Daveportivo's Cultural Evaluation Facility

This was a really tough show to rate, there was alot to dislike about this show, a fair bit to like and forty five minutes of absolute wrestling perfection in the form of HBK-Undertaker. Its perhaps too early to say but Micheals-Taker could very well be the greatest Wrestlemania match up of all time. That match is what makes the issue of rating this PPV so hard, because I have alot of gripes but that match made the show absolutely must see for every Wrestling fan. Therefore I do feel like I got my moneys worth and I don't have the angry desire to get my money back I'm just left somewhat underwhelmed. Anyway with that in mind lets hit some of the key talking points.

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker: Everything about this match was absolutely spot on, from Shawn's over the top entrance to the insane finale. Perhaps the greatest tribute you can pay to this match is that even though everyone in the world knew Undertaker was gonna win, HBK's performance was so brilliant, so well timed that everyone doubted themselves even if it was ever so briefly. This was two pros at the top of their game, their timing was impecable, their sequences and spots were so creative (just watch that opening sequences) and these two simply put tell a better story than anyone else in the wrestling industry. They may not be at their athletic peak but mentally there better than ever. Gruelling, Brutal, Intense, I can't wait to write the full review.

There is no doubt now that Shawn Michaels is the Ric Flair of the modern age, he is Mr. Wrestlemania and he is simply better than anyone else. He steals the show every single Wrestlemania, he dominates my and everybodies match of the year list each and every year. Looking at the 365 days from Mania to Mania HBK had the three best matches of that year, all completely different from one another. There was the emotional rollercoster and the perfect story and moment in the form of the Flair match, then came the inovative, creative and refreshing ladder match with Chris Jericho to end the fued of the year and finally the perfect eleven year in the making clash of the Titans with Taker this year.

The only question that remains is who gets to face HBK and Taker next year. Fuck the world titles those are the only two matches anyone cares about. Can Shawn really pull out three Five Star matches in row? Lets hope so, I can't wait.

How the Fuck Do You Follow That? Well you can't. Its that simple. If I was John Cena, Big Show or Edge I'd of been shitting myself, there was no way in hell they could have topped that match. The World Title Triple Threat match was hampered by a burned out crowd but they did their best. To be perfectly honest there was absolutely nothing wrong with the match at all, it was a fun little triple threat match and would have fitted in fine headlining Backlash or No Way Out but not Wrestlemania and not after HBK-Taker. It came accross as totally underwhelming despite Cena's double lift on Big Show and Edge. Had this match gone on Before Undertaker-HBK I'd probably be writing that this was a fun enjoyable match that got the momentum going towards the big two matches. Unfortunately it came accross as a non-Wrestlemania worthy goofy soap opera three way slice of blandness.

So after Cena and Edge bite the bullet and delt with a crowd so emotionally spent they could barely manage a clap, surely the almighty Triple H and the top heel in wrestling Randy Orton could recover momentum and send us home on a high. Well no, they couldn't. This match was just poorly planned out match that was simply uninteresting and frankly rather dull. The main problem was that we'd had this HUGE over the top build up, Triple H should have been foaming at the mouth to kill Randy Orton. And what did we get, a relitively intense but destinctly ordinary Orton-Hunter match. This like the Triple Threat match before it was pretty good, just nothing special, and Wrestlemania is all about being special, this match needed to be extraordinary and it wasn't. It felt like a let down, when Triple H got the 1-2-3 the universal reaction was "huh? That's it?". The evil unstoppable Orton didn't put up much of a fight. Quite Frankly this match showed just how big a gap there is between Shawn Micheals and Triple H. Hindsight is a glorious thing but HBK-Taker simply had to go on last, it was the match that sold the show, and it was the match the stole the show.

Ricky Steamboat: Okay so he's not gonna go out there and put on a five star match but boy oh boy the Dragon has still got it. Just like last year with Flair there's nothing like seeing one of the all time greats show off what made the world fall in love with him in the first place. The match was hokey crap and below Jericho but there was only one thought in my mind. Fuck Rourke, Fuck Piper, Fuck Snuka I wish we'd have got Steamboat-Jericho. Imagine the same build, Jericho disrespects all the legends, goads Flair, beats the crap out of him but Flair won't come out of retirement so he gets his greatest ever adversary to battle Jericho in his place. I hope we get a 15 minute match up at Backlash, to give The Dragon the send off he richly deserves.

Money In The Botch: It was fun, creative and a good opener but boy oh boy was this filled from start to finish with fuck ups. That said I liked the creativity in the match and prefered it to the horrible contrived effort at last years mania (note the lack of slow ladder climbs or retarded decisions to set up extra ladders for no reason (only happened twice)). The spot where Kofi ran up the closed ladder being held by Henry and then being dropped and caught with a World's Strongest Slam onto the ladder was simply brilliant. Shelton's suicide dive however was not so impressive, it was stupid and dangerous and totally unnessecary you can achieve the same response in much more clever and much safer ways, I don't want to see someone die on television. CM Punk is a fine choice as long as they give him a credible build this year. The one thing I miss about Russo is that he damn sure made sure you cared about the undercard.

Kid Rock: Well this was just totally unnessecary, I mean honestly who cares? Remember last time Kid Rock was relevant? Around 1998, yep same time as the WWE. By all accounts it sounds like we missed an excellent Tag Team match up or an extra ten minutes of HHH-Orton for this bullshit.

Divas....erh....what Divas: Lets hype bring back divas and then not introduces them. Everyone gets paid but nobody gets over. I've all ready given this match more thought than the WWE did.

Shocking News: Matt and Jeff have uninspiring Match: Yes Jeff nearly killed himself and Matt hit a really cool finisher but that was the only two minutes of the match that even remotely caught the attention of the audience. Unprotected chairshots to head got absolutely no reaction from the crowd so can we please not have them anymore, please I know its not like there killing any....oh. Matt debuted his new look to his same old music and same old attitude and same old boring in ring style. Matt gets the big win but ultimately this does more to define Jeff down than elevate Matt.

No More JBL: One of my favorite acts of modern times is gone forever. We all know nothing is forever in wrestling but JBL geniunely sounds like he's happy and if anyone has the solid base to give it all up its JBL. He didn't exactly go out in style, I'd of liked a big win in texas but he went out playing the ultimate weasely heel, which is ultimately for the best, as JBL was one of the best and most dedicate heels in the business and he heeled it up to the end.

That said Rey has a lot of fans, and alot of people wanted to see JBL get his arse kicked and this could have been a really nice undercard match, but instead we got 23 seconds!!! Well I guess Kid Rock is more important than wrestling.

Final Thoughts:

Ultimately this was one of the weakest looking Wrestlemanias in recent memory, with very little that seemed wrestlemania worthy and what it delivered was four very competantly executed and solid match ups, one nice nostalgic moment, alot of filler and one mind bogglingly perfect match up. If this had been a three hour show we'd be calling it the best PPV of the year, but as a Wrestlemania its forgetable and bland. All in all its incedental as in five years time the only thing people will remember about Wrestlemania 25 is that match, the moment that after eleven years without touching each other two of the most iconic came together to create the perfect wrestlemania moment. Shawn Michaels is Mr. Wrestlemania, Flair-Michaels was the perfect moment, Taker-Michaels might just be the perfect match, everything else couldn't stack up.

(6/10)