WWE WrestleMania 29 PPV Report
April 7, 2013
MetLife Stadium in E. Rutherford, N.J.
Report by James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

One-Hour PPV Pre-Show Coverage

The pre-show opened with Josh Mathews and Matt Striker ringside to set the stage for WrestleMania and promote the various methods to order the PPV. Mathews and Striker then fed to Scott Stanford.

Stanford was up in the stadium positioned like sports announcers bringing their studio show out of the studio and into the arena for the Playoffs or big sporting events. Nice touch. Stanford was joined by a panel of Jim Ross, Kofi Kingston, and Dusty Rhodes. Kingston was positioned in-between JR and Rhodes, apparently to make sure OU vs. UT doesn't break out in a football stadium.

All three talked WrestleMania, then Stanford fed to a video package on the World Title feud between Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger. Back at the Stanford Studio, Ross said Swagger is not the same Swagger that he discovered at OU. He said Del Rio is in for a battle tonight, Kofi said Del Rio is very focused tonight, and Rhodes talked about Del Rio grabbing hold of the American Dream tonight.

Back to Striker and Mathews as YouTube indicated that 87,000 people are watching the pre-show right now. Mathews plugged a WM30 contest, then noted the sad reality is that Triple H might not be part of next year's Mania if he loses to Brock Lesnar tonight. This led to a video package on the Hunter-Lesnar feud.

Back to the Stanford Studio for Rhodes to find the words on Hunter-Lesnar. Perhaps he was distracted by some fans chanting, "We Want Ryder" near the studio. Dusty said he's been in this situation and he knows what Hunter is thinking right now. Kofi Kingston then talked up the feud before throwing to Ross. JR said what he knows is that Paul Heyman is advising a monster who is trying to end Hunter's career tonight.

Outside: Tony Dawson was in the crowd to meet some wrestling fans outside MetLife Stadium.

Backstage: Snooki was shown texting, then The Miz walked up to her to congratulate her on being a new MILF. "Mother I'd Like To Friend," Miz clarified. Wade Barrett interrupted and ran down Miz and Snooki. Miz responded by giving Snooki a tweet about taking away the one thing that makes Barrett relevant - the IC Title. Barrett told him he'll show Miz a new kind of reality, then stomped off. Snooki said Miz's spray-tan looks awesome and not to sweat Barrett.

Back to ringside, where Mathews and Striker reset the pre-show. This led to a video package on the Mark Henry vs. Ryback feud. The show cut backstage to Mark Henry being interviewed about what he plans to do to Ryback - make it memorable for him because he's going to be entered into the Hall of Fame. Back to Stanford Studio for a discussion of Henry-Ryback.

Next was a look at The Undertaker vs. C.M. Punk feud - will Punk be the One in 20 and 1 tonight? Nice graphics package putting Punk's signature arm-pose in the shape of a "1" in a 20-1 graphic to suggest The Streak is in jeopardy tonight. Back to Stanford Studio, where Ross said Punk has been the MVP of WWE over the last year, but predicted Taker wins tonight.

With 104k watching this on YouTube half-way through, Mathews sent the pre-show back outside to Tony Dawson to talk amongst the people. Back to ringside, Mathews and Striker talked social media from ringside. Included was a Tout bit with Judah Friedlander backstage at WrestleMania.

Next was a look at The Shield vs. Randy Orton, Sheamus, and Big Show in the six-man tag war tonight. Back at Stanford Studio, Rhodes said he hasn't seen anyone who can get it done against Shield, but he thinks tonight they might get The Viper. Kofi equated it to football since Shield is clicking as a unit, then Ross said potential dysfunction among Team Orton could be the deciding factor. Stanford then sent it down to the ring for the pre-show match.

In-ring: The Miz, dressed in N.Y. Jets green, was introduced for the Intercontinental Title match. No special ring intro or Balloon Letters for Miz this year. It appeared that Michelle Beadle was caught on-camera anticipating Miz's arrival. After Miz hit the ring, IC champion Wade Barrett was introduced.

A -- IC champion WADE BARRETT vs. THE MIZ -- Intercontinental Title match

The stadium looked completely packed, unlike during the pre-show last year in Miami when empty seats could be seen atop the stadium. In the ring, Barrett controlled the action early on as the crowd felt out the match. Barrett cut off Miz's comeback, then teased The Bullhammer elbow, but Miz ducked. Miz flowed right into the figure-four leglock center-ring. Barrett reached for the ropes, then finally reached back to grab the bottom rope.

Barrett then used the ref to cause confusion allowing Barrett to nail Wasteland for a very close two count. Miz then took down Barrett by the ankle and flowed right into the figure-four leglock. It appeared he practiced that all week, as it looked clean. Barret then tapped out, giving Miz the win and the IC Title. After the match, Miz celebrated in the ring, then celebrated with family members on the front row.

WINNER: Miz via submission at 4:06 to capture the Intercontinental Title.

Of note, it's now raining in the stadium.

Back to Stanford Studio, where the announcers talked Rock-Cena II. Ross said if the match goes under 30 minutes, then he's betting on Rock, but if it goes over 30 minutes, then he has Cena. Kingston said Cena can't make a mistake by showboating like he did last year. Rhodes said it's time for them to walk down the aisle and paint that picture of victory.

This led to a full-length video package on the Cena vs. Rock two-year feud leading to their WrestleMania re-match tonight. 109k watching on YouTube at this point. The video package ended the pre-show, which was pretty underwhelming with four minutes of wrestling in an extended-length hour show, but the goal was to pitch the WrestleMania PPV to the general audience, so it was understandable. The Stanford Studio with Ross, Dusty, and Kingston was great, though, so perhaps it's a wash.

Well, before it was over, WWE cut back to the stadium, where Justin Roberts was heard introducing JBL for the main PPV commentary. Trademarks flashed on the screen as WWE went to an overhead shot of the stadium to close the PPV pre-show.

LIVE WRESTLEMANIA PPV RESULTS CONTINUES IN THE MAIN PPV ARTICLE ON PWTORCH.COM & THE APPS...

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