WWE WrestleMania 28: Ranking the Moments

Man, what a show last night! That might have been the greatest wrestling event I've ever seen. Sure, it had a few misses, but man oh man, did it have its great moments.

It was a night I will never forget.

I may be a little bit late in posting this slideshow the day after 'Mania, but I felt I needed to do it. The event was that interesting. I want to point out what I thought was some not-so-good moments and extraordinary ones as well.

So, let's do this.

12. Musical Performances

Okay, I know this is in my lowest position, but if I could, I would have gone even lower with this if there wasn't some tapped music already.

Machine Gun Kelly was okay, but could have been better—but I guess it was a good song for John Cena.

Flo Rida can talk fast well, and their dancers were okay. But what really made me cringe about the performance was Sia. She doesn't have a good live singing voice and had to have the recording to help her.

This is really just a nitpick, but I felt I really had to address it, and with more reason because they didn't bring Living Colour or Fozzy, which could have been a great addition.

11. The Majority of the Backstage Segments

Is it me, or did the last WrestleMania have better backstage moments?

I mean, the moment with Santino, Mick Foley and the fisher guy wasn't even funny. It has to be bad when Foley is imitating a pirate and I don't even get a chuckle.

Ron Simmons kind of helped this segment not totally crash.

Then, there was Heath Slater (what?) talking with "Florida" about what he could do with him. Obviously, the singer said no, but Heath got mad, got shoved down, and after that Curt Hawkings and Tyler Reks come out to point out that was Flo Rida.

That was a bit weird.

The other segments were Johnny telling Punk about the new rule added to his match, and when he talked to his team. Those we're okay, they did their job.

But the others, yeah, there have been better.

10. Maria Menounos Defeats Beth Phoenix

The match itself was okay—it was longer than the regular diva matches—and had some actual good offense.

Maria even surprised me, by putting on a good performance. But she actually kind of scared me a bit because she looked like she was in legit pain.

Anyways, taking away the match itself, you know the result was bad for the diva division. Having the champ lose to a celebrity might be the best way to bury said champion.

Also, when Eve and Beth came out to the ring, they appeared to Eve's theme music, instead of the champ's tune.

9. Brodus Clay Introduces His Mamas

At first, I thought it was going to be a quick squash-match, but then I saw Clay had a mic, so I knew we would get some words from Mr. Funk.

He told the crowd that they would call their mommas, where, in a funny moment, someone in the audience was filmed actually doing as said. That was cool.

Then Brodus talked with his mom, who told him she was coming with the whole bridge club. They did just that, and danced like there was no tomorrow.

The segment was funny, but I think the rest of 'Mania was more important.

8. Daniel Bryan Loses in :18 Seconds

The result was predictable, what wasn't was the match itself.

I enjoy a good unpredictable moment as much as the next guy, but this was surprising in a really bad way.

Daniel Bryan, who in the past months was able to beat two giants inside steel cages, and was the last contestant inside an Elimination Chamber match, lost at his WrestleMania debut in just :18 seconds? That sounds really bad, right?

This result might prove either one of two things: This might be part of a bigger picture, where Bryan will become a more dangerous heel thanks to his new found anger, or—the one I dread—the WWE just doesn't care about Daniel.

I hope it's option number one.

Sheamus, however, will have a great year ahead of him.

7. The Era of Laurinaitis Begins

A predictable finish to a predictable match. I'm sure no one was expecting an amazing match from this, but it did its job.

It had its good moments, such as Zack Ryder, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth using the ropes to attack almost everyone on Team Johnny.

But at the end, the heel team won, thanks to Eve fist-pumping her way to the referee and Ryder's attention, and the Miz using the Skull Crushing finale to end the bout.

Also, Eve made it pretty clear she didn't want anything from Ryder when she kicked him in his "goodie goods."

6. The Hall of Fame Class of 2012

Had to add this.

What a moment when the fans cheered for the Four Horsemen (especially Ric Flair), and for the Rated-R superstar, Edge.

This really gave me a lot of goosebumps and got me excited.

The inductees this year were great.

5. Big Show Becomes Intercontinental Champion

This was a pretty good match.

Granted, Cody almost had no offense in it, but still, it was kind of obvious he wouldn't. Big Show just had the WrestleMania moment waiting. Cody did try to distract Show's attention with a quick recap video from past 'Manias, but it didn't work.

Now Show is a grand-slam champion. He's held all the titles, and is the current IC champion. His winning the title and almost bursting to tears was a feel-good moment for the big guy.

But you really have to wonder, what's next for Cody Rhodes?

After a great run with the Intercontinental title, numerous people have said that he deserves a run in the main event, which I agree with. This guy has worked hard, and really deserves to evolve out of the mid-card, and to the main event.

4. Kane Beats the Viper

This was a great move by the company.

The match was excellent. It had great back-and-forth action, and, what really intrigued me the most was Randy showing weakness towards the Big Red Monster. Orton didn't seem to be on his game at 'Mania.

The choke-slam from the top rope was great, and it was a good way to give Kane the pin-fall, because a few moments before that, Randy kicked out of a normal choke slam.

Now, I wonder if Kane will ride this wave of momentum to something bigger? And what will happen to Orton?

3. CM Punk Is the Best in the World

Man! This was a great matchup! Lots of technical wrestling and counters—but what would you expect from the two wrestlers who are the best in the world?

Before the match even began, it had a great promo remembering everything that happened in the past weekly shows, which was good hype.

Then the match started. Punk was handed a disadvantage when he learned that if he lost by disqualification, he'd still lose his title. So in the first moments, it looked like that would happen—but then Jericho attacked, and the great battle begun.

In the end, the Anaconda Vice did its job, and CM Punk retained the title. I'm hoping that this isn't the last time these two fight, because it was a sight to behold.

2. The Rock Defeats Cena

By just a little, this bout was a better than CM Punk vs. Y2J. Not due to the wrestling itself, but in the emotion. The hype for this match really helped it succeed here.

Let's forget about the musical appearances, and turn right to the match. In the beginning, both of the competitors showed they had a lot of strength, then it went one-sided for each of them at different points.

Then, finishers were countered and kicked-out of, which added a lot of suspense.

In the end, during my favorite part of the match, Cena decided to mock the People's Elbow. He got halfway through the move, when suddenly the Rock got up, and finished John with his signature move and it was a done deal.

I was shocked by the result. I was making up ideas about what would happen next—and that's why this match is No. 2.

But really, the No. 1 moment of WrestleMania is...

1. The End of an Era Match

This was the only match that gave me goosebumps from start to finish.

The Undertaker's entrance was just excellent. It was vintage 'Taker.

The match started, and it was all Dead Man. This really showed that Undertaker didn't want to let himself be viewed as weak.

Shawn made his presence felt, but in a good way. He showed compassion towards Undertaker when Hunter was beating him senseless with a steel chair, and the vice versa with the Undertaker. He was shoved aside, and put on Hell's Gate.

Also, he assisted Triple H with a Showstopper, that went to a Pedigree, but Undertaker kicked out of it. And that wouldn't be the only suspenseful kick-out.

They went at it until Triple H seemed too beaten up to continue. But in an act of defiance, he made the DX chop sign to 'Taker, who then blasted with the finish sign and hit the Tombstone pile driver for the finish.

If that wasn't enough, at the end, Shawn helped 'Taker to his feet and gave him a hug.

This year, the Dead Man could take Hunter's soul. After that, both HBK and Undertaker helped Triple H to his feet and to the ramp, where they turned around and looked out at the whole WWE Universe.

What an extraordinary match this was.

I really wouldn't like to see Undertaker retire, because he's the only one who can draw out all this emotion in 'Mania.

Thanks for Reading

One of the biggest WrestleManias in history is over.

Now, we have to see what's in store for next year. Let's hope it's just as magical as April 1st, 2012.

Please leave comments, saying what would you change in the article, so I can become a better writer.

Thank you.