By Shawn Valentino, PWTorch Specialist

To go to WrestleMania is a wrestling fan’s ultimate dream. Growing up in Michigan, it was my childhood fantasy to attend the Showcase of Immortals. I was too young to be in the audience for possibly the biggest event in the history of wrestling at the time for WrestleMania 3, but I still remember the entire city buzzing for Hulk Hogan versus Andre the Giant in the Pontiac Silverdome.

This year, I made the journey to Miami for my tenth WrestleMania, and every year it has been a spectacular experience. The first Mania I attended live was in Toronto, and only those in the stadium can comprehend what an exhilarating experience it was to see Rock face off with "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan in front of an absolutely frenzied crowd. I have been there for Flair’s “retirement” match, the Undertaker-Shawn Michaels series, Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero’s magic moment, and countless other iconic moments.

This year was hyped as a “Once in a Lifetime” event where we would be witness to the “biggest match of all-time” in John Cena versus the Rock. Did it live up to the billing? Today, I will review my experience of WrestleMania 28 live at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. It has been about three weeks since the show, but it has taken me about that much time to recover from a week of partying in South Beach and staying up all night meeting wrestlers in the hotel bar. While reading this review, I hope you realize that no description can re-create the feeling of being in-person at WrestleMania.

Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus - World Heavyweight Championship

After suffering through traffic to park in a ridiculously over-priced lot and running into the stadium to catch the opening video package, which is one of the yearly highlights of Mania, I went to the restroom during the entrances for the opening title match. By the time I made it to the men’s room, I heard the bell ring and it was over! While many fans felt that these two deserved to have more time, I felt that they got exactly what deserved, considering the lackluster build. It started with Sheamus’s anti-climactic Royal Rumble victory, and it went straight downhill from there. Bryan was never taken seriously as a champion anyway and Sheamus has been average at best in his babyface role. This is one instance where an 18-second bathroom break for a World Title match seemed fitting.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: N/A

Kane vs. Randy Orton

In the weeks leading to this clash, Orton mentioned that he felt that their match was bigger than the Smackdown title match showcase. All I have to say about that is at least Bryan and Sheamus were merciful enough to keep it short, while this seemingly endless bout lulled the audience to sleep. Kane's matches do nothing for me, and while Orton is a fine wrestler, for someone who is one of the biggest stars of his era, he has been consistently forgettable at WrestleMania. Even just three weeks later, I struggle to remember even a second of it.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 2/10

Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show - Intercontinental Championship

The original rumor was that Big Show would be facing off against Shaquille O’Neal at Mania, but instead, the previous match focused on Rhodes making fun of Show’s dubious track record on the Grandest Stage. I have been there live for some of Show’s inane moments, including that train wreck of a sumo “match” against Akebono. Unfortunately, I also had the displeasure of seeing Vince McMahon’s head shoved straight into his exposed cheeks, and I don’t mean his face, at Unforgiven in 2006. Then again, the Show versus Floyd Mayweather bout was much better than it had any right to be.

As bad as some of those memories were, at least they stuck in people's minds. That is more than I can say for this dull contest, which did nothing for the prestige of the once storied Intercontinental Championship match, despite Show’s lame effort to cry, which was one of the unintentional comedy moments of the night. Unfortunately, there was nothing funny about the first hour of this show, which was probably the worst opening hour to any show I have ever seen.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 3/10

Maria Menounos & Kelly Kelly vs. Beth Phoenix & Eve

By the night of Mania, I had been partying in South Beach for nearly a week and suffering from serious sleep deprivation. I caught up on a few minutes here, with WWE positioning this match as a breather before the Hunter-Taker match.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 1/10 (That one point is because I needed the rest.)

The Undertaker vs. Triple H - Shawn Michaels as special referee - Hell in a Cell

How do I even begin to explain this one? Remember how I opened the article discussing that I have been in the audience for some of the biggest matches and moments in the history of wrestling. This “End of an Era” clash of the titans is right up there near the top of the list. Last year, the Dead Man and the Cerebral Assassin surprised everyone by stealing the show with a dramatic masterpiece. This year, with Michaels added to the mix, the story told leading into this timeless classic was the absolute template for how to captivate an audience in preparation for a big match.

The storytelling in the ring lived up to the anticipation and surpassed it. There were so many spectacular moments in this epic encounter that I will not even attempt to sum it up. This match alone was worth the price of the entire trip to Florida. It was the very epitome of what wrestling should be, and it rose to the level of Oscar winning theatrics and character arcs.

This match actually was the final act in a play that started four years ago when Michaels retired the Nature Boy in an overwhelmingly emotional moment that should have been the perfect ending to Flair’s career. Nearly every piece of the plot since then has been pitch perfect, and it is because the focus has not been on backstage politics or breaking he fourth wall. It has been well-rounded characters with clear motivations in compelling drama paced perfectly leading into battles with real consequences based around the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.

I loved how this match played off oFlair-Michaels, the Taker-HBK series, and last year’s contest. The ending was brilliant, where Triple H crawled up Undertaker’s body, defeated yet defiant, recalling memories of the Mania classics from the last few years. The subtle touch of Michaels turning around, unable to watch to not only watch his friend beaten, but also haunted by memories of himself facing the same fate two years prior, was wrestling drama at its finest. All three men deserve to be given Match of the Year honors at the end of the year. It was parallel structure storytelling and artistic achievement at its highest level and the reason people love wrestling in the first place.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 10/10

Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy

To WWE’s credit, they know when they have presented something that simply cannot be followed. I challenge anyone who was in the stadium to even recall a moment of this tag match. Utterly forgettable.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 2/10 (At least, they did not even try)

C.M. Punk vs. Chris Jericho - WWE Championship

Many people went into WrestleMania 28 thinking that this would steal the show. I was not amongst those people. I know he is really popular in some circles, but for me, C.M. Punk just does not feel like a big-time star and, other than the special circumstances of Money in the Bank in Chicago last year, his matches do not have that aura and atmosphere associated with true main-eventers. I thought this was many notches below the Undertaker-Triple H and Rock-Cena contests in every fashion. There is a certain presence and innate star quality that the true legends of the business possess, and I just do not see Punk having those traits. Jericho does have some of those characteristics, but he needs to be with the right opponent to bring them out.

That being said, I thought these two put on a good show, given what they had to work with. To be fair, those of us in the crowd were still reeling from the drama of Hell in a Cell, so for the first 15 minutes, the crowd was quiet. The final few minutes, when the two exchanged finishing sequences, was very exciting back-and-forth action. I feel that these two have better matches ahead of them, where they will not be forced to follow up something that simply cannot be matched. We'll see what happens at Extreme Rules on Sunday.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 6/10

The Rock vs. John Cena

This one had one full year of build-up, which should actually be called build-down, because the two tore into each other so much that each star ended up looking worse in the process. I hated the storytelling leading into this, and I feel that nearly any PWTorch reader could come up with better drama if they put in five minutes of thought. However, I was excited to finally be able to see The Rock get back into the ring, especially in front of a massive hometown audience.

Unfortunately, much of that excitement dissipated during the musical numbers leading into their entrances. I absolutely despised Machine Gun Kelly and Flo-Rider's performances, and it nearly made it impossible for me to get into the match. I know I was not the only one that thought it was a waste of time that ruined the rhythm of the show. WWE needs to seriously reconsider whether having these mainstream “artists” at Mania is worth it. I understand that they are trying to generate pop culture buzz and there are good ways to use celebrities at these shows, but they need to incorporate them in a manner that does not kill the flow of the show.

Despite my frustrations, I thought that Rock looked tremendous for someone that has not been in a singles match in nearly a decade. He was athletic and agile, but most importantly, he still has that ring presence and knows how to build a match that captures the crowd based around his skill-set. Cena was good, as well, and this match was probably on the higher end of expectations, which for me were pretty low. Again, it was not even close to the climactic epoch of the show, nor was it the biggest match of all-time. This did not even come near matching the atmosphere and dramatics of Hogan vs. Rock or the first Undertaker vs. Michaels match. It was not even the biggest match on its own show, but WWE was smart enough to send the fans home happy, with Rock winning in front of his hometown fans.

I thought the ending was anti-climactic, and I would have loved to have seen a more dramatic sequence of finishers, but the concept of Cena getting too cocky and losing as a result was a fairly clever one. I think I will like this match better when I watch it on DVD and am not subject to the torture of awful musical performances and will not have the weight of having watched one of the greatest matches of all-time preceding it.

LIVE EXPERIENCE RATING: 7/10

Another WrestleMania is in the history books. I have found from attending ten of these monumental events live that all it really takes is one amazing match to make the entire experience worthwhile. This year had that epic showcase, with three of the biggest stars of the modern era putting in all their efforts to deliver an unforgettable match. Unfortunately, there was also an air of finality at the conclusion of the contest as Undertaker, Triple H, and Michaels waved to the crowd. As great as the match was, it was also a reminder to me of how bland and uninteresting the current generation of characters are in comparison.

There is a reason that the best matches of WrestleMania over the last 15 years have nearly all featured HBK, Taker, Hunter, Steve Austin, and Rock. Although they are talented athletes, the recent crops of stars have fallen way short in aura, star power, presence, and nearly every category that creates the magical memories of this year’s Hell in a Cell clash. If WWE does not put in major efforts in adding depth and intrigue to these athletes and putting them in compelling storylines that captivate the audience, then WrestleMania 28 will indeed be the End of an Era.

***

Please send questions, comments and feedback to valentino.torch@gmail.com and check out my new book "The Showstopper Lifestyle" on Amazon.com. Feel free to add Shawn Valentino on Facebook.

[Torch art credit Travis Beaven (c) PWTorch.com]

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