Can you say anti-climax?
1) Money In The Bank Ladder Match A good opener. The thing that works against the MITB Ladder match is that there is only so many spots that you can do with a ladder. Over the last few years, Shelton Benjamin has done almost every interesting spot that a human being can do with a ladder. They are now struggling to out do the previous MITB Ladder matches. This however was a very credible ladder match, but probably the weakest (along with WM XXIII) of the MITB Ladder matches to date. Kofi Kingston probably emerged as the MITB show stealer, although Benjamin had the spot of the match with a crazy Swanton-type dive from the top of an insanely high ladder..... C+
2) Diva Battle Royal A waste of time. The old Divas like Sunny & Molly didn't even get an entrance for the crowd to enjoy their return. To make things worse they had Santino win it. As funny as he is they need to start making him a credible wrestler (which he is capable of being) & not just a jobber who's good on the mic, which they are making him out to be...... F
3) Chris Jericho vs The Legends Much better than I thought it would be. Dare I say that Ricky Steamboat nearly stole the show. What a performance by the Hall Of Famer. It was a match that didn't steal the show but certainly didn't disappoint. The spot with Mickey Rourke at the end was never going to be taken well if it was over the top, so maybe its subtle approach was appropriate..... C
4) Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy Good match with some extreme, but not over the top spots. I worried that the spots in this match would be over top, but they did them just right. The ring psychology was good & it was good to see Matt win as that was the result needed if they plan to extend this feud (which I think they will). The Twist Of Fate on the chair was superbly done..... B-
5) JBL vs Rey Misterio It would've been more spontaneous if they hadn't done the exact same thing last year with Kane & Chavo Guerrero. JBL as boring as he is in the ring, is a master of psychology on the microphone. The angle of JBL quitting was as important as the actual 21 second match so I'll take that into account when grading it..... D
6) Undertaker vs Shawn Michael Well..... When I saw Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, I thought that you will never see a better match where no weapons are used EVER again. Not just getting caught up in the hype because Wrestle Mania was only yesterday, but this just might be the best Wrestle Mania match that I have ever seen. As far as storyline goes it was built up very well. As far as in ring action goes, it was a privilege to watch. As far as ring psychology goes, it was a master class. As far as crowd reaction goes, that much crowd reaction hasn't been seen since Hogan vs The Rock. The WWE hasn't received a 5 Star rating for a match in Wrestling Observer for over a decade. If this doesn't get one then something is wrong. On a side note there was a spot where the Undertaker flew over the top rope & HBK moved out of the way sending Undertaker straight to the floor. Undertaker landed head first into the cameraman & a crunching noise was heard. I honestly thought for 5 seconds that The Undertaker had broken his neck & died live at Wrestle Mania..... A*
7) Edge vs John Cena vs Big Show A match that never should've been a world title match at Wrestle Mania in the first place. It wasn't terrible though, but wasn't anything that we haven't seen before. Cena showcased his AMAZING strength by holding Big Show & Edge on his shoulders for a few seconds. This was closely followed by the 3 count that made him World Champion once again, which in turn made for a good finish to the match. Not as bad as a match with John Cena & Big Show could've been..... C
8) Triple H vs Randy Orton Imagine if Stone Cold Steve Austin lost to Shawn Michaels at WM 14. Imagine if The Ultimate Warrior lost to Hulk Hogan at WM 6. Imagine if Chris Benoit didn't win at WM 20. They would've NEVER crossed over to that status that separates a transitional champion (Sergent Slaughter) from a dominant champion (Bret Hart). Orton who is without question the hottest thing in wrestling right now, was ready to take over like Triple H did at Wrestle Mania 2000. Randy Orton is in the the prime of his life at 28 & has a decade of dominance ahead of him. The only thing left for him to do was to defeat the man that he was destined to proceed as the No.1 bad guy in the world of wrestling at WM 25. Could Triple H get over himself for one second & do what was write for business? NO! He ruined Wrestle Mania 25 the same way that he ruined Wrestle Mania 18 by not letting The Rock & Hollywood Hogan be the main event. Orton will now have to start all over again rebuilding his character & we are destined to put up with Triple H until he breaks Ric Flair's record & finally steps down like he should've done at the end of the Attitude Era..... The Match was a C+, but the ending completely downgraded it to an F
A lot rides on the main event of Wrestle Mania as that is what is remembered the most. The ending to this year's main event was the most disappointing in WWE history!
Overall..... C
1) Money In The Bank Ladder Match A good opener. The thing that works against the MITB Ladder match is that there is only so many spots that you can do with a ladder. Over the last few years, Shelton Benjamin has done almost every interesting spot that a human being can do with a ladder. They are now struggling to out do the previous MITB Ladder matches. This however was a very credible ladder match, but probably the weakest (along with WM XXIII) of the MITB Ladder matches to date. Kofi Kingston probably emerged as the MITB show stealer, although Benjamin had the spot of the match with a crazy Swanton-type dive from the top of an insanely high ladder..... C+
2) Diva Battle Royal A waste of time. The old Divas like Sunny & Molly didn't even get an entrance for the crowd to enjoy their return. To make things worse they had Santino win it. As funny as he is they need to start making him a credible wrestler (which he is capable of being) & not just a jobber who's good on the mic, which they are making him out to be...... F
3) Chris Jericho vs The Legends Much better than I thought it would be. Dare I say that Ricky Steamboat nearly stole the show. What a performance by the Hall Of Famer. It was a match that didn't steal the show but certainly didn't disappoint. The spot with Mickey Rourke at the end was never going to be taken well if it was over the top, so maybe its subtle approach was appropriate..... C
4) Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy Good match with some extreme, but not over the top spots. I worried that the spots in this match would be over top, but they did them just right. The ring psychology was good & it was good to see Matt win as that was the result needed if they plan to extend this feud (which I think they will). The Twist Of Fate on the chair was superbly done..... B-
5) JBL vs Rey Misterio It would've been more spontaneous if they hadn't done the exact same thing last year with Kane & Chavo Guerrero. JBL as boring as he is in the ring, is a master of psychology on the microphone. The angle of JBL quitting was as important as the actual 21 second match so I'll take that into account when grading it..... D
6) Undertaker vs Shawn Michael Well..... When I saw Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels, I thought that you will never see a better match where no weapons are used EVER again. Not just getting caught up in the hype because Wrestle Mania was only yesterday, but this just might be the best Wrestle Mania match that I have ever seen. As far as storyline goes it was built up very well. As far as in ring action goes, it was a privilege to watch. As far as ring psychology goes, it was a master class. As far as crowd reaction goes, that much crowd reaction hasn't been seen since Hogan vs The Rock. The WWE hasn't received a 5 Star rating for a match in Wrestling Observer for over a decade. If this doesn't get one then something is wrong. On a side note there was a spot where the Undertaker flew over the top rope & HBK moved out of the way sending Undertaker straight to the floor. Undertaker landed head first into the cameraman & a crunching noise was heard. I honestly thought for 5 seconds that The Undertaker had broken his neck & died live at Wrestle Mania..... A*
7) Edge vs John Cena vs Big Show A match that never should've been a world title match at Wrestle Mania in the first place. It wasn't terrible though, but wasn't anything that we haven't seen before. Cena showcased his AMAZING strength by holding Big Show & Edge on his shoulders for a few seconds. This was closely followed by the 3 count that made him World Champion once again, which in turn made for a good finish to the match. Not as bad as a match with John Cena & Big Show could've been..... C
8) Triple H vs Randy Orton Imagine if Stone Cold Steve Austin lost to Shawn Michaels at WM 14. Imagine if The Ultimate Warrior lost to Hulk Hogan at WM 6. Imagine if Chris Benoit didn't win at WM 20. They would've NEVER crossed over to that status that separates a transitional champion (Sergent Slaughter) from a dominant champion (Bret Hart). Orton who is without question the hottest thing in wrestling right now, was ready to take over like Triple H did at Wrestle Mania 2000. Randy Orton is in the the prime of his life at 28 & has a decade of dominance ahead of him. The only thing left for him to do was to defeat the man that he was destined to proceed as the No.1 bad guy in the world of wrestling at WM 25. Could Triple H get over himself for one second & do what was write for business? NO! He ruined Wrestle Mania 25 the same way that he ruined Wrestle Mania 18 by not letting The Rock & Hollywood Hogan be the main event. Orton will now have to start all over again rebuilding his character & we are destined to put up with Triple H until he breaks Ric Flair's record & finally steps down like he should've done at the end of the Attitude Era..... The Match was a C+, but the ending completely downgraded it to an F
A lot rides on the main event of Wrestle Mania as that is what is remembered the most. The ending to this year's main event was the most disappointing in WWE history!
Overall..... C