– Friday’s WWE SmackDown featuring matches taped on Monday night before RAW and footage from the WrestleMania 29 AXXESS fan fest had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 85,141, an increase of 20% over the previous week. Nevertheless, Smackdown ranked #3 on cable TV, trailing the Miami Heat on ESPN and SpongeBob on Nickelodeon.
– Here is the latest installment of WWE Backstage Fallout:
How does Tons of Funk deal with bullies? Find out in the SmackDown edition of “Backstage Fallout.” Plus, Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter put out the “welcome mat” for World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio.
Hornswoggle won the 2013 2K Sports Superstar Challenge at WrestleMania 29 Axxess, defeating Big E Langston in the tournament finals. The two played WWE ’13 on the Xbox platform.
Hornswoggle won the tournament that included The Usos, Damien Sandow, Langston, Kaitlyn, Rosa Mendes, JTG, Kofi Kingston, Tyson Kidd, Epico, Hunico, Sin Cara, Alex Riley, Primo and Zack Ryder.
In his last interview before going in the Hall of Fame, Bruno Sammartino joined Inside The Ropes on Thursday night, here are the highlights:
Billy Graham’s Recent Comments About Him:
I think I feel sorry for him. I think he’s done so much drugs throughout his career that his brains been burned out because he speaks of things he knows nothing about. For example in my own situation, he knows very well that when I spoke about WWE and was very critical about them, that he had heard me say if they changed everything that I would change my mind. He heard me from years ago saying yes I would. He’s been critical of the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York and he wanted out of that because he got mad at somebody, I don’t know who. He recently was appalled at CM Punk because he said something about me wrestling in the Garden once a month. The things that Billy Graham says, I really have no idea why he says them. He talks about things without really knowing all the facts. I just think there’s something wrong with the man.
His thoughts on John Cena:
He looks very well, looks like he works out very hard. He moves well in the ring and I have only seen him maybe twice all together. I have not seen enough of him, but from what I’ve seen you can tell he absolutely is one of the top ones in the organization but sometimes I would like to see these guys wrestle a 30-40 minute match. i can get a better idea of how good they are, when they have to put in that kind of time, tells me wheat kind of condition they have and how their skills would be out there for that amount of time. I haven’t seen any long matches like that yet. One of the times I saw him in a cage match and there was a referee and they were doing wrestling holds. In my day, you would have a cage match as maybe the third match with a guy and there would be no referee, and just everything goes and the fans used to find that extremely exciting. Now it’s so changed, thes guys are doing regular armlocks and headlocks. It’s so different now, I just can’t compare it to the era I was involved in.
What he thinks of CM Punk as a performer:
I think his interviews for a villain…I think he’s very, very good. That’s why it surprised me that Billy Graham would say anything when he used to be a villain who would say things to put down his opponents, even myself. I think he does a very good job when he gets on the microphone, how he talks, how he says it. I took no offence at CM Punk, I know he was doing it to be a villain, that’s what he does. But I think he does a very good job when he gets on that microphone as a villain, what he says, how he talks, how he says it. As a villain I think he does a tremendous job and as a wrestler, I’ve seen him a few times and I think he’s pretty darn good. He’s not too bad at all. The only thing is I think if he was in my era, he would be a little bit too small, we had bigger built guys back then.
To hear the full interview where Bruno talks about going in the HOF, what he plans to say to Vince McMahon, what he’s thought about his speech and more, head over to Facebook.com/theinsidenetwork.
Chad Dukes of 1067theFan DC/CBS Radio and Chaddukeswrestling.com interviewed Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania Axxess. Here are some highlights of what Cody said about:
Part-Time Wrestlers:
I love the fact that Brock, and the Rock, and Jericho are here because they’re guaranteed. They’ve proven that they can go in the ring. For Wrestlemania this year, I think it’s wonderful. I think there wasn’t any room for that celebrity involvement. Who’s a bigger celebrity than the Rock? I think it’s wonderful that he’s returning to his roots, because he loves wrestling. He loves wrestling. He loves sports entertainment too, but he loves wrestling. I dig that about the Rock.
But next year, at WrestleMania 30, it’s a personal goal – and I know Dolph (Ziggler) is the same way, Wade (Barrett) is probably the same way – that it’s not about bringing anyone back. Let these guys go home. They did everything they possibly could, let them go home. They’re going to go off into the sunset heroes and having had great matches, but new stars are moving forward. Sports entertainment has to evolve or it won’t continue.
Feuding With Goldust
Yeah, it’ll happen. I just don’t know when and I don’t know where. He doesn’t know when and he doesn’t know where, but I know it’ll happen. There are certain things, and I don’t mean to sound cocky or braggadocios, but there are certain things I know have to happen while I work for this company, and that’s one of them.
– With his WrestleMania 29 showdown with The Rock just over 24 hours away, John Cena reached out to Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres on Twitter asking them for tips on how to handle the hostile crowd at the MetLife Stadium:
– It appears that WWE will soon be introducing an NXT Women’s championship. NXT does not even have a sanctioned women’s championship yet, but the following belt was on display at WWE AXXESS (thanks to @BlazeKingNJ):
Here’s Part 28 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania 28 (2012) Tagline: “Once in a Lifetime” Date: April 1, 2012 Venue: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida America the Beautiful: Lillian Garica Attendance: 78,363 The Undertaker’s Streak: 20-0 (Def. Triple H)
World Heavyweight Championship Match
WrestleMania XXVIII was the twenty-eighth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on April 1, 2012 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is the highest grossing PPV event in professional wrestling history.
World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan would turn around right into a Brogue Kick losing his World Heavyweight Championship in 18 Seconds
In January 2012, at the twenty-fifth annual Royal Rumble pay-per-view, Sheamus won the thirty-man Royal Rumble match, giving him the right to challenge either the WWE Champion or the World Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania XXVIII. Sheamus announced on SmackDown that he would decide who he wishes to face at WrestleMania after the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. At the Elimination Chamber event in February, Sheamus attacked Daniel Bryan, after the latter successfully retained his World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match, thus declaring his wish to challenge Bryan for his title at WrestleMania. The match was officially announced the next day on WWE.com.
The match originally scheduled for WM27 was bumped off the card. This Match was 18 seconds.
In the first televised match, World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan defended his title against Sheamus. After receiving a good luck kiss from his storyline girlfriend AJ, Bryan was surprised by Sheamus, who hit a brogue kick and pinned him to win the title. With only eighteen seconds, this was one of the shortest title matches in WWE history.
End Of An Era
A second main event, billed as the “end of an era”, featured the Undertaker against Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match. The previous year at WrestleMania XXVII, in a No Holds Barred match, The Undertaker defeated Triple H via submission, in their second encounter at a WrestleMania (the first being at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001, where the Undertaker won as well). However, in the post-match events, due to the harsh physicality suffered during the bout, the Undertaker, for the first time in his career, was carted away from the Georgia Dome by the medical staff on a stretcher. After a near ten-month long hiatus, The Undertaker returned on the January 30, 2012 edition of Raw, confronting and challenging Triple H to a rematch at WrestleMania XXVIII. The Undertaker, having been dissatisfied of his post-WrestleMania match scenario the previous year, stated that he “did not want ‘that scene’ to be a lasting memory” of him and was willing to give Triple H “another chance at immortality”.
Undertaker removes his hood to reveal his newly shaved head.
After Triple H refused to accept the challenge the next week on Raw, his close friend and WWE Hall of Famer, Shawn Michaels appeared on the February 13 episode of Raw to instigate him in accepting The Undertaker’s challenge, which was in vain as Triple H stated he was willing to put his ego and personal agendas aside for the future of WWE, and viewed The Undertaker’s 19-0 undefeated WrestleMania streak as a “brand” to cash-in for the company, finally ending the argument saying he would not be the one to end it. Then, on the February 20 episode of Raw, The Undertaker still remained adamant in getting a WrestleMania rematch with Triple H, going so far as to label Triple H as a “coward”, and comparing his abilities and career to that of Shawn Michaels.Enraged by these comments, Triple H finally accepted The Undertaker’s challenge at WrestleMania XXVIII, saying that if “he [Undertaker] wanted an end, they would go all the way”, and proposed that they would compete in a Hell in a Cell match. On the March 5 episode of Raw, Michaels confronted Triple H again, this time expressing his views on the debate of who was better than the other (Michaels or Triple H), and predicting Triple H’s chances of defeating The Undertaker, in addition to announcing that he would be the special guest referee in their Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania.
The Hell In A Cell match featured chairs, sledge hammers, and more.
The first main event match was a Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as special guest referee billed as “the end of an era”. The match started off with the two going back and forth. The match moved to the outside where The Undertaker dominated. Now back in the ring, Triple H assaulted Undertaker with the steel steps and even countered a Hell’s Gate. The match would intensify when Triple H brought steel chairs and a sledgehammer into the ring. After multiple big moves and weapon shots on each other the two men repeatedly kicked out.
The End Of An Era
After being hit with multiple Pedigrees, a Sweet Chin Music, and multiple chair and sledgehammer shots, Undertaker managed to
comeback and execute a Tombstone Piledriver, however Triple H managed to kick out. Triple H hit one more Pedigree before the Undertaker kicked out, took back control, hit another Tombstone, and won the match to extend his undefeated streak to 20-0. After the match, Undertaker and Michaels helped Triple H out of the ring and made it to the entrance stage where they embraced.
Once In A Lifetime
The main event of WrestleMania XXVIII featured The Rock wrestling against John Cena. On the February 14, 2011 episode of Raw, The Rock was revealed as the host of WrestleMania XXVII, and upon his return to WWE, began a feud with John Cena (and Cena’s opponent at that WrestleMania, then-WWE Champion, The Miz), which continued for weeks in terms of verbal insults, until the March 28 episode of Raw, where Cena delivered the Attitude Adjustment to the Rock after he fended off attacks from the Miz and Alex Riley.
The Rock rock bottoms John Cena at WrestleMania XXVII
At WrestleMania XXVII, the Rock got involved in the main event WWE Championship match, which initially ended in The Miz’s favor via a double count-out.
MGK and Flo-Rida performed at WrestleMania XXVIII to introduce The Rock & John Cena
After the match was restarted under no disqualifications, no count-outs rules, the Rock delivered a Rock Bottom to Cena, thus enabling the Miz to win the match. The next night on Raw, Cena challenged the Rock to a one-on-one match; Rock accepted and proposed that it be held at WrestleMania XXVIII. The following week, Cena announced his intent to defend the WWE Championship against The Rock in their match at WrestleMania XXVIII.
On the May 2 episode of Raw celebrating the Rock’s birthday, Cena, whilst holding the WWE Championship, confronted the Rock and declared his intent to keep the title until their match. At Survivor Series in November 2011, Cena teamed with the Rock (who made his in-ring return in a match in WWE after nearly eight years, last competing at WrestleMania XX), and billed as “the most charismatic tag team”, and defeated the Miz and R-Truth, collectively known as Awesome Truth. After the match, The Rock gave a Rock Bottom to Cena. As Cena did not hold the WWE Championship heading into WrestleMania, it wound up being a standard singles match.
The Rock gets the last word at WrestleMania XXVIII
The Rock and John Cena both had hip-hop artists perform as part of their entrance. Machine Gun Kelly who was introduced by P. Diddy, opened for John Cena, performing Invincible. Flo-Rida performed on behalf of The Rock and performed Wild Ones and Good Feeling. During the match, John Cena and The Rock viciously went back-and-forth with each other throughout the match. The Rock kicked out of two Attitude Adjustments, Cena out of a Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow. When Cena attempted a People’s Elbow on the Rock, he ran into another Rock Bottom, which allowed the Rock to pick up the win.
78,363 People Attended WrestleMania XXVIII at Sunlife Stadium in Miami, FL
WrestleMania XXVIII Results
Pre-show Primo and Epico (c) (with Rosa Mendes) defeated Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) Triple Threat Tag Team match for the WWE Tag Team Championship 05:11
• Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan (c) (with AJ) Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 00:18
• Kane defeated Randy Orton Singles match 10:56
• Big Show defeated Cody Rhodes (c) Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship 05:18
• Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres Tag Team match 06:49
• The Undertaker defeated Triple H Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee 30:50
The Rock defeats John Cena at WrestleMania XXVIII
• Team Johnny (David Otunga (captain), Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz, and Drew McIntyre) (with John Laurinaitis, Vickie Guerrero and Brie Bella) defeated Team Teddy (Santino Marella (captain), R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, and Booker T) (with Theodore Long, Hornswoggle, Eve Torres, Nikki Bella and Aksana) Twelve-man tag team match to determine the General Manager of both the Raw and SmackDown brands. 10:38
• CM Punk (c) defeated Chris Jericho via submission Singles match for the WWE Championship with the added stipulation that Punk would lose the title if he was disqualified. 22:21
• The Rock defeated John Cena Singles match 33:34
Brock Lesnar Returns after 8 years to Attack John Cena after WrestleMania XXVIII
The Next Night On Raw
The next on Raw, at the end of a wild night. Brock Lesnar made his return to the WWE in 8 years. Attacking John Cena with an F5. He would later go on to face John Cena at Extreme Rules.
Although Daniel Bryan would lose his World Heavyweight Championship the Red Hot Miami Crowd would crown a new star, by incessantly chanting Yes! Yes! Yes! the whole night. It was after Raw went off the air, that the crowd got the payoff they deserved with a match featuring Daniel Bryan.
Here’s Part 27 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania 27 (2011) Tagline: “The Biggest WrestleMania Ever” Date: April 3, 2011 Venue: Georgia Dome, Atlanta Georgia America the Beautiful: Keri Hilson Attendance: 71,617 The Undertaker’s Streak: 19-0 (Def. Triple H)
WrestleMania XXVII was the twenty-seventh annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), held on April 3, 2011 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.The event was the first WrestleMania in the state of Georgia and the second to be held in Southeastern United States, following WrestleMania XXIV. This was the final WrestleMania and the final pay-per-view promoted under the “World Wrestling Entertainment” banner, which was changed to WWE less than four days later.
71,617 Attended WrestleMania XXVII
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 13, 2010.According to WWE’s second-quarter earnings report, WrestleMania XXVII generated 1,059,000 PPV buys,up roughly 30% domestically and 15% internationally from the previous year. The event grossed US$6.6 million in revenue with 71,617 in attendance, making it the second highest grossing event in WWE behind WrestleMania XXV. It generated $62.1 million in economic impact for Atlanta, a $17 million increase from the previous WrestleMania event, and also generated approximately $7.8 million in local, state and county taxes.
The Rock Severed as Guest Host For WrestleMania XXVII
The Rock
WrestleMania XXVII marked the return of The Rock to WrestleMania since 2004. The Rock, who guest hosted the event, walked to the ring at the shows open and cut a promo, mocking John Cena as well as firing up the crowd for WrestleMania. The Rock, the guest host, walked to the ring and cut a promo, mocking John Cena as well as firing up the crowd for WrestleMania XXVII.
Edge’s Last Match
The first televised match was for the World Heavyweight Championship. This match saw Edge defending his title against 2011 Royal Rumble winner Alberto Del Rio. Christian came out to watch the match ringside, as well as Brodus Clay and Ricardo Rodriguez. In the early part of the match, Del Rio focused on Edge’s injured arm and Christian warded off Clay and Ricardo. After some back and forth action, the ending came when Edge and Del Rio locked in their signature maneuvers. Edge locked in the Edgeucator while Del Rio locked in the Cross Armbreaker. When both men got up, Edge hit the Spear for the win. After the match, Edge and Christian destroyed Del Rio’s car. This would end up being Edge’s last match, as he announced his retirement a week later on Raw due to a legitimate neck injury.
Edge’s Last WWE Televised Match
On the April 11 Raw, Edge announced his legitimate retirement from the WWE, due to injury and orders by his doctor, making his last match for the company against Del Rio at WrestleMania. Edge vacated the World Heavyweight Championship on the April 15 edition of SmackDown, therefore retiring as world champion. Christian would win the title at Extreme Rules in a ladder match against Del Rio, only to lose it at the hands of Randy Orton, on the May 6 episode of SmackDown.
Jerry Lawler pulls Michael Cole out of the “Cole Mine”Stone Cold Steve Austin served as guest referee in the Cole vs Lawler match.
Michael Cole Vs Jerry “The King” Lawler
Booker T and Jim Ross came out to call this match, which featured Michael Cole accompanied by Jack Swagger against Jerry “The King” Lawler, with the special guest referee being Stone Cold Steve Austin. This match started off with Lawler trying to get Cole out of his cole mine, and after some time, he did so and started pounding on him. Cole managed to counter and had the upper hand on Lawler for most of the match. Swagger tried to help Cole by throwing in the towel when Lawler began to take control but was denied and then got a Stone Cold Stunner. Lawler then forced Cole to tap out with the ankle lock while Stone Cold mocked him. After the match, Stone Cold shared a beer with Lawler and stunned Booker T, who came out to celebrate with Lawler.
After Lawler had seemingly won, the anonymous Raw GM reversed the decision in an email read by Josh Mathews because Stone Cold was a biased referee, making Cole the winner by disqualification. Stone Cold then proceeded to stun Mathews as well in retribution. Lawler then replaced Mathews and Booker T as the color commentator for the rest of the night, with Jim Ross doing the play-by-play.
Triple H tries to do what HBK couldn’t two years in a row, defeat the streak.
The Streak
The No Holds Barred match featured two icons in the WWE: The Undertaker and Triple H. Triple H first came out to For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica wearing a mask and suit, then removed it for his normal entrance theme.
The Undertaker locks in Hells Gate.
The beginning of this match started off with Taker and Triple H going at it outside of the ring, destroying Michael Cole’s “cole mine” in the process. Triple H first gave a spinebuster to Undertaker through the Spanish announce table. This match went back and forth, with Undertaker hitting Triple H with a Chokeslam, Last Ride, but still Triple H kicked out of both. After that, Triple H answered back with a Pedigree, but Undertaker kicked out. Undertaker then hit the Tombstone Piledriver, but Triple H kicked out. The Game then nailed Undertaker with a chair shot to the head and a DDT on the chair, but after some more back and forth action Triple H was able to execute a second Pedigree, but Taker kicked out. Triple H immediately nailed him with a devastating third Pedigree, but The Undertaker still kicked out. After numerous steel chair shots, and telling Taker to stay down, Triple H seemingly had the match won when he executed Undertaker’s Tombstone Piledriver, but Undertaker once again kicked out. Triple H then grabbed a sledgehammer, but Undertaker locked the Hell’s Gate on Triple H. He tried to fight out of it, but Triple H tapped out.
The Undertaker had to be helped to the back, setting up a return match at WrestleMania XXVIII between him and Triple H.
The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak thus continued to 19-0. After the match, the Undertaker had to be helped to the locker room by WWE staff after he collapsed outside the ring and could not walk under his own power.
WWE Championship
John Cena uses a church choir for his WrestleMania XXVII entrance.
The last match was for the WWE Championship. It featured John Cena facing off against current champion The Miz (accompanied by Alex Riley). The first highlight of the match occurred when Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle on The Miz. Cena then went for the Attitude Adjustment, but Miz countered with a DDT. There was a lot of back and forth action until The Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale. That didn’t keep Cena down as he managed to hit the Attitude Adjustment; however, that didn’t keep Miz down either. Both men fought outside of the ring, but knocked each other out in the process. The match ended in a double countout, meaning The Miz would retain his title.
The Rock came out to intervene, but the Raw GM made an announcement. The Rock went to read it, but then disregarded it. He called for a restart to the match with a no disqualification, no countout, no time limit stipulation. The match restarted and, with Cena dragging Miz back inside the ring and attempting to execute an Attitude Adjustment, wasn’t successful. In retaliation for the Attitude Adjustment that Cena gave him on the Raw episode prior to WrestleMania, The Rock stalked Cena from behind and hit a Rock Bottom on him. Taking advantage, The Miz then covered a fallen Cena for the win.
The Miz retains his WWE Championship, making this the only WrestleMania in history without any title changes.
After the match, The Rock had a staredown with Miz until Rock commenced an attack on him, ending the ambush with his signature spinebuster and his finisher, The People’s Elbow. WrestleMania XXVII went off air with The Rock posing on top of the turnbuckles for the fans.
The Rock rock bottoms John Cena at WrestleMania XXVII
Raw After WrestleMania XXVII
The following night on Raw, John Cena and The Rock agreed to face each other in a match at WrestleMania XXVIII, marking the first time a match had been announced almost a year in advance for any WrestleMania.
The Rock & John Cena agree to a match at WrestleMania XXVIII one year in advance.
WrestleMania XXVII Results
Dark King Sheamus (c) wrestled Daniel Bryan to a no-contest Lumberjack match for the WWE United Dark The Great Khali won by last eliminating Sheamus 23-Man Battle Royal 08:34
• Edge (c) (with Christian) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay) Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship
• Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio Singles match 11:59
• Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater) 8-Man Tag Team match 01:34
• Randy Orton defeated CM Punk Singles match 14:46
• Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger) defeated Jerry Lawler by Disqualification Singles match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Special Guest Referee 13:36
• The Undertaker defeated Triple H by submission No Holds Barred match 29:33
• John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi defeated Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (with Vickie Guerrero) 6-Person Mixed Tag Team match 03:17
• The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated John Cena Singles match for the WWE Championship
Here’s Part 26 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania 26 (2010) Tagline: “Get All Fired Up” Date: March 28, 2010 Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona America the Beautiful: Fantasia Barrino Attendance: 72,219 The Undertaker’s Streak: 18-0 (Def. HBK)
Global Spectrum, University of Phoenix Stadium’s operator, had worked in previous years with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to recruit the event to its venue. On January 18, 2008, Global Spectrum publicly announced its intentions to host WrestleMania in 2010. The event gained media attention weeks prior when a photo of Wayne Gretzky, then head coach of the Phoenix Coyotes, wearing a shirt promoting the event surfaced in the Swedish newspaper Expressen.A press conference was held on February 24, 2009 at the University of Phoenix Stadium to formally announce the event for Glendale, Arizona at the University of Phoenix Stadium; this event marked the first time WrestleMania has been held in the state of Arizona. Tickets for the event went on sale November 7, 2009 at 10:00am MST.
An attendance record setting 72,219 fans at the University of Phoenix Stadium for WrestleMania XXVI
The roof of the University of Phoenix Stadium was opened several times during the event, marking the third time in WrestleMania history after WrestleMania IX and XXIV that the event has been held in an open-air venue.Like the previous open-air events, a steel tarpaulin structure was placed over the ring, which was placed at the 50-yard line. Custom-built from Belgium, the tarpaulin held 30 tons of light and camera equipment, with much of the equipment shipped from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Over 1,000 lights were used, adapting to the decrease in sunlight as the show continued into the night. The entrance stage stood 8 feet (2.4 m) off the stadium floor and measured 120 feet (37 m) wide. In an interview with
The Arizona Republic, production manager Brian Petree described the stage design as a “completely new design that hasn’t been done anywhere and won’t be done again,” while production designer Jason Robinson discussed about basing his stage design themes often on local flavors. The entrance ramp linking to the stage has been lined with cauldrons of fire, each at a temperature of 1,000 °F (538 °C). In addition, 400,000 individual pieces of pyrotechnic product have been launched 200 feet (61 m) into the open air after Robinson promised to introduce new types of pyrotechnics never used in a WWE show before. Pre-planning for the set-up began six months before the event, while the construction structures and equipment inside the stadium began two weeks before the event. It is estimated that 100 trucks were used to deliver equipment, in comparison to the 12 semitrucks used in a regular WWE show.
Jack Swagger wins the Money in The Bank Ladder Match. He would cash in the contract later that week on SmackDown, defeating Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship.
Money in The Bank
The annual Money in the Bank ladder match took place. The match started off with every superstar trying to incapacitate each other long enough to climb and retrieve the briefcase. In between Jack Swagger was stuck in between a ladder with Christian and Matt Hardy hitting him with two ladders of their own. Another instance was when Evan Bourne performed a shooting star press, known as ‘Air Bourne’ on Christian from a vertically placed ladder wedged between another and the middle rope. The match came to an end when Jack Swagger hit Christian with the Money in the Bank briefcase sending him falling down and giving Swagger enough time to unhook the briefcase and become the new Mr. Money in the Bank.[57]
Sheamus makes his Wrestlemania Debut to face Triple H
Triple H Vs Sheamus
The match started with Sheamus taunting Triple H and calling himself the future of the business. He then spent most of the time dominating Triple H with his back breaker and submission moves. Triple H then took back control of the match by performing a Facebreaker knee smash and spinebuster on Sheamus. Sheamus then hit Triple H with a Brouge Kick and then tried to hit him with a High Cross only for Triple H to reverse and hit Sheamus with the Pedigree to win the match.
Vince McMahon VS Bret Hart
As a guest host of the January 4 episode of Raw, Bret Hart made his return to the show, the first time since the Montreal Screwjob incident at the 1997 Survivor Series where Vince McMahon was involved in legitimately double-crossing Hart out of the WWF Championship. On Raw, Hart tried to put all hostilities aside and make peace with McMahon. However, McMahon again betrayed Hart and kicked him in the groin. The rivalry was further fueled during Hart’s second appearance a month later, where McMahon refused to induct Hart’s father, Stu Hart, into the WWE Hall of Fame. On the February 8 episode of Raw, John Cena called out McMahon and told him that Hart wanted to face him at WrestleMania, which McMahon accepted. However, Hart who had been banned from the arena, showed up and attacked McMahon. Hiding behind security guards, McMahon changed his mind canceled the bout. Unable to get his match, Hart addressed the fans a week later and decided to make his goodbye, thanking them. Later on that night, Hart was involved in a car accident when a reversing car smashed the open door from Hart’s limousine onto his leg, sending Hart immediately to hospital. McMahon agreed to feature the March 1 episode of Raw a “proper farewell” from Hart, but the segment ended up as a challenge from McMahon for the WrestleMania bout. Despite initial reluctance from Hart due to his leg, Hart was convinced to accept after McMahon said he had no more “Hart”, called him a coward and kicked his crutches from underneath him. A contract signing was held two weeks later, moderated by guest host Stone Cold Steve Austin, who reversed McMahon’s decision on Stu Hart’s induction into the Hall of Fame. Before the contract was signed, Hart asked for the match to be a No Holds Barred match, which McMahon agreed to. Afterwards, Hart revealed that his leg was perfectly fine and that his car accident was a setup created by Cena and himself to force a match out of McMahon legally. And if Vince tried to back out in any possible way, Bret Hart could sue Vince for all that he’s got.
Bret Hart places Vince McMahon in the Sharpshooter.
McMahon entered and informed Hart that he wanted to give him a “Wrestlemania sized” screwing and called out Hart’s family claiming he had paid them to turn on Hart. Hart then informed McMahon that his family had informed him about this before and that they would screw Vince instead. The match featured members of the Hart family including The Hart Dynasty beating on McMahon with Bruce Hart as the referee. Hart then placed McMahon in the Sharpshooter, with McMahon tapping out to end the match.[60]
World Heavyweight Championship
During the match for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring Edge and reigning champion Chris Jericho. Each man tried to get the better of each other only to be countered every time. The match ended when Jericho hit Edge with the championship belt and a Codebreaker to win and retain his title. After the match Jericho attempted to hurt Edge further but was fought off and was speared by Edge through the barricade outside the ring.[61]
WWE Championship
John Cena defeats Batista to win the WWE Championship
One of the predominant rivalries heading into WrestleMania XXVI was between John Cena and Batista for the WWE Championship. The conflict started when Cena sided with Bret Hart over Hart’s hostility with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. When Hart and McMahon confronted each other on the February 1 episode of Raw, Batista saved McMahon from an attack and ambushed Hart from behind. After the show ended, Cena tried to help Hart but was too attacked by Batista. In the opening match of the Elimination Chamber event, Cena won the WWE Championship from Sheamus in an Elimination Chamber match but was shortly interrupted by McMahon, who ordered a title match between Cena and Batista to take place on the spot. With Cena too tired to compete, Batista defeated him and won the title. On the February 22 episode of Raw, Cena asked for a rematch for the title at WrestleMania, which McMahon gave him the opportunity to as long as he defeated Batista that night. Later that night, Batista intentionally got himself disqualified by kicking Cena in the groin to set up their match at WrestleMania.
John Cena and Batista fought for the WWE Championship next. Cena entered the ring after a performance from the U.S. Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team. Batista dominated the first half of the match. Cena made a return after hitting a suplex. The match started to go evenly after that. An instance included Cena hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle off the top of the turnbuckle. The match came to an end after Cena reversed a Batista Bomb into an STF. Batista eventually tapped out. Cena won the match and the WWE Championship, making him an eight-time World champion.
Streak Vs Career
At WrestleMania XXV, Shawn Michaels was unsuccessful in defeating The Undertaker and ending Undertaker’s undefeated streak at the event. When the match won the 2009 Slammy Award for Match of the Year, Michaels told in his acceptance speech that he could still defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania and challenged him to a rematch. A month later, The Undertaker, then the World Heavyweight Champion, made his reply and refused a rematch. The refusal saw Michaels more obsessed about facing the Undertaker at the event, attacking referee Charles Robinson and SmackDown general manager Theodore Long respectively after failing his title match opportunities in the Royal Rumble match and Elimination Chamber qualifiers. At the Elimination Chamber event, Michaels sneaked into Undertaker’s Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship and performed a Sweet Chin Music on The Undertaker, enabling Chris Jericho to defeat The Undertaker and win the World Heavyweight Championship. On the following night, The Undertaker changed his mind and accepted the rematch but with one condition, that if Michaels loses, he would have to retire. Michaels accepted, noting that if he can’t end the streak, there’s no reason why his career should continue. Two weeks later, Michaels and The Undertaker agreed on another additional stipulation, that the match will have no disqualifications and no count-outs.
The final match featured was the billed “Streak vs Career” match between Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker. The match started out with both men hitting their signature moves early on. The Undertaker injured his leg while performing Old School and Shawn focused on his leg. The action then went outside the ring. An instance included where Undertaker hit the Tombstone Piledriver on the stadium floor, but Michaels kicked out when Undertaker tried to pin him in the ring. Afterwards in the match, Shawn Michaels hit a Sweet Chin Music. Soon after, Undertaker also hit the Chokeslam and the Last Ride successfully, but Michaels kicked out of each. Shawn also applied numerous submission maneuvers on Undertaker’s injured ankle, such as the Ankle Lock, Figure Four Leglock, and Crossface, but The Undertaker was successful in countering all of them. Undertaker also applied the Hell’s Gate, but Michaels reversed it into a pin attempt, with Undertaker kicking for a two count. When the action spilled outside again, Undertaker attempted a Last Ride on the announce table, but Michaels countered it and hit a second Sweet Chin Music, which placed the Undertaker on top of the announce table. Michaels performed a moonsault aiming on the Undertaker’s injured ankle.
After taking The Undertaker back in the ring again, Michaels then hit his third Sweet Chin Music on Undertaker, who kicked out at two yet again. Michaels then attempted Sweet Chin Music again but Undertaker countered into a Chokeslam, and quickly followed up by hitting Michaels with a second Tombstone Piledriver. But Michaels kicked out at the count of two. Undertaker began to signal the end for Michaels, but stopped his cut-throat action and told Michaels to stay down. Michaels, however, taunted Undertaker by completing the action on his own and slapping him in the face. Then Undertaker responded with a third jumping Tombstone Piledriver and pinned the fallen Shawn Michaels for the win, and extended his undefeated streak at WrestleMania to 18–0, ending Michaels’ long career. After the match the two shook hands and embraced. Undertaker soon left and Shawn Michaels interacted with
the fans for the final time as the event came to a close.
WrestleMania 26 Results
Dark Yoshi Tatsu won by last eliminating Zack Ryder 26-man Battle Royal 08:34
• ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) (c) defeated John Morrison and R-Truth Tag Team match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship 03:24
• Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Triple Threat Match 09:01
• Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Matt Hardy, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Montel Vontavious Porter and Evan Bourne Money in the Bank Ladder Match 13:44
• Triple H defeated Sheamus Singles Match 12:09
• Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (with Luke Gallows and Serena) Singles match; if Punk had won, Mysterio would have had to join the Straight Edge Society. 06:30
• Bret Hart defeated Mr. McMahon via submission No Holds Barred Lumberjack match with Bruce Hart as the Special Guest Referee 11:09
• Chris Jericho (c) defeated Edge Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 15:48
• Michelle McCool, Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, Layla and Maryse defeated Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Gail Kim and Eve Torres 10-Diva Tag Team match 03:26
• John Cena defeated Batista (c) via submission Singles match for the WWE Championship 13:31
• The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels No Disqualification Streak vs Career Match 23:59
AJ Lee spoke with IGN.com to promote WrestleMania 29. Here are some highlights:
IGN TV: I was at WrestleMania last year, and I feel like things were already on the rise for you, but I think that that was the starting point for so much that followed. What’s it like for you to be back at WrestleMania a year later with so much having changed?
AJ Lee: It’s insane. Like you were saying, last year, honestly, everything that had happened to that point was kind of the be-all, end-all for me. I was like, “This is so amazing. This wasn’t supposed to happen.” Everything kind of happened by accident. I was so appreciative. I was like, “Cool, it’s ending at Mania. What a cool way to go out! I’ll go back to Superstars and have fun.” And Superstars was fun anyway — I’d do it right now. But I’m always mentally prepared for everything to end, and I was then. I was like, “Wow, this is so amazing. I’m so happy I got this opportunity.” Then another door opened, and then it closed. I thought, “Wow, that was awesome! All right, let’s see what happens.” And it just keeps going, and that’s probably the coolest thing for me, and I think that if at any second everything were to end, I would be so happy because I’d done pretty much everything I came to do, and then some. I feel super complete. I’m really lucky to be a year and a half into my official career and to feel complete, like I’ve done everything that I need to, so now everything’s kind of gravy. I’m just fighting for longevity, I guess.
IGN: You and Kaitlyn have had a long friendship. Has it been fun for you with how things have gone with the two of you lately?
AJ: Oh my God, there’s nothing like punching your friend in the face! You can’t punch anyone else in the face as hard as you can your best friend. But it’s been insane, because two or three years ago I had Kaitlyn’s tryout — I’m kind of like the tryout girl. There have been a lot of people who have come in and gotten signed and I like to believe I helped and that I was the gateway. So she’s kind of my proudest project. I feel like her momma. I’m momma Diva for her. I helped her learn how to bump. Her first steps were with me, and her first match was with me, and her tryout was with me. Then to go through NXT together, we needed each other. It was like war. You need your buddy to get through that. We helped each other develop our on-screen characters and be comfortable with just being idiots. If you can do a robot handshake on camera, you can do anything. You just kind of have to have that ballsiness. We wouldn’t have done that without each other. So I started to get to do stuff, and that was amazing. She was so happy for me, and we did a little bit of stuff, some tag-team, before that. Then it was kind of bittersweet not to have her along for the ride. So when she got to do all that with Eve and get the title, it was so gratifying to see where we were and what scrubs we were before. “Look at us now!” You could not have two girls that are less of the Diva mold. We’re just dudes, and we joke like dudes. It’s so funny that now we’re the girls. That’s weird. [Laughs] But I can’t wait to beat her up, you know? One of these days!
IGN: You recently had a match against Kaitlyn. Might we see you back in the ring a little bit more going forward?
AJ: Gosh, I don’t know. I really love managing. When I was younger, I thought it would be so cool to be in this super badass group, and just kind of be the chick on the sidelines. And I appreciate that, and I think there’s a lot of value in that. I love that I get to get in the ring every now and then. I could not have a better mix of things for me. If I could get in the ring with anyone, it would be her. I’m dying for that. I think we could tear the roof off the place and just beat the crap out of each other. We have so much unfinished business, and there’s not a lot of females that have that kind of storytelling behind them. The story sort of writes itself, and I think people have figured that out and are kind of waiting for it, so that’s cool. Maybe we can keep them waiting; it’s all right.
Here’s Part 25 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania 25 (2009) Tagline: “The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania” Date: April 5, 2009 Venue: Reliant Stadium, Houston TX America the Beautiful: Nicole Scherzinger Attendance: 72,744 The Undertaker’s Streak: 17-0 (Def. HBK)
WrestleMania XXV (also marketed as “The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania”) was the twenty-fifth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by the National Guard and took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The event featured talent from all three WWE brands: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW. It was the second WrestleMania to be held in Houston, with the first being WrestleMania X-Seven at the Reliant Astrodome, which was held in 2001.
WrestleMania 25
Eight matches were held on the event’s card, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The first of these matches was a singles match for the WWE Championship that featured the champion, Triple H, defeating Randy Orton to retain the title. The second was a Triple Threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, which saw John Cena defeat the champion, Edge, and the third participant in the match, The Big Show, to win the championship. The third main event was The Undertaker versus Shawn Michaels. Featured matches on the undercard included, Jeff Hardy versus Matt Hardy in an Extreme Rules match, Chris Jericho versus the team of Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka, and the annual Money in the Bank ladder match.
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 8, 2008. For the third consecutive year, WrestleMania broke the record for the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WWE history, grossing US$6.9 million in ticket sales, which included fans from all 50 U.S. states, 24 countries, and seven Canadian provinces. WrestleMania XXV generated approximately 960,000 PPV buys, grossing $21.0 million in revenue.The event pumped an estimated $49.8 million into the local economy and generated $5.7 million in local tax revenue, equating to 600 full-time jobs for the area.
The Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 25
Money in The Bank
The Money in the Bank ladder match was the start of the event as the participants: CM Punk, Kane, Mark Henry, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Christian, and Finlay, fought for the briefcase that was suspended. The match was littered with many notable moments, including a series of the match’s combatants performing dives onto the floor of the arena onto each other, as well as Benjamin diving off of the top of a ladder with a senton bomb onto his opponents. The ladder was also used as a weapon by the competitors, which saw it being thrown at each other or, in the case of Kingston, to be used as extra force dropped on their chest as Kofi would incapacitate them, draping the collapsed ladder over their bodies and Lep dropps onto the ladder. The finish came with Punk and Kane on top of the ladder, which saw Punk hit Kane with a series of kicks from atop the ladder, knocking him off. Punk went on to win the match after he grabbed the hanging briefcase. Punk’s victory marks the second time he has won the match and his second consecutive victory, having won the first at the previous year’s event.
WWE Intercontinental Championship
A singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship was next, in which Rey Mysterio faced defending champion John “Bradshaw” Layfield. Before the match started, JBL kicked Mysterio and punched him down to the ground for a few seconds. But once the referee started the match, Mysterio surprised JBL by quickly hitting the 619 before pinning him for a win via pinfall in twenty-one seconds. Following the match, a frustrated JBL grabbed a microphone and proclaimed, “I quit!” This has been JBL’s last match to date. The match marked the first time since WrestleMania X8 that the Intercontinental Championship has been defended at a WrestleMania event.
Rey Mysterio defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield in 21 seconds at WrestleMania 25Shawn Michaels tries to beat the streak.
HBK vs The Undertaker
The next match pitted The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels. Michaels made his entrance descending on a platform to symbolize the light; in sharp contrast, The Undertaker entered second ascending from the floor with fire shooting up from the stage. The match started out with a fast pace by both men going for strikes to have them countered before Michaels feigned a knee injury to gain the advantage, and the pace slowed. This led to an exchange of signature moves and submission holds, which saw Michaels able to escape The Undertaker’s Hell’s Gate and dodge multiple attempts at the chokeslam while his adversary blocked attempts at Michaels’ Sweet Chin Music. The action went to the outside of the ring with Michaels attempting a moonsault, only to have The Undertaker stop the attempt this was followed by The Undertaker doing a suicide dive over the top rope, only to have Michaels dodge the attack and pull the nearby cameraman into harms way with The Undertaker hitting the cameraman and nearly landing on his own head. He remained on the floor of the arena with the referee checking to see if he was alright before he headed into the ring and proceeded to count; if The Undertaker were to have not gotten in the ring by the referee’s count of ten, he would have lost the match (referred to as a countout), but he managed to return to the ring by a count of nine. The match continued with both men performing all of their respective finishing moves. The Undertaker hit The Last Ride and Chokeslam, and Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music at two points in the match. Both men were unable to win through these moves. The Undertaker even hit Michaels with a massive Tombstone Piledriver, but Shawn kicked out. Undertaker finally won the match after Michaels ascended the top rope, attempting to perform another moonsault only to be caught in mid-air by The Undertaker and hit another Tombstone Piledriver and pinning him. As a result of this victory, The Undertaker remained undefeated at WrestleMania, extending his record to 17–0. Throughout the match, fans were split, chanting for both Undertaker and Michaels, and at one point chanted “This is awesome”, referring to the match itself. This match won the Match of the Year Award at the 2009 WWE Slammy Awards which took place live on WWE Raw. It also won the Match of the Year award from Pro Wrestling Illustrated and Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
John Cena and Edge double team The Big Show in the Triple Threat Match
World Heavyweight Championship
The World Heavyweight Championship was contested for in a Triple Threat match between the champion, Edge, The Big Show, and John Cena, who entered through an aisle of look-alikes to get the match underway; Vickie Guerrero was brought out to ringside in a wheelchair by Chavo Guerrero due to her emotional investment in both Edge and Big Show. The action started with some brawling and some early teamwork from Big Show and Edge before their alliance crumbled. The match spilled to the outside seeing Edge tackling Big Show through the guardrail with a Spear. Cena returned Edge to the ring before applying the STF before Big Show came to his senses, and broke up the action, leading to Cena and Edge teaming up to remove Big Show from the equation before turning on each other. Cena won the match by lifting both The Big Show and Edge at the same exact time and set up the Attitude Adjustment on the big show, then dropping Edge onto Big Show with the same move before pinning The Big Show to win his second World Heavyweight Championship.
Triple H vs Randy Orton
WWE Championship
The last match of the event was for the WWE Championship; the match was contested between the champion, Triple H, and Randy Orton. As per a pre-match stipulation by Vickie Guerrero, if Triple H had been disqualified or had been counted out during the match, he would have lost the title to Orton. The champion had his signature weapon, the sledgehammer, in hand only to relinquish it prior to entering the ring by throwing it through a glass wall. Early in the match both men hit their respective finishers to try and end the match quickly with both leading to only two-counts; the action continued immediately between the two with Triple H doing everything in his power to hurt Orton without being disqualified in the process. Some highlights of the match would include the challenger delivering a suplex to the champion on the English announce table onto the Spanish announce table that did not break at all from Triple H landing on it. At a point, Orton threw Triple H to a turnbuckle where the referee was standing, causing him to collide, and knocked out the referee. Orton tried to gain more advantage went out of the ring to pick up Triple H’s signature weapon, the sledgehammer. As Orton made his way back to the ring, Triple H ran to Orton, and delivered a punt kick across Orton’s face similar to how the latter performs the move, possibly as revenge for Orton’s similar attacks on both Triple H’s brother-in-law and father-in-law. The champion would defeat Orton after he took his sledgehammer from Orton, hit him with it and the Pedigree to retain the WWE Championship.
WrestleMania 25 Results
Dark The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) defeated John Morrison and The Miz[a][60] Lumberjack match to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship into the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship 08:20
• CM Punk defeated Kane, Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas), Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Christian and Finlay (with Hornswoggle) Money in the Bank ladder match 14:24
• Santina Marella won by last eliminating Beth Phoenix and Melina. 25-Diva battle royal to crown Miss WrestleMania 03:23
• Chris Jericho defeated Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka (with Ric Flair) Handicap elimination match 09:52
• Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy Extreme rules match 17:19
• Rey Mysterio defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (c) Singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship 00:21
• The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels Singles Match
• John Cena defeated Edge (c) and The Big Show Triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship 14:21
• Triple H (c) defeated Randy Orton Singles match for the WWE Championship. If Triple H had been disqualifed or counted out, Randy Orton would have won the WWE Championship. 23:34
The 2013 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place tonight from a sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City. The ceremony begins at 8pm. Here is the full list of inductees for this year’s class:
* Bruno Sammartino, inducted by Arnold Schwarzenneger
Here’s Part 24 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th
WrestleMania 24 (2008) Tagline: “The Biggest WrestleMania Under the Sun” Date: March 30, 2008 Venue: Citrus Bowl, Orlando, FL America the Beautiful: John Legend Attendance: 74,635 The Undertaker’s Streak: 16-0 (Def. Edge for the WHC)
WrestleMania XXIV was the twenty-fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event took place on March 30, 2008, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida and was the first WrestleMania to be held in the state of Florida. WrestleMania XXIV was also the second WrestleMania to be held outdoors, with the first being WrestleMania IX, held in Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the third being WrestleMania XXVIII in Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida.
WrestleMania 24 in Orlando, FL
Nine professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the event, which featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main bout. The first of these matches was a Singles match from the SmackDown brand that featured The Undertaker defeating World Heavyweight Champion Edge to win the title. The second was a Triple Threat match from the Raw brand, in which WWE Champion Randy Orton defeated challengers Triple H and John Cena to retain the championship. The other was a singles match from the ECW brand, in which Kane defeated ECW Champion Chavo Guerrero to win the ECW title. From the six scheduled bouts on the undercard, three received more promotion than the others. In a No Disqualification match, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. defeated The Big Show. The second match involved wrestlers from all three brands fighting in a Money in the Bank ladder match, which CM Punk won. The other match was a retirement match in which Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair, leading to Flair’s departure from the WWE and a period of retirement from active wrestling.
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 3, 2007. WWE and the City of Orlando hosted festivities that spanned a five-day period within the central Florida region. For the second consecutive year, WrestleMania broke the record for the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WWE history, as well as for the Citrus Bowl, grossing US$5.85 million in ticket sales. According to a study by Enigma Research Corporation of Sydney, the Citrus Bowl’s record-breaking attendance pumped an estimated $51.5 million – surpassing the projected $25 million – into the local economy and generated $1.8 million in local juice stop. The Central Florida Sports Commission reported that the event created jobs and brought approximately 60,000 visitors to the city. Over one million people ordered the event on pay-per-view, grossing $23.8 million in revenue.
The Money In The Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania XXIV
Money In the Bank
In the fourth-annual Money in the Bank ladder match, in which there were no disqualifications or countouts, and the only way to win the match was to climb a ladder in the ring and retrieve a contract briefcase hanging above. The match featured Chris Jericho, Mr. Kennedy, and Carlito from the Raw brand; CM Punk, Shelton Benjamin and John Morrison from the ECW brand; and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) from the SmackDown brand. Early in the match, Morrison climbed a turnbuckle and performed a moonsault onto other competitors outside the ring while holding a ladder against his chest. Later, while Kennedy and Morrison were battling on top of a ladder, Benjamin climbed another ladder placed adjacent to the first one and performed a sunset flip powerbomb on Kennedy, who in turn superplexed Morrison from the top of the ladder. Later, Carlito and Kennedy flipped Benjamin off a ladder in the ring, sending him crashing through another ladder set-up between the barricade and the ring apron. When MVP was close to retrieving the contract briefcase, Matt Hardy (returning to action after suffering a legitimate injury), entered the ring from the crowd, climbed the ladder, and delivered a Twist of Fate to MVP off that ladder. As soon as Morrison started to climb a ladder, see-sawing with another ladder, Jericho flipped the other one and Morrison landed on the ring-ropes groin-first. Jericho even performed a Codebreaker on Punk using a ladder. In the end, Jericho and Punk fought each other on a ladder, but Punk trapped Jericho’s one leg in the ladder’s steps and retrieved the briefcase to win the match. This was an interpromotional match.
HBK ends Ric Flair’s WWE Career at WrestleMania XXIV
Ric Flair vs HBK
Ric Flair’s “Career Threatening” match against Shawn Michaels was next, which stipulated that Flair would have to retire from wrestling if he had lost. At the start of the match, both superstars engaged in a series of counters, and then Flair shoved Michaels in a corner, making “Old Yeller” comments to him. In retaliation, Michaels slapped Flair in the face, which caused him to start bleeding from the mouth. Later, Michaels tried to go for his Sweet Chin Music, but stopped in the process and Flair capitalized by trapping him in his figure four leglock. Afterward, Michaels finally delivered the Sweet Chin Music to Flair, but the latter kicked out to the pinfall attempt. Michaels then trapped Flair in his modified figure four leglock, but Flair delivered a thumb to the eye to Michaels to break the submission. As Flair was delivering chops to Michaels’ chest, Michaels hit a second Sweet Chin Music. After getting up on his feet with a worried face, Michaels said to Flair “I’m sorry, I love you,” before nailing a final Sweet Chin Music and thus pinning Flair to end his 35-year long wrestling career. After the match, Michaels left quickly and Flair got a standing ovation from the crowd. An emotional Flair embraced his family at ringside and then, as he proceeded to go backstage, he thanked the crowd for their support.
Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match
Maria and Ashley faced Beth Phoenix and Melina, who were accompanied to the ring by Santino Marella. Rapper Snoop Dogg served as the official “Master of Ceremonies” for the match. In the match, several WWE Divas surrounded the ring and were able to interfere in the match without disqualifications. Due to some technical difficulties, the lights at Citrus Bowl temporarily went out during the match. Near the end, a pin attempt by Maria was prevented when Marella pulled Maria’s leg. In response, Raw commentator Jerry Lawler approached and knocked Marella down with a punch. Phoenix hooked Maria’s leg and vertically lifted and slammed her to the mat and pinned Maria to win the match. After the match, Snoop Dogg hit Marella with his forearm in the ring and kissed Maria, before leaving with her and Ashley.
Triple Threat Match for the WWE Championship
WWE Championship
The first of the 3 main events was, Randy Orton defending his WWE Championship against Triple H and John Cena in a Triple Threat match, which is a standard match involving three wrestlers with no disqualifications. For his entrance, Cena had the Jones High School Marching Tigers marching band perform an instrumental version of his theme song “The Time Is Now” live. During the match, when Triple H had held Orton in a sleeper hold, Cena picked up both Orton and Triple H for an FU, but Triple H dropped down and low blowed him. Orton then dominated the match for some time; one highlight of the match featured Orton performing a crossbody from the top rope on Cena, while the latter was held on Triple H’s shoulders in a seating position. Orton also performed DDT from the second rope to both Cena and Triple H simultaneously. Orton then tried to perform an RKO on Cena, but he countered and threw Orton onto Triple H. Triple H then started targeting Orton’s legs and using some submissions on him. The match came to an end when Cena had Triple H on his shoulders for the FU, but was countered into a Pedigree. As Triple H was in the pin, Orton come across and punted Triple H in the head and pinned Cena to win the match and retain the WWE Championship.
Floyd “Money” Mayweather takes on The Big Show at WrestleMania XXIV
Big Show Vs Floyd Mayweather
The next match was the No Disqualification match between The Big Show and Floyd Mayweather, Jr.. Early in the match, Mayweather repeatedly escaped Big Show’s grasp and delivered body shots to him. Mayweather and his accomplices tried to “walk out” of the match, but Big Show walked up the ramp and brought Mayweather back in the ring. As Big Show was about to chokeslam Mayweather, one of Mayweather’s accomplices struck a steel chair on Big Show’s back, and the latter chokeslammed him in retaliation. Capitalizing from this distraction, Mayweather grabbed that chair and hit Big Show multiple times on the head with it. Finally, Mayweather removed his right glove and put on a pair of brass knuckles to hit Big Show in the face. As a result, Big Show was knocked out as he could not answer the referee’s ten count, and Mayweather was declared the winner.
The Streak
The main event of the night saw Edge putting his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against The Undertaker. The early going of the match was slow-paced, in which both superstars countered each other’s maneuvers. During the match, Undertaker ran and lept over the top rope from the ring onto Edge on the outside. Then throughout the match, Edge was able to counter Undertaker’s numerous signature moves, including the Chokeslam, Old School and the Last Ride, a variation of the powerbomb. Near the end, Edge hit Undertaker with a television camera while the referee was knocked down. When he proceeded to deliver a Tombstone Piledriver to Undertaker, the latter countered it into his own version and successfully delivered it to Edge for a two-count. Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder came to the ring for Edge’s aid, but Undertaker took them out. Because of their distraction, Edge was able to hit a spear on Undertaker, but was unable to pin him. When Edge delivered another spear to Undertaker, the latter caught him in his Hell’s Gate submission hold and forced Edge to tap out to become the new World Heavyweight Champion and improve his WrestleMania record to 16–0.
The Undertaker celebrates winning The World Heavyweight Championship and Keeping The Streak Alive
WrestleMania XXVII Results
Pre-Show Kane won by last eliminating Mark Henry. 24-man interpromotional battle royal, with the winner receiving an ECW Championship match later on in the night. 06:50
• John “Bradshaw” Layfield defeated Finlay (with Hornswoggle) Belfast Brawl 08:35
• CM Punk defeated Shelton Benjamin, Chris Jericho, Carlito, Montel Vontavious Porter, Mr. Kennedy, and John Morrison Money in the Bank ladder match 13:55
• Batista (representing Smackdown) defeated Umaga (representing Raw) Battle for Brand Supremacy 07:06
• Kane defeated Chavo Guerrero (c) Singles match for the ECW Championship 0:08
• Shawn Michaels defeated Ric Flair Career Threatening Match 25:14
• Beth Phoenix and Melina (with Santino Marella) defeated Maria and Ashley. Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjill match
• Randy Orton (c) defeated John Cena and Triple H Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship 14:09
• Floyd Mayweather defeated The Big Show by knockout No Disqualification match; decided by either knockout or submission 11:36
• The Undertaker defeated Edge (c) (with Vickie Guerrero, Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder) by submission Singles match for the World Heavyweight Championship 23:50
As part of WWE’s partnership with CharityBuzz.com to assist with Hurricane Sandy relief, WWE has added a new auction where fans can bid on the opportunity to pitch a WWE storyline to WWE’s Executive Vice President of Creative, Stephanie McMahon..
“Attention WWE fans! This is your chance to change the course of WWE history. This package allows one winner to pitch a WWE storyline to WWE’s Executive Vice President of Creative, Stephanie McMahon! As the mind behind the WWE storyline, this could be your one shot to leave your mark on Stephanie and the WWE universe!”
Bidding at CharityBuzz.com is currently upto $1,300. The auction ends Tuesday, April 9th at 8pm (EST).
Ryback spoke with Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan while at WrestleMania Axxess. Here are some highlights:
His Match with Mark Henry:
“No doubt in my mind that I can get him up. I think at the end of the night, when it’s all said and done, people are going to remember coming out of WrestleMania 29 is Ryback picking up Mark Henry over his head, marching around the ring, and 75,000 plus screaming, ‘Feed Me More.'”
His Biggest Goal In WWE:
“It’s to take over the #1 position from John Cena and take over the company and I’m not shy about saying it. John, I respect him more than anyone, he’s a very hard working individual. He’s been on top for 8-10 years now and he’s been untouchable. I am the one guy that can touch him and I believe I can outsell him on merchandise, and I can do things he has not yet done.”
CM Punk spoke with Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan while at WrestleMania Axxess. Here are some highlights:
Wearing an Antonio Cesaro shirt at the WrestleMania press conference:
“It was a clean shirt that grabbed and I wore that day. It’s not some sort of silent protest because he’s not on Mania, although I will go on record right now that it’s absolutely ridiculous that he doesn’t have a match at Wrestlemania. I will pimp that guy until the cows come home. He’s awesome. He’s everything that the WWE should want in their superstars. He’s tremendous. He can wrestle, he’s a brick house, he’s looks the part, he acts the part, he walks and talks that part. He can speak seven different languages! You’re missing the boat on this guy.”
The new WWE Title belt:
“That was actually one of the goals. I never would have spoken about it on TV if there wasn’t a new title belt ready to go. So, I did that and I just got the run-around forever about it. It was talked about, it just never happened.”
The Undertaker and The Streak:
“I’ve got the Undertaker and I think the streak, ultimately, is bigger than the title. Twenty years undefeated at Wrestlemania and the way this thing’s been built up, no I’m not salty about not even having the title anymore. I think I built that thing (the WWE title) up and I worked very hard to do that, to get it ready for the next guy. So no, not salty at all.”
Steve Austin:
“It’s never been really acknowledged within the WWE. This isn’t me trying to promote something that isn’t there, but there was just this hilarious tension in the room when me and Steve were in there. It’s funny to actually be in a room live, everybody else is uncomfortable except me and Steve. There’s this weird magnetism. It’s this unspoken thing. The only way I can describe it, and Paul Heyman completely 100% agrees, it’s the Old West and there’s the two gunfighters, and they’re buddies, but everybody always goes, ‘I wonder what would happen… what if?’ And that’s all it is. It’s fun.”
New York City DJ Peter Rosenberg (@RosenbergRadio) from Hot 97 scored an exclusive interview with the one and only Paul Heyman this week. Among the topics discussed include:
– Doing the best and most-rewarding work of his career right now in WWE.
– Being part of 2 top matches at WrestleMania after watching the show from home last year.
– How he and Brock Lesnar became such close friends.
– Brock Lesnar battling diverticulitis for many years and only being able to use 60% of his body’s potential at his physical peak due to the disease.
– The differences between Brock Lesnar & CM Punk.
– Managers who were great bumpers.
– Remembering the late Sherri Martel.
It’s another phenomenal interview from Mr. Roseberg – enjoy!
– The latest weather forecast for WrestleMania on Sunday is sunny with a high of 62 and a low of 49.
– The Miz was in Staten Island yesterday doing a Be A Star rally. Silive.com has video from the event as well as an interview with The Miz.
– Here is this week’s episode of The JBL & Cole Show featuring a special appearance from WWE Champion The Rock:
“In this edition of the “JBL & Cole Show,” The Rock makes a special appearance, Justin Gabriel pulls off some sick motorcycle stunts, and Damien Sandow returns!”
– Episode 1 of Steve Austin’s new podcast is now online and can be heard here. Shawn Michaels will be his guest next week.
– WWE returns to the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire on June 1st, 2013. Bell time is 7:30 PM. Tickets go on sale April 20th. Also, USA Championship Wrestling presents “A Royal Homecoming” with Jerry Lawler on April 25th, 2013 at the National Guard Armory in Bolivar, Tennessee. Bell time is 7 PM. Tickets cost $10 & $8. (Thanks to Devin Cutting)
– USAToday.com has an interview up with John Cena hyping his match against The Rock at WrestleMania.
– The Big Show will appear on the Nickelodeon show Supah Ninjas once again on Saturday night at 9 PM (EST), reprising role of Two Ton Harley.
Wrestling101.com recently conducted an excellent in-depth interview with 2013 WWE Hall of Famer Bruno Sammartino. Here are a few highlights:
His Career Highlights:
“In those eleven plus years that I was champion I wrestled all over but some of the most memorable matches that I had were against the likes of, Killer Kowalski, Ivan Koloff, Don Leo Jonathan, Dr. Bill Miller, Gorilla Monsoon, and Hans Mortier who was also European and the list goes on. I had some big matches in Japan against Shohei Baba and we fought for over an hour many times, I wrestled guys in Australia, Mexico, and Spain.”
“One of the highlights of my career was when I picked up Haystacks Calhoun, who was over 600lbs, that was exciting because no one had ever been able to lift him and when I did lift him I thought the roof of Madison Square Garden was going to fly off, people went absolutely wild.”
“Wrestling Buddy Rogers even though it was a short match it was great because that was my opportunity to become the headliner. I was very fortunate because I got to wrestle some of the truly great heavyweights in the business, I wrestled them all so today I look back and I’m very proud and happy.”
The Movie Being Made About His Life:
“I’m very pleased with the documentary and it has been completed, I’ve seen it and I was very happy with it because it’s one hundred per cent the truth. We made three or four trips to Italy and we even went up that mountain where we hid from the Nazi’s and filmed up there and we even interviewed the people of my town that are still around who went through the same ordeal as myself.”
“I did a lot in telling the story and they interviewed a lot of people, it’s about two hours but I was very pleased with it because it was very honest, very truthful and I’m very anxious for it to show. We are speaking to a number of distributing companies as there is a lot of interest from people in Japan, Germany, Italy and England that want to see it and it will be broadcasted by one of the networks over here in America later on in the year.”
“The movie, they have finished the screen writing and I’ve been told by the producer that there are two studios in Hollywood that are interested in the film but there are some independent producers that would like to produce it as well. They are at the process of who is going to fund it, but the producer Scott Rosenfelt has told me they are going to start casting people who are going to play the part of myself and other people that are going to be involved.”
“To be honest I’m more excited about the documentary because the documentary is all factual and it involves the people that were actually involved.”
There’s much more to the interview, including his childhood during World War 2, how he got into wrestling, his relationships with Vince McMahon Sr. & Jr., his view on current WWE Superstars and more.
– WWE champion The Rock spoke to the Associated Press this week about criticism from the WWE locker room that he’s a part time star taking a top spot in the company.
“For the guys in the locker room, it has to be more than just, ‘I’m ready to carry the company.” he said. “It has to be, ‘I’m ready to carry the company and then I’m ready to carry the company to places it’s never been.’ That’s hard to do considering the precedent that’s already been set.”
– Triple H has reportedly reached out to the legendary Ivan Koloff about attending WrestleMania weekend. Koloff has a lot of history with Bruno Sammartino and is being considered for the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame class.
TNA’s fighting lawyer, OVW graduate and Abyss’ brother Joseph Park joined the “Award Winning Best New Show” The Rack Thursday Night.
In a nearly 20 minute interview, he discussed his excitement at making his New York debut this weekend, his one year TNA anniversary, the transition from lawyer to full-time wrestler, what it was like training in OVW, defeating Bully Ray at Slammiversary, how he came up with his finisher and possible names for it, if anyone else at the firm of Park, Park and Park are looking to follow him into the ring, his Chicago homecoming with IMPACT, what it’s like to have fans, what his favorite city to visit with IMPACT so far and where he’s looking forward to visit, his thoughts on Robbie E and their upcoming match and his budding friendship with James Storm, if he has his sights set on titles in the future, his reaction to Bully Ray naming himself the President of Aces and 8’s, offering his help to Brooke and Hulk and his unique skill set, the possibility of a Joseph Park documentary and much more.
Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Celebrating is one year anniversary with TNA and the transition from lawyer to full-time wrestler: “It has been a heck of a transition, you know? I mean, I showed up about, like you mentioned, about a year ago and had no intention of wrestling; just wanted to look for my brother Abyss. I got some answers but not all the answers I needed; I couldn’t really find him and he showed up at Slammiversary and didn’t even stop to say hi to me after he helped me. You know, after that all happened, I was ready to go back to my law practice and then Bully Ray kinda got in my face a little bit and I kind of had just enough of being pushed around and stuff, so I decided to stand up for myself. Then, whole this thing just kind of rollerballed and I went to OVW, training with Danny Davis and the great folks out in Ohio Valley Wrestling and the next thing you know, here I am. So, I am still proud of my law practice but pretty excited about the future with wrestling.”
What was it like beating Bully Ray at Slammiversary and picking up his first win: “You know what, you’re right; you hit it on the head Lindsey. I mean, it has been; that match was something I’ll never forget, you know? And as you remember, I had a little assistance there from my brother; that‘s about the only time I’ve seen him since I’ve started looking for him and I actually didn’t even see him. I got to see the tape replay later but was not able to connect with him. But, to get back on your point, I was a great win for me and it kind of catapulted things and after everything that happened with Aces & 8’s; I’ll be the first to admit, Bully Ray pulled the wool over everybody’s eyes, including mine and Hulk Hogan’s and Sting’s and everybody else. So, it’s going to be interesting to see where things go moving forward.”
Making his homecoming to Chicago: “It was great. It was truly a homecoming of sort and it was ironic with the first live television, outside of Orlando, was in Chicago, IL; my hometown. So, I mean, that was incredible. All the partners of Park, Park and Park were there; I couldn’t get them anything other than nosebleed seats unfortunately because I don’t have that kind of clout yet. Hopefully, when I get kind of clout that Kurt Angle, Sting and Hulk have, maybe one day I’ll be able to get them better seats. Absolutely, I’ll get a little more clout in the office and stuff like that and hopefully I’ll be able to get some better seats for the partners for maybe the next time we come back to Chicago.”
Taking IMPACT on the road: “We’re just excited in general; I mean, Orlando and Universal Studios was great. It was fantastic to us but it really didn’t give us an opportunity to get out around the country and to connect with our fan base and this has really allowed us to do that. You know, getting out of Orlando and getting on the road and actually getting in front of fans in the Midwest and the Northeast and in the South; to actually connect with them had just made such a huge difference in the show. Orlando was great and they’re a great crowd; god bless them, we love them to death but, you know, moving out and moving on the road, and in front of a live audience every week, a fresh audience. It means the world of difference to everything and you can tell that just by watching the show and come right through your television screen; that momentum and that creativity and everything, it just comes right through your TV screen. Those fans are great on the road.
His friendship with on “Cowboy” James Storm: “James is great you know; you talk about a true, true cowboy. I mean, the guy is as much of a cowboy out the ring as he is in the ring and he’s been great to be around. I’ve learned a lot from just talking to him and I actually got to travel with him a couple of times on the road, early on in my career. He’s just a great guy to be around and he’s an intense guy to be around and I can’t think of a better guy to kind of learn the intensity and learn the ins-and-outs of this whole business from than a guy, a seasoned veteran, like James Storm. He is a lot of fun, and the thing with Storm is when it’s time to fight, when it’s time to wrestle, nobody comes more prepared than him, but when it’s time afterward to drink some beer, there’s nobody more prepared than him too. So, that’s a unique quality he has.”
His reaction to Bully Ray revealing himself as the President of Aces & 8’s: “I felt betrayed and duped, just like everybody else, you know? That’s just me, I’m sure I don’t feel as duped as Hulk Hogan does; he ended up handing his daughter over in marriage to this guy. That part really bothers me the most and the fact that he fooled everybody. He did fool everybody and he had a lot of help fooling everybody; I mean, he was behind this thing the whole time and so he did an incredible job. I’ll give Bully Ray one, he did an incredible job of pulling the wool over everybody’s eyes but now we’re in quite a jam. I mean, gosh, this guy is still married to Brooke Hogan, technically, legally. And as a guy who’s a lawyer, it’s going to be tough to get her out of that marriage; he’s not budging at all. He’s doesn’t want out of it, so it’s going to be interesting to see what happens. But I know this much, I’ll be there to help out, whether it’s physically or providing my legal skills to help resolve this whole thing.”
– Christian is ready to return to action and WWE reportedly plans to bring him back to television after WretleMania as a babyface.
– Brock Lesnar is not doing any media appearances to promote WrestleMania 29 this year. Lesnar is not a fan of interviews and did very little promotional work to hype his UFC fights back when he was an MMA fighter.
– Detailing Dynamics recently customized a McLaren MP412C for WrestleMania. Here is a photo:
Tonight is TNA’s first “One Night Only” pay-per-view, X-Travaganza. Here’s a preview:
Xscape Match: Christian York vs. Matt Bentley vs. Alex Silva vs. Sam Shaw vs. Lince Dorado vs. Puma vs. Jimmy Rave
Tony Nese and Rasad Cameron vs. Douglas Williams and Kid Kash
Robbie E. vs. Chavo Guerrero
Ultimate X Match: Mason Andrews vs. Rubix vs. Zema Ion vs. Kenny King
Christopher Daniels and Kazarian vs. Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams
No DQ Match: Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn
Samoa Joe vs. Austin Aries
Are you ordering this show? Do you think TNA’s taped Friday night PPV’s have a chance at being successful? Hit up the comments below with your feedback.
