Wrestlemania 27 Review Part 1

Originally, I was going to post a complete review of the show, but as I started writing, I noticed that if I posted a complete review of the show, it would probably be too long for anyone to actually want to read the whole thing so throughout the week, I will be posting a review of each part of the show. I'll start with the opening of the show and the match that started the event.

The show began at 7 PM Eastern Standard time and after a video package introducing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, he did a 15 minute in ring promo where he said everything that has already been said building to the event so I asked, why have 15 minutes of what people have hear on TV for over a month? More specifically, why cut the US title match, one that could have been one of the highlights of the show so that The Rock say a few catch phrases at the beginning of the show? You would think that after nearly 20 minutes of opening shanagains that we would get a match, right? No way, there still needed to be a Wrestlemania opening video package as the video package for The Rock wasn’t enough of a waste of time.

At 7:24 PM there was an opening bell and what match was it? The World Heavyweight title match. Yes, the WWE decided that one of the main championships in the company was so important that it would start the show and subsequently seem secondary to most of the other events that took place during the show. The Edge/Alberto Del Rio match was about 11 minutes, which is about half the time that the total Rock opening was given for the show. Keep in mind, Del Rio won the Royal Rumble back in January and in years past, the Rumble winner was usually given the main event spot. Also, it should be noted that Del Rio has been given a huge push since debuting a little over six months ago and seems to have all the tools to be one of the future stars of the company so this is an easy booking decision right? The younger, up and coming Del Rio wins the title from a declining champion, who has stated in interview that he will probably hang up the boots within the next two years.

Well, that’s not what took place as Edge defeated Del Rio and I have to wonder if the WWE pushed him for six months, only to have him job at the biggest event of the year, why give him a push at all? In my view, all the result of this match did was neutralize any progress the WWE made of establishing Del Rio as a star and it makes it seems as though he can’t carry the title as a main event star. How is the audience supposed to believe that Del Rio is a legitimate star or even a legitimate heel if he isn’t given the platform to do so? More importantly, where do they go with Del Rio from here? Even if he is kept in the title picture and eventually wins the championship, it will not do as much to establish him as a legitimate star for the company as a Wrestlemania win would have. The other side of the coin here is Edge, who has been involved in the title picture at Wrestlemania for the past few years at this point. What does retaining the title actually do for him? He’s already a star and didn’t need the win. He’s had several injuries over the past few years and as was mentioned earlier, he has talked about retirement in interview so why have him retain the title? Dropping the title doesn’t hurt his status and considering the wrestling business is low on star power, it seems to make sense to establish Del Rio as a main event competitor. However, the opening bout was only the beginning in a series of fumbles for Wrestlemania.