WWE WrestleMania 29 LIVE Review

WrestleMania comes home and it's twice in a lifetime as Rock & Cena go at it.....again.

So I was fortunate enough to get to go see WrestleMania live this year in MetLife Stadium. I got CM Punk's NEW T-Shirt, which is freaking awesome!!!

So I'll just be giving my live thoughts of the matches and the overall thought of seeing it live for the first time.

Here was the view from my seat.

WWE WrestleMania 29

East Rutherford, New Jersey 4/7/13

Pre-Show

1.) WWE Intercontinental Title - Wade Barrett vs. The Miz: **3/4

I thought it was ok for a four-minute match. Miz wins the title here. Their rematch from Raw the next night was better.

Main Show

1.) Sheamus, Randy Orton & Big Show vs. The Shield: ***1/4

I was really excited to see The Shield in action for the first time. This was a fine opening match. I found it enjoyable. They played up the story with babyface team well and The Shield looked good. They picked up the win after Big Show doesn't help Orton after Sheamus tagged Orton instead of Big Show. Big Show knocks both guys out and leaves.

2.) Mark Henry vs. Ryback: *1/2

This match sucked. Plain & Simple. I can't even remember anything really positive about it. From what I remember the only big move I recall Ryback hitting during the match was the Meat Hook Clothesline. The finish was stupid. Ryback should have just hit the Shell Shock & won. Henry didn't need to win.

3.) WWE Tag Team Titles - Team Hell No vs. Dolph Ziggler & Big E Langston (with AJ Lee): ***1/4

They played up the AJ/Bryan stuff last year with Ziggler playing the role of Bryan and Bryan being Sheamus. I'm so happy Bryan got to actually wrestle here. A good title match. Short but solid.

4.) Fandango vs. Chris Jericho: ***1/4

Fandango had multiple dancers in addition to his regular, and Jericho's entrance was awesome as usual. This was actually a solid match. Fandango impressed me a bit. The match itself was fine. It looked like they botched the Lionsault bit at the end but I couldn't tell.

Next we got the Sean "Diddy" Combs concert, which I used for a bathroom break. No need to see this....though I apparently missed Skylar Grey, who is hot apparently.

5.) World Heavyweight Title - Alberto Del Rio vs. Jack Swagger (with Zeb Coulter): ***

They decided not to show Swagger & Coulter's Entrance on the PPV apparently (you can tell this was the case live) so they could go straight to a Coulter promo in the ring. The match was fine, though it did feel a tad short. Lots of Ziggler chants, but no cash-in.

6.) CM Punk (with Paul Heyman) vs. The Undertaker: ****1/2

NOW we got to the great stuff. Living Colour performs Cult of Personality LIVE for Punk's entrance, which was awesome, and Undertaker's Entrance was cool as well...

Simply put, this match was awesome. Match of the Night for sure. The crowd was really into it and was essentially split. My favorite spot was when Punk hit the GTS and then 'Taker bounces off the ropes and hits a tombstone. That's Ring of Honor type stuff right there. Punk almost won with an urn shot and almost killed himself when the Spanish Announce Table didn't break after he hit a Diving Elbow from the Top Rope. Awesome Match. 'Taker goes 21-0

7.) No Holds Barred - Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs. Triple H (with Shawn Michaels): ***1/4

I will say that this was definitely an improvement over their Summerslam match. However, the crowd was burned out from the last match and really didn't care until the end. The match itself was fine, but nothing really great. Triple H used Lesnar's Arm Submission against him and Lesnar slams him on the stairs repeatedly. Triple H wins with The Pedigree on the Steel Steps. Michaels also got F5'ed by Lesnar, and hit the Sweet Chin Music on Heyman. On a side note where I was sitting, there were "Lesnar's Mom" and "Kiss and Make Up" Chants.

Next we get the annual Hall of Fame Segment. Mick Foley, Bob Backlund, Trish Stratus, Donald Trump (heavily booed), Booker T, and Bruno Sammartino (heavily cheered) were all inducted.

I also forgot to mention a Special Olympics segment involving Stephanie McMahon & NJ Governor Chris Christie.

Ton of Funk & Funkadactyls vs. Team Rhodes Scholars & The Bella Twins got bumped to the next night's Raw due to time constraints.

8.) WWE Title - The Rock vs. John Cena: ***3/4

The first part of the match was honestly a blur. I really, however, enjoyed the second half. It really got people in the Stadium on the edge of their seat. This is also a double-edged sword, as they hit finishers on each other essentially for the last Ten Minutes. No real Rock Chants from what I saw, it was more the "Let's Go Cena/Cena Sucks" chants that dominated. The crowd did pop big when Cena won, but booed when Rock & Cena shook hands & hugged.

Overall: 7.75/10 (Match Quality)

Live Experience: 9/10

When you look at the matches, it's obvious that this was a one match show. CM Punk/Undertaker delivered WWE's Match of the Year thus far, and everything aside from the Ryback/Mark Henry Match was in the good range, but the fact those matches never left the good range hurt the card a bit. Live, it was a great experience! Regardless of the quality of the card, if you get the opportunity to go to a WrestleMania, do it! No only for the show itself, but the Hall of Fame, Axxess, the various indy shows, and the Raw after WrestleMania (I only was able to attend 'Mania itself due to college). It was well worth the experience. I had a great time!