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Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWE WrestleMania 28

September 22, 2017 | Posted by Kevin Pantoja
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Kevin’s Random Reviews: WWE WrestleMania 28  

WWE WrestleMania XXVIII
April 1st, 2012 | Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida | Attendance: 78,363

One year in the making. For the first time ever, the WWE announced the WrestleMania main event a year in advance as The Rock and John Cena shook hands and agreed on this clash the night after Mania 27. Also a year in the making was the rematch between Triple H and The Undertaker, this time inside Hell in a Cell. Throw in Chris Jericho returning to face CM Punk, the first singles Intercontinental Title match on Mania to get legitimate time and story since 2002 and a rather historic moment that catapulted Daniel Bryan into another stratosphere and you’ve got an intriguing WrestleMania.

Lillian Garcia sings “America The Beautiful” to kick things off. This is followed by the typical grand WrestleMania video package. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler handle commentary.

World Heavyweight Championship: Daniel Bryan (c) w/ AJ Lee vs. Sheamus
For the second straight year, the World Title opens the show. Also last year, Bryan and Sheamus were bumped to the pre-show in their US Title match. Bryan is WAY over here. Bryan stops to get a good luck kiss from AJ. He turns right into a Brogue Kick and promptly loses in 0:18. I was pissed when this happened live but it worked out for the better as it catapulted Bryan into becoming a mega star.[NR]

Backstage, Team Johnny gets a pep talk from The Miz. They mostly ignore him but then David Otunga comes in with his coffee and white suit Johnny follows. This is better received.

Kane vs. Randy Orton
Both men get pops on their entrances. The fans calm down once things get going. Kane tries wearing Orton down before they get into a slugfest. After stinking up the joint in the main event of WrestleMania XXV, Orton was in midcard hell at the “Show of Shows” until WrestleMania XXX. Kane gives effort, pulling out a stalling vertical suplex, though it only stalls for a few seconds. Orton snaps off his great powerslam, which looks even better because of Kane’s size. He calls for the RKO but it gets blocked. Orton stops a flying clothesline and signals for the Punt. Kane interrupts that with a chokeslam for a near fall. They fight up top and Kane picks up the surprise win with a middle rope chokeslam at 10:58. Better than Kane’s series with John Cena but nothing to write home about. I did appreciate the finish and how they worked towards a solid finish. [**¼]

In the back, someone from the Deadliest Catch show has a segment with Santino Marella and Mick Foley. Mick and Santino get a Ron Simmons “DAMN” for a small pop.

WWE Intercontinental Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Big Show
Cody brought the old IC Title back and held it since August. They built this around Big Show never having a WrestleMania moment. Cody runs at the start and tries to surprise him with a pescado but gets caught. Show dominates by using his power. Cody takes the smart route and goes after Show’s legs. It’s a good strategy. Show staggers on a Disaster Kick but counters a second with a spear. The WMD connects and we’ve got a new champion at 5:19. It seemed like they had a good plan with Cody going after the leg but it didn’t get enough time to develop. [*¾]

WWE Divas Champion Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres vs. Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos
Putting the celebrity involvement here is fine since the women’s division was kind of a joke here. Eve blocks Kelly’s handspring elbow, which Kelly bumps awfully on. She still tags in Maria, leading to a double stink face I wouldn’t say no to. Maria takes the heat and is surprisingly competent at selling. Eve does her booty pop stuff but gets cut off. Kelly gets a mild tag and does bust out a decent somersault senton. She then counters a Glam Slam and tags Maria. Maria tries going up top but takes forever. I don’t know if she got cold feet or what. Beth pulls her down but gets rolled up for the finish at 6:49. About what you’d expect here. Maria looked solid actually. [*]

Shawn Michaels gets interviewed about the upcoming match. He just talks about having power in his hands as the referee. Nothing special.

Hell in a Cell: Triple H vs. The Undertaker
Shawn Michaels is the special referee. This show needed this big match feel. It’s cool that the cell gets its own theme. They slug it out from the start and things spill outside. Undertaker starts by basically kicking Triple H’s ass. It’s a great reversal of last year’s match where Triple H beat the shit out of the Undertaker and he couldn’t walk out on his own. Steel steps come into play, where Triple H’s Pedigree is countered to a backdrop. To level the playing field, HHH gets a steel chair. He starts wailing away on the Undertaker and its shades of WrestleMania 27. Shawn even steps in to try and get him to stop. Undertaker stops Shawn from calling the match despite HHH demanding it happen. He shouts “STAY DOWN” but Taker won’t. HHH gets a sledgehammer, still wanting Shawn to call it. Taker refuses so he eats a sledgehammer but kicks out. Shawn takes it from HHH before he can do it again. Before Shawn can call it, Taker pulls him into Hell’s Gates! He kicks HHH low and puts him in the submission too. All three men are down as Charles Robinson runs in. Taker gets mad that a chokeslam doesn’t end it, so he does it to Charles too. Then, in one of the greatest near falls ever, Undertaker kicks out of Sweet Chin Music into a Pedigree. I remember watching live and totally biting on that finish. An angry HHH dumps Shawn outside and Undertaker sits up with a wild look on his face. He hits a Tombstone for another strong near fall. More brawling leads to a Pedigree near fall. Taker sits up and starts in with a chair himself. He beats HHH with it like this is Austin/Rock eleven years earlier. HHH sells like he’s dying but is forever a rebel so he crotch chops the Deadman. Shawn turns away as Undertaker hits him with the Tombstone and wins with the Tombstone at 30:53. Top notch storytelling from three legends. Parts of the early goings were slow but it worked out in the end. The Pedigree/SCM near fall was arguably the best ever. It didn’t technically end an era though. [****¼]

After the match, Shawn helps Undertaker up. He poses as pyro shoots off and 20-0 appears on the tron. They both help Triple H up the ramp and look to the crowd together.

The Hall of Fame class is brought out. Mike Tyson, the Four Horsemen, Mil Mascaras, Ron Simmons, Yokozuna and Edge are the class.

Heath Slater wants to do a duet with Flo Rida. This segment sends with Flo Rida shoving him on his ass. Okay.

Team Johnny (David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and The Miz) w/ Brie Bella, John Laurinaitis and Vickie Guerrero vs. Team Teddy (Booker T, The Great Khali, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Santino Marella and Zack Ryder) w/ Aksana, Eve, Hornswoggle, Nikki Bella and Teddy Long
The GM of the winning team will run both Raw and Smackdown. Dolph and Kofi open with their 9,000th interaction. The crowd is dead until Booker comes in for a pop. Unfortunately for him, he becomes the face in peril. He eventually tags Khali, but he just takes double team offense. That leads to a barrage of offense from everyone, though none of it is that interesting until Ryder and Kofi hit stereo somersaults. The women brawl outside too. Captain Santino works over Miz inside. He nearly wins but Ziggler makes the save. Ryder, just months shy of a big push, gets the final hot tag and lights Miz and Dolph up. Eva gets in to do his taunt with him like the wench she is. The distraction allows Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale and win at 10:38. This was kind of a train wreck. It was a clusterfuck with a strange heat segment that didn’t get a good reaction and a flat finish. [*¼]

Post-match, Eve apologizes to Ryder before kicking him in the balls. That’s what you get for getting yourself over, Zack!

Shitty Alex Rodriguez is shown on in the crowd with Torrie Wilson. Backstage, Laurinaitis tells CM Punk that if he gets disqualified in his match, he loses the title.

WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Chris Jericho
They take to the mat early and Punk has the advantage. Like the genius he is, Jericho eggs Punk on. He shouts insults about Punk’s family, trying to anger him into disqualification. Jericho wants a chair shot to the heat and Punk nearly obliges. Jericho gets in the driver’s seat, hitting a suplex off the apron. He continues to wear the champion down and Punk takes an awful bump where his head snaps off the mat. Punk rallies and nails his shitty Macho Man elbow, only to get hit with the Codebreaker. He wisely falls outside. Back inside, Punk hits a Randy Orton like powerslam. He’s just taking everyone’s offense. Jericho counters a super rana into the Walls of Jericho in a great spot. Punk survived but springboards into a Codebreaker! Both men are down, so no cover is made. Punk still gets the upper hand only to have a GTS countered into the Walls. Jericho has it on near Liontamer levels. It’s countered to a series of inside cradles and then to the Anaconda Vice. Jericho fights to a pin for two but ends up back in it. He knees Punk in the head, so Punk smartly shifts his position to avoid them. Jericho has no choice but to tap at 22:19. Not the classic everyone was hoping for, but a great encounter. I thought the psychology was top notch. Jericho tried getting Punk disqualified and when that didn’t work, it became a battle of two men trying to show who the “best in the world” really is. They’d best this at the next PPV. [***¾]

We’re coming up on three hours and Brodus Clay is here. He and the Funkadactyls call their momma. He introduces “Mama Clay” and a bunch of other mommas, who all come out and dance.

The video package for Rock/Cena is set to “We Are Young” by fun, which is one of my favorite songs ever. Machine Gun Kelly and Flo Rida perform some songs around the entrances for the main events.

John Cena vs. The Rock
They hype this as the biggest match ever. It’s not quite that big but still an important match. Crowd isn’t as anti-Cena as you’d think. They trade shoves and try showing who the more powerful star is. Neither man gains a clear advantage but soon, the big blows come. Rock hits the spinebuster and wants the People’s Elbow but Cena stops it. FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! We get the yay/boo punch trading spot and Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment. You know that isn’t enough. Rock comes back with the Rock Bottom so Cena can kick out. FINISHERS MEAN NOTHING. Cena looks for the diving Fameasser and Rock takes a painful looking bump on it. Cena and Rock have a contest of who has the worse looking submission as the Sharpshooter goes against the STF. Neither man taps for obvious reasons. They go old school and do the arm raising spot for Rock. He comes back with a People’s Elbow before busting out a top rope cross body. Cena rolls through and hits a second AA for a near fall. Cena gets overconfident and mocks the People’s Elbow. Rock pops up and hits the Rock Bottom from out of nowhere to win at 30:33. A great big time main event. They threw out the finisher barrage but didn’t quite overdo it like they would in the rematch. It felt like two heavy hitters throwing it all out there for the win. Cena’s cockiness cost him in the end. [***¾]

7.0
The final score: review Good
The 411
I remember liking this WrestleMania more when I watched it live. There are some strong points for sure. The Hell in a Cell was an epic story told by three greats, Rock and Cena delivered a big fight main event and Punk/Jericho was also great. The rest of the card leaves a lot to be desired though. Bryan/Sheamus isn’t a match and then things like the twelve man tag, Intercontinental Title match and women’s tag didn’t do much. I will say that for being a four hour show, it moves along rather smoothly.
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