1) The Miz & Big Show vs. John Morrison & R-Truth
Fun match to start the show. Nice seeing these two teams compete again even if it was in a quick fast paced opener. Thinking back on it, the tag team division wasn't that bad during this time. I honestly had totally forgot that Show & Miz had teamed together. They came to the ring carrying loads of gold as the tag team titles had recently been unified so they had two belts a piece, plus The Miz was US Champion at the time. This was your typical opening match that served its purpose of getting the crowd warmed up.
Match rating - 6/10
2) Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
Here we have the match involving the three members of Legacy. This one didn't go as long as I hoped, but it was good while it lasted. They told a good story as Rhodes and DiBiase teamed up on Orton, but soon turned on each other. This was a good match, but I feel it could have been even better. I enjoyed it though so that's what counts.
Match rating - 7/10
3) Jack Swagger vs. Christian vs. Kane vs. Evan Bourne vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Matt Hardy vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler - Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Phew! Look at all the big names in this ones. So much talent packed into one match. This was destined to be an awesome match especially in a spot fest match like Money In The Bank. Pretty much every guy here got their opportunity to show what they could do. The most impressive had to be Evan Bourne. He put on a show from the time he entered the ring, including hitting a shooting star press off the ladder! The ladder match veterans Hardy and Christian had good showings too along with Kofi Kingston who's made a name for himself with innovative spots in matches like this. Very fun match to watch! Awesome stuff.
Match rating - 9/10
4) Triple H vs. Sheamus
Talk about a bland match. I tried hard to enjoy this bout, but I just couldn't do it. Sheamus is much better now (in 2014), than he was here in 2010. I still believe they pushed him to the main event scene too quickly and this match serves as proof. They tried hard to make this work, but it just never got going and was pretty boring. It had it's moments, but for the most part was nothing more than average. I'd like to see this match now since Sheamus has matured in the ring and grown to become a great competitor because I think Sheamus' unexperience played a huge part in the way this match came off.
Match rating - 5/10
5) CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio
After a bland Sheamus/HHH match, we get a nice pick up here. Punk and Mysterio are pretty familiar with each other as they've worked together before dating back to 2001-2002 in IWA Mid-South. That gave me high hopes for this bout. Needless to say, it was really good. I wish they would've been given more time because if they had been, this could have very well been match of the night. Punk and Mysterio work well together and they had some great exchanges here. Only downfall was that it was too short. Other than that, great match.
Match rating - 7.5/10
6) Bret Hart vs. Mr. McMahon
Ah, don't really have much to say here. I skipped through the majority of this as it was basically just Bret beating Vince repeatedly and getting his payback on him. Good for storyline purposes, but just not entertaining to watch. I've seen some say they enjoyed it, but I wasn't a really fan although I understand the logic of it being done. Not even gonna give this one a rating because it's not really a match.
7) Chris Jericho vs. Edge - World Heavyweight Championship Match
Jericho and Edge came out and produced the best match on the show thus far. They know each other so well that it's no surprise that it was great. The story going into this was that Jericho was scared of Edge's spear and they portrayed that perfectly. Edge went for the spear several times, but every time he did, Jericho had a counter for it. Some of the counters these guys pulled off were amazing. It was a great match. What happened afterwards was just as awesome - Edge speared Jericho off the announce table through the barricade! Crazy stuff!
Match rating - 8.5/10
8) Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Gail Kim, Eve, and Beth Phoenix vs. Michelle McCool, Maryse, Layla, Alicia Fox, and Vickie Guerrero
I expected this to be an utter disaster, but I was pleasantly surprised as I actually somewhat enjoyed it. It only lasted a few minutes and literally every diva came in and hit their finishers on each other in succession. In the end, Vickie Guerrero goes up and hits a frog splash off the top rope. At this point in the match, I found myself laughing at one of Michael Cole's jokes for the first time ever. He called Vickie's move a "hog splash" instead of a frog splash. I found it hilarious. Normally he's just corny. Enjoyable, short multi-Divas match.
Match rating - 5/10
9) Batista vs. John Cena - WWE Championship Match
Personally I've never been a fan of Batista nor Cena, but you can't deny their drawing power so it's obvious as to why they are in the co-main event slot of this particular WrestleMania. I didn't expect this to be a good match, but they really surpised me by delivering a great back and forth contest. Normally Batista's matches bore me, but he and Cena worked quite well together here. Very enjoyable and competitive match.
Match rating - 7.75/10
10) The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels - Streak vs. Career Match
Wow, what can I say. These guys tore the house down at WrestleMania 25 and they did the same exact thing here. It could be argued that this match was even better because of the story and emotion involved. There was so much on the line and the near falls kept everyone on the edge of their seats the entire time. Normally wrestlers can only deliver phenomenally in one aspect of a match - Either the wrestling or the storytelling, but in this match, HBK and Taker delivered 100% in both aspects. It wasn't lacking anything and it is undeniably one of the best matches in the history of WrestleMania.
Match rating - 10/10
Overall thoughts: I enjoyed going back and reviewing this show although I did get a bit bored at times. I felt like I repeatedly had to say "this could have been better", which is never a good thing. Enough of the negatives though, because this was a good show. Taker/Michaels, Edge/Jericho, and the MITB match were the best bouts on the card. If you can find this for $10 like I did, I would say that it's worth it for those three matches alone. Batista/Cena was surprisingly good while Triple H/Sheamus was a disappointment. Mysterio/Punk was a fun match as well as the opening tag match. The Triple Threat Match between Orton, Rhodes, and Dibiase was good, but could have been better. Solid show.
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