WrestleMania 25
WrestleMania 25 | |||
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Promotion World Wrestling Entertainment | | ||
Brand(s) | Raw SmackDown ECW | ||
Date | April 5, 2009 | ||
City | Houston, Texas | ||
Venue | Reliant Stadium | ||
Attendance | 72,744[1] | ||
Buy rate | 975,000 | ||
Tagline(s) | The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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WrestleMania chronology | |||
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WrestleMania 25 (marketed as The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania and WrestleMania 25th Anniversary) was the 25th annual
Eight matches were held on the event's
Tickets for the event commenced sale to the public on November 8, 2008. For the third consecutive year, WrestleMania broke the record for the highest-
Production
Background
As the second WrestleMania to be held in
The official theme songs for the event were AC/DC's "War Machine" and their live version of "Shoot to Thrill",[16] as well as "So Hott" by Kid Rock.[17] Other songs used at the event include "Crash" by Decyfer Down and "Touched" by VAST.[18][19]
Marketing
According to WWE's executive vice president, Michelle Wilson, WrestleMania 25 featured the most extensive promotional campaign in WrestleMania history. Promotion for the event included a merchandise deal with
As with previous WrestleMania events, a series of events were held in the week preceding WrestleMania 25. For the second consecutive year, WrestleManiArt, an art exhibition and auction featuring work by WWE wrestlers and local artists, was held at the
Storylines
WrestleMania featured
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeated CM Punk on the March 9 episode of Raw to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship.[27] A week later, JBL's old rival Rey Mysterio issued a challenge to face JBL for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. With the match accepted by JBL, this would be the first time since WrestleMania X8 that the Intercontinental Championship would be defended at WrestleMania. On the March 30 episode of Raw, JBL was pinned by Mysterio in a non-title match.
At No Way Out, Shawn Michaels defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a match with the added stipulation that if JBL had won, he would have become the owner of Michaels' name and likeness. On the February 16 episode of Raw, Michaels challenged JBL to another match, with the winner advancing to WrestleMania to challenge The Undertaker to attempt to end his undefeated streak at the event.[28] The next week on Raw, Michaels defeated JBL, but it was later announced that another competitor would stand in his way to prevent him from advancing to the show in the form of Vladimir Kozlov, who also made a challenge to Undertaker;[29] the two wrestled the next week on Raw with Michaels defeating Kozlov, and earning his match with Undertaker.[30] The next week on Raw, Undertaker and Michaels defeated Kozlov and JBL in a tag match. After the match, Michaels attacked Undertaker. The pair played mind games with each other over the following weeks.
The headline of WrestleMania 25 was a confrontation over the
After the main event of the March 2 episode of Raw, SmackDown general manager Vickie Guerrero announced that her husband Edge would defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show at WrestleMania.[30] A contract to be signed to make the match official was intended to be held on the next episode of SmackDown; however, John Cena, from whom Edge won the World Heavyweight Championship at the previous month's pay per view, No Way Out (in the Elimination Chamber match), interfered with the signing before whispering a message in Vickie's ear prompting the signing to be canceled.[33] The next week on Raw, Vickie announced to the surprise of Edge and Big Show that Cena would be in the match, thus making it a Triple Threat match. It was soon revealed that the match would involve the new challenger based on Cena extorting Guerrero with footage of the general manager having adulterous relations with Big Show.[34] The next week on Raw, Edge, Vickie and Big Show were set to confront Cena due to Cena revealing the affair between Vickie and Big Show, much to the chagrin of all three. As a result, Guerrero arranged a match pitting Edge against Cena with herself serving as a special guest referee. With all that misdirected hostility focused on Cena, who could not touch Vickie or he would sacrifice his World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania, a lopsided confrontation seemed inevitable. As Edge and Cena battled, Big Show walked down the ramp toward the ring. When he arrived, Edge joined him in tying Cena up within the ring ropes. Fittingly, each drove their anger in his direction: Edge speared him, Vickie slapped him and Big Show drove his giant fist into Cena's ribs several times before clocking him in the jaw. Edge then speared Big Show and sent a message that he would retain his title at WrestleMania.
The fifth annual
The buildup to WrestleMania 25 also included a rivalry between brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy. During Jeff's match against Edge at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship, Matt came down to the ring, appearing to help his brother.[39] Instead, Matt turned on Jeff by hitting him with a steel chair, costing Jeff the match and his WWE title. After losing his Money in the Bank qualifying match to MVP on the March 6 episode of SmackDown, Matt interfered in Jeff's qualifying match later that night by punching Jeff's opponent, Shelton Benjamin, disqualifying Jeff from the match.[33] A week later, Matt provoked Jeff even further by referring to Jeff's recent accidents, including Jeff's incident at the night of Survivor Series where he was found unconscious in a hotel stairwell (which caused him to be removed of the WWE Championship match and being replaced by Edge at that event), the recent account of someone driving Jeff off the road, and the misfiring of the pyrotechnics in his entrance. Matt then talked about the fire to Jeff's house a year prior, killing his dog Jack. This ultimately led to Jeff retaliating against his brother after weeks of passive resistance. Later that night, it was announced that Matt and Jeff would fight each other at WrestleMania[38] with a subsequent announcement a week later declaring the match to be held under Extreme Rules.[40]
On the January 23 episode of SmackDown,
At the
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
English commentators
|
Jim Ross |
Michael Cole | |
Jerry Lawler | |
Spanish commentators | Carlos Cabrera |
Hugo Savinovich | |
Interviewer
|
Todd Grisham |
Ring announcer | Lilian Garcia (Raw) |
Justin Roberts (SmackDown/Money in the Bank match) | |
Referees | Charles Robinson |
Mike Chioda | |
John Cone | |
Scott Armstrong | |
Jack Doan | |
Marty Elias | |
Chad Patton | |
Aaron Mahoney |
Dark match
Before the event was aired live, the crowd in attendance were treated to a dark match, which featured the WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (Carlito and Primo) compete against the World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz in a
As the event went live on pay-per-view and right before the opening pyro, Nicole Scherzinger sang "America the Beautiful".[50]
Preliminary matches
The Money in the Bank ladder match was the start of the event as the participants:
After the match,
The next match featured Chris Jericho facing Ricky Steamboat, Jimmy Snuka, and Roddy Piper (who were accompanied to the ring by Ric Flair) in a three-on-one
The fourth bout was the Extreme Rules match between brothers Jeff and Matt Hardy. This featured a multitude of moments that saw the Hardys assault each other with many different weapon-based attacks, which included assaults with numerous objects under the ring and Jeff
A singles match for the
Main event matches
The next match pitted The Undertaker against Shawn Michaels. Michaels made his entrance descending on a platform to symbolize the light; in sharp contrast, The Undertaker entered second, ascending from the floor with fire shooting up from the stage. The match began with a fast pace by both men going for strikes to have them countered before Michaels feigned a knee injury to gain the advantage, and the pace slowed. This led to an exchange of signature moves and submission holds, which saw Michaels escape The Undertaker's
The World Heavyweight Championship was contested for in a Triple Threat match between the champion, Edge, Big Show, and John Cena, who entered through an aisle of look-alikes to start the match; Vickie Guerrero was brought out to ringside in a wheelchair by
Next after that, the
The last match of the event was for the WWE Championship; the 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 champion had his signature weapon, the sledgehammer, in hand only to relinquish it prior to entering the ring by throwing it through a glass wall. Early in the match, Triple H did everything in his power to hurt Orton without being disqualified in the process. Orton performed a Back Body Drop to Triple H onto the Spanish announce table. At one point, Orton threw Triple H to a turnbuckle where the referee was standing, causing him to collide, and knocked out the referee. After executing an RKO on Triple H, Orton tried to gain more advantage and 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 delivered a punt kick to Orton. Triple H took his sledgehammer from Orton, hit him with it and executed the Pedigree to retain the WWE Championship.[1]
Reception
WrestleMania 25 received mixed reviews from various sources. Gordon Holmes of
The Randy Orton vs. Triple H main event was generally regarded by critics as a disappointing ending to the show. Holmes of Comcast.net believes that the match "never seemed to click"[51] and Kevin Eck of The Baltimore Sun stated that he was "disappointed that it didn’t feel more special after some great angles on TV."[55] Nick Tywalk of Slam! Wrestling wrote that it was "solid and had its share of drama, but the lack of outside interference or plot twists of any kind failed to spark the same feeling of energy Reliant Stadium had in it a few hours before. It was almost a "That's it?" reaction that first came to mind."[56] Wade Keller gave the match 3.75 out of 5. He called the match "good, both well-plotted and well-executed, appropriate to the storyline and feud", but added that "it just wasn't able to follow the classic two matches earlier."[52]
The match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels is widely acclaimed, earning the 2009 Match of the Year award from both
Aftermath
The rivalry between Triple H and Randy Orton continued after WrestleMania when both men would meet in a
On the same episode of Raw, it was announced that Vickie Guerrero would vacate her role as SmackDown general manager to become the new permanent Raw general manager. As her first act, Guerrero announced that John Cena would defend his World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash against Edge in a
The animosity between Matt and Jeff Hardy continued on the episode of SmackDown following WrestleMania, leading to continued assaults between the two; newly appointed SmackDown general manager,
CM Punk would be drafted to the SmackDown brand, which would see him try on multiple occasions to invoke his contractually-guaranteed title match from winning the Money in the Bank ladder match; Punk would be able to get his match at Extreme Rules in June by defeating Jeff Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship. Prior to CM Punk defeating Jeff Hardy, Hardy was involved in a World Heavyweight Championship ladder match with Edge. Hardy had managed to trap Edge between the ladder, climb it, and retrieve the hanging belt. It was at this point that CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. As the briefcase guaranteed a title shot, CM Punk capitalized from an exhausted Jeff Hardy. CM Punk had hit the "GTS" (Go to Sleep) yet remarkably Hardy kicked out. CM Punk then hit a second one to win the World Heavyweight Championship.[79]
After the events of WrestleMania, both Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker took a four-month hiatus from the WWE. Shawn came back to reform D-Generation X (D-X) with Triple H so that they came face to face with The Legacy at SummerSlam. The Undertaker also returned at SummerSlam and attacked the then-World Heavyweight Champion, CM Punk.[80] At the Slammy Awards, The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels won the Best Match of the Year, with Michaels expressing that he was glad that he had created history at WrestleMania, but just when he was about to leave, he challenged the Undertaker to a rematch at the next WrestleMania.[81] The Undertaker later denied the challenge, saying he had nothing more to prove to Michaels, and told Michaels that he would have to earn the spot.[82] Michaels later entered the 2010 Royal Rumble, but would be eliminated by Batista.[83] He later tried to enter the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship, but he was defeated by Randy Orton to earn the spot.[84] Then at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Michaels cost The Undertaker his World Heavyweight Championship.[85] The next night on Raw, The Undertaker accepted the rematch, but only on the condition that Michaels would retire from WWE if he lost.[86] At WrestleMania XXVI, The Undertaker defeated Michaels in a Streak vs. Career Match, thus ending Michaels' career.[87] The next night on Raw, Michaels said farewell to WWE, with his best friend and D-X member Triple H right next to him as they spent their last time, together before Michaels finally left the building.[88]
WrestleMania 25 was the last WrestleMania to feature the ECW brand, and subsequently the ECW Championship, as the brand was disbanded in February 2010, deactivating the championship along with it.[89]
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times Singles match for the WWE Championship Had Triple H been counted out or disqualified, he would have lost the title. 24:35 | | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
- Zack Ryder.[93]
- Maryse, Melina, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Molly Holly, Natalya, Nikki Bella, Rosa Mendes, Sunny, Tiffany, Torrie Wilson and Victoria.[94][95]
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