Wrestlemania 28 was held on April 1 in Miami’s Sun Life Stadium in front of a record breaking crowd of more than 70,000 people with millions more watching at home. The grandiose event really lived up to all the hype.
This year, Wrestlemania brought to us the return of “The People’s Champ,” The Rock. Talking to the WWE Superstars, at the Wrestlemania Axxess event, they could not help but show their excitement about the match between wrestlers Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena.
WWE wrestler, Alberto Del Rios, said, “I am really looking forward to watching “The Rock” versus John Cena. It is not every day those big names go up against each other like this, and it will be great to see who wins.”
Even though The Rock has not formally stepped into a wrestling ring in seven years there was no sign of rust on his part, and if anything he seemed to be in the best shape of his life. The main event between “The Rock” and John Cena had a lot to live up to especially since this match had been a year in the making. Both men rose to the occasion and put on a once in a lifetime match that lasted more than 30 minutes.
The battle was filled with numerous close pin falls and submissions that kept fans on the edge of their seats throughout the match. In the end, with his hometown advantage, “The Rock” delivered his finishing move “The Rock Bottom” to get the win over WWE golden boy John Cena.
At last year’s Wrestlemania, Irish-born wrestler Sheamus and Daniel Bryan, who made his name as an incredibly talented indie wrestler, were set to go up against each other but were taken off the scheduled show at the last minute. After a long year of preparation, both men finally got their long awaited debut in the biggest stage of them all – Wrestlemania.
To make things a bit more interesting, this year they were set to fight for the World Heavyweight Title. At the start of the match, Bryan made the fatal mistake of turning his back to his opponent and when he turned around was met with a boot to the face courtesy of Sheamus. This allowed Sheamus to get the pin fall and capture the title. The match lasted a record 18 seconds but for the fans it was too short lived. These two men are experts in their trade as wrestlers and the fans definitely deserved more time to see them in action.
Wrestlemania is just as much about wrestling as it is about special guest celebrities. This year, Wrestlemania included two mini concerts. One of the performances featured Machine Gun Kelly, who is a new up-and-coming rapper who was signed by Rap mogul, P. Diddy, to the Bad Boy record label. The other performance was by world famous rapper and native Floridian, Flo Rida.
Very rarely does wrestling and a live music mix, but being that Wrestlemania was in Miami, the upbeat live music brought a sense of excitement and a livened atmosphere.
Wrestlemania would not have been complete without two iconic legends in the industry of wrestling going up against one another. “The Undertaker,” who entered with an undefeated streak of 19 and 0, was set to face “Triple H” for a second year in a row. They were not going to wrestle in just any match. However, they were going to fight in a steel cage structure called “Hell in a Cell.” The match was also refereed by Hall of Fame self proclaimed “Mr. Wrestlemania” Shawn Michaels, who at times found it difficult not to interfere in a match that pitted his best friend “Triple H” versus the man who single handedly ended his career.
The match was as brutal as it sounds with both men using whatever tools were at their disposal, including: steel ringside steps, a sledgehammer, and metal chairs. After 45 minutes of a back and forth battle “The Undertaker” retained his undefeated streak after pinning “Triple H” by using his signature move the “Tombstone Piledriver.” This means that 20 years later “The Undertaker” is still the man to beat at Wrestlemania.
There is no denying the fact that this year’s Wrestlemania was an action-packed powerhouse of excitement. With the great matches, and the incredible live performances, Wrestlemania was definitely the show to watch.
