Why WrestleMania XXVI is a MUST watch show
WrestleMania XXVI is the first Mania i saw live. Eight years went by and it still carries a huge rewatchability. It might not be the best WrestleMania of all time, but every match on the card has it's story and the moments created by this monster of a show will last forever. Everytime the grand-daddy of 'em all rolls around i travel back in time think about a time were everything was a little bit different, but so much fun. Let's run down the card and see how amazing it really was.
WrestleMania Home-Video-Exclusive 26-Men Battle Royal
This was the pre-show before there was a pre-show and it was the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal before there was a Memorial Battle Royal. On the main show the big winner was revealed later by Michael Cole, while i was online chatting with Good Old JR and Howard Finkel on the infamous WWE.com Live Chat. And Jim Ross actually replied to me when i asked: 'What has the winner of this Battle Royal actually won now?' and he replied: 'Well, the win has positioned him better'. So who was it? Who defeated 25 other Superstars to 'position himself better'? It was....Yoshi Tatsu. So the win didn't mean anything but the Battle Royal was great fun in Phoenix, Arizona!
Bonus Info: The NXT 8, who later became The Nexus, were watching the Battle Royal from the stage as part of NXT's first season.
Unified Tag Team Championship Match
ShoMiz (Big Show & The Miz)(c) vs. John Morrison & R-truth
Miz was really on his way to super-stardom that year. One year away for his WrestleMania Main Event against John Cena, Miz carried not one, not even two, but three different championship belts to the ring (World Tag Team, WWE Tag Team and the United States Championship). After Big Show and The Miz were able to destory every Tag Team on RAW, SmackDown and even ECW by defeating the great team of Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu in the final episode of ECW, Teddy Long went to find two singles Superstars to take down the dominating team of Big Show and The Miz. He found John Morrison and R-truth. Morrison, a former Tag Team Partner of The Miz, and Truth became friends on SmackDown and now tried their best to take down ShoMiz. Unfortunatley ShoMiz destroyed the odd team in WrestleMania's opener - but the pyro was legendary.
Triple Threat Tag Team Match
Randy Orton vs. Ted DiBiase vs. Cody Rhodes
This marked the implosion of Randy Orton's legacy stable, who dominated a big part of RAW's 2009. While Cody Rhodes made his way to ring with his old singles entrance theme, DiBiase still used the Legacy entrance theme. Before the match went down a lot of people thought Ted DiBiase Jr. will go out victorious, not only because his father the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase Sr had been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, but because DiBiase was picked to star in WWE Studio's The Marine 2. After Cody and Ted worked together for the start of the match, Orton quickly got hold of both and won eventually.
- Josh Mathews interviews Vickie Guerrero for her upcoming match later that night -
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
A huge 10-Men MitB Match, back when this match was held at WrestleMania. This was the final time were qualifying-matches were held to determine the competitors for the match. Drew McIntyre, who was still known as the 'Chosen One' back then and also held the Intercontinental Championship, needed three chances until he finally won a qualifying match.
Another great thing about this MitB-Match was no one, besides Kane at the time, held a World Title and there were basically no favourites going in. The end result was completley open. Some suggested it is going to be Dolph Ziggler, because he was such a natrual in the ring and on the microphone, others leaned towards Drew McIntyre, who was clearly getting a push. My personal favourites, again besides Kane (who was still cool at the time), were Christian, Matt Hardy and Shelton Benjamin, who all had great MitB-Showings in the past, but never won it and i thought it would be awesome to see one of them finally winning the big one - because remember: Back then everybody who cashed in the briefcase, won! A 100% chance at the World Title! In the end WWE fooled us all and gave the contract to Jack Swagger.
- The Hall of Fame Class of 2010 is waving from the stage, amongst them: Ted DiBiase Sr, Wendi Richter and Antonio Inoki -
Singles Match
Sheamus vs. Triple H
Although there was no stipulation, the match was brutal. Sheamus was coming out of a strong rookie-year in 2009, already being a former WWE Champion at this point. It was Triple H, who cost him the WWE Championship inside the Elimination Chamber. In the end Hunter pulled out the shovel and beat Sheamus.
Singles Match
Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk
This was when the StraightEdge Society was at it's hottest. Luke Gallows and Serena accompanied their saviour to the ring. CM Punk tried everything to get under Mysterio's skin previous to the end, which resulted in him singing happy birthday to Rey's daughter in the most creepy way possible.
Mysterio was able to defeat the bad man who insulted his family on the big stage.
No Holds Barred Match
Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon
While the match itself wasn't the best, the booking was perfect. 100% perfect. Twelve years after Bret Hart stepped into a WWE ring, he returned to the WWE to make piece. Piece with Shawn Michaels, piece with the WWE and piece with Vince McMahon, who screwed him all those years ago on that faithful night in Montreal in 1997. But it was Vince McMahon who kicked Hart in the groin an scream at him 'YOU DESERVED TO BE SCREWED!'. Just writing the lines makes me want to watch it again. A storyline that carries 12 years of bad blood, exploided to it's fullest potential. You have to see it with your own eyes. After a broken Bret Hart left the scene, John Cena witnessed Bret Hart breaking his leg while getting into the car (watch the promo blow to see the entire scene). All of this was made up by Cena and Hart to trick Vince into a match at WrestleMania. Angry Vince put it on WWE Champion Batista to take out Cena at WrestleMania, but he wanted Bret Hart all for himself. At Mania Vince tried to turn the entire Hart Family against Bret, but he failed in the end, which marked Bret Hart finally overcoming the evil Mr. McMahon.
World Heavyweight Championship
Chris Jericho(c) vs. Edge
The Rated-R-Superstar Edge won the 2010 Royal Rumble to get his revenge on Chris Jericho. After Edge got injured during their brief Tag Team Run, Jericho always talked trash on his former Tag Team Partner. Edge witnessed it all from this hospital bed, becoming angrier and angrier at his former friend. After an awesome match, Edge was not able to defeat Jericho at WrestleMania 26.
10-Divas Tag Team Match
Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Eve, Gail Kim & Beth Pheonix vs. Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Alicia Fox & Vickie Guerrero
The entire match was built around Vickie Guerrero's first match ever. She did it for her late husband Eddie Guerrero and even performed a frog splash in his honor. Vickie's team won the match eventually.
WWE Championship
Batista(c) vs. John Cena
This match tied into the Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon feud, as i mentioned earlier, but there was so much more to it. Batista, who turned heel against Rey Mysterio in 2009 and then asked Teddy Long for a move to RAW, where Vince McMahon granted Batista a WWE Championship right after John Cena won the Elimination Chamber. Batista won the match and both moved on to WrestleMania.
Batista declared the hated John Cena as much as one can hate someone. He said: John Cena won all the gold on RAW, he won all the gold on SmackDown. Their career-paths were simular, almost identical. But yet Cena got all the fame, all the magazine covers, all the merchandise, everything and Batista got nothing. Batista should be the face of the company, not Cena. At WrestleMania, Big-Match-John took title back and showed Batista why he was the face of the company back then.
No Disqualification Match Career vs. Streak
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
Along with the Vince McMahon/Bret Hart story, this story also was perfectly told. Pure wrestling magic.
At WrestleMania 25 Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker had what would many describe as the greatest match in WWE history. But in the end Shawn Michaels was thinking, at the Slammy Awards 2009, why was The Undertaker unbeatable at WrestleMania? How come that i, the Hart-Break-Kid Shawn Michaels, the man they call 'Mr. WrestleMania', was not able to beat The Undertaker? So he challenged The Undertaker once again, but the Undertaker did not accept, because he already beat Shawn Michaels. Shawn went out to win the Royal Rumble, just like it did in 1995 and 1996. But he failed when Batista eliminated him. Shawn got so crazy, he even Sweet-Chin-Musiced the referee. Backstage his best friend, Triple H, tried to calm him down, but Shawn was in the a zone, only listening to himself. He need to beat The Phenom. He just needed, too. That need became an obsession, first sensed by The Undertaker's brother Kane but not even Kane was able to get through Shawn. Shawn Michaels visited SmackDown to convince the General Manager Theodore Long to put him in the Elimination Chamber, so he can pin The Undertaker to become World Heavyweight Champion and the Undertaker had to face him because of the Rematch-Clause. When Long said 'no', Michael superkicked him. Triple H tried again to get his friend off of his obsession, but Shawn wouldn't listen. He had a plan. That plan saw him sneak up inside the Elimination Chamber and superkick the Undertaker, causing him the World Heavyweight Title.
On the RAW episode of the events, The Undertaker did accept Shawn Michaels' challenge for another match at WrestleMania...but under one condition: He must put his career on the line...and Shawn did.
In the go-home-show Shawn Michaels beat Kane, symbolizing that if he could beat one Brother of Destruction, he could also beat the other, too.
But at WrestleMania, again in maybe the greatest effort ever, Shawn Michaels came up short and lost. This marked the last match of the incredible career Shawn Michaels had.
