WWE WrestleMania 26 ReviewsWWE WrestleMania 26
The biggest event of the year comes to the desert when WrestleMania XXVI explodes in Arizona! Every member of the WWE Universe has eagerly anticipated WrestleMania and the biggest Superstars of WWE up their game when they perform on sports entertainment s grandest stage. It s been a pop culture phenomenon for more than a quarter century it is WrestleMania.
Rating:  List Price: $ 29.95 Price: $ 16.33 |
(out of 20 reviews)
Review by Behramjee Ghadially for WWE WrestleMania 26
Rating:
If you are planning to buy WWE Wrestle Mania 26 dvd then the collector’s edition dvd pack is the only one you should get largely because it is this collectors edition that has the FULL UNEDITED HALL OF FAME CEREMONY where as the other versions all have a shorter, edited version of that ceremony. Other than that the collectors edition also has the Raw and Smackdown shows in full after WM26 + some great matches of the Hall of Fame inductees and the Wm 26 battle royal which was not shown on ppv.
This dvd pack is priced the same as the normal edition so why spend money on something that doesnt offer any significant value when for nearly the same price, you can get a collectors edition pack with all the value able freebies.
Review by Jose for WWE WrestleMania 26
Rating:
Well after a significant time off, I have returned to post a another review with this one being WrestleMania 26. This event was hosted at the University of Phoenix Stadium with an attendance record of 72,219 as not only was history made & titles were defended but also brought closure to two sets of feuds. Just to add a few notes, this was the first time since WM XII that I can remember that Jim Ross didn’t do any commentary for this show & for me, was certainly missed in action but let us not get the facts get in the way of a good story.
Unified Tag Team Champions Big Show & The Miz vs John Morrison & R-Truth. For the first time since WM 22, the tag team titles are actually defended at the biggest stage of them all. I wouldn’t classify this as a good opener because the match was too short for it to be anything memorable but there was some good moments with Big Show coming out looking stronger (literally & figuratively) than everyone else.
Randy Orton vs Ted Dibiase vs Cody Rhodes. The break-up of Legacy & this match played out exactly how everyone predicted it would with Dibiase & Rhodes actually turning this match into a handicap match by constantly double-teaming Orton with Orton getting a flurry here & there. However, the match would quickly turn once Dibiase & Rhodes just got too greedy for their own good allowing Orton to take advantage with his trademark “punt” much to the delight of the crowd, who was “pro-Orton” throughout the contest.
Now, I don’t normally focus on backstage skits but there was a skit that occurred during Vickie Guerrero’s interview involving Santino, Mean Gene, Mae Young & Melina that I just enjoyed & thought that it was well done.
“Money In The Bank” Ladder Match: Jack Swagger vs Christian vs Dolph Ziggler vs Shelton Benjamin vs Drew McIntrye vs Matt Hardy vs M.V.P. vs Evan Bourne vs Kofi Kingston vs Kane. This is the biggest (literally) MIB match that has been done to date due to this one having the most people in it since the match debuted. As is the case with this match every year, this match had plenty of moments like Christian delivering a monkey-flip onto Kofi to a ladder with guys behind it, Kane destroying the ladder & Drew McIntrye, Evan’s “shooting star press” along with taking the worst fall of the match later on, Kofi using a broken ladder in a way that you have to see believe, Christian’s reverse DDT from the top of the ladder to Matt Hardy, Matt getting knocked off the ladder onto another one, and the sequence of Swagger getting crushed in between two ladders while Christian, Hardy & Evan climbed to the top. It wasn’t the best one that they did but this was still an entertaining match that delivered when it came to spots.
Triple H vs Sheamus. Sheamus made his WM debut against the man that he choose to face in Triple H while this is the first time since WM 15 that Triple H is not in a high-profile main event at WrestleMania. I can honestly say that I am not a big fan of Sheamus but he certainly held his own here as he told a good story in making every move count against Triple H as if he was a veteran (when he is still a rookie) before it was one mistake that allowed Triple H to get back in the game (no pun intended). This was a solid match that actually made me enjoy seeing Sheamus as an in-ring competitor.
Rey Mysterio vs CM Punk. The stipulation to this match was that if Rey loses, he must join “The Straight Edge Society”. I do want to point out that Mysterio’s “Avatar” look heavily makes up for his “Joker” attempt that felt flat in my eyes the year before. These two didn’t get so much time to tell a story like their previous Armageddon match but with the time that they had, they didn’t disappoint here. With Luke Gallows & Serena getting involved at times, this was an exciting fast paced contest that made me wish these two got more time but it certainly didn’t leave me disappointed with the quality.
No Holds Barred: Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon. Bret Hart returns to WrestleMania for the first time since his classic submission match with Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. Before the match got started, Vince McMahon brought out the Hart Family stating that he had purchased their services for them to be Lumberjacks for this match only to be revealed that Bret was in on the whole scheme. This match was really all about the story of Bret getting his revenge as fans shouldn’t have expected Bret to give a quality performance at this stage in his career. Basically, the Hart Dynasty was there to do the impact spots including doing an old finisher from the Hart Foundation days on the outside of the ring before Bret beat Vince down with a chair & doing one last Sharpshooter to bring this issue to conclusion.
World Champion Chris Jericho vs Edge. After years of these two battling & having “on/off” feuds over the years, this was their first high profile singles match & how appropriate that it was at WrestleMania for the World Championship. This was a pure “old school” wrestling match that was never fought at a fast pace as it allowed each man to look strong & building up the suspense towards the end with a good story being told with Jericho attacking Edge’s injury & even using many counters to avoid the spear. The ending was a surprise since it not only ended clean but the winner was actually a surprise. However, pay attention to the aftermath as Edge got his revenge that he vowed to get in a way that you will not believe.
Michelle McCool, Layla, Maryse, Alicia Fox & Vickie Guerrero vs Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Gail Kim & Beth Phoenix. This is one of those matches that you are either going to like or hate depending on how you choose to look at it as this match was real short with everyone just doing their finishers but I will say that I actually found this to be funny as I couldn’t stop laughing at Vickie Guerrero whether she was getting beat up or just hiding. On a personal note though, I did enjoy seeing Vickie pay homage to her late husband Eddie Guerrero before doing what was called a “Bullfrog/Hog” splash & doing a sloppy pinfall.
WWE Champion Batista vs John Cena. Just like how I was shocked that their SummerSlam ’08 match turned out to be really good considering that I am not a huge fan of either man, this match delivered as these two men worked well together. They exchanged power moves along with some surprising grappling counters with Batista focusing on Cena’s neck in the early stages of the match before Cena gained momentum before both men began dishing out their trademark moves along with counters that were similiar to their previous clash & others that we haven’t seen before. This match delivered more than I expected & I would call this Cena’s best WM match along with this being one of Batista’s best performances as well. And just like the last title match, the aftermath where Cena addressed the fans with the “WE HATE CENA” shirts was a sight to see.
Streak vs Career: The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels. Taker’s streak against HBK’s career & hats off to WWE as for the first time since WrestleMania XI, a non-title match is headlined as the main event but I am pretty sure that most fans were looking forward to this match more than anything else on the card. These two deserved to go last after putting up not only an instant classic last year but also the match of the year of 2009. Despite that, this match once again lived up to the hype as they put on another classic match that was actually more aggressive & physical than their previous classic a year ago. This match had many moments like HBK doing Taker’s classic “throat slash” at the start, Taker delivering the tombstone on the floor, Shawn hitting three “Sweet Chin Musics”, Taker’s “Last Ride”, Shawn doing an unbelievable moonsault through the announce table that just got the fans on their feet & kept them there till the end of the match with chants of “THIS IS AWESOME”. But the biggest moment of the match was near the end where Taker showed more emotion than is expected from him before Shawn wouldn’t let this end without a fight that lead to the most impactful tombstone that we have seen in years. Once again just like the previous matches, the aftermath was something as new & emotional WrestleMania moment was created that will never be forgotten.
Now from what I have heard/seen, there are three versions of this event (two on DVD & one on Blue-Ray). I got the “Collector’s Edition” so with this event you get the pre-show WrestleMania Battle Royal along with the entire Hall Of Fame ceremony with new inductees Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, Wendi Richter, Stu Hart, Antonio Inoki, Bob Uecker, “Gorgeous” George & “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase but also with that you get matches & moments involving these inductees including Dibiase’s favorite WM match vs Jake Roberts (WrestleMania VI), Antonio Inoki’s Japanese Heavyweight Championship match vs The Great Hossein, Wendi Richter’s Women’s Championship match vs The Fabulous Moolah, Stu Hart tribute & two matches involving “Gorgeous” George & “Mad Dog” Vachon. Unfortunately, Shawn Michaels’s farewell address is not included on the DVD set.
Overall, this was one of the best WrestleManias that the WWE has put out in recent years. It wasn’t perfect but this heavily made up & surpassed the disappointment of the previous years WrestleMania so I would give this WrestleMania a solid 4 star rating but with the Hall Of Fame ceremony, the battle royal & the extra matches makes this a 5 star showcase that I would recommend to any wrestling fan, not just a WWE Fan.
Review by Maria Ruiz for WWE WrestleMania 26
Rating:
It is an event that i’ll never forget, i was there and now with this amazing dvd, i can see it whenever i want to.
Great edit work, all the live errors where successfully deleted or modified, so everything is 100% high quality.
1000% recommended if you’re a HBK or Taker fan.
Review by abe for WWE WrestleMania 26
Rating:
here are the matches and what i thought of them…
1-big show and miz vs jihn morrison and r truth-so i was sitting there thinking”i hope i get to see john morrison do all those crazy flying moves he does.i hope r truth does some of his cool stuff too.id really like to see miz get annhilated.i wanna see big show break someone in half.then the bell rang.why did they ring the bell again i wondered.oh because the match was over in the time it took me to write this.booooooooooooooooo[4 out of 10 stars]
2-randy orton vs ted dibiase 2 vs cody rhodes—this match was ok.it went as expected.but anything was better than match 1.[6 out of 10 stars]
3-money in the bank ladder match.kofi kingston vs mvp vs evan bourne vs jack swagger vs shelton benjamen vs matt hardy vs dolph ziggler vs drew mcentire vs kane vs christian——–this was easily the best match on the dvd.it started out like a battle royal.this quickly spilled to the floor as well.there were an abundance of crazy moves,bumps, high spots etc.and YES there were in fact new innovations that have never been performed in a ladder match before.this match was totaly awesome![a perfect 10]
4-triple h vs sheamus—–i may be the only one who likes sheamus but he is my favorite wrestler in the wwe.this was a classic match.it was physicaly brutal.it went back and forth many times.it was great!whats more is they didnt simply go through the motions as is all too common these days.they really poured thier hearts into it.[8 out of 10].
5-rey jr vs cm punk—-i was disappointed by this one.it was quick and without the high spots we expect out of rey.i wanted to see him fly.i wanted him to yet again boggle my mind with his mastery of physics in the ring.this match was about as good as anything you’d see on raw.[6 out of 10].
6-hitman vs vince——this one took a while to get started.i was expecting a brawl all over the building and massive blood shed and someone jumping off the titantron.then i remembered these guys are as old as cave men.for lack of a better word this was a spanking.in this match there were the most consecutive chair shots ive ever seen in a match in my life[just under 34 years].[6 out of 10 due to lack of an actual match but up to 6 because of the sheer brutality involved]
7-chris jericho vs edge—–edge won the royal rumble to get this match.i thought he was a shoe in.these guys were battling over the world title.there are 4 super wrestling places on earth.they are canada,japan,mexico and america.i think pitting 2 canadian guys against eachother at wwe’s biggest event is like saying that canadian wrestlers are as good as americas.thats just bad buisness,true or not.edge crawled around the whole time on his injured achilles tendon.if he wasnt ready he shouldve stayed home.[5 out of 10]
8-mickie james/kelly/eve/gail kim/ and beth phoenix vs michelle mc cool/maryse/layla/alicia fox/and vickie guierro—–i was expecting an elongated ,erotic pile of ultimately sexy babes[except that cow vickie] rolling around and fueling my fantasies until next wrestlemania.well NO!basicly every diva ran in,nailed thier move and then it was over.it was really really sexy but only for a minute or 2.thats probably what would happen if i ever scored with one of them[LOL!][7 out of 10 stars]
9-batista vs john cena—–i figured this would be a walk through but these 2 really gave it all they had.[7 out of 10]
10-undertaker vs shawn michaels—-the big rematch from last year.at first,shawn tried to hurt any part of undertaker he could.he definately hit him with everything.then the match started looking like last years match with each of them going for thier finishers over and over and over.the they hit them over and over.neither guy would quit.if you watch raw,you know the outcome anyhow.this match was great!it was way better than thier 1st encounter.the only thing that held this match back was the fact that it was win by pin or submission only.that meant that couldve spilled buckets of blood for us.[8 of 10 stars].
so,averaged out that is a 6.8 but dont let the miz or edge’s poor performances stop you from buying this dvd.it was one of if not THE best wrestlemania ever.if you love wrestling,this ones for you!
Review by Jerry E. Olson for WWE WrestleMania 26
Rating:
Not long enough. Left out Mad dog Vachon at the Hall of Fame and Wendy Williams and the Hart Foundation. Just a few words. Why not the whole ceremony. They deserved it.
Matches were good but not the best wrestle mania.