Wrestlemania Championship Matches
Wade Barrett defeated Zack Ryder. I was surprised to see Ryder get as much offense as he did. Late in the match, Ryder hit a few clotheslines and hit a Broski Boot. Barrett kicked out and ended up hitting him with his massive elbow for the win. The Miz was on commentary and tried to get the feud over. It is a feud with little personal conflict. All they are arguing about is a title which should be good enough, but it is a title that has little meaning right now. I feel like both guys are getting shafted because Vince wants to see the entrance for Brodus and Sweet T. What else is there? Time constraints? You're telling me that 5 minute entrance for them cannot be used and given 5 more minutes for a ten minute IC Title match? Ridiculous.
Grade: C
Alberto Del Rio defeated Zeb Colter via disqualification. The match never really got going. The biggest part of this feud tonight was that Del Rio got whipped over and over with Ricardo's crutches. Del Rio took a beating tonight and was much needed. For weeks, we saw the Youtube videos and the jokes. Well, Swagger needed to get over and this certainly helped in my eyes. He turned it up a notch and really focused on his change of character. He does not need to be clean and proper. He needs to be aggressive time and time again. He is bigger, stronger, and just as athletic. He did not show those features here, but he certainly got an upper hand as the challenger heading into Wrestlemania.
Grade: B
Dolph Ziggler defeated Daniel Bryan in the best match of the night. The chemistry between these two guys is flawless. You saw reversals, DDT's, submission holds, and a match that went over 15 minutes. WWE Raw needed these work horses to put on a match so the night was not ALL promos. They succeeded and really got me intrigued about their tag team match on Sunday. Big E is what you need to focus on. They showed his strength after the match by pulling Kane's hand from his throat and hitting his finisher. Big E is so good and we have not seen his personality or his wrestling ability. He has the look, the drive, and it seems the desire to get better and better even when he is limited in what is being booked for him.
Grade: A
