Wrestlemania XXV (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXV (25)

 

Date: April 5th 2009

City: Houston, Texas

Venue: Reliant Stadium

Combined Attendance: 72,744

Sub-Theme: “The 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania”

Celebrities: Mickey Rouke, Nicole Scherzinger and Kid Rock

Wrestlemania 25 is the 25th annual Wrestlemania PPV event produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment. Wrestlemania returns back to Houston Texas, the home of the critical favorite, Wrestlemania 17. However, this time, this event would take place next door to the Astrodome and would be held in Reliant Stadium.

We would get to this Wrestlemania starting at the 2009 Royal Rumble, where we would see Randy Orton, with the assistance of his fellow “Legacy” members, go on to be victorious and win the match. Orton would be given  the option of wrestling for either the WWE Championship, the World Heavyweight Championship or the ECW Championship at Wrestlemania. Randy made his choice clear, as to what direction he wanted to go in for the title, as he persisted brutal assaults against the McMahon family. Assaulting both Vince and Shane McMahon and taunts to Stephanie. Triple H would avenge his family’s honor by coming to the aide of his wife, father and brother in law by going after Orton. These attacks saw Orton locking Triple H up to a pair of hand cuffs in the ring and making inappropriate taunts to Stephanie, in front of H. This also lead to a “home invasion” where Triple H invade the Home of Orton and attacked him there. The only way to settle this score would be at Wrestlemania 25.

Edge and Big Show would sign contracts for a match at Wrestlemania 25 for the World Heavyweight Championship, until John Cena appeared and crashed the party. Vicki Guerrero (Smackdown GM at the time) eventually would announce that the WHC match would be a Triple Threat between Big Show, Edge and John Cena.

Wrestlemania 25 started out with one of the most popular matches in the company, this would be the 5th annual Money In the Bank match. Participants would include CM Punk, Kane, Mark Henry, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Christian and Finlay. Just like in the past, this match did not disappoint and to elevate the excitement, Shelton Benjamin stood out like a sore thumb when he executed a Senton Bomb from the top of the ladder onto his opponents. Unreal. The end of the match would see CM Punk kicking Kane off of the ladder, leaving him enough room and time to grab the briefcase. CM Punk is a (and the only) two time (besides Edge*) money in the bank winner.

One of the highlights of the event would be the match between Chris Jericho facing 3 WWE Legends; Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat, SupaFly Jimmy Snuka and Rowdy Roddy Piper (accompanied by Ric Flair), in a 3 on One handicap elimination match. Jericho was able to take out both Snuka and Piper, but when it was time for Ricky Steamboat to come in, he gave us all a quick reminder as to why he is nick named “The Dragon”. The last time Steamboat Wrestled was in Nov of 1994 in WCW, so we’re talking an over 15 year absence from the ring. To be honest, Ricky looked like he never missed a beat. For many in the crowd, this was the first time they had a taste of seeing Ricky Steamboat perform and they were not disappointed. For those who are old school fans this was a bit of a dream match seeing Ricky Steamboat face off against Chris Jericho in an unbelievable back n forth exchange. In the end, Jericho would capitalize the situation and defeated Steamboat with the Codebreaker. Actor Mickey Rouke who was just nominated for an academy award for best Actor for “The Wrestler” was ringside for this match, and Jericho would challenge him to enter into the Ring. After some trash talk from Jericho, Rouke had enough and knocked out Y2J with a right hand.

Undertaker Note: The First Main Event we would see The Undertaker face off against The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels. Shawn would enter the arena, as if he was ascending from the heavens wearing all white. Hat, long coat, all white as if he was an angel. To artistically show that he is a direct contrast from The Dead Man. The match started out fast paced between these two legends. Both men, on the early onset went for their signature moves but were blocked by the other. Undertaker, lately had adopted the suicide dive as one of his signature moves, when attempting to do this to Shawn, Shawn would move out the way and throw the “cameraman” in front of Taker instead, avoiding the collision, but with Taker nearly landing on his head. Taker was able to get back into the ring. The match continued, in the match, Shawn was able to hit SCM twice on Taker, with Taker kicking out. Taker hit Shawn with the Tombstone piledriver, which has put many bodies away, but Shawn still kicked out. When Shawn was able to gain back momentum, he went to the top rope and attempted the moonsault, but Taker caught him and hit him with the Tombstone, putting Shawn Michaels away and Taker gaining the victory. The Undertaker is 17-0 at Wrestlemania. It was also declared, critically, as match of the year.

The World Heavyweight Championship was contested for in a Triple Threat match between the champion, Edge, The Big Show, and John Cena. The action started with some brawling and some early teamwork from Big Show and Edge before their alliance crumbled. The match spilled to the outside seeing Edge tackling Big Show through the guardrail with a Spear. Cena returned Edge to the ring before applying the STF before Big Show came to his senses, and broke up the action, leading to Cena and Edge teaming up to remove Big Show from the equation before turning on each other. Cena won the match by lifting The Big Show and set up the Attitude Adjustment, then dropping Edge onto Big Show with the same move before pinning The Big Show to win his second World Heavyweight Championship.

 

The third and final main event would be for the WWE Championship. match was contested between the champion, Triple H, and Randy Orton. As per a pre-match stipulation by Vickie Guerrero, if Triple H had been disqualified or had been counted out during the match, he would have lost the title to Orton. The match started out as a brawl with both men hitting their respective finishers to try and end the match quickly with both leading to only two-counts; the action continued immediately between the two with Triple H doing everything in his power to hurt Orton without being disqualified in the process. Orton tried to gain more advantage went out of the ring to pick up Triple H’s signature weapon, the sledgehammer. As Orton made his way back to the ring, Triple H ran to Orton, and delivered a punt kick across Orton’s face. The champion would defeat Orton hitting him with it and the Pedigree to retain the WWE Championship.

 

Match Card:

Dark- The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) defeated John Morrison and The Miz in a lumberjack match to unify the WWE Tag Team Championship and World Tag Team Championship into the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship

PPV-

– CM Punk defeated Kane, Mark Henry (with Tony Atlas), Montel Vontavious Porter, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Christian and Finlay (with Hornswoggle) in the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.

– Santina Marella won by last eliminating Beth Phoenix and Melina in the 25-Diva Battle Royal to crown “Miss Wrestlemania”.

– Chris Jericho defeated Roddy Piper, Ricky Steamboat and Jimmy Snuka (with Ric Flair) in a Handicap Elimination Match

– Matt Hardy defeated Jeff Hardy in an Extreme Rules Match

– Rey Mysterio defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (c) to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship. After this JBL would announce his retirement.

– The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels

– John Cena defeated Edge (c) and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Match to win the World Heavyweight Championship

– Triple H (c) defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship.

Wrestlemania X-Seven (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XVII  (17)

 

Date: April 1st 2001

City: Houston, Texas

Venue: Reliant Astrodome

Combined Attendance: 67,925

Sub-Theme: “Houston…We Have A Problem”

Celebrities: Motorhead

Wrestlemania 17, is the 17th annual wrestlemania professional wrestling pay per view, introduced by the world wrestling federation and in my opinion (and many others), this is the GREATEST Wrestlemania of All Time!

This wrestlemania was truly a solid depiction of the success the WWF has been enduring for the past few years. The simple fact that last year’s wrestlemania drew about 50,000 more fans, screams victory for the WWF. And speaking of being victorious just 12 days before Wrestlemania 17, on a live edition of WCW Monday Nitro, for the first time ever, the show opened up and the first image you saw was Vince McMahon and him announcing that he has purchased World Championship Wrestling and WCW would be no more. It was finally done, McMahon, who was at the brink of being put out of business, was the sole winner in the Monday Night wars and was the single #1 entity on planet earth who would hold all of the power of big time professional wrestling. If this wasn’t a shot of adrenaline shooting into the arm of the WWF before going into its biggest revenue earner of the year, then I don’t know what is.

The backdrop of this wrestlemania went back to basics; with Stone Cole Steve Austin wining the 2001 Royal Rumble (for the 3rd time) and heading to Wrestlemania to face the WWF Champion…Kurt Angle. At No Way Out 2001, Kurt Angle lost the WWF Championship to The Rock. Wrestlemania 17’s main event would now feature one of the biggest rematches of all time with The Rock defending the WWF Championship against Stone Cole Steve Austin. Let the games begin.

One of the fascinating things about this mania was every championship title was on the line (6 titles) and 5 of them changed hands. The Intercontinental championship was on the line as Chris Jericho faced off against William Regal. Jericho had some significant build up against Regal on some past Raws and was able to follow through with the win to retain the title.

One match that stood out was not for a title, Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. Excellent matchup between two technical masters. This would also be (somewhat) of a rematch from the previous wrestlemania, as the two wrestled at WM16. Kurt Angle went on to be the victor.

In an extension of last year’s wrestlemania; the McMahon Saga continued. This time it would be a Street Fight with Shane McMahon (the new “owner” of WCW) vs Vince McMahon; with Mick Foley as ref and with Linda (in a comatose state), Stephanie and Trish Stratus at Ringside. The match was complete shenanigans, but was ever so fun to watch this drama just completely unfold. With the combination of seeing Steph and Trish fight at ringside; with Linda “reviving” from her comatose state and with Lind kicking McMahon where the sun don’t shine; seeing the ending of Shane giving Vince the “coast to coast” was the fine topper as he scores the victory.

The next match would be another return match but this time enhanced. TLC Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Edge/Christian vs The Dudley Boys vs The Hardy Boyz.

Just like they did for Mania the year before, these guys blew the roof off once again and gave an absolute stellar contest to determine the superior Tag Team. Each team had someone in their corner as well (Spike = Dudleys; Lita = Hardys and Rhyno = E&C) so this just added to the match. One unforgettable spot would be when Jeff Hardy climbed up to grab the titles, but Christian would take the ladder fro under Jeff, which left Jeff, literally, hanging from the hook holding the titles. Edge was already perched on the ladder, parallel to Jeff and from 10 feet in the air, gave Jeff a spear to the ring. As I write this, I still get Goosebumps thinking of that spot. The match was crash after crash after crash. These men put their bodies on the line for our entertainment and disappoint, they did not. With the assistance of Rhyno, Edge and Christian won the WWF Tag Team Titles.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker returns to Wrestlemania and faces The Game Triple H. These two gave a fight that you can never forget as they went all over the arena and at the camera structure. Absolutely breath taking match; but Taker; via the last ride; gets the victory. The Undertaker is 9-0 at Wrestlemania

 

The Main Event would showcase Stone Cole Steve Austin Challenging The Rock for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. The match began with announcing it would be No Disqualifications. Both came in with full intensity, both knowing and understanding the immediate importance of this match up.

Similar to the last time it was face vs face in the main event (WM 6 and WM 12) the crowd was divided once again as both of these men were and are fan favorites. With it being No DQ, these men had unlimited resources to try to outdo one another. Not a dull moment in this match as you witnessed much back n forth between the two. During the match, the two took the fight outside of the ring and into the crowd. When the wrestlers returned to the ring, blood was shed from both Austin & The Rock after both had hit each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin into a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it and placed The Rock into his own Sharpshooter. After releasing the hold following the referee’s request he held The Rock by use of the Million Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, The Rock used Austin’s own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner. At this time Vince McMahon made his return to ringside. Trying to distract the Rock, Austin was able to give Rock a taste of his own Medicine by giving him the Rock Bottom and later the Stone Cold Stunner. Normally, this would be the trick to end an opponent, but just like the amount of intensity that is in Austin, The Rock had it too and kicked out from the pin. Austin besides himself and cannot piece this together. Austin is desperate to win the WWF Title. Just a week before Raw, Jim Ross held an intimate interview with both Rock and Austin, and Austin stated that he “HAS to beat The Rock; There is no other choice BUT to beat the Rock. And he will do whatever it takes.” And his words rang true moments later when McMahon handed Austin a steel chair and Austin bangs Rock with the chair multiple times to the face and the back. Austin finally goes for the cover and just like that we have a new World Wrestling Federation champion in Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin sold his soul to Satan himself to win the World Title.

 

Match Card

HEAT – X-Factor (Justin Credible and X-Pac) (with Albert) defeated Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexay

PPV

– Chris Jericho (c) defeated William Regal to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship

– Tazz and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) (with Jacqueline) defeated Right to Censor (The Godfather, Val Venis and Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards)

– Kane defeated Raven (c) and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Hardcore Match for the WWF Hardcore Championship

– Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeated Test (c) to win the WWF European Championship.

– Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit

– Chyna defeated Ivory (c) to win the WWF Womens Championship

– Shane McMahon defeated Vince McMahon in a Street Fight match with Mick Foley as the special guest referee.

– Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship

– The Iron Sheik won the 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal by eliminating Hillbilly Jim

– The Undertaker defeated Triple H

– Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) to win the World Wrestling Federation Championship in a No DQ match.