March 28th, 2010
Location: Glendale, Arizona
Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium
Attendance: 72,219
Theme song: "I Made It" by Kevin Rudolf
We have reached single digits in our countdown to the big day at MetLife Stadium, and the next step in our journey takes us to Glendale, Arizona.
As the University of Phoenix Stadium was ready for its first WrestleMania, by the end of the night, everybody would say good-bye to a legend who was competing in his last.
Thanks to the warm weather in Arizona, the stadium could leave its roof open, which meant it was the third WrestleMania to have an open-air environment. The stage setup was made to look like a giant temple, with the ramp being 50 yards long to get to the ring.
American Idol winner Fantasia would open the show with “America the Beautiful,” which was proceeded with the standard opening video package to reflect on their history and look ahead to the night.
As the pyro went off, WrestleMania 26 was underway, and the opening contest would see the new Unified Tag Team Championship from Raw and SmackDown be defended. The “ShowMiz” (Big Show and The Miz) would successfully retain their titles against John Morrison and R-Truth.
In 2009, Randy Orton formed a group named “The Legacy” with Ted DiBiase Jr. and Cody Rhodes, the sons of WWE Hall of Famers, Ted DiBiase, and Dusty Rhodes, respectively.
After Orton turned on DiBiase and Rhodes, the three would have a triple threat match in which Orton would come out on top. So much for wanting to have your new talent stand out and be crushed by somebody who’s already well established, right?
For the sixth and final time at WrestleMania, the Money in the Bank ladder match took place with a record-breaking ten men. Jack Swagger outlasted the other nine for the prestigious briefcase and won that championship opportunity. Although you have up until a year to cash it in, Swagger wasted no time to use it as he cashed in on Jericho on the first SmackDown after WrestleMania and became World Heavyweight Champion.
Although the tradition of the Money in the Bank began at WrestleMania 21, it would be turned into its own pay-per-view and see it expand over the year. From having brand-specific briefcases to the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank contract, it would be a staple that everybody looks forward to every Spring.
Triple H's streak was in a championship match since WrestleMania 18 was over as he took on Sheamus in a simple one-on-one match. If you assumed that somebody who was making their WrestleMania debut would pick up the win, think again. Triple H would leave Arizona with the win.
If there’s one thing I haven’t done in this daily series since WrestleMania 1, it's that I won't bring up any of the World Championship matches as items that stood out to me (WrestleMania 1 was by default as there was no championship match).
Instead, I’ll be briefly mentioning the two title matches now before I get to the biggest points of the night.
In 2010, Edge made a shocking return from injury at the Royal Rumble and would win the yearly battle royal. He would choose to face his former tag team partner in Chris Jericho, who had the World Heavyweight Championship.
Unfortunately for Edge, Jericho would hold on to the title, making Edge the 8th individual who did not capture gold after winning the Royal Rumble at WrestleMania.
In the WWE Championship picture, poster boy John Cena found an opportunity to challenge Batista for his title. You can say that these two have come full circle after they both left WrestleMania 21 with world titles.
Cena gained his opportunity after defending a man's actions (who I’ll speak about in a bit) and went against Vince McMahon. Batista would come in and defend his boss and go after John.
At WrestleMania, Cena would win his 7th WWE Championship and left yet another WrestleMania with the gold. I can personally understand why people kept booing this man.
That being said, let’s get into the two things that stood out to me from WrestleMania 26.
A ton of Hart
The world was exposed to the wrestling industry's harsh reality when Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels doubled crossed Bret Hart and embarrassed him in front of the whole world in Montreal at Survivor Series in 1997. The controversial moment would be known as the Montreal Screwjob.
Michaels denied his involvement, Hart punched and spat at McMahon after the incident and left for rival WCW.
Before 2009 closed, Michaels brought up the topic of the Montreal Screwjob to McMahon and stated it was time to bury the hatchet with “The Hitman.”
After hesitation, McMahon announced that Bret Hart would be a special guest host of the first Monday Night Raw in the New Year.
Of course, many wondered if this was true, knowing Hart publicly expressed his hate towards WWE. In 2006, when Bret Hart was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he attended the ceremony but skipped WrestleMania 22.
Once the news was confirmed that Hart would appear on Raw, fans immediately marked January 4th off their calendar in anticipation of his return.
WWE wasted no time as the show's start had Hart’s music hit, and sure enough, he came out to a massive ovation.
It was something that nobody thought Bret Hart would do again after the events that unfolded. He told the crowd he felt great to be back and one of the first things he wanted to do was call out Michaels to bury the hatchet because they were real-life rivals in the '90s.
With a bit of tension, Hart and Michaels embraced in the ring and put their differences aside. Insiders confirmed that the embrace was genuine and not for TV.
At the end of the night, Hart called out Vince to do the same thing. When they shook hands, thinking that it was over, McMahon kicked Hart’s groin and began a rivalry led into WrestleMania.
Despite McMahon going back and forth in refusing to match Bret, the Hitman faked a leg injury to grab the chairman's attention. It would work, and the match would be No Holds Barred.
When McMahon came out at WrestleMania, he brought out members of the Hart family and told Bret that he paid his family to turn on him and make it a lumberjack match.
Hart got creative and stated that his family told him of the situation and, instead, Vince was the odd one out as everybody began to attack him.
In a fitting end to the match, Hart put McMahon in his signature Sharpshooter submission hold and would tap out to give Bret a win 12 years in the making.
The match was terrible. However, as somebody who didn’t grow up in Bret Hart's era, it was great to see both sides of the issue put their differences aside. You need to give Vince McMahon props to agree to take the loss and be placed in a tough situation.
Bret Hart was home in the WWE, right where he belongs.
Thank you, Shawn
The “Heartbreak Kid” (HBK) Shawn Michaels came very close to giving The Undertaker his first loss at WrestleMania the year before. If there was one person who we thought could beat “The Deadman,” it was Shawn.
At the end of 2009, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker won the Slammy Award for “Best Match of the Year.” Being bitter about the result, Michaels called out Undertaker and asked for a rematch.
Given that ‘Taker was World Heavyweight Champion, he responded to Michaels and denied him of the opportunity.
Michaels then began a quest to earn a World Heavyweight Championship opportunity and became obsessed with getting his rematch and the win.
Michaels was in the final four in the Royal Rumble match before he was eliminated. Begging referee Charles Robinson to go back in the match, he attacked him and other officials for the disappointing elimination.
At the next pay-per-view in February at “Elimination Chamber,” Michaels failed to qualify for an Elimination Chamber match after losing to Orton to get his shot at The Undertaker.
During Undertaker’s Elimination Chamber match for his title, Michaels snuck into the chamber and hit him with his Sweet Chin Music superkick. Jericho, the other superstar, left in the match, took advantage of pin The Undertaker and became the new World Heavyweight Champion.
The next night on Raw, Undertaker appeared and accepted HBK’s WrestleMania challenge on one condition. If Michaels lost the match, he would be forced to retire.
With the obsession Michaels had to try again in conquering the streak, he quickly said yes, and the rematch was set for Arizona.
Fast forward to WrestleMania 26, and considering how amazing their match in Houston was, WWE decided to have it be the main event instead.
The fight was 23 minutes, a bit shorter than their encounter at WrestleMania 25 and still the longest of the night. Once again, they were putting on another classic in the ring, with Michaels giving everything he had to avoid retirement.
The match's final moment was when everybody stood still and were reminded of what went down with Ric Flair just two years prior in Orlando.
Michaels continued to kick out of chokeslams and Tombstone Piledrives. Undertaker began to yell “stay down” toward HBK to make the win a bit easier on him. As Michaels slowly got up and was eye-to-eye with ‘Taker, he slapped his opponent and told him to keep bringing it.
Undertaker didn’t like that and picked up Michaels for a third and final Tombstone Piledriver, covered him, and the referee counted to three for the pinfall.
The Undertaker’s undefeated winning streak grew to 18-0, and Shawn Michaels' career was over.
As both men slowly stood up after the match, Undertaker reached out his hand and gave HBK a handshake, which eventually turned into a hug as a sign of respect. Undertaker left the ring, and Michaels looked out to the crowd inside the University of Phoenix Stadium.
The closing image of WrestleMania 26 would have Michaels waving goodbye to those in attendance and telling everybody "thank you" as the chant of “Thank you, Shawn” faded into the night.
Final thoughts
When I first started watching WWE, Kurt Angle was my favorite superstar, even if he portrayed a bad guy.
When Shawn Michaels made his return in 2002, in an instant, he became my (new) favorite, and I was just fascinated with his talent in the ring and incredible charisma on the microphone and with his fellow superstars.
Unfortunately, I missed this WrestleMania as this was the time when I wasn’t watching WWE. As I mentioned in the past, I felt that I outgrew it and wasn’t interested in the product.
In my previous post, I said that I don’t regret missing WrestleMania 25, but I do hate the fact that I missed WrestleMania 26 and the farewell of one of the all-time greats.
It was a sign that all good things do come to an end and that we all grow up. I think WWE fans were fortunate to witness the career of somebody who started as a blond-haired rocker and watch it grow into something truly special.
We all witnessed his boyhood dream came true at WrestleMania 12 as he became a champion. We witnessed somebody make an amazing comeback after he was told he would never wrestle again. Finally, we witnessed somebody ready to hang up the boots and leave with his head held high.
I want to send my congratulations to Shawn Michaels on a fantastic career. I can’t think of a better place to have a final match than a place where he was known as “Mr. WrestleMania” and solidify his legacy.
Our hearts were broken on March 28th, but the Heartbreak Kid would live on forever.
As Shawn Michaels took his rightful place in the Hall of Fame the following year, within 24 hours, he would go from a feeling of gratitude to a feeling of nervousness as his best friend attempted to avenge his losses.
In the midst of all that, WrestleMania 27 would feature the return of one electrifying man who hadn't been on the grand stage in seven years.
Results:
- ShowMiz (Big Show and The Miz) (c) def. John Morrison and R-Truth – Unified WWE Tag Team Championship
- Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr. – Triple Threat match
- Jack Swagger def. Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Evan Bourne, Kane, Kofi Kingston, Matt Hardy, Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin – Money in the Bank ladder match
- Triple H def. Sheamus
- Rey Mysterio def. CM Punk
- Bret Hart def. Vince McMahon – No Holds Barred Lumberjack match
- Chris Jericho (c) def. Edge – World Heavyweight Championship
- Alicia Fox, Layla, Maryse, Michelle McCool, and Vickie Guerrero def. Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, and Mickie James – 10-Diva tag team match
- John Cena def. Batista (c) (via submission) – WWE Championship
- The Undertaker def. Shawn Michaels – No Disqualification Streak vs. Career match
Rating: B+
Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 27.
9 days away until WrestleMania 35.
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