WrestleMania 25 Recap

On April 5, World Wrestling Entertainment presented the 25th WrestleMania, annually the biggest wrestling event of the year. Emanating from Houston, the event started with a bang, as eight men competed for a guaranteed title shot in the Money In the Bank ladder match. The competitors included Kane, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Kofi Kingston, Finlay, Christian, and the reigning winner CM Punk. This contest featured countless thrilling moments, as each competitor put their health at stake with dangerous maneuvers. Perhaps the most death defying of these moves was Shelton Benjamin's leap off of a 20-foot ladder placed in the aisle onto several of his opponents. As a perennial participant in this match, Benjamin repeatedly manages to steal the show using his athleticism and high-risk offense. He also sprinted both diagonally and horizontally placed ladders to stop MVP from reaching the briefcase, and then followed by powerbombing the US champion all the way out of the ring. While Benjamin is a veteran of this match, Kofi Kingston also shined in his first appearance in the Money In the Bank. At one point, Kingston soared into the air to avoid a ladder clothesline. Later in the match, he darted up a ladder Mark Henry was holding, only for Kofi to fall into the World's Strongest Slam. Another highlight came when Christian delivered his patented Unprettier to CM Punk off of the ladder. After all of this action, the match concluded with Christian, Punk, and Kane all scaling the ladders to attain the briefcase. Christian was taken out of the equation as he was chokeslamed to the mat by Kane. Then Punk, who was precariously dangling upside-down from a rung, regained his balance and knocked Kane off with a series of kicks. Punk then reached up and grasped the cherished briefcase, thus repeating as Mr. Money In the Bank. While the crowd cheered wildly through most of the match, many seemed displeased to see CM Punk win again.

Following this exciting opening contest, 25 divas past and present competed in a battle royal to crown Ms. WrestleMania. Unfortunately, the few divas from the past were nearly unnoticeable, as none of the women received introductions, and most of the past divas were eliminated quickly. The first few minutes of the match were chaotic, and there was very little actual wrestling until only a handful of women remained. One of the final few was an "unknown" diva that the crowd quickly recognized as a disguised Santino Marella. As Melina and Beth Phoenix, Marella's girlfriend, battled near the ropes, Marella capitalized and eliminated both women, thus claiming victory. The crowd erupted at the outcome, and Marella then introduced himself as "Santina" and followed the win with a comical victory dance.

Next up on the WrestleMania lineup was Chris Jericho's feud with the legends, namely Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat, and Roddy Piper. The Nature Boy Ric Flair accompanied his Hall of Fame peers to ringside for the match, and Mickey Rourke, star of The Wrestler, sat ringside. Jericho needed to defeat all three of his opponents to claim victory, and wasted little time eliminating Snuka and Piper. Ricky Steamboat, however, proved to be a handful for Jericho, as the Hall of Famer proved he still has it after delivering a number of surprising moves, including a top-rope crossbody. After narrowly avoiding defeat with several near-falls, Jericho reigned victorious after scoring his devastating Codebreaker on Steamboat. The brash Jericho then egged Rourke into the ring, but Rourke shocked Jericho with a right hand that sent Jericho scurrying away.

Following this bout was a highly anticipated battle of brothers, as Matt and Jeff Hardy clashed in an extreme rules contest. The extreme rules stipulation came into play early and often, as the brothers bashed each other with a number of objects, such as a trash can, steel chair, and shop vac. The match was short but filled with high-risk maneuvers, including Jeff's attempt of a corkscrew moonsault that was met in mid-air by a chair shot from Matt. The match concluded with a flurry of action, as first Jeff dove from the top turnbuckle onto his brother outside the ring, crashing through two tables in the process. Holding the upper hand, Jeff tried to finish off his brother with a leg drop off the top of a 20-foot ladder. Matt avoided contact, however, and then scored the victory with a brutal twist-of-fate with a chair wrapped around Jeff's head.

Next up on the card was the Intercontinental Title match between champion John Bradshaw Layfield and challenger Rey Mysterio. Returning to his home state of Texas, JBL promised a historic moment. Although not what he had intended, JBL did indeed have a historic WrestleMania moment, as he lost his title in just 21 seconds, and then promptly announced that he quit the company.

While the JBL-Mysterio encounter was short and anticlimactic, the Shawn Michaels Undertaker match unquestionably stole the show. Many expected this match up of WWE legends to be one of the best of the evening, but these two amazing competitors exceeded expectations to put on one of the greatest shows in WrestleMania history. In the early stages of the contest, both competitors attempted to gain victory via submission, as Michaels applied both the figure-four and crossface to the Undertaker, while Taker briefly locked in his triangle choke before Michaels reached the ropes. As the action went to the outside of the ring, Michaels failed in his attempt to hit a top rope moonsault on the dead man, and came crashing down to the floor. Attempting to capitalize, the Undertaker came flying over the top rope looking to score with a clothesline, but came crashing brutally head first into the floor as Michaels dodged. Dramatically, the Undertaker crawled back into the ring just before the count of ten. The action continued, as Michaels and Taker countered each other's finishing maneuvers, until Undertaker finally scored the upper hand with a chokeslam. While many competitors would be finished, Michaels kicked out, and managed to score his patented superkick. Showing his resolve, though, the Undertaker battled back and delivered a devastating Last Ride, as Michaels' head smashed off the mat. Taker then connected with the Tombstone, a move that always spells the end for his opponent. Miraculously, the Heartbreak Kid kicked out, shocking the 70,000 fans in attendance. Michaels scored another superkick, but again to no avail as Taker surprisingly could not be kept down for the three count. Nearly 40 minutes into this classic, both superstars were exhausted, but battled back to their feet to a raucous reaction. Looking to pull out all the stops, Michaels again headed to the top rope to deliver a moonsault. This ultimately cost Michaels, as the Undertaker caught him in mid air and delivered the second and decisive Tombstone. When the dust cleared, the Undertaker maintained his perfect record at WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels cemented his status as Mr. WrestleMania, and these two icons delivered one of the greatest matches in WWE history.

John Cena, the Big Show, and World Champion Edge had the unenviable task of following this five-star classic. The triple threat began with the 500-pound Big Show impressively displaying his power, and he shrugged off a flying shoulderblock by Cena. Cena retaliated later in the contest, though, by hitting a top-rope leg drop on the Big Show outside the ring. Edge then went on the attack, spearing Big Show through the barricade at ringside. With the largest man in the match temporarily incapacitated, Edge looked to capitalize on Cena. Cena showed his resolve though, and dodged a spear from Edge that accidentally connected with Edge's wife, Vicky Guerrero. At the conclusion of this battle, John Cena demonstrated his incredible strength by lifting both the Big Show and Edge simultaneously into the air for the Attitude Adjustment. While Edge slipped out to avoid the contact, Cena delivered his finishing move to Show. Seconds later, the champion charged Cena but was caught and also given the Attitude Adjustment on top of the prone Big Show. Cena then scored the pinfall on the world's largest athlete to become the new World Champion.

The WWE title was defending in the last match as the evening, as champion Triple H was challenged by Randy Orton. Adding to the intrigue of the contest was a stipulation that Triple H would lose his championship if he were disqualified or counted out. Just seconds into the match, Randy Orton scored with his signature RKO, but instead of going for a pinfall, looked to follow up with a punt to the head. Helmsley avoided contact, though, and quickly scored his patented move, the Pedigree. After both men hit their devastating moves early, the competitors exchanged hands. The challenger gained the upper hand when he delivered an impressive dropkick as Triple H came off the top rope. When the action spilled to the outside, Triple H showed restraint by resisting the temptation to bash Orton over the head with a TV monitor. His attempt to Pedigree Orton on the announce table backfired, however, as Orton backdroped Triple H onto the neighboring Spanish announce table. Orton followed up by delivering a DDT to the champion from the table to the floor. As the action returned back into the squared circle, the referee was knocked down, and Orton looked to gain an advantage by using Triple H's sledgehammer. Before he could, Triple H ironically punted Orton in the head, and then scored a blow to Orton with the sledgehammer. After mounting his rival and landed a series of punches, Triple H delivered a Pedigree and pinned the beaten Orton.

Overall, WrestleMania was a very solid event, although perhaps it did not live up to the billing as the biggest wrestling event of the year. The two title matches were solid but not spectacular. The Money in the Bank match, as always, featured a number of death defying moves, and overall was very good. Likewise, the battle of Hardy brothers featured some dangerous and incredible moves, and presented a spectacular finish. Ultimately though, the Shawn Michaels Undertaker match stole the show. This is the match for which WrestleMania 25 will forever be remembered. Two of the greatest superstars in wrestling history provided one of the best matches of all time at the biggest event of the year. A match of that magnitude made WrestleMania 25 the defining event in all of professional wrestling.