WrestleMania 26: HBK has left the building

Hello everyone, and welcome once again to yet another edition of WrestleMania Rewind. We’ve almost come to end of our series, and I hope you had fun in re-living the memories of previous WrestleManias. This year’s mega event is around the corner, and will be here in just a couple of days. Getting back to our series, we had covered 25 WrestleManias till now, and this will be the 26^th edition. The next edition centered around The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak as always, but also played around the career of Shawn Michaels, and how this night might bring it all to an end. It was an emotional night for the fans, as they were coping with the fact that this might be the last time they get to see the Showstopper perform inside the squared circle.

WrestleMania 26 came to us from University of Phoenix Stadium, in Glendale, Arizona. The main feuds entering into the mega event were Shawn-Undertaker, with a stipulation that if Shawn loses, he retires and with Taker’s streak on the line; you also had John Cena taking on Batista for the WWE Championship, and Edge taking on Chris Jericho, his former partner, for the World Heavyweight Championship. This event was also special, as the legendary Bret Hart competed in a WrestleMania match after nearly 13 years! So, without further ado, let us get right down to business.

The show started with Fantasia singing ‘America The Beautiful’.

Under card:

ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) defeated John Morrison and R-Truth for the WWE Tag team championship

The first bout on the card was between ShoMiz and the team of JoMo and R- Truth. This was the time when WWE paired up JoMo with R- Truth, which didn’t make much sense, but the duo were entertaining. Not long after this, R-Truth turned on JoMo and got the push of his career where he challenged for the WWE Championship. Anyway, this match got only about 4 minutes, and was a basic tag team match to open the show. The end came when Show KO’d JoMo as he was going for his athletic flying kick for the pin and to retain the WWE Tag team titles. Awful way to begin the show.

Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in a Triple Threat match

Randy took on his former partners, as Legacy disbanded. This resulted in a match at WrestleMania between the three, and was a basic triple threat match which was predictable. The booking became awful at this point in the WWE, so I’m not surprised. The match got about 9 minutes, and the end came when Randy ‘punt’ kicked Cody, and gave Ted the RKO for the pin and the win. A very average match, but the crowd was hot for Orton.

Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Matt Hardy, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Montel Vontavious Porter and Evan Bourne in the MITB Ladder match

The biggest MITB ladder match in the history of WrestleMania, with 10 participants in it. It was given a decent amount of time, and had some of the most experienced workers when it came to ladder matches. You also had Dolph included in the match, as he started off with his new gimmick. Drew was in the midst of a push at this point, being called ‘The Chosen One’. Now he’s the chosen one in 3MB, the new J. O. B squad. Anyway, a very solid match that saw some good bumps, but nothing extraordinary. The end came when Swagger knocked Christian down to bring down the brief case, thus winning the MITB! No one saw that coming, so it was a pleasant surprise. A very solid match that could have been a 4 star match had it received 5 more minutes.

Triple H defeated Sheamus

This was the time when Sheamus was pushed as a monster heel. He absolutely decimated everyone in his path, and had an incredible undefeated streak, and for those who remember, he went on to defeat Cena to win the WWE Title merely months after his debut. He was facing Triple H here, and they got about 13 minutes to put on a decent match. The pace was slow, as expected from brawlers like Triple H and Sheamus. The end came when Triple H, who seemed to be knocked out, gave Sheamus the pedigree out of nowhere for a sudden pin and the win. A decent match that could have been worked better, but got the crowd pumped up for the rest of the show.

Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (With Luke Gallows and Serena) with Rey Mysterio’s loyalties on the line

If Rey had lost this match, he would join the SES. Those were the stipulations heading into WrestleMania. I loved Punk at this point, with his SES gimmick, along with Gallows and Serena. Punk was the top heel in the WWE at this point, and was amazing on the mic night in and night out. Anyway, Rey had to give his everything in the match to keep Punk away. The match only went for just over 6 minutes, with Rey getting the win with a 619 and then a Springboard splash. A decent match, which could have stolen the show if they received about 20 minutes. Disappointing to see two great performers just getting 6 minutes!

Mid card:

Bret Hart defeated Vince McMahon via submission in a No Holds Barred Lumberjack match with Bruce Hart as the special guest referee

This match was 14 years in the making. Vince came out saying the Hart family would be the Lumberjacks, while Bret’s brother, Bruce would be special guest referee. Everybody thought that Vince had bought the Hart family out, but as it stood, they outsmarted Vince. Bret was limited in what he could do, after his stroke and his health issues, which was why this was just an angle that they put over. Vince wanted Bret to have a moment of glory as his last WM match, so they came up with this. Bret destroyed Vince with about a dozen chair shots, and then locked him in the Sharpshooter and Vince immediately tapped out. It was good to see that, and to know Bret’s last memories in the WWE won’t be of the screwjob.

Chris Jericho defeated Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship

Edge had returned from an injury at the Royal Rumble, and won the Rumble match by last eliminating Chris Jericho. Jericho then went on to become the World Heavyweight Champion during the Elimination Chamber match. This set up their match at WrestleMania, and the match received 15 minutes. You had two of the best workers in the business, so you’d expect a good match, and that is what they delivered. The crowd was really hot for this match, which was good to see. A match between two Canadians and the crowd was loving it. Great near falls, as the crowd got really involved. The match ended when Jericho hit the codebreaker on Edge for the pin and to retain the WHC. Post match, Jericho tried to attack Edge, but Edge gave a spear over the tables and through the barricade. Crowd went nuts for that!

Michelle McCool, Vickie Guerrero, Alicia Fox, Layla and Maryse defeated Beth Phoenix, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, Gail Kim and Eve Torres in a 10 Diva tag match

A 4 minute disaster which could have been given to the Rey-Punk match. Anyway, the cool thing about the match was Vickie giving Kelly a frog splash, as a tribute to her late husband. She pointed to the skies, which was neat. Then she pinned Kelly for the win. Not much of a match, and the crowd was dead for the entire thing.

John Cena defeated Batista for the WWE championship

Batista was the WWE champion and Cena was the challenger. They played around how both men became the champs at the same time, but Cena was more successful and this angered Batista. A 13 minute match which was slow to begin with, but picked up pace towards the end. The crowd got involved after each man started kicking out of the other’s finishers. The end came when Cena locked Batista in the STF, and Batista tapped out to give Cena the win and to become the new WWE Champion. A really good match, as both men worked well with each other. These two have really good chemistry, but Batista soon left the WWE.

Main event:

The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels in a No DQ Retirement match

If there ever was a ‘Re match of the Millennium’, this had to be it. Both men put on a wrestling clinic the last year, so the crowd expected the same this year. Also, HBK’s career was on the line, which was a nice touch to their story. Both men received great reception by the crowd, and they immediately pulled out all the stops. Great reversals by each performer, and they soon got into their stride. A killer table spot by Shawn, as he gave an Asai moonsault onto the table when Taker was lying down. Crowd was loud throughout the match. Shawn kicked out of Taker’s Last Ride and Tombstone, while Taker kicked out of Shawn’s SCM. The crowd started ‘This is Awesome’ chant, and they’re absolutely right. The end came when Shawn crawled up using Taker as support, cut his throat and slapped Taker when Taker asked him to ‘stay down’. This angered Taker and he gave him a jumping Tombstone! Good lord! He pinned him to get the 3 count, and to win the match! Outstanding performance by these two absolute legends. What a great match it has been, another 5 star classic! Post match, after posing, Taker helped Shawn get up and they shook hands and hugged each other. They could barely stand! And the crowd gave them a standing ovation as Shawn’s career came to an end. Perfect ending to a fantastic career.

Analysis: *** ¾ (Out of 5 stars)

Shawn-Taker stole the show again, and rightfully ended the PPV. The Edge – Jericho encounter was really well done, and the PPV was a tad better than the previous WrestleMania. Shawn would retire after this, and true to his word, never wrestled in a match again. Well, that does it from me for now. We’re almost done with the series, as we have only two more WrestleManias to cover. Join us again as we continue on our journey towards WrestleMania 29, which is merely days away.