PWP’s Dan Marren is back and here to cover WrestleMania 29, as we grow closer to the end of the complete series on the grandest stage.
On April 7, 2013 WWE returned to New Jersey for WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium which would be the third WrestleMania to take place in the garden state. The event saw everything from a mini concert to Rock vs. Cena II, while it won’t go down as a top 10 WrestleMania it was still a solid event.
On the pre-show The Miz challenged Wade Barrett for the Intercontinental Championship in what was a good showing for both superstars. The match went back and forth with their finishing moves being countered until The Miz locked Barrett in the figure four leg lock for the submission victory and his second Intercontinental Championship.
Our first official match of WrestleMania saw The Sheild have their debut match at the show of shows against The Big Show, Sheamus and Randy Orton. There was some high spots like Orton hitting Rollins with a mid air RKO, Big Show spearing through The Sheild as they attempted to power bomb Sheamus, the match ultimately ended when Reigns speared Orton giving Ambrose the pinfall win.
A battle of the big men came next in Mark Henry facing Ryback. The match was what you’d expect from two big power wrestlers, slow paced but still enjoyable as they told the story of who would go down first. Mark Henry would get the victory after crashing down on Ryback’s head after avoiding getting shell shocked.
The WWE Tag Team Titles were defended next for the first time since WrestleMania 22 as Dolph Ziggler and Big E challenged Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane). The match started with an homage to AJ and Bryan being a part of the 18 second World Title match as Bryan almost pinned Ziggler after getting a kiss from AJ.
This match also saw the in ring debut of Big E which ended up as another big man battle as he was in the ring with Kane. Team Hell No retained after hitting a chokeslam and diving headbutt on Dolph Ziggler.
Up next was Chris Jericho taking on the debuting Fandango in a match that would result in Fandango’s biggest victory to date. The match went back and forth as finishers were hit for near falls the match ended when Jericho tried for the Walls of Jericho and Fandango rolled him up for the win.
In what would end up being the final World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania, Alberto Del Rio defended not only his title but his status as an American citizen against Jack Swagger who along with Zeb Colter were trying to rid America of “illegal immigrants” like Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez. After the video package Swagger was in the ring and Zeb cut a promo, which is a big indication of who’d win the bout. They went back forth with each of the submissions being countered until Del Rio was abe to lock in the Cross Armbreaker for the win.
Our first main event of the evening saw CM Punk challenge The Undertaker’s 20-0 WrestleMania undefeated streak. Everything started with Punk slapping the face of Undertaker which set the tone for what would be the match of the night.
Undertaker cleared the Spanish announcer table but took a roundhouse kick from Punk which led Punk to hit a flying elbow drop from the ring. Undertaker later on attempted The Last Ride but Punk hit him in the back of the head with the late Paul Bearer’s urn. That match ended with Undertaker hitting the Tombstone Piledriver for the victory making him 21-0 at WrestleMania.
Second main event of the evening saw a SummerSlam rematch of Triple H facing off against Brock Lesnar in a No Holds Barred match that if Triple H lost he would have had to retire from wrestling.
They quickly brawled to the outside and hit each other with anything that wasn’t nailed down, Triple H was thrown over the guard rail by Brock only to jump off it onto Brock. The two exchanged Brock’s Kimura locks but the match ultimately ended when Triple H hit the Pedigree on Brock on top of the steel steps.
For the WWE Championship The Rock defended against the 2013 Royal Rumble winner, John Cena in what would be their second WrestleMania match after the match the prior year being billed as “Once In A Lifetime”.
Moving on from that we got a decent story in the match with Cena seeking redemption against Rock for pinning him at WrestleMania 28. In a match that ultimately was their signature moves for most of the match, John Cena ultimately won by hitting The Rock with the AA to win the WWE Championship and would reign until SummerSlam.