WWE WRESTLEMANIA 25
APRIL 5, 2009
HOUSTON, TEXAS
1 — C.M. PUNK vs. MARK HENRY (w/Tony Atlas) vs. M.V.P. vs. FINLAY (w/Hornswoggle) vs. SHELTON BENJAMIN vs. KOFI KINGSTON vs. CHRISTIAN vs. KANE — Money in the Bank Ladder match (winner gets a world title shot of his choice whenever he wants)
Lots of high spots and creative uses of the multiple ladders. If you never saw a Money in the Bank match, you’d be amazed at the death-defying risks and high flying action. It was every man for himself in a fast paced opening match. Shelton Benjamin’s dive was the highlight.
C.M. Punk outlasted Christian and Kane to win in 14:00.
RATING: B Great opener, but really no different than any other Money in the Bank Match from previous years.
SEGMENT: Kid Rock performed live.
RATING: B- Wrestling fans usually bomb live musical performances, but they seemed into Kid Rock. I personally went to the bathroom, but that’s just me.
2 — TWENTY-FIVE DIVA BATTLE ROYAL
The female wrestlers had a comedy battle royal won by Santino Marella, who was dressed in drag. 6:00 time waster.
RATING: F
3 — CHRIS JERICHO vs. RICKY STEAMBOAT & JIMMY SNUKA & RODDY PIPER (w/Ric Flair)
Jericho vs. Mickey Rourke, lead actor from “The Wrestler” and the legends had been dominating RAW programming for some time. Jericho is the true heel, attacking their legacies and boasted to end their careers, so they don’t have to be pathetic like Rourke’s character in the movie.
Jericho wound up making Jimmy Snuka submit, pinned Roddy Piper, and pinned Rickey Steamboat. Although Snuka and Piper were limited in the ring, Steamboat made the match memorable and special, as he hit all of his vintage moves to make the match competitive.
RATING: C Disappointing that Jericho humiliated the Hall of Famers in 9:00, although it would be too unrealistic for Jericho to lose to 50-60 year old men.
Jericho proceed to beat up Ric Flair, and proclaimed that he won and disgraced all four legends. He then challenged Mickey Rourke, who accepted. Mickey punched Jericho out quickly with a knockout blow.
4 — MATT HARDY vs. JEFF HARDY in an extreme rules bout
Matt had turned on his brother Jeff out of jealousy since Jeff became a champion and Main Eventer last year. Matt proceeded to ruin Jeff’s life, including burning his house down and killing his dog.
The match was hard-hitting and high-flying. The end came when Jeff missed a drop off the highest ladder you can imagine. Matt hit his finishing manuever with a chair and shockingly pinned his brother in 13:00 to prevent the revenge.
RATING: B-
5 — JBL vs. REY MYSTERIO — Intercontinental Title match
JBL taunted the fans very badly- unemployment and how great New York is. He really lashed in. Rey Mysterio shut him up quickly by winning the title in 21 seconds.
RATING: D+ Not much of a match…cheap thrills for the fans.
6 — UNDERTAKER vs. SHAWN MICHAELS
The two icons going at it. Shawn played the heel. The Undertaker’s 16-0 WrestleMania win streak was on the line vs. Shawn Michael’s reputation as “Mr. WrestleMania”. This was an epic contest, where both men had super stamina and kicked out of there unbeatable finishing maneuvers. Match of the Year candidate won by the Undertaker in 31:00. Both men are creative geniuses when it comes to psychology and working a wrestling match. Both have reputations for being showstoppers, and they both did it again. No match on the card could come close to matching their chemistry and drama. Fans were split. This one match was worth the price of the Pay Per View.
RATING- A+
7 — EDGE (world champ) vs. THE BIG SHOW vs. JOHN CENA
This was a love triangle with Smackdown GM and Edge manager Vicki Guerrero but it never came into play. Cena was the only babyface, but Edge and Big Show are feuding as well.
The end came when Cena somehow lifted both Big Show and Edge on his back and slammed them with his finishing maneuver. He pinned Edge to win the title in 14:00. Fans celebrated.
RATING: B
SEGMENT: Saturday’s Hall of Fame inductees were given one last time to get cheered: Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., Cowboy Bill Watts, Ricky Steamboat, Kevin Von Erich, Howard Finkel, and Steve Austin. Austin did his beer celebration and made the 70,000 fans go wild. It’s a shame the fans didn’t go crazy for the other wrestlers, even though most of them were from Texas.
RATING: A
8 — TRIPLE H (champ) vs. RANDY ORTON — WWE Title match
Randy Orton, the #1 heel, had attacked HHH’s wife- Stephanie McMahon, father-in-law Vince McMahon, and beat brother-in-law Shane McMahon at the last PPV. Orton won the Royal Rumble in January and then attacked Vince on RAW. This feud has been super hot, as HHH is defending his wife’s honor and the family name.
I have issues with the McMahon’s being good guys, and HHH is supposed to be a rebel, not the establishment.
I think Orton is a master villain, and should have looked better tonight. He should have kicked out from HHH’s finishing maneuver, the pedigree. HHH won in 23:00 after hitting Randy with his sledge hammer while the referee was knocked out. The match was well plotted given the storyline, but it seemed anti-climatic after Shawn Michaels-Undertaker two matches earlier, which should have been the Main Event. However, HHH and the McMahons have big egos and wanted to be featured last in the most prestigious slot as Main Event at WrestleMania.
Randy and HHH are brawlers and ground-based wrestlers, so the pacing was a bit slow for me, especially when compared to the other matches on the card.
More importantly, with so many stipulations added to the match, and every member of the McMahon family involved in the angle these last few months (not to mention Orton’s own stable of Ted DiBiase, Jr. and Cody Rhodes)the tension was gone since NONE of that came into play during the match.
RATING- B-
OVERALL WRESTLEMANIA 25 RATING: B-
