what is happening

I'm not going to defend the build to this show because it has been weak, but watching Mania 22 this afternoon reminded me that it isn't as if this is the first Mania since WrestleMania 13 to have a strong build for one (presumably) great match with a bunch of poor build for matches that should be reserved for B-shows.

A quick reminder of the Mania 22 build:
- Much like this year, the World Title match wasn't made a triple threat match until after peter graham.
- The entire build for the above match was the Guerrero exploitation.
- Vince vs. Shawn allied brands was built up by having McMahon expose his ass weekly while Shawn took a urine test.
- HHH vs. Cena was built up by baskin robbins australia having HHH repeatedly state Cena was beneath him, the match was a forgone conclusion, etc., all done through very dull segments on Raw.

And I really enjoy that show! Keeping that in mind, I think this will a pretty good Mania. Now for some useless Lachlan Macintosh stats!

- CM Punk will become the first man to be in three consecutive Money in the Bank matches.
- Shelton Benjamin will be in his record 4th MITB match, missing only MITB 3.
- Big Show is currently tied with Tito Santana for Worst WrestleMania Record at 1-7. Unless you're one of those people who don't count indirect losses (and Edge is the one who takes the fall), not winning the title would cause Show to have the worst Mania record in history.
- This will be Undertaker's 9th WrestleMania in a row, but he will need to compete in 3 more to tie Bret Hart's record of 12 consecutive Mania appearances (which actually equal 13 matches thanks to Mania X).
- While this is "only" Shawn Michael's 7th consecutive WrestleMania match, it marks his 16th WrestleMania match, just one shy of The Undertaker's impressive 17th WrestleMania match.
- This is the first WrestleMania to feature an Intercontinental Championship match since WrestleMania X8, the first to have a WWE Tag Title match since XX, and the first to have a World Tag Title match since 22. It also the second WrestleMania in a row to not have a defense of the Women's Title, which had been defended at the 7 previous Mania's before not being defended at XXIV.