4/5 WWE WrestleMania 25 PPV Reax

Eric Gall of Bridgeport, Conn. (5.5): High Point: Matt-Jeff. Low Point: JBL-Rey. I liked Michaels-Taker, but I didn't think at any time Taker was going to lose. It was a good match with a lot of nearfalls, but I wouldn't say it was a five-star. The title matches were terribly predictable and not what the company can build on for the future. Triple H hasn't had a WrestleMania victory in four years? Who cares; he's held the belt 12 times. Isn't that more than enough? Who got elevated tonight? Two forty-somethings and the two guys who've held the top spot in the company for five straight years. The Diva Battle Royal could have been better, sure, but the ridiculously short JBL-Rey match was just as bad. The Jericho-Legends-Rourke affair finally ended. What had so much promise months ago limped to the finish line. The ladder/extreme matches were good, but the potential for serious injury never seems to justify the oohs and ahhs in my book. The Hardy brothers match was the only one that grabbed me from beginning to end. The "paint-by-numbers" style of booking the company uses was all-too apparent. The unwillingness to break out of the comfort zones established a decade ago is going to come back and bite WWE when their Big Six main-eventers keep getting older, more fragile, and less popular. How big could the main event have been if Stephanie turned on Triple H? How much more satisfying would it have been if, say Big Show won the WWE Title only to have C.M. Punk cash in the MITB briefcase and win the title? Kid Rock's bit went on too long and shouldn't have been on the show in the first place. Having old music acts like him and AC/DC (both of which I happen to enjoy) are indicative of the staleness that's crept into the company. The company needs a fresh perspective when it comes to getting the music acts, celebrity appearances, and positioning the main eventers of tomorrow into meaningful spots today. Having the finger on the pulse of today's culture is something that caused the company to win the Monday Night Wars; "same old, same old" isn't cutting it anymore.

Billy Lab of New York City (7.0): Best Match: HBK-Taker. Worst Match: Divas battle royal. Michaels did it again. In my opinion he's been in the last four great WrestleMania matches: the triple threat at WM20, against Kurt Angle at WM21, Ric Flair last year, and now this year against Undertaker. All were over four-and-a-half stars, some were arguably five stars. Taker deserves equal credit. These two have been so good for so long. I understand why this didn't go on last, but was surprised by the decision to put Cena second from the top when he was going over. I guess Triple H is due his main event win. Money in the Bank was second best; the last few minutes were particularly exciting. Steamboat, though a shell of his former self, looked great in comparison to the others and Jericho worked hard. This show was better executed than it looked on paper. Only the divas match was bad, and JBL-Rey is n/a. Best big show in a while.

Terrie Neilson of Las Vegas, Nev. (8.0): Best: Michaels vs. Taker. Worst: JBL vs. Rey. I would have loved to give this a better score, but too many things kept this show from being memorable (aside from lousy storyline build). Carlito/Primo-Miz/Morrison deserved better than a dark match with a unification at stake. There wasn't even a mention of the win during the PPV, which was a slap to that match. And why was the IC title match only 21 seconds? I would have rather had a five-minute match than this. Why can't WWE find it in themselves to pull the trigger on Shelton Benjamin? I don't expect Punk to be treated any better this go around as he was last, and the crowd (there and in Vegas) would rather have wanted Kane to win at the end. The divas battle royal was a joke, though thankfully Santino "won" to take the bad taste of it out of my mouth. Were there actually 25? No one could keep score, and even the commentators didn't try to. Steamboat may not have the sleek athletic look of old, but he moved very well out there. When it got down to Jericho-Steamboat, it was definitely watchable. Rourke's contribution at the end was lame, but the crowd didn't seem to mind. Matt vs. Jeff was good but felt like they were pulling back. It wasn't because of what was coming later (a few new weapons made their way in), but because they couldn't find it in themselves to really hurt each other more than they were already booked to do. I'd heard about a very recent ROH match (KENTA vs. Richards) that judging by how it was booked, seemed to be used in the Michaels-Taker match. The match from entrances to finish was awesome, but the worry I had about this match shifted from crowd reaction to match action. Their respective huge bumps to the outside looked too dangerous. I'm guessing those bumps and the match length should be the first signs that the retirement clock on either or both has started. The triple threat did have some extra booking but didn't test my patience too much. However, it was still well below what they could have done. And how sad is this: Hunter wins without incident, and you could hear a pin drop at Sam's Town. There was some polite applause at the win, but it's clear that the build hinted expectations that weren't followed up on. Except for Michaels-Taker, what will WrestleMania 25 be remembered for? Not much, I'm afraid.

We welcome your 0-10 score and comments on this show for a "WWE PPV Reax" feature in the Torch Feedback section of PWTorch.com. Just to add a twist to this feature, include not just your hometown, but also your occupation (mechanic, lawyer, stay-at-home-dad, college student, etc.) so readers get a flavor for what everyone does as "day jobs." To contribute your thoughts on the PPV, click here.

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