I have always been fascinated by WrestleMania. While that isn't a groundbreaking or completely original thought amongst wrestling fans, I have always looked forward to the Granddaddy the way some people look forward to Christmas or a birthday. And just like one may look forward to Grandma's Christmas cookies, or unwrapping gifts at 7am, WrestleMania has its specific beats that I look forward to every year.
I always love the singing of America the Beautiful as a unique tradition. I enjoy seeing the most recent Hall of Fame class parade to get their moment of adulation. I even look forward to the attendance announcement that always leave me in awe. But one of the coolest, if not the coolest tradition, is the announcement of the location for next year's event. I am not sure when this started, or if it has even been around that long, but to me it was always exciting. How cool that we can already get excited for NEXT YEAR'S Mania before we even get to the main event tonight. WWE is nothing if not a terrific hype machine. The wheels start spinning and an entire year of fantasy booking begins with that announcement.
True that in recent years this announcement has been tainted by internet leaks, or even WWE press conferences announcing the location well in advance. But it never feels true until you see that video package telling you where Mania will be next year. I still remember when Mania 27 was announced for Atlanta, a mere 12 hour drive for me, when I decided it would be the first Mania I attended. And then of course I had to go to Mania 28 (that year in advance hype machine really got me going). So you can just imagine how it felt to find out that Wrestlemania 29 was going to be held in my home state, a paltry 25 minutes from my doorstep! If you have never lived close to where a WrestleMania has taken place, I simply cannot describe the excitement.
Sure, it was a little disappointing that we would be getting Mania 29, and not 30- as I think every 10 years should be a refresh for the company and love the tradition of Mania in NYC. But I understood the desire to come before the SuperBowl, and felt the winds of change in WWE. WrestleMania host locations used to be about tradition and pageantry. And now they were about getting as many people into a newer building to set attendance records and boost ticket sales. Is there anything that screams Vince McMahon more than beating his chest about an attendance record in a new state of the art stadium? It makes sense, and I am completely fine with it (but Mania 50 better be in NYC!!!!!!).
Another reason I was incredibly hyped for Mania 29- the smashing success of the Miami edition. Wrestlemania 28 is, in my opinion, in the top 3 Wrestlemania cards ever as far as hype, execution, and legacy. If you were not excited for the End of An Era match, or Once in a Lifetime match, you simply are not a wrestling fan. Throw in the red hot Punk Jericho feud, and you have an all time classic card. Even better- all the matches delivered in spades. Yes even the Bryan vs Sheamus match was historically important (but that's for a different day). WWE was on a hot streak with Mania cards the past 10-15 years. Probably dating back to Mania 17 and onward, there was always at least 1-2 matches that were can't miss.
So why then, after all I just stated, did Mania 29 feel like the most flat and boring Wrestlemania that I can remember? I first look to the situations surrounding it. The weekend itself was a blast. I was going to WWE events like Access and the Hall of Fame that were close to home! I could go to the Hall of Fame, then go sleep in my own bed. I could get tailgating supplies from my local supermarket. Believe it or not, that makes a big difference, and enhances the experience. For all intents and purposes, this was MY Mania. I almost felt like a host for some of my out of town friends who were attending. The entire weekend was a party, and out of the 3 WrestleManias I attended, the most fun overall.
With WWE you always know what the production value will be there. I always look forward to the sets for WWE events, and I think the one for Wrestlemania 29 was probably the best one they ever had produced. The video packages, as always, were top notch and amazing. No one does video packages better than WWE. If wrestling suddenly fell out of favor with everyone, they could survive on just producing video packages for other brands.
So the entire weekend certainly felt like Wrestlemania, had the pageantry of former events, and had probably the best Hall of Fame class ever. The only reason Mania 29 leaves a sore taste in my mouth can only be the card.
Now, I should preface by saying I am going to fantasy book a little here. And as a second preface I should say that the in ring work at Mania 29 wasn't horrible. I felt both the Punk/Taker and HHH/Lesnar matches were pretty good, 3.5-4 star matches which have gotten multiple viewings from me. Rock/Cena was marred by Rock's injury, but honestly I only watched it that night and have not seen it on DVD or network since. This is contrast to the Rock/Cena Mania 28 match which I have seen at least a dozen times and I consider one of the top 10-15 Mania matches ever.
So if I can fantasy book Mania 29 a little bit, I first have to consider the talent on the card. In order to book the card fairly, I will only use talent that actually wrestled. I will not add anyone that was not available or used on the card. Additionally I will not place people in matches that did not make sense for their character at the time. Yes I want to see a CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan iron man submission Hell in a Cell as much as the next guy, but Bryan wasn't there in his career yet, and honestly that match would be absurd…..right???
So let's start at the top. The main event. I am usually so pro WWE for whatever they do, but I strongly disagreed with Cena vs Rock 2. Granted it actually had a better TV build than the first, year-long feud, but this match was probably the main problem that I, and most people, had with 29. And it is really a simple tagline that probably ruined it for everyone: ONCE IN A LIFETIME. Now, yes I understand that the WWE marketing machine can put a spin on that, but as someone who attended Mania 28, I felt cheated. I was promised to see a literal Once in a Liftetime match. I paid to see that. I was excited to see that. I was invested in that match. I loved that match. I was shocked and outraged by the finish to that match. But WWE got me. They promoted that match and hyped it so well. I thought Cena losing, and now never ever being able to get redemption on Rock was the most interesting thing that had happened to an honestly stale Cena character. This could have led to so many new and exciting storylines for the franchise player. Having Lesnar come back a night later even further cemented that. Now we were going to see Cena struggle. His road to redemption would be long and difficult. And since the match was only "ONCE IN LIFETIME" would he ever be fully redeemed? So much intrigue and interest.
But I am not stupid. I understand the appeal of a Rock/Cena rematch. Nevermind that WrestleMania 28 was the biggest box office draw in the company's history, from just star power perspective- there aren't two bigger stars than John Cena and the Rock in wrestling right now. A rematch of some sort was logical, safe, and financially responsible. So how do you make the smart move of booking Cena and Rock in a match together, but not go back on your promise of once in a lifetime? Easy- add in your hottest rising star, and biggest heel- CM Punk. Now I know Punk isn't even in the same breathe as Cena or Rock, but lets just set the stage- Punk was in the middle of an epic title reign, that still felt overshadowed by other storylines. He ran into the Rock at Royal Rumble and lost the title (a terrible decision in retrospect). What if Vince never restarted that match? Punk retains in shady fashion, then defends again with some sort of screwy ending at Elimination Chamber. Imagine that epic 450+ day title reign walking into WrestleMania. Now you have a cocky Punk thinking he beat the Rock twice, a Rock out for a revenge, and oh yea- Royal Rumble winner John Cena, who is on a year long redemption quest. Now he has to overcome the two people he has never beat (Punk always beat Cena in a messy fashion) to finally return to the top. Triple threat main event of Wrestlemania 29.
Having this main event would fill so many needs- Punk gets his well deserved main event slot at Mania. He has said countless times that this was his only remaining goal in WWE. Maybe he decides to stay with the company longer and be more generous if they fulfill it for him. You still have the marquee of Rock and Cena. Punk gets a huge opportunity and show of faith from WWE. And the finish can fulfill all your needs at once. Cena can pin the Rock, to get his "win" back from the year earlier, Rock can put over two current stars (Rock has never usually had a problem putting people over), and Punk can claim that since he wasn't technically pinned he was still "reigning champ." Book a few more Punk and Cena matches for Extreme Rules and Payback. Those two never disappoint in a ring together. To me, the triple threat main event feels bigger than a rehashed Rock/Cena Twice in Lifetime.
So now that we have placed Punk into the main event. As we know he fought Undertaker in a great match, but a program with no fizzle that felt very lackluster. So with no Punk for Taker to fight, who do we insert in the Streak match? Easy answer- Brock Lesnar. It seems that this match was rumored or in the works for quite a while, and was the match that Undertaker wanted- even dating back to that awkward exchange at a UFC event a few years ago. For some reason WWE was reluctant to give us the sure fire classic of Cena vs Taker in a streak match, so Lesnar was a good second option. He could have easily fit the heel role that Punk played with Paul Bearer. Lesnar such a natural heel, especially with Heyman as his mouthpiece, that the program with Paul Bearer probably would've went over even better. It never clicked for me with Punk. Crowds wanted to cheer Punk, even against the Undertaker. I can say being in attendance at Metlife Stadium that Punk got the biggest pop of the night, which probably had some effect on his match with Undertaker.
So now that the top 2 matches on the card are set, lets look at the rest of the card. With Triple H out of the Lesnar match where does he fit in? I would have placed him in the 6 man with the Shield. Triple H, Sheamus, and Randy Orton vs the Shield? Talk about elevating new stars! Triple H was a face COO character at the time. He should have been storyline worried/mad about the Shield who were running rampant on his roster. He would need to try to put a stop to them. Having him pair with his real life buddies but long time kayfabe adversaries Sheamus and Orton would have just added even more importance and relevance to the feud.
As silly as the Jericho/Fandango contest was, I had no problem with it. Jericho can make anyone look good, and never seems to complain or mind when he has to put someone over. Ryback vs Mark Henry was fine as well, but the wrong man won. Ryback was on fire as a face, and recently was the last elimination at the Royal Rumble. A clean victory over Henry would have gotten him firmly into place as the number 2 face in the company. The tag team title match should've been changed a little bit, by adding Big Show in place of Big E. Big E just wasn't ready for that type of match yet, and Big Show adds a legitimacy and threat to Team Hell No. A Big Show/Ziggler tag team would have been very fun as well as Show always succeeds in random thrown together tags with younger more agile heels (MizShow and JeriShow were both wildly successful).
I actually had no problem with the Del Rio/Swagger match. It was interesting that they went in this direction, as face Del Rio wasn't necessarily catching on. But heel Swagger was hot and a fresh new heel at the top of the card. And don't forget that Ziggler had the Money in the Bank contract. I was in attendance the next night on Raw when he cashed in, and I have to say that was the loudest pop I have ever heard in person. WWE should have called an audible Mania night and sent Ziggler out for a star making appearance.
The dark match of the show was The Miz vs Wade Barrett. I recall it being a fairly solid match that probably could've found a place on the card. I would have had the advertised but dropped Tons of Funk/Funkadactlys vs Rhode Scholars/Bellas as the fun dark match.
Match order and listing:
Dark Match- Tons of Funk/Funkadactlys vs Rhode Scholars/Bellas
Team Hell No vs Ziggler/Big Show (Team Hell No was so hot at that time that they would have been great openers)
The Miz vs Wade Barrett (IC Title)
Mark Henry vs Ryback (Ryback wins)
Triple H, Randy Orton, Sheamus vs The Shield
Alberto Del Rio vs Jack Swagger (WHC, Ziggler cash in)
Fandango vs Chris Jericho
Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar
Cm Punk (champion) vs John Cena vs the Rock (Cena pins Rock)
Time will tell how well WrestleMania 29 holds up. It is not a game changer like 17, 21, or 22. It's not a one match is so good it overshadows everything else great like 25, 27, or 20. It's not a great card from top to bottom like 10, 19, 24, or 28. It really feels like a lost WrestleMania. Nothing too memorable happened, and no match stood above the rest. Could the changes I suggested have effected that? We will never know. What I do know is that coming off the hottest and best Wrestlemania in years, I was ecstatic for WrestleMania to come to NY/NJ (don't even get me started on that strange billing). But didn't it deserve a better homecoming?
