WrestleMania 29: Twice in a lifetime

April 7th, 2013

Location: East Rutherford, New Jersey

Venue: MetLife Stadium

Attendance: 80,676

​Theme song: "Coming Home" by Diddy

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It's day 29, and we've reached the location of where I'll be headed this Sunday for WrestleMania weekend. WWE returned to the New York area as MetLife Stadium would be the venue.

With 80,000 people filing in, they got the main event that was once labeled as "Once in a Lifetime." They would see a highly unnecessary rematch.

​Once the Mayan Apolocypse didn't end the world in December 2012, the decision to host WrestleMania 29 in the tristate area came as a surprise. It wasn't due to the location but the timing.

With WrestleMania 30 on the horizon, many expected WWE would consider its ten-year tradition of returning to WrestleMania's birthplace, let alone host it inside Madison Square Garden. Unfortunately, tradition would be broken as New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome would host WrestleMania's thirtieth edition.

Another tradition that was broken was the omission of “America the Beautiful.” Instead, WrestleMania opened with Hurricane Sandy's remembrance that affected the United States' northeast part in October 2012.

In a video package, Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey, spoke about the natural disaster as the U.S. Army members stood on stage waving the Stars and Stripes.

With the sun shining bright on MetLife Stadium, no set of opening fireworks went off, and the crowd was served as the opening shot to get WrestleMania 29 underway.

Before I get into the card, one note to make was the cancellation of a match. Due to the Triple H and Undertaker matches (respectively) going beyond the expected time allotted, an eight-person tag team match was canceled as it was supposed to go on near the show's end.

Brodus Clay, Sweet T, Naomi, and Cameron were supposed to take on the team of Cody Rhodes, Damien Sandow, Nikki, and Brie Bella. Thanks to the incident, the pre-show that happened before WrestleMania became a more prominent staple for matches they couldn’t fit onto the main show.

A six-man tag match opened the show, with Sheamus, Big Show, and Randy Orton taking on a team making their WrestleMania debut in The Shield. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns made their way through the crowd, something they’ve been doing since they made their arrival at Survivor Series a few months prior.

Nicknamed “The Hounds of Justice,” The Shield would pick up the win and was the start of a trio who would make their mark at WrestleMania in some shape or form down the road.

Mark Henry defeated Ryback (nothing else to say about this. It was just there).

Big E Langston made his WrestleMania debut when he teamed up with Dolph Ziggler to challenge Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) for the Tag Team Championship. Langston came up short in his debut and fell to Team Hell No.

Another superstar making his WrestleMania debut was ballroom dancing Fandango, who started up a rivalry with Chris Jericho and refused to fight him. Fandango rolled up Chris Jericho for the pin and ended up with the win in a stunning upset. Not a bad debut being able to beat one of the best in WWE history.

Finally, the World Heavyweight Championship was on the line when Alberto Del Rio defended his title against Jack Swagger. Del Rio would hang on to the title before losing it the next night to Dolph Ziggler, who had the Money in the Bank contract and cashed in his opportunity.

The final three matches of WrestleMania took up most of the time and would provide entertaining moments. Here are the three things that stood out to me from WrestleMania 29.

This one’s for Paul

​At the beginning of March on Monday Night Raw, The Undertaker made his return to WWE. He opened the floor to anybody who wanted to challenge him at WrestleMania and hand him his first loss.

Immediately, Sheamus, the Big Show, Randy Orton, and CM Punk stepped forward for the opportunity and competed in a fatal-four-way to determine who would earn the chance.

Punk outlasted the other three and officially became Undertaker’s opponent.

However, tragedy struck WWE as the next night, William Moody, who played the role of Paul Bearer (former on-screen manager of Kane and The Undertaker), passed away of a heart attack.

The following week on Raw, Undertaker came out to honor his former manager and real-life close friend. Suddenly, in the middle of the segment, CM Punk’s music hit and interrupted the moment.

With a microphone in hand, Punk gladly said, “I’m sorry for your loss…at WrestleMania.”

The passing of Moody was immediately used to enhance the storyline of Punk and ‘Taker, much to the disapproval of fans and critics, calling it a lack of respect.

To make things worse, Punk would go on to steal the Urn of The Undertaker, which Paul Bearer loved to carry around as he escorted his associate to the ring. Punk would mock them both with his manager Paul Heyman in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania.

In the ultimate form of disrespect, something that had everybody up in arms, Heyman dressed up as Bearer with facepaint, and Punk would attack Undertaker and pour the ashes from the urn onto him.

Fans continued to criticize the decision on social media to use the passing of Moody the way that they were.

Moody’s sons, Michael and Daniel, made a Facebook statement regarding the scenario, and it wasn’t what they expected.

​"If anyone is wondering, yes, WWE did come to us wanting approval for tonight's storyline. The way it was presented to us was ok. Seeing it on screen was a different story. I don't even know what to say." Michael stated.

His brother Daniel also confirmed the sentiments stating, “Totally different.”

Eventually, a text message surfaced from Michael to clarify the statement.

​"Hey. I woke up in time to watch the tail end of the show. What you explained would happen happened. Which is fine. Just it was a little difficult to watch it play out. I put a message on Facebook last night saying that we approved it, but it wasn't what I envisioned. That I didn't have anything to say. Well woke up this morning, and that quote is being used all over "media outlets." For the record. I was fine [with] it. Was hard to watch, but y'all are professionals, and I trust."

​At WrestleMania, Punk and Heyman came out with the urn, continuing to mock Undertaker and his late friend.

The match began and (once again for The Undertaker) would stand out the most at WrestleMania.

The two went back-and-forth and included Punk performing an elbow drop from the turnbuckle to get Undertaker, who was lying down on a commentary table.

Punk came inches from handing the Undertaker his first WrestleMania loss when he performed ‘Taker’s Tombstone Piledriver.

Eventually, Undertaker would gain momentum, nail his Tombstone onto Punk, and extended his winning streak to 21-0.

Undertaker regained possession of Paul Bearer’s urn and honored him in the middle of the ring.

The lead-up was controversial, but thankfully it reached the conclusion it deserved, and a WWE legend was honored.

Career threatening?

When Cena lost to The Rock at WrestleMania 28, he appeared on Monday Night Raw the day after and addressed the crowd. In a surprising return, Brock Lesnar made his first WWE appearance in eight years.

Without saying a word, Lensar picked up Cena and performed his signature “F-5.” It would lead to a match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view later that month.

After the event, Lesnar began to make outrageous contract demands to stay in the company. Triple H came out and stated that WWE wouldn’t give in to the demands. In response, Lesnar (storyline) broke Triple H’s arm.

All of that led to August at SummerSlam when the two faced off. Lesnar won the match and once again broke (still storyline) Triple H’s arm, dominating within WWE.

Fast forward to February, and Lesnar was after Vince McMahon because he’s a monster. Triple H made his return and picked up where he left off with Lesnar the year before.

Triple H made the challenge to Lesnar for WrestleMania 29. Paul Heyman, Lesnar’s advocate, told him that his client would only accept if Triple H agreed to a stipulation after the match was official.

The Game agreed, and Heyman’s hidden stipulation was that he would be forced to retire if he lost. No pressure, right?

What’s become a staple for matches involving Triple H, their encounter would be No Holds Barred and would be violent and brutal.

Lesnar began to show domination while going after Shawn Michaels, who was at the corner of Triple H.

Eventually, Triple H showed how he faces adversity and would end up having the last laugh.

With the ring’s steel steps inside, Triple H grabbed Lesnar to the top of the steps and hit him with the Pedigree. He rolled him up, and Triple H avoided retirement.

I thought it was the right call for Triple H to win the match. Even though he was always in high profiled matches at WrestleMania, he also holds the unfortunate record of having the most losses on the grand stage.

What’s another win?

Are you serious? Again?

​At WrestleMania 28, fans worldwide were shocked when The Rock defeated John Cena in the main event. With the match being labeled as “Once in a Lifetime,” The Rock closed the show telling everybody he’s the better man.

The year that followed for Cena was a tough one. He would be the first man to win the Money in the Bank contract and lose his cash-in opportunity. He also gained an opportunity for the WWE Championship, only to lose twice. He suffered an arm injury and was out for a few weeks.

To put the cherry on top, Cena was going through a real-life divorce. 2012 is a year that the poster boy would want to forget.

At the 2013 Royal Rumble in the yearly battle royal, Cena won the match for the second time in his career, booking his ticket to MetLife Stadium.

Later in the night, in a surprising decision, the long year-and-a-half reign of WWE Champion CM Punk came to an end when The Rock defeated him in the main event. It would be the eighth time that The Rock would win the WWE Championship.

With Cena having the option to challenge either the World Heavyweight Championship or the WWE Champion, he made the easy decision to challenge The Rock. The rematch was official.

A match labeled “Once in a Lifetime” was erased as Cena sought revenge from his loss a year before.

The decision to have the rematch was met with a ton of criticism. Many had doubts if their second encounter would be as good as the first. Besides that, if WWE was planning a rematch, why label the first as “Once in a Lifetime?” Whatever the reason, fans in East Rutherford had their main event set.

The Rock made his first WrestleMania entrance as WWE Champion since WrestleMania 17. He would enter as champion twice in history and would lose on both occasions, hoping that the third time was the charm.

The match began, and quickly, the similarities from the year before were there. It started with a slow start, then had the pace picked up, even with the two exchanging signature moves.

However, in the match's final moments, a similar moment from last year began but would have a much different result.

Cena again began to mock The Rock with his People’s Elbow and started to perform the move. As soon as Cena ran to one side of the rope, he instead stood still, told Rock he remembered what happened last year, and found his way to hit him with the Attitude Adjustment.

Cena got his revenge and won his 11th WWE Championship. Once again, the face of the current generation of WWE was back on top, and The Rock knew it.

In the closing image of WrestleMania 29, Rock held up Cena’s arm in victory as a sign of respect, and the two embraced. The rivalry reached its conclusion, and everybody was ready to move on again.

Final thoughts

Once again, this is another WrestleMania I never saw the day of. I only saw WrestleMania 29 in its entirety about a week before I began the daily series when I bought it on Blu-Ray (I like to collect WrestleManias on hard discs, sue me).

I remember being told that WrestleMania 29 was a disaster and not worth the watch. I decided to suck it up and watch it anyway since I love when WrestleMania comes around.

It wasn’t that bad. I’ll admit, the first half did have a rough start. I’ll give the critics that. However, the second half blew me away. Hence why I went with the three moments, I brought up.

You had The Undertaker continuing to give it his all despite age slowly catching up to him. There was Triple H, who told the world he wasn’t slowing down. Finally, despite the rematch's criticism, Cena and The Rock put up a solid match once again.

I also wanted to see WrestleMania 29 because I wanted to properly check out how the event looked when it was last hosted at MetLife Stadium. As I watched it, I got more excited and saw how great a venue it is for WrestleMania. Seeing my section on TV put a big smile on my face made me wish that WrestleMania was tomorrow. Almost there.

Even though WrestleMania returned to the area where it was created, as I mentioned at the start, the following year took us to the Big Easy for its 30th year.

It would be a time of celebration, which was mixed with a heart-stopping moment, and a miracle.

Results:

- The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns) def. Big Show, Randy Orton, and Sheamus

- Mark Henry def. Ryback

- Team Hell No (Kane and Daniel Bryan) (c) def. Big E Langston and Dolph Ziggler - WWE Tag Team Championship

- Fandango def. Chris Jericho

- Alberto Del Rio (c) def. Jack Swagger - World Heavyweight Championship

- The Undertaker def. CM Punk

- Triple H def. Brock Lesnar - No Holds Barred (Had Triple H lost, he would be forced to retire)

- John Cena def. The Rock (c) - WWE Championship

Rating: B-

Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 30.

6 days away until WrestleMania 35.