Owen Ogletree
This show was pretty good, but it was a bit disappointing. There was some good stuff on here for sure, but apart from one classic match, it really didn't live up to the "25th Anniversary" hype.Money In The Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Finlay vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Mark Henry - Probably the weakest MITB match, but still very good. It was a nice way to start the show with Kofi Kingston and Shelton Benjamin providing the real stand-out moments. CM Punk wins the briefcase for the 2nd time in a row. RATING: ***3/43 on 1 Handicap Elimination Match: Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, and Rowdy "Roddy" Piper - It was okay when Snuka and Piper were in there, but really good when Steamboat was in there. He showed that he still had it. This should have been a singles match. Chris Jericho wins but then gets punched by Mickey Rourke. RATING: ***Extreme Rules Match: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy - This was a pretty extreme and brutal match, and it's a lot of fun to watch. You can't go wrong with these two. Matt Hardy wins with a Twist of Fate on a steel chair. RATING: ***1/2Intercontinental Championship Match: JBL (c) vs. Rey Mysterio - Rey Mysterio wins the title in 21 seconds. JBL then quits afterwards. RATING: N/AShawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - This match simply blew me away. This defines the word "epic." These two legends put on an incredible contest that is rightfully considered one of the very best matches of all time. You will barely have time to catch your breath. Buy the show for this match alone. The Undertaker's streak is now 17-0. RATING: *****Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (c) vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show - This match was good, but quite underwhelming as a world title match. There were some good moments, but it felt more like a regular PPV main event, not WrestleMania. John Cena wins the Championship. RATING: ***WWE Championship Match: Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton - The build-up was great, but this match was very disappointing. It was more of a slug-fest than a match, and it was mostly pretty dull. Not very good, and pretty bad as a main event. RATING: **A solid show overall. The main event was disappointing, but HBK/Taker is the real reason to get this.RATING: B
jakespick
What can I say about 2009's stinker that hasn't been said before? The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania was an insult to the wrestling world, and will go down with the likes of Mania IX as one of the all-time worst Manias. It was abysmal, truly. Of course, aside from the now famous Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels match up.The show started off with the usual matches, such as the Intercontinental Championship and the Money in the Bank Ladder Match. The IC title match was a joke in itself, less than 30 seconds long. The WWE has attempted to mimic last year's Hardcore Championship bout between Kane and Chavo, which was just as short, if not shorter. However, when Kane beat Chavo, it felt much more fresh and unexpected and worked much better then than it did here.The Ladder Match, interesting as usual, always seems to be their get-out-of-jail-free card from Mania 21 on, using it as a way to make each Mania at least somewhat entertaining. But, Mr. McMahon, why is it that the most hyped-up and talked about Wrestlemanias are always the biggest failures in this business. Why is it that we have to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania with a triple threat match between Edge, Big Show, and John Cena (one of the worst main events in history)? Answer me that. How hard is it, exactly, to come up with a decent Wrestlemania. I mean, at least put some effort into an event as big as this.Anyway, let's move on to the rest of the show, starting with the much hyped Chris Jericho vs. WWE Legends match. This match, along with the rest of the matches, was a joke in itself. The match quickly boiled down to generic garbage that was not only boring, but depressing to watch - to realize that the WWE has resorted, simply, to the match cards of their events to make sales. This was an obvious failure of a match and of an event, one Vince must've seen coming.Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels. This one was for the ages, and will go down as, possibly, the greatest match of all-time for the Undertaker, and maybe even for the Show Stopper as well. It was quite the battle, and really helped me through the night, but you've heard enough about this glorious fight, so let's move on.The Hardy vs. Hardy Extreme Rules match was actually quite entertaining, but not even high-flying violence could save this show. They both put on one hell of a show, one which I really enjoyed, but quickly faded away into the rest of the event, which include the two absolutely horrible main events.XXV's main events included the triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship, as I stated before, and a one-on-one bout between Randy Orton and Triple H which actually wasn't that bad, but could've been saved for Backlash or even Summerslam, not the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania. The two obvious faces came out victorious (Triple H and Cena), something which was not the case at the previous year's show. They need to remember that, every once in a while, people don't like to see Cena walk away with every title and a hand-job. But, rather, see Cena lose for once, and what better place than the grandest stage of them all? Now the rest of the matches, or as I like to call them, "card fillers," were the usual garbage you'd expect. A tag team title match that nobody was excited about, and a Diva Battle Royale, which is always a bad sign seeing as how the Divas in today's WWE just can't pull off a good performance.In conclusion, other than the Undertaker vs. Michaels match, nothing really stuck as special or even useful to the WWE or the event itself, and frankly I can't remember the event that match, and even had to look back at the Wrestlemania History section on WWE.com to see the matches in order to spark some sort of memory.I do not recommend viewing this. You'll get more pleasure out of watching the highlights on YouTube.
namashi_1
'WrestleMania 25' is supposed to be a grand affair, a brand which has been the most prominent affair in the history of WWE. But sadly the event doesn't live up to its mark.... Minus HBK vs Undertaker, no other match makes you go wow!! WM 25 could've been the best event ever, but sadly it joins the league of events like 'Summer Slam', 'Royal Rumble' and 'Survivor Series', not WM. Things which left a mark: HBK vs Undertaker. The-duo once again proved that they are the true legends of WWE, delivering a fantastic match. Easily, The best WrestleMania in recent times. The Showstopper and The Deadman deserve a standing ovation for their contribution in WWE. Mickey Rourke's cameo was entertaining, knocking Y2J down. The disappointments: Everything else. The Money In The Bank match was plain mediocre. Y2J vs The Legends was good, not great. The match reminded me of RAW. Triple H vs Randy Orton was a yawn. The built up for the match was instigating, but the result was narrow. Santina winning miss WM was unintentionally funny. Jeff vs Matt was boring, ditto for the other matches.Being a hardcore fan of WWE since childhood, I expected a lot from WM 25, but sadly it didn't reach my expectation. HBK vs Undertaker, will surely be remembered as one of the greatest matches of WWE history. The performers didn't disappoint, the event did.
