Wrestlemania 25

[Paul Str337]

As the WWE would have you believe, the biggest wrestling show of the year is just less than two weeks away and it’s looking to be a slightly odd card. There are some great matches mixed in with some ‘WTF?’ matches but whatever the card Wrestlemania usually ends up being great with every wrestler giving their all. The card so far is as follows:

-Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title.

-Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship.

-Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an Extreme Rules match.

-Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker.

-A 25-Diva Battle Royal to crown the first Miss Wrestlemania.

-Chris Jericho vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

-The Money in the Bank Ladder Match: featuring C.M. Punk, Mark Henry, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Kofi Kingston, Christian, and Finlay.

-John Morrison and The Miz vs. Primo and Carlito in a WWE and World Tag Team Title Unification Match.

-JBL vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title.

The big world title matches are supposed to be the main attraction but the matches I’m looking forward to the most are the Money In the Bank match and Matt vs Jeff.

Money In The Bank is always a fun match with plenty of carnage. Throw in a few ladders and there’s a serious risk of injury to all involved even in a pre-planned environment. Just ask Joey Mercury. More than that though the winner of the match gets a shot at any world title he wants in the next year and everyone who’s ever cashed in their Money In The Bank briefcase has always walked away the winner.

The excitement this year is I can’t predict a winner at all. CM Punk surprised me last year to win but I think a double victory is a bit much. I’d love to see MVP win but I’ve a feeling It’s more likely to be Kane or Mark Henry. Both are a useless choice and I’d rather it go to one of the young guys but my theory is thus; JBL keeps boasting about making history as wrestlemania and it’s nothing to do with his intercontinental title. I think a bad guy like Kane or Henry will win MITB and JBL will then buy the briefcase off them and cash it in on the same night. It’s a stretch but that’s my theory.

Secondly I can’t wait for the Hardy brothers to get it on. They’ve teased a feud between the two years ago but they were both fresh from being a tag team and it didn’t work. Now they’re both legitimate singles wrestlers and the time is right for them to fight. I was a huge fan of Matt and Jeff as a tag team and an even bigger fan of them as singles wrestlers. Jeff just has ‘it’ and Matt is sorely under rated. The two will want to steal the show and in an Extreme Rules match they’ve got the format to do just that.

So are there any wrestling fans here? What matches are you looking forward to? Is my MITB theory utter rubbish? Let the comments commence.

[DMNBT]

The MITB match will probably be my favorite match, regardless of who ends up winning it, as I'll be fun seeing the carnage in the ring. And on that same idea, I'm also interested in the Jeff vs. Matt ERM, as they're both great wrestlers.

This reminds me that I'll have to avoid wrestling fansites for a while, as WM will be transmitted a week later here.

[turbojet]

As the WWE would have you believe, the biggest wrestling show of the year is just less than two weeks away and it’s looking to be a slightly odd card. There are some great matches mixed in with some ‘WTF?’ matches but whatever the card Wrestlemania usually ends up being great with every wrestler giving their all. The card so far is as follows:

-Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title.

-Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship.

-Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy in an Extreme Rules match.

-Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker.

-A 25-Diva Battle Royal to crown the first Miss Wrestlemania.

-Chris Jericho vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat.

-The Money in the Bank Ladder Match: featuring C.M. Punk, Mark Henry, Kane, Shelton Benjamin, MVP, Kofi Kingston, Christian, and Finlay.

-John Morrison and The Miz vs. Primo and Carlito in a WWE and World Tag Team Title Unification Match.

-JBL vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title.

These are the only matches that I care about. The rest are probably gimmick matches which are probably going to suck pretty bad.

[Slingerland]

The Jericho build up had an incredibly lame pay-off with that 3-on-1 handicap match. So disappointed.

I'm the most excited for Michaels vs. Undertaker. Their promos are some of the best that I've seen in years. Hell, Michaels went to the graveyard tonight to get under 'Taker's skin. That was awesome.

Finally, whoever decided to unify the Tag Team titles is a genius. The tag division is nonexistent in the WWE, so it's pointless to have two sets of belts. Now, all they need to do is to unify the other sets of belts. Then, the titles will MEAN SOMETHING. Once I saw the return of the WCW's world title and the U.S. title, I knew over-saturation would set on rather quickly. I was right.

[Paul Str337]

Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker is going to be a straight uo one on one match with no gimmicks but as for the two world title matches; one is a triple threat and I’m sure HHH vs Orton is supposed to be a no DQ match thanks to the bad blood between the two. Despite that though I think it could prove to be the better of the main events just because of how good HHH and Orton are. It’d be a travesty if Orton doesn’t win though.

[Slingerland]

Right. Triple H needs to go a week with a title for a change.

Oh, and if Cena wins, I riot.

[The Si BadGuii]

Triple H/Orton is a good feud, despite having their segments drag out horribly, but you can forget how it's a WORLD TITLE match because of how personal it is. And I already know for a fact who's winning in the HBK/Undertaker feud; us.

So far, the Diva match looks like disaster in the making, in terms of...well, getting 25 divas at all! Most divas have declined), have been confirmed or are injured (sup Candice)

Alicia Fox vs. Beth Phoenix vs. Brie Bella vs. Eve vs. Jillian Hall vs. Katie Lea Burchill vs. Kelly Kelly vs. Layla vs. Maria vs. Maryse vs. Melina vs. Michelle McCool vs. Mickie James vs. Natalya vs. Nikki Bella vs. Rosa Mendes vs. Tiffany vs. 8 Divas TBD

Maybe Santino shoulda won that match last night. Imagine 24 divas teaming up to (easily) eliminate him!

[Paul Str337]

Orton beating HHH will elevate him to being the top bad guy in the entire WWE. It’s about time they expanded on Legacy too because as of now they are just lackeys and nothing more. I was hoping the new stable would help elevate both Cody and DiBiase in a way similar to how Evolution helped elevate Batista and Orton.

Undertaker and HBK are on fire. Their match could steal the show but I’m an Undertaker fan at heart and would love to see him get the Tombstone for the win and go 17-0

The problem with the other world title fight is I don’t really care who wins. I prefer Edge out of all three but I want to see him go it alone without Vicky Gurrero who’s way more than served her purpose by now and should just go home. I’m even apathetic to a Cena victory because him winning the title again soon is inevitable. Try as he might Cena lacks the wrestling ability and charisma to be the next Hogan, Rock or Stone Cold.

[turbojet]

Since nobody is talking about the midcarders...Rey Mysterio needs a push. No wrestler has taking as many bumps as this guy and he took two last night in the nose. I would be highly dissappointed if Rey gets screwed over again.

[Mick]

Hehe, the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. There have now been 25?! Wow. I ain't a fan of pro-wrestling anymore, so I hope this one is the best ever Wrestlemania and it tops all others. I watched some back in the 90's when I was really really following the WWE.

Edited March 25, 2009 by Foxboy Mick

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

JBL is supposed to retire after WM25 because his back problems are coming back. I am looking to HBK vs Undertaker. I don't want Taker to lose but I want HBK to win as well.....Maybe a draw? Ah hell, at least it will be a good match. I hope REY wins, I also hope something good will happen in the 3 on 1 because I have a lot of hope going for the match unlike others. The only thing bad about the MitB is that Mark Henry is in it. I mean WTF? He isn't a high flyer.

Also the Hall of Fame will be shown on USA the day before WM25. Can't wiat for it! GIMME A HELL YEAH!

[Paul Str337]

The only time Rey has excited me recently was in the Elimination Chamber fighting Edge. He got scarily close to winning the title and might even have fooled me once or twice. The IC title on JBL doesn’t make any sense so I’ll be glad to see it on Mysterio. I’m not a massive fan of his, in fact some friends of mine hate him with a passion but I’d really like to see him have another ‘proper’ world title run as his last one was so poor.

Mark Henry and Kane are both the odd ones out as far as MITB are concerned. I’ve posted one theory above but the person I actually want to win the match the most is CM Punk. Him becoming champion was the best moment of last year by far. I’d love nothing more for him to get a second shot and defend the title against more than JBL and Batista. How he lost the belt was a travesty.

[Tamaki Kawazoe <3]

Well Kane was in the first Money in the Bank match so i can understand that. He was fine in it. But how would that big gigantic piece of meat walk up a ladder?

[Paul Str337]

Did anyone see Smackdown? The video they played highlighting the Hardy feud did a better job of outlining why they are fighting better than both Matt and Jeff have in promos.

Shawn Michaels tribute to Undertaker was about the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in the WWE for ages. He was basically the Anti-Undertaker or the ‘Overgiver’ if you’ll excuse my pun. I wouldn’t be upset if Michaels used that gimmick full time!

[Tombi]

Did anyone see Smackdown? The video they played highlighting the Hardy feud did a better job of outlining why they are fighting better than both Matt and Jeff have in promos.

Indeed it did, but then again the Hardys haven't always been known for their spectacular mic work. WWE have always had excellent production values though, so as long as a video like that is played before their match at Mania I'm sure the fans will get into it, regardless of "Black cloud", "Angelic Diablo" and whatever else is coming out of their mouth.

Shawn Michaels tribute to Undertaker was about the most entertaining thing I’ve seen in the WWE for ages. He was basically the Anti-Undertaker or the ‘Overgiver’ if you’ll excuse my pun. I wouldn’t be upset if Michaels used that gimmick full time!

I definitely agree here, I loved seeing HBK just start dancing for no reason when his music hit - akin to his younger days, and I was very suprised that he actually found a way to incorporate religion and his natural cockyness all into one gimmick. It really makes him look like a real threat too, since he's probably the only guy in recent memory who's managed to get under 'Taker's skin in such a way.

Needless to say I'm looking forward to Wrestlemania this year, as far as I'm concerned the event always delievers even if the buildup can be a bit naff at times. I figure there will be matches that will be simply great (Orton v. HHH, HBK v. Taker, Hardy v. Hardy and MITB), matches that will deliver (Tag team title unification, JBL v. Rey) or matches that will be 'so bad they're good' (Legends v. Jericho and Diva battle royale), but all together it's looking more and more like a hugely entertaining show.

...Now they just need to get Santino in drag in that battle royale and I'm sold.