In the end, WrestleMania 29 drew mixed reviews. Some fans felt that the Punk-Undertaker match was enough to propel the show into "thumbs up" territory, while others called it the worst WrestleMania ever. While that criticism was a bit excessive, the show didn't draw the overwhelming praise that it did the previous and following years. The next night's Raw, live from New Jersey's Izod Center, was a different story. Raw saw Wade Barrett win the Intercontinental Title from The Miz in a great TV match, John Cena suffer a second consecutive post-'Mania beating and, most memorably, Dolph Ziggler cash-in his Money in the Bank contract and win the World Heavyweight Championship. Oh, and a lot of "Fandango-ing". With a motlen crowd, well-received angles, and one of the biggest pops in the history of the show, Raw was unanimously praised as a great piece of WWE programming, a top drawer broadcast. A few days later, people were talking about it more than they were about WrestleMania. Three years on from the event, WrestleMania 29 is rarely mentioned when talk shifts to the "Granddaddy of 'Em All". No matter how far Dolph Ziggler has fallen, though, all WWE fans have a special place in their hearts for his historic title win.
Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried.
*Best Crowd of the Year, 2013
