Now that I've sobered up a bit, here's some thoughts...
Sheamus, Randy Orton and Big Show vs. The Shield - Great call for the opener and a pretty spirited match for the most part. While The Shield winning is a good thing for sure, I'm wondering what direction they're going to go with the other three guys now. This would have been a great opportunity to turn either Orton or Sheamus but instead they just used Show, which means nothing given how often he does that. I hate to be cynical but this is just more WWE autopilot booking, which they seem to be amazing at these days.
The tag match was cancelled because of this commercial break for Be A Star.
Mark Henry vs. Ryback - A guy I was with said it best, "this looks like slow-motion". Honestly, I like both of these guys, Henry a lot, but this was poor stuff. Cool Shellshock at the end though.
The tag match was cancelled because of this commercial break for action figures.
Hell No vs. Ziggler/Langston - Good little match here but nothing I wouldn't expect to see on television. Whether it's WWE's booking or simply apathy on my part, I no longer care about Ziggler. That's a shame, but perhaps a step in the right direction is just around the corner via a cash-in. No point in putting the tag belts on him since he'll be holding the bigger belt soon enough, so good result here. Fans love Hell No, there's no denying Daniel Bryan!!
The tag match was cancelled because of this commercial break for John Cena vs. The Rock
Chris Jericho vs. Fandango - Outside of the fact that I see no need for this match to be on 'Mania, it was among the best work to that point in the show. Jericho really made Fandango look good while Curtis did enough to warrant some attention. Regardless of the gimmick, Curtis is a guy that has massive potential, so they should get to working on that right away. Jericho "gets" his job so well he's pretty much the best employee WWE has, Cena be damned!
The tag match was cancelled because of P. Diddy...seriously.
Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger - Again, this just felt like television stuff to me, definitely not worthy of being on a show this big. I think Del Rio is better as a face, but that the Swagger angle didn't give him a lot of chance to exploit that. Ricardo Rodriguez rules though, and seems to be more over than anyone else involved here, so maybe they should push him instead.
The Undertaker vs. CM Punk - So yeah, the outcome was never in doubt, but they had the MOTN all the same. They told multiple stories within, and each of them echoed the build which was a really nice touch. I also felt the nearfall sequences were done well; the urn to the head nearfall had half the people I was watching with jump out of their seats. Undertaker vs. Lesnar next year seems to be the current party line...it's going to have a hell of a time topping this one.
The tag match was cancelled because of this commercial break for John Cena vs. The Rock...again.
HHH vs. Brock Lesnar - My own feelings on the business aspect of this match aside, I loved this. Just an all out war between two true titans of the company and one full of rage and animosity. These two guys wanted to kill each other and it showed in their performance, nearly stealing the show from the previous match. Love Lesnar, love HHH, and I wish it could have turned out differently...but it didn't so fuck it, can't let it ruin my year or anything.
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The tag match was cancelled because of this commercial break for next years Wrestlemania and its commercial breaks.
John Cena vs. The Rock - I thought it was good, at times almost great, but seemed to lack the big match feel of last year. That's probably due to it being both "twice" in a lifetime and a forgeone conclusion as to the winner. For what it's worth, I'm glad Cena's champ again, if only because Rocky can't be there to do it. However, if Big Show is his first challenger...I'm sharpening the spoon!
All in all, a show saved by its final three matches, but not one of the best Wrestlemania's ever. If anything, this autopilot booking I mentioned before is just killing all interest I had in resuming my weekly RAW watching. I guess I should thank WWE for giving me a reason to look for other things to do on Monday nights.
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Oh and I feel like giving out medals for tonight so here you go...
Gold - The Undertaker (continues to bring it even if "it" only happens once a year)
Silver - Brock Lesnar (one of the best sell jobs I've seen in years with the Kimura)
Bronze - Chris Jericho (made Fandango look good and understands his role better than everyone else)
Just missed - CM Punk (it takes two to tango), Paul Heyman (brilliant on the outside in two matches), Living Colour (one of the best live song performances in years)