BRM Reviews Wrestlemania 25

[Big Red Machine]

WWE Wrestlemania 25 (4/5/2009) – Houston, TX

MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH: MVP vs. CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian vs. Finlay vs. Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas)- 9/10. I absolutely LOVE this match. It is packed with action and just plain fun, and having so many guys in the match gives everyone enough time to sell. I have to complement them on the sequence of dives in this match. They did a great job of not making it feel like the same thing over and over again by having all of the dives come from different places and angles. The Mark Henry dive-tease remains my favorite moment in Money In The Bank history. Lawler did an excellent job of covering up the botched Arabian Powerbomb spot with Shelton and MVP.

25 DIVA BATTLE ROYALE- DUD! Not only the entire divas division, but even past divas get thrown under the bus to put over Santino’s cross-dressing gimmick. I am not giving it a negative rating because the actual ring-work wasn’t bad. Another major failing of this match was that WWE was hyping up the fact that past divas would be returning, but they didn’t have Lita or Trish. Those two are by far the biggest names WWE has ever had. Without at least one of those two, anything billed as the “past” of the Divas’ Division will be disappointing. I did pop huge for Molly Holly, though.

HANDICAP MATCH: Chris Jericho vs. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, & Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat (w/Ric Flair)- 5.25/10, but most of that is from the Jericho vs. Steamboat part. Steamboat still has it.

AFTERMATH- CRAP! The pro wrestler gets taken out by the actor with one punch. WTF?! Way to poop on the business.

EXTRME RULES MATCH: Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy- 7.5/10

WWE INTERCONTINENTALTITLE MATCH: John Bradshaw Layfield(c) vs. Rey Mysterio- DUD! The least believable squash in the history of wrestling, made even more ridiculous by the announcers talking about JBL’s size advantage beforehand.

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Edge(c) (w/Vickie Guerrero & Chavo Guerrero Jr.) vs. The Big Show vs. John Cena- 7.5/10 During his special, fancy entrance, Cena pulls a page out of Sting’s mid-late 90’s playbook and brings along an army of look-a-likes.

THE UNDERTAKER vs. SHAWN MICHAELS- A PERFECT 10/10. Everyone came into this match expecting nothing less than magic… and these guys delivered.

MATCH FOR THE WWE TITLE IN WHICH THE TITLE CAN CHANGE HANDS ON A COUNT-OUT OR A DISQUALIFICATION: Triple H(c) vs. Randy Orton- 5.75/10. Extremely disappointing. This match just did not work. This feud really needed a No DQ’s stip, but the stip they gave it was one that forced the guys to stay away from potential DQs (i.e. excessive violence) as much as possible. This just did not work at all.

A very all over the place show from WWE. There wasn’t much in the middle here. What was good was great (or awesome) and what was bad was terrible. The main points against this match are its two duds and the horribly disappointing main event, but to make up for that it had some utterly awesome matches, including a perfect match between Taker and HBK. I would definitely recommend buying this, but when watching it, remember that the “fast forward” button is your friend.

[Rabid619]

AFTERMATH- CRAP! The pro wrestler gets taken out by the actor with one punch. WTF?! Way to poop on the business.

Mickey Rourke is a former Boxer so it's not so bad for me at least.

[KILLdozer]

AFTERMATH- CRAP! The pro wrestler gets taken out by the actor with one punch. WTF?! Way to poop on the business.

Mickey Rourke is a former Boxer so it's not so bad for me at least.

this is kinda asinine to me anyways because what if Jerichos a wrestler,hes still a person that reacts to pain or force,hes not an iron man,several ppl could probly knock the hell out of numerous wrestlers but that doesnt really say much,anybody could practically drop Rey or any skinny average sized wrestlers but that doesnt mean anything,I understand the whole "wrestlers are tougher than average people" but a punch is a punch,regardless of who its from or who its on

[Big Red Machine]

AFTERMATH- CRAP! The pro wrestler gets taken out by the actor with one punch. WTF?! Way to poop on the business.

Mickey Rourke is a former Boxer so it's not so bad for me at least.

this is kinda asinine to me anyways because what if Jerichos a wrestler,hes still a person that reacts to pain or force,hes not an iron man,several ppl could probly knock the hell out of numerous wrestlers but that doesnt really say much,anybody could practically drop Rey or any skinny average sized wrestlers but that doesnt mean anything,I understand the whole "wrestlers are tougher than average people" but a punch is a punch,regardless of who its from or who its on

I'm not saying it isn't realistic. I'm saying it shouldn't have been done at all. In kayfabe terms, wrestlers are the toughest MoFos on the planet. Having one get taken out by an actor... especially with one punch... and especially an active star of Jericho's magnitude poops on the business.

[Rabid619]

I'm not saying it isn't realistic. I'm saying it shouldn't have been done at all. In kayfabe terms, wrestlers are the toughest MoFos on the planet. Having one get taken out by an actor... especially with one punch... and especially an active star of Jericho's magnitude poops on the business.

You're looking at it like it's some A list actor and thats all he's ever done. Mickey Rourke used to box so i'd say he knows how the hell to throw a punch better then Brad Pitt.

[kiel297]

I'm not saying it isn't realistic. I'm saying it shouldn't have been done at all. In kayfabe terms, wrestlers are the toughest MoFos on the planet. Having one get taken out by an actor... especially with one punch... and especially an active star of Jericho's magnitude poops on the business.

The point here is that Mickey Rourke is a former boxer, so it's entirely believable that he could one punch Jericho

[KILLdozer]

and the way I see it is,its completely possible to one punch a wrestler,I could probly one punch Rey Mysterio but that doesnt crap on the business

[badnewzxl]

and the way I see it is,its completely possible to one punch a wrestler,I could probly one punch Rey Mysterio but that doesnt crap on the business

ESP after a match against three legends

[Earth Child]

Besides the MITB and Taker v Michaels I, This is my least favorite Wrestlemania. It did not live up to the hype, in my opinion, of the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania.

[Big Red Machine]

You are all missing my point. I am not disputing that it is realistic. I am saying that it shouldn't have been done because it makes wrestling look bad. It is the same thing as Joe vs. Lashley from No Surrender. They billed that match as MMA vs. Pro Wrestling. It is believable that the pro wrestler lost, but having it happen was not a good thing.

[KILLdozer]

but I dont think anyone in attendance thought that,they were more happy the heel got the shit knocked out of him

[yourcrapsweak]

but I dont think anyone in attendance thought that,they were more happy the heel got the s**t knocked out of him

Booking for the crowd on PPV, ESPECIALLY at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, is not smart.

[Rabid619]

Booking for the crowd on PPV, ESPECIALLY at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, is not smart.

It was booked as a WrestleMania moment.

[Big Red Machine]

but I dont think anyone in attendance thought that,they were more happy the heel got the s**t knocked out of him

Booking for the crowd on PPV, ESPECIALLY at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, is not smart.

This, Booking for the crowd has hurt WWE a lot in the past few years, as their heels quickly lose heat, and whenever a legend is involved, it is rarely productive in any way at all.

[Serujuunin]

Besides the MITB and Taker v Michaels I, This is my least favorite Wrestlemania. It did not live up to the hype, in my opinion, of the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania.

Well, aside from Jeff's match with Matt, I have to agree. I was so not feeling it with this Mania, aside from those two matches. It was seriously lacking in Mania Magic.

However, I got a shirt brought back to me from this Mania live, so it will always have a bit of a soft spot in my heart.

[badnewzxl]

but I dont think anyone in attendance thought that,they were more happy the heel got the s**t knocked out of him

Booking for the crowd on PPV, ESPECIALLY at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, is not smart.

This, Booking for the crowd has hurt WWE a lot in the past few years, as their heels quickly lose heat, and whenever a legend is involved, it is rarely productive in any way at all.

so.... a heel getting beat up makes them lose heat?

[Big Red Machine]

Booking for the crowd on PPV, ESPECIALLY at the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania, is not smart.

This, Booking for the crowd has hurt WWE a lot in the past few years, as their heels quickly lose heat, and whenever a legend is involved, it is rarely productive in any way at all.

so.... a heel getting beat up makes them lose heat?

No. But getting beaten up a lot and humiliated at the end does make a heel lose heat.

[badnewzxl]

^ and none of that happened to Jericho. Hell, he didn't lose heat and EVERYONE was punching him out that year: Rourke, Tyson, Show.

[Big Red Machine]

^ and none of that happened to Jericho. Hell, he didn't lose heat and EVERYONE was punching him out that year: Rourke, Tyson, Show.

In 09? Only in the beginning of the year. Once Wrestlemania past, he was protected. Jeri-Show beat everyone.

[badnewzxl]

^ and none of that happened to Jericho. Hell, he didn't lose heat and EVERYONE was punching him out that year: Rourke, Tyson, Show.

In 09? Only in the beginning of the year. Once Wrestlemania past, he was protected. Jeri-Show beat everyone.

at the end of 09 was when Tyson and Show KO'd him; I remember several eps of RAW where Jericho got punched out. It was during the RAW guest host era cuz that's why Tyson was there....