WrestleMania XXVI

**WrestleMania XXVI** was a pay-per-view event which took place on March 28, 2010 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

This was an interpromotional event, featuring wrestlers from Raw, SmackDown and ECW. Including two matches on the *Countdown* broadcast, 12 matches were featured on the event's card.

Four of the matches on the card were promoted as main events. In the main event of the Raw brand, John Cena defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship. In the main event of the SmackDown brand, Randy Orton defeated Batista, Edge and CM Punk in a Fatal 4-Way Match to retain the World Heavyweight Championship. In the main event of the ECW brand, Jeff Hardy defeated ECW Champion Christian to win the title. In the fourth main event, also from the Raw brand, Bobby Lashley, accompanied by Donald Trump, defeated Big Show accompanied by Mr McMahon, with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee. As a result of Lashley winning, Donald Trump became the owner of the Raw brand.

In other matches, Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels in his final match before retiring from active competition; The Undertaker defeated Samoa Joe; Rey Mysterio defeated Chris Jericho to win the Intercontinental Championship; Umaga defeated Kane to retain the United States Championship; The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya) defeated The Gatecrashers (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alicia Fox) in a Winners Take All six-person tag team match to win the Tag Team Championship and retain the Divas Championship; and Martin won the sixth annual Money in the Bank Ladder match.

## Background

### **Raw**

**WWE Champion John Cena vs. Triple H:** At Royal Rumble, Triple H outlasted 39 opponents to win the Royal Rumble match. The following night on *Raw*, Triple H did not delay in selecting which champion he would select to challenge at WrestleMania, choosing WWE Champion John Cena. Triple H pointed out that he did not receive a rematch following his loss to Cena at SummerSlam when he lost the World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 15 episode of *Raw*, Raw General Manager William Regal presided over the contract signing for their match. Following the signing, Triple H assaulted Cena with a punch to the eye. Cena appeared on the following week's *Raw*with a black eye as a result. After Triple H's victory over Bobby Lashley, Cena returned the favour and struck Triple H over the head with his championship belt. On the March 1 episode of *Raw*, Regal announced that Cena and Triple H would both select each other's opponents for the night, otherwise known as "Pick Your Poison". Both men lost their respective matches, Cena to Big Show, and Triple H to Shelton Benjamin, with the latter due to Cena's interference. Not willing to risk the WrestleMania main event being ruined, Regal invoked a zero tolerance policy between the two wrestlers, losing their main event status if they disobey the ruling. Triple H would provoke Cena during his match with Shawn Michaels on the March 8 episode of *Raw*. Cena retaliated the following week during Triple H's match with The Undertaker. On the March 22 episode of *Raw*, Regal forced Cena and Triple H to team up in a match against Ted DiBiase and Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP), which they won. With an agreement in place between the brand general managers to promote WrestleMania, for the last two weeks leading up to the event wrestlers were able to appear on all shows. This led to an eight-man tag team match on the March 26 episode of *SmackDown* with Cena and Triple H on opposing sides. With Regal's policy still in place, whenever Cena was tagged into the match, Triple H had to leave it and vice versa. Cena's team (comprised of Batista, CM Punk and Jeff Hardy) and Triple H's team (comprised of World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton, ECW Champion Christian and Edge) fought to a no contest.

**The Battle of the Billionaires:** On January 18, it was announced that business magnate and television personality Donald Trump would guest star on the January 25 episode of *Raw*to promote the new season of NBC's *The Apprentice*. Mr McMahon ordered William Regal to arrange an evening of entertainment for his "good friend" Trump coming to *Raw*. When Trump arrived, he was welcomed warmly by McMahon and the WWE fans, but only appeared to be interested in the latter, leaving McMahon in the dark. When Trump went out to the ring, before he could talk, the arena lights went out and the house microphone was switched off, humiliating Trump in the ring. The following week on *Raw*, McMahon explained his actions. As Trump and *The Apprentice*were off the air, he had become NBC's "go-to guy for entertainment", having made Raw the number one brand on any NBC branded network. He offered Trump to come to the following week's *Raw*to bury the hatchet. Trump appeared, however via satellite, having paid the production crew to give him a live feed. He signalled for money to fall from the arena roof, this time embarrassing McMahon. Trump went on to challenge McMahon to a fight, in which McMahon declined and said he had a better idea. On the February 15 episode of *Raw*, McMahon announced that he had issued a counter challenge to Trump for WrestleMania XXVI entitled "The Battle of the Billionaires", where both McMahon and Trump would select a wrestler from any brand to represent them in the match. McMahon then introduced his representative, a "new and improved" Big Show, who had been missing since the night after Royal Rumble, when he was talked down to by McMahon. By aligning with McMahon, Big Show defected to the Raw brand. Big Show would show his dominance over the next few weeks, defeating the likes of Hardcore Holly, Chris Jericho and John Cena, and battling The Hart Dynasty at Elimination Chamber. On the March 1 episode of *Raw*, Donald Trump returned to *Raw*and announced that he had selected Bobby Lashley as his representative. The following week, to show he can provide better entertainment than Trump, McMahon held his own beauty pageant called "Miss WWE Universe" (a play on Trump's "Miss Universe") judged by McMahon, Jerry Lawler and Tazz, with Maryse being picked the winner. Post-contest, McMahon challenged Trump a match next week on *Raw*. McMahon made an appearance four days later on *SmackDown*, announcing that Trump had accepted his challenge, however, come *Raw*it was a Trump impersonator losing easily to McMahon. McMahon announced that he wanted Trump to put his hair on the line, to which Trump replied that he wanted WWE's Raw brand if Lashley won. It was then announced that the WWE Board of Directors had assigned a special guest referee for the match in Stone Cold Steve Austin. On the final episode of *Raw*before WrestleMania, Lashley, with Trump, defeated Mark Henry. Post-match, McMahon slapped Trump in the ring, once again leaving him humiliated.

Following his return and victory against Randy Orton at Survivor Series, Kurt Angle wrestled another two matches against MVP and Shelton Benjamin before taking another leave of absence. On the February 8 episode of *Raw*, Angle returnedand defeated Jack Swagger. Post-match, Angle announced that he would be retiring from wrestling at WrestleMania, and issued a challenge to Shawn Michaels, someone he has never wrestled. Michaels accepted the challenge the following week. Angle and Michaels would team up that same night, defeating Matt Morgan and John Morrison. Over the next few weeks, vignettes were shown of Angle's career and a series of interviews with Jim Ross were shown discussing his life and career. Michaels told Ross that he felt pressure to give Angle one last great match, regardless of the result. In the two weeks proceeding WrestleMania, Angle and Michaels were both the focus of ECW wrestler Mr Kennedy, who thought giving someone time during WrestleMania to retire was ridiculous, which resulted in a Sweet Chin Music from Michaels and an Ankle Lock from Angle.

After winning the Intercontinental Championship from John Morrison on the February 1 episode of *Raw*and defending it the following week against Morrison, Jericho appeared to be unimpressed with his recent success. On the February 15 episode of *Raw*, Jericho had argued that he had done everything there is to do in WWE, including winning world titles, setting a record for Intercontinental title reigns and main eventing WrestleMania. However, he had not faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania and thus directly challenging him. Following Undertaker's match that same night against Ted DiBiase, Jericho appeared again on the stage and challenged him to a match at WrestleMania, telling him that the undefeated streak is the next "holy grail" on his list of accolades, to which Undertaker accepted the challenge.

### **SmackDown**

At Elimination Chamber, Randy Orton successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk, partially due to a low blow. Also at the event, Batista would win the Elimination Chamber match to become the challenger for the title at WrestleMania, last eliminating Edge who later claimed that his shoulder was off the mat before the three-count was made. Due to the controversial endings to both matches, on the February 26 episode of *SmackDown*, SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart booked a Triple Threat match between the affected wrestlers, Batista, CM Punk and Edge, with Orton as the special guest referee. Edge won the match following interference from Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. Dismayed by the situation, Hart announced that the SmackDown main event for WrestleMania would be a Fatal 4-Way match for the title. On the March 2 episode of *SmackDown*, Orton, Batista and CM Punk teamed up to defeat Edge, Hawkins and Ryder in a six-man tag team match. The following week, Orton defeated Edge in a match with both Batista and CM Punk acting as special guest referees. Post-match, all four wrestlers were involved in a brawl, broken up by WWE officials. On the March 19 episode of *SmackDown*, CM Punk defeated Martin, despite interference from Edge, and Batista defeated Orton via countout. The following week, Hart booked an eight-man tag team match between the wrestlers involved in the world championship matches at WrestleMania. Batista, CM Punk, John Cena and Jeff Hardy fought Orton, Edge, Triple H and Christian to a no contest.

At Elimination Chamber, Umaga eliminated Kofi Kingston from the World Heavyweight title number one contender's Elimination Chamber match. On the February 26 episode of *SmackDown*, Umaga was awarded a United States Championship match against Kingston. Umaga defeated Kingston to win the title. With the WrestleMania card starting to take shape, and with no official contender in place, SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart announced that on *Countdown* before WrestleMania, a battle royal will take place to determine who will challenge Umaga for the United States title during the pay-per-view.

### **ECW**

On the February 2 episode of *ECW*, ECW General Manager Tiffany Terrell announced that the challenger for the ECW Championship at WrestleMania would be determined via the "Elimination Chase to WrestleMania" series. Six wrestlers were chosen for the series: Mr Kennedy, Jeff Hardy, Evan Bourne, Mark Henry, Hurricane Helms and Chavo Guerrero. Over the next several weeks on *ECW*, matches would take place, with the wrestler pinned or forced to submit eliminated from the series.

 Mr Kennedy

After Hardy won the series, Christian was enraged. Their match took a personal turn as Christian appeared on the March 15 episode of *Raw*during Matt Hardy's match with John Morrison. Christian brutally attacked Matt which resulted in a leg injury, removing any chance Matt had at competing at WrestleMania. The following night on *ECW*, during a six-man tag team match, Hardy would retaliate and bloody Christian. On the March 23 episode of *ECW*, Christian invited Hardy to his chat show *The Peep Show*. As Hardy made his way to the ring, Christian was nowhere to be found until he came out flanked by security. Hardy promised that he would both make Christian pay for assaulting Matt and take his championship.

### **Interpromotional matches**

At Elimination Chamber, Natalya defeated Alicia Fox to win the inaugural Divas Championship. Also at the pay-per-view, The Gatecrashers (The Miz and Dolph Ziggler) retained their Tag Team Championship in the first-ever tag team Elimination Chamber match. On the March 12 episode of *SmackDown*, The Hart Dynasty defeated Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder and Cryme Tyme in a Triple Threat tag team match to become the number one contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The following week on *SmackDown*, following Natalya's successful title defence against Victoria, she was assaulted by Alicia Fox and The Gatecrashers before being rescued by Tyson Kidd and David Hart Smith. This led to an impromptu match with Kidd and Smith defeating The Gatecrashers. Following an agreement between ECW and SmackDown officials, it was announced that the Tag Team title match between Kidd, Smith and The Gatecrashers at WrestleMania had been changed to a six-person tag team match, including Natalya and Alicia Fox, with the Divas title on the line also. On the March 26 episode of *SmackDown*, Kidd defeated Ziggler in a singles match, and Fox and Victoria defeated Natalya and Kelly Kelly.

In the weeks preceding WrestleMania, qualifying matches would take place to determine who would compete in the sixth annual Money in the Bank ladder match for a contract for a guaranteed world championship match to be used within one year. For the first time ever, 10 wrestlers would compete in the match.

 MVP defeated R-Truth
 Mr Kennedy defeated Cody Rhodes

On the March 22 episode of *Raw*, John Morrison defeated several of the previously unsuccessful wrestlers in a 'Last Chance' battle royal to qualify for the match. On the March 26 episode of *SmackDown*, the wrestlers who qualified competed in a ten-man tag team match. The team comprised of ECW and SmackDown wrestlers (Mysterio, Martin, Kennedy, Kingston and Bourne) defeated the five Raw wrestlers (Benjamin, RVD, Morrison, DiBiase and MVP).

It was announced on WWE.com on March 21 that a 10-Diva tag team match would take place as part of the Countdown broadcast prior to WrestleMania XXVI, with Beth Phoenix and Gail Kim as team captains. The following night on *Raw*, Phoenix announced her team would comprise of Raw wrestlers Melina and Maryse, and SmackDown wrestlers Victoria and Jillian Hall. Kim's team included Raw wrestlers Mickie James and Michelle McCool, and SmackDown wrestlers Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres. That same night, Phoenix defended her Women's Championship against Kim and Melina in a Triple Threat match, with Melina pinning Kim to win the title. As a result of winning the title, Melina assumed Phoenix's position as team captain, much to Phoenix's dismay.

## Event

#### ***Countdown***

The first of two matches on *Countdown* featured a 26-man battle royal featuring wrestlers from all three brands to determine who would challenge Umaga during the pay-per-view for the United States Championship. Sheamus was scheduled to be a participant, however was boycotting WrestleMania due to losing a Money in the Bank qualifying match. Hornswoggle, who accompanied Finlay to the ring, took Sheamus' place. In the closing moments of the match, immediately after eliminating Finlay, Carlito was then eliminated by Kane to win the match.

Backstage, Todd Grisham interviewed Raw General Manager William Regal, asking for his thoughts on a potential Donald Trump-owned Raw brand. SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart and ECW General Manager Tiffany Terrell interrupted and questioned whether Regal would still have his job if Bobby Lashley wins the match for Trump.

The second match on *Countdown* was a ten-Diva tag team match, which featured Raw wrestlers, the new Women's Champion Melina, Beth Phoenix and Maryse teaming with SmackDown wrestlers Victoria and Jillian Hall against Raw wrestlers Gail Kim, Mickie James and Michelle McCool and SmackDown wrestlers Eve Torres and Kelly Kelly. Melina performed a Primal Scream on Kelly to win the match.

#### **Preliminary matches**

The pay-per-view opened with the sixth annual Money in the Bank ladder match, which featured ten wrestlers from all three brands. It started off with every wrestler trying to incapacitate each other long enough to climb and retrieve the briefcase. In between Mr Kennedy was stuck in between a ladder with Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston hitting him with two ladders of their own. Another instance was when Evan Bourne performed Air Bourne on Ted DiBiase from a vertically placed ladder wedged between another and the middle rope. The match came to an end when Martin hit Shelton Benjamin with the Money in the Bank briefcase and unhooked it to win the match. Backstage, Donald Trump was interacting with several wrestlers, including Finlay, Hornswoggle, R-Truth, Irwin R. Schyster and 2010 WWE Hall of Fame inductee "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase.

Next, was a six-person mixed tag team match for the WWE Tag Team and Divas Championships between The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya) and The Gatecrashers (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alicia Fox). As the trios both held a title each, one title was guaranteed to change hands. Kidd and Smith performed a Hart Attack on Ziggler to win the match (Natalya retained the Divas title, Smith and Kidd won the Tag Team title). Backstage, the Hart Dynasty celebrated their victory with Bret Hart.

The third match on the pay-per-view was between Umaga and Kane for the United States Championship. After a dominant display by Kane, Umaga retaliated and performed a Samoan Spike to win the match and retain the title.

Following that, The Undertaker fought Chris Jericho. Jericho's Intercontinental Championship was not defended in the match. After a back-and-forth exchange between the two wrestlers, Undertaker countered a Lionsault and performed a Tombstone Piledriver to win the match and extend his WrestleMania streak to 18-0.

In the main event of the ECW brand, Christian defended his ECW Championship against Jeff Hardy next. The bout was evenly matched throughout with neither wrestler managing to gain the advantage for long. The end came when Hardy accidentally knocked the referee out of the ring. When Christian attempted to use the championship belt as a weapon, Matt Hardy made his return after being injured by Christian. He distracted Christian long enough for Jeff to perform a Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb to win the title. This win signified Hardy's first world championship in WWE.

Following that was the presentation of the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame inductees: Ted DiBiase, Stu Hart, Antonio Inoki, Wendi Richter, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, Gorgeous George and Bob Uecker.

After that, Kurt Angle fought Shawn Michaels in Angle's farewell match. At the start of the match, both wrestlers engaged in a series of counters. Later, Michaels attempted a Sweet Chin Music, but stopped in the process and Angle capitalised by trapping him in an Ankle Lock. Afterward, Michaels finally delivered a Sweet Chin Music to Angle for a near-fall. On the outside of the ring, Michaels dove off the ropes on to Angle and both crashed through the Raw announce table. The match concluded with Michaels performing another Sweet Chin Music to win the match. After the match, Michaels left quickly and Angle received a standing ovation from the crowd. An emotional Angle embraced his family at ringside and thanked the crowd for their support.

The next match was the SmackDown brand main event, a Fatal Four-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton defended the title against Batista, CM Punk and Edge. During the match, Punk applied an Anaconda Vice on Orton but Edge broke the hold. Orton performed a RKO on Batista but Punk broke the pinfall. Edge performed a Spear on Punk but Orton broke up the pinfall. Towards the end of the match, Edge's associates Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder appeared and distracted Batista. Batista picked off both men, however the distraction let Edge prepare and perform a Spear on Batista through the ringside barricade. In the ring, Orton performed a RKO on Punk to retain the title.

Following that was the "Battle of the Billionaires" match, as Big Show (accompanied by Mr McMahon) fought Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Donald Trump). Stone Cold Steve Austin served as the special guest referee. As agreed pre-match, if Lashley won, Trump would gain ownership of the Raw brand. If Big Show won, Trump would have his head shaved bald. Midway through the match, Austin was attacked by Big Show, causing him to become incapacitated and was taken out of the match for several minutes. William Regal, who attempted to replace him as referee, called the match while being biased towards Big Show. After Big Show got a near-fall on Lashley, Austin pulled Regal out of the ring, gave him a Stunner, and continued refereeing the match. Lashley won the match after a Stunner from Austin and a Dominator. After the match, Lashley, Trump and Austin celebrated in the ring, with both McMahon and Regal stunned at having lost the Raw brand to Trump.

#### **Main event**

In the final match of the pay-per-view, and the Raw brand main event, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Triple H. The match was evenly matched with both men getting the advantage over each other. Triple H attempted a Pedigree, but Cena countered with an Attitude Adjustment for a near-fall. Cena applied the STF but Triple H reached the ropes. Triple H tried another Pedigree, but was countered into the STF again by Cena, to which Triple H submitted, meaning Cena retained the title. Cena celebrated his victory in the ring as pyrotechnics went off in and around the stadium and the show came to an end.

## Results

**Notes**

(\*) The other wrestlers in the battle royal were, in order of elimination: Trevor Murdoch, Cody Rhodes, Jesse, Festus, Elijah Burke, Jimmy Wang Yang, Jamie Noble, Drew McIntyre, Shad, Chris Masters, Mike Knox, Kenny Dykstra, Hurricane Helms, Ezekiel Jackson, Brian Kendrick, JTG, Jack Swagger, Chavo Guerrero, R-Truth, Mark Henry, Hornswoggle, Daniel Bryan, The Great Khali and Finlay.

## Miscellaneous

* Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler - Commentators for Raw matches, Money in the Bank Ladder Match and 10-Diva tag team match
* Jim Ross and Tazz - Commentators for SmackDown matches, Money in the Bank Ladder Match and Battle royal
* Josh Mathews and Matt Striker - Commentators for ECW matches and Tag Team and Divas Championships match