WrestleMania 27

WrestleMania 27 has come and gone. I was able to watch the event this year as the host at my place. I had some invited guests (brother, nephews, cousins and friends) and we watched the 'Grand-daddy of them all' It was a good time as when we get together we are able to crack jokes and make fun of the matches, while appreciating the athleticism that the 'Superstars' show. I even decided to being down my World Heavy Weight Championship belt and have everyone pose with it...
Before the show started my brother, nephew and me played WWE All Stars on PS3. The game is fun to play but I found it a bit difficult to get the controls down. But we still played and had some fun. At 3:30 we tuned into the count down and started to grub on some food. Finally 4 pm...
Show starts, the Rock comes down does his opening, still entertaining and still electric. Wish he would come back at least on a part time basis and rejuvenate the shows. After the Rock got out of the ring the matches would begin.
Alberto Del Rio (challenger) vs. Edge (Champion)
I thought it was strange that this is how they would start off the PPV with a title match. Del Rio's personal ring announcer was there and he came out in his car and had Clay in his corner. Christian came in and then Edge made his entrance. A lot of back and forth in this match. Del Rio showed his ability to make impact moves out of nowhere. There was some altercations between Christian and Clay, which got the crowd on their feet. But in the ring, Del Rio was getting to work and then Edge hit it...Spear! Spear! Spear! and 3 seconds later it was over. After the match Edge and Christian destroyed Del Rio's car. Which honestly didn't make too much sense.

Cody Rhodes vs Captain Mysterio (Rey Mysterio)
Cody enters with that ridiculous mask that he has on to protect his face, then Rey comes out in a Captain America inspired ring gear and mask. I think this was a breakout performance for Cody as he was able to tell the story with Rey and make us believe that he is a contender. There were some spots where it seemed that Rey was out cold, but he kept on kicking out. The finish of the match could have been better, I don't think Cody should have used the knee brace to get the win, but hey, a win is a win is a win.

Big Show, Kane, Santino and Kofi Kingston vs the Corre
Short match, it took longer for them to get to the ring, then to actually have the match. Match ended with the Cobra and the Big Show knock out punch. Could have been a lot better.

Rany Orton vs CM Punk
I was looking forward to this match and it did not let me down. I can always count on CM Punk to deliver as a heel. His facial expressions and gestures were great. He was able to get the crowd to hate him even more. Orton has come a long way and he turned in a good performance as well. He fed off the energy of the crowd and got the Win with a RKO after Punk jumped off the top rope. Best spot in the match was when Orton was going to hit the RKO but Punk pushed him off. It was great timing on both parts. Great way to tell the story. Although I would have had the match later on the card.

Michael Cole w/ Jack Swagger vs The King Jerry Lawler- special ref. Stone Cold Steve Austin.
SCSA came down in a ATV and rode it around the ring. Lawler came in with his old wrestling gear, being that this was his 1st match at WM, he wanted to bring that out. The match was a let down. It was going to be hard for Lawler to get a decent match out of Cole, since he is not a wrestler. Lawler wins via submission, SCSA stuns Booker T (after the Spin-a-rooni) and they drink beer, lots of it. Then the anonymous Raw GM overturns the decision and winner by DQ is...Michael Cole... Lame

Undertaker vs HHH-no holds barred
Was the streak going to be over? would HHH be able to do what HBK couldn't? Well, the match started with the stare down and boom! It was on from there. Not as good as Undertake/HBK 1 & 2, but this was good. It was brutal, it looked like these two were hell bent on destroying each other. There were lots of close falls and even HHH put the Undertaker in the Tombstone pile driver. In the end, no grave or HHH could hold him down.. Undertaker is 19-0!

Next was Snooki-mania!!
John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Snooki (Brunette Mafia) Vs. Dolph Ziggler, and LayCool
Let's file this one under the 'why was this happening?' file. Trish like always put on a good show, she still has it. Morrison hit some high spots. But I will give Snooki some credit, she did hit her moves and did a good job and she got the pin on Michelle McCool. A very short match.

Main event:
John Cena (Challenger) vs The Miz (Champion)
The intros were different. I didn't fully see the Miz one, but it looked cool with a retrospect of his time on the 'Real World' and how he came up. It was done well and when added with Nas and his hit "Hate Me Now" it real was.. AWESOME!
Then Cena's turn. The choir and the religious build up was a bit too much for me. But I guess that is what SuperCena needed to feed his 'always there' 'hustle loyalty respect' ego. The match was not spectacular. I did expect a lot more from these two, they even had the match end on a double count out. Then the Rock came down and restarted the match, then...Boom! Rock Bottom on Cena. Miz gets the pin, retains the title and got a People's Elbow for his troubles.
Rock poses on the turnbuckle, show ends....Next up...Road to WrestleMania 28...

On paper the show was underwhelming. The event was above average, they tried to put on a good show. I guess that there was a true lack of build up and that does hurt the matches. There was too much time given to Lawler/Cole and I am sure they did not expect to carry the Undertaker out in a stretcher. I hope next year they give all of the matches a proper build up and that during this year the 'superstars' step up their game and make it the best show possible.