Pantoja’s RetrospectiveMania Series: WrestleMania XXVII

WWE WrestleMania XXVII
April 3rd, 2011 | Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia | Attendance: 71,617

For the second straight year, WrestleMania emanated from a place it hadn’t previously visited. It also happened to be WCW’s old home for major episodes of Nitro. This was also an interesting time for the company. The Miz reigned as WWE Champion, Edge was unknowingly wrapping up his career (for the time being), The Rock was back in the fold, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I know that a lot of people seem to think this is one of the lesser Manias ever, so I’m intrigued by how it holds up.

As a reminder, I’m reliving these WrestleManias and rating them on a 1-10 scale in these seven categories. They’ll be ranked by their total score

• Match quality – Self-explanatory. Will always be the longest section.
• Memorability – How memorable is the show?
• Historical significance – The impact the show had on wrestling
• Booking decisions – Did the event have logical booking decisions for the stories they told
• Presentation – Things like stage setup, video packages, commentary, etc.
• Pacing/Flow – How well is the show laid out? Does it drag or move along smoothly?
• Entertainment – The non-wrestling elements like promos, celebrity interaction, concerts, etc.

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Match Quality

World Heavyweight Championship: Edge [c] vs. Alberto Del Rio ~ The final WrestleMania match (or so we thought) for Edge and the debut of Alberto Del Rio. Christian and Brodus Clay were at ringside. Edge came in with a damaged arm, which played perfectly into Del Rio’s hands due to his finisher. He targeted the arm and it worked well. They gave us some big spots like Del Rio taking a wild bump through the ropes and Edge following with a rare somersault. Del Rio had a lot of what Edge tried scouted and managed to counter most of it. Edge missed a Spear and got trapped in the Cross Armbreaker at a point where it really looked like it was over for him. Edge got out and I appreciated his use of the rare Edgecator submission. Del Rio survived but ran into a Spear to end this in 11:10. This was to the point and delivered a smart match. The arm work was well done and Edge sold it well. They combined crisp exchanges with some surprising late drama and delivered in a big way. [***½]

Image Credit: WWE

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio ~ I absolutely ADORED this feud. The idea that Cody Rhodes was obsessed with his looks, only to have Rey Mysterio hit him with his knee brace and injure his face, causing him to go nuts, was great. Cody always nails the character work aspect of his career. He used the mask as a weapon at points throughout this to gain the upper hand. He got the chance to show off an impressive stalling vertical superplex. It’s like, I know Rey is small but that’s still a notable feat and it looked really cool. The spot where Cody blocked the 619 was really cool and played off the storyline. Rey rallied with the offense we’re used to from him. However, when he tries a tope suicida, Cody clocked him with his own knee brace. A Cross Rhodes later and he won in 11:59. This is a match I truly enjoy. They had some very good back and forth, while that finish played perfectly into the story they had been telling for months. Brilliant pro wrestling. [***½]

Big Show, Kofi Kingston and Santino Marella vs. The Corre ~ It’s kind of crazy to think that Nexus debuted between WM 26 and 27 and had already become irrelevant. And that’s with them holding the Tag Team and Intercontinental Titles at this point. Future WWE Champion Kofi Kingston was the replacement for Vladimir Kozlov in this one. Offensively, this was a huge rush. Everything felt shoehorned in and like it was meant to get them out of there quickly. Seriously, Big Show beat up Heath Slater and then all of the babyfaces got in their signature offense. The Cobra and WMD put down Slater in 1:33. So much for that Corre stable. I’ll give it some love because it entertaining for the short time. [*]

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton ~ I appreciated their efforts to make this a long-term storytelling bout. Still, we all knew this was kind of thrown together. Punk’s delusion that he should’ve headlined this Mania is wild. Like, he wasn’t the top heel going into the show. In two years, he’d have an argument. Anyway, this was good as you’d expect from these two. They absolutely know what they’re doing and almost always deliver something strong. Orton came in with a damaged leg and Punk made that his focus. Orton didn’t sell it all that great but he did a good job for the most part. His rally saw him his hit most of signature stuff but fail on the Punk because of the bad leg. Punk blocked the RKO and looked like he had this won. However, his springboard clothesline was countered into a great RKO that ended this after 14:47. That was another very good match. That’s three out of four. Good leg work, a solid story being told, and an entertaining match. [***½]

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole ~ Oh, boy. This match. It actually got off to a better start than expected. The gimmick of Jerry Lawler pulling Michael Cole’s face into the glass box was funny. That’s what this whole thing should’ve been. Lawler embarrassing Cole and giving him what he had coming for several months. Instead of having Lawler do that for like, 3-5 minutes at most, they dragged this out to an absurd level. Having Jack Swagger attack Lawler outside just gave us a Michael Cole heat segment and that is something that should never happen. On top of that, Lawler finally turned it around and they dragged it out more with him picking up Cole while in a pin and then by not having Austin (the guest referee) call for the submission as Cole tapped out for like a minute. This somehow went 13:46. Then, after a big celebration, the Anonymous Raw General Manager announced that due to Austin overstepping his authority, they reversed the decision so Cole got to win via DQ, keeping this awful feud going. I’ve seen them all and that is, hands down, the worst match in Mania history. [-*****]

No Holds Barred Match: Triple H vs. The Undertaker – A palette cleanser. Forget the main event, this was the biggest match on the card. They did a great job of utilizing the stipulation, fighting from the opening bell and bringing things like the steel steps and announce table into play early. Undertaker also nearly died on his dive again just like two years prior. Things took a turn when HHH hit a spinebuster through the announce table. Undertaker really only got in bursts of offense after that. He looked done and it was the first time that he seemed mortal at a WrestleMania since the Streak became a thing. At times, this moved at a glacial pace which isn’t great for rewatches but putting myself back where I was when I first watched it, I was hooked. Some of the near falls were expected after what HBK and Taker did in previous years so they didn’t work quite as well here. However, I did love the story of HHH just battering Taker with chair shots to the point where he could barely stand and then HHH just adding more, begging the Dead Man to stay down. Him doing Taker’s throat cut taunt before hitting a Tombstone was one of the coolest spots in history. The finish was great too as Undertaker prevented HHH from using the sledgehammer by trapping him in Hell’s Gate, winning in 29:23. It felt like a desperate move by Undertaker as he escaped HHH rather than beat him convincingly. An absolute spectacle and the best thing on this show. I also loved the post-match silence outside of Taker’s theme as he struggled to move and had to be helped. [****¼]

Dolph Ziggler and LayCool vs. John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Snooki ~ The obligatory celebrity match. I’ve always had a soft spot for LayCool. I don’t have a soft spot for Jerry Lawler’s fat jokes about Vickie Guerrero. He really was always the worst. Anyway, people get mad a lot about Snooki being here but she did get the second biggest reaction of the match behind Trish. There really wans’t anything to this contest itself. Trish and McCool had some back and forth before Ziggler and Morrison did one spot. Then Snooki beat McCool with a cartwheel forearm and splash in 3:14. I give it at least one star for Snooki’s surprisingly decent move and Trish/McCool. [*]

WWE Championship: The Miz [c] vs. John Cena ~ People have roasted this main event for years. I don’t think it’s that bad (a trend with this Mania) but there are some major problems. First, these two have had great matches with others but never with each other. Second, Miz’s heat segment here was rather dull. Third, and it’s the biggest issue, is that the crowd was dead for it and I believe a big part of that was that they were waiting for the expected appearance from The Rock. Nothing really mattered until Rock showed up. The double countout fake just so Rock could come out, restart the match, and plant Cena with a Rock Bottom was also rather lame. Miz covered after that Rock spot to retain in 15:21. Again, not an awful match but also something that felt like a B-level PPV main event or something you’d get from an episode of Raw. [**]

I thought WrestleMania XXVI was interesting to look at from a card perspective. This one is wild. You’ve got three matches at ***½ and one at ****¼, which is more than most people likely give this show. But then you get the Corre tag, the Snooki match, a mediocre main event, and that atrocious Lawler/Cole match. It really is a mixed bag.

SCORE: 5.5

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Memorability

Image Credit: WWE

Unfortunately, this show is mostly remembered in a negative light. I think that’s kind of a shame because it’s really nowhere near as bad some make it out to be. Alas, that is how it’s remembered, so that’s not good for this score. Despite not being awful, WrestleMania XXVII is pretty forgettable outside of it being Edge’s final match and the first major confrontation between John Cena and The Rock.

SCORE: 4.5

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Historical Significance

This being the last match Edge had for nearly a decade helps the historical significance of it all. It would’ve meant more had Edge stayed retired but we’re all glad he got to have another run. There’s also some smaller but still significant things here. You’ve got the only WrestleMania match in history for Jerry Lawler and this marked the first time that a World Title match opened the show. Also, if you’re going to go back and relive the epic Undertaker/HBK/HHH saga, this show is a very important piece of the story.

SCORE: 5.5

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Booking Decisions

The big thing that stands out here is that there was really no reason for Jerry Lawler to lose here. I’m not a fan of his at all but to make us sit through 15 minutes of that garbage just to reverse the decision was astronomically bad. On the flip side, I think Miz retaining was actually a good call as it was unexpected, different, and helped set the stage for Cena/Rock I. The booking/layout of Undertaker/Triple H was a sight to behold and a win for a guy like Cody Rhodes here was huge for him. A better score than you’d probably expect for this show.

SCORE: 6.5

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Presentation

I’ve always been fond of the stage at this Mania. It was simple, yet effective. Nothing over the top but it looked good and I liked the Georgia Dome setting. The show also gets a boost from fantastic video packages. There aren’t many that I’d put ahead of “My Way” from WM17 but The Miz’s “Hate Me Now” vignette is one of them. John Cena’s is great too, as is the one for HHH/Undertaker. That match also had some cool entrances. That said, the show gets hurt by the awful commentary for most of it. Once it got down to JR and Lawler, it was passable but everything with Cole and the constant bickering made parts of it hard to sit through.

SCORE: 7.5

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Pacing/Flow

It’s almost always weird when a PPV, especially a WrestleMania, opens with a promo. The Rock doing so made sense but it still threw off the flow just a bit. Thankfully, I think the rest of the show was mostly paced out in a smart fashion. They did a good job of balancing the big matches with the lesser ones. Two good matches to start, then a short eight-man tag, then Punk/Orton, then a bad match, then HHH/Undertaker, etc. The only things that felt like they dragged were Cole/Lawler and the main event.

SCORE: 7.5

 

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Entertainment

We didn’t get a ton of outside of the ring stuff here but what we got was actually quite good. For starters, I think Keri Hilson was a great pick to sing at the beginning. She has Georgia roots and her performance was strong. Other than that, we basically just got a few segments from The Rock sprinkled in throughout the night and those were fun, with the best being seeing him interact with Stone Cold again.

SCORE: 6.5

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Overall

For the third time, a WrestleMania finishes with a 43.5/70 score. This is higher than a lot of people likely expected and ties it with WrestleMania X8 and XXV. It’s honestly a decent show that just doesn’t really feel like a big WrestleMania. The criticism that this feels like a big commercial for WrestleMania XXVIII is valid but there is still a lot to like here from the Rock/Austin segments to four matches ranging from very good to great, to, yes, the setups for the next Mania. Maybe it’s a commercial for the next year but it’s a pretty good commercial.

TOTAL: 43.5/70

WrestleMania Rankings
1. WrestleMania XIX – 62/70
2. WrestleMania X-Seven – 61/70
3. WrestleMania XXIV – 59/70
4. WrestleMania III – 55/70
5. WrestleMania 21 – 52.5/70
6. WrestleMania X – 52/70
7. WrestleMania 23 – 51/70
8. WrestleMania VIII – 50.5/70
9. WrestleMania XX – 50/70
10. WrestleMania I – 50/70
11. WrestleMania XII – 48.5/70
12. WrestleMania 22 – 48/70
13. WrestleMania VII – 46/70
14. WrestleMania XIV – 46/70
15. WrestleMania XXVI – 44/70
16. WrestleMania VI – 44/70
17. WrestleMania XXV – 43.5/70
18. WrestleMania XXVII – 43.5/70
19. WrestleMania X8 – 43.5/70
20. WrestleMania 2000 – 39.5/70
21. WrestleMania V – 39/70
22. WrestleMania 13 – 37/70
23. WrestleMania XV – 35/70
24. WrestleMania IV – 32/70
25. WrestleMania XI – 31.5/70
26. WrestleMania IX – 31.5/70
27. WrestleMania II – 29/70