The Official Wrestlemania XXVIII Thread

[EmpireWF]

WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXVIII
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida

God Bless America Performed by: Lillian Garcia


Theme Songs: "Wild Ones" by Flo Rida (Ft. Sia)
"Good Feeling" by Flo Rida
"Invincible" by Machine Gun Kelly (Ft. Ester Dean)
"Girl Gone Wild" by Madonna



2012 Hall of Fame Class:

Edge (Inducted by Christian)
The Four Horsemen [Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Barry Windham and JJ Dillon] (Inducted by Dusty Rhodes)
Mike Tyson (Inducted by HHH and Shawn Michaels)
Ron Simmons (Inducted by JBL)
Mil Mascaras (Inducted by Alberto Del Rio)
Yokozuna (Inducted by The Usos and Rikishi)



John Cena vs. The Rock


THE STREAK: UNDERTAKER'S 19-0 RECORD AT WM
w/ Shawn Michaels as Special Guest Referee
HELL IN A CELL
The Undertaker vs. HHH


WWE CHAMPIONSHIP
CM Punk © vs. Chris Jericho


WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Daniel Bryan © w/ A.J. vs. Sheamus


Randy Orton vs. Kane


WINNING TEAM's GM BECOMES GM OF BOTH RAW & SMACKDOWN
12-Man Tag, Single Fall Match
Team Teddy (Santino Marella, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zach Ryder, Great Khali and Booker T) w/ Hornswoggle vs.
Team Johnny (David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, The Miz and Drew McIntyre) w/ Vicki Guerrero


INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Cody Rhodes © vs. Big Show


Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos vs. Eve Torres & Beth Phoenix



*Edited form of the HOF inductions will air Monday night @ 8pm.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Going to be a damn good weekend all around.

[IamMedellin]

Punk/Jericho is the only match I wanna see...

RAW has really been working hard to dissuade me from wanting to See Cena/Rock or any other match...

[CrimsonGhost56]

bald undertaker should be interesting to see

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Going to be sitting in section 228, Row 1...that's the suite. Directly across from the ring entrance, right in front of the Hall of Fame crew's seats.

Gon b gud!

[Warner2BruceTD]

Batista and Brock Lesnar are in Miami and staying at the same hotel as everybody else. Batista was picked up at the airport by a WWE logo'd vehicle.

Way to be discreet.

They could be guests, but with Brock I highly doubt that. He's a recluse who i'm sure did not come to Miami to hang out with Zack Ryder and drink with the boys.

[EmpireWF]

From f4w

The big news is the weather - it took a turn for the worst this afternoon with a huge rainstorm, and as I type this it's been heavily raining for the past 2 hours. Doesn't bode well for tomorrow.

uh oh

[CrimsonGhost56]

From f4w



uh oh

forecast says 80's and partially sunny for tommorow though

[EmpireWF]

Hopefully that sticks then.

So far on Twitter, I've seen Zach Ryder's dad and Batista both drop the "I'm in Miami bitch" line. lol

Gotta be more than those 2 tho

---------

Rumor going around that Brock has signed a Goldberg/Undertaker type deal.

[Warner2BruceTD]

No longer a rumor. Lesnar signs one year deal, with restricted dates, according fo Meltzer.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

From f4w



uh oh

LOL.

Those fools don't know Miami weather.

[FedEx227]

Oh shit that Lesnar deal is huge. Even if limited.

[EmpireWF]

KHALI!



Punker, Lita and a Rener Gracie sighting in the back







photoshop material here

[FedEx227]

WWE WrestleMania: Is a Small Arena or Stadium Better?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1127190-wwe-wrestlemania-is-a-small-arena-or-stadium-better-for-wrestlemania

As we quickly approach WrestleMania XXVII in Miami’s Orange Bowl, I wonder if WrestleMania is better served in a smaller arena.

From a financial or purely aesthetic feel, the stadiums are unmatched; yet. the crowd elements and history of smaller arenas at WrestleMania make those the better option from a fan’s standpoint.

There is no question the large-scale look of WrestleMania inside a stadium is stunning.

The last time World Wrestling Entertainment invaded Miami for WrestleMania, they made the typically desolate Citrus Bowl Stadium look stunning.

Covering the ring with an outdoor canopy, Vince McMahon and the WWE were able to skirt any potential weather issues while packing 74,635 crazed wrestling fans into the otherwise sterile building.

Last year’s presentation in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome was nothing short of amazing, featuring a glowing video cube suspended above the ring and an always-great visual of 71,000-plus wrestling fans packed into a gigantic stadium.

From a purely aesthetic level, the large-scale stadiums are the way to go.

The major, “big-time” feel of 72,000 fans packing the University of Phoenix Stadium versus 13,000 inside an arena like WrestleMania XI’s Hartford Civic Center is without question.

Obviously, the extra 50,000 tickets sold are a nice bonus for WWE.


Bill Olive/Getty Images
In addition to ticket revenue, you also must take into account 50,000 extra potential concessions purchases, cars parking and merchandise buys.

It is a knockout blow for stadiums over smaller arenas thus far. So, why do I think the smaller ones are better?

As a fan, I love the sound of a good smaller arena. WrestleMania XXII inside the Allstate Arena in suburban Chicago was one of my favorites of all time. The matches themselves were good, but the crowd was insane the entire event.

Watching the event live you felt more a part of the show and more entertained thanks to the passionate crowd.

That Chicago crowd single-handedly turned Mickie James into a short-term star, made John Cena the controversial champion (which he still largely tries to distance himself from) and made the Edge/Mick Foley hardcore match one of the top 20 WrestleMania matches of all time.

Energized crowds really do have that impact.

WrestleMania XX at the heralded Madison Square Garden surely did; Chris Benoit’s victory over Shawn Michaels and Triple H was special because of an insane New York City crowd.

On the flipside, the smarter, smaller crowd also took a negative approach to Brock Lesnar and Goldberg’s match when word got through the internet that Lesnar was breaking his WWE contract to pursue a career in the National Football League.

Which venue do you prefer for WrestleMania?

Small Arena
21.3%
Large Stadium
78.7%
Total votes: 188
Likewise, Goldberg’s contract was ending. By all accounts, this would be the last match for both men. Feeling the two, moreover Lesnar, were turning their back on the fans, the Madison Square Garden crowd gave it to the duo throughout the match.

While the match itself was one of the worst in WrestleMania history, the moment is memorable because of the crowd.

Could that same moment happen at Ford Field with 80,103 fans? I do not think so.

The stadiums are nice to look at on my HDTV and I am sure they look great on Blu-Ray re-releases, but the audio is just not the same.

Even the epic matches lose something when the crowd noise rises to the skies and does not get trapped in an enclosed, smaller arena.

That is not to say Triple H and The Undertaker’s battle from last year lost anything from the stadium, but it is worth wondering just how loud the pop of Undertaker’s kick outs would have been at the Allstate Arena or Madison Square Garden.

I do not think WrestleMania ever will return to the smaller arenas because it simply does not make sense for a publicly traded company.

As long as the demand remains for 70,000-plus tickets, there is no reason to take to a 15,000-seat arena. But, hey, I am selfish and really love great crowd reactions, especially at giant shows.

This column also appears on VoicesofWrestling.com. Follow author Rich Kraetsch on Twitter @richkraetsch.

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

The last time World Wrestling Entertainment invaded Miami for WrestleMania, they made the typically desolate Citrus Bowl Stadium look stunning.

Except the Citrus Bowl is in Orlando.