In his first WrestleMania (and Edge's last, unfortunately), Del Rio more than held his own, coming off of a Royal Rumble victory that many were surprised to see. People wondered if the stage would be too big for him, but it was not, and even in a losing effort, he won people over as a more-than-capable worker. This is another one of those matches that gets overshadowed by something else on the same card (The Rock making his return to "host" the show), so it might not get the proper praise it deserves, but it's definitely worthy. Given the job of opening the show, Del Rio and Edge went out there and delivered, doing what they were supposed to do and got the gigantic crowd in the Georgia Dome invested in the match. It actually came as a bit of a surprise to most people that Edge retained his World Title here, as Del Rio seemed on the fast track to the top, but the immediate aftermath (Edge being forced to retire due to injury, and Del Rio going on to feud with Edge's best friend, Christian) made sense and helped everyone involved.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
