Piper and Flair teamed up once again at Wrestlemania 25.

Billed as the 25^th Anniversary of Wrestlemania, some will argue that the show failed to live up to expectations and was disappointing. However, while this probably was not a great Wrestlemania, it was still a good show overall. This was mostly due to the Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker match, which was an instant classic and a must-see for all wrestling fans.

 

Note: A previously announced match was Carlito and Primo vs. John Morrison and The Miz to unify the tag titles. This match ended up being the dark match before the show with Carlito and Primo winning.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. MVP vs. Finlay

This year’s edition of Money in the Bank was a pretty fun opener. I appreciated that this year they decided to focus a little more on using the ladders as weapons rather than just doing a whole bunch of crazy insane jumps off of them. But don’t get me wrong, there were still plenty of those. My hat goes off to Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin, who really worked hard in this match. Shelton nearly killed himself doing a senton off a ladder onto the rest of the competitors outside the ring. He appeared to have landed on his head. Kingston also swung through a standing ladder to deliver a dropkick to Finlay. Mark Henry even did well here and hit a World’s Strongest Slam to Kingston onto a ladder. The crowd was clearly all for Christian, who was able to hit an Unprettier to MVP off a ladder. The ending was somewhat anticlimactic as Punk and Kane met at the top of a ladder, and Punk repeatedly kicked Kane, causing him to fall off. Punk then retrieved the briefcase to win the match for the second year in a row. I was disappointed as I really wanted Christian to win. Still a good match though.

Match Rating: 7.5/10

 

 

25-Diva Battle Royal

They really dropped the ball on this one. Before this match, Kid Rock performed a medley of his biggest hits, and all of the Divas came out during his performance of “So Hott”. The problem with this is that alumni Divas were announced for the match and weren’t given a chance to be recognized by the crowd with their own entrances. The match began without any kind of proper introduction for any of the Divas. The only time we were even informed of the participation of the past Divas was when they were eliminated.  It should have been more important that we got to see Molly Holly, Sunny, Torrie Wilson, and Jackie Gayda back in the ring. The commentary was also awful due to the fact that we couldn’t really tell any of the girls apart. The final three are Beth Phoenix, Melina, and Santino Marella in a drag. Santino tosses out Beth and Melina to win the match. After the match Candice and Mae Young go to crown “her” Miss Wrestlemania and he introduces himself as Santino’s twin sister “Santina”. Funny ending but this match was very disappointing. I thought the Divas deserved better than this.

Match Rating: 2/10

 

 

Handicap Elimination Match: Chris Jericho vs. Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat

This was a pleasantly surprising match. I expected a dud and I got a somewhat entertaining match. Jimmy Snuka I will say was terrible out there, but then again the man is 64. He was eliminated after about 3-4 minutes by tapping out to the Walls of Jericho. Roddy Piper looked terrific for a guy with cancer and was moving around quickly. He impressed me with his quick punches and even did a sunset flip.  He however, was eliminated only about a minute after Snuka following a running enzuigiri. Jericho then had a very entertaining battle with Ricky Steamboat for the final 4 minutes of this match. Steamboat is in phenomenal shape and was all over the place with the cross bodies.  Jericho eventually catches Steamboat with a Codebreaker to win the match. After the match, Jericho delivered a Codebreaker to Ric Flair before calling out Mickey Rourke, who was at ringside. Rourke entered the ring and knocked down Jericho with one punch. A pretty solid match that was better than expected.

Match Rating: 6/10

 

 

Extreme Rules: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy

This was a good match, but not as great as I hoped it would be. There was potential for great storytelling here but instead we got a very spotty, yet entertaining, hardcore match. The spots were pretty cool though, and they included Matt hitting Jeff in the leg with a chair as he went for a Whisper in the Wind and Jeff hitting a rope-aided corner dropkick while a garbage can was placed over Matt’s head. One of the biggest spots was when Jeff laid Matt out on a table outside the ring, placed a chair on top of him, and stacked another table on top. Jeff then jumped off the top turnbuckle and delivered a splash through the tables. Late in the match, Jeff leapfrogged off a ladder over a taller one looking for a leg drop but missed. Matt then hit a Twist of Fate to Jeff with a steel chair around his neck before pinning him to win the match. It was a good match but it could have been much better.

Match Rating: 6.5/10

 

 

Intercontinental Championship: John “Bradshaw” Layfield(c) vs. Rey Mysterio

JBL addressed the crowd prior to the match, proclaiming that Texas needs a hero and that he is their hero. He beat down Rey before the match started, but once the bell rang, Rey immediately dropkicked JBL into the ropes, hit a 619 followed by a splash, and pinned him to win the Intercontinental Championship. After the match, a frustrated JBL yelled out “I quit” before berating the crowd. It appears JBL has retired again as his profile has been removed from WWE’s website. This was more of a segment than a match so I won’t rate it.

Match Rating: N/A

 

 

Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

This match was simply amazing. I haven’t seen this good of a match since HBK vs. the Nature Boy at last year’s Mania.The match started off somewhat slowly with a lot of technical work. HBK worked over Taker’s leg and applied the figure four early on. He also was able to counter the chokeslam and escape the Hell’s Gate by reaching the ropes. I believe he is the first person to escape the hold. The match really kicked into high gear at around the 15-17 minute mark. Undertaker went for a suicide dive to the outside, but Michaels shoved a cameraman in front of him and Undertaker hit him instead. Taker appeared to nearly land on the back of his neck, making him the second person of the night to nearly kill himself. Michaels reentered the ring and the ref started to count Undertaker out. Taker made it back in at 9 and then we got to see absolutely amazing in-ring work from here until the end of the match. Michaels was able to connect with Sweet Chin Music for a near fall and kicked out of the chokeslam. A cool spot happened where Michaels tried to skin the cat but Undertaker pulled him off the ropes and hit a Tombstone. Shockingly, Michaels somehow kicked out. The look on Taker’s face was priceless. Taker connected with a Last Ride later on but once again Michaels kicked out. Michaels was able to hit a second Sweet Chin Music very late in the match but Taker still kicked out! So by this point in the match, Michaels kicked out of the Last Ride, chokeslam, and Tombstone, and Undertaker had kicked out of Sweet Chin Music twice. Finally, at around 30 minutes, Michaels went for a moonsault but was caught by Undertaker, who promptly hit a second Tombstone to extend his streak to 17-0. How often do you see standard WWE singles matches go half an hour? This match was completely amazing and I strongly suggest anyone who missed Wrestlemania watch this match.

Match Rating: 10/10

 

 

World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. Big Show vs. John Cena

However difficult it may have been to follow up the classic Michaels/Taker match, the triple threat for the World title certainly was able to entertain the excited crowd. Cena’s entrance was very unique as multiple Cena imposters lined up on the entrance ramp and performed the “You Can’t See Me” taunt as Cena made his entrance. The first few minutes of this match featured some comedy moments such as Big Show getting tied up in the ropes, but once this part of the match was over it really kicked into high gear. Edge performed a nice spot where he launched himself off the steel steps into Big Show outside the ring, and the two crashed through the ringside barricade into the crowd. Cena and Edge then battled for a little while before Cena trapped Edge in the STF. Big Show however, grabbed Edge’s arm and pulled him to the ropes. Later, Big Show pushed Cena off the top turnbuckle and Edge connected with a mid-air spear. Near the end of the match, Edge had Big Show in a sleeper hold in the corner, when Cena suddenly scooped both of them up at once for the Attitude Adjustment. Edge got off, but Cena still hit the move on Big Show. Cena then hit a second AA to Edge on top of Big Show before pinning Show to win the World Title. He celebrated with the crowd post-match. A very entertaining triple threat match, on par with last year’s in my opinion.

Match Rating: 7.5/10

 

 

In between the two title matches, this year’s Hall of Fame class was introduced. This was followed by Stone Cold Steve Austin riding around ringside with his quad followed by a beer bash to say goodbye to the WWE Universe.

 

 

WWE Championship: Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton

Wrestlemania XXV’s main event could be considered a disappointment. Triple H and Orton put on a good match, but this was not Wrestlemania main event worthy. Triple H seemed to lack the intensity of a man hell bent on getting revenge for an attack on his wife. Both guys tried to make things interesting by hitting their finishers within the first couple minutes. An added stipulation was that if Triple H got counted out or DQ’d, he would lose the title. Surprisingly, this match lacked any outside interference or involvement from Legacy or the McMahons. Orton was able to connect with a spike DDT off of the Spanish Announce table to the floor mid-match. Other than that, there wasn’t a whole lot special about this match, though it was pretty decent. There was a ref bump late in the match, and Orton went under the ring for a sledgehammer. As he reentered the ring, Triple H punted him in the head. He then connected with a sledgehammer shot and a Pedigree to retain the championship. This came off as a burial of Orton, who had been the more built up man heading into this title match. Not a bad match though.

Match Rating: 7/10

 

 

Overall PPV Rating: 7.5/10