WWE WrestleMania 25 Reax #11: "I fully expected Matt and Jeff Hardy to try to steal the show ..."

4/5 WWE WrestleMania 25 PPV Reax

Mark (The P) Parisen of South Amboy, N.J. (8.0) Best Match: Undertaker-HBK. Worst Match: Diva Battle Royal. First let me start by saying Shawn Michaels delivered back-to-back five-star matches at the Grandaddy of them all. Placing this match where WWE did on the card did not do it justice. Also, by doing so, they set the bar unattainably high for the title matches that followed. The title matches I felt were predictable but well delivered, and left the feuds open for re-matches. Rey Mysterio's victory over JBL, albeit anti-climatic, hopefully will restore the prestige of the IC belt and have it mean something again. C.M. Punk winning MITB two years in a row somehow felt new. The Hardys delivered in their spot and the celebrities did their jobs well. The
Dragon was very good carrying the other Hall of Famers and Mickey Rourke's "KO" of Jericho was a WrestleMania feel-good moment. All said, I fully enjoyed this card and WWE delivered.

Ramy Sarsour of Toledo, Ohio (8.0): Best Match: Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker. Worst Match: Diva Battle Royal. The presentation of WrestleMania is almost equally as important as the quality of the matches. As usual, the WWE did not disappoint in this area. The arena was packed and lit to perfection. The entrance way was simple yet captivating. My fear for the Money in the Bank match was that there were no innovative spots left. But, Kofi Kingston, Shelton Benjamin, and Christian were up for the challenge. Shelton's leap off the jumbo-sized ladder was just awesome! But I don't have to watch a suicide attempt to get excited, as I was equally as hyped when Kofi climbed the ladder while Mark Henry was attempting to set it up. The crowd's reaction when they thought Christian was about to win and their negative reaction to C.M. Punk actually winning the match was very interesting. The Divas Battle Royal following the 1998 Kid Rock concert was as expected. They completely ignored the fact that Sunny, Molly Holly, Torrie Wilson, and other divas were in the ring for the first time in years. Chris Jericho had the most difficult task of the night working with Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka. Piper looked as bad in the ring as I've ever seen him. Snuka looked like my grandmother. Ricky Steamboat, on the other hand, was relatively awesome! Watching him skin the cat and fly over the top rope was surreal. I fully expected Matt and Jeff Hardy to try to steal the show. They didn't come close. They did have a couple of cool high spots however, and a very cool finish of Matt's Twist of Fate with Jeff's head in a steel chair. They relied on their dare-devil tactics to cover up their lack of ability to tell a story in the ring. JBL vs. Rey Mysterio was a VERY anti-climatic way for JBL to retire. As for the World Championship and WWE Championship matches, I simply didn't care. And, that's what happens when you put your two championship matches after the greatest match of the past three years? I understand the importance of the World Championship belts. However, they had to have known that Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were going to tear the roof off the place. And having Cena-Edge-Big Show and Triple H-Orton attempt to follow that was impossible. It's like offering filet mignon as an appetizer. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels might have just had the greatest match of both of their careers. And that's really saying something. When Undertaker took advantage of Michaels' unnecessary skinning of the cat, hit his Tombstone, and did the eyes rolling back and sticking out his tongue thing during the pin, I KNEW the match was over. So when HBK kicked out of the pin, I was amazed! This is the most satisfied I've been with an angle and match in a very long time. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker was $65 well spent.

Richard Kepp, Torch reader: Best Match: Obviously, Taker vs. HBK. They took some good bumps, both these guys always go over for their opponent. True professionals. The action was great and it was interesting from bell to count. Worst Match: Jericho vs. Legends. It was just sad to see these guys hobble around, but Jericho did a good job putting them over. Steamboat was very good, but I could not get past Hot Rod and Snuka. Take: This was an average event at best, nothing like what 70,000 others fans and I thought WrestleMania 25 should be. The crowd was very quiet most of the time, but the big exception was the chants during the HBK-Undertaker match. There was nothing special at all on the PPV with the exception of Stone Cold's four-wheeler ride. No crowd interaction, no Shane-o Mac helping out his brother in-law, no Steph crying for her man to redeem her, nothing spilled over into the crowd. Bland.

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.

We suggest these recent related articles...

WWE PPV REAX #1: "I wanted the biggest event of the summer to end with an exclamation point; it ended with a semicolon and a question"

WWE PPV REAX #1: Battleground finish generates mixed reactions...

WWE PPV REAX #2: In-Person Battleground Report on overall show, reactions, more