-- 3/28 WWE WrestleMania 26 Reax

Michael Henrichsen of Seattle, Wash. (7.0): Best Match: HBK vs. Undertaker II. Worst Match: Hart-McMahon. WrestleMania 26 was a mixed bag for me. It had some amazing highs and some head-scratching lows. I can't help but give WWE praise for putting Taker-HBK last on the card. Too often, the most looked-forward-to match is put in the middle of the card. HBK in 2010 still has more talent then 95 percent of the WWE roster. Top rope moonsault onto an announce table? I couldn't believe he made it that far and was good enough to continue the match. They both left it all in the ring and told an amazing story and really saved the PPV. Cena winning a major title at a WrestleMania - haven't we seen this before? Yes, Manias 20-22, 23, 25, and now 26. Granted, some of those he retained, but you get the picture that it's quite redundant. Props to Y2J-Edge putting on a good match, but the finish was kind of sudden. I felt the opening tag match had good momentum and ended abruptly. MITB was okay. There were some cool spots, but it was almost as if there were too many people in the match. Swagger - does anyone see this guy as a credible threat for any title? He hasn't even been showcased on Raw in ages and all of a sudden he wins a match like this? I didn't like the way Hart-McMahon was booked. I didn't expect much from it, but I wasn't a fan of bringing out the whole Hart Family for an angle. Overall, WrestleMania is always worth the purchase. A huge save goes to HBK-Taker for making this show extremely historic on an otherwise unmemorable WrestleMania.

Tyler Shannon of Lake Forest, Calif. (9.0): Best Match: Undertaker vs. Michaels. Worst match: Divas. This year's WrestleMania was simply incredible. The Money in the Bank match was great for getting the blood running. I can't stand Matt Hardy, although he did an okay job in this match. The spear off the tables at the end of Edge-Jericho was a great spot. The finish to Cena-Batista was poor. Batista should have theoretically destroyed Cena after the build-up he has received these last few weeks. I literally skipped the Divas match, and even through my fast-forwarding, I could tell it was not good. Hart-McMahon was bad. The entire concept could have been great, but the execution was terrible. Finally, the main event. The match was incredible, with so many convincing nearfalls. Great show.

Michael of San Diego, Calif. (6.0): Best Match: Michaels/Taker. Worst Match: Hart/McMahon. Actually, the best thing about the show was the amazing set. It was spectacular to look at and I was blown away by the visuals, the stunning video, the pyro - the entire presentation was fantastic. I didn't feel Michaels-Taker matched the quality of their WM25 encounter, but it was still a great match and a strong send-off for Michael's career (however long that might last). Hart vs. McMahon was totally overbooked. If you're going to "screw" McMahon like that, keep it a secret until the end of the match. But they shouldn't have even gone there to begin with, bringing out the Hart clan. It was just a lot of time wasting on top of an already slow match that ended up being a huge letdown. I know the old Bret was never going to show up, but this was not how I would've hoped they'd handle his return and the blow-off. It seemed like the letdown from that match killed the crowd's heat and they never really recovered until the end, which hurt the show. MITB was solid but, again, not as strong as WM25's, and Swagger getting the win really bummed me out. The two title matches were fine, but nothing special. Punk-Mysterio as well. The worst part of the show really was the announcing. JR's absence was glaring and Cole not only failed to deliver the kind of commentary necessary for the unfolding drama, but he also blew calls. Overall, I enjoyed it, just because it's WrestleMania and the spectacle of it all is awesome, but it failed to live up to the hype and the high expectations I had going in.

David Miller of Terre Haute, Ind. (8.0): Best Match: Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. Worst Match: Ten-Divas tag match. When will WWE invite someone to sing America The Beautiful who will just sing the song straight up and not try to impress us with their vocal range or screech the lyrics like Fantasia did? The opening tag match was so-so and an okay opener for an overbooked WrestleMania. It was strange seeing Randy Orton so early in a WrestleMania, but the crowd was hot for him and the match ended as it should have. The Santino segment was hilarious...it just wouldn't be WrestleMania without Mae Young! Money In The Bank was awesome. Nobody took any ridiculous risks and there were probably three too many wrestlers involved, but it was still spectacular and I think Swagger's victory was somewhat of a surprise. I was also surprised that Triple H didn't put over Sheamus, but it was a better match than I expected it to be. Punk vs. Mysterio was just sort of there and I could have lived without this match. Hart vs. McMahon started out great with the bait and switch, but it quickly went downhill from there. I liked the Hart Family getting involved and beating the bejesus out of Vince, but the pace was way too methodical. For a No Holds Barred match between these two, I was expecting every weapon short of the kitchen sink to be used. I know WWE is trying to be kid-friendly, but I think some blood would have really cranked up the volume on what was a bit of a disappointment. Jericho beating Edge was also a bit of a surprise, but the match went well and it left plenty of room for their feud to continue. The Divas match was such a huge disappointment. Batista vs. Cena was very good. Batista might be the first wrestler to actually make Cena's lame finisher look devastating. I thought Undertaker vs. Michaels was just a slight notch below their match from last year, mostly due to the predictability of the false finishes. Nonetheless, it still had me on the edge of my seat and was well worth the price of the whole PPV. I really wanted to see Michaels end the Streak, but the finish was still great. Michaels seemed to recover a bit too soon after being beaten, but his final salute to the crowd was touching. Overall, a very good show and well worth getting the replay.

Stephen Anthony of Nashville, Tenn. (7.5): Best Match: Taker-Michaels. Worst Match: Bret- Vince. The timing and pacing of the entire event was odd. Also, some of the booking was quizzical. I think the Taker-Michaels main event was wonderful. A classy ending with Michaels "retiring" and walking backstage with a sort of peaceful look on his face. It showed (in the storyline) that his life will not end after wrestling (unlike Flair's). The Bret Hart match was an absolute disaster. I have never seen a worse bumper than McMahon. Awful. Too bad they don't get juice anymore - because they needed it in this one. And the idea that Bruce Hart was involved in ANY way, much less as a ref, was very annoying. I guess Bret's big WrestleMania moment was to have his first-ever negative-star match. Big Dave and Cena's match was slow, although the ending was good, but I thought it was ridiculous to take the belt off Dave. He has been the hottest heel they've had in years lately. Edge-Jericho was awesome with a surprise finish. I actually enjoyed Mysterio-Punk (for it's length). They needed about five more minutes at least. I won't comment on the Divas match because I don't consider it a match. Sheamus-Hunter was surprisingly fun, but I thought the ladder match was pretty bad.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE PPV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on the PPV, click here.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE PPV REAX #1: "I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point; it ended with a semicolon and a question"

WWE PPV REAX #1: Battleground finish generates mixed reactions...

WWE PPV REAX #2: In-Person Battleground Report on overall show, reactions, more