WrestleMania 27: My Experience

Simply sharing my thoughts on the WrestleMania experience…
 
 
 
 

Oh..written in the stars, a million miles away…

Since I was 6 years old I’ve dreamed of going to WrestleMania. My first wrestling memory is of Shawn Michaels coming down from rafters on the zipline. From that moment on, WrestleMania became one of the biggest days of the year for me. It seemed only logical then that when it was announced that WrestleMania was going to be in Atlanta that I would attend. I’ll go on record now and say that I’m a wrestling fan. I love Ring of Honor. I love Pro Wrestling Guerilla. I love Chikara Pro. I love Dragon Gate USA. I love wrestling. However, there’s a certain aura that goes with WrestleMania every year and whether we like to admit it or not, most of us feel it. I didn’t go to WrestleMania to see a classic wrestling show. I went to be entertained. I went to see the biggest spectacle in sports entertainment. I wanted to see the showcase of the immortals. After all the hype I had built up in my mind due to years of following this great business I’m happy to say that I did not leave disappointed. We can debate the quality of the show for days (and I’m sure we will). I’m not writing this to review the show either because Justin Houston has already done a superior job at that. I’m simply here to offer my quick thoughts on the event as a whole.
I got to my seat around 5:45 and by 6 there were already dueling “Let’s go Cena”, “Cena Sucks” chants. I know everyone and their mother hates on Cena, but when people are cheering and booing you almost 4 hours before you come out you’re doing something right. The arena was electric most of the night with the only lags in electricity being during the backstage segments.  The Rock’s open to the show was simply amazing. I had legitimate goosebumps the entire time he was in the ring. He had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand the entire night. After he left the ring and we got the opening pyro with the set and all (which was awesome this year as always) it was really on.
The magic and electricity never left the building. Sure there were moments when it waned, but those moments were few and far between and were mostly relegated to the backstage segments (with the exception of the Rock/Austin segment) that aired on the video boards. Every time Justin Roberts signaled the beginning of the next match the crowd came back to life.
One of the biggest moments for me was watching CM Punk come out. I’ll fess up that I’m a huge Punk fan. I’d go so far as to say that I’m a borderline mark for the guy. Here’s what I appreciated about the Punk/Orton match: they told a fantastic story that had the crowd emotionally invested the whole time. From the failed attempt at the punt by Orton to the eventual end with the RKO…the crowd bought in.
As big as seeing Punk was for me, there’s just something about seeing the Undertaker. I’d been able to see The Deadman once before at a SmackDown! taping, but WrestleMania was just something else entirely. The entrances of both HHH and The Undertaker were off the charts and had the crowd in a frenzy. In addition to the “Let’s go Cena” “Cena Sucks” dueling chants that were going on around 6 pm, there were also dueling “19-0” “18-1” chants. Both guys were so insanely over. I found myself cheering for both, as I would have been pleased with either outcome. The finish with Hell’s Gate received a huge pop and both men got well deserved standing ovations.
My final thought is this: it felt like The Miz belonged. I never thought I would say that. But he really felt like and looked like he belonged in the main event of WrestleMania. Maybe I was caught up in the spectacle and the grandeur of the event…but I bought in to what The Miz was selling. The actual match itself was nothing to write home about, but the ending involving The Rock (who received a massive pop when he came back out) set up his storyline with Cena nicely.
WrestleMania was an experience of a lifetime. The event on Sunday itself ended up being worth the trip for me. All the other events I attended over the weekend were just icing on the cake that was WrestleMania weekend. Sorry if I’ve rambled a little bit in this. If you’ve made it this far thanks for sticking with me.
 
 
Contact me:
Twitter.com/matgalyon
Youtube.com/mattg865
msgalyon@gmail.com