WrestleMania 29 a dud

WrestleMania XXVIX was expected to be a great show.

With John Cena-The Rock II (this time with the WWE Title on the line) main-eventing, The Undertaker putting his 20-0 streak on the line against the longest-reigning WWE champion in recent memory (CM Punk), and Brock Lesnar going up against Triple H, it looked like a stacked card.

However, when all was said and done, it was a giant letdown.

The best match of the night, in what has become an annual thing, was the Undertaker match. After four years of going up against fellow part-timers Shawn Michaels and Triple H, Taker was matched up against one of the WWE’s legitimate top heels and best wrestlers in CM Punk. Many wondered how it would go – if Taker could hang with a younger athlete or if Taker would put over Punk (not losing to him, but allowing him to get some offense).

He answered both questions with a resounding “Yes.”

He allowed Punk to look like a credible opponent. He allowed Punk to give fans the belief that he could wind up with the rare win. He allowed Punk to kick out of one of his finishers and use one of his signature moves.

In the meantime, Punk did enough selling for Taker to make him out to be the unstoppable force that he is.

Undertaker may not wrestle full-time anymore, but when it comes time for him to compete, he can still bring it with the best of them. And, even though he lost, CM Punk’s status just got elevated with his performance.

He hung with a WWE legend and gave him a great match. Expect the belt to come back to Punk sometime in the near future.

While WWE did a great job building up to that match, with the three-man tag (and the unexpected heel turn by the Big Show when everyone felt that it would be Randy Orton turning), Chris Jericho-Fandango (which was a very entertaining match) and Alberto Del Rio-Jack Swagger (with Swagger’s DUI punishment being a clean loss in the center of the ring), the card came to a crashing halt with HHH-Lesnar.

Once again, Triple H put himself above the best interests of the company, and once again, it cost them. There is NO REASON why that match should have been second-to-last. There is also NO REASON why an over-the-hill executive should beat a guy you are pushing as a legitimate unstoppable monster in Lesnar.

However, HHH did both. And, as a result, WrestleMania XXVIX became just another card and may have etched itself in the bottom five of all-time WrestleManias.

At least it wasn’t WrestleMania IX or WrestleMania XI bad, but it might compete with some of those ones in the early 20s or early teens.

The match may have been hampered when Lesnar legitimately was knocked loopy five minutes into the match thanks to an inadvertent knee by HHH. However, they plodded along with no real psychology or charisma. And, while HHH was the babyface, I think a good amount of people were hoping to see Lesnar win.

If you’re building for Lesnar-Rock at WrestleMania XXX (as seems to be the plan), then you don’t have Lesnar job out to Triple H.

As bad as that match was, it may have been outdone by Rock-Cena.

It’s fairly obvious to me that they have ZERO chemistry with one another. If it wasn’t obvious after last year’s main-event snoozer, than it was after they duplicated that snoozer this year.

When The Rock was one of wrestling’s most marketable and biggest superstars, he had a reputation of being able to work with ANYONE. His match with Hulk Hogan at the SkyDome at WrestleMania XVII was arguably the most memorable match of his career, and it had as much to do with Hogan (who had a reputation for being a selfish worker during his time in WCW) as it did with The Rock.

In fact, only his match with Goldberg right after WrestleMania XIX was one that immediately comes to mind as a stinkburger, and it’s mostly because Goldberg can’t work (he never could).

With Cena, he doesn’t have that excuse. He made himself into the modern-day Hogan not just with his charisma, but also with his work rate. People boo him, but they respect him, and the boys in the back respect him. But, for whatever reason, they just can’t seem to click.

Hopefully, this puts the kibosh on a Rock-Cena III at SummerSlam or wherever else. It was a nice thought, but it just didn’t work.

The only thing that would have made this WrestleMania worse was if they would have kept that God-awful mixed tag match on (which would have gone on in between HHH-Lesnar and Rock-Cena). You want to talk about deflating a crowd, that would have just made it worse. No offense to Cody Rhodes, who was very upset about the decision, but you match was terrible and it had no business being on a WrestleMania card.

The only other thing I wished they would have done was allowed Dolph Ziggler to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania instead of the next night at Raw. I get that they wanted to make the Raw after WrestleMania special, but it already kind of is. Along with the Raw right before Mania, the Raw after maybe the most watched episode of the entire year.

WrestleMania is the event that brings all of the fringe fans or long-lost fans (like me) back to WWE. If it’s a hot event, like the last few have been, the momentum carries over to the next night and through the first month or so. While Sunday’s was not a hot event, the fact is that a lot of people paid attention. They had 80,000-plus in attendance at MetLife Stadium and millions more watching at home plunking down $59.99 to watch it.

I’m sure doing to Ziggler change in front of all those paying customers wouldn’t have hurt. However, after the WWF tried a similar tactic in WrestleMania IX (where Bret Hart lost the main event to Yokozuna, only for a returning Hulk Hogan to run in and win the title out of nowhere), and it’s been widely panned, I’m sure it might cause them to be hesitant.

And, if you’re going to build Ryback up to be another Goldberg, why would you have him lose to Mark Henry? Sure, Henry wrestled Cena in the final match of Raw (setting up Ryback’s run-in), but it doesn’t help his credibility when he loses to a guy that fans still remember as “Sexual Chocolate.”

RAW FALLOUT: If you believe what you’ve read on all the Web sites, then it appears that last Monday’s Raw was thrown for a loop when The Rock no-showed the event.

There were some fans, and even some of the boys in the back, who questioned Rock’s reason – that he suffered a legitimate injury during the Cena match and was going to see his doctor in Florida to have it examined. And, it appears he did suffer a very legitimate injury – a hernia, torn adductor and torn abdominal muscle. It’s believed he first suffered the injury when he went up for the first Attitude Adjustment from Cena.

Rock continued to wrestle and the muscle continued to tear from his pelvis. By the time the match was over, both his abdominal and adductor muscle had completely torn off his pelvis.

After meeting with his doctors, they decided that rehab would be the best option instead of surgery.

It was believed that the show was being built around The Rock, culminating with Lesnar attacking him, setting up their feud and possible WrestleMania XXX match. Because The Rock didn’t show, and because Lesnar’s on a limited appearance contract, they decided to hold Lesnar off of TV.

Contrary to popular belief, the WWE is saying that they planned on a Ziggler title change all along for this Raw and that it wasn’t a last-second add to help salvage the show. However, it was confirmed that Swagger was supposed to win the title and hold it for a length of time, and those plans changed with his arrest for DUI and marijuana possession.

Also, the Raw was notable for the way the crowd reacted to certain matches. They completely shit all over the Sheamus-Randy Orton match, along with other chants that you don’t normally here at a regular Raw.

The crowd was tremendously in support of Fandango and Ziggler, while serving up a mixed reaction for Cena (and cheering for Ryback during his run-in). They also serenaded Henry with “Sexual Chocolate” chants.

Orton Tweeted that the crowd was “intense” and “glad I was there.”

Vince McMahon reportedly enjoyed the rowdy crowd. He chalked it up to there being a lot more hardcore fans there because it’s right after WrestleMania, and a lot of those fans travel all over the world to be there that weekend.

Also, Punk missed Raw due to getting his knee checked out. He injured it during the announcer’s table spot and he went in to have an MRI. Punk was expected to take some time off following WrestleMania due to all the hard work he put in over the last year-and-a-half as the champion, and the injury is a convenient excuse to make that so. However, he will show up at Raw tomorrow night to talk about his loss.

However, according to some Internet goons, another reason for Punk’s disappearance was so that he wouldn’t get a positive reaction from the crowd when he came out. They figured it was a good way to sell his loss by keeping him on the shelf for a week.

STEROIDS: Former WWE wrestler Carlito raised a few eyebrows when he sent out a Tweet alleging that The Rock suffered his injury due to steroid use.

“Rock tore his ab & adductor tendons? Hmm, I guess instead of getting in tremendous shape for mania…he got in TREN-mendous shape!” he Tweeted.

Tren is one of the most popular steroids around, according to Steroid.com (I wish I was making that up). Some of Tren’s benefits include “increased muscle mass, increase strength and increased recovery.”

A professional wrestler using steroids? No waayyyy.

I’m being sarcastic, of course. Pro wrestling or sports entertainment and steroids have gone hand-in-hand since the 1970s and really increased in the 1980s, when Vince McMahon (a steroid user himself) wanted to push muscular wrestlers as monsters. While it died down a bit in the early 1990s when the feds indicted McMahon on charges of peddling steroids to his wrestlers, it began to increase after he was found not guilty.

Sure, they push a “wellness policy,” but you’d have to be an idiot to fail it. They tell you in advance that you’re getting tested. To be honest, they mostly try to test for recreational drugs, but they do test for PEDs to try to “keep up the Joneses” in professional sports.

Does The Rock take steroids? He once needed to undergo breast reduction surgery. A noted side-effect of some steroids is what some people call “bitch-tits.” I’ll leave it at that.

There’s only so much regular weight training can do. It won’t give you the types of physiques that you see in professional wrestling, that’s for sure.

FANDANGO-ING: So, it appears that Fandango has officially become a mainstream sensation.

At least two organizations – the Houston Texans cheerleaders and PETA – have posted viral videos of people “Fandango-ing,” which is essentially them doing his entrance dance.

Also, Fandango’s entrance music was played at the end of a recent Royals-Twins game and has risen to No. 3 on the iTunes’ U.S. Top 10 Soundtrack chart and No. 2 on the U.K. Soundtrack chart.

It only helped matters when the Raw crowd loudly sang along to his theme song when he came out last Monday night.

Vince McMahon believed in the gimmick, and Johnny Curtis is talented enough to pull it off and make it over. It’s only a matter of time before Fandango pulls an Alberto Del Rio and becomes a face because the crowds love him.

Also, props to Jericho for helping him get over with what turned out be the second-best match on the WrestleMania card. I predict Fandango wins some sort of belt (Intercontinental or U.S.) during this upcoming year.

MORE GOONAGE: Jericho’s match with Ziggler at SmackDown will be his last in WWE for a while. He is heading overseas for a three-week European tour with his heavy metal band Fozzy. In the middle of the tour, Jericho will appear at the April 22 Raw from London. Fozzy will head back to the United Kingdom for another tour in August.

¨       Triple H suffered second-degree burns on his torso during his WrestleMania entrance due to some dry ice.

¨       Jack Swagger will return to Gulfport, Miss., on June 25 to face his DUI charge. The prosecutor is trying to push for the maximum sentence – two days in jail, a $437 fine for marijuana possession, a $1,300 fine for the DUI and a $188 fine for speeding.

¨       Mick Foley’s elbow drop spot with Chris Jericho was something that wasn’t planned and that “just happened,” along with CM Punk jumping up, counting to 3 and hugging Foley. “For that one night, there are no good guys or bad guys,” Foley said in an interview.

¨       Cena revealed that he worked his WrestleMania match with food poisoning and a broken thumb.

¨       Many believe that Undertaker will go for a 22-0 record at WrestleMania XXX next year.

¨       The pregame and post-game show WWE did for WrestleMania will now be a part of every pay-per-view going forward. Jim Ross and Scott Sanford will definitely be a part of it, but it is up in the air if Kofi Kingston will remain a part of it or not.

¨       While the crowd erupted for Ziggler’s World Title win on Monday, he also got a loud reaction when he came back through the curtain backstage. Ziggler is very popular with the other wrestlers and many feel that he’s a hard worker who’s finally getting rewarded.

¨       Lesnar may have suffered a concussion during his WrestleMania match, but he kept working through it.

¨       WWE may allow the Superdome to host the post-WrestleMania Raw. They are acknowledging that the show may be the second-most anticipated show of the calendar year behind Mania itself, and feel that it’s worth putting in the WM venue to capitalize on the crowd.

¨       Kurt Angle, currently wrestling for TNA, said that when his current contract expires, he wants to work a reduced schedule, focusing on just TV appearances and PPVs. He said he still wants to be involved in wrestling because, even though he’s financially set, he still loves it.

¨       TNA announced the following matches for next Thursday’s Impact – Brooke Tessmacher vs. Mickie James in a No. 1 contenders match for the Women’s Title; James Storm vs. A.J. Styles; and Angle vs. Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff in a handicap match.

¨       Despite a Bully Ray-Jeff Hardy TNA Title match, last Thursday’s Impact drew just a 0.93 TV rating with 1.17 million viewers – the lowest-rated show of the year.

¨       Ryback vs. Cena for the WWE Title will headline the WWE Extreme Rules PPV on May 19.

Until next time, watch out for the shooting-star press.