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WRESTLEMANIA 26
WRESTLEMANIA 25 , WRESTLEMANIA 24,
WRESTLEMANIA 23, WRESTLEMANIA 22

EVENT:
WWE'S WRESTLEMANIA 26
PPV Predictions/Review by:
Larry "Bocepheus" Evans
Airdate:
Sunday March 28, 2009
Location:
University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona
"WrestleMania 26 is in the books and it was a good show with moments of greatness."
"Remember if you haven't seen this Pay Per View then this review is jam pack full of SPOILERS! I don't want to hear any howling or gnashing of teeth, you have been warned!
 Proceed at your own risk."

WrestleMania 26 is in the books and it was a good show with moments of greatness. The show started at 6pm and not 7pm since it is a longer than usual show and the card wasn’t fully together until after this week’s Raw and there are a lot of people not booked on the card. We didn’t get to see JR and the Divas match actually was added to the main show and while there was a rumored match using the NXT talent that never happened and neither the IC nor the US belts were defended. The prelim match was actually a 26-man battle royal that was won by Yoshi Tatsu. The show began with America the Beautiful sung by American Idol’s Fantasia. We also saw the reintroduction of the Spanish announce table and as usual it was a part of the action. The main announce team was Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole and Matt Stryker.

EDITOR'S NOTE:
The "Bo's Prediction" part of the review below was posted on Saturday afternoon (032709).

WWE UNIFIED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:

Big Show and The Miz (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth
BO'S PREDICTION:
The match most likely to open the show unless they decide to bring the MITB folks out first in an attempt to get the crowd fired up. Morrison and Truth have been thrown together and may end up being called Truth &Wisdom but now they are just two guys who happen to click in the ring. It is way too early to pull the trigger on the Show/Miz team so we will see a competitive match here with the belts staying on Miz and Show.
BO'S REVIEW: 

This match did actually start the show and Truth was the first man out. The set was damn impressive and the entrance ramp was one of the longest in Mania history. It was pointed out on commentary that the tag belts have never changed hands at Mania so once again the WWE telegraphed the finish. We still haven’t gotten a name for Morrison and Truth but they did look like a tag team here. The match was pretty short and ended when Show tagged Miz from outside the ring before punching Morrison in the head. I don’t have a problem with this being the opener but it was so short I didn’t see the point of even having it on the card.

TRIPLE THREAT MATCH:

Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes
BO'S PREDICTION:
The plan was to turn DiBiase face after Marine 2 shipped but the WWE dropped the ball. That would have made this match a one on one match between Orton and DiBiase. If that had happened then we would have a match pitting a heel against a face. Instead we have 3 heels facing each other. Fans are cheering Orton but he isn’t a face and so I see him drifting into the Steve Austin mode. And with that I see him winning here but for the life of me can’t figure out who they can book him with afterwards.
BO'S REVIEW: 

This match followed and Rhodes came out wearing some of the ugliest trunks in the history of wrestling. As predicted the fans cheered for Orton during the match. It began with Legacy ganging up on him but when DiBiase went for the pin on Orton Rhodes stopped him. The situation was reversed and suddenly we had a real three way match. We saw Orton hit a DDT into the ring from outside on both members of Legacy. Orton was going to go for the pin on Rhodes but stopped and punted him instead before hitting DiBiase with the RKO. So Orton beats both members of Legacy and suddenly has no program but has been turned into a face by the fans.

This was followed by the only backstage segment of the night. Josh Mathews was backstage about to interview Vickie Guerrero and the heel Divas about a match later on in the show (added at the last minute). This led to Jillian Hall singing horribly until Santino came out and did a live Slim Jim commercial that had him turn Jillian into Mae Young, Gene Okerlund (in a dress) and Melina (still on the shelf) after taking a bite.

MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH:

Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston and Matt Hardy.
BO'S PREDICTION:
This match will show the fans some insane moves considering the participants. Kane is in the match just to have a heavyweight involved but he has shown he can do some athletic moves when needed. Christian and Hardy will control the match and do some crazy yet controlled moves. One thing about this match is that it allows everyone to show what they can do and we will see everything and the kitchen sink here. At one point Kingston was going to win this but he didn’t even get in until Monday so he still may but it’s unlikely. Swagger has been impressing people again backstage so he has a shot. Bourne won’t win here but he will do the shooting star press from a tall ladder so that people will remember him. MVP and the rest have a shot but I think that McIntyre is going to win so that the WWE can get him over more. There is a rumor that the winner is going to cash in his title shot later on in the show and if that is the case then Swagger will win then move to Smackdown.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The general rule in this match is for someone to do something crazy and defies analysis so I will say that we saw: McIntyre get pummeled, Kingston dropped into a ladder, Bourne do the shooting star press from way up high, Swagger stuck under a ladder with two ladders holding him in place, a ladder broken in two and used as stilts by Kingston, Christian taking a twist of fate from the top of the ladder and the mother of all crotch shots on McIntyre. Swagger ended up pushing Christian off a ladder to get the briefcase but the strap was impossible to get loose and it took him forever. Year after year this ends up being the most entertaining match on the card and this year’s match was no exception. Kane came into the match with a black eye that was never explained but he did a great job considering he was the biggest guy in the ring.

This was followed by the Hall of Fame recap and Ted DiBiase got the biggest hand.

GRUDGE MATCH:

HHH vs. Sheamus
BO'S PREDICTION:
This match sort of has to happen in the middle of the card because it isn’t for a belt and the program doesn’t have an ‘epic’ feel to it. It has been booked properly though and I can see an interesting match coming out of it. This will be the biggest match of Sheamus’ career because he will be in front of the largest crowd he has ever seen on the biggest PPV of the year. The question in this match is: does HHH lose and keep Sheamus in the main event picture or does he win and cool off one of Raw’s best heels? The two do work out together and are tight so HHH may do the right thing and lose here.
BO'S REVIEW: 

This match was one of those that made you wonder what the plan was. The trick was to not cause Sheamus to lose momentum and make us believe that he could beat HHH. So the two of them went back and forth and a win by the pale Irishman was teased but HHH ended up winning. He kept Sheamus strong by doing so and made it look like he deserved to be in this match and on this show. Even with that this match came off as ‘give them something to do’ for the most part.

STREET FIGHT MATCH:

CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
BO'S PREDICTION:
The stipulation here is if Rey loses then he has to join the Straight Edge Society. When this match was rumored it was going to be hair vs. mask but Punk hasn’t shaved anyone’s head in a while. This is an interesting match in a couple of ways considering that Punk lost the title because of the way he dresses but ended up coming up with an gimmick that works better than anything on Raw. Rey is working this match with some pretty banged up knees but wanted to work Mania so he is gutting it along. I would have pulled the trigger on the hair vs. mask angle but in the long run this may work better. I do not expect Rey to lose here but think he will get a major beat down afterwards to let him rehab his knee after he wins. One way or the other this feud will last at least until the next PPV. There is a strict policy on blood and chair shots to the head but we may see some one get busted open simply due to the nature of the match.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The stipulation here is if Rey loses then he has to join the Straight Edge Society. That stipulation stayed but the match wasn’t a street fight anymore. Someone in the back must have noticed that there isn’t much difference between a street match and a no holds barred match and so the plan was changed. Punk came out first and got the crowd annoyed with him by saying that he was so much better than everyone there. Rey came out in an outfit that Cole said was a tribute to Avatar. He also introduced some new moves during a competitive match that had a complicated ending. He was going to go for the 619 on one side of the ring when Serena protected Punk. Gallows was trying to interfere on the other side and Punk ended up taking him out by accident which set up Rey hitting him with the 619 then jumping missile like onto him for the pin. So Rey wins but didn’t get attacked afterwards. We may see the hair vs. mask match at Extreme Rules at the end of April.

NO HOLDS BARRED MATCH:

Bret Hart vs. Mr. McMahon
BO'S PREDICTION:
You kind of have to go with the match here because it will not be a long one but it could be a fun one. Bret after he left the WWE has had a few concussions and a stroke and so he is unable to take any kind of back bumps at all. Vince is old (he’s in his 60s) and has been telling the media in Phoenix that this is likely his last in ring action. So the best match for these two is a no holds barred one because it doesn’t need to happen in the ring. This allows the two to have a decent match that doesn’t involve a lot of wrestling holds. Bret is sticking around for a while after this so of course he is going to win and I would lay odds that the Hart family will have something to do with the ending so they can stand in the ring and celebrate with Bret. This match could also let some of the talent not on the card to get involved besides the Hart Dynasty.
BO'S REVIEW: 

Calling this a match would be charitable because it really wasn’t one but it was fun. Bret came out first and then Vince but he was holding a microphone. He announced his master plan which was buying the Hart Family and making them the lumberjacks for this match with Bruce Hart as the referee. Vince was all happy with his plan but then Bret told him that he knew this was going to happen and instead the family turned on Vince. All of the action happened in the ring and it involved different ways for Bret to beat the hell out of Vince. Vince got hit with a Hart Attack from outside the ring from the Hart Dynasty then was pummeled with a pry bar before taking a lot of chair shots to the back and side then a few kicks to the nuts before Bret locked in the sharpshooter. Like I said, this wasn’t exactly a match but it was fun.

The attendance was announced at 72,219.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:

Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge
BO'S PREDICTION:
This match should be second before the top and follow the Bret/Vince match up. Plans for this match actually began last year when Jericho and Edge were tag team partners but since no one knew when Edge was returning from his injury it was a definite maybe. Then he showed up at the Rumble and it was on. We may see some of the best wrestling of the night in this match since Jericho can work with anyone and Edge isn’t a slouch either. Since Edge came back early you would assume that he is going to win here as a present but we could get a DQ or Jericho could walk away from the ring and get a count out but keep his title. If the MITB briefcase does come into play during the title matches this is the match that it will happen in.
BO'S REVIEW: 

This match was damn good. As expected Edge sold that his Achilles tendon injury wasn’t fully healed and he limped around a bit. He just kept coming and kicked out of a code breaker. Jericho teased a spear but didn’t land it. We saw a ref bump that allowed Jericho to nail Edge with the belt and then a second code breaker for the win. After the match was over then Jericho attacked Edge and that set up a cool finish. Edge took out Jericho after clearing both announce tables and spearing him off the Spanish table thru the barricade. This would have been the perfect time for Swagger to cash in the case but the WWE didn’t pull the trigger.

This was followed by clips from the battle royal.

DIVA'S MATCH:

Maryse & Vickie Guerrero & Layla & Alicia Fox & Michelle McCool vs. Beth Phoenix & Mickie James & Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim & Eve Torres
BO'S PREDICTION:
This was an unscheduled match and so there are no predictions.
BO'S REVIEW: 

During the match everyone was allowed to get their moves in. Using James here was a surprise since she isn’t recovered from her staph infection but you could see her avoiding using her bad leg. The finish was McCool and Layla balancing Vickie so that she could do the frog splash onto Kelly. I would say that this was the worst looking frog splash ever and when Vickie went for the pin Kelly actually pulled her shoulder up. The ref waited to allow Kelly to get back into position but it looked messed up. Vickie and the heels celebrated her win and she did the Eddie shimmy.

WWE CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:

Batista (c) vs. John Cena
BO'S PREDICTION:
As of when this was being typed this is the match that is supposed to end the show. I don’t know why since the end of the match has been telegraphed each and every week. Batista comes out and beats up Cena, rinse and repeat. Their confrontation on Raw was well done and didn’t end the same way. The booking staff should have alternated the beatings and have the two even going into this match but they didn’t. So the winner here is Cena hands down in a match that will be interesting as far as crowd reactions go. On Raw you had some fans chanting “You can’t wrestle” to Cena which was ludicrous considering who he was in the ring opposite. I expect the same here.
BO'S REVIEW: 

The call was made to move the match to this position and it was the right call. Batista got some of his pyro back but not the whole deal. Cena’s entrance was set up with an awesome performance by the Air Force drill team. We continued to see how strong Cena is when he picked Batista up after being locked in a body scissors. The match also included the 5 knuckle shuffle but it came off the top rope. Both kicked out of each other’s finisher and we saw a reenactment of the move that broke Cena’s neck. Cena won here with the STF and celebrated by heading out to ringside and celebrating right in front of fans wearing ‘I Hate Cena’ shirts. Fans were chanting ‘you can’t wrestle’ at Cena on Raw but it grows clear with each match that he can. He still throws the worst punches ever but he can carry a match.

END OF THE STREAK MATCH (Win by Pin or Submission Only):

Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
BO'S PREDICTION:
Michaels has been telling friends that he is retiring after this match for a while now but he and Taker are both taking time off once this match is over. Michaels has a vacation planned that will end in August; Taker is dealing with a hip that isn’t getting any better. Last year’s match between the two was one of the greatest Mania matches ever so the two cannot possibly top it but they will try their best. During this match we will see a series of almost pins and submission moves and the crowd will get worn out as these two get the crowd worked up with each near fall. Vince has said in the past that the Streak will end when Taker wants it to but the person who ends it needs to be someone new that you want to push to the top. And so when the night is over Taker will be 18-0 and the WWE will have all summer to figure out how to bring HBK back. You could have HHH come out and cost HBK the match on purpose but that sets up the duo wrestling each other again and we have seen that movie way too many times before. Let Taker win then have HBK come out on Raw and say goodbye just like Flair did when HBK ‘retired’ him.
BO'S REVIEW: 

Taker came up from the entrance ramp in a new jacket and slowly walked down that long ass ramp. HBK did the throat slash to Taker and he got mad then hit HBK with snake eyes and old school in the first five minutes. Taker started selling his knee after that. We saw HBK take a tombstone outside the ring but he recovered and got the action back in the ring. There were a lot of near falls seen here and as they did last year the two played the audience like a violin. Just when you thought one person was done he would kick out and that was repeated again and again. We even saw HBK get out of Hell’s Gate. Taker took a moonsault from HBK as he was lying on the main announce table and he also took another super kick but kicked out. The end of the match was the same end of the HBK/Flair match from Mania 24 but this time Taker was the one wanting to show mercy. HBK slapped him and Taker hit him with another tombstone to become 18-0. What followed was one of the most gracious things ever seen in a wrestling match. Taker staggered over and helped HBK up then shook his hand. HBK was then left alone in the ring and listened to the fans cheer him. The last thing we saw was him walking up the ramp and into the back. Their match last year was one of the greatest in Mania history and this one was as good if not better. Do I expect that we will not see Shawn Michaels in the ring again? Hell no. He has said that he thinks he can wrestle into his 50’s and is more than willing to do at least one match a year.

 

Photo © 2010 WWE/World Wrestling Entertainment
Article © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.

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