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WrestleMania HITS

Money in the Bank: Has the Money in the Bank ladder match ever failed to please the audience? It certainly didn't this year. It continues to amaze me that after so many ladder matches over the years that the wrestlers can keep coming up with new ways to use the ladders. This year, the spot that stood out as new and innovative the most was when two ladders were stuck together making a seesaw type structure. It was great to see John Morrison attempt to climb the ladder as it was stuck in the other. His fall from the ladder onto the rope was one of the more memorable high spots. Put that together with the crazy dive that Shelton Benjamin took through the ladder that was balanced on the apron and security wall, Morrison's moonsault with the ladder in his arms, and Benjamin's balancing act while standing on the top rope, and you definitely have incredible moments to remember. I could name more great spots, but for brevity's sake I won't. We also got the only two surprises on the night, the return of Matt Hardy to keep MVP from winning, and the win by CM Punk. I really didn't see Punk winning, but I am looking forward to seeing where they go with him as Mr. Money in the Bank. I do feel bad enjoying matches like this when the wrestlers put their career on the line. It was a brutal match, but obviously the fans loved it. That is why I would strongly advocate for ladder matches to be limited to two a year at the very most.

Snoop, Festus, and Santino: This was a fun little scene in the back. It provided the only chance for Santino Marella to talk. He didn't say much, but what he said was amusing. I laughed out loud when Snoop brought out the bell to ring to get Festus to chase Santino away. His interaction with Mick Foley was o.k. All in all, Snoop was used well, both in this segment and in the after math of BunnyMania.

Flair vs. Michaels: Context is everything in professional wrestling. Moves in a match have to make sense in the context of the match. Promos have to make sense in the context of the storyline. Matches have to be booked in the context of the storyline as well. When looking at this match in terms of context, it was just about perfect. Was it one of the best technical matches I've ever seen? No. Yet given everything we knew going into the mach, how could it have been any better? It went a very good length, had very believable near falls, had all the emotion that you could ever ask for in a wrestling match, and in the end was a very fitting way for Ric Flair to end his career. My only complaint is that Flair didn't do the classic Flair Flop. But, we did get to see him do his classic mule kick low blow, and work on Shawn Michaels' knee like we've seen him do to opponents countless times before. Michaels has to be commended. His emotion during the match helped to sell how big of a moment we were witnessing. The ending was incredibly strong. The fans should be commended too for their long and respectful ovation afterwards. I for one hope Flair actually retires and never wrestles again. He is almost 60 years old. He has given his life for this business, and now he deserves a nice long retirement. He has nothing left to prove. He got to go out in one of the most memorable ways ever for a top wrestling superstar.

Orton vs. Cena vs. Triple H: I have a few complaints about this match. For one, as soon as it was announced that it wasn't going to be the last match, everyone knew that Randy Orton was going to win. I am fine with Orton keeping the title (in fact I prefer it), but if the match had been last as was expected, it would have added some unpredictability to the show which was lacking this year. My other complaint is that the match wasn't long enough. It could have gone another 5 minutes and nobody would have complained. After all, it was very good while it lasted. Orton, John Cena and Triple H all worked hard to put on a very good match. It was physically intense and had good action. The work on Orton's leg, particularly Cena's multiple STFUs and Triple H's once-every-few-WrestleManias Indian Death lock was strong. The spot where Triple H helped Orton get to the rope was a nice touch. It reminded me of the great spot in the Main Event of WrestleMania 20 when Triple H kept Shawn Michaels from tapping out to Chris Benoit. The best part of the match was the end. I knew that Orton was going to break up Triple H's pin attempt following the Pedigree on Cena. But, I wasn't expecting the punt to the head. That was a move that Orton firmly established last summer when he was giving everyone concussions, and it was good to see him bring it back on the biggest stage of them all. This match won't go down as a classic, but it was a very good match.

Show vs. Mayweather: One word probably best describes the show down between the best fighter in the world and the largest athlete in the world. That word is "fun." This was a fun match to watch. It was very interesting how WWE was able to put on such a fun spectacle. They were very smart in booking the match as no disqualification so that Floyd Mayweather's crew could legally get involved. Mayweather really did a good job in the match. His cockiness early on was great as he was able to elude the Big Show. I loved when he drank from the silver goblet that one of his men handed him. He also sold very well, although perhaps that is easy to do when Big Show slaps you in the chest. Big Show played his part very well also. He did a great job of selling his frustrations during the match and his anger as the match proceeded. WWE had a very difficult job in this match. How do you put together a match where Goliath is a babyface and David is a heel? They managed to do it with the interference. Mayweather's crew helped even the odds and allowed Big Show a chance to get in more offense than was likely to happen if it were just Mayweather in the match. Mayweather did a good job stepping out of the boxing world and into the wrestling world with his use of the iconic wrestling weapon, the steel chair. I could have done without the unprotected chair shots to the head. They were not needed as he could have pounded Big Show down with shots to the back like he started to do, then still finish him off with the brass knuckle shot to the jaw. In the end, WWE probably got what they wanted from Mayweather, with all the free publicity and the match being better than anticipated.

Main Event: Just as the triple threat match for the WWE Championship had a predictable outcome, I somehow doubt any fans were expecting the Undertaker to lose to Edge. That is my only complaint about the match itself. This was a very good WrestleMania Main Event. It felt epic in scope. It was a long match, but never felt boring. It kept the fans excited the whole way through. Edge and Undertaker worked very hard to give the fans a worthwhile Main Event and send everyone home happy. It was good to see Edge able to counter many of Undertaker's signature moves. It was also good that the Edge Heads were kept to a very minimal role. That spot when Undertaker chokeslamed one to the outside on top of the other was outstanding. The match was fairly predictable. WrestleMania couldn't end without a referee getting knocked out, so you knew that was going to happen. You knew that Undertaker would win, and it was likely to be with his new choke hold. But, the match was still great to watch. Both Edge and Undertaker looked strong in kicking out of each other's big moves. There were some very nice near falls at the end of the match. It was well booked and well executed. It is too bad that Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman were calling the action, because they just aren't very good which took away from the Main Event.

WrestleMania MISSES

Batista vs. Umaga: It is hard to say that this was a disappointing match, as I don't think very many people (myself included) were expecting much. However, I am going to call it a disappointing match. For one thing, while I didn't expect much, I was honestly hopeful that Umaga and Batista would be able to far exceed expectations. That didn't happen. My biggest disappointment is that it didn't seem like they were really trying to exceed expectations. They just went through the motions and had a match. It wasn't anything special and both could be used in much more meaningful ways at the granddaddy of them all. The problem was that WWE creative had nothing for Batista to do, and came up with this lame Battle For Brand Supremacy idea to get him on the card. It didn't work. I believe he and Umaga could have had a better match, but neither was inspired to do so, which is a real shame.

ECW: It is also a shame that ECW's presence at WrestleMania was so limited. First they decided to have the 24 man Battle Royale to determine who would face Champion Chavo Guerrero before the actual PPV. Then they had the Battle Royale winner, Kane beat Guerrero in about 5 seconds. I like the idea of putting the ECW Title on Kane. I like the idea of Kane being so dominant. However, this is WrestleMania. Save those squashes for other PPVs. We deserved more than that, and ECW did as well. I know that an ECW wrestler won Money in the Bank and that two other ECW wrestlers were featured in that match (and arguably stole the show), but why should the fans care about ECW if WWE doesn't care enough about the brand to show it more respect at the biggest PPV of the year? There was plenty on this show that could have been cut short, or cut out entirely (the Carlito and Maria commercial jumps into my mind) to make more time for an actual match.

BunnyMania: This match also comes to mind as something that could have been cut short to make more time for the ECW Championship match. About 4 minutes into the match I said "well this match has gone on for about 3 minutes too long." Then the match kept going for a few more minutes. It is probably a bad thing when the lights went out and nobody at home cared that they were missing something. Maria and Ashley really don't belong in the ring. It is a joke that this is considered the best way to feature the women's division at WrestleMania. Hopefully now that the Bunny business is over, WWE moves Beth Phoenix onto something more deserving of the Women's Championship.

Jon Mezzera is PWTorch.com's Hits & Misses Specialist, providing his point of view for Raw, Smackdown, ECW, and TNA Impact each week. Email him at jmezz-torch@sbcglobal.net.

For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare For another view from the original Hitlist author, compare Jason Powell's views to mine by visiting prowrestling.NET's "Hitlist" section here.

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