WrestleMania 26 from Phoenix, Arizona is in the books and boy did it deliver. The grand daddy of ‘em all stuck to good solid wrestling with minimal outside interference and no run ins…just great in-ring work!

 One surprise was Edge not winning the world championship from former partner Chris Jericho. If betting on pro-wrestling was possible I would have bet the farm that The Rated R Superstar was going to capture gold to cap off a nice comeback from injury since the Royal Rumble. Hopefully the Edge vs. Jericho feud will continue on because these two thoroughbreds bring out the best in one another.

The Money In The Bank Match had a few possibilities and it was the athletic All American American who grabbed the briefcase…albeit after having one heck of a time unhooking it! This means the rocket pack for a push is on the back of Jack Swagger. Lets see what the kid can do.

Another notable was the entire Hart family (brothers, sisters, and the Hart Dynasty) were all at ringside in a double swerve where Vince thought he had bought them all out to “screw” Bret, but The Hitman really had them on his side. McMahon never got a shot in and it was essentially a total beatdown for 10 minutes, finishing with a Sharpshooter tap out. Brother Bruce Hart was the special guest referee.

The most anticipated match of the evening was ‘The Streak vs. The Career’ battle of Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. This was easily match of the night for the second consecutive year as these two veterans put their bodies on the line. HBK delivered a devestating top rope moonsault to Taker through the announcers table. Several superkicks, Tombstones, and Last Rides later it was Undertaker who made Michaels rest in peace with two back to back Tombstones. So HBK’s 25 year career is over…well at least until he magically returns 6 months down the road.

There were no real weak spots on the card, outside of the Divas 10 person tag match, making WrestleMania 26 a homerun and a must see if you missed it.

Andy McNamara has been a SLAM! Wrestling writer since 2005. He is also a play-by-play broadcaster for baseball, hockey, basketball, football, and volleyball on Rogers TV, TV Cogeco, Ryerson University, and Durham College/UOIT.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes ladies and gentleman for pro-wrestling fans this is Christmas, the SuperBowl and the Stanley Cup all wrapped up into one. WrestleMania time. A time when story lines come to a climax and new ones begin, when wrestling fans young and old can remember the good ol’ days and enjoy the current spectacle.

This Sunday the WWE will pull out all the stops in the “grand daddy of them all” WrestleMania 26. The 4 hour card looks strong overall so lets take a look at the rundown:

Chris Jericho (c) vs. Edge
 
I absolutely love this feud. Two fantastic promo men who can deliver in the ring. What could be better? The spear storyline has been terrific and this title fight will battle Taker/HBK for match of the night. Edge wins clean with a spear for his WrestleMania moment.

PICK: EDGE

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels: The Streak vs. The Career
 
No doubt the match itself will be spectacular. The nervousness comes as to whether Michaels ends Undertaker’s historic streak. HBK does need to nor should he beat Taker. That glorious moment must be saved for a prospect who needs that huge push. Ending Undertaker’s streak will make a wrestler…that spot is not for Shawn Michaels. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping the Dead Man wins and HBK takes a vacation.

PICK: UNDERTAKER

Batista (c) vs. John Cena
 
From what I thought would initially be a bland angle, this has developed into an entertaining storyline. Batista has been magnificant cocky heel champ and has shown he can cut some good promos. Naturally the fact that Cena has never beaten The Animal at WrestleMania means that Cena will pick up the 1-2-3.

PICK: JOHN CENA

Christian vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kane vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Jack Swagger vs. Montel Vontavious Porter vs. Matt Hardy vs. Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Kofi Kingston
 
The Money In The Bank Match has become a staple of WrestleMania and signifies who will be getting the next big push. Right off the bat we can knock out Kane, Benjamin and Hardy…probably Bourne too who is only there for spectacular ladder jumps. Christian would be a great choice to go into a feud with Edge. Since Drew McIntyre has been a focal point, I’ll lean towards him.
 
PICK: DREW MCINTYRE

Bret Hart vs. Vince McMahon: No Holds Barred
 
A quick point. The fact that the Hart Dynasty got ZERO rub from this angle is criminal. Now to the match. I just hope Bret doesn’t get hit in the head, because I was still under the impression that he should never wrestle again due to the stroke. This will obviously be a brawl with plenty of plunder. Although no other roster wrestlers benefit from the angle it will still be entertaining as this seemingly impossible reunion of Hart and the WWE plays out. The Hitman is going to slap on the Sharpshooter and finally put to bed 13 years of frustration as Mr. McMahon taps out!

PICK: BRET HART

ShoMiz (The Big Show and The Miz) (c) vs. John Morrison and R-Truth
 
I have no interest in the Morrison/Truth team and the sooner The Friday Night Delight can get back to singles action the better. Show and Miz make a terrific heel tandem and should retain.
 
PICK: SHOMIZ

Triple H vs. Sheamus
 
Never thought I would see Triple H in the mid card at Mania. I’m guessing The Game takes out the young pasty Irishman and begins a post WrestleMania world title run.
 
PICK: Triple H

Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase
 
The explosion of Legacy comes to a head. This trio never received the push as a unit to be a dominant force. Ted DiBiase is poised to take the next step and poor Cody Rhodes will get lost in his dust. DiBiase grabs a huge win over his former mentor and partner.
 
PICK: Ted DiBiase

Rey Mysterio vs. CM Punk

CM Punk’s cult like group has been so well done and he fits a crazed leader role perfectly. Mysterio has no hair to shave and will play his typical come from behind underdog role. With Rey coming out of the match victorious I hope that Punk does not lose momentum.
 
PICK: Rey Mysterio

Andy McNamara has been a SLAM! Wrestling writer since 2005. He also does Play-by-Play broadcasting on Rogers TV, TV Cogeco, Ryerson University, and Durham College/UOIT for baseball, hockey, basketball, volleyball, and football.

The battle for pro-wrestling dominance began this evening as TNA Wrestling kicked off at 9pm to go head-to-head versus the WWE Universe.

I took the mindset of judging the success of each program this evening by which one held my attention longest and how often I switched channels. For this night, the edge goes to TNA Impact…not by much though. TNA seemed rushed to cram as much as possible into their 2 hour slot while WWE provided a more focused program.

What kept me flipping from WWE was any interaction with guest general manager Chris Angel ‘Mind Freak’. It’s not Angel’s fault though as for the most part this new GM each week angle has been a disaster. Some positives on Raw were the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker showdown off the top and a quality matchup involving the disolving Legacy faction.

My attention was kept on Impact for more then half of the 2 hours mainly because everybody and their uncle knew surprise appearances would be plentiful. The debut of Rob Van Dam was well done as he quickly pinned Sting (who made his long awaited return in an attack earlier in the show on Hogan and Abyss). The Pope vs. Desmond Wolfe match was cancelled (probably due to the painful amount of time Scott Hall and Syxx Pac ate up) so instead they made a run in for the second part of the main event. Negatives were Brooke Hogan’s acting as she begged her Daddy not to fight anymore tonight.

The Flair/Styles vs. Hogan/Abyss headliner began Impact with Sting interrupting and Hulk demanding it be redone in the main event. Hogan and Nature Boy’s in-ring time were kept to a minimum (a definite positive), while Abyss grabbed the pinfall on world champion AJ Styles to build towards their pay-per-view battle. Surprisingly there was no Hulkamania leg drop and thumbs up to the Hulkster for letting Abyss get the rub in victory.

However, the end of the main event resulted in what looked like the writers trying to pile as many faces into the ring as possible during the final few minutes. After Wolfe and Pope ran down, Jeff Hardy sprinted to assist Hulk, Abyss, and Pope.

Raw’s main event on the other hand had Vince McMahon change the rules of his contest with John Cena to a handicap gauntlet match and then made it no DQ part way through. Thanks to Batista, Mr. McMahon was able to get a 1-2-3 over Cena.

Just like in Impact’s Monday test run earlier this year, ratings will be the story. Were Hogan and Flair enough to draw? Did Bischoff, Hulk, and the TNA brain trust make a big enough bang to make wrestling fans take notice? No matter what the number the ratings turn out to be, TNA better keep their work boots on for a long slow climb to establish themselves as true players with WWE.

Andy McNamara has been a SLAM! Wrestling writer since 2005. He is a Play-by-Play Sportscaster for hockey, baseball, basketball, football, and volleyball on Rogers TV, TV Cogeco, and internet radio.

It is put up or shut up time for TNA Wrestling as they officially declare war on Monday nights and the WWE.

The focus on Impact will be the return to the ring of both Ric Flair (teaming with AJ Styles) and Hulk Hogan (partnering with Abyss) in a tag team main event. An interesting note is that Hogan vs. Flair was Hulk’s first match in WCW and what lay the ground work for the later feud between then WWF and Ted Turner’s faction. Over a decade later we’ll see if the same pairing can start Hogan and Eric Bischoff down the same road to success.

TNA will have their hands full as WWE is clicking on all cylinders heading into WrestleMania. The storylines are working and it will be a tall order to make a dent in the WWE’s armour right now.

The goal for TNA is not to beat Vince McMahon in ratings next week, but to make a considerable improvement on their usual 1.1 range. This will be a true test as to how much buying power are still behind Hogan and Flair in 2o1o.

During the sample Monday timeslot try out earlier in the year, Impact delivered a solid show with a modest increase in ratings to 1.5. I believe this will be about the same on Monday with a spike in viewership coming for the return of the legends.

The trick of course is even if Impact draws a good number, how can they sustain it? A one time blip in viewership is hardly grounds for celebration and TNA obviously has to attempt to set up long term quality with new talent, not recycled WCW fodder.

Right now, and for the foreseeable future, the Monday wrestling sandbox belongs to WWE. The question is whether TNA is truly ready to play in it.

Andy McNamara has been a SLAM! Wrestling writer since 2005. He is a Play-by-Play Sportscaster for hockey, baseball, basketball, football, and volleyball on Rogers TV, TV Cogeco, and internet radio.