Sunday brought us WrestleMania 28, which aired live on pay-per-view from Miami. The card was stacked with talent, huge names and thrilling action, and when all was said and done, this year's edition will stand proudly alongside the all-time great 'Manias of the past.
The pre-show match featured Primo and Epico successfully defending the WWE Tag Team Championship in a triple-threat match against the Usos and the team of Justin Gabriel and Tyson Kidd. Primo got the pin after a backstabber on Jimmy Uso.
The first match of the main card was for the World Heavyweight Championship. In the first shocker of the night, Daniel Bryan lost the title in 18 seconds to 2012 Royal Rumble winner Sheamus. After the bell rang to start the match, Bryan turned to get a good-luck kiss from valet AJ, turned back around and Sheamus hit him with the Brogue Kick for the pin and the title.
Next up was Randy Orton vs. Kane. After a back-and-forth match, Orton went for an RKO off the turnbuckles but Kane delivered a second-rope chokeslam and got the win.
The Big Show finally got his WrestleMania moment, as he defeated Cody Rhodes with the WMD punch to win Rhodes' Intercontinental Championship. Although the Big Show is a multiple-time World and Tag Team champion, this is his first ever Intercontinental title reign.
In the only women's match of the evening, Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve when Menounos rolled up Phoenix for the pin.
In one of the three biggest matches of the evening, it was the end of an era as the Undertaker and Triple H had their rematch from last year's WrestleMania, only this time the fight was in the Hell in a Cell steel cage, with special guest referee Shawn Michaels. After a long, brutal match, the Undertaker was able to hit the Tombstone piledriver for the pinfall to extend his WrestleMania winning streak to 20-0. Following the match, the three men stood together at the top of the ramp and soaked up the cheers. This may very well be the WrestleMania swan song for all three icons and if so, it was a worthy way for all of them to go out.
In a match to determine who will become the general manager of both weekly WWE television shows, Team Johnny of David Otunga, Mark Henry, Drew McIntyre, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and the Miz defeated Team Teddy of Santino Marella, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, the Great Khali, Booket T and Zack Ryder. The finish came when Zack Ryder was distracted by his girlfriend, Eve, allowing the Miz to hit him with the Skull Crushing Finale for the pinfall. Raw general manager John Laurinaitis will now be the GM of both shows and SmackDown!'s Theodore Long is out of a job. After the match, Eve turned on Ryder, hitting him with a low blow and walking out on Team Teddy.
In the first of the two main events, WWE Champion CM Punk was able to retain his title against Chris Jericho in the best pure wrestling match on the card. After a lengthy string of reversals near the end, Punk was able to cinch in the Anaconda Vice submission hold and force Jericho to tap out.
The final match of the night saw John Cena take on the Rock in what the WWE advertised as a "Once in a Lifetime" match. The two wrestlers certainly did everything in their power to live up to the hype, in a fantastic main event that went more than 30 minutes. In the end, Cena looked like he had the match won after an Attitude Adjustment but instead opted to perform his own version of the Rock's move, the People's Elbow. Rock leaped up and caught Cena in mid-move, delivering the Rock Bottom for the pinfall and the victory to end a great night of wrestling.
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