of Mania main event matches. For the purposes of this column, the main event is the LAST MATCH on the show. I will not get caught up in what some perceive as the main event, or co-main event bullshit; the last match on the show is the focus. I plan to make it a bit more conversational, maybe even for it to have a storyteller’s tone to it. We’ve seen these matches, we’re read blow by blow recaps and other forms of analysis; I hope to do a little something different. I appreciate all of you that have read and followed along with the series.

WRESTLEMANIA 29 -31

WrestleMania 29 – The Rock vs. John Cena [***½]: While it as billed as “Once in a Lifetime” at WrestleMania 28, the feeling all along was that John Cena and the Rock would face again. With the Rock defeating CM Punk for the title, and Cena winning the Royal Rumble, the match was set. The WrestleMania 28 match was a very good match, not great, but the star power and atmosphere for it was great. The questions going in to the match were 1) could they top the previous year’s match and 2) could they catch the came magic as far as the atmosphere goes. Unfortunately the answer was no. Now I am no hipster complaining about the Rock’s return, I had the pleasure of watching the rise of his career and then his departure. I find it cool that he likes to return, and wants to give back and have matches. But we saw the Cena match, and only got the rematch because he won the year before and they wanted to set the series at 1-1, and leave the possibility of a third match out there. The build to the patch also felt labored to me, because for as much as I love the Rock. His promos felt like he was opening a time capsule from 1997. They are fun and you appreciate the nostalgia, but as time went on it felt forced as if there was little to no substance to his content. All sizzle and no steak as JR would undoubtedly say. The match wasn’t quite up to the level of the previous year, and I didn’t feel the same buzz. First of all, I swear to whatever higher power may exist that Cena is wearing a mic like an NFL Network mic’d up lineman because you can always hear him calling spots and in this match it felt way worse than usual. What is odd is that in ways the match felt technically better at times than last year’s effort, but the crowd didn’t really feel as if they were into the match, like they didn’t really care and I fell into that same boat. We got the token “Cena sucks” stuff, excitement for a finisher, but generally not much reaction and it really just did nothing to help you get into the match. They finally got the crowd into it on a few near falls and when Rock mocked Cena with the five-knuckle shuffle and they teased the finish based off of last year’s finish. They did the big “boo-yay” striking exchange, and then Cena got the Rock bottom for a good near fall. Cena then looked to do the same finish as last year, but knew better; unfortunately Rock also knew better and got Rock bottom for a close 2. Tons of finisher reversals followed, and Cena finally got the AA for the win at about 24-minutes. It was like they realized that shit wasn’t working, and after the teases from last year, they just started unloading with finishers and counters to finishers to get the crowd fully back. They were trying to tell this epic tale of redemption for Cena, which no one bought because it wasn’t like he ever stopped being John Cena in between Mania 28 and 29. For fucks sake he went on to beat Brock Lesnar and even though he took a brutal beating, he was right back to action, he never changed no matter how many times they tried to change the narrative, Cena was still Cena and the crowd knew he was winning. At the end of the day I felt that they recovered well and produced something worth watching, but as the big main event, with all of the hype, I think a lot of people came away disappointed. I ended up really liking the homestretch and feel they did a great job of getting the live crowd back into things, but I also came away disappointed because it fell short of the previous match and was like many sequels, it just lacked. Not bad, just disappointing.

WrestleMania 30 – Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan [****¼ ]: It wasn’t supposed to be this way, it was never part of the plan; he was a B+ player and was there for the big pop and to move onto the Randy Orton reign and eventual program with the returning Batista. But, for some reason the “WWE Universe” took to Bryan, they wanted to believe in him, and the fact that they did not want to be force fed Randy Orton, Triple H, the Authority or a returning Dave Batista led to a story that they only wish they sat down and wrote out. Daniel Bryan, the man they tried to make a supporting character at every turn with the loses, the goat jokes and anything else they could think of worked hard, the fans loved him and plans had to be changed, and they were changed for the best on this night. Bryan got his trip to WrestleMania, and got to not only be a key player but he became the focus of the event as he would have to battle the former Evolution stable if he wanted to reclaim the title that had repeatedly stolen from him.

After putting on a spectacular opening match with Triple H to earn the right to move onto the main event, Bryan survived his post match beat down and did come out for his main event, shoulder wrapped up again to continue the sell of the injury. Can you imagine the conversations backstage, “So after we end the streak, it’s up to you three to deliver, and Bryan to send everyone home happy… No pressure.” Triple H and Stephanie came out during the match to pull the ref to the floor while Bryan looked to have Orton ready to tap out. Triple H brought referee Scott Armstrong with him, but he didn’t fast count Bryan like they wanted, and Triple H and Stephanie weren’t happy. They kept trying o make you think that they were going to fuck him again and they did it all the way to the end of this story, but it did work. Bryan got to overcome all of the odds, he took out the ref, and then hit a dive onto him, Triple H and Stephanie. He also countered the sledgehammer shot and laid out Triple H with it, something rarely done. For as much of an issue there was to get here, they certainly had the plan in place to deliver the biggest underdog story in the history of WrestleMania. Batista and Orton worked together to destroy Bryan as much as possible, including hitting a combo Batista bomb/RKO onto Bryan through the Spanish announce table to holy shit chants. This brought out EMTs to attend to Bryan as things continued. The crowd chanted for Bryan, who fought his way off of the stretcher. After a series of near falls, Bryan hit the knee on Batista, got the YES lock and became the NEW World Champion. He got the full celebration, fireworks, confetti and a lot of time to himself in the ring. In wrestling there are times when things feel right, and this felt right. It ended up being a very good match, it did get slow after the table spot, but I think that was mainly due to the fact that Orton landed badly and needed a moment. They had some great near falls, told the right story and it ended the right way. Sometimes the right thing to do is the easiest thing to do. This is a great main event with an amazing story; the only bad part was that Bryan’s body wouldn’t allow him to continue on and see just how big a star they could have made him. I say that with no disrespect, it’s just you have to wonder how things may have worked out if he stayed healthy after one of Mania’s greatest moments.

WrestleMania 31 – Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns w/Seth Rollins Added in Late via MITB Shenanigans [****¼]: While Bryan would return to action, and the plan was to use him as an important figure (workhorse IC Champion on Smackdown) he was not going to be part of the main event scene. With that being the case, and Cena being moved down the card t try and strengthen the US Title, a new main event star needed to be made, it just wasn’t going to be Roman Reigns. The Roman Reigns sags is amazing, whether it’s bad booking, people not wanting to be fore fed something, or the always famous “political hit” theory from Dylan Hales, there is an issue with the Roan Reigns push. Reigns certainly had his supporters, he was a silent bad as in the Shield and people liked him, but then the push started and it never felt right to many people. The forced push, the fact that the fans wanted Daniel Bryan because he never lost the title, the horribly scripted Cena 2.0 promos and the fact that Reigns had something like four one on one PPV matches to this point were all reasons people weren’t fans of the push. But then he was placed on the biggest stage in the company in the middle of his big push, the question was could he deliver. He did, but there were other plans. They went balls to the wall right away in this match, with Lesnar tossing Reigns around at will. Reigns made Lesnar bleed, and not pleased that he was bleeding his own blood, NO ONE MAKES ME BLEED MY OWN BLOOD, Brock then started throwing more suplexes, and said, “Suplex City, Bitch” to Reigns, which as we all know has stuck and made him bank on shirts. Brock Lesnar is a great man if you didn’t know. They teased a count out spot on Reigns, and really delivered an excellent match, with the beat dominating but Reigns refusing to fall. It was really what needed done, and felt like they were on the right path to coordinate Reigns as champion. But then they did the big double down spot, and SETH ROLLINS made his appearance. He cashed in and they made it a triple threat match, and Seth was then anointed as the man. Lesnar and Reigns were having a an excellent match, and I felt that they were working things the right way with Reigns taking the beating and constantly coming back for more and actually bloodying the beast. They told a good story and the action was great. Rollins winning added a nice wrinkle to the story as a former Shield member (the one that turned and fucked Reigns once and has now done it again). The general feeling here was that Reigns wasn’t quite ready for the big title win and moment, so they delayed it. The main event left the booking wide open, Lesnar never “lost,” Reigns got screwed, and Orton beat Rollins earlier in the show; so there were a lot of directions to go from here, and I do think that was a good thing. Brock is so great, and showed why here, but credit to Reigns as he also stepped up. I certainly had my doubts about it but loved this match.

Some Facts And Comments About The List

– For as much shit as I have given Hogan over the years, the Savage and Warrior matches hold up extremely well. Both matches feature the performers working to their strengths and telling great stories. Hogan obviously had his Mania clunkers, and they weren’t all on him, but these two have been a joy to go back and rewatch.

– The close to WrestleMania 30 is one of my very favorite Mania moments, but was extremely hard to watch again after the announcement of Bryan’s retirement.

– Watching the close to WrestleMania 20 again reminded me how much I loved it at the time, and how difficult it is to watch in the wake of Guerrero’s passing and the Benoit murder/suicide. It’s rough being a wrestling fan, for as much as it gives, it all too often takes away.

– Out of the 31 WrestleMania main events, I rated 12 of them four stars or over; four of the main events rated one star or under.

– The average star rating for the WrestleMania main event through 31 events is 3.25.

– For a comparison, since I did a similar project, the average star rating for the G1 Climax Finals tournament (1991-2015) was 3.54.

– The Miz main evented a WrestleMania, I shit you not.

– Hulk Hogan, who main evented eight WrestleMania, has the distinction of being involved in three of the worst (vs. Yokozuna, Sid and Andre) and two of the best matches (vs. Savage and Warrior) in the history of the event.

– The Undertaker has only main evented three WrestleManias, and like Hogan runs the spectrum of quality with a horrendous match with Sid, a tremendous match with Edge and an all time classic vs. Shawn Michaels.

– Hulk Hogan (8), Triple H (6), John Cena (5), The Rock (5) and Shawn Michaels (5) have main evented the most WrestleManias.

– The average star rating for those performers is: Hogan (2.25), Triple H (3.25), Cena (3.25), Rock (3.7) and Michaels (4.4).

– If Triple H vs. Roman Reigns goes on last this year; Triple H will take solid control of second place with seven Mania main event appearances.

– Don’t get your panties in a bunch over the Miz thing, it’s a long running joke I have with some friends.

– It’s almost crazy to think that guys like Ted DiBiase, Roddy Piper, Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Warrior and Kurt Angle only main evented one Mania apiece.

Ranking the WrestleMania Main Events – The Final Countdown

31. WrestleMania 9: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna [The Dirt Fucking Worst]
30. WrestleMania 13: Psycho Sid vs. The Undertaker [½*]
29. WrestleMania 8: Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice [*]
28. WrestleMania 3: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant [*]
27. WrestleMania 10: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna [*¾]
26. WrestleMania 2: Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy [**]
25. WrestleMania 27: John Cena vs. The Miz [**]
24. WrestleMania 7: Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter [**½]
23. WrestleMania 25: Triple H vs. Randy Orton [**½]
22. WrestleMania 4: Ted Dibiase vs. Randy Savage [**½]
21. WrestleMania: Hulk Hogan & Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff [**¾]

20. WrestleMania 11: Lawrence Taylor vs. Bam Bam Bigelow [**¾]
19. WrestleMania 16: Triple H vs. The Rock vs. Mick Foley vs. Big Show [***]
18. WrestleMania 18: Triple H vs. Chris Jericho [***]
17. WrestleMania 21: Batista vs. Triple H [***]
16. WrestleMania 22: John Cena vs. Triple H [***]
15. WrestleMania 29: The Rock vs. John Cena [***½]
14. WrestleMania 14: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin [***½]
13. WrestleMania 28: The Rock vs. John Cena [***¾]
12. WrestleMania 19: Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar [****]
11. WrestleMania 15: The Rock vs. Steve Austin [****]

10. WrestleMania 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels [****]
9. WrestleMania 31: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns w/Seth Rollins Added in Late via MITB Shenanigans [****¼]
8. WrestleMania 12: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels [****¼]
7. WrestleMania 17: Steve Austin vs. The Rock [****¼]
6. WrestleMania 6: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior [****¼]
5. WrestleMania 30: Randy Orton vs. Batista vs. Daniel Bryan [****¼]
4. WrestleMania 24: Edge vs. The Undertaker [****½]
3. WrestleMania 5: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage [****½]
2. WrestleMania 20: Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit [*****]
1. WrestleMania 26: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels [*****]

A sincere thank you to all that read and followed the series this year, it was greatly appreciated.