Review by fmwaalex
Rating:
WRESTLEMANIA 26

The first pay per view I didn’t have to pay for in forever was a really fun one, especially since I didn’t pay for it. In case you are wondering my brother paid for this one because his favorite of all time Bret Hart returned, so of course I let him pay.

DISC 1

1.[TAG TITLES] BIG SHOW & MIZ VS JOHN MORRISON & R TRUTH-the first match of the night is actually really quick, I thought the opening bout would be a bit longer but ok. Since it was short the action was good with a lot of high spots and high impact moves. I had a feeling going into this that the title was not going to change hands, and I was right. This was good opening match, I love looking out at the crowd in this match, for some reason it felt like old school WrestleMania but it was just to short.3.5/5

2.[TRIPLE THREAT] RANDY ORTON VS CODY RHODES VS TED DIBIASE-this one right here is actually one of my favorites on the entire card. This mach is actually more technical than one might think, really go back and watch it. And I am not just talking about the actual wrestling but also the story telling. The action is excellent and I love in the beginning when then are tearing Orton up literally bit by bit. Also they call Orton the viper and it fits because he moves like a snake, check his mannerisms. This is an excellent match that I really enjoy.4/5

3.[MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH] KOFI KINGSTON VS MVP VS EVAN BOURNE VSJACK SWAGGER VS SHELTON BENJAMIN VS MATT HARDY VS DOLPH ZIGGLER VS DREW MCINTYRE VS KANE VS CHRISTIAN-now I am a huge fan of this match and every year I look forward to it more so than any other most of the time. And each year it is an excellent match and continues to do so this time. But with that said I would have to say this one while good was not one of the best. Of course there was a lot of action and some high spots so of course it was very entertaining. But to my surprise Jack Swagger takes this one, another year my boy Shelton was screwed.4/5

4.TRIPLE H VS SHEAMUS-I have to admit I am a fan of Sheamus and love that he won the title, I have always like the heels a lot more so than the baby faces. The lead into this match was an excellent one and I love the line “this warrior bows to no king”. This match had that old school feel to it and that only added to the story of the match. The match its self was a great one with both pulling off all kinds of stuff. I actually thought it was over at certain times but they kept kicking out. That is until Triple H finished him off and walked out once again at Mania victorious.3.8/5

5.REY MYSTERIO VS CM PUNK-another great match that pits two of the best in the company against each other. Punk dominates a lot of the match as Ray plays the small underdog really well. There are some great high spots and outside interference but Rey fights back like a classic smaller underdog. Rey takes the win in this one and saves him self from joining the Straight Edge Society.3.8/5

6.[NO HOLDS BARRED] BRET HART VS MR. MCMAHON-this was one of the biggest moments I can remember and was the highlight of the night for my brother who was going nuts when Bret walked out. You see my brother like every one else knows that wrestling is fake [well you know what I mean the real danger is there as is the athletic ability and such, these guys never get enough real credit] but when Bret came back on Raw he said the same thing he said this night week after week “quite, REALITY is happening right now”. I could not wait to see this match because I missed them old days with Bret, but I also knew because of his past injuries he was limited. Of course my bro hates Vince for what he did to Bret and was going crazy when Vince brought out Bret’s family to screw him over again. Of course he was cheering loudly when the double cross happened, Vince’s face was priceless. And from the first punch on my bro was the loudest, and to be honest I was close to that volume. To me this was the perfect match between these two. It was a beat down and Vince never once had any offense of his own, the way it should have been. The past between these two lead to this beat down on Vince and I think it was the right thing for Bret’s return. After his strokes and such and now being limited it was the perfect match between him and Vince. Plus who does not love that Sharpshooter we all wanted to see, to me this is a CLASSIC and those chair shots were vicious.5/5

7.[WORLD TITLE] CHRIS JERICHO VS EDGE-now this has nothing to do with me being a Jerichoholic but I can’t stand when the champ comes out first. The challenger is supposed to enter first followed by the champ. This was for Jericho’s title and he was looking to keep it while Edge wanted it more than anything. The big thing about this was that Edge had speared Chris every week prior to this. Naturally when you get two of the best in there you will get a great match. Back and forth with a lot of near falls including a code breaker off of the spear. Jericho keeps the belt but still eats a spear.4/5

8.[10 DIVA TAG] MICKIE JAMES, KELLY KELLY, EVE, GAIL KIM, BETH PHOENIX VS MICHELLE MCCOOL, MARYSE, LAYLA, ALICIA FOX, VICKIE GUERRERO-of course this is the worst match on the card but that is ok because it is short and sweet and by sweet I mean the ladies. Each one gets their spot in with their finisher and such with only maybe two of these women actually being real wrestlers and not just eye candy. One of those two is Beth and I will let you guess on the other one, I wish the WWE took the women’s division as serious as TNA does unlike the last tag match I’ am thankful this is short.2.5/5

DISC 2

1.[WWE TITLE] BATISTA VS JOHN CENA-once again the champ comes out first and I will never understand why that is, although Cena’s entrance as normal is great. Now I will admit that I am a fan of Cena and always have been, I wish he would go heel again, and Batista is so much better as a heel in my opinion. I knew that on this stage these two would deliver a great match especially for these two. Of course I was right and the match was actually suspense full at points and you could see the crowd was really into this one. The action was good with near fall after near fall that eventually went to Cena winning the match. I thought this was a really good match and worthy of being on this card.4/5

2.[STREAK VS CAREER] UNDERTAKER VS SHAWN MICHAELS-the match I was waiting for the most since Shawn is my all time favorite and I wanted him to beat Taker so bad. Of course every one was right there with me but they all thought there was no way Taker was going to lose his streak even if they wanted HBK to win. Much like my brother said earlier with Bret’s match but to me reality was taking place in that ring. It was because I knew that if Shawn lost he really was retiring, it was not part of a storyline. While I did not know the out come yet I did know it would be match of the night and would live up to last years match. This has got to be one of the most dramatic matches ever as the fans just stood up and were in awe of these two legends. There were so many near falls and close calls it was incredible. The memorable moments happened throughout the match including a great moonsault from Shawn. The ending of this match is absolutely perfect with Shawn giving Taker the throat slash so that he could be finished off like a warrior. Taker giving him respect at the end and the crowd reaction afterwards was great.5/5

BONUS

3.26 MAN BATTLE ROYAL-this like any other battle royal is of course fun and very entertaining. I have always liked battle royals as has my brother and can’t help but sit and enjoy every time we see one. There are plenty of guys in this one and it does not take long for guys to be eliminated at all. The action is quick as always in these kinds of matches but easy enough to watch, Yoshi Tatsu ends up winning this one.4/5

The following matches are bonus bouts that feature some of the HOF members from this year. It is because of that I have decided not to review the matches, these matches are tributes and I don’t want to put a rating on that.

4.MAURICE “MAD DOG” VACHON VS RICK MCGRAW

5.[WOMEN'S TITLE] WENDI RICHTER VS THE FABOLOUS MOOLAH

6.[JAPANESE HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE] ANTONIO INOKI VS THE GREAT HOSSEIN

7.GORGEOUS GEORGE VS FRANKIE TALLIBER

8.”MILLION DOLLAR MAN” TED DIBIASE VS JAKE “THE SNAKE” ROBERTS-

Other bonus chapters include a look at the legendary Stu Hart and Bob Uecker.

Then of course there is the Hall Of Fame bonus disc in which various legends get shown the respect they deserve. This years inductees were one of the greatest of all time The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase, the legendary Stu Hart, Gorgeous George, Wendi Richter, Mad Dog Maurice Vachon, Antonio Inoki, and Bob Uecker.

For the price this is a great set full of action and great bonus features, I recommend getting it now.

Review by ADEEB Shuhaiber
Rating:
This in my mind was one of the most epic Wrestlemania’s ever because this finally had matches that you could sit through and watch without getting bored or falling asleep and a major improvement in main event matches especially the WWE and World title matches.

Unified Tag Title Match : Big Show and The Miz vs John Morrison and R-Truth – An average way to kick off Wrestlemania 26 but though this was just over 3 minutes it was extremely fast paced and exciting, some great moves but a knock out punch from the Big Show to John Morrison allows The Miz to pin him and retain the Tag Titles. Rating – 6/10

Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes vs Ted Dibiase – This match featured all 3 former Legacy members going head to head in a surprisingly good match all 3 men put on a great and enjoyable match to watch but at the end Orton RKO’s Dibiase and punt kicks Rhodes and pins him for the victory. Rating – 7.5/10

MiTB Ladder Match : Jack Swagger vs Evan Bourne vs Dolph Ziggler vs Shelton Benjamin vs MVP vs Matt Hardy vs Christian vs Drew Mcintyre vs Kane vs Kofi Kingston – Everybody said this was one of the worst MiTB ladder matches ever but i found it extremely good and entertaining and once again Shelton Benjamin and Kofi Kingston stole the show but Evan Bourne also put on an awesome performance. But it was an absolute shocker that Swagger came out on top because i thought that it would be Drew Mcintyre who would have won this match but then again MiTB matches are very unpredicatable. Rating – 8/10

Triple H vs Sheamus – This match saw Sheamus debut at Wrestlemania in one of the best matches of the night and Sheamus finally put on an awesome performance to watch but despite the effort Triple H nails a Pedigree and pins Sheamus for the win on the Grandest Stage of them all. Rating – 8.5/10

Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk (If Mysterio loses he joins the SES) – Wrestlemania always has been home to some of the greatest matches in WWE history and I thought that this match would be one of them but shockingly ended short just before the 7 minute mark which in my mind was extremely dissapointing. But anyway it wasn’t what i expected but it still was a good match but if it had been longer it would have been far better but still good performance by both men. Mysterio gets the win after a 619 to Punk and a splash to stand tall at Wrestlemania 26. Rating – 6.5/10

Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon : No Holds Barred – I actually thought this would be like McMahons previous ‘Mania matches against Hulk Hogan and Shawn Michaels but it turned out to be possibly the most boring and dull match in Wrestlemania history. McMahon gets the hell beaten out of him by Bret Hart and The Hart Dynasty and finally Hart locks in the Sharpshooter and McMahon taps out finally allowing Hart to get his revenge. Rating – 2/10 (being generous)

Chris Jericho vs Edge : World Heavyweight Title Match – I remember both these men having an epic Steel Cage match on an edition of Smackdown in 2002 which was the last time these 2 fought one on one and they hoped to redo that awesome match without the cage surrounding them though and they did not dissapoint the WWE Universe at all. The 2 put on an excellent match going back and forth with several breathtaking manuvers. I actually thought that Edge would win this match but Jericho nails 2 codebreakers and finally covers Edge for the extremely hard fought win. But what might have stood out the most from all of that would be the after match spear that sent Jericho through the barricade at ringside. Rating – 9/10

Michelle McCool,Vickie Guerrero,Alicia Fox,Maryse and Layla vs Beth Phoenix,Mickie James,Gail Kim,Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres : 10 Diva Tag Match – Ok I said earlier that Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon was one of the most boring matches in Wrestlemania history this is the worst. No comment winners Team McCool. Rating – 0.75/10

John Cena vs Batista : WWE Title Match – It was back in Summerslam 2008 which was the last and only time that these 2 met one on one in the ring and ever since then neither man could compete again because Batista lost his title to Chris Jericho in 2008 and couldn’t step into Survivor Series to defend his gold against the man he faced in this match John Cena. When Batista turned heel and became one of the most hated superstars in the WWE and then had his sights set on the World title but was unable to gain the gold back but when he entered the Royal Rumble match in January he was eliminated by John Cena which made this rivalry worse because the next night Batista brutalised Cena with a Batista bomb on steel steps. Then at Elimination Chamber Cena survived a brutal chamber match but after the win Mr.McMahon placed Cena in another match against Batista which he won ending Cena’s reign.(match reviewed below)

Ok so that explains the rivalry of those 2 and now onto the match. This contest is definetly one of the most memorable in Wrestlemania history not only because they are 2 of the bigeest stars in the WWE but because this was only the second time they had fought. This match was quite the same as their match back at the 2008 Summerslam especially all the signature moves delivered. It mwas an extremely intense contest but several moments stood out such as Batista catching Cena with a huge Batista bomb while Cena was leaping of the top turnbuckle or Cena’s massive Five Knuckle Shuffle from the top rope onto Batista. Both men fought a grueling match hitting every move in their arsenal but at the end John Cena makes Batista tap out to the STF claiming his 9th World title. Rating – 8/10

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels : Streak vs Career Match – Possibly the greatest match in the history of Wrestlemania and definetly the most emotional match ever seen. It was last year at the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania where Michaels came so close to finally ending he Streak but Undertaker proved how powerful he really is tombstoning his way to a victory and extending the streak to 17-0. At Wrestlemania 25 their match was just a basic Singles match, this year it was a No Disqualification and No Count-Out match so there were no restrictions to what they do to each other. This was definetly the match of the night and the match of the decade it was also the greatest match i had ever seen. It took 4 tombstone piledrivers to silence Michaels but even though Michaels lost he made a huge impact nailing a death defying moonsault onto the Undertaker who at the time was lying on the announce table causing the Undertaker to scream in pain and also nailing the loudest Sweet Chin Music ever heard in the WWE. But Undertaker was too much for Michaels as ‘Taker nailed the 4th and final tombstone to pick up the win and extend the streak to 18-0 and ending HBK’s career. Rating – 100/10

Overall i give this show out of 100 i give it an amazing 86/100 because of all the awesome matches delivered at this amazing Wrestlemania and i also praise the improvement in World title matches I haven’t seen World title matches this good since Wrestlemania 23 (Undertaker vs Batista and John Cena vs Shawn Michaels). Anyway an epic show and thanks for reading this hope to hear on your feedback. Please send any comments to mishalwwechamp@hotmail.com thank you.