Finally!!!.......The go home show for the Grandest stage of em all.
The show started with CM Punk sitting in the center of the ring. The arena was dark, with a single spotlight on Punk. He begins the segment by playing up his hometown crowd and then compares them to the New Nexus, he didn't care about them and he didn't care about Chicago, which got him some boos for awhile.
As he prepared to leave the ring, Orton appeared. His knee was taped from his injury lastweek, but he was still able to beat up Punk because, I don't know.... He's just that unstoppable, but, as he was about to kick Punk in the head, he fell in the middle of the ring.
Punk immediatley leaves the ring, but sees the Doomsday Viper have a chink in his armour and goes into the ring, he taunted Orton a few times before kicking him in the knee, then performed the Go to Sleep on him. Now, I guess that means Orton looks vulnerable, but since he was able to beat up Punk with ease with a gimpy knee, how am I suppose to take Punk as a credible threat to this Immortal Orton who is being booked like Austin in his heyday.
Backstage, Christian and Edge talked about general manager Theodore Long’s ruling against him laying hands on Alberto del Rio on SmackDown. Christian being ever the clever notes that the injunction didn’t extend to Raw, according to the show’s anonymous GM. Which totally makes Teddy Long look feeble, since some unknown, unseen boogeyman can overrule him.
Their tag team match started with Edge facing Brodus Clay, using tandem moves with Christian to great advantage, because thats how tag teams actually work. But after a commercial break, del Rio was clearly in control, and he and Clay attacked Christian relentlessly.
Christian soon regained momentum, and in short order Edge and Clay were back in the ring. Del Rio interfered with Edge’s first Spear attempt, but as he fought outside the ring with Christian, Edge succeeded in his second effort and beat Clay.
On the ramp, del Rio used the cross arm breaker on Christian. Edge chased him and he ran backstage, only to return and hit Edge from behind. He then put Edge in the cross arm breaker. So this possibly takes out Christian or moves him to Edge's corner for the big match, because thats what you do with someone with much more momentum than the actual champion.
A taped segment recapping the confrontations between Triple H and The Undertaker preceded a match between Santino Marella and Justin Gabriel. It served as hype for the 8-man tag team match at WrestleMania, as Kane,The Big Show, and Vladimir Kozlov came out to the ring to support Marella while The Corre stood behind Gabriel.
Kane and The Big Show kept the members of The Corre at bay while Marella and Gabriel fought inside the ring. It was an easy win for Marella, and afterwards Santino starts celebrating, Kozlov joins in tooting the trumpets, this brings in Big Show to toot his orwn horn. Kane walks into the ring, looking unamused as usual....But whats this? Kane doing the Santino celebration! Markout!! Like the Kane-a-roonie.
The second hour began with The Undertaker walking to the ring with the best damn entrance music in the business. Yes, I am a big fan of Johnny Cash. He was quickly followed by Triple H, but as he prepared to spew water as he always does in his entrance, The Undertaker’s bell rang and the lights went out.
When they came back on, the two men stared each other down in the ring, but were unexpectedly interrupted by Shawn Michaels, they are definitely going all out tonight. Michaels asked Triple H what made him think he could do what he hadn’t, and Triple H said Michaels had gotten soft.
He spoke about the respect he had for The Undertaker, but also insisted he would end The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania. He talks about HBK and him having a pact on when it's time to hang em up, and says it's time for Undertaker for him to hang em up. The Undertaker took the mic and said this year wasn’t that time.
He went on to speak about how he ended Michaels’ career, and Michaels tried to use the Sweet Chin Music move on him. The Undertaker went for a chokeslam, but Triple H separated them.
He asked Michaels to tell The Undertaker why he would win at WrestleMania, but Michaels instead left the ring. The Undertaker then tipped his hat and walked away. Good promos by everyone here, and the ending was great. Shawn Michaels doubting Triple H's chances make it actually look like he might end the streak. And to be honest, I wouldn't be angry if he did. I wouldn't cry about Triple H's backstage role and politicking or any other of that crap.
Next segment is the stupid GM beeping and wants to test Jerry Lawler’s preparedness for his WrestleMania match against Michael Cole, the Raw GM set up a match with Cole’s trainer, Jack Swagger. Cole taunted Lawler from ringside as Swagger aggressively pummeled Lawler.
The tables turned when Lawler got hold of a chair. He was disqualified for striking Swagger, but he clearly didn’t care. He then hit Cole’s protective cage and tried to climb inside after him, but was restrained by security.
Before Dolph Ziggler’s match, Vicki Guerrero parodied John Morrison’s ring entrance and said Snooki would find herself “passed out and unconscious†at WrestleMania.
Ziggler and his tag team partner Sheamus faced their WrestleMania opponents, Morrison and Daniel Bryan. Sheamus overpowered Morrison early, but Ziggler had less success against Bryan. The tide turned again when Sheamus interrupted Bryan’s submission hold.
After a brief moment of chaos that ended with Ziggler and Morrison both lying flat outside the ring, Sheamus took Bryan out and pinned him for the win. Probably the longest match of the night, and it was ok. Especially since this show was all about the angles. Would like to see Daniel Bryan counter the Razor's Edge into the Lebelle Lock at Mania.
Next, the Road Warriors were announced as the year’s final inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame. A montage of clips recapped highlights from their career. 'm stoked that Ellering is being included here, since he was just as big of a part of L.O.D as Hawk and Animal.
Josh Matthews "interviewed" Snooki and Trish Stratus, drinking at a bar at the Jersey shore (which was clearly a stage set). They were interrupted by Michelle McCool and Layla, but came up the winners in the resulting brawl. Snooki sounded hungover, which I guess is natural for her, I don't know about this women since I don't watch Jersey Shore.
The most anticipated segment of the night began with The Rock's entrance, though he nearly missed his cue. He spoke of how he competed in his first WrestleMania in the same Chicago arena where Raw was taking place.
From there, he spoke of his dream about calling out John Cena, describing him as "looking like a homeless Power Ranger". Cena soon made his entrance, and the two men circled each other warily.
Cena struck a conciliatory note, saying he wanted The Rock back in the WWE and pointing to the crowd's support for The Rock. As the crowd chanted "Cena sucks!", he asked The Rock what problem he had with him and ranted about The Rock judging him.
As The Rock and Cena appeared set to fight, The Miz and Alex Riley interrupted. The Miz called Cena and The Rock "overhyped and overrated". He said Cena would lose at WrestleMania, but at least he would go down fighting, unlike The Rock.
He said The Rock, as one of the biggest movie stars in the world, wouldn't risk getting beaten up and embarrassed by him. As The Rock said "It doesn't matter what you think", Riley attacked The Rock. But soon, The Rock starts "Laying the Smackdown on both their candy asses" and sends the heels flying. I won't judge Rock on missing the kip-up after the DDT, it's been awhile, your bound to be rusty. He executed the People's Elbow on The Miz and threw him over the top rope. Cena took him by surprise and got the Attitude Adjustment on him, leaving The Rock lying on the mat as the show ended.
Good ending here, since Cena gets the upperhand on The Great One heading into Mania, making me want to see what Rock will do at Wrestlemania. Double Rock Bottoms? Maybe he costs Cena the best? Rock seems to be open to a match, so maybe this could result in a grudge match at another PPV. Since The Rock will be there on the next Raw, could be interesting.
The show started with CM Punk sitting in the center of the ring. The arena was dark, with a single spotlight on Punk. He begins the segment by playing up his hometown crowd and then compares them to the New Nexus, he didn't care about them and he didn't care about Chicago, which got him some boos for awhile.
As he prepared to leave the ring, Orton appeared. His knee was taped from his injury lastweek, but he was still able to beat up Punk because, I don't know.... He's just that unstoppable, but, as he was about to kick Punk in the head, he fell in the middle of the ring.
Punk immediatley leaves the ring, but sees the Doomsday Viper have a chink in his armour and goes into the ring, he taunted Orton a few times before kicking him in the knee, then performed the Go to Sleep on him. Now, I guess that means Orton looks vulnerable, but since he was able to beat up Punk with ease with a gimpy knee, how am I suppose to take Punk as a credible threat to this Immortal Orton who is being booked like Austin in his heyday.
Backstage, Christian and Edge talked about general manager Theodore Long’s ruling against him laying hands on Alberto del Rio on SmackDown. Christian being ever the clever notes that the injunction didn’t extend to Raw, according to the show’s anonymous GM. Which totally makes Teddy Long look feeble, since some unknown, unseen boogeyman can overrule him.
Their tag team match started with Edge facing Brodus Clay, using tandem moves with Christian to great advantage, because thats how tag teams actually work. But after a commercial break, del Rio was clearly in control, and he and Clay attacked Christian relentlessly.
Christian soon regained momentum, and in short order Edge and Clay were back in the ring. Del Rio interfered with Edge’s first Spear attempt, but as he fought outside the ring with Christian, Edge succeeded in his second effort and beat Clay.
On the ramp, del Rio used the cross arm breaker on Christian. Edge chased him and he ran backstage, only to return and hit Edge from behind. He then put Edge in the cross arm breaker. So this possibly takes out Christian or moves him to Edge's corner for the big match, because thats what you do with someone with much more momentum than the actual champion.
A taped segment recapping the confrontations between Triple H and The Undertaker preceded a match between Santino Marella and Justin Gabriel. It served as hype for the 8-man tag team match at WrestleMania, as Kane,The Big Show, and Vladimir Kozlov came out to the ring to support Marella while The Corre stood behind Gabriel.
Kane and The Big Show kept the members of The Corre at bay while Marella and Gabriel fought inside the ring. It was an easy win for Marella, and afterwards Santino starts celebrating, Kozlov joins in tooting the trumpets, this brings in Big Show to toot his orwn horn. Kane walks into the ring, looking unamused as usual....But whats this? Kane doing the Santino celebration! Markout!! Like the Kane-a-roonie.
The second hour began with The Undertaker walking to the ring with the best damn entrance music in the business. Yes, I am a big fan of Johnny Cash. He was quickly followed by Triple H, but as he prepared to spew water as he always does in his entrance, The Undertaker’s bell rang and the lights went out.
When they came back on, the two men stared each other down in the ring, but were unexpectedly interrupted by Shawn Michaels, they are definitely going all out tonight. Michaels asked Triple H what made him think he could do what he hadn’t, and Triple H said Michaels had gotten soft.
He spoke about the respect he had for The Undertaker, but also insisted he would end The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania. He talks about HBK and him having a pact on when it's time to hang em up, and says it's time for Undertaker for him to hang em up. The Undertaker took the mic and said this year wasn’t that time.
He went on to speak about how he ended Michaels’ career, and Michaels tried to use the Sweet Chin Music move on him. The Undertaker went for a chokeslam, but Triple H separated them.
He asked Michaels to tell The Undertaker why he would win at WrestleMania, but Michaels instead left the ring. The Undertaker then tipped his hat and walked away. Good promos by everyone here, and the ending was great. Shawn Michaels doubting Triple H's chances make it actually look like he might end the streak. And to be honest, I wouldn't be angry if he did. I wouldn't cry about Triple H's backstage role and politicking or any other of that crap.
Next segment is the stupid GM beeping and wants to test Jerry Lawler’s preparedness for his WrestleMania match against Michael Cole, the Raw GM set up a match with Cole’s trainer, Jack Swagger. Cole taunted Lawler from ringside as Swagger aggressively pummeled Lawler.
The tables turned when Lawler got hold of a chair. He was disqualified for striking Swagger, but he clearly didn’t care. He then hit Cole’s protective cage and tried to climb inside after him, but was restrained by security.
Before Dolph Ziggler’s match, Vicki Guerrero parodied John Morrison’s ring entrance and said Snooki would find herself “passed out and unconscious†at WrestleMania.
Ziggler and his tag team partner Sheamus faced their WrestleMania opponents, Morrison and Daniel Bryan. Sheamus overpowered Morrison early, but Ziggler had less success against Bryan. The tide turned again when Sheamus interrupted Bryan’s submission hold.
After a brief moment of chaos that ended with Ziggler and Morrison both lying flat outside the ring, Sheamus took Bryan out and pinned him for the win. Probably the longest match of the night, and it was ok. Especially since this show was all about the angles. Would like to see Daniel Bryan counter the Razor's Edge into the Lebelle Lock at Mania.
Next, the Road Warriors were announced as the year’s final inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame. A montage of clips recapped highlights from their career. 'm stoked that Ellering is being included here, since he was just as big of a part of L.O.D as Hawk and Animal.
Josh Matthews "interviewed" Snooki and Trish Stratus, drinking at a bar at the Jersey shore (which was clearly a stage set). They were interrupted by Michelle McCool and Layla, but came up the winners in the resulting brawl. Snooki sounded hungover, which I guess is natural for her, I don't know about this women since I don't watch Jersey Shore.
The most anticipated segment of the night began with The Rock's entrance, though he nearly missed his cue. He spoke of how he competed in his first WrestleMania in the same Chicago arena where Raw was taking place.
From there, he spoke of his dream about calling out John Cena, describing him as "looking like a homeless Power Ranger". Cena soon made his entrance, and the two men circled each other warily.
Cena struck a conciliatory note, saying he wanted The Rock back in the WWE and pointing to the crowd's support for The Rock. As the crowd chanted "Cena sucks!", he asked The Rock what problem he had with him and ranted about The Rock judging him.
As The Rock and Cena appeared set to fight, The Miz and Alex Riley interrupted. The Miz called Cena and The Rock "overhyped and overrated". He said Cena would lose at WrestleMania, but at least he would go down fighting, unlike The Rock.
He said The Rock, as one of the biggest movie stars in the world, wouldn't risk getting beaten up and embarrassed by him. As The Rock said "It doesn't matter what you think", Riley attacked The Rock. But soon, The Rock starts "Laying the Smackdown on both their candy asses" and sends the heels flying. I won't judge Rock on missing the kip-up after the DDT, it's been awhile, your bound to be rusty. He executed the People's Elbow on The Miz and threw him over the top rope. Cena took him by surprise and got the Attitude Adjustment on him, leaving The Rock lying on the mat as the show ended.
Good ending here, since Cena gets the upperhand on The Great One heading into Mania, making me want to see what Rock will do at Wrestlemania. Double Rock Bottoms? Maybe he costs Cena the best? Rock seems to be open to a match, so maybe this could result in a grudge match at another PPV. Since The Rock will be there on the next Raw, could be interesting.
