The Big News: Brock Lesnar returned to pummel John Cena. The Rock vowed to regain the wwe championship and CM Punk defended his world championship against Mark Henry only to receive a vindictive drink fuelled surprise from Chris Jericho post-match.
In a Nutshell: Here comes the pain! --- The show opened with all the superstars sat backstage in a meeting. They were being spoken to by new General Manager of both brands John Laurinaitis. Laurinaitis promised that he wouldn't abuse his power right before announcing that Santino would defend his United States Title against Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler. Ziggler and Swagger then celebrated like Bill and Ted, completely oblivious to the fact that only one of them would be able to win the championship. Punk then arrived and called Laurinaitis a tool so the GM booked him in a match to defend his world heavyweight championship against Mark Henry. He then finished off by saying that this would be a new era of people power. I like these segments where they show that all the superstars do actually co-exist amidst all the multiple storylines and feuds. It adds a nice sense of community. The Rock came out to address his hometown fans. After absorbing various chants, Rock said that he wanted to thank John Cena for making history with a record attendance at the Sun Life Stadium for Wrestlemania. He talked about his initial return fourteen months ago and how in that time they had done it all from history lessons to Rock concerts resulting finally in his wrestlemania victory in Miami. He thrilled fans when he then said that this was just the beginning however because he had a vision of becoming wwe champion again and followed up his claim by making gestures around his waist as he walked up the ramp. This was a great promo from The Rock and his ambition for the wwe title is a good way of keeping people interested in his wwe storyline whilst he returns to make films. Hopefully the wwe can continue to elevate the gold in the time that he is gone and although it's far too early to tell, it would also be fantastic if this development meant that there was some truth surrounding the rumours that current wwe champion CM Punk has been campaigning for a match with the Great One backstage.
1.) United States Title Triple Threat Match: Santino defeated Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler to retain the belt Santino tried to forward roll himself out of trouble to start but he was soon taken to the mat by his two opponents with Ziggler taunting the champion with his sit-up routine and Swagger performing press ups on Santino's back. Santino then came back with a headbutt on Swagger and attempted to unveil the cobra but Ziggler cut off his momentum with a neckbreaker. Swagger then held Santino in position for a fame asser from Ziggler but the party was ruined when Ziggler went for a cover behind Swagger's back which led to Swagger taking Ziggler down with a belly to belly throw. With Ziggler out of the picture, Swagger then tried to win the match with a Swagger Bomb from the ropes but Santino got his knees up in time and got lucky with the cobra second time of asking for the pinfall. This was a fun match that managed to protect rising star Ziggler. ** 1/2 Post-match Ziggler and Swagger followed Santino up the ramp but Brodus Clay came out to make the save and headcharged Ziggler about ten feet into the air when the show-off tried a launch in the big man's direction. That was an amazing spot impeccably delivered and sold by both face and heel. Clay and Santino then danced with the Funkettes whilst Swagger and Vickie Guerrero tended to his injured friend. One hopes that Ziggler can fight his way out of the midcard pack soon but this was very entertaining filler nonetheless.
2.) Lord Tensai defeated Alex Riley via match stoppage Tensai walked to the ring with his Japanese manager Sakamoto. He was wearing cool samurai garment before taking it off to reveal a body filled with rich, symbolic tattoos. Immediately, just on appearance it was refreshing to see a new character being taken seriously who doesn't have the typical bodybuilder, flat abs look.This match amounted to a pretty fun squash with Tensai hitting some inventive moves such as a spinning back elbow and a butterfly supplex before the match was called off by the referee in the aftermath of Tensai's Baldo Bomb. ** I like the idea of matches being stopped because of Tensai's dominance but Riley was a not a good first choice here to try and authentically sell his opponents destruction and as a consequence the finish was not as dramatic as it perhaps should have been. If they'd worked this angle with someone like Jamie Noble then you'd have seen a large amount of the audience genuinely concerned for his wellbeing. As it was it felt too much like a gimmick but I expect it will catch on in the coming weeks.
3.) WWE Title: Mark Henry defeated CM Punk via countout (Punk retains the title) Henry manhandled Punk to start, talking trash as he pounded him with big fists and stomps. Punk realising that he had no chance in a brawl tried to find his way back into the match with high kicks but kept being swat down whenever he made a comeback. When Punk would start to build some offence the crowd chanted "yes" in the style of Daniel Bryan and emphatically echoed "no" when Henry regained control. It made for tremendous, unadulterated entertainment. Finally, Punk managed to floor Henry and hit him with the Macho Man Elbow. He then attempted to take Henry to the mat with a bulldog but Henry threw him head first into the ropes where Punk took an awkward dive to the floor and found himself counted out. ** 1/2 With a hot crowd, well conveyed aggression from Henry, great selling from Punk and a good mesh of styles this was a very rewarding match albeit one with a terrible crowd sapping ending. It'd be one thing if they had done this finish back when Henry was steamrolling through the competition on Smackdown but to have Punk defeated like this given Henry's recent depush so to speak didn't do much for the champion even if they are planning to rebuild Henry again. Maybe its just me but I've always believed that the first match any champion loses should be the loss that sees him part with the gold. Post-match John Laurinatis came down to the titantron to inform Punk that he wanted to make sure that the champ defended his title on a regular basis and that as a consequence he saw dark clouds on his horizon. A great little angle then saw Chris Jericho emerge from the crowd to inform his fallen foe that he wanted to celebrate their great match at wrestlemania with some beer. Jericho then reached for a bottle of alcohol which he used to drown Punk's face whilst insulting various members of his family. Jericho then grabbed a second bottle which he plastered over Punk's head. Punk coughing and spluttering made for a sympathetic sight that served to make a proud, shit grinning Chris Jericho appear more heartless and continue the feud in a convincing fashion. The company's new world heavyweight champion Sheamus came out to a negative response from the Miami crowd. Maybe this is what happens when you happen to win the belt on the grandest stage of them all in a match lasting all of eighteen seconds. No doubt Vince, upon hearing the endless Daniel Bryan chants must have had second thoughts about crowning a new champion the previous night. Before Sheamus could talk he was interrupted by the sound of Del Rio's theme music and the appearance of his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez. Del Rio could only just be heard over the audience as he told Sheamus that as quickly as he won the title he would lose it. Sheamus said that the people didn't want to see him talk, they wanted to witness him brogue kick Del Rio in the face. In actual fact the fans were more interested in chanting "si" before mixing it in with more Daniel Bryan chants. Goodness were they hopped-up for this show. In response Del Rio said that he didn't desire a fight because Laurinaitis had already confirmed that he would be fighting Sheamus on Smackdown and that if he won that match he'd get to face the Irishman with the world heavyweight championship on the line (aaaahhhhh, hate that stipulation so much!!!!). Del Rio then continued to talk but the microphone kept cutting out and when he turned around he was hit with a brogue kick. I like both these men but this segment screamed mid-card and certainly if Wrestlemania is anything to go by then they do infact seem to care as little for this belt as they do their neglected micard titles.
4.) Kofi Kingston defeated Cody Rhodes via pinfall Nothing to see here folks. Cody was on top when Big Show emerged at the titantron, music blaring and all and aired Cody a clip of him being knocked out at Mania. Then right on cue Kofi recovered to hit Cody with a boom drop. Horribly contrived and completely illogical given that we are supposed to buy these type of matches as legitimate sporting encounters whilst they're taking place. If this is supposed to be seen as real then why on earth would another wrestler be permitted to both have his music played during a match that had nothing to do with him and then air a video whilst said match was taking place. It's just inane. DUD Backstage Abraham Washington offered to represent Mark Henry. Henry didn't give a response but did appear intrigued. It will be interesting to see where they go with this. Eve Torres came out and talked about how her wrestlemania moment was maniplating Zack Ryder. She said it was easy for her to manipulate anyone except guys like John Laurinaitis because people in power can't be manipulated. She then welcomed the era of people power as promised earlier by the GM.
5.) The Miz defeated Zack Ryder via pinfall Miz teased Ryder at the start of the match about his damaged goods at the hands of Eve so Ryder attacked him angrily. Miz got in some punches but Ryder regained control and hit the Broski Boot. Ryder then attempted a neck breaker but Miz thwarted the attempt and then gained the advantage before pasting Ryder with a skull crushing finale. These two have both worked their ass off for the company over the past year, both got themselves over big and deserve far more than this quite frankly. * John Cena came out to cut a very sickly promo. He talked about how he never expected to lose at Wrestlemania and put The Rock over as the better man. He said that people were asking whether or not this would be the day that he took his frustrations out on the audience which yielded a hillarious "yes" chant from the crowd. He said that wouldn't happen however and then apologised to all the people who supported him who he felt that he had let down and said that all he could do now is to wipe the slate clean and try and be the best he possibly could. He then said he wanted The Rock to come down so that he could congratulate the greatest wwe superstar of all time. At that moment Brock Lesnar emerged as Miami went crazy. Fans were jumping in seats, grown men wore giddy faces.... the whole four ringposts. Lesnar made menacing physical motions on his way down to the ring. Once inside he offered his hand to Cena but then hoisted him up in the air quick as a flash and downed him with an F-5. What an ending this was.
Verdict:
We can look at the return of Brock Lesnar in two ways. On the one hand, having to bring in another big star to fill the gap The Rock has left is a sad indictment of how little effort the wwe have made to create new stars since the reemergence of The Great One fourteen months ago. On the other hand Brock Lesnar is an absolute beast who is not only the perfect fresh opponent for Cena but also a man who has the potential to engage in great storylines and matches with the majority of the roster and whose legitimate toughness adds a keen sense of danger and excitement to his character. As far as his actual return goes, it was pretty much the perfect reintroduction to his no-nonense, intensely physical style that reeks of attitude and intimidation. This big, post-Mania segment also continued the pre- wrestlemania trend of effectively creating a storyline that makes people intrigued and excited to see the layers unfold the following week. What really made this show stand out though was the crowd whose endless enthusiasm for pretty much everything thrown in front of them brought back memories of the energy of the Attitude Era and reminded one of the unique theatrical thrill that is professional wrestling at its very best. Through their unwavering excitment they made the characters seem more alive, the matches seem more vital, the product appear more vibrant and the storylines more interesting just as we begin the usually bleak road that follows the aftemath of Wrestlemania. There was plenty of meaningless mid card throwaway filler on the show but we were still greeted with new characters, new looks and new storylines which at least hinted that a new direction could be on the horizon.