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Professor Wrestling: Final 'WrestleMania' Thoughts

Big Show, Big Comments

POSTED: 6:21 pm PDT April 5, 2007

Listen up!

Class is in session.

It's lecture time this week, and we're going to take one more look at "WrestleMania 23." Bottom line: It was an OK show. The big matches really delivered, covering up for a TERRIBLE undercard. So without further verbiage, here's what I thought of each and every match:

Money In The Bank Ladder Match: C.M. Punk vs. Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. King Booker vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Finlay
Man, this was good. I don't consider this the undercard because of the pre-show buildup. Why they started the show with it is a mystery, though. Anyway, there were lots of crazy high spots and even an appearance from "Hornswaggle," Fit Finlay's little buddy. Having Mr. Kennedy win was the right thing to do.

U.S. Title Match: Chris Benoit vs. MVP
This match was the poster child for the "WrestleMania 23" undercard. A great wrestler versus someone who has no clue what to do in the ring. Benoit certainly deserved better than trying to make MVP look good. This match was better suited for "SmackDown!," not my pay-per-view wallet.

Eight-Man Challenge Match: The ECW Originals vs. The New Breed
The right thing happened when RVD got the pin. But to be honest, this one was out of place for me. I think it should have been the opening match instead of the Money In The Bank match.

Challenge Match: Kane vs. The Great Khali
One of the worst wrestling matches of all time. Sure, it was cool to see Kane slam Khali, but that was the only "wow" moment here. The rest was complete dreck. Vince should get over this Khali character. He brings NOTHING to the table.

Women's Title Match: Melina vs. Ashley
It was horrible. It was short. It was a complete waste of my time and money. WWE should abolish the Women's division if they're not going to stock it with ANYONE who can perform. Beyond the valley of the bad.

Battle Of The Billionaires Match: Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley
The kids and adults in my basement loved this match, and for good reason. Vince McMahon, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shane McMahon really delivered here. The best part of it was when Vince was getting his head shaved by Donald Trump and Lashley. Vince deserves an Emmy for his goofy performance, and I'm not kidding.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Batista vs. Undertaker
This was really, really good -- and that surprised the heck out of me. It seemed as if these two did just enough to keep the match exciting without overextending themselves. Batista isn't a great mat wrestler, but that weakness wasn't exposed here. It was a thrilling match, and a great job by both tumblers.

WWE Championship Match: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Don't get me wrong, this was really a good match, but I wanted about 10 more minutes of action. When Michaels finally tapped out, everyone in the room said, "That's it?" Again, a fine match -- but way too short, especially if you're paying $50 to see it. Oh yeah, I wanted Michaels to win.

Time now for a letter from one of my students, a guy who actually went to the big show at Ford Field. I asked him to write down a few thoughts, setting the scene for those of us who couldn't be there in person. Take it away, C.J.:

Dear Professor,

After a week's worth of WWE madness, I learned three things: Too many Stone Cold Martini's is a bad thing; Vincent Kennedy McMahon has to be the most hated individual in the WORLD and "WrestleMania" is the BIGGEST party in the world.

That being said, my Sunday night started on a pretty bad note. The first match wasn't the Money in the Bank Ladder match that you all at home saw, but in fact a Lumberjack tag team match featuring Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero against Ric Flair and Sideshow Bob … errr … Carlito. The crowd itself was extremely subdued, and while Flair and Carlito won it was pretty much insulting to see Flair reduced to that role.

However, once WM23 officially started, the 90,000 people there rocked all night. While my seats were nosebleed (Umaga looked like a supermodel from where I was sitting), it didn't take away from the excitement.

Being a Detroiter, I have seen a Super Bowl, three Stanley Cup championships and three NBA championships. But I have never experienced anything quite like the crowd that packed Ford Field on Sunday. The crowd got so loud during the Undertaker-Batista match that I thought the place was going to cave in on us.

On a side note: I think that anyone who threw down some hard-earned money to either attend -- or watch it on pay-per-view -- ought to be given a small refund for being forced to sit through Kane-Great Khali. What a HORRIBLE match that was.

Also, it would have been awesome to see the Heartbreak Kid win out over Cena, but that's showbiz.

C.J. in Detroit

C.J., thanks for the great letter!

Hey, speaking of greatness, have you caught the "Old School, New School" podcast yet? There are 26 spectacular episodes for you and your pals to download, so get to it. The podcast page link is in the "Professor's Choice" sidebar above. Make sure to click it. This week, yours truly and my co-hosts Dr. Mike Lano and George Schire look back at "WrestleMania 23," a show you really don't want to miss! Again, it's Episode 26, and you can download it by clicking right here.

That's it!

Now scram!

Class is dismissed!

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting. Got a question, comment, complaint? E-mail him right here. )


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