Re-writing the PPV: WrestleMania 25

[TheKingofKings20222]

Ok, so here's the deal. It's the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania. IMO this should have been one of the biggest WrestleMania events of all time. 25 years is an amazing milestone, and this PPV should have been special. However, WrestleMania 25 was not all that great. Of course the match that made the show, was HBK VS Taker, but how would you have booked WrestleMania? Who would you have booked to win the matches? And what would you have changed?



The only rules I ask, it that you keep the match card the same. No changing the participants, and no unrealistic events. Here's how my 25th Mania would have played out.



1. The Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk VS Kane VS Finlay VS Mark Henry VS MVP VS Christian VS Kofi Kingston VS Shelton Benjamin


Now, we all know CM Punk won this, but in my honest opinion, I don't believe he should have. I would have booked Christian to win this match. Christian was HOT back then. ECW was gone, and Captian Charisma had found a new home on Smackdown. When that happened, everyone was thinking one thing. Edge and Christian. Would they tag? Would they feud? What was going to happen between the two? Unfortunately, injury cause Edge to retire before these two could ever start a feud. WM 25 was the perfect opportunity to give Christian a reason to feud with Edge in the upcoming year.


2. Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal.

Ugh. Where do I start? First off, I'll say that I was very excited when I first heard about the concept of this match. Divas from the Past, and Present all joining together for a battle royal to crown, Miss WrestleMania. I was actually looking forward to seeing Divas that I grew up watching, come back. I was expecting divas like, Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna (maybe?), Sable, Dawn Marie, etc. However, we never saw any of them. And who do we get to win this battle royal? Santina Marella.......really? This just shows how much WWE appreciates their Divas. If I had to pick one diva out of all who participated, I would have picked, Torrie Wilson to win this.


3. I would have put JBL VS Rey Mysterio in this slot. I also wouldn't have made the match 21 seconds. I understand that JBL was leaving, but the whole 21 second, "I quit" angle could have been shot on Raw the next night by having JBL invoke his rematch clause. In the end, Mysterio would wound up winning, but we would be treated to more than just 21 seconds.

4. Next up would be the extreme rules bout. Matt Hardy VS Jeff Hardy. Great buildup for an amazing feud! Their rivalry was truly magnificent. Matt explaining that he was the cause of all of Jeff's misfortunes. Claiming he was tired of being in his brother's shadow and that he deserved to be the top Hardy. I really believed this was the start of Matt Hardy's main event status (Hey, we can't all be right.) But anyways. I love how this match played out, but I would have had Jeff win instead of Matt. Matt winning did nothing for the feud. It was all centered around Jeff finally getting his retribution against his brother. Jeff should have won.

5. Jericho VS The Legends.
Well, while I'll be the first to say, I was not too thrilled with this match. I get the honoring the legends part, but the match itself was not really exciting. Jericho deserved a much better match at WM 25. In fact, now that you think abt it, having the legends lose was pretty much like slapping them in the face. You had Micky Rourke at ringside. He should have been used to help the legends pick up a victory against Jericho.

6. The next match should have been the triple threat for the World Heavyweight Championship. I wouldn't have changed anything about this match, except for the winner. Everyone in the arena knew Cena was going to win. There was no doubt about it. I would have made the ending having Cena lift both Show and Edge up for the AA, then having Edge slide off Cena's shoulder's before Cena hit the AA, then spearing Cena to pick up the win. Edge would have once again seized the opportunity and picked up the win. Edge would be celebrating his Mania win when all of a sudden..... Christian comes out and CASHES in his MiTB on Edge. Edge tries to flee but is thrown back into the ring by Cena. Christian hits the killswitch and wins the World Title. This would have begun the feud everyone was wanting to see. Christian VS Edge

7. WWE Championship match. Triple H VS Randy Orton. Just like the HArdy's feud, this had an amazing buildup. Arguably, the best feud of 2009. Orton had taken out all the members of the McMahon family, and was looking to do the same to Triple H. The intensity of the feud kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, most people view this match as less than stellar. I however believe this is only due to the position of this match on the match card. This match followed HBK VS Taker part 1. A match that has been named match of the year, match of the century, and even the greatest wrestlemania match in history. As good as these two stars are, there is no way they could have topped that match, which is why the crowd was no into it as much as the WWE wanted them to be. Had Taker and HBK gone on last, I believe that this match would have garnered a different opinion with people.

8. And finally. The match that SHOULD have closed Mania, Shawn Michaels VS The Undertaker. This was one of the greatest matches of all time. These two men raised the bar. This hype for this match was incredible. It was one of the first times where I myself thought that The streak may be broken. This match is the match that you should think of when you think of WrestleMania 25. 10 out of 10.



So how would you have changed WrestleMania 25?

 

[thebarber]

I wouldn't have changed it, Wrestlemania is Wrestlemania, some are good and some are poor. I had no issues with Punk winning MITB, he was coming off a good run in ECW, he needed a main victory to have him taken seriously on one of the big two shows.
The womens battle royale was a waste of time, if anything Id have had that on the preshow and had a Battle royal with the guys who didnt get a start.
JBL going out the way he did was great, nobody expected it.
SuperCena was always winning that match.
HHH should have put Orton over, the way the feud was, Orton gonig over would have made him an even bigger heel than he was, and the match itself was boring.
In hindsight, yes Michaels vs Taker closes the show but you do not downgrade the WWE championship if you can help it.

 

[mr. jomo risin]

1. JEFF HARDY v. MATT HARDY - would have been a great opener, reminescent of bret/owen opening at WM10. Also should have been a straight pinfall match. No clue why they skipped the old 1-2-3 and went right for the Extreme.
2. MITB 5
3. Miss WM Battle Royal with more match, less Kid Rock
4. Chris Jericho v. Legends
5. WHT- John Cena v. Edge v. Big Show
6. ICT- Rey Mysterio v. JBL
7. WWET- Triple H v. Randy Orton (NO HOLDS BARRED) This fued had the intensity and should have had the extreme stipulation instead of the Hardy's. Sadly, I think if you switch it you have three classics instead of one classic and two barely mentionables.
8- TAG T- Miz/Morrison v. Colons- should not have been cut and placed on preshow
8b- HOF Induction - how great would it have been to have Savage in there
9. TAKER v. HBK - absolutely should have ME, the one everyone wanted to see. Also, nobody then has to try and follow this match.

 

[cm ben]

Honestly, OP, your re-write is very good, imho. Changing things very slightly, but enough so to make them so much more effective. As much of a CM Punk mark as I am, I still remember freaking out when Christian tipped his ladder over, then put one leg on the top rope and kicked it back upright, right underneath the briefcase. Anyone else remember that spot? He should have won at the point. The crowd was going nuts. Him cashing in on Edge, too, would have saved that pretty lackluster 3-way match (also coming from an admitted Cena mark here). And, yeah, HHH vs RKO didn't stand a chance after the 'Taker match. No chance.

Very impressed, keep up the good work.

 

[M3420]

Short and quick to CM Ben:

You totally made me remember that Christian spot with the rope kick ladder deal, and I ALWAYS wanted to see a briefcase cash-in AT MANIA!!!! him cashing on Edge would have been outlandishly awesome, but what can you really do.... I really think all they cared about was seeing that at one point or another Cena got to hold the 'big gold belt,' and HHH sure seemed to look pretty comfy cozy with the signature pose on the top rope with the starred 25th Anniversary Wrestlemania logo in the background--which is another thing I have a slight issue with...wouldn't WM26 actually be the '25th anniversary???' Eh what can you do...

 

[aza1294]

1.Money in the bank, i say Christian getting the win would have been good here, he needed something to be relevant on smackdown and this would have done it
2. Rey-rey versus JBL. I agree with the OP this match could have gone on much longer then they could do the I Quit thing the next night
3.Colons v Miz/Morrison, i was genuinely looking forward to this match and im surprised they took it off the card, for this one I say Colons get the win
4.Hardy vs Hardy, Ladder Match. This match would have been much better were it to be a ladder match, since the Hardys seem to be experts at this. It would have been poetic justice for Jeff to win i dont see why they went with Matt.
5. WHC Cena Edge Show- I'd still give Cena the win here, it needed to happen from a storyline point of view.
6.Jericho v Legends- Jericho wins this one it just doesn't make sense for the legends to win against a superstar in his prime. after the match Rourke and the Legends could all beat the crap out of him, just like how it happened at the actual event
7.Taker v Michaels- Id book this the exact same as how it actually happened
8. WWE Title HHH v Orton- In hindsight Taker versus Michaels should have been the main event but at the time none of us knew itd be that awesome. HHH v Orton had the best build out of any of the matches that night and rightfully deserved the main event spot.

Dark Match- Divas Battle Royal. I didnt care for this match in the slightest

 

[Dagger Dias]

The first thing I would change is to make the Tag Team Championship open the show, Colons still win so that Miz and Morrison can split up. Kid Rock's awful concert can be the pre-show event. Punk still wins MITB. Jericho still defeats the legends. Rey still defeats JBL but they get enough time to actually have a full match. Matt still defeats Jeff. After that, things get a bit different in how I would have booked the show.

Trips and Orton would go on next, with the Viper winning the WWE Championship in a No DQ match. The Sledgehammer is used by Trips and Legacy help Orton get the win. Next is the Hall of Fame class introduction with Stone Cold coming out on the 4 wheeler. Cena VS Edge VS Big Show comes on next with Cena still winning. After that I would have the Divas Battle Royal which Beth Phoenix wins. That calms the fans down enough to truly enjoy the main event, one of the greatest matches of all time, Shawn Michaels VS Undertaker, which Taker of course still wins.

That is how I would have booked the show because the tag titles deserved to be on the card, a diva should have won the divas match, Orton needed the win over Trips, the dream match could have been a good closer despite it not being for a world title, last but not least.... No time is wasted by Kid Rock. Wrestlemania 25 could have been amazing if they just changed a couple of things about it.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Ok, so here's the deal. It's the 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania. IMO this should have been one of the biggest WrestleMania events of all time. 25 years is an amazing milestone, and this PPV should have been special. However, WrestleMania 25 was not all that great. Of course the match that made the show, was HBK VS Taker, but how would you have booked WrestleMania? Who would you have booked to win the matches? And what would you have changed?



The only rules I ask, it that you keep the match card the same. No changing the participants, and no unrealistic events. Here's how my 25th Mania would have played out.



1. The Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk VS Kane VS Finlay VS Mark Henry VS MVP VS Christian VS Kofi Kingston VS Shelton Benjamin


Now, we all know CM Punk won this, but in my honest opinion, I don't believe he should have. I would have booked Christian to win this match. Christian was HOT back then. ECW was gone, and Captian Charisma had found a new home on Smackdown. When that happened, everyone was thinking one thing. Edge and Christian. Would they tag? Would they feud? What was going to happen between the two? Unfortunately, injury cause Edge to retire before these two could ever start a feud. WM 25 was the perfect opportunity to give Christian a reason to feud with Edge in the upcoming year.


2. Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal.

Ugh. Where do I start? First off, I'll say that I was very excited when I first heard about the concept of this match. Divas from the Past, and Present all joining together for a battle royal to crown, Miss WrestleMania. I was actually looking forward to seeing Divas that I grew up watching, come back. I was expecting divas like, Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna (maybe?), Sable, Dawn Marie, etc. However, we never saw any of them. And who do we get to win this battle royal? Santina Marella.......really? This just shows how much WWE appreciates their Divas. If I had to pick one diva out of all who participated, I would have picked, Torrie Wilson to win this.


3. I would have put JBL VS Rey Mysterio in this slot. I also wouldn't have made the match 21 seconds. I understand that JBL was leaving, but the whole 21 second, "I quit" angle could have been shot on Raw the next night by having JBL invoke his rematch clause. In the end, Mysterio would wound up winning, but we would be treated to more than just 21 seconds.

4. Next up would be the extreme rules bout. Matt Hardy VS Jeff Hardy. Great buildup for an amazing feud! Their rivalry was truly magnificent. Matt explaining that he was the cause of all of Jeff's misfortunes. Claiming he was tired of being in his brother's shadow and that he deserved to be the top Hardy. I really believed this was the start of Matt Hardy's main event status (Hey, we can't all be right.) But anyways. I love how this match played out, but I would have had Jeff win instead of Matt. Matt winning did nothing for the feud. It was all centered around Jeff finally getting his retribution against his brother. Jeff should have won.

5. Jericho VS The Legends.
Well, while I'll be the first to say, I was not too thrilled with this match. I get the honoring the legends part, but the match itself was not really exciting. Jericho deserved a much better match at WM 25. In fact, now that you think abt it, having the legends lose was pretty much like slapping them in the face. You had Micky Rourke at ringside. He should have been used to help the legends pick up a victory against Jericho.

6. The next match should have been the triple threat for the World Heavyweight Championship. I wouldn't have changed anything about this match, except for the winner. Everyone in the arena knew Cena was going to win. There was no doubt about it. I would have made the ending having Cena lift both Show and Edge up for the AA, then having Edge slide off Cena's shoulder's before Cena hit the AA, then spearing Cena to pick up the win. Edge would have once again seized the opportunity and picked up the win. Edge would be celebrating his Mania win when all of a sudden..... Christian comes out and CASHES in his MiTB on Edge. Edge tries to flee but is thrown back into the ring by Cena. Christian hits the killswitch and wins the World Title. This would have begun the feud everyone was wanting to see. Christian VS Edge

7. WWE Championship match. Triple H VS Randy Orton. Just like the HArdy's feud, this had an amazing buildup. Arguably, the best feud of 2009. Orton had taken out all the members of the McMahon family, and was looking to do the same to Triple H. The intensity of the feud kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, most people view this match as less than stellar. I however believe this is only due to the position of this match on the match card. This match followed HBK VS Taker part 1. A match that has been named match of the year, match of the century, and even the greatest wrestlemania match in history. As good as these two stars are, there is no way they could have topped that match, which is why the crowd was no into it as much as the WWE wanted them to be. Had Taker and HBK gone on last, I believe that this match would have garnered a different opinion with people.

8. And finally. The match that SHOULD have closed Mania, Shawn Michaels VS The Undertaker. This was one of the greatest matches of all time. These two men raised the bar. This hype for this match was incredible. It was one of the first times where I myself thought that The streak may be broken. This match is the match that you should think of when you think of WrestleMania 25. 10 out of 10.



So how would you have changed WrestleMania 25?

That is completely wrong. HHH vs Randy Orton was for the Championship. Every Wrestlemania should end with a Championship match and every Royal Rumble winner should either be in the main-event or in the match before the main-event. Things like this are what makes a World Championship lose its prestige.

Undertaker's streak is not bigger than winning or defending a World Championship.

 

[rge2010]

That is completely wrong. HHH vs Randy Orton was for the Championship. Every Wrestlemania should end with a Championship match and every Royal Rumble winner should either be in the main-event or in the match before the main-event. Things like this are what makes a World Championship lose its prestige.

Undertaker's streak is not bigger than winning or defending a World Championship.

What a ridiculous statement. So Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus was a bigger match than Undertaker vs Triple H at WM28? How about WM29 if Brock and Taker get it on? Stupid statement my friend.

As for Wrestlemania 25....I thought it was on okay event. It did miss something though, maybe the running order may have helped.

 

[SuperSteve16]

That is completely wrong. HHH vs Randy Orton was for the Championship. Every Wrestlemania should end with a Championship match and every Royal Rumble winner should either be in the main-event or in the match before the main-event. Things like this are what makes a World Championship lose its prestige.

Undertaker's streak is not bigger than winning or defending a World Championship.

The Undertakers streak is the reason that a lot of fans and a lot of casual fans buy Wrestlemania. A lot of the time, it is even bigger that the World Title matches because it is one of the main selling points of the show. What match caused more Wrestlemania orders' Daniel Bryan Vs Sheamus ( world titles lose prestige when matches like this go for 20 seconds, not because they are not the main event) for the World Championship or the end of an era Triple H Vs Undertaker match? The question answers itself. And please dont try to tell me that Ric Flair Vs Shawn Michaels wasn't the most important match of Wresltemania 24. He'll, the streak has main eventide Wrestlemania before without being for the title at Wrestlemania 26.

 

[mrfantastic111]

I never liked that Big Show was included in the World title match with Edge and Cena. It was the 25th anniversary, so the main events were supposed to represent the biggest rivalries in recent history: Orton/HHH, Edge/Cena. So why throw in Big Show? Edge and Cena could of had an incredible one on one feud and greatly anticipated match up if it were just the two of them and didn't included the stupid Vickie cheating on Edge with Big Show angle.

At the end of the day though the match wasn't half bad, and they had their final chapter at Extreme Rules. Without the WM25 match we wouldn't of been given the awesome promo package that we saw at Extreme Rules, or the intense version of Edge that we saw briefly after Mania' that ensured that Edge Vs. Cena would have been on the same level.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I agree with the Christian cash in on Edge - But I'd have had an interview earlier where Edge pops in and congratulates him... Christian bigs up Edge and says he has his back if he needs it. Edge kinda blows him off a bit and says, "Watch your own, with that people will be after you", something seemingly innocent but a little bit condesending. After the match moment where Christian comes to save Edge cos Show is kicking him to hell... He uses the Briefcase to lay out Show and raises Edges hand, but hands the ref the case as he does... a quick nod to the ref later Edge is in the Killswitch and the bell rings, 1-2-3... that way Christian stayed face as Edge kinda asked for it but he did have his back...

 

[MCMG]

Leaving out the Big Show from the triple threat would have made it better. Not his biggest fan and i think Cena/edge would have been better, not amazing, but better than what it was. HBK/taker should have been last. Even Orton admitted that they could never follow that match. The audience wan't into HHH/Orton as they were still in awe at what they had just seen. Perhaps making it no holds bard would have improved their match.

 

[Iversen]

1. The Money in the Bank Ladder Match
CM Punk VS Kane VS Finlay VS Mark Henry VS MVP VS Christian VS Kofi Kingston VS Shelton Benjamin

I wouldn't have changed this, Punk winning and his feud with Jeff because he won was the catalyst to kick start his career and get him to where he is now. You could argue it could have happened anyway with his talent but why change something that eventually worked so well.

2. Jericho VS The Legends.
Put this here, allow everything to calm down after the usually mental MITB matches. Personally I'd have just let Steamboat Jericho go at it for 10-12 minutes but if you don't change the match itself I'd have done what they basically did, have Jericho take out the other legends early and then have a longer encounter with Steamboat. Jericho should have still gone over, having a young in shape wrestler lose to a bunch of retired guys does not make sense. I'd have dropped Rourke and Flair's involvement as they were basically pointless

3. JBL vs Rey Mysterio
Let these two actually have a match. Not stupidly wrong as JBL was getting on a bit by these time. With JBL leaving there is no point of putting him over but have him at least put up a fight.

4. Miss Wrestlemania Battle Royal
Ditch Kid Rock let the Divas, particularly the legends, actually get entrances and fuck Santino. Have Molly Holly an actual great Diva who never got the credit she deserved win and have a big Wrestlemania moment.

5. Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy
I don't think I'd change much if we're not changing the card. I'd have actually had Christian and Jeff going for the title but that's a different thread. Matt won to prolong the feud which at this time made sense since the title picture was saturated.

6. Edge vs Big Show vs Cena
Have Edge retain, Cena didn't need the title at this point and I felt like they just gave him to it for the sake of it. Roughly the same match to be honest but with Edge walking out after doing something dastardly to retain the title.

7. HHH vs Orton
This match was a flop because it came after that match, which I shall talk about in a bit, so if you put it on beforehand it won't feel quite as flat. Just let them brawl. I'd have changed it to a no DQ and not the whole HHH loses the title if he's disqualified. Have them brawl around the arena a couple of big spots like HHH Taker I. Then have Orton win. Orton was on fire at this time and beating HHH at Mania would have sealed that.

8. Colons vs Miz Morrison
I would have kept this match on the card and put it here in order to let the crowd have a break between huge matches. Colons can still go over I don't really mind. This should have been the start of a big push for the tag division but it wasn't. These guys could have put on a good 8-10 minute match at the point and on the grandest stage of them all as one of the main events would have great for the titles.

9. HBK vs Taker
Don't change a damn thing. It was nearly perfect and the only difference is that it is now the main event so no one has to follow it quite frankly.


I think that would have been a better received event. No Kid Rock problem, tag title match high up the card, Orton going over, Super Cena stopped in his tracks. It would be totally playing to the stereotypical internet community but meh.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

The OP's write up is pretty good and I would roll with it. There are a few things here that that have come up in this thread that I want to address.

1) Triple threat title match: Going off of the OP's changes, it makes the triple threat a necessity. Having Edge slip out, the Cena hitting the F-U on Show only to have Edge hit Cena with a spear and win works well. It is then made even better with Christian cashing in the breifcase and winning the title from Edge. I have always wanted someone to cash the thing in at Mania.

2) Last two matches: At the time, the Orton/Trips story was huge and no one would have thought HHH v Taker was going to start what it did. It would have felt weird and prolly taken away from the Taker/Shawn match had it gone on last.

 

[The Brain]

I don’t understand why so many think HBK vs. Taker should have gone on last. Sure it was the best match but it was not at all built as the main event. Triple H vs. Randy Orton got the most hype leading up to the show and was the right choice to close the show. Nobody thinks that Steamboat vs. Savage should have closed WM3. Nobody thinks Michaels vs. Razor should have closed WM10. Nobody thinks Hart vs. Austin should have closed WM13. Just because the match turned out to be a great one doesn’t mean it should have been the main event.

Triple H vs. Randy Orton could have easily been a lot better. The crowd was dead partially because of the energy they spent earlier but the match itself was poorly booked. The whole feud was built on Orton attacking the McMahon family. This was when Legacy was hot in WWE. Why did we not see Legacy or the McMahons during this match? At the very least Stephanie should have come out and slapped Orton for a little bit of revenge. This match would have been a lot better with some involvement of the supporting players who helped build the feud.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I've rewritten this card like a thousand times already, so instead of bothering to rewrite a whole new card again, all I will say is that I would've changed the World Title matches around. Cena vs. Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, no Big Show involved though, just one on one. These two are basically the Austin & Rock of this era, so it's only fitting they face off at a Mania even though they had already faced off a thousand times by that point. And Edge vs. HHH for the WWE Championship. I believe it was originally supposed to happen at a Mania, can't remember which but this was the Mania they could've easily put the two together and unlike Orton/HHH, they hadn't faced each other not once at the time, so it would be a new match. They could've the done same build up with Edge and Edge would've easily pulled off Orton's role in the build up just as good as he did and the two probably could've put on a better match than Orton & HHH did.