Welcome to the latest edition of our WrestleMania Rewind series, written by yours truly, exclusively for everyone here at SLTD Wrestling. The aim of WrestleMania Rewind is to review every WrestleMania in roughly 2,000 words. Click here to read the series so far.
We’re down to the final 4! Today’s article looks back at WrestleMania 26, which took place on March 28th, 2010 from Phoenix, Arizona, in front of over 72,000 fans. It’s a PPV that marked the end of an era, as JR no longer contributed to the show on a full-time basis. Our commentary team consisted of Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler and Matt Striker. We’ve got 10 matches to cover, so how about I shut the hell up and get down to it?
Match 1: WWE Tag-Team Championship Match – Sho-Miz (c) vs John Morrison & R-Truth
The babyfaces work Miz and get a couple of 2-counts. Tag to Show, who lands a Fallaway Slam on Truth. Miz and Morrison go at it. Morrison misses Starship Pain and Miz gets a 2-count. Show makes a blind tag, and KO punches Morrison on the apron as he’s springboarding to get the win.
Opinion: A harmless way to open the PPV. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t poor. The crowd weren’t that into it.
Match 2: Triple-Threat Match – Ted DiBiase vs Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton
Rhodes and DiBiase double-team Orton for most of the opening five minutes. They argue when DiBiase goes for a cover on Orton. Rhodes and DiBiase go at it now, in and out of the ring. Orton gets back in it with a series of clotheslines and a pair of powerslams. Rhodes takes DiBiase out of it with a slingshot crossbody. Orton lands a double draping DDT, punts Rhodes and counters Dream Street into an RKO to pick up the win.
Opinion: A really fun match, but again, the crowd just didn’t seem all that into it. I still think WWE pushed the wrong guy as the babyface in this contest. They should’ve put DiBiase in that situation. Instead, they went with Orton. You can’t fault his talent though, and he looked good here.
Match 3: Money in the Bank Ladder Match – Kofi Kingston vs MVP vs Evan Bourne vs Jack Swagger vs Shelton Benjamin vs Matt Hardy vs Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre vs Kane vs Christian
Dolph Zig-Zag’s Christian off the ladder. Kane powerbombs Kofi into the ladder. Evan Bourne then hits Christian with Air Bourne off the ladder before Matt Hardy hiptosses him off of it. No one man is standing out here. Kane chokeslams Ziggler on a ladder, before wearing him out with it.
There’s a cool spot with Kofi using a broken ladder almost as a pair of stilts. Hardy tips McIntyre off a ladder, crotching him on the top rope. Christian reverse DDTs Hardy off the ladder (which Cole calls a Twist of Fate – Fuck you Michael Cole. Learn the names of some bastard wrestling moves, you prick). Swagger knocks Christian off the top of the ladder with the briefcase, then retrieves it to win.
Opinion: This was disjointed and clunky as fuck, which I suppose is understandable when there are 10 men in a ladder match! Everybody was trying to get their stuff in, and they failed. Nobody really stood out and there weren’t that many cool spots.
Match 4: Sheamus vs HHH
Sheamus avoids the Pedigree early. H works Sheamus’ right leg and puts him in the figure-4. Sheamus gets to the ropes to force the break and rolls outside, where he sends H into the steps. Sheamus is in control now, working H’s back, and he gets a 2-count from a running powerslam.
H gets out of a chinlock with a back suplex, and gets a pair of 2-counts from a facebuster and a neckbreaker. Sheamus replies with a 2 of his own after countering the Pedigree with a Brogue Kick. H gets a 2 from a AA spinebuster. Sheamus delivers a second Brogue Kick from the apron, but H hits the Pedigree to get the win.
Opinion: What’s this? HHH firmly nestled into the mid-card, where he should be anyway? Praise Jeebus! The basic story of this was Sheamus trying to outfight H, and he did well, but ultimately, H’s trusty shovel…I mean experience, won the day. A good, physical match.
Match 5: CM Punk (w/Serena & Luke Gallows) vs Rey Mysterio
Mysterio goes for a bulldog outside, but Punk sends him into the steps to get control. Mysterio tries to get back into it with a seated senton, however, Punk counters a springboard crossbody into a powerslam for 2. Punk basically has a counter for almost every one of Mysterio’s lucha moves, and gets a succession of nearfalls. The SES get involved. Mysterio counters the GTS into a headscissors that sends Gallows flying off the apron. He hits the 619 and a splash to get the win.
Opinion: I always loved watching these two go at it. Tremendous stuff. Why? Because of the aforementioned PSYCHOLOGY to the match – Punk countering virtually EVERY lucha move, but the presence of the SES backfired, giving Mysterio the win. You can’t fault it. Simple storytelling.
Match 6: No Holds Barred Lumberjack Match – Bret Hart vs Mr McMahon
Bruce Hart is the special guest referee. Hart wins a 10-minute clusterfuck of EPIC proportions with the Sharpshooter.
Opinion: Who in the name of all things holy decided that THIS should be on PPV, never mind WrestleMania? An honest-to-God abortion of a match. With about 14 different stipulations. OK, that was an exaggeration, but still, this was AWFUL…
Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship Match – Chris Jericho (c) vs Edge
Aside from an early flurry from Edge, Jericho dominates the early going. Edge gets back in it by shoulder-tackling Jericho off the apron, then gets a 2-count from a front suplex off the top rope. Jericho rolls through a top rope crossbody for 2 and Edge just manages to avoid the Codebreaker, but Jericho counters a Spear into the Walls of Jericho! Edge escapes with an inside cradle for 2. He also counters a bulldog into an impaler DDT for another nearfall.
Edge counters a Spear with a big boot. Jericho counters a Spear into the Codebreaker for 2. Jericho zeroes in on Edge’s leg and puts him in the Walls again, as well as in a half-Boston Crab. Edge gets to the ropes to force the break and they both tumble outside after a double clothesline. The ref gets caught by a flailing arm, which allows Jericho to nail Edge with the belt for 2 and he follows up with the Codebreaker to retain.
Opinion: This felt weird and, in a lot of ways, reminded me of matches that we used to see between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker. On paper, it should’ve been good. But in reality, it never quite clicked the way it should’ve done. It’s neither guy’s fault, it just didn’t feel right.
Match 8: 10-Diva Tag Match – Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Alicia Fox & Vickie Guerrero vs Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Mickie James & Beth Phoenix
Ah, the WrestleMania debut of my good lady wife, Eve Torres – she is in my mind anyway! The babyfaces work Vickie. Kelly gets a 2-count from a legdrop. The other Divas all come in and hit their finishers. McCool and Layla help Vickie “frog splash” Kelly to pick up the win.
Opinion: That “frog splash” from Vickie (if we can even call it that) was horrific and had no place in a wrestling ring. It may be one of the worst “moves” I’ve ever seen. She SHOULD NOT be in a wrestling ring. It was just a way to get the Divas on the card, nothing more.
Match 9: WWE Championship Match – Batista (c) vs John Cena
Before I get into this, I noticed a couple of things:
- Batista must’ve been to the doctors and got some special cream, cos he wasn’t farting fireworks like he usually did
- He had his boo-boo face on, which gave away the result before the kick-off. Come on Dave, at least try to disguise it!
Batista counters the AA with a DDT for 2, and focuses on Cena’s neck. He follows up with another couple of 2s from a neckbreaker and countering the 5 Knuckle Shuffle with a spinebuster. Cena counters the Batista Bomb into an STF. Batista breaks it by getting to the ropes, and gets a couple of 2s from a Spear and a Batista Bomb. A series of counters leads to Cena getting a nearfall from an AA, before he comes off the top rope into a Batista Bomb. Batista goes for another, but Cena rolls through and slaps him in the STF to get the win.
Opinion: Yay! Cena wins! By submission! For the third time in five years! Sigh… Having said that, it was a surprisingly decent match. Batista looked dominant, but Cena’s “resilience” got him through.
Match 10: Career vs Streak – Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker
Taker lands Snake Eyes, a big boot and Old School early, but he lands awkwardly on his left leg, which Michaels targets immediately. He goes for the figure-4. Taker kicks him off to the outside, where he slams Michaels’ back into the ringpost. He follows with a legdrop on the apron, but Michaels goes back to the leg and gets Taker in the figure-4. Taker reverses it to force a break.
Michaels lands a flying forearm, but Taker’s able to chokeslam him for 2. Michaels rolls through the Tombstone into an Ankle Lock, which Taker kicks his way out of. Michaels clotheslines Taker outside and goes for a springboard moonsault, which Taker counters into a Tombstone! He rolls him back in for 2.
Michaels counters the Last Ride into a facebuster for 2 and goes for a top rope elbow, but Taker gets his knees up to block it. Michaels counters Hell’s Gate with a Jacknife pin for 2 and follows up with a HUGE Sweet Chin Music for another nearfall. Taker counters ANOTHER Sweet Chin Music with a Last Ride for 2, then dumps Michaels outside, where Michaels counters a THIRD Last Ride with a THUNDEROUS Sweet Chin Music that sends Taker onto the announce table.
Michaels lands a moonsault from the top rope that sends Taker crashing through the announce table! He rolls Taker back in and hits a THIRD Sweet Chin Music for 2. Taker sidesteps a fourth one, delivers a chokeslam and follows with a second Tombstone for yet ANOTHER nearfall. Michaels struggles to his feet, taunts Taker and slaps him before Taker lands a THIRD Tombstone to win.
Opinion: This match stood out like a sore thumb, especially on this card. It was a tremendous match and, while it might not have been as good as it was the year before, it was still easily a 4.5/5. Awesome storytelling from both men and the false finishes had the crowd gasping for more. Brilliant stuff. Just a shame that Shawn had to break our hearts again, but that’s what he did for 25+ years!
Summary: This whole PPV just felt like an extended version of Raw/SmackDown.
Considering it’s supposed to be the biggest show of the year, that’s not good enough. The Michaels/Taker match aside, there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot to take from the event. I suppose Batista/Cena was OK and I enjoyed the Punk/Mysterio match, but they didn’t feel like WrestleMania matches.
Michaels/Taker felt like a big deal. It felt like a big-time, main-event, WrestleMania-worthy match. And on this card, it felt totally out of place, because it was so much better than anything else. Whether that’s solely down to the two men involved, or the build, or whatever, I don’t know.
For the second time in three years, Shawn Michaels had me in tears watching WrestleMania. OK, so I wasn’t as emotional as I was when Ric Flair retired, but I still had a lump in my throat watching Taker end Michaels’ career.
I don’t care what anyone says, Shawn Michaels is the greatest storyteller of my (or ANY) generation in pro-wrestling.
He encapsulated everything that a professional wrestler should be – charismatic, empathetic, flamboyant, resilient and most importantly, he allowed you to get emotionally invested in his matches.
You either wanted to see him kick someone’s ass, or get his kicked. You were never indifferent to a Shawn Michaels match, whether he was wrestling a smaller or larger guy, and that’s a credit to him. Thanks for the memories Shawn. I doubt that ANYONE else will be able to top your achievements. He could very well be the best of all-time, but that’s a discussion for another day…
Hopefully, you enjoyed that quick look back at WrestleMania 26. Leave your comments/feedback via the usual channels, and join me again tomorrow to revisit WrestleMania 27!
SLTD Wrestling's resident Scottish Nightmare. Some of my content may not be suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended!
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