Thoughts on Wrestlemania 25
Results from Wrestlemania 25 were definitely by the book this year. The event saw a few title changes, and several surprise winners, but no major surprises. The tag titles were unified but only for those in attendance as it was changed to a dark match. The Miss Wrestlemania wasn't really a "Miss" although maybe you can call the match one. Three legends couldn't drop Jericho, but one revived actor could. Triple H avenged the heinous acts that Randy Orton committed against the McMahon family. Punk won his second straight Money in the Bank. Undertaker's streak survived another Mania. The brothers Hardy battled to an interesting conclusion to continue their feud. JBL made history, we think, and John Cena reclaimed his World Heavyweight Title as many expected. Were any of these truly surprising? Maybe not, but they will lead us to some interesting stories with WWE in the coming weeks and months.
You usually expect some sort of big surprise at most Pay-Per-Views that WWE puts on, with examples being the Triple H having to fight three title matches in one night, or Edge entering the Raw Elimination Chamber, Matt betraying Jeff, or Chris Jericho entering the Scramble and becoming World Champion. That said, after seeing the results of all matches up through John Cena's title victory, it only left the Orton-Triple H match to be the big shocker. Would Orton win his second straight Wrestlemania main event? Maybe Orton would win, then CM Punk would quickly cash in his briefcase and gain some revenge on Orton? Would Vince or Shane turn against Triple H? Nope, none of that. Triple H with a "clean" win after the ref was knocked out, allowing Hunter to use the Sledgehammer. That probably gives Orton some reason for a rematch, but who knows if WWE Will continue this feud. Overall thougnone of the results could really be called earth shattering, although some were a bit strange.
One example was Matt Hardy defeating Jeff in the Extreme Rules match. Neither Hardy was in a match at last year's Wrestlemania, with Jeff suspended and Matt rushing in to knock MVP off the ladder for MITB last year. A Jeff Hardy win would have been big for Jeff who hasn't had a top notch Wrestlemania moment yet, although his daredevil stunts put on quite a show. Matt Hardy took the win after Jeff missed him on a huge legdrop off a ladder. Matt's win signals that the feud definitely isn't over yet, which is strange. They may be setting Jeff up for a satisfying pay off by him beating Matt in a tournament to become #1 contender for WWE title, or something along those lines.
With CM Punk's Ladder Match win, he could quite possibly do several things. I wouldn't be surprised if Punk makes a heel turn and cashes in to steal a title from someone. Or CM Punk could return back to his old stomping ground on ECW and take back that title from Jack Swagger. I think WWE could have made better use of the match, having Christian win the briefcase and cash it in for Swagger's ECW belt, but now the speculations can begin as to what Punk's gonna do this time. Maybe he cashes in if and when Randy Orton wins a major title again. A little payback for Randy Orton wouldn't be too surprising, seeing as Orton took Punk out of the World Heavyweight Title "Scramble" match, leaving Punk unable to retain at the PPV.
The Miss Wrestlemania Divas Battle Royal was one of those slapstick "jokes on the fans" (and commentators) type moments that may have been better on Raw. Seems like a wasted opportunity with no diva honored with the title and Santino ("Santina") hamming it up in the ring. WWE could have had a Melina vs. Maryse match with diva lumberjacks instead of this one, or commemorated an all-time diva legend with the crown. Instead they tried to one-up last year's comedy moment involving Maria, Santino and Snoop Dogg.
It was also disappointing to see 3 WWE Hall of Famers get eliminated one by one by Chris Jericho, especially just one night after Ricky Steamboat's induction into the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame. Steamboat definitely put on an excellent show, but I'm not sure a loss was the way to cap off his Hall of Fame induction. Then again, Ric Flair lost to Shawn Michaels one night after his entry into the Hall. Having actor Mickey Rourke get one punch in to knock Jericho down was probably satisfying to many and a great way to boost interest and sales of "The Wrestler" DVD. Most likely the match was created this way so that Jericho would still be a top heel, while Rourke got to shut him up in the end, and WWE could be added into the extras on "The Wrestler" DVD special features.
JBL made history as he claimed he would, in more ways than one. He dropped the Intercontinental Title in 21 seconds (probably not the record as Ultimate Warrior defeated Honky Tonk Man pretty quick for the IC title before), and then made a big announcement about his career. After Rey's celebration, JBL promptly announced "I Quit", most likely signaling his retirement as a pro-wrestler. He may still function in some capacity such as a commentator on Smackdown, now that Tazz has left. Again, Rey's win was nice but unexpected as many thought JBL would retire as the Intercontinental Champion.
John Cena reclaiming the World Heavyweight title was what most expected and predicted. Prior to the match, I was considering that match might create a new Big Show-Vickie alliance, with Big Show winning the title. But now with Cena's victory, you wonder if he will be drafted over to Smackdown next week, and HHH to Raw? That sets up some interesting possibilities.
A bright spot For Wrestlemania 25 was one many people predicted with Undertaker's "Streak" on the line. Shawn Michaels and Undertaker easily added another great match to their illustrious wrestling & Wrestlemania careers. In the match, Michaels and Taker gave each other 110%, with Michaels looking like he really was about to end the streak. They both had nasty falls on the outside showing their fearless competitive spirit and showmanship. In the end, The Deadman prevailed once again and now holds a 17-0 record for the event. WWE Shop apparently had the 17-0 shirt up a little early but then yanked it down, so some fans saw it prior to the match. Anyways, it'd be great to see that streak live forever and possibly extend to 20-0, but hard to say if Undertaker can continue 3 more years.
See full results from Wrestlemania 25
You usually expect some sort of big surprise at most Pay-Per-Views that WWE puts on, with examples being the Triple H having to fight three title matches in one night, or Edge entering the Raw Elimination Chamber, Matt betraying Jeff, or Chris Jericho entering the Scramble and becoming World Champion. That said, after seeing the results of all matches up through John Cena's title victory, it only left the Orton-Triple H match to be the big shocker. Would Orton win his second straight Wrestlemania main event? Maybe Orton would win, then CM Punk would quickly cash in his briefcase and gain some revenge on Orton? Would Vince or Shane turn against Triple H? Nope, none of that. Triple H with a "clean" win after the ref was knocked out, allowing Hunter to use the Sledgehammer. That probably gives Orton some reason for a rematch, but who knows if WWE Will continue this feud. Overall thougnone of the results could really be called earth shattering, although some were a bit strange.
One example was Matt Hardy defeating Jeff in the Extreme Rules match. Neither Hardy was in a match at last year's Wrestlemania, with Jeff suspended and Matt rushing in to knock MVP off the ladder for MITB last year. A Jeff Hardy win would have been big for Jeff who hasn't had a top notch Wrestlemania moment yet, although his daredevil stunts put on quite a show. Matt Hardy took the win after Jeff missed him on a huge legdrop off a ladder. Matt's win signals that the feud definitely isn't over yet, which is strange. They may be setting Jeff up for a satisfying pay off by him beating Matt in a tournament to become #1 contender for WWE title, or something along those lines.
With CM Punk's Ladder Match win, he could quite possibly do several things. I wouldn't be surprised if Punk makes a heel turn and cashes in to steal a title from someone. Or CM Punk could return back to his old stomping ground on ECW and take back that title from Jack Swagger. I think WWE could have made better use of the match, having Christian win the briefcase and cash it in for Swagger's ECW belt, but now the speculations can begin as to what Punk's gonna do this time. Maybe he cashes in if and when Randy Orton wins a major title again. A little payback for Randy Orton wouldn't be too surprising, seeing as Orton took Punk out of the World Heavyweight Title "Scramble" match, leaving Punk unable to retain at the PPV.
The Miss Wrestlemania Divas Battle Royal was one of those slapstick "jokes on the fans" (and commentators) type moments that may have been better on Raw. Seems like a wasted opportunity with no diva honored with the title and Santino ("Santina") hamming it up in the ring. WWE could have had a Melina vs. Maryse match with diva lumberjacks instead of this one, or commemorated an all-time diva legend with the crown. Instead they tried to one-up last year's comedy moment involving Maria, Santino and Snoop Dogg.
It was also disappointing to see 3 WWE Hall of Famers get eliminated one by one by Chris Jericho, especially just one night after Ricky Steamboat's induction into the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame. Steamboat definitely put on an excellent show, but I'm not sure a loss was the way to cap off his Hall of Fame induction. Then again, Ric Flair lost to Shawn Michaels one night after his entry into the Hall. Having actor Mickey Rourke get one punch in to knock Jericho down was probably satisfying to many and a great way to boost interest and sales of "The Wrestler" DVD. Most likely the match was created this way so that Jericho would still be a top heel, while Rourke got to shut him up in the end, and WWE could be added into the extras on "The Wrestler" DVD special features.
JBL made history as he claimed he would, in more ways than one. He dropped the Intercontinental Title in 21 seconds (probably not the record as Ultimate Warrior defeated Honky Tonk Man pretty quick for the IC title before), and then made a big announcement about his career. After Rey's celebration, JBL promptly announced "I Quit", most likely signaling his retirement as a pro-wrestler. He may still function in some capacity such as a commentator on Smackdown, now that Tazz has left. Again, Rey's win was nice but unexpected as many thought JBL would retire as the Intercontinental Champion.
John Cena reclaiming the World Heavyweight title was what most expected and predicted. Prior to the match, I was considering that match might create a new Big Show-Vickie alliance, with Big Show winning the title. But now with Cena's victory, you wonder if he will be drafted over to Smackdown next week, and HHH to Raw? That sets up some interesting possibilities.
A bright spot For Wrestlemania 25 was one many people predicted with Undertaker's "Streak" on the line. Shawn Michaels and Undertaker easily added another great match to their illustrious wrestling & Wrestlemania careers. In the match, Michaels and Taker gave each other 110%, with Michaels looking like he really was about to end the streak. They both had nasty falls on the outside showing their fearless competitive spirit and showmanship. In the end, The Deadman prevailed once again and now holds a 17-0 record for the event. WWE Shop apparently had the 17-0 shirt up a little early but then yanked it down, so some fans saw it prior to the match. Anyways, it'd be great to see that streak live forever and possibly extend to 20-0, but hard to say if Undertaker can continue 3 more years.
See full results from Wrestlemania 25
Labels: Chris Jericho, CM Punk, Commentary, JBL, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Mickey Rourke, MITB, Wrestlemania 25, WWE Divas
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