Wednesday, April 24, 2013

ROH Death Before Dishonor X: State of Emergency Review

Kevin Steen defends the World Title against Rhino and new World Tag Team Champs are crowned.


*I'd like to point out that this one is, again, the DVD version, thus I'm neglecting the iPPV issues this show had*

ROH Death Before Dishonor X: State Of Emergency
Chicago Ridge, Illinois 9/15/12

1.) ROH World Tag Team Title Tournament Semi-Finals - S.C.U.M. (Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander: ***1/4

Corino & Jacobs need to win the tournament and the titles or they will be out of Ring of Honor. A fairly solid opener here. These two teams seems to have good chemistry as they seem to put on good matches all around.

2.) Survival of the Fittest Qualifying Match - Tadarius Thomas vs. Silas Young: **3/4

The winner of this will be in the 2012 Edition of Survival of the Fittest in Baltimore the next weekend. A fine undercard match. Both guys did pretty well in the time they were given.

3.) Kyle O'Reilly vs. ACH: ***1/4

This is the ROH debut for ACH. He definitely has the in-ring ability and charisma to be a star, and the crowd was into him. A solid match here. O'Reilly getting the win was expected, but still a fine debut for ACH.

4.) ROH World Tag Team Title Tournament Semi-Finals - The Briscoes vs. Charlie Haas & Rhett Titus (with Shelton Benjamin): **

So since Shelton Benjamin was "suspended" back in August and couldn't compete in the tournament's opening round, he and his arch enemy Rhett Titus decided to form a Tag Team in the Tournament so they can win the belts and.....fight over them in a later match. What? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the tournament? Shelton was unsuspended at this point and at ringside, which makes this pairing even more pointless. To be honest, the match sucked as well. I don't know if it was Haas & Titus, or if The Briscoes just had an off night, but this was not good.

Davey Richards comes out and pretty much cuts the extended iPPV version of the promo he cut at Caged Hostility. He concludes by announcing that he will be in Survival of the Fittest, and that hunting season is open on his opponent, Mike Bennett.

5.) Jay Lethal vs. Homicide: ***1/4

These two have a history that dates all the way back to 2005, during the feud Lethal had with Low Ki and the rest of The Rottweilers. He's trying to find his 'Killer Instinct'. I enjoyed this. Nothing spectacular, but solid. It took forever for Lethal to put Homicide away, and had to use a nasty looking Cradle DDT Finisher, which he rarely uses again (I think ACH actually uses it as his finisher now), to put the Notorious 187 away.

6.) Roderick Strong & Michael Elgin (with Truth Martini) vs. Irish Airborne: ***

It's been a few years since Irish Airborne were seen in ROH. They've been regulars in CZW, AAW, and AIW. A decent match here. Short but solid for what it was. Strong sneaks in a cover, stealing Elgin's thunder, for the win. I heard Irish Airborne have improved since the last time they were in ROH. You wouldn't know it from watching this.

7.) ROH World Television Title - Adam Cole vs. Mike Mondo: ***1/2

Mondo won a 6-Man Mayhem Match on TV to earn this shot. Matt Hardy is out on commentary. I thought this was actually very solid but it felt like it went a little longer than it needed to. Still, the match was pretty good.

Afterwords, Hardy gets in the ring and shakes Cole's hand. He then says Cole was never as good as him and will never be better than him.

8.) ROH World Tag Team Title Tournament Finals – S.C.U.M. (Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs) vs. Charlie Haas & Rhett Titus: **1/2

Not as good as the opener, but better than the Briscoes match. Essentially, Shelton takes out Jacobs so Titus & Haas could win, but Titus doesn't want to win it this way, causing Shelton to lay him out, leading to S.C.U.M. getting the titles. Weird booking in the match, and the whole tournament.

WGTT lays out Titus after the match.

9.) ROH World Title – Anything Goes - Kevin Steen vs. Rhino (with Truth Martini): ***3/4

Weird seeing this heel vs. heel match main eventing an iPPV. Pretty much on the same level as the Kevin Steen defense from the last iPPV. A lot of people were unsure if this would be good but it turned out surpassing my expectations. Weapons and interference were aplenty, and the crowd was actually into it.

After Steen retains, Michael Elgin comes out to take out Steen but Steve Corino sends Roderick Strong (both were already out there) into Elgin, breaking up the Elgin Bomb. Elgin then proceeds to lays Strong out with the Elgin Bomb to end the show.

Overall: 7.25/10

This has got to be one of the more disappointing Death Before Dishonor shows ROH has ever put on. Part of it was the match quality, but a lot of it had to do with the booking of ROH leading up to the show. Why were S.C.U.M. and the House of Truth, two heel factions, feuding? The World Tag Team Title Tournament was not handled well at all, and ended up being very predictable. There was some good to very good stuff match wise on here that helped the show out, but for it being one of ROH's biggest events of the year, it was definitely a disappointment.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

ROH Caged Hostility Review

S.C.U.M. and Ring of Honor go to war in a Steel Cage!



ROH Caged Hostility
Charlotte, North Carolina 9/8/2012

1.) Jay Lethal vs. Adam Page: ***1/4

Lethal cuts a promo about his 'Killer Instinct' and wanting a shot at the Ring of Honor World Title, and says he's going to destroy Adam Page to prove it. Page, in turn, says he's got something to prove. This might have been Page's ROH debut but I'm not sure. Regardless, this was a fun opener. Lots of action and a great way to kick things off.

2.) "No Fear" Mike Mondo vs. "God's Gift" QT Marshall: **

This was.....just kind of there, or ok. Marshall really does nothing for me. He's unworthy of that awesome entrance theme! Mondo is good, but he & Marshall just don't mesh well.

3.) Caprice Coleman & Cedric Alexander vs. The Bravados: ***3/4

With both teams being from North Carolina, you know this was going to be good. It proved to be great. Just awesome Tag Team Action here!! Very impressive.

Davey Richards comes out to cuts a promo. He talks about this issues outside the ring, and says that the American Wolf is back, and that he will be at Death Before Dishonor X. I believe he also said he had interest in a particular match on tonight's show.

4.) Mike Posey vs. Jeff Lewis Neal: *3/4

Posey is one half of Alabama Attitude. Nothing really to this, just a match with two local guys.

After the match, S.C.U.M. rushes the ring & attacks both guys. Steen says that since Jim Cornette isn't there and he has a title match with Rhino coming up, the Steel Cage Match is off. Rhett Titus and The Briscoes eventually come out and chase S.C.U.M. out of the ring. It's announced to everyone that Steen (and I guess Corino & Jacobs too) will be fined $5000 if they don't compete. What's with ROH's weird obsession with $5000?

5.) Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs. The House of Truth: **3/4

So Shelton Benjamin was back in time for the Semi-Finals & Finals of the Tag Team Title Tournament, and to team with Haas here, but Haas still has to team with Titus?.....ugh. Anyway, this was....interesting. Strong does some funny stuff with Charlie's shirt. This was actually pretty decent, but it wasn't anything outstanding. I'd still say their Southern Defiance Match was better. The Strong/Elgin dissension continued.

6.) Proving Ground Match – Adam Cole vs. Kyle O’Reilly: ***1/4

If O'Reilly wins or forces a draw, he gets a future title shot. Davey Richards comes down to watch the match. A fine match. Not as good as Best in the World: Hostage Crisis, but better than their Showdown in the Sun match. Davey gets involved in the finish, and inadvertently costs Cole the match. 

7.) Steel Cage Match – S.C.U.M. vs. The Briscoes & Rhett Titus: ***3/4

Before everyone can get in the cage, they all start brawling on the outside, and people get busted open. This leads to Mark being locked out by S.C.U.M. meaning it's 3-on-2 in the Cage. Mark tries to climb in several times but keeps getting knocked off, including once through a table. Mark finally gets in and does a moonsault off the top of the cage onto S.C.U.M. with a Doomsday Device following shortly thereafter for the win. Not an insanely awesome match, but a very fun Steel Cage Match, with a good story told.

After the match, S.C.U.M. continues the assault, but Jay Lethal comes out and fights off all three of them. The Briscoes & Titus stand tall to end the show.

Overall: 7.5/10

This was a fine show. While you do have one or two skippable matches, the rest is a good watch. The Steel Cage Match & the Bravados/Coleman & Alexander Match were all very good, and the Proving Ground Match & Opener were fairly solid. WGTT vs. HOT was even mildly entertaining. Overall nothing outstanding but solid.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

ROH Boiling Point 2012 Review

Eddie Kingston and Kevin Steen go toe-to-toe in Rhode Island!


ROH Boiling Point 2012

Providence, Rhode Island 8/11/12

1.) Special Challenge Match – Roderick Strong vs. Mike Mondo: ***1/2

I think turned out to be a bit better than people initially thought it would be. People like to criticize Mondo, but he had a very solid opener here with Roderick Strong. When in the ring with the right people, Mondo can have great matches.

2.) Four Corner Survival – Winner Receives an ROH Contract – Matt Taven vs. Antonio Thomas vs. QT Marshall vs. Vinny Marseglia: **3/4

All four these guys are local Northeast/New England wrestlers, to my knowledge. Caleb Seltzer makes his first appearance here for ROH, explaining the backgrounds of the four guys involved. This was actually a fine match. Though I questions this kind of match, with these kind of guys, being on an iPPV, it was find for filler. QT Marshall wins & gets a contract with ROH.

3.) Proving Ground Match – ROH World TV Champion Adam Cole vs. “Brutal” Bob Evans: **1/4

A lot of people, including myself, criticized this. Adam Cole goes from pinning Davey Richards at the 10th Anniversary Show, having a star making performance at Best in the World: Hostage Crisis, and winning the TV Title, to wrestling a manager/part time-ish wrestler. Evans says he's going punch Cole in his "sweet, delicate mouth". Pretty uninteresting match. Evans got in way too much offense in my opinion, but at least Cole won.

Mike Bennett, Maria & Evans beat up on Cole after the match until Eddie Edwards & Sara Del Rey make the save.

4.) Michael Elgin vs. Charlie Haas: **

Truth Martini cuts a promo beforehand, spoiling the World Title Challenger at Death Before Dishonor X and talks about all the Hoopla going around about cohesion in the HOT. Michael Elgin cuts him off by saying he's signed a contract and it officially cashing in his Survival of the Fittest Title Shot at Glory By Honor XI in October. Roderick Strong comes out and is none too happy about this, and declares he's going on strike from the HOT.

Finally we get the actual match. Their match at Death Before Dishonor IX was decent, but this was worse. There's some outside nonsense involved Haas, Truth, Strong, Elgin, and a lot of beer. This match just never got going. Blah....

5.) The Briscoes vs. S.C.U.M. (Steve Corino & Jimmy Jacobs): ***1/4

Steve Corino being clean shaven just looks.....weird, but I've become more accepting of it over time. Pretty much your standard tag team match here. The Briscoes get the win.

6.) 2/3 Falls Match – Tommaso Ciampa (with Barrister RD Evans) vs. Jay Lethal: ***1/2

This feud started off not so good, but a great match at Border Wars and Ciampa's crazy gimmick have freshened things up a bit. The first fall comes very early, in the first two minutes, after Ciampa blows out/severely injures one of his knee. They continue the match and Ciampa evens up the score, but Lethal uses "Killer Instinct" (i.e. a low blow) followed by Lethal Injection for the Third Fall and the win. I gotta say this turned out to be pretty good. The fact Ciampa continued to go all out for that on essentially one leg makes this even more awesome. Sad that Ciampa got injured, looking forward to his return.

7.) Mixed Tag Team Match – Eddie Edwards & Sara Del Rey vs. “The Prodigy” Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis: ***1/4

Sara Del Rey is heading to WWE (as a trainer for the Divas) so she's been having here farewell tour on the indies, this being her last ROH match. While I think this was more of a "sports entertainment" type match, it was still very solid. Fun to. Maria & Sara go under the ring & Sara comes out with Maria's top. At this point Nigel McGuinness, who was mesmerized with Maria to begin with, completely loses it. (He's hilarious whenever Maria comes out). Edwards & Del Rey win and Bennett covers Maria up & rushes her to the back. The fans thank Del Rey before she leaves.

8.) ROH World Title – Anything Goes – Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Kingston: ***3/4

Steve Corino is out on commentary, but Kingston immediately goes after Corino. He ends up sending him & Jimmy Jacobs to the back before continuing the match with Steen. This leads to Steen powerbombing Kingston on an upside down table between the ring & the barricade. They try to stretcher Kingston out as Steen cuts a promo ridiculing the fans and then goes to far when he takes a shot at the late Larry Sweeney. This sends Kingston into a rage as he rushes back to the ring to fight Steen. Corino & Jacobs try to get involved again but Rhett Titus comes out and fights them off. Steen ends up retaining. I gotta say that despite the oddness with the whole stretcher thing (which affected my star rating a bit), this was very good. Steen & Kingston did a really good job, both in the build-up and the match itself. Very good stuff here.

Afterwords, Steen gets into it with some fans, apparently striking them, but it later turned out these apparently were plants.

Overall: 7.25/10

I initially criticized the decision of making this show, in a place ROH has never been before, an iPPV on what seemed like short notice. They ended up proving me wrong by having a sellout of 900+ in their first trip to Providence, which is great because it means they'll be back here in the future. Everyone knew this would be a B-Show, and that's pretty much what we got, though there was some good stuff one here. Steen/Kingston, Mondo/Strong & Lethal/Ciampa were all pretty good, and the two tag team matches were entertaining. While some stuff in the middle of the card brought the show down a peg, and while nothing on here I'd say is "must see" it was still a solid and entertaining B-Show.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

PWG DDT4 2013 Review

The last ¡OlĂ©! 



PWG DDT4 2013

Reseda, California 1/12/13

1.) DDT4 – First Round – The Inner City Machine Guns vs. The Young Bucks: ***1/2

What an awesome way to open a show! If you're looking for athleticism, high flying, and yes...superkicks, this one's for you. Great Stuff. The Young Bucks advance...via a roll up/flash pin (keep this in mind)

2.) DDT4 – First Round – PWG World Tag Team Titles – The Super Smash Bros. vs. The 
Unbreakable F'N Machines: ***1/4

In this tournament, every match the World Tag Team Titles are in will be for the belts. Nothing really great here, but solid. Player Uno separates his shoulder during the match, and in their first ever match as a team, Brian Cage & Michael Elgin are the NEW World Tag Team Champions.

3.) DDT4 – First Round – The Dojo Bros. vs. Future Shock: ***3/4

Edwards & Strong have Adam Cole's face X'ed out on their Dojo Bros Shirt since they're facing Cole here. Best moment of the match was when Strong chopped Cole in his d**k. This was a fun match. Enjoyable. Future Shock advances.

4.) DDT4 – First Round – The Briscoes vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: ***

The Briscoes are making their first PWG appearance in awhile. Steen & El Generico play the "reluctant  partners" role here. Surprisingly this was just good, especially given their history. Nothing really great, but I guess that's ok since they didn't want to burn out the crowd.

5.) DDT4 – Semi-Finals – PWG World Tag Team Titles – The Unbreakable Fucking Machines vs. The Young Bucks: ***1/4

Once again, the belts are on the line, but this time it's Cage & Elgin defending them. Again, this was good, but nothing really great. The Young Buck win the World Tag Team Titles....via roll up.

6.) DDT4 – Semi-Finals – Future Shock vs. Kevin Steen & El Generico: ***

This is a first time meeting between the two teams. It's also an extension of the feud Steen & Cole have had going on. Much like the earlier Steenerico match, this was just good, but again, nothing great.

7.) B-Boy vs. Willie Mack: *** 
  
Here we pretty much have a situation where these two were put in a match because they have nothing else to do. Anyway, a fine match to kind of cool off the crowd. Willie Mack looks good against the veteran B-Boy.

8.) Best-of-Three Series Match 2 – Knockout & Submission Only – Drake Younger vs. Sami Callihan: ***3/4

Callihan won the first match at Mystery Vortex, and Younger needs to tie the series, which he does with a huge win. A very brutal match. You'll either like it or not...I particularly liked it.

9.) DDT4 – Finals – PWG World Tag Team Titles – The Young Bucks vs. Kevin Steen & El 
Generico: ***3/4

Here we go...the finals. Probably the best match of the tournament. Really enjoyed watching it. The crowd really helped, as they knew it would be El Generico's last match in PWG. The highlights include El Generico kicking out of More Bang For Your Buck, hitting a huge Tope Rope Brainbustaaa!!, and Rick Knox superkicking one of The Bucks after they broke up a pin attempt. The Young Bucks spoil things by winning......via Roll Up.

After the match, El Generico & Kevin Steen embrace to a huge response from the crowd, and Steen says he'd be nothing without Generico. The entire roster (expect for The Bucks) come out to celebrate 
with Generico. He says his name is El Generico, and he was born in Tijuana, Mexico. He mentions going back to Mexico to help his orphans, and says if worst comes to worst, he'll gladly be back in PWG.

Overall: 8.25/10

I have a feeling this show was going to be a little better. You had a lot of really good matches on here, but nothing above ****, which is a rarity for a PWG show. A big issue I had was that all of The Young Bucks matches ended in roll-ups, which I get it, they're heels, but they shouldn't win all their matches in this manner. There are some good things to note, however. Of course the matches that, as I mentioned, were really good as well as El Generico's last show (which is worth getting this alone). I also really liked the story they played with El Generico & Kevin Steen. They first faced The Briscoes, their long-time rivals, and then they faced Future Shock, which is a team they've never faced before and possibly never will again. Finally they rounded up with the Young Bucks, the guys they've had issues with in PWG for a long time and the last team they faced before their brake-up and feud in ROH. In terms of storytelling, great stuff. Not the best PWG Show, but definitely worth getting for seeing El Generico on the indies one last time.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

ROH Brew City Beatdown Review

Ring of Honor heads to Milwaukee for a wild night of wrestling!



ROH Brew City Beatdown
Milwaukee, WI 7/14/12

1.) Rhett Titus vs. Mike Sydal: **3/4

So about two weeks (roughly, maybe it was a week idk) before this, the whole Kenny King situation went down. The World Tag Team Titles are vacant, and Titus is now on his own. This was a fine opening match. Titus and the young Sydal put on a decent opener.

2.) Battle of Richmond Rematch – Jay Lethal vs. Mike Mondo: ***1/4

This is a rematch from the Richmond show in May.  The match here was a little better, I think. The stuff with Mondo's knee and Jim Cornette was a bit much, but it was still a fine match.

3.) Samson Walker, Chris Silvio & Mohamad Ali Vaez vs. Tony Kozina, Shiloh Jonze & Adam Revolver: **3/4

So here we have a bunch of OVW/Mid-West Talent in a Six-Man Tag. Kozina is of course known for his relationship with Davey Richards & Kyle O'Reilly. This was actually surprisingly decent. Samson Walker was really over for some reason, maybe because he's huge. Can't remember who won.

4.) Kyle O’Reilly vs. Tadarius Thomas: ***1/4

O'Reilly reiterates before hand that he didn't tap out to Adam Cole in their Hybrid Fighting Rules Match. This match was actually pretty solid. O'Reilly really meshed well with Thomas. Tadarius really came off as O'Reilly's equal. Good stuff.

5.) Special Challenge Match – Roderick Strong vs. BJ Whitmer: ***1/4

A fine match here, though I was expecting a little better. Still solid though.

6.) Special Attraction – Michael Elgin vs. Silas Young: ***3/4

So Silas Young & Michael Elgin are very familiar with each other, having a series of fantastic matches in AAW, a promotion out of the Mid-West. Young also made appearances for ROH a few years ago but never was a regular. Elgin also sends Truth Martini to the back before the match. This turned out to be pretty awesome. Elgin & Young showed off their great in ring chemistry here. Pretty good stuff.

Afterwords Truth Martini comes out and congratulates Elgin and sends him to the back for the night. He then brings out Rhino for the next match.

7.) Border Wars Rematch – Eddie Edwards vs. Rhino: ***1/2

I think these two actually had a better match then they did in Toronto. Solid action here. Rhino wins to even things up between the two.

8.) Jay & Mark Briscoe vs. ROH World Champion Kevin Steen & Jimmy Jacobs: ***3/4

Much like the tag match Steen/Jacobs had at Unity, this started as a wild brawl (this one actually got going but ended in a Draw) until Cornette restarted it as a No DQ Match. This was again, dumb. It should have been No DQ from the beginning. Once it was No DQ however, it got really good. The highlight was definitely Mark Briscoe putting Kevin Steen through a table after jumping off a balcony. Might be over-rating this a tad but I enjoy wild brawls.

After this, S.C.U.M. conducts a post match beatdown, but Rhett Titus runs down to make the save. He says he wants to rid ROH of S.C.U.M. and will look to the Briscoes to back him up.

Overall: 7.75/10

I don't think people were expecting much from this show but it turned out to be pretty good. Michael Elgin & Silas Young stole the show, the main event was entertaining, and a lot of the mid-card matches were fairly solid.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

WWE WrestleMania 29 LIVE Review

WrestleMania comes home and it's twice in a lifetime as Rock & Cena go at it.....again.



So I was fortunate enough to get to go see WrestleMania live this year in MetLife Stadium. I got CM Punk's NEW T-Shirt, which is freaking awesome!!!


So I'll just be giving my live thoughts of the matches and the overall thought of seeing it live for the first time.

Here was the view from my seat.


WWE WrestleMania 29
East Rutherford, New Jersey 4/7/13

Pre-Show

1.) WWE Intercontinental Title - Wade Barrett vs. The Miz: **3/4

I thought it was ok for a four-minute match. Miz wins the title here. Their rematch from Raw the next night was better.

Main Show

1.) Sheamus, Randy Orton & Big Show vs. The Shield: ***1/4

I was really excited to see The Shield in action for the first time. This was a fine opening match. I found it enjoyable. They played up the story with babyface team well and The Shield looked good. They picked up the win after Big Show doesn't help Orton after Sheamus tagged Orton instead of Big Show. Big Show knocks both guys out and leaves.

2.) Mark Henry vs. Ryback: *1/2

This match sucked. Plain & Simple. I can't even remember anything really positive about it. From what I remember the only big move I recall Ryback hitting during the match was the Meat Hook Clothesline. The finish was stupid. Ryback should have just hit the Shell Shock & won. Henry didn't need to win.

3.) WWE Tag Team Titles - Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston (with AJ Lee): ***1/4

They played up the AJ/Bryan stuff last year with Ziggler playing the role of Bryan and Bryan being Sheamus. I'm so happy Bryan got to actually wrestle here. A good title match. Short but solid.

4.) Fandango vs. Chris Jericho: ***1/4

Fandango had multiple dancers in addition to his regular, and Jericho's entrance was awesome as usual. This was actually a solid match. Fandango impressed me a bit. The match itself was fine. It looked like they botched the Lionsault bit at the end but I couldn't tell.

Next we got the Sean "Diddy" Combs concert, which I used for a bathroom break. No need to see this....though I apparently missed Skylar Grey, who is hot apparently.

5.) World Heavyweight Title - Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Coulter): ***

They decided not to show Swagger & Coulter's Entrance on the PPV apparently (you can tell this was the case live) so they could go straight to a Coulter promo in the ring. The match was fine, though it did feel a tad short. Lots of Ziggler chants, but no cash-in.

6.) CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) vs. The Undertaker: ****1/2

NOW we got to the great stuff. Living Colour performs Cult of Personality LIVE for Punk's entrance, which was awesome, and Undertaker's Entrance was cool as well...


Simply put, this match was awesome. Match of the Night for sure. The crowd was really into it and was essentially split. My favorite spot was when Punk hit the GTS and then 'Taker bounces off the ropes and hits a tombstone. That's Ring of Honor type stuff right there. Punk almost won with an urn shot and almost killed himself when the Spanish Announce Table didn't break after he hit a Diving Elbow from the Top Rope. Awesome Match. 'Taker goes 21-0

7.) No Holds Barred - Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs. Triple H (with Shawn Michaels): ***1/4

I will say that this was definitely an improvement over their Summerslam match. However, the crowd was burned out from the last match and really didn't care until the end. The match itself was fine, but nothing really great. Triple H used Lesnar's Arm Submission against him and Lesnar slams him on the stairs repeatedly. Triple H wins with The Pedigree on the Steel Steps. Michaels also got F5'ed by Lesnar, and hit the Sweet Chin Music on Heyman. On a side note where I was sitting, there were "Lesnar's Mom" and "Kiss and Make Up" Chants.

Next we get the annual Hall of Fame Segment. Mick Foley, Bob Backlund, Trish Stratus, Donald Trump (heavily booed), Booker T, and Bruno Sammartino (heavily cheered) were all inducted.

I also forgot to mention a Special Olympics segment involving Stephanie McMahon & NJ Governor Chris Christie.

Ton of Funk & Funkadactyls vs. Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins got bumped to the next night's Raw due to time constraints.

8.) WWE Title - The Rock vs. John Cena: ***3/4

The first part of the match was honestly a blur. I really, however, enjoyed the second half. It really got people in the Stadium on the edge of their seat. This is also a double-edged sword, as they hit finishers on each other essentially for the last Ten Minutes. No real Rock Chants from what I saw, it was more the "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks" chants that dominated. The crowd did pop big when Cena won, but booed when Rock & Cena shook hands & hugged.

Overall: 7.75/10 (Match Quality)
Live Experience: 9/10

When you look at the matches, it's obvious that this was a one match show. CM Punk/Undertaker delivered WWE's Match of the Year thus far, and everything aside from the Ryback/Mark Henry Match was in the good range, but the fact those matches never left the good range hurt the card a bit. Live, it was a great experience! Regardless of the quality of the card, if you get the opportunity to go to a WrestleMania, do it! No only for the show itself, but the Hall of Fame, Axxess, the various indy shows, and the Raw after WrestleMania (I only was able to attend 'Mania itself due to college). It was well worth the experience. I had a great time!