From the Bowery: WrestleMania XXV

From the Bowery: WrestleMania XXV
-April 5, 2009
-Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX

-This would be the first WrestleMania I ever attended, and for that reason alone it will be a special show for me. Now while I’ve had the DVD for months I have yet to watch the entire show. Since I was there live I will review as I normally do, but I will also include some thoughts as to what it was like being there.

Announce Team:Jim Ross, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and Michael Cole

-The opening video package features current WWE Superstars mentioning their favorite WrestleMania moments. This was tremendously done and I will admit that when this video played it hit me that I was finally at a WrestleMania. That coupled with seeing all those great WrestleMania moments that I had witnessed from the time I was a kid got me to get a little weepy eyed.

-Nicole Sherzinger of Pussycat Dolls Fame gets the honors of singing America the Beautiful.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Mark Henry vs. Kane vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian vs. MVP vs. CM Punk vs. Finlay

-The clear, cut crowd favorite with the live crowd was Christian as he received a huge reaction. Obviously that comes across very well on screen. Once Kane makes his entrance the shit is on as the kids say. Christian and Benjamin hit the floor to retrieve a ladder immediately while the others get destroyed by Kane and Henry. The two big men do battle in the ring as the crowd immediately starts chanting for Christian. A ladder gets brought in by Christian and Shelton as they take out the two big men. They try to take out Kofi, but he leaps over the ladder and dropkicks it back onto Christian and Shelton. He follows that up with his leg drop, but that hurts him just as much. Henry and Kane climb the ladder, but everyone else in the match make sure they can’t retrieve the case. Two ladders get set up and 4 men climb, but they crash and burn when Henry and Kane tip them. Nice! Kane is the last man standing and he starts to climb, but Henry returns to tip the ladder and send Kane crashing onto the top rope. Finlay comes back and hits a suicide dive onto Kane and MVP. That sets off a series where everyone hits a move to the floor: Christian hits the springboard crossbody, MVP comes off the apron with a senton, and Punk/Kofi hit stereo suicide dives onto the pile. Shelton says bitch please as he tops everyone with a senton off a huge ladder onto everyone the floor. Shelton is my hero. Henry wants to get in on the action, but Finlay stops the fun before Henry could climb to the top rope. Hornswoggle enters and uses a step ladder to climb Henry’s lifeless carcass laying on the top rope, and he dives off with a Tadpole Splash. Sure, the crowd loved it, but how does a midget have enough force to take out 5 men? Everyone regroups and Kofi swings through an open ladder to dropkick Finlay. Kofi’s trying to steal this show from Shelton it seems. Kofi starts to climb, but Henry tips the ladder. As Henry looks to set up the ladder, Kofi runs up the ladder to steal the case. Sweet! Great try, but Henry casually drops Kofi, catches him, and drops him onto a ladder with the World’s Strongest Slam. Dear Lord! Ladders start to get bridged off other ladders and that sets up a lot of crazy shit. Shelton comes off the bridged ladder, but MVP catches him with a sit down powerbomb. He climbs, but now Punk returns to stop that. Christian and Punk do battle on the bridged ladder and it ends with Punk eating an Unprettier! Thank God Punk didn’t take that well, or he would have broken his neck. Shelton scales a ladder on the floor, runs across the bridged ladder, and climbs the in ring ladder to stop MVP. He looks for the sunset flip powerbomb from the ladder, but the spot gets fucked up. Shelton is undaunted though as he power bombs MVP from the ring to the floor where he lands on Tony Atlas. Shelton and Christian do battle on two ladders and as it tips, Christian uses the top rope to balance himself while Shelton crashes to the floor. The crowd pops huge as they think Christian is about to win the match, but Punk makes the save. Big boos from the crowd for that. In a call back to the previous year, Punk gets hung upside down from the ladder and again, Christian looks poised to win. This time Kane is the bad guy as he brings Christian down with a chokeslam. That gave Punk a chance to get free and he starts firing off kicks to escape a goozle. He finally knocks Kane off and retrieves the briefcase at 14:24.

Winner: CM Punk via briefcase retrieval @ 14:24
-This seemed kind of short for some reason, but it still delivered as most expected. Shelton was awesome as usual, but Kofi ended up stealing the show with his crazy ass spots. The crowd was begging for a Christian win, and while Punk winning seemed weird at the time, it proved to be a great vehicle for his eventual heel turn. ***1/2

-Recap of Axxess. As part of the package I received passes to 2 sessions of Axxess and it was a blast. The only superstars I waited in line for were Ryder and Hawkins because there wasn’t much of a line. Everyone else I just pushed to the front of the railing and took pictures. The lines were insane and I really didn’t feel like waiting 2 hours to see Punk and Christian with the chance they might get switched out for someone else. The other activities at Axxess were pretty entertaining and being able to mess around in a WWE ring with the Hell in a Cell surrounding me was awesome. An added bonus with the package was the Mid-day Madness session where I did get to meet several wrestlers and get autographs and pictures. Those we were able to meet: Rey Mysterio, Mr. Kennedy, Evan Bourne, The Great Khali, and Maryse. Good Times there as Evan Bourne seemed to have the most fun with the fans out of all those were there.

-The Kid Rock mini concert is next, though it’s not on the DVD release. Most shit on this and while it didn’t go over well with the crowd, I enjoyed parts of it. I did think it went a bit too long though.

Miss WrestleMania: 25 Diva Battle Royal

-Participants: Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, Brie Bella, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Jillian Hall, Joy Giovanni, Katie Lea Burchill, Kelly Kelly, Layla, Maria, Maryse, Melina, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Miss Jackie, Molly Holly, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Sunny, Tiffany, Torrie Wilson, Victoria, and of course, Santina Marella. The ladies got a group entrance during the Kid Rock concert so as to not reveal Santina being in the match. The crowd quickly picks up on it though. Layla is the first diva tossed out as she hits the floor before the ring instructions were complete. Others get tossed shortly after and it’s just a mess at this point. Lawler is sure enjoying himself though. Sunny gets tossed somewhere in the chaos and its a few moments later when the crowd starts a loud “Santino” chant. Beth Phoenix is the dominant one in the ring as she’s tossed about half a dozen women within 30 seconds. Now Lawler and JR pick up on a rather ugly looking diva in the ring that’s just standing around instead of fighting. Santina watches as McCool and Mickie fight on the top rope and end up falling to the floor. That leaves Santina, Beth, and Melina as your final three in the match. Beth hooks the double arm chicken wing, but gets tangled in the rooms and Santina shoves them both out to pick up the win at 5:57. Candice Michelle presents Santina with “her” crown and sash after the match. The crowd eats up Santino and his dancing after the match as he fully commits to the role.

Winner: Santina Marella at 5:57
-I guess it adds to the spectacle at WrestleMania, but this was pretty horrible. The only intrigue was seeing the divas from the past, but they didn’t even get a proper entrance. Even at 6 minutes this seemed way too long. DUD

-Recap of Chris Jericho rebelling against “The Wrestler” and all the legends that won’t give up the dream. This is actually a pretty sweet video package that has parts of the movie mixed in.

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, and Roddy Piper (w/ Ric Flair)

-Mickey Rourke is sitting at ringside in support of the Hall of Famers. I had hopes leading up to this show that it would be Austin getting one last match, but no dice. Piper and Snuka don’t add all that much to this match as the intrigue for me was seeing what Steamboat could do after being sidelined for 14 years. Piper gets the start as he orders Steamboat and Snuka out of the ring. Jericho has to get a decision over each member of the legend’s team in order to win the match. Piper jumps Jericho before the bell and takes him to the floor. Jericho eats the announce table and then gets fired back into the ring. It’s a special night as Piper has the balls to break out a dropkick. Wow! Snuka gets the tag and he most definitely looks in the worst shape out of everyone. Seriously the poor man looks like he was unearthed and thankfully he tags out to Steamboat. The crowd comes to life as the Dragon flies off the top with a chop. He sinks in his patented arm drags as JR drools. Don’t worry, Jim, me too. Snuka gets the tag back and Jericho locks him the Wall to send him packing at 3:45. Piper becomes the legal man and he uses a thumb to the eye to get the advantage. Classic! He locks in the sleeper, but Jericho breaks and hits an enziguiri to eliminate Piper at 4:45. That leaves us with Jericho vs. Steamboat and thank God for that. The Dragon comes off the top with a crossbody, but Jericho gets the shoulder up at two. Jericho hits a vicious clothesline to kill Ricky’s momentum. He tries to trade chops and that’s really fucking stupid on his part. The Dragon lights up his chest, so Jericho uses his own thumb to the eye. He grounds Steamboat with a headlock, and the crowd erupts as they cheer Ricky to his feet. Jericho tries to dump him to the floor, but the world marks out as he skins the cat. Jericho takes a shot at Flair before turning around and getting sent to the floor by Steamboat. Ricky is a crazy bastard as he hits a slingshot plancha to Jericho on the floor. God Bless the Dragon! Steamboat stays on the offensive back inside and gets a roll-up for two. The chops start flowing again, but this time Jericho gets the advantage. He hits a running bulldog, but misses the Lionsault. A blind charge gets the advantage back for Jericho, but he runs into a powerslam for two. Jericho scoops the legs and looks for the Walls, but Steamboat counters to a cradle for two. Jericho tries a suplex, but Steamboat flips out, but Jericho is prepared and hits the code breaker to kill the fun at 8:53. Jericho beats up Flair after the match and then challenges Rourke to get in the ring. He obliges and Jericho gets knocked down with a left hook. I think they drew this out just a little bit for the payoff we got.

Winner: Chris Jericho via final pin at 8:53
-The first 4:45 wasn’t very good, but the finally 4 minutes with Steamboat was a boat load of fun. Seeing that Steamboat was more ring ready that most figured, a proper one on one match between the two would come the following month. As for this match the best thing I can say is that at times it was a lot of fun. **

-Video package covering Hardy vs. Hardy, and it’s pretty good as well.

Extreme Rules: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy

-Jeff is super over as one would expect and I kind of feel for Matt for some reason. Jeff starts things off with a slap to the face and starts reigning down blows. They immediately hit the floor and Matt gets a WrestleMania poster wrapped around his head. Not sure how much damage that would do, but it made for a cool sound and visual. Jeff uses the stairs to assist him with Poetry in Motion as it sends Matt crashing into the barrier. Back in the ring and Jeff goes for Poetry in Motion again, but Matt’s not falling for it again as moves. Jeff tries to hit Whisper in the Wind, but Matt swats him out of the air with a chair. Sweet! Matt looks under the ring and pulls out a shop vac. Wait, seriously? Thankfully he doesn’t use the hose in any form and opts to just blast Jeff in the head with it. That works I guess. Matt hits the side effect onto a chair, but Jeff gets out the back door at two. Matt shows a vicious side as he wraps Jeff’s body around the steel post and stretches the hell out of his brother. Cool! A table gets prepped on the floor and Matt looks for a suplex from the apron. Jeff turns the tide and hits a clothesline from the apron. He sends Matt into the steps and then starts looking under the ring for more plunder. This time he finds a kendo stick and a crutch. They keep some crazy shit under that ring. A garbage can gets placed on Matt’s head and Jeff cleans his clock with the crutch. He heads up and looks for the Swanton, but Matt rolls out of the way. He quickly hits the Twist of Fate, but Jeff gets the shoulder up at two. Matt starts to mock Jeff and calls for a Swanton of his own, but Jeff meets him on the top rope. Matt gets brought down the hard way with a superplex, and Jeff blasts him with a chair to send him to the floor. They finally get back to the table that was set up earlier and Matt gets placed on said table. That’s not enough for Jeff those as he stacks another table onto the lifeless body of Matt. Jeff heads up top and hits a splash that breaks Matt and both tables. Damn! A replay shows that Jeff may have taken the worst of the move as he went through the first table and Matt barely got touched. Jeff looks for the win back in the ring, but Matt gets a foot on the bottom rope. Jeff goes back under the ring and grabs something he is familiar with: ladders. Jeff starts to channel his inner Sabu as he fires off a chair assisted leg drop. A medium sized ladder gets set up next to a big ass ladder and the crowd knows what is coming next. Jeff attempts the leap frog leg drop, but Matt rolls out of the way. Matt can seemingly finish, but he opts to destroy Jeff with a chair assisted Twist of Fate. Sick shit right there! The pin is academic at 13:13.

Winner: Matt Hardy via pin at 13:13
-Really this is about what you would expect from these two men. The crowd really wasn’t all that into as I think they don’t buy these two as opponents, but they won them over with a pretty awesome ending. Matt going over was the right call, but in the long run it never did anything to elevate him. ***

Intercontinental Title: JBL © vs. Rey Mysterio

-The IC title gets defended at WrestleMania for the first time in 7 years. JBL comes to ring with mic in hand and runs down the state of Texas. He promises to give us the most dominant victory in WrestleMania History before returning to New York City. Rey goes with Heath Ledger’s Joker as his special WrestleMania look this year and JR makes a poor joke that he would later apologize for (When Lawler asked if Rey was paying tribute to Ledger, JR said “I think Rey’s career is alive and well, King). Oh, kind of a low blow there Jim, but to his credit he did apologize for the remark. JBL hits a vicious boot during the ref’s instructions and he beats Rey down in the corner before the opening bell. Rey tells the ref he wants to start the match. The bell rings and Rey hits an enziguiri, a 6-1-9, and a splash to get the win at 0:21.

Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: Rey Mysterio via pin at 0:21
-After 7 years of not being defended the IC Title gets the ECW Title treatment from the previous year. My cousin actually missed the match as he was getting something to drink and fighting with an usher because he didn’t take his ticket with him. I told him he didn’t miss much when he got back. SQUASH

-Epic video package for Shawn/Taker

The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

-Shawn descends from the heavens decked out in all white to angelic music, and Taker rises from Hell in his normal all black attire. Cool! Sadly, no druids with torches though. That kind of pissed me off being there live. We were seated on risers near the stage and were surrounded by a passionate group of women that we pro Shawn, and my ears took a beating during this match. Overall though, Taker had the edge as far as crowd support. This really showed have closed the show as this was the match the crowd was waiting to see. Dueling chants start early as Shawn fires off some chops. Michaels tries to stick and move, but get caught and powered back into the corner. He ends up on the middle rope and gives Taker a crotch chop before leaping over him. Shawn tries to fake a leg injury on the landing, but Taker’s not buying it. He tosses Shawn all over the ring and sends him bouncing into the corner. He lifts Shawn with a military press slam and sends him crashing to the mat. That gets a two count as Shawn gets out before Taker can get a leg hooked. Taker heads up for Old School and it connects to a loud pop. He charges at Shawn in the corner, but Michaels moves. Taker got caught up in the ropes and appears to have injured a leg. Shawn smells blood and attacks the knee. It appears he wants a sharpshooter, but instead he opts for a figure four. JR and Lawler mention that Taker has lost every previous match with Shawn. Taker breaks the hold, so Shawn dropkicks the knee. Sweet! Taker starts punching his knee to get some feeling, and steamrolls Shawn in the corner. Snake eyes and a big boot follow as Taker starts signaling for the end. He looks for the chokeslam, but Shawn turns that into a crossface. He can’t break the hold, but is able to roll Shawn into a pin attempt a few times. Taker battles to his feet and breaks the hold with a sidewalk slam that gets a two count. Taker no sells a boot to the chest, but misses a clothesline and Shawn hits the flying forearm. He kips up and drops Taker with an inverted atomic drop. He follows that with some chops and then another inverted atomic drop. Shawn heads up top and looks for the elbow, but Taker sits up and pulls Shawn down with a goozle. Shawn escapes and looks for Sweet Chin Music, but Taker drops to the mat. Shawn stays a step ahead and looks for the figure four again, but Taker counters to Hell’s Gate. A desperate Shawn gets to the ropes before the hold can be applied. Nice sequence there. The action heads to the floor and Taker stalks Michaels around the ring. He preps Shawn on the apron and goes for the leg drop, but nobody’s home. A baseball slide sends Taker away from the ringside and Shawn heads up top. He attempts a moonsault to the floor, but Taker just casually walks away as Shawn hits with a sickening thud. Damn! The ref checks on Shawn and Taker sets up in the ring. He tries for the Flying Dead Man, but Shawn pulls the cameraman in the way and Taker ends up landing head first on the floor. Damn, that shit was nasty. I like the call back to the 1st Hell in a Cell Match with the cameraman getting abused. The replays only confirm that Taker is lucky he didn’t break his neck. Shawn pulls himself back into the ring and realizes the ref is down on the floor. He drags the ref back into the ring and pleads with him to start the ten count. Such a simple little spot, but the crowd loved every second of it and Shawn sold it perfectly. The anguish on his face was awesome as Taker made it back into the ring at 9. Shawn regroups and preps for Sweet Chin Music. Taker swats the foot away and hits a massive chokeslam for a hot near fall. Taker looks for the Tombstone, but Shawn slides off and tries for Sweet Chin Music again. This time Taker catches the foot and looks for another chokeslam. Shawn pushes off and finally hits Sweet Chin Music. He crawls for the pin, but Taker is out at two. Both men are down, but Shawn gets to his feet first and looks for the kill. Taker catches him with another goozle, and looks for the Last Ride. Shawn counters to a sunset flip, but Taker counters that and ends up getting quite possibly the greatest Last Ride I’ve ever seen from him. Somehow Shawn is out at two and the crowd is getting rabid at this point. Taker seems desperate now as he heads up top and tries to hit Shawn’s flying elbow. That doesn’t work out well though as Shawn rolls out of the way. Shawn charges and gets sent over the top rope, but he skins the cat. Sadly for him, Taker turns that into a Tombstone, and that looks to be all, but Shawn kicks out at two. Holy Hell! Everyone had that pegged as the finish and when Shawn kicked out I saw some poor guy spill a tray of beers because he couldn’t believe what he saw. Good times! Taker goes right back to the Tombstone, but Shawn floats around and hits an ugly looking ddt. Shawn crawls to the corner and pulls himself to the top rope. He looks unbalance and basically falls off with the flying elbow. He crawls to the ropes again and uses them to pull himself to his feet. He tunes up the band again, and a sick looking Sweet Chin Music follows. Now Taker kicks out and Shawn’s world is just crushed. The crowd starts and this is awesome chant, and I’m proud to say I took part in that chant. Both men start exchanging blows in the center of the ring, and the crowd cheers and Woos depending on who is landing the blow. Taker’s tired of this shit and just casually boots Shawn in the head. Bad ass! Shawn gets whipped into the corner, but a charge misses. Shawn heads back up top and tries a moonsault, but Taker catches him in perfect position for the Tombstone and we have 17-0 at 30:41.

Winner: The Undertaker via pin at 30:41
-Easily the greatest match I have ever seen live. The only other ones in the running before this match were Jericho/RVD at Unforgiven 2001 or HHH/Jeff Hardy at Armageddon 2007. Being there live may make me partial as I’ve never experienced anything like I did with this match. After the match finished I watched as grown men hugged each other due to the awesomeness of what they just saw. This match totally exhausted the crowd and really should have closed the show as nothing was going to top this. You think they would have learned their lesson from WrestleMania X-8. As for the match it may have started a little slow, but who cares? *****

-Video package for the World Title Match.

World Heavyweight Title: Edge © vs. John Cena vs. The Big Show

-Champion out first (boo!), and Cena gets his super special WrestleMania entrance. I will admit that I marked out like a little girl when Basic Thuganomics started playing. I thought we may be getting old school Cena, but instead we got a shit load of Cena clones lining the aisle. The real deal Cena comes out to “My Time is Now” and all the girls in the crowd mark out like, well, little girls. Cool entrance, but all it did for me was confirm that “Basic Thuganomics” is a hell of a lot better than “My Time is Now.” Cena was not very popular in Houston and there a guy in our hotel selling anti Cena merchandise. I kind of wish I would have purchased one just for a keepsake. Big Show dominates early as Edge and Cena pinball off of him. Edge wants to negotiate a truce, but Show’s not down with that. He abuses Edge in the corner and Cena comes charging in, but he eats a boot. Yeah, that was stupid of Cena. Edge gets sent to the floor and Cena gets walked on while Chavo wheels Vickie around the ring. Show gets caught groin first in the top rope and Cena sends him to the floor. Edge dropkicks the steps into Show’s knee and Cena comes off the top rope to the floor with the rocker dropper. That takes Show out of the match and now Cena and Edge go at it back inside the ring. Edge heads up top, but Cena knocks him to the floor. That brings Show back into the ring and he drops Cena with a sidewalk slam for two. Cena fights back to his feet and builds some momentum, but Chavo grabs his leg. He eats Attitude Adjustment on the floor and once back in the ring a shoulder block leaves Show tied up in the ropes. Edge tries to intervene, but Cena controls him and hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Vickie is miraculously healed and screams at Cena to stop the Attitude Adjustment. Edge tries a spear, but Cena moves and Vickie takes the move. That sends her crashing to the floor and onto Chavo. Show yells at the ref to untie him and the ref listens. Smart man! Show dominates both men again as Cole and JR exchange metaphors about the size of Show’s hands. Cena lifts Show for the Attitude Adjustment, but can’t get the move as Show slides off his back and hits the knockout punch. Show heads to the floor and focuses on Edge. He looks for a chokeslam to the Spanish announce table, but Edge counters to a ddt on the floor. He arranges the steps to his liking and leaps off them with a spear that sends both men through the security wall. That looked kind of cool, but the crowd is still coming down of the Shawn/Taker high, so it doesn’t get the reaction one would expect. Edge realizes Show is too damn fat to get back to the ring, so he turns his attention to the KO’d Cena. He salivates in the corner as he preps for the spear, but Cena counters to the STF. I guess they told the U to get the F out. Show reappears and pulls Edge to the ropes to break the hold. He goozles Cena for good measure and delivers a head butt to leave him out on the floor. He tries a Vader Bomb, but Edge rolls out of the way. Edge and Cena team up to suplex Show. They realize they need to team together to take out Show and send him to the floor with a double clothesline. The partnership doesn’t last long though as Edge immediately turns on Cena. Heh! Edge locks in a sleeper, but Cena breaks and hits the Throwback. He heads to the top, but Show shoves him off and right into a spear for Edge. Nice! Edge gets the cover, but Show pulls him out of the ring and delivers a big ass chop. Edge puts Show in a sleeper and that’s gives us our “what the fuck” spot of the match as Cena puts both men on his shoulders for a brief second. Impressive! Edge slides off and Show ends up taking the Attitude Adjustment. Edge gets his Attitude Adjusted onto the Big Show and Cena covers Show to claim the title at 14:42.

Winner and New World Heavyweight Champion: John Cena via pin on Big Show at 14:42
-Credit to these three for keeping the crowd invested in the match. They had the benefit of having three men in the match to keep things moving, and they used that to their advantage. There were some innovative spots in the match, but it was your standard 3 way match. ***1/4

-Recap of the Hall of Fame Ceremony. It was kind of disappointing to be honest. I was so looking forward to this, but nobody really got a chance to shine due to time constraints. The clock counting down each guy’s time killed any real enjoyment from the speeches. I wanted to hear each guy talk about the careers and experiences in this building for as long as they wanted. Hopefully it goes back to that at some point.

-The entire Class of 2009 is introduced: Terry and Dork Funk Jr., The Von Erich Family (represented by Kevin Von Erich), Koko B. Ware, “Cowboy” Bill Watts, Howard Finkel, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.

-Austin leaves the other Hall of Famers on the stage and then the glass shatters. Austin heads back to the ring on a quad and celebrates in the ring with some beers. This was basically Austin’s way of saying goodbye to the fans, as I don’t think we’re getting one more match out of him (though it would be great if he proved me wrong).

-Video naming Arizona as the host for WrestleMania XXVI. I will be there!

-The attendance is announced at 72,744.

-Vide package for HHH/Orton. The build to this was fantastic as Orton mowed his way through each member of the McMahon Family. This was tied into HHH’s betrayal of Orton during their Evolution days. The Punt of God on Vince is still damn impressive, and the stuff with him attacking Stephanie is pretty sweet as well. This had tremendous build, but then we got what followed.

WWE Title: HHH © vs. Randy Orton

-The first problem I have with the match is the stipulation that was tacked on at the last minute. The title can now change hands if HHH gets disqualified or counted-out. What the hell is that? Sure it may help with the psychology and story of the match, but it hampers the chances of them having a good match. HHH gets a super special entrance as he tosses a sledge hammer through a glass window. I don’t actually remember seeing that live and now I realize that it was something taped before hand and spliced in with the live feed. What the hell is that about? JR and the King immediately put over that HHH will have to decide if it is more important to keep the title or destroy HHH. Orton gets a strong reaction for a guy that just assaulted a woman. Perhaps Chris Brown should try to get on RAW as a guest host. HHH takes Orton down to start and fires away with right hands. He pounds Orton in the corner and the ref pulls him back. He tells HHH that he doesn’t want to DQ, but he will if he has to. Orton uses the distraction to hit a RKO, but doesn’t go for a cover. Idiot! Instead he stalls and decides to hit the punt kick, but HHH moves and Orton ends up eating a pedigree. Well, they’re back to square one. Both men roll to the floor and HHH attacks Orton from behind. They brawl by the announce table, and Orton bails back to the ring. HHH gets a bottle of water from a fan and uses it to revive himself following the RKO. Ok then. Orton gets his head bounced off the ring post and then tries to beg off, but HHH is not having any of that. He catapults Orton throat first into the bottom rope and starts dropping some knees. The crowd is scary quiet for a WrestleMania Main Event. Orton takes some abuse and keeps trying to create separation. Finally Orton gets the advantage after sending HHH into the stairs. HHH gets fired into the security wall and ends up in the front row as a result. Orton is more than happy to take a count-out and HHH staggers back in the ring at the count of 7. That may have been a nice spot had Taker/Shawn not done it a 1000 times better earlier in the match. The crowd shows some life, but it has nothing to do with the match. The attention of the crowd turns from the match and towards a certain section of the stadium. That’s not a good sign for this match. Orton stomps away as he takes control. He looks for his patented chin lock and that’s the last thing this match needs. Perhaps HHH is aware of that as well as he hits a belly to back to break the hold. HHH charges and gets caught with a pretty nice powerslam. Now that gives Orton the opportunity to hook the chin lock. JR mentions that Orton has a disturbing way of applying this hold. I appreciate the effort JR, but this isn’t the UFC, so in the world of wresting it’s just a rest hold that is killing an already dead crowd. HHH fights back to his fight and the crowd shows signs of life as they trade blows. See, this is what we wanted. HHH hits the Harley Race high knee, and a face buster sets up the Pedigree. Orton counters however and catapults HHH into the top turnbuckle. He no-sells however and rips off Orton’s head with a clothesline. They head up top and fight on the top rope. Orton drops HHH face first on the turnbuckle, and looks to come off the middle rope, but HHH gets a boot up. He looks for the Pedigree again, but Orton turns it into a jackknife cover for two. Orton charges and gets caught with a spinebuster. Another attempt at the Pedigree and Orton counters with an inverted backbreaker for two. He looks for follow up, but HHH sends him down with a back elbow. HHH heads up top and gets caught with a dropkick from Orton on the way down. The crowd actually appreciated that one. Orton preps for the Punt Kick, but HHH catches the boot. He flips Orton over the top rope and to the floor where they brawl some more. HHH sends Orton into the announce table (couldn’t that be considered a DQ?). HHH wants to use the TV monitor and the crowd wants him to as well, but the ref talks him out of it. Boo! They fight on the announce table and HHH looks for the pedigree (where’s the ref telling him about a DQ now?), but Orton backdrops him to the Spanish Announce Table (which doesn’t break). Orton drags HHH into position and hits the elevated DDT on the floor. Again Orton begs the ref to start the count and this time the crowd is buying it a little more, but really, there’s no way a WrestleMania is going to close with a count-out in the Main Event. HHH makes it back into the ring and Orton stomps the ever loving piss out of him. He was channeling Austin from WM X-7 there, but using his foot instead of a chair. The ref gets bumped in the corner and for good measure Orton sends HHH back into the ref. He hits the RKO as HHH bounces back, but there’s no ref. Orton pulls out a sledgehammer, but receives a Punt Kick from HHH as he tries to get back in the ring. Nice! Now HHH has the sledgehammer and Orton gets his jaw jacked. HHH hides the evidence, pounds away, and hits the Pedigree to get the anti-climactic win at 23:24.

Winner and Still WWE Champion: HHH via pin at 23:24
-I know what they were going for here, and I can appreciate the story they were trying to tell. Realistically, Shawn/Taker should have closed the show and this match wouldn’t have come as poorly as it did. Watching it again, it’s not as bad as most people make it out to be. It just suffers from a stipulation that hampers it, and the fact that the crowd is burnt out from a previous match. You think they would have learned from WrestleMania X-8. **1/2

Top 5 WrestleMania Matches

1) WrestleMania III: IC Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat *****
2) WrestleMania 13: Submission Match: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin *****
3) WrestleMania XXV: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels *****
4) WrestleMania 21: Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels *****
5) WrestleMania XX: World Title: HHH vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Benoit *****

The 411: This event is special to me because it was the first WrestleMania I ever attended. Shawn/Taker is definitely a must see, and there are good efforts with MITB, the Hardys, and the World Title Match. The black eye on the show is that HHH/Orton did not deliver. It also hurts that Backlash a month later gave us what WrestleMania should have been. Give us that card and add Taker/Shawn and you have a great WrestleMania. Instead we got a decent show that features an all time classic match.

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]