Leading up to WrestleMania 26 on March 28 in Arizona, we will be publishing a daily WrestleMania PPV flashback report going back to 1992 at WrestleMania 8. We'll be publishing one PPV flashback report around 12:00 p.m. CST every afternoon until this year's WrestleMania.

-- Thursday, Mar. 11 - WrestleMania 8 (1992): Hogan vs. Sid, Warrior run-in
-- Friday, Mar. 12 - WrestleMania 9 (1993): Hart vs. Yokozuna, Hogan wins title
-- Saturday, Mar. 13 - WrestleMania 10 (1994): Razor vs. HBK, Bret vs. Owen
-- Sunday, Mar. 14 - WrestleMania 11 (1995): LT vs. Bigelow, Diesel vs. HBK
-- Monday, Mar. 15 - WrestleMania 12 (1996): HBK-Hart Iron Man match
-- Tuesday, Mar. 16 - WrestleMania 13 (1997): Hart vs. Austin, Sid vs. Taker
-- Wednesday, Mar. 17 - WrestleMania 14 (1998): Austin vs. HBK, Taker vs. Kane
-- Thursday, Mar. 18 - WrestleMania 15 (1999): Rock vs. Austin I
-- Friday, Mar. 19 - WrestleMania 16 (2000): Rock vs. Foley vs. Hunter vs. Show
-- Saturday, Mar. 20 - WrestleMania 17 (2001): Rock vs. Austin, TLC, Shane vs. Vince
-- Sunday, Mar. 21 - WrestleMania 18 (2002): Rock vs. Hogan, Hunter vs. Jericho
-- Monday, Mar. 22 - WrestleMania 19 (2003): Rock vs. Austin III, Hogan vs. McMahon
-- Tuesday, Mar. 23 - WrestleMania 20 (2004): Benoit-Hunter-HBK, Lesnar-Goldberg
-- Wednesday, Mar. 24 - WrestleMania 21 (2005): Batista-Hunter, Cena-JBL, Angle-HBK
-- Thursday, Mar. 25 - WrestleMania 22 (2006): Hunter-Cena, Rey wins first World Title
-- Friday, Mar. 26 - WrestleMania 23 (2007): Cena-HBK, Taker-Batista, Vince shave
-- Saturday, Mar. 27 - WrestleMania 24 (2008):
-- Sunday, Mar. 28 - WrestleMania 25 (2009):
-- Sunday, Mar. 28 - WrestleMania 26 Live Coverage

WrestleMania PPV Flashback Report - WM 23 (2007)
April 1, 2007
Detroit, Mich. at Ford Field
Report by Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

-- Find out how to sign up for a Torch VIP membership to access the Torch Staff Audio Roundtable Review of WrestleManias 1-10 right now!

KELLER'S MATCH RESULTS & ANALYSIS

-They cut to the inside of Ford Field and Vince McMahon introduced Aretha Franklin for the singing of "America the Beautiful." Viscera didn't hit on her, by the way. She did a very nice job with the performance.

-An "All Grown Up" video aired, then they cut to a huge pyro show on the entrance set and panned the crowd. Jim Ross and Michael Cole introduced the show. It would have been such a disrespectful move to not let Ross and Lawler introduce this show, so it's good to see they kicked it off. Michael Cole and JBL then graciously thanked Ross and Lawler for the intro, then threw to Joey Styles & Tazz. The wide angle of Ford Field was pretty awesome.

1 -- MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: Edge vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. King Booker (w/Sharmell) vs. C.M. Punk

Order of entrance: Jeff, Booker, Finlay, Punk, Kennedy, Matt, Orton, Edge. When Kennedy stepped onto the stage, he reached up and down came a mic on a cable. He introduced himself from the stage. Finlay dove onto a crowd of everyone but Edge on the floor. Edge went for a quick win by climbing the ladder, but Matt cut him off. There were several more attempts at climbing early. Booker went for a ladder under the ring, but he pulled out the mini-ladder. He got bug-eyed and frustrated. Punk used it as a weapon. Edge then hit Punk with it, who came up bleeding. Punk suplexed Edge onto the mat in retaliation. Booker did the Spinarooni at 5:00. Matt and Jeff set up a faceplant on Edge on two ladder in the ring, but Finlay knocked Jeff off the top rope. Kennedy missed a Kenton Bomb attempt on Matt and landed on the ladder. Hardy hit a Swanton on Kennedy.

All six announcers took turns talking. Matt and Jeff held a ladder together and rammed it into various wrestlers. JBL predicted they'd turn on each other. Thhey both climbed the ladder. Jeff punched Matt; mattt fired back. Finlay knocked them both off the ladder over the top rope. Edge speared severyone except for Punk, who leapfrogg3ed him to avoid it at 8:00. Punk then helicoptered the ladder into everyone. Edge speared Punk and the way Punk's neck crunched, it might have been the most dangerous spot of the match so far. Edge climbed the giant ladder, but Orton tipped it over and Edge spilled all the way to ringside. Jeff face-planted Orton at 10:00. With the giant ladder stretched over the ring apron and ring barrier, Jeff dove off of another giant ladder with a butt splash onto Edge. The ladder broke in half and they landed with a thud.

After two excellent replays, paramedics came to ringside and tended to both of them. Edge was tenderly moved onto a back brace and he looked convincingly to be in rough shape. Orton surprised Matt with an RKO. he followed with RKOs on Finlay and Kennedy. Orton found a ladder and began climbing it. He reached up stupidly after two rungs when he was still sevferal feet away. That gave Punk a chance to hit him from behind. Edge was wheeled to the back. Orton gave Punk an RKO off of a ladder. Tazz said to bring the back brace back. Orton set up an RKO on Booker off the ropes, but Booker turned it into a Book End. Booker climbed the ladder. Matt met him on the other side. Sharmell entered the ring and yanked on Matt's leg. Ross pointed out it was a no DQ match. As Booker reached for the ladder, Matt threatened to DDT Sharmell. Booker chivalrously made the save rather than win the match. Matt climbed the ladder. Finlay tipped his ladder over. Finlay was sporting a big gash on the top of his head. Finlay, with a smile, gave a Keltic Cross to Hardy on the ladder.

Finlay set up two ladders in mid-ring next to each other. Hornswaggle ran into the ring and began climbing the ladder. When he got to the top, he still couldn't reach the ladder. Kennedy climbed the other ladder. Hornswaggle slapped Kennedy twice. Kennedy took a deep breath, then lifted him onto his shoulders and gave him his signature flip off the ladder onto the mat. As Finlay climbed the ladder, Punk dropkicked the ladder to knock Finlay down. Punk climbed to the top and touched the ladder, but Kennedy then met him at the top. A ref slipped another ladder into the ring. He grabbed the ladder with one hand, but Punk shoved him to the mat. Punk then grabbed the ladder, but Kennedy rammed Punk to the floor with a ladder (the one the ref just slipped into the ring). Kennedy climbed the ladder and grabbed the briefcase.

WINNER: Kennedy in 20:00.

STAR RATING: ***3/4 -- Just crazy mad insanity with tons of big spots. They got the injured Edge out of there early, but may have injured him in the process of getting him quickly out of the match. The match didn't overstay it's welcome, and was too dangerous to be replicated often. In fact, most everyone in it deserves a month or two off.

-Ross introduced a clip of the movie premiere of "The Condemned" on Friday night in Detroit. They showed the night vision reactions of the audience and then interviews with people leaving the theater. Austin said the response to the movie was "priceless." It's released Apr. 27.

-Todd Grisham interviewed Kennedy backstage. Kennedy interupted Grisham and said, "Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah." Then he said what you'd expect him to say in victory. He said to the champions, "I'm coming for ya' anytime, any place." He said good guys finish last, so thank god I'm not a nice guy. "Thank God I'm Mr. Kennedy. Thank God I'm Mr. Money in the.... Bank!"

-An "All Grown Up" video aired.

2 -- KANE vs. THE GREAT KHALI

Smart placement of this match since nothing could follow the MITB match other than the complete opposite style match. Khali out-muscled Kane to the mat in the opening minute. Ross and Lawler called this match because, apparently, Khali is officially a Raw wrestler and they got by height or something when picking announcers. After a Khali nerve hold, they exchanged some punches. Kane tied Khali into the ropes, then grabbed his chain and hook. Kane hooked the chain on the top rope, then yanked the chain between Khali's legs. Kane went for a cover, but Khali power-kicked out. They took turns trying to chokeslam each other. Khali used two arms to lift and slam Kane to the mat. Khali then stood on Kane's chest and got the clean pin. Afterward, Khali choked Kane with his own chain, then left.

WINNER: Khali in 5:00.

STAR RATING: 1/2* -- You know, it wasn't horrible. They wrestled within their skillset. There is hope for Batista after all.

-Backstage, Cryme Tyme talked with Eugene backstage. They told him he "looks like a playa." Then the Extreme Expose team danced. Then Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young showed up in the same outfits. Eugene danced with them. Slick then made his triumphant return to WWE and did some dancing on his owwn. Everyone chanted, "Go Slick. Go Slick." Dusty Rhodes showed up and joineed the dance party. Sgt. Slaughter, Jimmy Harrt, I.R.S., and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat showed up and danced. Gerlad Brisco also joined in. Then Ron Simmons walked into the area. Everyone stopped in their tracks and stared. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Damn!"

3 -- CHRIS BENOIT vs. MVP -- U.S. Title Match

After some nice early wrestling exchanges with Benoit, Cole said he didn't know MVP had that in him. Benoit hit three German suplexes at 4:00. MVP executed a superplex off the top rope at 5:00, but Benoit turned it into a small package for a near fall. MVP then threw Benoit shoulder-first into the ringpost. Cole said that could limit Benoit being able to apply his submission holds later. Benoit slipped on a Crossface, but couldn't get a solid grip because of his shoulder being damaged. MVP then danced and dropped an elbow and cradled Benoit for a near fall. Benoit came back with a series of unreleased back suplexes. Then he connected with a top rope headbutt and scored the clean pin.

WINNER: Benoit in 9:00.

STAR RATING: **1/2 -- Good match. MVP showed he can look "in place" in a serious match against someone of Benoit's caliber.

-A commercial aired for WWE Shop Zone.

-Backstage, Donald Trump was on a cell phone and he said Vince McMahon is a bad man because he wasn't catered to. He was sitting next to a former Miss USA. Boogeyman's music played and the lights turned red. Boogeyman showed up behind Trump. The Miss USA lady ran away. Trump no-sold it, like he sees that sort of thing every day. He ordered a sandwich. Boogeyman laughed and said he would. He said if Boogeyman brings him a sandwich, he'll bring him some worms. Now if Trump wanted to prove he was really game, he'd have bitten into a worm sandwich.

-Hall of Fame ceremony highlights aired. Jerry Lawler said he was backstage with William Shatner and the no. 1 topic of conversation was Viagra.

-Lilian Garcia announced the official attendance was 80,103, which if accurate, beats the real attendance (78,000) for WrestleMania 3. She then introduced Howard Finkle, who then introduced the 2007 Hall of Fame Class. It would have been really funny if Mr. Fuji threw salt in the eyes of the person pushing his wheelchair.

4 -- BATISTA vs. UNDERTAKER -- World Hvt. Title Match

Teddy Long was ring announcer for this match. Batista came out first, even though he's the champion. Undertaker's ring entrance was among the most spectacular ever in WWE. The set was cool. They showed one fan holding up a "15-0" sign and another fan held up "14-1." Batista speared Taker tot he mat to open the match. There were audible boos immediately. Taker fired away with a barrage of punches. Batista switched positions and drove his shoulder into his mid-section. More boos. JBL said Batista's title reign was fed off of the energy of the fans, but tonight he wouldn't have them. Taker yanked Batista out of the ring and rammed his face into the ring barrier. He whipped him into the ringside steps. Taker was as cut and defined as ever, without looking bulky (like Batista always does). Batista climbed to the top rope and shoulder-tackled Taker. He followed up with a clothesline and some punches, then a bodyslam. More boos. At 3:00 they exchanged punches. Every time Taker threw a punch, they cheered. Every time Batista threw a punch, they booed. Taker then hit a big boot and a legdrop for a two count. Taker walked the top rope and came off with a forearm. When Taker went for a chokeslam, Batista blocked it. Taker followed with a flying shoulder and almost overshot Batista. Taker gave Batista guillotine legdrop on the ring apron. Taker then hit a running shoulder tackle over the top rope onto Batista on the floor. Nice spot. The replay made it seem like Taker had wings. Taker punched away at Batista. Batista reversed Taker into a bunch of chairs at ringside. Lilian barely got out of his way. More boos. Batista tore apart an annouce desk and gave Taker a running powerslam off of one table through another at 10:00. Back in the ring, Batista scored a near fall. A minute later he scored another two count. Batista punched away at Taker in the corner, but Taker turned it into a Last Ride. Cole declared that there would be a new champion, so of course Batista kicked out at two. JBL said this type of action is why you wait all year for WrestleMania. Batista made a comeback and shook the ropes. Taker came back with a sudden chokeslam for another two count. Batista powered out. batista slipped out of Taker's grip and hit a spear, prompting crowd boos. Batista gave Taker the Batista Bomb. Cole declared that Taker's streak was over, giving away Taker's kickout. Taker did kick out. Batista got up with a look of disbelief. Batista set up a second Batista Bomb. Taker backdropped out of it for a huge pop. Batista kicked Taker in the gut and lifted Taker. Taker slipped out and lifted Batista for a Tombstone. He dropped Batista. Cole didn't declare the match over, so of course that was the pin. Taker celebrated and made a long, slow walk to the entrance stage where flames and pyro marked his departure in dramatic fashion.

WINNER: Undertaker in 16:00 to capture the World Hvt. Title.

STAR RATING: **** -- Really good. They included moves they were capable of without any down time, filler, or overambitious spots that could lead to embarassment or disaster. Taker carried the vast majority of the action of course, but Batista gets credit for not screwing anything up and looking decent throughout. The big spots were designed well and managed to not seem anticlimactic despite the wild spots in the opener. A very well designed match.

-A "All Grown Up" video aired on Bobby Lashley.

-Stephanie McMahon rolled her baby up to grandpa Vince, who made some funny faces and noises. Steph seemed concerned when he reached out to touch the baby. There was a camera inside the baby carriage, which was entertaining and stupid at the same time. Why does everything Stephanie touch destroy any chance of suspending disbelief. Steph told Vince he was going to scare the baby as Vince began getting really intense as he talked about his battle with Trump. Vince then began noticing a bad smell. He said the baby just "took a Trump."

5 -- ECW ORIGINALS (Sabu & Rob Van Dam & Sandman & Tommy Dreamer) vs. THE NEW BREED (Matt Striker & Marcus Cor Von & Elijah Burke & Kevin Thorn).

A few minutes in, the heels isolated on Dreamer. Dreamer gave both a combo DDT/neckbreaker on both Burke and Cor Von. Tazz said he wanted to say he never thought he'd see the day ECW was on a WrestleMania. RVD got the hot-tag at 5:00. Sabu flip dove over the top rope and folded in half. Dreamer, meanwhile, beat up Striker in the ring, then posed with his arms extended. Bad idea in an eight-man tag match, as he was jumped frombehind. RVD a minute later hit a Five-Star on Striker for the three count.

WINNER: ECW Originals in 6:00.

STAR RATING: *3/4 -- Not a lot to it, but okay. Not dragged out. Surprising finish, but either way it doesn't matter much.

-An "All Grown Up" video feature aired on Steve Austin.

-A video aired announced that The Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla. would host WrestleMania 24 next year.

-Ross and Lawler acknowledged Thomas "The Hitman" Hearns.

6 -- UMAGA (w/Vince McMahon) vs. BOBBY LASHLEY (w/Donald Trump) -- Billionaire Hair Match

Ross and Lawler announced this match. Vince came out first and played with the barber equipment at ringside. Then Umaga with Armando Alejandro Estrada. Then Donald Trump walked out with his signature gut-hiding long jacket. He had the blond woman with him, of course. Then Lashley came out. Then Austin. In the opening minute, Lashley hit Umaga with a barrage of punches. Austin forced a break. Lashley turned to complain to Austin. Umaga hit lashley from behind. A minute later, Lashley hit a shoulder tackle and went for a pin. Estrada put Lashley's leg over the bottom rope to stop the count. Lashley yanked Estrad into the ring and gave him a running powerslam, then threw him over the top rope to the floor. Umaga charged Lashley, but Lashley ducked and Umaga hit the floor with a thud on his butt. Umaga got up and checked on the KO'd Estrada at ringside. Lashley dove at Umaga, but Umaga side-stepped him and Lashley flew through the ropes to the floor. At 3:00, Umaga choked Lashley. Austin began his count. Umaga yapped at Austin. Umaga went back to the choke. Austin yanked Umaga off by the braids. Umaga dominated Lashley methodically for a couple of minutes. Lashley tried to lift Umaga for a bodyslam, but Lashley fell backward leading to a two count Vince stood on the ring apron, but Lashley ran the ropes and knocked him to the floor. They showed Trump at ringside yell, "Shake it off, Lashley. Come on!"

Lashley press slammed Umaga to the mat. Both men were down as Austin began his count. Before he got to ten, he just stopped. Austin signalled someone is going to get their head shaved, so he's not ending the match in a draw. He said no countouts. Shane McMahon ran to ringside to check on Vince. Umaga punched at Lashley in the corner of the ring. Austin yanked him off of Lashley by his eye socket. Shane entered the ring. Austin turned to Shane, so Shane bailed out. Umaga surprised Austin with a punch, and Austin took a hard flatback bump and rolled out of the ring. Shane entered the ring and punched away at Lashley. Lashley grabbed Shane. Umaga then attacked Lashley from behind. Shane and Umaga doubled on Lashley. Umaga charged Lashley's head with a butt-butt. Vince handed Shane a trasih can. Shane gloated to Trump, then hit a cross-ring dropkick into the trash can, kicking it into Lashley's face. Shane removed his shirt to reveal a referee shirt underneath. He dragged Lashley to center-ring and left him there for Umaga to hit his top rope splash. As Shane began his three count, Austin yanked him out of the ring by the leg. Austin threw Shane into the ringside steps, then returned to the ring. Umaga punched Austin again. They showed Trump saying, unconvincingly, "What's going on here."

Trump then charged at McMahon with a diving and threw some punches at him. Trump didn't look like he's ever been in a fight in his life the way he tackled and punched Vince. Austin hit the Stunner on Umaga. Lashley hit a Spear and scored the three count. The bell rang before the third count. Someone's getting chewed out for that.

WINNER: Lashley in 13:00.

STAR RATING: *1/2 -- A train wreck. Not horrible, but not good. Trump was pretty bad in his role, but not as bad as some may have feared. Austin was good. Lashley and Umaga were just background players.

-Vince began making Eugene faces. Austin threw McMahon into the ring and grabbed him by his tie. Shane hit Austin from behind. Austin hit Shane with a Thesz Press and a barage of punches and his elbow drop followed by a Stunner. They showed Vince trying to sneak away on all fours. Vince began backing up toward the stage, looking lke he couldn't be caught. Lashley chased him down and carried him back to the ring. Austin walked up behind Vince. Vince felt behind him and rubbed Austin's bald head. Austin then gave McMahon a Stunner and strapped him into the barber chair. Trump pulled out clippers. Lashley did also. They each shaved half of his head as McMahon cried and Austin held him in place. Then they squirted shaving cream all over his head, then took a pair of razors to his head to really shave him bald. Lashley held a mirror up to McMahon, who was shaved pretty close to bald except for a nub on the back. McMahon saw himself and tried to tip himself over in shock, but he couldn't get the chair to fall over. Austin helped. Austin then walked to the back, hunched over and humiliated. Austin then surprised Trump with a Stunner. Trump didn't take it well, but he took it. Trump's weird hair flew all over the place. That footage will be studied by those fascinated by Trump's hair for decades.

-Cole and Tazz talked about the WrestleMania Bonus Match that took place before the PPV began. Ric Flair & Carlito won a lumberjack tag match over Chavo Guerrero & Gregory Helms. Snitsky, Shannon Moore, Johnny Nitro, and others left off the show were the lumberjacks, getting their chance to be at the ringside area at the big show. The downside is it does damage to the idea that a lumberjack match is a special stip to keep heels from escaping the match.

6 -- MELINA vs. ASHLEY - Women's Title Lumberjill Match

This is the traditional role for the women's match at big shows - to give everyone a chance to take a deep breath. The crowd was quiet for this. Melina whipped Ashley around by her legs. Ashley ran the ropes at half speed. They went into a bridge pin into a reversal with Melina scoring the leverage pin. The lumberjills had a big batttle royal style brawl after the match for a half minute. They played Ashley's music for some reason as she stood in the ring even though Melina clutched her title at ringside.

WINNER: Melina in 3:00.

STAR RATING: neg. *

-They revealed that the fan mobile vote picked Cena to beat Michaels by a 59-41 percent margin. The fans picked Undertaker to beat Batista by an 82-18 margin.

-A video feature aired hyping the Cena-Michaels main event.

7 -- JOHN CENA vs. SHAWN MICHAELS - WWE Hvt. Title match

Michaels came out first to the DX music. They went outside Ford Field with a Mustang speeding around the streets of Detroit. It sped into the arena, squeeling its tires. It burst through a wall of glass with the WrestleMania logo on it. Then, after about 30 seconds for Cena and the real driver to climber over each to switch places, Cena got out of the driver's side as if he was the driver. Cena was booed once he entered the ring. Michaels looked more orange than Hulk Hogan ever did. His lips took on a weird color, too. At that point, a fan made his way all the way into the ring where he ripped off his white shirt. Michaels smiled and waved at the fans being dragged out by security. The two had a mid-ring staredown and yap-session. Michaels slapped Cena. Cena swung at Michaels. Michaels ducked and knocked Cena down, then crotched chopped his direction. Ross and Lawler said Michaels was outwrestling and outclassing Cena in the opening minutes with wrestling moves. Michaels took Cena to the mat with a hip toss and then applied a side headlock.

At 4:00 Cena hit a clothesline, his first real offensive move of the match. The crowd booed. Cena threw Michaels over the top rope, but when Cena approached him, Michaels dropped him throat-first over the top rope, then hip-tossed Cena over the top rope to the floor. Michaels threw a stiff chop to Cena's chest, then enzuigiri'd him. He rolled into the ring to break the ref's count. Ross said he could see worry in Cena's eyes. Michaels then flipped onto Cena with a springboard moonsault onto the announcing table. Fans chanted "HBK, HBK." Back in the ring at 7:00, Michaels chopped Cena's chest in the corner. Michaels began concentrating on Cena's left leg with stomps. He yanked his leg into the ringpost. The ref asked if Cena could continue. Michaels methodically continued working over Cena. The slow early pace of the match indicated they were going well past the 20 minute mark. The fans seemed to grow impatient, wanting more of an adrenaline rush type of match. Every time Cena showed signs of life, the crowd reacted with a mix of deep boos and high-pitched cheers. Michaels charged at Cena. Cena moved and Michaels went head-first into the ringpost.

Cena then made a full-fledged comeback at 13:00 and did the UCCMe and fistdrop routine. Michaels came up bleeding heavily and escaped an FU. Cena whipped Michaels into the corner. Michaels flipped into the corner. Michaels went for a superkick, but Cena ducked and the ref took the kick. Cena then gave Michaels an FU attempt, but Michaels countered mid-move into a DDT. Michaels got up slowly and smelled his own blood. He went to ringside and unstacked the ringside steps. He dragged Cena onto the bottom step and piledriver Cena on them. It looked more realistic than that move usually does. Cena came up with a gash on the back of his head. A second ref ran to the ring as Michaels made the cover. Cena kicked out and a chorus of boos followed.

At 18:00, Michaels nipped up and climbed to the top rope. He came off with a flying elbow to Cena's chest. Michaels stomped the mat and signalled for Sweet Chin Music. Cena caught a charging Michaels with a clothesline to flatten him. That spot is the epitome of making Michaels decision to telegraph his finisher with stomps seem as stupid as the camera inside the baby carriage was earlier. They traded blows with the same boo/cheer mix as whhen Batista and Undertaker were doing it earlier. Cena hit an FU for a near fall at 22:00. Ross described this as a "memorable confrontation," which was relatively soft praise since he recognized that to that moment, it was a bit of a letdown. Michaels climbed to the top rope and dove at Cena, who rolled through and rose to his feet with Michaels in his arms. Then he lifted him for another FU. Michaels flipped out of it and went for a superkick. Cena slipped under the kick and went for an STFU. Michaels ended up going for an inside cradle. Cena came back and locked on the STFU. Michaels reached the ropes. Cena wouldn't break at first. The ref scolded him. Michaels surprised him with a kick. Both men were down. Cena got up first. He went for an FU. Michaels countered. Cena countered back and quickly applied the STFU. Michaels was center-ring and teased tapping, then he did tap.

WINNER: Cena in 27:00 to retain the WWE Title.

STAR RATING: **** -- The last five or ten minutes saved it, but four stars might be generous. Ross called it an "amazing WrestleMania main event," but even his praise seemed reserved. It was good, but it took a long time to get out of second gear. Michaels is really strong in 20 minute matches, but once you book him for more than that, he often slows down too much for the first half of the match for the "slow build." I'd say Taker-Batista was a notch better than Michaels-Cena. They were very different matches.

-Cena looked at the camera as he celebrated and said, "This was for you, Dad!" Cena approached Michaels afterward in the aisle. Michaels walked away without a hand shake. Cena saluted him anyway.

-The annual WrestleMania Highlight Video aired, which is one of the great production achievements of the year for WWE as the turnaround time on it for the quality level is astounding. They showed a clip of Hulk Hogan slamming Andre the Giant, then went right to Kane bodyslamming Great Khali. That's a stretch in terms of historical significance.

***

JON MEZZERA'S WRESTLEMANIA 23 HITS & MISSES

WrestleMania 23 HITS

Opening of the Show: Everything from the opening production video, to the introduction of the show and the amazing entrance set and the huge crowd, to Aretha Franklin singing "America the Beautiful" was very well done. Year after year, WWE hypes WrestleMania as being the biggest event of the year. When they open the show like this, it really does set it apart from other PPVs, and helps to give it that "big time" feel that they love to promote.

The Announcers: With three announce teams, and four inter-promotional matches, there was a strong possibility heading into the show that the announcing wouldn't be great, especially if they all announced each inter-promotional match. It could have been a mess to listen to. Luckily, they kept that to a minimum, only having each team announcing the opening Money in the Bank Ladder match. And even when they did that, they did a good job of it. They did not talk over each other. They did not argue with each other like we've heard in the past. Each one got in some good observations. For the rest of the show, it was one team per match as it should be. While Michael Cole did make some mistakes as usual, he wasn't that bad. JBL was very good. Jim Ross and Jerry "the King" Lawler were good as usual. They all helped to add to the matches without taking away from them.

Money in the Bank: I'm not sure that it was as good as last year's Money in the Bank match, but if it wasn't, it certainly came close, and in some ways might be seen as better. By that, I mean that it didn't feature as many crazy ladder spots. Yes, there were some, but at least to my memory, not as many. Some of the competitors (Randy Orton, King Booker, and Finlay) don't seem to belong in a ladder match. That being said, they all did a good job of playing to their own strengths within the context of the ladder match. There was more creativity without the ladder than other Money in the Bank matches. There was a repetition of moves from most of the combatants that I enjoyed, like Booker's spine busters, Edge's Spears, Orton's RKOs, and CM Punk's whirling ladder of doom (sorry, that's the best I could come up with). Of course, the spot everyone will be talking about is Jeff Hardy's suicide leap from the tall ladder in the ring onto Edge, breaking through a ladder. That was right up there with his Swanton Bomb through Bubba Ray Dudley and a table at WrestleMania 17. So, whether it was as good as last year's or not, it was certainly very good.

Mr. Money in the Bank... Bank: The right man won the match too. Mr. Kennedy has been getting a well deserved push and this will cement him as one of the top heels in all of WWE. He gave a great promo following his match. I am really looking forward to seeing where they go with him. When will he cash in his title shot? Which champion will he choose? Will he win the title? How big of a star will this win ultimately make him? I can't wait to find out.

Chris Benoit vs. MVP: With Benoit alone, I figured this would be at least a decent match, and have a chance to be a good one. It was a good match, and not just because of Benoit. MVP really carried himself well. He did surprisingly good in the opening minutes of the match with a series of matt holds and chain wrestling. He looked comfortable in a big match in front of 80,000 people. Plus, it was really cool to see Benoit actually win with the flying head butt from the top rope. How long has it been? That really sets up the next time he hits the move and goes for a cover. Recently, you knew it would be a kick out (as I assumed with MVP), but now that he used it successfully to finish off an opponent, you won't know the next time he uses it. I expected the match to be decent, hoped it would be good, and got what I hoped for.

Undertaker vs. Batista: Can anyone say that this match wasn't far better than they expected it to be? It was a very good match, possibly Batista's best. It started out with a very good entrance from The Undertaker as we've come to expect at WrestleMania. It had a hot start with Batista spearing Undertaker right away. It had good action, that went back and forth, without either guy having to sell for extended period of times. It had some great spots, particularly Batista's power bomb on Undertaker through the announce table. Although we've seen it before, I am always in awe when Undertaker flies over the top rope onto his opponent on the floor. Batista even pulled out a decent looking top rope move. The end of the match was very strong with Batista kicking out after both a chokeslam, and the Last Ride. Undertaker also kicked out of Batista's finisher, the Batista Bomb. The eventual Tomb Stone and victory for the Dead Man was great. Maybe it was helped by somewhat low expectations, but it was a very good match.

Billionaire vs. Billionaire Spectacle: This is a marginal Hit for me as it had good and bad, but I believe the good outweighs the bad. First for the bad. Trump (although I loved his interaction in the back with The Boogeyman) was not good at ring side. His cheer leading was poor. His take down of Vince McMahon was decent, but his punches were weak. Somebody should have told him to knock Vince down, and then get up and stomp on him a few times. Stomps are much easier to pull off for a non-wrestler than punches. Anyway, he also looked real bad taking the Stone Cold Stunner. I called this a "Spectacle" instead of a "Match" because it wasn't really a match. I mean, the match and the two men in the match were secondary to everything going on outside of the match, Trump, McMahon, the hair vs. hair stipulation, and special guest referee Steve Austin. The "match" itself was decent, with o.k. action and a few really nice spots, like Umaga's flying over the top rope and landing hard on the outside. But the rest of the spectacle was good. Austin did a great job. His refusing to reach ten on his double count down was a great moment. His physicality was very good as well, as was the surprise attack by Umaga. Shane McMahon's involvement was nice. I loved his hidden referee shirt and his signature coast to coast drop kick onto the trash can. The aftermath with McMahon actually getting shaved was fun too. The match itself was secondary and never going to be a classic, but everything else was enjoyable for the most part. It could never live up to the hype since it was way over hyped, but it was still good in the end.

Main Event: Whenever Shawn Michaels is involved in a match with a credible opponent, you expect a good match, and that is exactly what we got. John Cena isn't great in the ring, but he certainly is solid, and given a good opponent, can have a very good match. Both he and Michaels delivered in the Main Event. It started out slow, but I like the psychology involved as Michaels kept ducking Cena's punches. He was getting in Cena's head and it worked well at that pace. It was interesting to see Michaels go after Cena's leg as he does not often pick apart a body part like that. The referee bump was great! One of my biggest complaints during my life time of watching wrestling is how weak referees are. They barely get bumped into and they are knocked out for several minutes. Here, a ref took Sweet Chin Music and got knocked outside of the ring. It was much more believable than most ref bumps. The last few minutes of the match were very good. The pile driver on the stairs was a sick move and showed what lengths Michaels would go to to win the Championship. The back and forth sequences at the end with each guy going for his finisher, including some nice attempts both unsuccessful and finally successful by Cena to apply the STFU were outstanding. I was really rooting for a title change, but the match was very good, and despite my disappointment in the outcome, I can't be disappointed in the match at all.

WrestleMania 23 MISSES

Dance Party: The segment started out o.k. with Cryme Tyme trying to console Eugene with Extreme Expose, followed by the surprise appearance by Moolah and Mae Young. Then it went down hill as old wrestler after old wrestler came in to keep dancing. It was very lame. WrestleMania usually features segments like this with some legends in an amusing way, but this one didn't work at all. I was happy to see Slick after so many years, but why was he there? Newer fans had no idea who he was. Even Ron Simmons and his one word promo couldn't save this silly segment.

Baby Cam: If WWE ever produces a dvd called "When Good Segments Go Bad" they should definitely include this scene when Stephanie McMahon brought her daughter in to see Vince. I like the idea of the scene. I like the fact that Stephanie didn't want her dad to touch the baby, and that she didn't like the way that Vince was talking about Trump in front of the baby. The idea of McMahon as a grandfather scaring his grandchildren with is bizarre behavior is pretty funny. But, the segment was totally ruined by the point of view shot from the baby. This was almost as bad as the infamous point of view shot of The Rock from the vantage point of the fork lift in his empty arena match with Mankind back in the day. It was a stupid camera angle that just took me out of the segment all together.

Ashley vs. Melina: Going into the night, every one knew there were only two possibilities for worst match of the night, this one and Kane vs. Khali. Kane vs. Khali was actually slightly decent and better than expected (but clearly not good enough to get a Hit). That meant that the Women's Championship match had to be much better than expected to not be the worst match of the night. But it was as bad if not worse than expected. The one thing that could have saved the match was the involvement of the Lumber Jills which could have at least given some life to the match. But, their involvement before the post-match brawl was almost nonexistent. The match was ugly, and I don't really see why Ashley acted like such a punk afterwards. Melina won clean, and Ashley reacted like she had gotten screwed. But the only ones screwed were the fans that had to sit through the match, and the competitors like Carlito, Ric Flair, Paul London & Brian Kendrick, and Johnny Nitro who were l
eft off the card to make room for this crap.

One More Match: Even with that previously mentioned crap, there could have been one more match. The show ended about 15 minutes before the hour. I didn't expect the show to go the full 4 hours, but it could have gone 5 more minutes. Take away the footage from the premiere of "The Condemned" (which we will see again on Raw, and likely ECW and Smackdown too), and/or the Dance Party mentioned above, and there would have been easily enough time for one more match. The best really would have been to replace the Divas match with a real match, take away the segments I mentioned, make the show 5 minutes longer, and then the replacement match (whatever, Flair vs. Carlito for instance) would have had time to be a good match. But even with the Divas, there was enough time and filler that could have been cut to give the fans another match.

Predictability: Perhaps my biggest problem with WrestleMania 23 was the predictability of most of the show. I knew that Mr. Kennedy was going to win. I knew that Khali would beat Kane. I knew that Chris Benoit would beat MVP. I knew that Undertaker would beat Batista. I Knew that Lashley would beat Umaga. I knew that Melina would beat Ashley. The only outcomes that I didn't know for sure were the 8-Man ECW tag match and the Main Event. But, while I didn't know which team from ECW would win, I knew that it would be a short throw away match and it was. Unpredictability in that type of match isn't nearly as good as it is in a big match, like the Main Event. I was pretty sure that Cena would win, but not completely sure. So it took until the final match of the show to get a meaningful match without a predictable finish. And even that finish wasn't a huge surprise. For the most part, WrestleMania 23 delivered good in ring action. It was enjoyable to watch. It had some very good moments. But it did not have that unpredictable feel to it, or any huge surprises to make it feel like more than just an average WrestleMania. Of course, an average WrestleMania is still pretty good.

[Torch art credit Joe Borzotta & Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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