Saturday, February 26, 2011

WWE WrestleMania 25th Anniversary

1) Money in the Bank Match (featuring CM Punk, Mark Henry, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Finlay, Kofi Kingston, Christian and Kane)- 5
This was probably the most physical one of these since the first one. Guys were really going for it, Kofi was doing stuff Shelton just can't pull off anymore and looked damn good doing it. Henry and Kane played their monster roles pretty well. As it wound down, some huge boners were taking place left and right, Christian really bonering his Unprettier, Shelton somehow doing a powerbomb off the top of the ladder onto MVP where MVP landed behind him? Still overall, a fun train wreck.

2) 25 Diva Battle Royal- 1
I give it a point because of the nasty tumble Mickie and Michelle took over the top rope, other than that, this was a mess. The DVD cut out all the divas grinding on Kid Rock's KFC skinned leather pants. Women were just bailing ship like they had stock in GM. Saw Molly Holly working some women, but her time was up quickly. Hated the ending, I mean, the women here get enough disrespect then to have to lose Santino in drag, that's a new low.

3) Chris Jericho v. Jimmy Snuka/ Roddy Piper/ Ricky Steamboat- 6
Call it nostalgia, but the ending sequence when Jericho squared off against the Dragon but these two guys were just doing simple wrestling and the crowd was digging it. Snuka looked scary droopy, Piper tried, but is just a shell of the passionate fighter he used to be, but Steamboat, male pattern baldness and grey haired, but still had most of his instincts, and these guys worked really well together. After match hijinx were fun and I don't think anyone else but Jericho could have made it work.

4) Matt Hardy v. Jeff Hardy - Extreme Rules- 6
I love how the Hardys operate. I've heard they said with more time they would have stolen the show and this did feel a bit truncated in some parts but was physical and everything fit well into the story of the match. Jeff taking so many gnarly spots here, the missing legdrop was instant spinal crackage, and the finish i've been in love with since i've seen it like Eva Mendes. I actually think their Stretcher match may be better though.


5) Rey Mysterio v. JBL- 1
JBL's brilliant idea of a 30 second title change, he sounded like a talking mule coming down the aisle. Have to dig Rey's Nolan Joker outfit, he polishes off the Texan for good on my tv screen so there's a point there.

6) Undertaker v. Shawn Michaels- 7
Okay going to break this down as I know it gets tons of pub as being one of the greatest of all time. Started off fine, but I can't figure out why they broke out all the submission stuff in the first 10 minutes with no build and no one in the building thinking it would end there. The dive sequence, dear god, Shawn's moonsault would have made Bam Bam upset, and Taker nearly killed himself with his. At this point in the match, this thing's a stinker. But, with Shawn improvising the countout near fall then onto the whole ending part, this ranks up there with some of the most crowd involved stuff in history. I think the crowd here tops Hogan-Rock and that's saying something. But you have to understand; it took 20 years for the fans to love both of these guys, pop for their finishers and for them to be as good emotionally to sell this. The run of nearfalls and close finishes here is quite amazing; Taker's nearfall with theTombstone and his face after Shawn kicks out, to me, one of the most iconic moments in any WrestleMania ever. It will stand the test of time. Physically, there's been oodles of better matches, but emotionally on this big a stage, it def. earns a legacy.

7) Edge v. Big Show v. John Cena- 4
Remember hearing Cena being ticked about having to follow the last match but they did alright. All of the spots that were supposed to put Big Show down were, for lack of a better word, shitty. They just looked bad and him waiting in position for each one was pretty laughable. Sad thing was, he's a great point to build a match around, which they tried to do. Grabbing someone by the waist now constitutes a spear? Get the fuck out of here. Cool moment when Cena had both guys on his shoulders, he's a freak in this business. So-so finish, def. not Mania material though.

8)HHH . Randy Orton-4
Flatter than a week old can of soda. The highlight video really made this feel like a huge match even though i'm sure when all that weekly McMahon shit was going on, i was tunig out for Kitchen Nightmares. Hitting their fins within 1 minute sapped all kinds of heat out of the building; actually I think Houston nearly suffered an ice blizzard after that stupid idea. They did such a good job of building up Trip's hate, it almost felt like everything he did couldn't have made up for Orton violating his wife. Liked the nasty knees to Orton's neck and that little segment, but it didn't lead anywhere, and the ending was as stupid a concept as HHH's entrance and putting R Truth on the cover of the DVD even though he didn't wrestle on the card.

1 comment:

Geo said...

I was really happy to read that you were befuddled as much as I was to the psych-less submission spots in the Taker/Shawn match as I was. What was up with that? Enjoyed the rev. as per usual. Nice work.