Wrestlemania 27: A Look Back at the Last Wrestling Year

Unofficially, the wrestling calendar runs Wrestlemania to Wrestlemania. Much as the holiday season begins at Thanksgiving and runs through New Year’s Eve, the pro wrestling equivalent is Wrestlemania season beginning with the build to the Royal Rumble and carrying through the Grand Daddy of Them All.

With this understanding, it’s a fair time to look back at “this year” in wrestling. It’s been a pivotal 12 months that has seen significant departures, rises and returns. We’ll use those three terms as we breakdown what has transpired since Wrestlemania XXVI 

Departures 

The most significant wrestler to have left the WWE traveling circus is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Shawn Michaels, arguably the greatest of all-time, has carried the company since his valiant return at the beginning of the decade, shocking the world by not just competing in another few matches, but proving that he is the best in the industry. It’s not hyperbole to think that he could still be the best overall performer on the roster today. The IWC collective wets itself thinking about the dream match between he and his former student Daniel Bryan. They beg for another round of the HHH-HBK and Taker-HBK saga. They want to tune up the band one more time and see him kick someone’s teeth down their throat. Chances are, though, we’ve seen the last of Michaels in the ring; a sad reality indeed. His return to breathe life and give a history to the HHH-Taker match at ‘Mania shows how good he can still be in a non-wrestling role. 

Overshadowed by Michaels’ retirement is the departure of Dave Batista. His kayfabe “I quit” theatrics while bandaged up following his match against John Cena makes me believe that he’ll be back at some point, but it’s been a significant hole in the main event scene not having the Animal around. Batista was never known for incredible work-rate, and his babyface act had gotten quite stale, but when he turned into “The Bad Guy” that challenged Cena at Wrestlemania and beyond, I felt we were sitting on another great run. Nonetheless, he doesn’t seem to have the industry in his heart and has been looking at getting into the MMA scene. Still don’t think we’ve seen the last of Batista, but there are no signs of an imminent comeback. 

The Best in the World at What He Does is now cutting a rug on Dancing With the Stars, which is a phenomenal career choice for him as an aspiring professional entertainer beyond the ring. He knows his roots, though, and will certainly be back. 

While not truly leaving considering their role as co-headliners on Sunday, HHH and Undertaker were MIA for much of the last year. HHH was taken out by Sheamus after Michaels’ retired and wasn’t heard from again until just a few weeks ago. Taker took the summer off, but was injured again in the fall after a few matches with Kane. You can count the number of matches the two have had televised since WM 26 on two hands. I only bring this up because it transitions well into our next segment. 

Rises

2010 will long be looked at as a year of transition. New faces highlighted every PPV, numerous title matches and took over significant roles as leaders of an impending new era of WWE. Just look at the Wrestlmania title matches. The Miz was clearly on his way up this time last year and many thought he was a future WWE Champion, but as recently as the Royal Rumble, people assumed he’d drop the ball and fall into a midcard feud for the big show. Then you have Alberto Del Rio who didn’t even debut until the end of the summer. I made this statement in a comment thread on another column, but we could look back on this Mania five years from now much the same way we do the night Cena and Batista each won their first world titles. Now Miz enters the champion, but it could truly be a special night when two major talents step up their game and command the support of the crowd as bona fide main eventers. 

Then you have this whole Nexus business. Many thought that Wade Barrett would be in the spot currently held by either Miz or Del Rio. Terrorizing Cena for the better part of the last year as the leader of the Nexus, Barrett went from inaugural NXT winner to the leader of the most dominant heel stable WWE had seen in years. While other members of the Nexus/Corre have been middling at best, Gabriel, Slater, Sheffield, McGillicutty, Harris, Otunga, Jackson are all bigger stars today than they were this time last year. 

Dolph Ziggler burst onto the scene in a big way this year when he was given the Vickie Guerrero push. With his on-screen girlfriend being the heat magnet she is, and he being the work-rate stalwart he’s proven to be, Ziggler could be looking at a huge 2011 if positioned well on the card. His move to Raw gives us the idea that while he may not be on the precipice of a major push, he’s going to be tested on the live shows and given a chance to prove himself again. 

Ziggler’s Wrestlemania nemesis John Morrison didn’t have a banner year, but it is worth noting that he received his first one-on-one WWE Title shot, even it if was the opening match of Raw on the first episode of the calendar year. He and the Miz set the bar high to start the year, putting on a helluva match with some innovative spots. If nothing else. Morrison helped legitimize the Miz through this contest, and I don’t believe for a minute that their story is over. 

While I’m sure there are others I missed, I need to close this section by mentioned in the IWC darling, Daniel Bryan, who had quite a year, both kayfabe and in reality. Given a chance to develop a character and build fan support on NXT while Michael Cole began to play with his heel character, Bryan was the star of the show, even though Barrett took the prize. As a member of the initial Nexus storyline, he was fired after choking Justin Roberts with his tie in what will be an Internet columnist’s GIF of their dreams for a long time. Released, for what seems to be a PR purposes at this point, only to return as a conquering hero during the main event of the company’s second biggest show of the year, Bryan has held strong through to Wrestlemania where he will have what I expect to be the first match of the night, battling Sheamus for the U.S. Title.

Returns 

Let’s just start with the Rock, who made one of the greatest returns in the history of the sport, coming out to close Monday Night Raw with an epic promo that sent chills down the spine of any long-time fan. His involvement with the Miz-Cena title match has elevated the match and both wrestlers considerably. The rumors that he’ll be sticking around for some time and even competing in a match against John Cena has us giddy as schoolgirls. I won’t ramble on about the possibilities or how I’d book it, but let’s just say the options are endless. 

Trish Stratus has returned, and I have to say nobody has really noticed. She’s not getting the pops some would expect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she sticks around beyond Wrestlemania and moves back into a lead role among the Divas division, which is down by comparison to her time. The apparently imminent debut of Awesome Kong (or whatever they call her) will hopefully change the landscape of the division, and having a legend such as Trish there to put over Kong and the Divas title could do wonders for the belt’s credibility. 

Booker T made his cameo in the Royal Rumble and transitioned to the announce table. He’s been rough to start, as expected. He has undeniable charisma and knowledge of the industry, but adjusting to the WWE style and avoiding clichés have been his downfall. There is no doubt in my mind that Booker will be a great color commentator, but for now, we’ll have to let him get through his growing pains.

Predictions

As my Orioles open their season tonight, I’m in a prognosticating kind of mood. For the record, I see them breaking .500 for the first time in nearly a decade and a half, which would have a long-suffering fan such as myself dancing in the streets.

On the wrestling front, as I’ve said, Awesome Kong will debut sometime soon. We all know Sin Cara Is Coming and there will be another round of NXT that we finally think will feature Seth Rollins (Tyler Black). I think/hope that Michael Cole will be permanently removed from the announce table to instead assume the role of a heel manager to antagonize WWE faces and cower behind menacing heels to stir up the crowd and bring back the art of the manager.

I don’t see Del Rio or Miz receiving the same de-push that Cole’s personal trainer Jack Swagger, Sheamus and Barrett received recently. WWE wouldn’t have them in the main event of the biggest show of the year only to have them duking it out over a midcard title a few months later. Notice that I also didn’t include Cody Rhodes among the “Rises” mostly because he didn’t really breakout until his recently spat with Rey Mysterio. The Dashing character was a great midcard gimmick, but he was treading water until this recent storyline that has turned heads across the wrestling fandom, begging the question to whether or not he’s a future world champion.