I’ve been to some events but the past 48 hours have been nothing short of incredible!
WrestleMania 28! Three words… Atmosphere, Wrestling and Storytelling. Lets break it down.
Daniel Bryan and Sheamus was absolutely shocking. Totally uncalled for. We were all worried that these men would have started the show and that came true but for it to last 18 seconds with a squash on Bryan? That was nothing short of despicable! I was so happy that the match that got bumped off last year’s card was finally going to get some spotlight but last year’s dark match got more action than this! That’s saying something. Can I just say that the response of fans to this was fantastic but don’t think that just because of this loss everyone has now got behind Bryan. Outside the stadium prior to the event all you could hear were the usual WOOO’s and fans chanting YES! When everyone was getting to their seats fans were starting to chant Bryan. The stadium went nuts when he came out. The man was already getting over with the audience but the fact that they did this to him on the biggest stage of them all just rallied fans behind him further. I’m not sure what came through on TV but for the most part of WrestleMania, fans were still letting their voice being heard. That’s not to mention RAW, which I’ll move on to later.
Because of the events of the first match I really had to overcome my anger to even enjoy the first hour or so of the PPV. Randy Orton/ Kane, Rhodes/Big Show and the Divas match were all fairly decent affairs but seemed to fall under the radar with the crowd because of the shocking start.
But then, Hell in a Cell happened. This match truly was an End of an Era. It was perfect story telling done within the ring and the sheer fact that people doubted it before the event only goes to show how emotional these guys made this match. Yes there weren’t any blood but within a PG environment we knew this couldn’t happen, but they did do everything possible to pull on your heart strings. In the end a same fitting ending happened to HHH as did HBK at WrestleMania 26. As soon as we saw the crotch chop in the corner we knew the end of the game was coming. This was nothing short of epic and to be honest I wouldn’t complain if this was the last we saw of all three gentleman. That ending seemed to fit the end of an era perfectly and teasing other events could just tarnish what was accomplished. The streak stands at 20-0 and with the way Undertaker conducts himself at the moment I can imagine him just wanting to stay private and letting the character disappear. Undertaker has never been seen at Hall of Fame Ceremonies and he doesn’t look like the type that will give farewell speeches so maybe this was the best possible way to end it?
The Team Teddy and Team Johnny match came next. A decent match which had a few moments. The crowd obviously spent from what they had just witnessed in the cell but Miz finally looks to have gotten some steam back when he pinned Ryder for the win.
CM Punk and Chris Jericho defined the word Wrestling at this event. It was everything we hoped it would be. Solid technical wrestling with big spots and lots of potential finishes. Everything a championship match should be. This match carried a lot of expectation going in and thankfully it delivered in spades!
Funkasaurus broke up the event a little by dancing with his Momma. God knows how this and the Deadliest catch commercials got on the show and Bryan didn’t but hey, it was designed to break the flow and they did.
Then the main event. Atmosphere is the key word here. Not a great technical match and never was going to be but the impact that these guys had on the crowd was fantastic! People have argued that Rock shouldn’t have won. I disagree because I saw firsthand how the crowd reacted when that 3 count happened. I’ve never seen a crowd reaction like it. Fans were dancing in the aisles and people were elated at what they just witnessed. This SHOULD have happened because it did no harm to Cena and did everything for the fans in attendance. Nobody expected it but fans left WrestleMania happy. Which at the end of the day is what the whole thing is supposed to be about. This was my 6th WrestleMania and it was the first time Cena lost CLEAN. It was the first time I walked out with a smile on my face and a few kids were left perplexed that Superman couldn’t win this round. Full credit for them going down this road because Cena didn’t need to win and Rock has done more than enough in this business to warrant another victory at WrestleMania.
The show ended with a massive pyrotechnic display and the whole show delivered what it set out to do. Yes Bryan got screwed but more on that shortly.
RAW took place the next night and Rock made his vision to become WWE Champion again in future which I can easily see. People are calling him because he’s leaving again but I’d rather have him appear when he can and it feels fresh when he does rather than stay around and become stale like he has done so before.
Lord Tensai made his debut which was ok but I think a lot has to be done to make him seem different from every other monster heel before him. Time will tell.
CM Punk and Jericho continued the feud which was fantastic as I wasn’t sure Jericho would stick around after ‘Mania.
Sheamus came out to a Cena reaction after he celebrated with the title. Del Rio came out to explain he was facing him on SmackDown this week and the crowd turned Spanish by chanting “Si! Si! Si!” Phenomenal!
Then the return of Brock Lesnar. That reaction when his music hit had me nearly jump 3 rows forward. We knew it had to happen by the way Cena held the mic out to the crowd when the chants for Lesnar started. Cena still looked like a deer looking at the headlights but it was so nice to see such a big return. WWE hit a home run this week and I hope they continue to use this momentum and bring this new era the start it needs. Stars like Dolph Ziggler, Wade Barrett, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, and Kofi Kingston all have a platform to now prove they can make it big in 2012 and I hope they take advantage of it.
After RAW went off the air Cena was given some very non-pg chants and he left the arena. The dark match was a six man tag between Randy Orton, Big Show & Sheamus VS Kane, Cody Rhodes and Daniel Bryan. Bryan was given the hero’s welcome and came out with a huge grin on his face. It looked just like what the man needed. Throughout the match everyone was chanting yes to every move Bryan did. All the competitors saw the funny side of it and Big Show kept playing on it by mimicking Bryan on the apron. Ultimately Sheamus got the win again over Bryan which gave Sheamus more boo’s.
The night finished with Bryan being able to take the microphone. He explained that WrestleMania was the worst night in his career but because of the fans they might give him a new T-Shirt. He ordered AJ out of the ring and laughed about it with the fans and thanked them so much. It was a lovely moment and one that I’m sure Bryan won’t forget easily.
To have your name chanted throughout the biggest event of them all and throughout the RAW the night afterwards speaks volumes about how much this man is respected by the fans and if the reactions continue we could be looking at another uprising such as Punk of last year. Bryan deserves all the success he gets and I hope that this was not just a Miami isolated incident. If your attending the next few events then please make sure that this support is shown again! Show WWE that this man should be given a better platform to show his talents.
As for me, thank you to everyone for reading these diary entries. I hope they may have inspired you to attend one of these events in future if you haven’t already. I also want to thank Miami for providing me with one of the best experiences of my life which will never be forgotten. Will I be able to do this again? Who knows, but if I do, it’ll take something crazy to beat this week!
If you want to check out my album of WrestleMania photographs you can do here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150716287943514.425038.694093513&type=3&l=e3596b0d88
If you want to check out my photograph album from RAW last night then you can do so here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150716933543514.425117.694093513&type=1&l=7ba7d1d0f1
If you want to check out my video of Daniel Bryans speech he made after RAW went off air then click here:
http://wrestlezone.preprod.vip.gnmedia.net/news/252533-video-daniel-bryan-addresses-the-live-crowd-after-raw
If you want to hear my Podcast appearance on Total Wrestling Show talking about this year’s Hall of Fame then click here:
http://www.totalwrestlingshow.com/2012/04/episode-62-april-1/
Other than that, thank you again, follow me on Twitter at @BeansOnToastUK, email me at beansontoastuk@msn.com and I’m now going to enjoy Miami beach for the rest of the week and try to obtain a tan before I head back to the cold shores of England.
