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Here's my full breakdown:
-I understand why they did The Rock's promo to start. Problem is it really only mattered to the 71,000 or so people live, where they were able to interact and respond to The Rock. For the people watching at home it just seemed like a waste of time and the type of promo you'd start Raw with. It's really unfortunate that Bryan/Sheamus likely were bumped just to clear room for this and the long Mania entrances.
-Edge/Del Rio was pretty good, and a fun enough opener. I kept thinking Christian was going to turn, even after the match was over I figured he'd hit Edge with a tire iron. Really think Del Rio should have gone over if only because the Rumble winner now hasn't won 4 years in a row. Plus, although I like Edge, there really isn't anything left for him to do because he's literally done everything. I figure Edge won here to prevent 2 heel champs from walking out of Mania, but since they put this match on first a heel win wouldn't have made a huge difference. Ah well, Del Rio will win it within a few months.
-Rey/Cody was really good with some great psychology employed. I definitely thought Rey was winning it after he hit the 6-1-9 and I marked out when Cody kicked out. Really happy that Cody won and I'd love to see him slide into the main event picture during the year.
-The backstage stuff got a few chuckles out of me except for the Pee Wee Herman bit. The Snoop Dogg bit was my favorite mainly because Regal and Ryder were hysterical. Also the Bellas are hot so no complaints from me seeing them on screen for a minute or so.
-The 8-man tag was really disappointing to me. Don't get me wrong, I figured it would be relatively short and the flurry of moves to close the match was a given, but I didn't think that would be the only thing that happened. Could have given this a few more minutes to let a couple more guys get ring time. Hated The Corre losing and think they need to do something big at Extreme Rules.
-Punk/Orton had some brilliant parts although Orton's selling was bothersome at times. Sometimes he wouldn't sell the leg at all and then he'd look like he'd been shot. Actually thought Nexus may have returned and done something just because Punk is still wearing his armband which makes little sense if the stable is no more. Still a good match overall. Finish was somewhat telegraphed but still made for a great visual.
-Cole/Lawler was a massive letdown. Obviously it was never going to be good from a quality standpoint, but I think Cole just got in WAY too much offense and it just dragged on for way too long. Could have shaved a couple of minutes off of Cole's offense and given it to the 8-man tag. The lack of a Piledriver was really upsetting. I have no doubt it was WWE's decision to not let him do a Piledriver even though I'm certain King could deliver a perfectly safe one. The decision reversal was total bullshit unless it leads to Cole being a full-time manager or something, as others have suggested. Booker and Josh being stunned was totally random and seemingly only done to allow JR and King to call the rest of the show - as if Josh and Book couldn't believably leave on their own.
-I actually liked Taker/HHH a lot. Sure it wasn't as good as either Taker/HBK match but it kept me entertained throughout. I only "bought" one false finish, when HHH Tombstoned Taker. Otherwise I knew the rest of the moves were going to be kicked out of, Taker/HBK may have ruined false finishes for me. Given how dead he looked after the match and how he barely escaped this one, it's very possible that he won't work another match until WM 28. Either way, I have no doubt that Taker's WM 28 match will be his last. I'd like to see him exit at 20-0 but since his whole deal with the streak now is "I only die when the streak dies", him losing wouldn't surprise me. Cena is really the only guy believable enough to end it at this point.
-The 6-person tag was meant to be a pissbreak and nothing more, which is a shame since Morrison and Ziggler are really talented but hey at least they get a payday. Snooki getting the pin was obvious and I was shocked at how many people thought Trish would actually get the pin in Tipsters. I would do unforgiveable things to hook up with Trish and Layla.
-Miz' video package was incredible, Cena's sucked. Overall I just wasn't feeling the main event. Felt like a standard Raw main event for the most part and it just felt like everybody was waiting for The Rock. I DID bite at the false finish with Cena hitting the second Attitude Adjustment, though. Ending the match with a double countout only to restart it just felt really lame. I almost think Rock running out and hitting a Rock Bottom on Cena for the DQ ending would have been more of a "shock" ending instead of telegraphing it with The Rock's promo/making it a no DQ match. Either way, they made the right call with keeping the belt on the shit-hot Miz and Cena/Rock at Summerslam needs to happen or else this was all a giant cocktease.
There were some ups and some downs, so yeah...lackluster as I said before. Thumbs in the middle, probably pointing slightly downward because there have been other mediocre Manias that were better than this. It wasn't the worst Mania by any means but it wasn't a home run.
Overall, really happy I took the chance on streams and found 3 that I kept cycling through as they'd get taken down and brought back up again. No way was this worth $65.
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