411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #23 – WrestleMania 25

WrestleMania 25 was an event with many different things going on. Chris Jericho was battling legends, CM Punk was looking to win yet another Money in the Bank, the Hardy brothers were at war again while Triple H, Randy Orton and John Cena were involved in the main title matches. But the match that ended up highlighting the card was an epic battle between Shawn Michaels, the man known as “Mr. WrestleMania,” looking to end the streak of the WrestleMania Icon, The Undertaker…

* CM Punk won Money in the Bank @ 14:26
* Battle Royal: Santino Marella won a 25 DIVA Battle Royal @ 6:00
* Chris Jericho defeated Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka with the Walls of Jericho, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper with an enzuigiri, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat with the codebreaker @ 8:57
* Extreme Rules Match: Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy @ 13:14 via pin
* IC Title Match: Rey Mysterio defeated JBL © to become the NEW IC Champion @ 0:35
* The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels @ 30:42 via pin
* World Title Match: John Cena defeated Edge © and The Big Show @ 14:44 via pin to become the NEW WORLD CHAMPION
* WWE Title Match: Triple H © defeated Randy Orton @ 23:36 via pin

Larry Csonka
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker [*****] – Many times, we as wrestling fans can get over excited about an event. We can over hype it and then get pissed when OUR expectations are not met. I will say that heading into the big event that HBK vs. Taker was THE match I waned to see. Partly because I thought it could be great, partly because I have always wanted to see it on the big stage, and also because it was easily the best built feud on the card. And quite simply, this was an amazing match. The beginning was about what you’d figure, HBK avoiding the big man, using his speed, it was smart booking. I loved the part where HBK knew the dive was coming, bumped the ref and then sacrificed the cameraman. The best part was actually right after that, as he grabbed the ref, pulled him into the ring, and was praying for the count out victory. The desperation was evident as HBK was willing to end the streak in any way possible. From there they both survived each others finish, they “dug deep” and it developed into a heavyweight slugfest as Taker’s chest was being destroyed by chops. The finish was sweet as HBK went for the moonsault press, only to be caught and planted with the tombstone. The match not only lived up to, but it exceeded my expectations on every level. Some say that it can’t be a classic because we all knew that Taker was winning, but I disagree. The match was amazing, they told the story of two warriors, and they MADE the live crowd believe that HBK could win, and that makes it great. Taker is a guy that fights through injury, but once again put on a great performance. HBK is stuck together by duct tape and chewing gum, but he goes out there and shows why he is one of the very best once again. At their age, and with their physical condition factored in, I am constantly amazed at the matches they had at the time. Awesome match, awesome performances and it will be what this event is remembered for. I would also be missing something if I didn’t mention the performance of Jim Ross. I have said time and time again that NO ONE calls the big match better than Jim Ross and he did it once again here. He took a great, great match and made it EPIC with his call. The wrestling world is not as good without Jim Ross calling big time matches.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Triple H vs. Randy Orton – It’s easy to pick the divas match, but I absolutely hate this main event, and feel that it ranks right there with the worst Mania main events, right along Miz vs. Cena. At the time there was a report that they felt they just had a bad crowd, but this was not good. This felt like a collection of their favorite spots forced into a poorly executed main event match. Now, while it would be nearly impossible to follow HBK vs. Taker, I really thought that we were in for a great match. Unfortunately I was wrong. In the end, this was a disappointing, long and mundane match that ended the event on a sour note, mainly because it didn’t feel like a WrestleMania main event; it felt like a match, a regular match.

Show MVP And Why: Shawn and Taker – They made wrestling magic, no explanation needed…

Your Thoughts on The Show: This is another one of those bi-polar WrestleMania events. It surely is not great, but I also don’t think it sucked. To me it ended up being a fine show, but I think that’s the problem, because people expect greatness at WrestleMania. HBK vs. Taker was simply amazing, MITB, Hardy vs. Hardy and The WWE Title match were all good and Steamboat still showing shades of his greatness was so cool. Unfortunately the “main event” didn’t deliver, Rey vs. JBL was a joke (yes I know JBL was injured), the divas stuff was just flat out bad and pulling the tag title match was an extremely poor decision. Also the main event coming off as poorly as it did really hurt the show, because you always remember the last thing you see. There is a good bit to enjoy, but at the end of the day, it was just “good/thumbs in the middle”, and for the biggest show of the year, that’s not what people pay $55 for.

TJ Hawke
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker [****3/4] The build to this WrestleMania was generally pretty horrible, with the exception of this feud. Ever since these two finished the 2007 Royal Rumble together, people had been hoping that they would get to have a big match together. When it finally happened, over 2 years later, pretty much no one was disappointed. This was a classic WrestleMania match that will go down as one of the best matches of either man’s career.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Divas Battle Royal [0] Horrible match. Just horrible. This was such a waste of time and money on the WWE’s part.

Show MVP And Why: Shawn Michaels/Undertaker[tie]: This one is easy. These two men saved WrestleMania in 2009. If it wasn’t for this match, this would be considered one of the all-time weakest WrestleMania.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Besides the obvious all-time great WrestleMania match, the only other match that was more than OK was Money in the Bank. And that gimmick has certainly seen better versions of itself. The rating is as high as it is because the Michaels/Taker match is truly outstanding and needs to be seen by everyone.

Tony Acero
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: SHAWN MICHAELS VS THE UNDERTAKER: In my retrospect of The Undertaker’s matches at WrestleMania last year, I said This and the following match will probably be the hardest thing to write about. I mean, what hasn’t really been said? The build to this was amazing. With the rumor that HBK and The Undertaker had creative freedom, they were obviously able to come up with something that tugged at the strings of our fandom (our heartstrings would be fucked with the following year). HBK really got the upperhand here with some crafty promos and visuals. From his all white entrance, descending from the heavens above, he really was the light to The Undertaker’s dark. Now the match…whew, the match. HBK isn’t deemed Mr. WrestleMania for no reason, and The Undertaker more than held his own. This would be the longest match of The Undertaker’s illustrious streak and yet I could watch 20 more minutes, easily. A fast start continued until HBK used his wily style in faking a knee injury and gained the upperhand. Both men showed why they were possibly the last two legends in the business and that they deserved that title. For me, it was emotional in the essence that HBK had a chance. He had a chance to end it. The crowd that chanted “This is Awesome” only mirrored the patron’s of bar in which I was sitting in. I completely stand by this a year later in rewatching it and fell in love with it all over again. HBK can apparently due no wrong at WrestleMania, as he and The Undertaker put on a match that some deem the best of The Undertaker’s career. I watch this and the one from next year’s Mania back to back and still have trouble deciding which deserves more praise. Either way, this is about Mania 25, and for that night, HBK vs. Taker stole the show. [****1/2]

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: DIVAS BATTLE ROYAL: [No Rating] I was more disappointed than I had any right to be during my initial watching of this. I imagined each Diva of the past getting her own entrance and taking a nice trip down memory lane. Instead, I got a Kid Rock performance and a match that meant absolutely nothing. Seriously, this match was crap. I’d take a JBL match that lasts less than 30 seconds over this piece of shit of a match…

Show MVP And Why: THE UNDERTAKER AND HBK: On a card with really nothing spectacular going for it, HBK and The Undertaker did the unthinkable and put a match on that will be talked about for years. I wanted to give this solely to HBK, because he’s the freakin showstopper, and I can’t see The Undertaker having a match like this ever again with someone else, but all matches (most matches) are a two man show, and this was every bit Taker’s moment as it was HBK’s.

Your Thoughts on The Show: The Money in the Bank was a lot of fun, but was overshadowed by Taker and HBK. Come to think of it, everything was overshadowed by HBK and Taker. The two title matches seemed like more of the same and the IC Title was fought for in a match of 20 seconds. The Legends vs. Jericho match was fun, but only because Steamboat surprised everyone, and the less said about the Divas Match, the better. It’s hard to rate this any higher than average because aside from Taker and HBK, it was pretty lackluster. I really don’t want say that Taker and HBK made the card a must see, because they only made their match a must see. If it feels like I’m still debating on a rating, it’s because I am.

What will #22 be? Come on back tomorrow to find out…

The List So Far…
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania 4
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25