WrestleMania 25th Anniversary

WrestleMania 25 or the 25th anniversary comes to you from Reliant Stadium in Houston Texas, which is the home of the NFL team the Housten Texans. This is a really good Mania with lots of high-level matches and the first of two UnderTaker/Shawn Michaels bouts at the show of shows.

WrestleMania 25th Anniversary in Texas

Money In The Bank opens this year’s WrestleMania. The competitors are CM Punk, who won last year’s match, Mark Henry, MVP, who is the United States Champion, Finlay, Shelton Benjamin, yes my two favourites are back, Kofi Kingston, Christian and Kane. The crowd straight off of the bat is fully behind Christian, who should win but we all know how Vince feels about him. I always think about how good he would have been with the briefcase as a heel and it was definitely a missed opportunity.

Parts of this match are absolutely ridiculous including Hornswoggle diving off the top rope, well from Mark Henry’s back to Finlay just being an absolute menace and beating everyone. High spots are also about in this one from Shelton Benjamin diving off the largest ladder in the world to Kofi Kingston just doing the most athletic things you have ever seen. I know I say it every time but damn, how good would it have been to see Shelton Benjamin win, just one year.

For the second year in a row CM Punk wins the MITB ladder match, funnily enough, there were some audible boos after Christian was taken out. I find it so funny hearing Chicago Phil go on about his lack of opportunity in the company, yet here he is getting a WrestleMania moment two years in a row. [4.5/5]

The Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal is such a misfire of epic proportions, It’s a mess, no one really gets to show off what they can do and then to top it offa woman doesn’t even win. It’s not even over-the-top-rope, It makes little to no sense. It’s the level of talent we have in here, especially the last four, Beth Pheonix, Malina, Mickie James and Machell McCool should feel absolutely disrespected by this. I am still angry about this years later. [0/5]

Chris Jericho Vs Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat & Roddy Piper is a match I really enjoyed on this card. Jimmy Snuka can’t really go at all at this point while Roddy Piper looks pretty good here. They are eliminated pretty quickly from the match. Ricky Steamboat, on the other hand, is just incredible, I do wish that this had been a singles match between him and Jericho but we get a lot of interaction between the two. Both men do carry this match from an in-ring standpoint and put on a fantastic mini-match. Plus we also get Flair in the ring afterwards chopping Jericho. [4.5/5]

Matt Hardy Vs Jeff Hardy is a good match but I do understand the criticisms that people have of it. I know we all wanted it to be more brutal, with more weapons, and more blood. Come on Jeff, your brother killed your dog, knock him out.

Matt Hardy does really take it to Jeff in this match, he’s the one bringing all the weapons in, baiting his brother. The video package before does really cut deep and hot different in the year 2023, a lot of what Matt is saying feels very close to the bone. As much as I like Jeff Hardy I really do feel for Matt Hardy in this feud, he feels inadequate and like he isn’t good enough, I think we can all relate to that, most of us are Matt and not Jeff. But maybe burning his house down and killing his dog was a little bit much. Don’t worry guys I’m not a complete psycho here. [4.25/5]

Up next is less than a match and more of a moment, JBL Vs Rey Mysterio is short and sweet with Mysterio winning the Intercontinental Championship from the hometown boy. Afterwards, JBL quits, I really like JBL and feel like he should have at least had a longer match here. [0.5/5]

How do you even put into words the magnitude and spectacle that is The Undertaker Vs Shawn Michaels? It is in my opinion one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. It is emotional, and full of the pair’s greatest hits. There is that infamous moment where the cameraman doesn’t quite catch The Undertaker, and despite his glazed expression for the rest of the match, these two put on an absolute classic. There are Superkicks and Tombstones, Chokeslams and Moonsaults. The entrances were on another level. Oh and for all of you who complain about multiple kick-outs from finishes, these two wrote the book that everyone copies from in that regard. [5/5]

John Cena Vs Big Show Vs Edge might not live up to the absolute banger than came before it but it is still a great match. This trio feels like it won’t work on paper but did they deliver? With a story involving a love triangle and a sneaky John Cena inserting himself into the match between Edge and Big Show, you know it’s going to be a wild ride. The in-ring is just as good as the build was for this match and definitely one to watch, especially if you like a big championship win for Cena. [4.5/5]

The main event tonight is for the WWE World Championship, with the added stipulation that if Triple H is counted out or disqualified he will lose his championship. This is the perfect moment for Randy Orton to finally beat ‘The Game’ for a championship, and get revenge on him for every time he has taken a title from Orton, but will he succeed? This match is slow, plodding and not that great, which sucks as the build was so full of fire that the added stipulation hampered what this could have been. [3.5/5]