Wrestlemania XXV Delivers

The biggest pay-per-view of the year for W.W.E. delivered yesterday. Every match at Wrestlemania XXV was what most fans expected and a couple of bouts actually exceeded expectations.

CM Punk won the “Money in the Bank” ladder match for the second year in a row. There were doubts going into this one if Kane, Mark Henry and Finlay would add anything in the match. But this year’s M.I.T.B. installment was every bit as good as the prior years. Shelton Benjamin delivered the best high-spot of the match.

The show then took a dip with the Kid Rock performance followed up by the divas battle royale. Nothing against Kid Rock, except he went about one song too long. Santino Marella, dressed as a woman, scored the battle royale win. The match was what I expected as far as quality, which wasn’t a lot. The main gripe I have is that they did not announce the individual divas, particularly those returning such as Sunny, Victoria and Molly Holly.

Chris Jericho defeated legends Rick Steamboat, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. Steamboat made up for how bad Piper and Snuka looked. After the match, Mickey Rourke decked Jericho. Rourke took a little too long to get in the ring from his ringside seat, but it was OK.

Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy beat the heck out of each other, before Jeff missed a leg drop onto his brother from the top of a huge ladder. I’m curious to see what direction they take this feud.

Rey Mysterio (in a really strange mask) beat J.B.L. for the W.W.E. Intercontinental Championship in about 20 seconds. After the match, J.B.L. quit (retired). Less actually was more in this match.

Shawn Michaels lost to The Undertaker in an unbelievably good match. ‘Taker is now 17-0 at ‘Mania. More on this match later.

John Cena became World Champion when he beat Edge and Big Show in a “triple threat” match. Good bout and the crowd rallied late.

Triple H retained his W.W.E. Championship against Randy Orton. I’m intrigued as to where they go with this feud. The match wasn’t one of the best between Orton-Hunter and the ending was a little flat. Placing on the show made all the difference. If this match was not the closer most people would probably consider it better than it was. Michaels and Undertaker should have closed the show.

Overall, I enjoyed Wrestlemania. They drew a great crowd with 72,744. Now we wait to see what the show did in terms of pay-per-view buys.