The Big News: Triple H finally accepted Undertaker's WrestleMania offer and even suggested that they compete in a Hell in a Cell match. Meanwhile John Cena cut one of the best promos of his career on The Rock, Chris Jericho won a ten man battle royal to face CM Punk at Wrestlemania and Sheamus vs Daniel Bryan was also confirmed for the April 1st megashow. In a Nutshell: Triple H and John Cena showcase their sublime skill for angry promos. Show opened with Eve Torres turning heel backstage. The Bella Twins asked her about the welfare of Zack Ryder and she replied by laughing off their association and claiming that she was just using him to get herself noticed. She then said she would use John Cena in a similar fashion but unfortunately for her Cena was stood there listening. Eve Torres then changed tact and followed John Cena to the ring whilst crying. She tried to explain how her words had been taken out of context but Cena stated that because of her he had lost a broksi for a hoski. He then said that Eve shouldn't waste her time trying to further her career with him, she should wait for The Rock instead as she has the same disingenuous, ego-maniacal qualities which make them both scandalous bitches. Eve then tried to woo Cena again but Cena resisted, stating that he was disease free and wished to remain that way. The dialogue in this segment was pretty obnoxious and Eve's acting was utterly horrible throughout but the comparison Cena made between her behaviour and The Rock played very nicely into his explosive promo later on in the show. Sheamus defeated Mark Henry via pinfall Henry quickly threw Sheamus into the corner and worked him over with some hard fists and a clothesline but The Irishman fought back with a high knee, a boot to the face and a flying shoulder tackle. He then attempted to lock Henry in the ropes and chop him down with his barrage of fists but Henry escaped and splashed Sheamus in the corner. The world's strongest man then tried for another splash but Sheamus ducked and went on the attack, missed a brogue kick, avoided a world's strongest slam and connected with the Brogue kick second time of asking. ** This was good in the sense that the Royal Rumble winner earned a victory over a giant but bad in the sense that the match was so short and that after building up Henry so well as a monster for months they've somehow failed to capitalise on the potential impact of his dethroning. Backstage John Laurinaitis told David Otunga that people were talking about him. They were interrupted by Teddy Long as Laurinaitis defended himself by saying that it was Otunga's idea for him to be of GM of both Raw and Smackdown and that he wasn't aware that Christian, Alberto Del Rio and Mark Henry would offer their support. Long wanted them to go out there and ask the people who they wanted to see as GM of both shows but thankfully this didn't transpire as Laurinaitis said that he only cared about the opinion of the board. Laurinaitis then announced a 10 man battle royal with the winner earning a wrestlemania title shot against CM punk. Long said that Smackdown would be healthily represented before arguing with Otunga. It was then decided that Otunga would face Long's pick for a wrestler from Smackdown. They then announced that The Rock will be on Raw next week. Tag Match: R-Truth and Kofi Kingston defeated Epico and Primo via pinfall Epico and Primo worked over Truth to start before Kingston got the hot tag and ran wild with some dropkicks and a boom drop. Rosa then attempted to make the distraction but Kingston still managed to avoid the backstabber and hit trouble on paradise on Primo for the win. ** On the plus side this was a fun match and it's good to see Truth and Kofi likely becoming permanent partners in an environment which suits them best. I still however have no idea why they let the champions lose so easily to the challengers and then try and build hype for a rematch in which the gold is on the line. The champions need to have an aura around them, you can't sell a match based on whether or not the challengers can beat them again with bigger stakes. Also Why are guys booked in the ten man battle royal randomly competing in other matches on the show. Could the wwe scream any louder about how little chance they have of winning in the main event? Ron Simmons was announced as an inductee for this year's Hall of Fame and they played a neat video package which included footage from his wcw title victory. David Otunga beat Ezekiel Jackson via pinfall Jackson dominated the brief match but missed an avalanche into the corner at the end and Otunga capitalised with his finisher The Verdict. 1/2 * Otunga is really good in his smarmy lawyer role but hasn't stopped being a horrid wrestler so I'm a little concerned about him obtaining such an easy win over a giant. The man might have a future in the company but it's definitely not as an in ring star. Also if the wwe have gone off the idea of trying to launch Jackson as a singles star then they should make the most out of his impeccable physique by allowing him to operate as a bodyguard for a top heel. Undertaker / Triple H Promo Undertaker came out to talk about Wrestlemania and actually suffered the "what?" treatment from disrespectful crowd members. Despite being a little thrown off guard he managed to make the point that he had lived with the beating he took from Hunter for a year and now wanted to challenge him again so that he could help to erase the painful nature of the memory. He then said that whilst Hunter might be able to hide behind the suit and lie to himself and lie to Shawn Michaels, he challenged him to come down and look him in the eyes and see if he could lie to him too. Triple H came out and began his well rehearsed honourable routine about not wanting to put Taker out of his misery but Taker told him to shut up and spare him his pity. Hunter went on about how Taker needed to carry the torch for the next generation and how it would be bad for business if he extinguished that flame. He told Taker that he wasn't really looking for redemption or salvation but rather an end and he didn't want to be the man to end it. Hunter got ready to leave until Taker labelled him a coward thus sparking off some "you're a coward" chants that added greatly to the escalation of Hunter's fury. Regardless however, he kept calm and informed the deadman that he was aware of what game he was trying to play and that he wasn't going to rise to the bait. His answer was still "no." Hunter then tried to leave again but as he was up the ramp, Taker brought out the last vital weapon in his arsenal by telling Hunter that he knew that he couldn't do what Shawn Michaels could do, because deep down he knows that Shawn was always better than him. Hunter visibly shaking then tore off his jacket and tie and venomously strode down to the ring. He angrily told Taker that Michaels couldn't finish the job but that he knew that he had the ability to do so. With everything then stripped bare, with the jacket and tie both physically and metaphorically stripped off, with Taker having transformed his false pride into a very real defensive aggression, Hunter finally relented and agreed to the match at Wrestlemania. And not just any match he wanted but a match where they would go all the way, a match they call hell in a cell. With Hunter pumped on adrenalin and the crowd going wild, this time it was Taker who remained calm as he patted Hunter on the back before leaving. This was yet another awesome segment in the build up to the Hunter/Taker match. Taker seeing through Hunter's stance of honour as a disguise for his true cowardice was an effective method of awakening the beast inside of the game and making him agree to the match in order to honour his pride and there was then a beautifully worked reversal of fortune as this time Hunter raised the stakes and demanded Hell in a Cell to which Taker, now in the position of power, simply offered him the same patronising pat that his rival had given him back when he had been the one who had been desperate and angry. All in all, it was an amazing slice of layered storytelling, heightened tension and great characterisation which set up a big rematch in a non-contrived fashion and effectively raised the stakes for the contest going forward. I am now extremely excited for a match that I cared very little for a month ago which speaks volumes about how well written and acted these segments have been. Daniel Bryan defeated Santino via pinfall Bryan won with the labell lock after Santino had attempted the cobra. * Given that these two had an excellent exchange of near falls the previous night and that Santino was deemed important enough to compete in the ten man battle royal later on, it made little sense for them to book this match at all let alone make it so short and meaningless. A promo from Bryan concerning Sheamus would have been much better. Divas Tag: Bella Twins defeated beat Kelly and Aksana Sloppy match which saw The Bella Twins use twin magic to get the pinfall victory over Aksana. DUD After Beth and Tamina's solid effort at the Chamber I was hoping for some sort of angle building towards Beth's wrestlemania title defence rather than this useless filler. John Cena lays the verbal smackdown on The Rock Cena brought up The Rock's appearance next week. He then said that he used to like The Rock until The Rock became Dwayne Johnson who brings his own special entourage wherever he goes whom he has to communicate with before he can speak to the man himself. He said that he respected Rock's accomplishments but doesn't respect the fact that Rock got a taste of the bright lights and left faster than he could say "Rocky, don't go." He then said that Vince might fine him for mentioning it but that Rock only came back in the first place to promote Fast Five and launch his twitter account. Cena said that he wasn't about that. He said that he fights for the people who want to become a wwe superstar and stay a wwe superstar. That the great thing on April 9th will be when he is still on Raw and Rock will have left to be on some movie set somewhere laughing around with his stunt double. He then concluded by conceding that Rock will entertain everyone next week but that he is not going anywhere and that The Rock will have to kill him to beat him. Bristling with authentic venom yet still making his opponent seem like a big deal, this was an astounding, much needed promo from John Cena. His speech was edgy, brought up an issue that felt close to heart and effectively raised interest in seeing these two men fight it out. There were no twitter references, no comedic offences, no sickly pandering nor loud, obnoxious spirit but rather a proud man standing up for what he believes in and letting everyone know that he is there for the fight. Because the content of the promo is also flawed it gives The Rock the invitation to respond about how he is doing the world of wrestling a giant favour by even turning up at all and that Cena wouldn't know the first thing about making the choice between movies and wrestling because the films that Cena has made aren't even in the same ballpark in regards to quality nor commercial value. Whatever his retort, it's hard not to be excited about Rock's response on next week's broadcast. Chris Jericho won a ten man battle royal to earn the right to face CM Punk at wrestlemania Punk assisted on commentary and did a good job of putting over the competitors and capturing the importance of the contest. The match itself features tons of of clumsy bumping but it was always exciting if entirely predictable throughout. Everyone sensibly teamed up to eliminate Khali first before pairing off in a series of scattered fights. Kingston and Truth took out Miz before a stream of finishers took place after which Santino used his cunning to duck under and eliminate both Barrett and R-Truth. Ziggler then landed a dropkick on Show but as he was celebrating Show hoisted him in the air where he was supposed to be caught by Barrett and Truth. Instead however he hit the announce table as Barrett hurt his arm trying to reach him and then required medical attention. They probably should have taken things a little easier just one night after competing in the chamber. Back inside the ring Jericho attempted to throw out Santino but Santino skimmed the cat and then hit Jericho with the cobra to the delight of the fans. Cody then put an end to the fun by eliminating the Milan Miracle as we went down to three. Three then became two as Show eliminated Rhodes but Rhodes hung around to both distract Show and then throw him to the mat as Show and Jericho's bodies intertwined precariously on the ropes. ** 1/2 Post-match CM Punk held the title up in front of Jericho and offered to shake his hand but Jericho refused and walked off with a smirk. Glad that Punk vs Jericho is now officially on the cards though it would have been so much more effective if Jericho had won the chamber match to qualify for Mania instead of winning this bout for which he barely had to break sweat. Winning a random battle royal on Raw for the chance to compete at wrestlemania just seems so feeble in comparison to the pain and hardship that surviving a chamber match conveys. Verdict: Not a flawless show by any means but one which nonetheless excelled in raising the stakes for the key Mania clashes whilst building great anticipation for the development of these storylines in the weeks to follow.