Wrestlemania 25: A Retrospective Look

As everyone else has stated, this WrestleMania was pretty crappy. In execution, it probably wasn't the worst Mania of all time, but in terms of card, it definitely was. No WrestleMania should have such a shitty card like this one. Matches like Rey/JBL, Cena/Edge, Cena/Big Show and Triple H/Orton were done to death before this. I wasn't excited at all for this card. I would have gone with:

1. WWE Championship: The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels

Edge losing the WWE title just to enter the main event EC and win the World title was phenomenal, but there was no reason to put the title back on Triple H. Undertaker should have won that EC and ended up facing Michaels for the title on PPV. It would have been even better if Shawn had been in the Chamber, won the World title, and faced Taker in a title vs. streak match, but they had to settle the JBL feud early.

2. John Cena vs. Batista

Okay, so here's the deal. Even if Batista wasn't ready to get physical for the Road to WrestleMania, he was obviously going to be ready in time for the actual PPV, considering he returned the following night. By paying tribute to the great Taker/Michaels legacy and the classic E&C/Hardys matches with the main events, John Cena would need a pretty great opponent. Batista would have been perfect at this point. I would have had Batista return, cut a few promos on John, and set up the feud, by having Batista cost John the World title rematch on Raw.

3. Triple H vs. Randy Orton (Street Fight)

If they really needed to do this match at WrestleMania, it should have been done as a Street Fight. These guys had done Steel Cages, Last Man Standings, and other types of matches. Settling for a standard singles match at Mania was not a good call. They could keep the feud the same, except without the title. It really was unnecessary, as this was all about Legacy and the McMahon family.

4. World Heavyweight Championship: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Christian vs. Edge (c)

At the time, I was really hoping we'd get to see a match like this. All four of these guys have tremendous history with each other, and they never faced off against the other. Jeff was feuding with Edge right before Mania, until Matt turned on him. And Matt was on ECW, where Christian had just debuted. All four of them could have easily entered a problem that led to a classic match at WrestleMania. Plus, Jeff Hardy could have finally gotten his "big moment" at WrestleMania, instead of waiting all the way until Night of Champions.

5. Rey Mysterio w/ the legends vs. Chris Jericho

I get that WWE wanted to do Mickey/Jericho at WrestleMania, but it didn't work out. Chris was stuck doing a legends storyline with no pay-off so they stuck him in a handicap match. I would have preferred if they had gotten someone like Rey to stick up for the legends and put them in a classic match on PPV. It isn't a perfect solution, and I probably would have gone with something better for Jericho, but taking into consideration what had been booked, it's the best call.

6. WWE Unified Tag Team Championship: The Colons (c) vs. The Miz and John Morrison (c)

I was looking forward to this match when it was booked, so I was really disappointed when it was moved to the pre-show. I would have had Miz and Morrison win as they were definitely the hotter tag team at the time. Of course, it ended up working for the best as Miz and Morrison both split and ended up having solid singles careers, but I would have kept them together for longer.

7. Kane vs. Vladimir Kozlov

Vladimir was built up way too hard to just be left off the Mania card. A month before, Vlad had challenged Taker to a Streak vs. Streak match at Mania, but he lost the chance to face him when Shawn ended ending his undefeated streak on Raw. I would have had Vladimir go nuts because he lost the chance to face Taker and end up beating up Taker's brother on Raw. I would keep this short and continue Vlad's downward spiral by losing to Kane.

8. Money in the Bank ladder match:
CM Punk vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Evan Bourne vs. JBL vs. The Brian Kendrick vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry

I would have kept Punk and JBL's feud going until WrestleMania. Punk would beat JBL in a qualifying match for the MitB, and JBL would keep trying to get in the match. He would get his wish after he puts his career on the line. If he can't get the briefcase, he leaves WWE. The end of the match would be Punk stealing the case from JBL, officially ending his career.

MVP and Brian Kendrick would be feuding for the US title when they both qualify for MitB, while Evan feuded with Henry on ECW. Big Show would get into the match to prove his love for Vickie or w/e, and Kofi would be there to fill it out.

Pre-Show: Divas Battle Royal

I would have moved this to the pre-show, and I would've had an actual diva win. Santino could enter the battle royal if he wanted, but he should've lost to someone like Trish or Lita.

(Lamentably, Shelton Benjamin would be left off the card, but considering WWE was thinking of releasing him just a few weeks later, there was no point in showcasing him at WrestleMania.)