Friday, April 3, 2009

'Mania Match of the Day #23

WrestleMania 23
The Undertaker vs. Batista - 5

I had very low expectations going into this bout, mainly because of Batista’s lack of skills and I was literally frightened by the fact they might just end Undertaker’s undefeated streak. However, the way everything came off in this match was a pleasant surprise. Once again, though, they messed with the crowd noise and changed the boos to cheers for Batista during his entrance. That kind of crap annoys the piss out of me. I digress, the action went to the outside fast where Batista whipped Taker into the steps so hard that he flipped over them. Taker rolls back in and Batista issues a shoulderblock off the top rope. Well damn, Big Dave, you’re actually trying new things, props to you! Taker hits a marvelous suicide dive for the first big spot of the match. Just about halfway through comes the only thing I remember from this match. Batista clears off the ECW announce table and the Raw announce table, grabs up Taker, and gives him a front powerslam through the ECW table off of the Raw table. That was pretty incredible. The spot is replayed a couple times as JBL talks in more soundbites on commentary. Back in the ring and Taker gets a nearfall off of a Last Ride. Batista tries a Batista-Bomb and gets a nearfall. Taker reverses a Batista Tombstone attempt into his own and scores the win. Wow, this match is nothing like I remember it being. I thought the nice tease of ending the streak with the Batitsa-Bomb was good but after Taker kicked out, it was pretty obvious he was going to win. The first part seemed like just one giant build-up to a big spot. It exceeded my expectations, but not by much.

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