Welcome to the "Chicago still doesn't like John Cena" edition of The Wrestling List. I've been trying to find time to finish this List all week. I'm about to run out of time so I'm hurrying it out cause it's almost outdated!!
We are just days away from WrestleMania XXVII and we basically have had our final show before the big event. Friday's Smackdown was mostly a video package kind of deal but did have a main event match in there. So, Raw was the big last build for the show. The show was obviously hyped on two things. The Rock's return and the face off between Triple H and The Undertaker. I enjoyed both segment. I'm going to start with the face off. This was great start to finish with Triple H, Undertaker, and the surprise of Shawn Michaels. Undertaker stopping Triple H's entrance was fantastic. Really cool thing to start. Then, I loved having Shawn coming down dancing to the ring saying that there was no way possible that he was going to miss this face off in person. The story of this segment was really good. Shawn stepping up and putting his two cents in there including him going to Triple H and saying what makes you think you can do what I couldn't do. I liked Triple H's reasoning with him saying that Shawn was always great no matter if there was a win or loss. Triple H didn't think that way. Triple H said that he was 1 as in 18-1. Good stuff there. Good turn with Undertaker getting on the mic and saying how Shawn gave him two of the greatest matches but now he has to live with being close but not getting the job done. Shawn continued to get annoyed with things and then went to throw a superkick. It was caught and then Undertaker went for the chokeslam but Triple H stepped in and stood eye to eye. The next part was very telling with how the segment turned. Shawn had gotten rattled by Undertaker's comments and would not step up and tell how Triple H was going to beat him. Shawn mouthed sorry you can't beat him to Triple H as he walked away. Great finish with having Undertaker just laugh and smirk while tipping his hat. Really cool segment. Loved it. That gets us to Rock, Cena, and Miz. Rock gets a huge ovation and John Cena gets what I expected, boos out of the building. Remember that John Cena does not ever get good reactions in Chicago. That is one of those cities that he has just not won over. That was very clear back at WrestleMania 22 when Chicago cheered heavily for a heel Triple H against Cena in that title match. Good back and forth between the two but we really didn't get to hear a lot of Rock rebuttal to Cena due to Miz interrupting. I thought Miz was good in the segment but he got shut down pretty quickly with a people's elbow after Miz and Riley attacked Rock. Very interesting finish with Cena slipping back in the ring and hitting the fireman's carry on Rock to a round of heavy riot sounding boos from the Chicago crowd.
Other notes from Raw. Rock was talking about his first WrestleMania in Chicago and the great experience with it. I am trying to remember but didn't the "die Rocky die" chants and signs start that event in Chicago which really got the Rocky Maivia backlash going?
Interest was definitely in this show. The second hour saw Raw get up to a 4.0 rating.
Remember when I said that I thought they had announced the last Hall of Fame inductees? Well, I was wrong. They saved a great one for last in their home town. The Road Warriors. Hawk, Animal, and Paul Ellering will be going into the WWE Hall of Fame. I wish they had played the pop for this video on TV as the reaction was said to be loud in the building when the video started playing. The Road Warriors are one of the most legendary tag teams of all time. I have so many memories of them. Just this destroyer of a tag team. When I first started watching wrestling, they were heels and I thought they were just plain scary. They had the spikes, the face paint, and the evil sounding music as they hit the ring. Just one of those teams that you did not want to cross. You knew you were going to get intensity when you saw these guys hit the ring. My favorite memories of the Road Warriors are in the NWA. Yeah, their WWF run was solid but not like that NWA run. Great video piece that WWE did on them as well.
WWE held their WrestleMania press conference this week from New York City. Not a lot of big happenings. Just mostly publicity type stuff. Rock was there. Stephanie McMahon handled the hosting duties of it. Triple H was there helping her out as well along with taking part in it. John Cena was booed heavily. The fans gave him the "same old" chant that you might remember from the ECW One Night Stand PPV a few years ago at the Hammerstein. Snooki also got booed. Just a lot of face off kind of stuff for the most part.
The WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony will be tonight. Going in will be Shawn Michaels, The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering, Sunny, Abdullah The Butcher, Bullet Bob Armstrong, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and Drew Carey. With WWE not airing the Hall Of Fame special on USA until Monday night, I'm really hoping that this means WWE will get back to not limiting people on their talking time. It has ruined the last couple of years of the Hall Of Fame. Guys are allowed to talk for about five minutes and that is it. With the time limit, we lost the amount of time that these Hall Of Famer's were able to get up there and just tell stories. That took a LOT of fun out of the Hall Of Fame. I'm hoping that the time restrictions will be taken off this year.
Let's look at the WrestleMania XXVII card. This is looking to be a very solid show on paper. I wasn't sure how this show was going to be as far as top drawing matches a couple of months ago. The Rock was brought in and it just seemed like things got going from there. Here is the lineup and my thoughts on them.
The Miz defends the WWE title against John Cena. The Rock is obviously going to have some kind of role in this so it will be interesting to see what happens. Do we have another Cena wins the title moment on a WrestleMania? I'm hoping not. Hoping that Miz retains.
Edge defends the World title against Alberto Del Rio. Christian will be in Edge's corner while Brodus Clay will be in Alberto's. I don't watch a lot of Smackdown so I have not kept up with this feud as much. I just paused even trying to think what to type about this match so I guess I'll just leave it at that.
The Undertaker vs. Triple H - No Holds Barred. Undertaker's streak stays in tact. That is what I want to see. Hoping that these guys put on a great show. Undertaker makes it through this without being injured worse. That is what is best case scenario for me.
Sheamus defends the US title against Daniel Bryan. This is one of those undercard matches that I really hope is strong. Not a lot of attention on it and I think both guys need this to be a great match.
Randy Orton vs. CM Punk. Good build and two solid performers. Should be a good one and I'm looking forward to it. I think Punk gets the win.
Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special referee. Swagger will be in Cole's corner. This is all about getting to watch Michael Cole finally get beaten up. Isn't that the scenario that is likely to play out with fans finally getting to see what they've wanted for months now? Austin will be fun as always.
John Morrison, Trish Stratus, and Snooki vs. Dolph Ziggler and LayCool. I think this will be a fun match. Good balance and I always look forward to having Trish in the ring. Snooki will get the media highlights which is what WWE wants. LayCool will be fun. Morrison and Ziggler will deliver. I think it will be good. Just a matter of what the finish is.
The Corre vs. Santino, Kozlov, Big Show, and Kane. Yeah, really nothing to say about this one.
Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes. If you would have told me a year ago that Rhodes would have a WrestleMania match instead of Dibiase, I never would have believed it. This should be a solid one.
Tonight is the WWE Hall Of Fame and Shawn Michaels is doing a video diary for WWE.com. Two very good videos already posted. One with Ric Flair giving Shawn a belt buckle which goes back to Shawn giving him a watch for his Hall Of Fame night. The other one is the Kliq reunited. A video has been posted of Shawn, Triple H, Kevin Nash, and Sean Waltman together. That is wild to see.
Have a great rest of the weekend. Take care and God bless!!
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