DVD Review: WWE: Wrestlemania XXV - 25th Anniversary: The Undertaker, Triple H, Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Various: Movies & TV
DVD Review: WWE: Wrestlemania XXV - 25th Anniversary: The Undertaker, Triple H, Mickey Rourke, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, John Cena, Chris Jericho, Various: Movies & TV
Product Description
On March 31, 1985, the WrestleMania legacy was born at Madison Square Garden in New York City. This sold-out event was the origin of what has become the greatest sports-entertainment franchise in American history. In 2009, this franchise will celebrate 25 years This will be the biggest event in company history.
Good WM But For A 25th, It Was A Bit Of A Letdown,
By Ervin Griffin (Bluefield, WV) -
I won’t mince words, let’s get to it:
C.M. Punk Vs. Mark Henry Vs. Kane Vs. Finley Vs. Kofi Kingston Vs. MVP Vs. Shelton Benjamin Vs. Christian (Money In The Bank Ladder Match) - Awesome opener! Even though their time in it was limited, even Kane and (surprisingly) Mark Henry looked good here! As usual, it was a spotfest wtih Shelton, MVP, Finley & Christian coming the closest to winning but in the end it was Punk who took the match for the second year in a row! I was actually pulling for MVP to win but I won’t argue Punk. Watch for a sick powerslam from Henry to Kofi onto a ladder and an even sicker powerbomb from Shelton to MVP from the ring to the floor!
25 Diva Battle Royale - The winner was pretty much given away the second you saw Santino Marrella in drag in the match. I also think the fact that WWE couldn’t get some of the more popular Divas like Trish Stratus and Lita really hurt this bout too. Still, the final sequence pretty much is the highlight of the match as Mickie James and Michelle McCool had a vicious exchange as well as Beth Phoenix and Melina. Ends when Santino….opps, Santina dumps out both Melina and Beth! Match itself wasn’t bad but the angle and storyline on it sucks!
Ricky Steamboat, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper & “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka Vs. Chris Jericho (3 on 1 Handicap match) - With “Nature Boy” Ric Flair in their corner and Mickey Rourke at ringside, these three legends came in determined to teach Y2J a lesson in respect.
This match actually turned out better than expected! While its obvious that Piper and Snuka need to stay retired, Steamboat looked great! Heck, he and Flair could probably still go at it right now. Probably not for an hour but just 10 minutes would be better than some of the wrestling we get today!
Anyway, Jericho wins after eliminating all three wrestlers with Steamboat having the standout performance. After the match, Flair and Jericho get into it with Jericho getting the better of the exchange. Then, we have Jericho wanting to get it on with Mickey Rourke. Rourke, who was a boxer in his younger days, got into the ring and rather play Jericho’s game (whiich is wrestling), he made Jericho play his by goading him into boxing. It ends with Y2J getting knocked out!
Guess the bad guy had to get his cummupance but it would’ve been more appropriate for a former wrestler to come to the aid of Flair & Co., perhaps one of his old Horsemen comrades?! The match itself was okay with a great performance from Steamboat.
Matt Hardy Vs. Jeff Hardy (Extreme Rules Match) - This one was more of a spotfest with both men doing some pretty high risk and dangerous moves. It wasn’t bloody but as another reviewer said, it didn’t need to be bloody as it was so personal with these two.
Ends when Jeff Hardy attempted a legdrop over 20ft. from a ladder only to miss, which allowed Matt to uses a funky version of his “Twist Of Fate” using a steel chair! Matt takes this one!
Rey Mysterio Vs. JBL (WWE Intercontinental Title Match) - In one of the few surprises of the night, Rey beats “The Longhorn Loudmouth” in 21 seconds! Also, as a bit of a surprise, JBL “quits” WWE much to the delight of the Texas crowd. Not much to talk about here other than Rey is the new I-C champion.
The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels - Seems like every WM has at least one match that is as good or outshines the slated main events, THIS ONE WAS ONE OF THOSE MATCHES! In my eyes, this was the true main event of WM25 and is a MUST VIEW on this card! About the only thing that keeps it from being a 5 star bout is the slow part where both UT and Shawn miss respective dives outside the ring (though UT’s does have him take a nasty spill on his head and knocking the crap out of a cameraman with him).
Lots of false finishes and surprise moves here. Michaels goes for submissions twice with his version of the figure four and his version of the crossface while UT nearly gets the win with his “Hell’s Gates” chokehold. Long story short, UT gets his first ever one on one victory over Shawn and extends his record to 17-0 at WM. GREAT MATCH AND THE BEST ON THE CARD IN MY VIEW!
John Cena Vs. The Big Show Vs. Edge (Triple Threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship) - Don’t expect HHH/Benoit/Michaels from WM 20 here though it wasn’t a bad bout. In fact, of the two world title matches, this one had the worst buildup BUT it actually turned out to be a pretty decent bout….except for the fact Cena won! Ugh! At least they got Vickie Guerrero out of the way early so that the focus went to the match.
Cena wins when he first hits the FU (sorry but its new name sucks) on TBS and then he FU’s Edge on top of TBS for the win. Personally, I felt TBS should’ve won because he was so dominant in this bout and in leading up to the bout. Heck, I would’ve settled for Edge somehow keeping the belt! Cena is now a 6 time champion but somehow I don’t feel too excited about this! Maybe we can talk C.M. Punk into pulling what he did last year!? LOL!
Randy Orton Vs. HHH (WWE World Title Match) - While not a bad match (it is worth a look as it does have some surprise and rugged spots), it feel far short of expectations. I think adding the “DQ-rule waived” stipulations actually hurt this match more than helped. They would’ve done better to go the Austin/Rock route back at WM X-7 and had it No DQ! I mean, think about it. With the way they build up this match, a no rules bout would’ve been perfect!
As it is, it isn’t a bad bout but the crowd was DEAD in this match! In fact, they were dead after UT/Michaels and Austin doing his special farewell but even Cena/Edge/TBS got more reaction than this match. As I said, it actually isn’t a bad match but it didn’t feel like the main event!
Overall, this WM was okay but for a 25th Anniversary, it sure as hell didn’t feel like it! I’ll probably buy it anyway for UT/Michaels and a few other surprises but I wouldn’t say this is a must buy.
The 25th EDITION (Not Anniversary) Of WrestleMania,
By D.P. (California) -
Hate to be a nerd here but when your born or married or had a special occassion that you celebrate every year, the anniversary isn’t when the event happened but every year afterwards so do the math, this is the 25th EDITION of WrestleMania but the quarter anniversary comes next year…but let’s not let the facts get in the way of a good story. A couple of notes for this WrestleMania is that Tazz left WWE earlier in the week when his contract expired & with there being no ECW match, the entire event was a 3 man announce team of Michael Cole, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler. It should also be noted that a Unified Tag Team Championship match was advertised on the card with the WWE (SmackDown) Tag Champions of Carlito & Primo Colon vs. the World (RAW) Tag Team Champions of John Morrison & The Miz but at the last minute, they moved the match off the main card onto the DVD extra dark match. It should also be noted that WWE went all the way to the four hour mark on this PPV & the lead singer from the pop group “The Pussycat Dolls” (don’t remember her name & honestly, don’t care) did the national anthem. Now onto the matches…
Money In The Bank Match: C.M. Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Christian vs. Finlay vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry - After the last couple of MITB ladder matches starting to become a little “routine” when it came to the spots, this one had the ladders used in ways we’ve never seen before in more unique ways. Moments to look out for are the showcases of strength by Mark Henry & Kane, Christian clearly being the crowd favorite, Shelton Benjamin’s leap off the ladder outside the ring, Hornswoggle & his “ladder”, and the darkhorse (no pun intended) in Kofi Kingston being the human highlight reel of the match. There were some botches for the stuff they were trying to pull off but overall, entertaining match & great way to kick off the show.
Right around here was a Kid Rock performance doing a medley of songs that lasted around 10 mins. that lost the crowd for a while that ended with the divas appearing for…
Ms. wrestleMania Battle Royal - …this battle royal to crown Ms. WrestleMania featuring all the current WWE divas along with ones from the past like Sunny, Ms. Jackie (Tough Enough winner/Charlie Hass’ wife), Victoria, Molly Holly and Torrie Wilson. However, unless you went to WWE’s website to look at the photo shoot earlier in the day (that Michael Cole had to plug), they decided not to give all of them introductions unlike how they’ve done at every battle royal in WrestleMania’s past so you couldn’t tell who was who (and neither could the announce team half the time) throughout most of the match since it was a huge cluster of blondes & brunettes until towards the end. Unless your a fan of Santino Marella (or maybe even RuPaul), this was a skipable filler & complete waste of the appearences from the past divas.
Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat w/Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho - This was a handicap elimination match in that Jericho has to beat all three men to win & Mickie Rourke from the movie “The Wrestler” was at ringside for this. This match was about what you expect from Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka at this point in their careers but the real suprize of the night was Ricky Steamboat as this was his first real performance in almost 15 years and first WM match since ‘88/IV eventhough he wasn’t as quick, he looked like he didn’t miss a step & still hit his classic spots & moves. Other moments were Roddy Piper forgetting that this is a “Rated PG” show & everything with Rourke afterwards but it was the interaction between Steamboat & Jericho that was the main highlight of this match.
Extreme Rules Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy - As J.R. would point out on the commentary, how ironic is it that 5 years ago at WMXX it was the “brothers” of Kane & Taker that had a match while 15 years ago it was the Hart brothers of Bret & Owen who were fighting each other and now it’s the battle of the Hardy brothers. Various weapons like a shopvac (you read that right), a singapore cane, trash can, crutch, and of course…tables, ladders, and chairs were used as not only just weapons but to make moves more impactful like the side effect, legdrop and the sickest looking twist of fate I can remember seeing. Unlike how their Vengeance ‘01 match was a trainwreck, this match lived up to the hype and the right guy who NEEDED the victory got it.
Intercontinental Champion J.B.L. vs. Rey Mysterio - Along with the fact that this was the first Intercontinental Title defence since WMX8, Michael Cole pointed out that this was Mysterio’s first WM appearence since he won the World Title at WM22. Eventhough I’m a fan of Mysterio’s unique WM outfits of comic book/movie characters, his costume this year as Heath Ledgers “Joker” came off like the time he tried to be the Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four. Anyways, it took you just about as long to read everything I just said about Mysterio & the I.C. title at WrestleMania than it would to watch the match because this was a repeat of the ECW title match last year.
Mr. WrestleMania vs. The Streak: Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker - This is one of those matches that I can try to describe & review but the words wouldn’t do it justice. This match had everything (including the enique “Heaven & Hell” entrances) on a physical & emotional level of both men refusing to lose to the point where this was the cloest anyone had ever come to breaking the streak to the point where you saw the most emotion from Undertaker since his “Deadman” character returned 5 years ago & Shawn was even so desperate at one point, he was hoping for a win via countout. Instant classic here & quite frankly, this was the match that saved this show, should have ended it since nobody was going to be able to top it, and makes the DVD worth buying alone.
World Champion Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show - As usual, Cena had quite an entrance as it was an almost scary sight seeing that many John Cena’s and I even joked with my friends saying that it was the “Cena Clux Clan”…will the real Slim Shady please stand up? All three men put in a good performance here with various highlights featured the Guerrero’s getting involved & Big Show putting in a dominate performance along with doing a classic Andre The Giant spot at one moment. This was one of those main events were it solid & had some fun moments that surpassed all the buildup going into it (thought the storyline was pretty weak myself) but it wasn’t the best match each man has had against each other.
I had to make a note of this & point out that right around here was when they did the roll call for the Hall Of Famer before “Stone Cold” Steve Austin saluted the crowd the only way Stone Cold can for a memorable WrestleMania moment.
WWE Champion Triple H vs. Randy Orton - The stipulation for this match was that if Triple H got DQ’d or counted out, he would lose the title. Now I’ll admit from the start that eventhough I thought the storyline was very well done, I didn’t care to see this match because they’ve fought so many times in so many different matches (I counted at least 8 times on television/PPV in the past 18 months including the WM Title match just last year…and that’s not even counting all their previous feuds with DX/Rated RKO & the breakup of Evolution over the past few years) that a normal one on one match after all those matches are still fresh in people’s heads didn’t seem like a main event for what your hyping up as a landmark WrestleMania.
Anyways, the match tried to tell a good story as both men traded places with Orton being more of the “cerberal assassin” by being very calculating throughout the match while Triple H was more emotional & aggressive to the point where the referee had to keep reminding him various times that he’ll lose his title if he gets disqualified as Triple H was constantly tempted to get revenge instead of a victory. However the problem is that the match wasn’t bad but it just didn’t click on so many levels as the match started off quick with both men hitting their finishers in the first minute and then heavily slowed down afterwards to the point where the crowd died & only made noise for big moves unlike the previous two matches where they were into it from start to finish. Also the whole “champion loses the belt on DQ/countout” rule wasn’t played out well here unlike how it’s been in the past (Luger/Flair from Starrcade ‘88, Angle/Lesnar from WMXIX, Rock/Benoit from Fully Loaded ‘00). For example, the referee kept stepping in whenever Triple H would just keep pounding on Orton & once even came close to hitting him with the monitor with the referee warn him about losing the title…only for these guys to bounce each other off the announce tables and fight on the outside for more than what would have been more than a 10 second countout with the referee just stepping back & not doing anything about it. After all of that, the ending just made you go “that’s it? After months of buildup, character development, and everyone who was involved in this from the McMahons to Legacy…that’s it?” This match heavily reminded me of Triple H/Jericho from WMX8 or HBK/Cena from WM23 in that the match wasn’t bad/horrible but they’ve had better and it wasn’t the best way to end the show.
Overall, this PPV had some flops (Kid Rock going on too long for my taste, battle royal, Mysterio/J.B.L., the Unified Tag Team match being moved to the dark match last minute, and everything surrounding the HHH/Orton match that I talked about). However this DVD will also contain the Hall Of Fame featuring Koko B. Ware (why?), The Funks, The Von Erichs, Bill Watts, The Fink, Ricky Steamboat, and Steve Austin that is always worth watching along with the highlight packages from previous WM’s they showed for weeks & the Undisputed Tag Team Title match along with the Kid Rock performance being edited out of the show. So overall, this event was a stepdown from last year’s event & ranks around 3 stars but I’ll bump it up one more for the Hall Of Fame extra you’ll get with it. So I wouldn’t recommend getting the $55+ encore replay (unless you really need to see that HBK/Taker match) but I would recommend waiting & get the DVD for half price with the bonus extras.
A Wrestlemania full of a few hits and several misses,
By Joseph T. Lawson III “Filmholmes” (Indiana) -
Wrestlemania is supposed to be the premiere show of the WWE and it usually does deliver some of the most exciting and talked about matches of the year. This year should have been one the top ten Wrestlemania’s but unfortunately due to time constraints and bad booking the show was far from one of the greatest. Shawn Michaels and Undertaker should have closed the show. Most wrestling fans only bought the pay per view so they could see this match live. Both men are from Texas and they are both legends and no other match was going to be able to top it. Whoever made the decision to not have this match at the end of the show should take a huge pay cut or should be spanked with a paddle so they learn their lesson. Also, we were promised a tag team title unification match on the pay per view and it was moved to a dark match and it wasn’t even seen live! The diva battle royal should have been the dark match. Tag team matches are some of the best matches around and if Vince Mcmahon would get his head out of his billionaire anus then maybe he would realize that. I could keep talking but I will go match by match and explain myself in better detail.
Dark Match–WWE and World Tag team title unification match
WWE Tag Team Champions Carlito and Primo Colon versus World Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison
I have not seen this match so I can’t rate on how good of a wrestling match it actually was although I have heard that even though it was short it was excellent. The Miz and Morrison in my opinion are one of the best tag team’s in wrestling right now. The Colons are very good and it’s good to see them using Carlito because he is a wonderful talent. The Colons unfortunately are overlooked because they never had any competition on Smackdown. I am still disappointed that they didn’t develop a rivalry with the Major brothers (they won the titles from them) because they could have had some wonderful tag matches. The Miz and Morrison are a pretty well established tag team which is unusual since Vince doesn’t understand what tag team wrestling can be. This match should have been on the card, but it is what it is. I am curious on what they do with the whole ‘unified’ tag team title situation and who the Colons will defend against since Miz and Morrison are broken up because of the Draft. Match rating–N/A
Winners and New Unified Tag team Champions–The Colons
Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk vs Kane vs Mark Henry vs Christian vs MVP vs Shelton Benjamin vs Finlay vs Kofi Kingston
I remember seeing the first Money in the Bank at Wrestlemania 21 and was amazed at the match itself. I am still happy that this match has become a major part of the last few Wrestlemania’s. The match itself didn’t disappoint. It was a wonderful way to open the show as it always is because it always pumps the crowd up for the remainder of the night. I these matches were longer than fifteen minutes but I understand why it is kept short because any longer and the match itself would become boring. Kofi Kingston was the main star in this match as he did certain moves with the ladder that hasn’t been seen in a Money in the Bank. Everybody had their moments as the always do in Money in the Bank. I still wish Christian had won the match. I love CM Punk and if anybody had to win I’m glad it was him (even though the Texans were not very happy about it) but this could have been the start of Christian’s push. I hope other people noticed what I noticed. I also hope that Vince noticed what I noticed when it came to Christian. Christian got the loudest ovation in the match. Most of the crowd was rooting for him and were disappointed when he didn’t win. It makes no sense to bring him back and not use him. I know that the plans with him were leaked at the Royal Rumble and they had to be changed but if you give the briefcase to Christian he could have a huge run with Edge on Smackdown for the World Title. Does anybody else agree that that would be a definite money maker? Although I would like it if it was CM Punk versus Edge. I have been waiting for that for a year. Match rating–4/5
Winner of Money in the Bank for the second year in a row–CM Punk
Kid Rock then performs what seemed like 200 songs and it took forever. The Texas could have cared less because, and this is shocking, they were there for WRESTLING, not a damn rock/country concert. I felt bad for the Kid because he was doing his best but the crowd just didn’t care.
25 diva battle royal to crown “Miss Wrestlemania”
This should have been the dark match. I don’t blame the women in this match. I actually feel horrible for them because their Wrestlemania moment was taken away from them because of bad booking. Even the special entrants didn’t have the entrances they deserved. Actually, none of the women got their entrances and the match started before anybody knew what was going on. The stuff with Santino was hilarious, and I am a huge fan of his comedic talents, but I thought it was a slap in the face that a MAN won the DIVA battle royal. It looks like Vince doesn’t understand woman’s wrestling either. Match rating–1/5
Winner–”Santina Marella”
Handicap Elimination match
Chris Jericho versus Ricky Steamboat/Roddy Piper/Jimmy Snuka with Ric Flair
The build up to this match was very well done, and that was mostly because Chris Jericho is the best interview in the WWE today. I really didn’t give a turd about the match until it came down the Steamboat and Jericho. They put on the most exciting few minutes of the night in my opinion. I couldn’t believe how good Steamboat still is, but that’s why is a legend and now a Hall of Famer. I hated Mickey Rourke punching out Jericho and that moment ruined almost the whole match for me, but seeing Steamboat in the ring one more time on the grandest stage of them all will stay with me for a long time and nothing will ruin that. Match Rating–3/5
Winner–Chris Jericho
Extreme Rules Match
Jeff Hardy versus Matt Hardy
Now, I know that the original plans for this match was Christian vs Jeff Hardy. I also know that those plans were leaked online, and I understood why they changed it to Jeff vs Matt. Although Vince doesn’t understand something. Even though people knew at the Royal Rumble that Christian was going to cost Jeff the WWE title, it still would have been a shocking crowd pleaser. Now Christian and Jeff could have had a good wrestling match, and it would have been more shocking for Matt to turn on Jeff at Wrestlemania and they could have had a great run together through Summerslam but it is what it is. Matt and Jeff put on a good spotfest here but they should have been given a lot more time because this was a personal match. The ending was well done, although it felt rushed. Also the right guy won as he needed the win more. I don’t like the way this rivalry has been handled but at least two brothers got to have a match at Wrestlemania together. I hope though that they make this rivalry what it’s supposed to be but knowing Vince that won’t happen and what should have been a historic match and series of matches will be forgotten in a few months. Match rating–3/5
Winner–Matt Hardy
Intercontinental Title Match
I.C. Champion JBL versus Rey Mysterio
What a waste of a title match. The Intercontinental title hasn’t been defended at Wrestlemania since Lincoln was president and instead of getting at least an average match we get a quick and useless match. Maybe this should have been the dark match. JBL for weeks kept saying he was going to make history, and he kept that promise. For the record I am happy that Rey has won a big title like the I.C. title. JBL quits at the end and his home state cheers his departure. JBL makes history and that’s what this match now is….history. Match rating–1/5
Winner and New I.C. Champion–Rey Mysterio
Legend versus Legend
Shawn Michaels versus Undertaker
The only reason why I wanted to see this ppv live was for this match. Now nobody can act like they thought Undertaker’s streak would be broken but we knew that we would get a half hour Wrestlemania classic and that is what we got. There were a few slow spots because of a sick fall where Undertaker fell right on his head and when Shawn fell straight on his back. Even with a few flaws the match delivered the way it was supposed and will probably win Shawn his one hundredth match of the year award (which he always deserves). The crowd loved this match and so did I. The last ten minutes were amazing. This was the match of the night but that shouldn’t surprise anybody. Match rating–5/5
Winner–Undertaker
Triple threat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship
Champion Edge versus John Cena versus The Big Show
The build up to this match was horrible but it was entertaining. I was actually looking forward to see John Cena and Edge go for the title on the biggest pay per view of the year but I guess they thought they audience had seen enough of that so they added the Big Show. The match itself was surprisingly good even though it felt too rehearsed, and yes I know that they rehearse matches but classic matches don’t look rehearsed at all. For some reason there is now a triple threat match at almost every Wrestlemania now, but there is nothing wrong with that. They are fun matches and this one is no exception. I don’t agree with Cena winning, I actually thought that the Big Show should have won, but I understand that they were trying to have the fallen champion get his belt back. I actually like Cena, but just not as champion. I liked him as champion at one point but I prefer him chasing the belt than him wearing it. I also wish they would give Edge a longer title reign, he deserves one. Match rating–3/5
Winner and new World Champion–John Cena
WWE Championship Match
Champion Triple H versus Randy Orton
This match deserved to be the main event, but once the match happened I no longer felt that way. The build up to this match was amazing, and one of the best creative things that WWE has done in forever. I would have loved this match more if Orton had won the title. He should have won the title. They built him up and built him up and he didn’t win. It was a wasted opportunity. Wrestlemania should have been the real start of the Age of Orton. He is the best in the WWE right now, and god forbid that they take the belt off Triple H. Now I am a fan of Triple H but with him as champion the WWE is not going to get out of the funk that they have been in. Also, why was there no interference from the Mcmahon family or Legacy? This match should have been similar to the Main event of Wrestlemania X-7 between Stone Cold and The Rock. The match was no disqualification and although it wasn’t a wrestling masterpiece it was still one of the most exciting title matches in Wrestlemania history. This one should have been as well, but it wasn’t. The crowd was completely dead and this did not feel like a Wrestlemania Main Event at all. It should have if the match was done right. This could have easily followed Undertaker/Shawn Michaels if there was a No Dq rule and interference. This match was a huge disappointment and they will probably make it right in the coming months but I’m sick and tired of WWE always having to have the better matches at other pay per views when it should have happened at Wrestlemania. Match rating–2/5
Winner and still WWE Champion–Triple H
This Wrestlemania was a lot better than last year’s edition but not by a lot. I am not trying to preach that I know more than the people who run the WWE but they need to start listening to the fans a lot more. I feel at times that I could book better shows and I should never feel like that. Luckily for them TNA is doing worse than they are otherwise I would switch to them and leave WWE behind. I the whole WWE company would wake up and realize what they are doing wrong, but at the same time nobody what they do right, somebody out there will think it was wrong. So I guess it’s a no win situation. I do suggest getting this pay per view because you will still enjoy it, but there are to many misses at this event, even with the tremendous hits that took place.
[asa]B001RXDM3Q[/asa]
First tagged "video" by Donald J. Cirelli Customer tags: adobe
First tagged "video" by William Callahan "WillC94"
