My Wrestlemania Experience: WRESTLEMANIA XXVII: ATLANTA, GA

Joe King

Every wrestling fan on the planet dreams of attending Wrestlemania. On April 3rd of 2011, I was finally able to. My best friend Penny Koloff scored tickets and asked me if I would like to go. It was just a 4 hour drive as it was in our home state of Georgia for the first time ever. The streets of Atlanta were a nightmare! Hundreds & hundreds of people lined every street corner asking us for money, cigarettes, spare change, etc. We must have looked out of place or something. We even had an officer approach us to let us know not to give any money to the homeless people, because there had been murders recently. We were informed that if we wanted to help, to put the money instead inside of a donation box. Other than that, it was great. The city had special events lined up all week including one exhibit that had graves with the defeated opponents of The Undertaker names on the tombstones…with one that was freshly dug up ahead of time for “The Cerebral Assassin” Triple H. 

The event itself started out weak with a Daniel Bryan/Sheamus US Title Match & an over-the-top-rope battle royal featuring over 20 lower card guys who weren’t booked otherwise. The Rock came out on the microphone and really got the 70,000+ in attendance going! “Finally…The Rock has come back to Atlanta” & “If You Smell What The Rock is Cooking” got reactions so loud, I had to cover my ears!!!

The opening match for the World Heavyweight Championship featuring Edge & Alberto Del Rio wasn’t bad. Edge really did a number on Del Rio’s custom Rolls Royce! I also enjoyed the Rey Mysterio versus Cody Rhodes match(it was pretty damn good)and Randy Orton versus CM Punk. Those were both matches with competitors you can always count on even when everything else isn’t going as good as expected. The 8-Man Tag Match was nothing to write home about…but it was cool to see Kane. 

I actually made a sign in honor of Jerry “The King” Lawler’s first ever match at WrestleMania that night. I must admit, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was a much needed attraction during this time. This match really stunk up the joint.

As a lifelong fan since 1986, seeing the Hall of Fame Class of 2011 come out was one of the things that I enjoyed the most. The Road Warrior(Animal), HBK, Sunny, Abdullah The Butcher, and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan were staples of my childhood through to my teenage years.

Match of the night(also ranked as one of the best ‘Mania matches of all-time) was definitely The Undertaker versus Triple H! The entrances pulled us in immediately! Triple H came out to “For Whom The Bell Tolls” by Metallica surrounded by a squad of troops in full riot gear complete with shields and helmets. And then probably the one thing I was looking forward to the most: The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania entrance!!! I was always intrigued by his intros from ‘Mania…and this one didn’t disappoint! “Ain’t No Grave” by Johnny Cash played as the lightning, fire, smoke, and fog filled the entrance way and the goosebumps hit my arms with so much impact that I had to shake them off! That is an experience that every wrestling fan needs to have at least once in their lifetime and I’m very appreciative that I was able to!

The crowd yelled out in awe with appreciation almost in unison and got quiet in anticipation of the upcoming bout and it didn’t disappoint! Back and forth action, reversals, kick-outs, close-calls, & non-stop intense action from both Triple H & The Undertaker made this a must-see Wrestlemania Moment!

After that absolutely thrilling match-up, we were treated to a 6-Person Mixed Tag Match featuring Jersey Shore star Snooki. Oh boy. And finally, we got the very disappointing main event which had The Miz retain his Championship with a win over John Cena. All I heard were boos & “WTF” chants! You definitely can’t hear that on the DVD release. But I assure you, it was deafening! 

We tried to eat at one of the newest inductees into the WWE Hall of Fame, Abdullah The Butcher’s ‘Abdullah’s House of Ribs & Chinese Food’, but they were out of food. Bummer. We had to settle for the Waffle House.

Overall Rating: 3/5

Wrestlemania XXVII Event Lineup:

•WWE US Title Lumberjack Match-

Sheamus(c) vs. Daniel Bryan

•22-Man Battle Royal

•World Heavyweight Title Match-

Edge(c) vs. Alberto Del Rio

•Singles Match-

Rey Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes

•Eight Man Tag Team Match-

Kane/Kofi Kingston/Santino Marella/The Big Show vs. The Corre

•Singles Match-

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

•Singles Match w/Special Guest Referee “Stone Cold” Steve Austin-

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

•No Holds Barred Match-

Triple H vs. The Undertaker

•Mixed Six Man Tag Team Match-

John Morrison/Snooki/Trish Stratus vs. Dolph Ziggler/LayCool

•No Disqualification Match for WWE Heavyweight Title-

The Miz(c) vs. John Cena

Hall of Fame Inductees:

•Drew Carey

•Hacksaw Jim Duggan 

•Bullet Bob Armstrong 

•Abdullah The Butcher 

•The Road Warriors 

•Sunny

•Shawn Michaels