Wrestlemania 23: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This is the 23rd of 29 topics looking back on previous Wrestlemania events. Every couple of days I have been submitting a new one and will continue until all of the past Wrestlemania events have been discussed, leading up to the big day in April where Wrestlemania 30 will take soon.

This thread will be for discussing.... Wrestlemania 23!

Wrestlemania 23 took place on April 1, 2007. It was held at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. There were 80,103 fans who attended the event. Here are the results of the matches from this show:



0. Ric Flair and Carlito defeated Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero in a lumberjack tag team match for the Dark match.

1. Mr. Kennedy defeated CM Punk, Randy Orton, Finlay, Matt Hardy, King Booker, Jeff Hardy, and Edge in a Money in the Bank ladder match (19:05)

2. The Great Khali defeated Kane in a singles match (05:30)

3. Chris Benoit (c) defeated Montel Vontavious Porter in a singles match to retain the WWE United States Championship (09:15)

4. The Undertaker defeated Batista (c) in a singles match to win the World Heavyweight Championship (15:48)

5. The ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and The Sandman) defeated The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn) (with Ariel) in an eight-man tag team match (07:27)

6. Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump) defeated Umaga (with Vince McMahon and Armando Alejandro Estrada) in a Hair VS Hair match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee (13:02)

7. Melina (c) defeated Ashley in a lumberjill match to retain the WWE Women's Championship (03:40)

8. John Cena (c) defeated Shawn Michaels by submission in a singles match to retain the WWE Championship (28:20)



Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 23, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in April 2007. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Wrestlemania 23 in this thread. The remaining Wrestlemania events will be getting their own retrospective threads shortly, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

An additional note on Chris Benoit, please keep comments on him limited to the match from this show. There's more than enough topics on him elsewhere in this section.

Discuss!

 

[Wolf Pac]

Dark Match: Raw vs. Smackdown vs. ECW Battle Royal

Replace Flair & Carlito vs. Chavo & Helms with this. Get rid of Kane vs. Khali and The ECW Originals vs. The New Breed from the main card, and just throw Great Khali, Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman, Marcus Cor Von and Kevin Thorn along with the rest of the Lumberjacks from the dark match into this Battle Royal.

1) Mr. Kennedy vs. Finlay, Ric Flair, Carlito, Johnny Nitro, Elijah Burke, King Booker & Kane in the Money In The Bank Match

Booker & Kane were feuding before Wrestlemania, so chuck them in MiTB together. Put Burke in, so ECW can have at least 1 guy in there. Carlito & Nitro to be spot monkeys in this. I wanted to put Joey Mercury in there too but he was released by the WWE some time before Mania. And keep Kennedy & Finlay in there.

2) Chris Benoit (c) vs. MVP for the WWE United States Title

3) Hardcore Holly (c) vs. CM Punk in an Extreme Rules Match for the ECW World Title

Have Umaga cost Bobby Lashley the ECW Title to Holly in that Steel Cage match they had, and make Punk win a #1 Contenders Battle Royal on ECW the following week to face Holly for the belt on the grand stage.

4) Batista (c) vs. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Title

5) Chavo Guerrero (c) vs. Gregory Helms vs. Shannon Moore for the WWE Cruiserweight Title

This doesn't need to be on the card, but give the fans this match so they can calm down after all the exciting action from the World Title match. This would still be a nice match though. Helms lost the title to Chavo at No Way Out in the Cruiserweight Open, so he's entitled to a rematch here, but add Shannon Moore to this so the crowd would have someone to cheer for. Shannon took on the Punk gimmick around this time, he switched brands from ECW to Smackdown, and he was becoming a fan favourite. I actually liked Shannon's Punk gimmick, I wish the WWE had done something with that character. Maybe they could give him the Cruiserweight Title here and he can feud with Chavo over it for the next couple of months.

6) Rated RKO (c) vs. Mick Foley & Terry Funk in a No Holds Barred Match for the World Tag Team Titles

The idea here is Mick Foley comes back, looking for redemption against the two guys who made their names off of him in the last 3 years and who beat him in his last two Hardcore matches before ECW One Night Stand 06. You could have Foley return after No Way Out and talk about how much he's disgusted with his actions the previous summer, for turning his back on the fans and joining up with a piece of scum like Edge, for trusting Melina, and he wants to apologize to the WWE Universe. This prompts Edge to come out with Orton and they talk about how pathetic Mick has become for needing the fans' approval and for constantly coming back and not hanging it up after they humiliated & destroyed him in 04 & 06, before they gang up on Foley and beat him down. Foley keeps returning the following weeks to call out Rated RKO but he ends up getting beat down every time by the two young superstars. After several weeks of beatdowns, Foley then decides to call up Terry Funk (who've made up with each other since ONS) to even the odds and save him during another beatdown, and from there they challenge Edge & Orton to a No Holds Barred Match at Wrestlemania. Also have Orton & Edge win the Tag Titles back from Cena & Michaels on Raw and put them on the line here.

7) Bobby Lashley (w/ Donald Trump) vs. Umaga (w/ Vince McMahon) in a Hair vs. Hair Match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Special Guest Referee

8) Paul London & Brian Kendrick (c) vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Rob Van Dam & Sabu vs. The Worlds Greatest Tag Team in a TLC Match for the WWE Tag Team Titles

I jizzed myself as I was writing that one. An interpromotional TLC match between 4 of the greatest aerial tag teams for the WWE Tag Team Titles. C'mon, who wouldn't wanna see this? This one can be set up by London & Kendrick, who've defeated every team on Smackdown and have held the titles for almost a year by this point, throwing out an Open Challenge on Smackdown to any teams from any brand for a shot at their belts at Wrestlemania. The Hardyz (Matt from SD, Jeff from Raw), RVD & Sabu (ECW), The Worlds Greatest Tag Team (Raw) all throw their names in the hat, the GM's of each brand come together and they decide to book a 4-Way TLC match. If RVD & Sabu or The WGTT win the titles, then they would go to Smackdown and London & Kendrick would be traded to the new champions' former brand.

9) Melina (c) vs. Ashley in a Lumberjill Match for the WWE Womens Title

As horrible as this was, I say keep this match. Piss break after all the exciting matches especially the TLC. Get us ready for the main event.

10) John Cena (c) vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWE Title

 

[The Brain]

WrestleMania 23 was a good show but I can't help but feel there was something missing from it. This was the only mania Triple H has missed since WM11. This was also the first mania after Kurt Angle left WWE. Mania had survived the losses of bigger names than those. It just felt like there was one match missing this year. The three big matches did deliver though and the battle of the billionaires gave this a big event feel. My favorite match was Undertaker vs. Batista. It felt like a big mania match. I thought maybe it should have been the main event but it's hard to argue with Cena and Michaels going on last. Either way Taker vs. Batista was awesome. I was there live and the crowd was hot through the entire match. That always helps. I thought this match was going to be more hype than action but these guys delivered in the ring that night.

My least favorite was the ECW match. I didn't watch much ECW so I wasn't really into this match. It felt more like a favor to the originals to let them have their moment on mania and that didn't fit well with those renegades reputations. It didn't help that none of the guys in this match did a damn thing for WWE after this match.

As I mentioned it felt like there was a match missing from this show. I don't usually care for heel vs. heel but I think maybe Edge vs. Randy Orton could have worked here. This was during the Rated RKO time and if I remember correctly they were starting to have problems around mania. MITB felt like a step back for these two. Plus if Edge won it could have been streak vs. streak the next year against Taker. Since I'm taking two guys out of MITB I suppose I should replace them. How about Carlito and Gregory Helms? This obviously takes some star power out of MITB but after the first two I wasn't crazy about MITB every year at mania anyway.

Like I've mentioned in other mania threads, sometimes the best changes can be made to existing matches instead of changing opponents. Just little booking changes can make a big difference. You may not think much of this but I think giving Chris Benoit and MVP about four or five more minutes would have made a big difference. Those two were having a great match and I was very impressed with MVP that night. Things were going great but then the match ended out of nowhere. Four more minutes and a good climax would have made that a great match and mania a better show.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

WrestleMania 23 was a good show but I can't help but feel there was something missing from it.

I agree and I remember hearing a podcast and I think what was missing was that big WM Marquee match up. There really was none at WM23 where as we had Rock/Hogan, Austin/Rock, Hogan/McMahon, Triple H/Michaels/Benoit, etc.

This was also a WM that was lacking at Star Power with Rock, Foley, Angle, Triple H, and Flair being out of the card.

Overall I thought this was a good balanced WM. I think it's safe to say all the big matches delivered though I would hardly call any of them classics.

Running down by the card:
Money in the Bank Ladder Match - A much better MITB than the previous year, this was probably the most star studded MITB match at a WM. Orton, Edge, The Hardy's, Kennedy, Booker, etc. I loved the line up. A very creative match probably my highlight of the night was when Matt Hardy took Sharmell hostage, leaving Booker no choice but to drop down from the ladder. Also Horswoggle being dropped by Kennedy. Very good opener, and the right guy at the time won. Say what you want about Mr. Kennedy winning now but at the time it made perfect sense.

Kane vs. The Great Khali - It was bad, but it was short. So no comment here.

MVP vs. Chris Benoit - Really good match. MVP has already shown a ton of charisma at this point so this was a good match to show case he can go in the ring. What better way to show his in ring skills than working with Benoit. Loved the reversals being done here. I was kind of bummed by the ending though, it felt anti climatic though, on the other hand, it was nice to see Benoit win a big match with a diving headbutt again.

World Heavyweight Championship - Match of the Night for me. Great match up and lots of power moves. This is Taker's first title match at a WM since 1997 so it was nice to see him back at this spot. It was a very good power match and glad Taker got another moment.

ECW Originals vs. The New Breed - Standard 8-Man Tag Team Match match. It could have been longer and should have been an extreme rules match. I love the ECW originals entrance going through the crowd and I applaude the WWE for giving the ECW Originals their WM moment.

Umaga vs. Bobby Lashley - I wouldn't call this a good match but all the outside stuff did manage to entertain and both Umaga and Lashley did an ok job in ring wise. Everything here pretty much went it's expected route. It's a shame the Stunner on Trump was botched.

Mileena vs. Ashley - Ashley gets a title shot because she's on playboy yippie!!! I never had a problem with women wrestling at WM but can't they pick someone else to go after Mileena? Mickey James, Victoria? Heck they can add Ashley in but couldn't they have made it a Triple Threat or Fatal Four way? Bad match.

WWE Championship: Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena - Nice to see HBK with his DX entrance one last time at a WM. John Cena's entrance was terrible though, I always found it a little to fake (we all knew he wasn't driving) and the feel of a superstar coming out a car doesn't feel as epic as coming out from the stage. As for the match it was good but it was a step below Triple H/Cena last year. Triple H just worked with Cena a lot better and the crowd was into the match more, plus Shawn Michaels looked kind of slow and sluggish here (he would have a better match with Cena on RAW with their 1 hour match). Ok bout but lacking in excitement (probably because most felt Cena would retain).

Post match celebrations felt a bit off, it didn't feel like a WM moment, and I have no idea what Michaels said after.

Some notes in the event not involving a particular match
- Great opening video for WM23 with the "All Grown Up" angle. This was probably the best behind WMVI, WMXV, and WM26.
- Even though it was great to have WM at a big stadium again I didn't like the Ford Field venue. I am not sure if it was the decoration and design or just the factory look but it felt run down for some reason. It didn't feel like a big event was being hosted. In comparison look at WMXIX, WM X-Seven, and WMIII.

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

- fav: World Heavyweight Title Match
- least: Women's Championship
reasons above

If you could change a few things about Wrestlemania 23, what would it be and why?

Make Batista vs. Undertaker last, Taker's win could have been a more memorable way to close WM.

Keep/Add Flair vs. Carlito in the card - The build up was pretty good leading to WM. They should have had a match here especially someone like Ric Flair.

Make the ECW Match and Extreme Rules match.

 

[Aquaman6686]

WrestleMania 23 was a good show that should have been amazing. The single biggest problem with this card was the match order. It was just booked at random, and it hurts the show BADLY. My changes:

1 - First and foremost, Batista vs. The Undertaker should have gone on last. There was NO reason for any other match to headline this card, none whatsoever. Undertaker won the Royal Rumble, his match should have been last, simple as that. Undertaker winning the title was the defining moment of this WrestleMania and without a shadow of a doubt it should have closed the show.

2 - Change the entire match order around so it makes sense. The order should have been:

1 - Money in the Bank

2 - Kane vs. Khali

3 - Women's Championship Lumberjill Match: Melina vs. Ashley

4 - ECW Originals vs. New Breed

5 - United States Championship: Chris Benoit vs. MVP

6 - Battle of the Billionaires: ECW World Champion Bobby Lashley (w/Donald Trump) vs. Intercontinental Champion Umaga (w/Mr. McMahon)

7 - WWE Championship: World Tag Team Champion John Cena vs. World Tag Team Champion Shawn Michaels

8 - World Heavyweight Championship: Batista vs. The Undertaker

This immediately becomes a much stronger card than how they originally booked the same PPV.

3 - I would have had Ashley win the Women's Championship. She was one of the most over Divas in WWE in a LONG time, and she should have gotten the title here, even if it was only until the next PPV.

4 - I still believe Mr. Kennedy was the wrong choice to win MITB. We lucked out with him getting injured and Edge winning the briefcase, but I would have just had Edge win the MITB match at WrestleMania, keeping his undefeated streak at WrestleMania intact, that way his match with Undertaker at WrestleMania 24 could have been booked as Streak vs. Streak.

My favorite match was Batista vs. Undertaker. It was a great contest and easily the best match I've ever seen from Batista.

Least favorite was a close call between Kane/Khali and the Women's Championship. I ultimately picked Kane/Khali simply because Ashley is my favorite WWE Diva, so seeing her challenge for the Women's Championship was cool.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

A good show, that I thought was an upgrade over 22. I may be a little biased when it comes to this Mania because I was in attendance. I still remember everything about the event. From being stuck in traffic and it taking over an hour to travel the last mile before parking to sitting in my seat in disbelief and silence along with the majority of the crowd when Cena made Shawn tap. I wouldn't change a thing and my favorite match was Shawn v Cena. This was a very good match and one of the last great bloody, intense main event matches before the company shifted to their current direction. The spot with Shawn piledriving Cena on the ring steps was so awesome.

 

[Pedigree1]

Wrestlemania 23 was okay at best.. I am not saying that Divas dont have a spot on a WM card,but a lumberjill match was just utter garbage. IMO save that for smackdown. Having MR Kennedy win the MITB made sense at the time,but quite frankly he didn't deserve the rub here.. I am going out on a limb here,i would have had Jeff hardy win the MITB briefcase he was quite over at the time and that would have been perfect timing..

Edge and Mr Orton,were indeed having problems at this time,and a match between them would have been interesting to watch.. It would have been a good match,finding out who the weak link of the team would have been that night. It was nice of the WWE to give the ECW originals a spot on a WM card,and having them go over.. It was the right call.

The undertaker vs Bootista match,was great.. Batista actually wrestled a pretty good match that night,and undertaker always does what he does.. Taker vs Batista was the match of the Night IMO,and i knwo HBK vs Cena was what most people would say.. But the lack of star power,hurt the card overall. No Angle,No Foley,No Rock,Trips was injured at the time! A good card,but could have been better

 

[Rocky84]

I popped back in again this year for Mania season and was satisfied with the matchups but still wanted to see Batista vs Cena as they were the two rising stars (evident by their Mania 21 wins). However, splitting them up and pairing them with Undertaker and HBK was not a bad alternative at all.

The media coverage this Mania got was insane because of Donald and Vince. You couldn't turn the tv or radio on without hearing about it. I think that's why it got a shitload of ppv buys.

Favorite match was Taker vs Batista, however as good as it was I still don't think it should've gone on last. HBK and Cena were each a step above them two in terms of marketability, charisma, and name. It had to be those two closing out the show. Their match was really good too, but for the amount of hate Rock vs Cena get, I think their match was better at 28 than the 23 match with HBK.

Worst match of the night was the Divas title match.

Also, I'm not sure what was up with Flair, but boy was he getting garbage treatment around this time and even the year before.

Changes I'd make would be....


1. MITB:
Mr. Kennedy, C.Benoit, CM Punk, J.Hardy, M.Hardy, MVP, Carlito, Finlay.

2. King Booker (c)(c) vs Ric Flair- US & IC Title

3. Great Kahli vs Kane

4. Batista (c) vs The Undertaker- World Title

5. ECW Originals vs New Breed- ECW Rules

6. Edge vs Randy Orton

7. Bobby Lashley w/ Donald vs Umaga w/ Vince (Stone Cold-ref)

8. Melina (c) vs Ashley- Diva's Title

9. HBK vs John Cena (c)- WWE Title


-Would've had Flair vs Benoit last year, so I'm going with King Booker vs Flair this year. Imagine the craziness in each of their promos...I also would've put both the US and IC belts on the King. It would've added more character to him since he was no longer the World champ.

I really wanted to see Rated RKO go at it at Mania so I made that change.

Lastly, the ECW match should've been ECW type of craziness. Not a traditional multi-man tag. I wanted more chairs, tables, kendo sticks etc...would've allowed it for sure. Let the guys on the outside assist the active guys by tossing in weapons and pull off a few moves together and some brawls on the outside. Just keep the necessary use of the tag rule and legal man rule.

 

[Mac]

WrestleMania 23 was a bad show, they had enough talent to at least book a solid show.

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

My favorite match was Batista vs Undertaker, I thought they could've produced an okay match, but I didn't think they would've had the classic that they had. Just an amazing match and I genuinely thought Taker's streak was over at certain points. These guys had some awesome matches in 2007.

My least favorite match was The ECW Originals vs The New Breed. No one cared about Sandman at this point.

If I could rebook this show I'd do the following.

MITB Ladder Match- Mr Kennedy vs Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy vs Ric Flair vs Johnny Nitro vs Finlay vs Carlito vs Chavo Guerrero
Ric, Carlito, and Chavo gets a much deserved spot on the card. Especially Chavo who was pretty over as a heel around this time period.

Grudge Match- Booker T vs Kane
They were feuding around this time and this would provide Kane with a better WM opponent. And this gives us a match featuring big names.

Grudge Match- Edge vs Randy Orton
They eventually split up and had a brief feud. They were having problems around this time so why not have them face each other here? The story is already there. Plus this creates another big Mania match.

ECW Championship Match- Bobby Lashley(c) vs CM Punk
I'm scrapping the battle of the billionaires fuck that match. This is a better match for Lashley than what he was involved in and CM Punk gets a more high profile match.

United States Championship Match-Chris Benoit(c) vs MVP
This stays as is.

Inter-promotional Match- RVD vs Umaga
They could've produced a pretty good match and after losing his feud with Cena, what better way to rebuild him than to feed him RVD; who was on his way out and could've been a better Mania match than what he was actually involved in.

Donald Trump/Vince McMahon/Stone Cold Steve Austin segment
This a way to still have Trump and co involved with Mania. Steve stuns Vince and drinks beers with Trump etc etc etc.

WWE Championship Match- John Cena(c) vs Shawn Michaels
This stays as is. Only difference this doesn't close the show.

WWE Women's Championship Match- Melina(c) vs Ashley
This stays as is and provides a cool down match between the two title matches.

World Heavyweight Championship Match- Batista(c) vs Undertaker
This should've gone on last and this would've made the fans legitimately go home happy. Instead of the mixed reaction that Cena got at the end of his match. Taker gets his moment in the sun as WrestleMania goes off the air.

 

[MCMG]

I thought this was a pretty average Mania. The two World Titles matches were good as was Money in the Bank but that is to be expected. Benoit vs MVP was a pretty strong match as well. Everything else didn't impress.

I appreciate HHH was injured and we can question what he would have done at this Mania which would have undoubtedly improved it. The big thing for me was having Orton and Edge wasted in Money in the Bank. Two talented, over guys completely wasted. Orton vs Edge would have been a solid enough singles match and they simply would have accelerated them breaking up. Khali vs Kane was boring. The ECW match needed a couple of tables and chairs. Lashley vs Umaga did its job and Trump added to the spectacle.

HHH or not this should have been better. After he got injured someone should have realised they can't waste two top guys in a ladder match. I realise they wanted to get both Khali and ECW over but it resulted in a poor Mania. Take out the Khali and ECW matches; replace it with Orton vs Edge and this immediately becomes a fantastic Mania where every match has a purpose and/or quality.

 

[LODemolition]

This was a step up from WM22 imo, but not by much. I thought a lot more could've been done with the roster they had at the time. I'll do my best to fix what I believe the show lacked.

1. Tag Team Title: The Hardy Boyz (c) vs. MNM

2. Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Mr. Kennedy vs. CM Punk vs. Kane vs. Finlay vs. King Booker vs. RVD vs. Edge vs. Carlito

I'd change some of the participants and have Booker T get the win. Mr. Kennedy is probably the worst winner in MITB history.

3. Intercontinental Title: William Regal (c) vs. Santino

Give the belt to Regal and have it actually defended at the biggest ppv of the year. Just move up Santino's debut a couple months so the crowd knows who he is by now.

4. Ric Flair vs. Randy Orton

Flair in the dark match? Are you kiddin' me? Put him against the legend killer, it would've been the perfect opponent for him.

5. United States Title: Chris Benoit (c) vs. MVP

6. Women's Championship: Melina (c) vs. Mickie James

7. World Heavyweight Championship: Batista (c) vs. The Undertaker

Keep this the same, don't fix what isn't broken. I just would've had it later in the card.

8. Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga

Not my favorite way to use these 2 with neither of their titles on the line, but I understood it. I'll leave it as is.

9. WWE Championship: John Cena (c) vs. Shawn Michaels

I probably would've had Cena win as he was the future of the WWE at the time, but I don't think I would've had him win by submission.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I will always remember Wrestlemania 23 with affection, as it was the culmination of a life long dream: it was the first WM I attended live. It had a profound affect: I haven't missed one since, and two weeks today will be embarking on my journey from London to New Orleans.

Despite this, I can admire WM23 as a pretty solid wrestling card, but agree with the likes of The Brain in that it was missing that special something which made it feel like a Wrestlemania.

My favourite match was the main event, hardly surprising as Shawn Michaels is my favourite of all time, but I remember being amazed by Batista-Undertaker - until this point I was not sold on Batista, he bored me. That night in Detroit he impressed me, and a few months later I attended a house show in Belfast where he put on the match of the night v Edge: I was sold!

The least favourite match for me was the ECW match. Two simple changes could have helped here, which would have not only (IMO) improved the show but also the ECW tv show too: it should have had at least another 5 minutes, and it SHOULD 100% have been an Extreme Rules match. In fact I remember getting home from Michigan a couple of days after the event to discover that the 8 men had an Extreme Rules re-match on ECW TV. What a waste, it should have been the other way round.

Ford Field was amazing too - I am somewhat of a 'ground hopper' (I love to visit sports stadia) and Ford Field is the best I've ever been to. And on a completely unrelated note, I spent a couple of nights in Ann Arbor - terrific town.

 

[Cub McCallister]

I would of made a few changes to this card even though it was still a decent mania I would of done the following:

Battle Royal Match where the winner gets a future shot at the Ecw Title.

1) Mr Kennedy Vs Booker T Vs Kane Vs Ric Flair Vs Marcus Cor Von Vs Sabu Vs Shelton Benjamin Vs Carlito
Money in the Bank Ladder Match. I took out the hardys Finlay punk edge and ortan and added some less star power but I still think it would deliver with Kennedy going over

2) Chris Benoit (C) Vs MVP
United States Title. Id have MVP going over here and being built up to be a decent champion with their rematch being in a ladder match or something later on, as much as I love benoit I think MVP deserved to win here

3) Rob Van Dam (C) Vs Elijah Burke Vs Cm Punk
Ecw Title Triple Threat Extreme Rules Match. I'd have Van Dam keep his tilt and not have lashley win it at EC the previous year and have van dam drop it at mania to Burke with punk missing out

4) Gregory Helms (C) Vs Jimmy Wang Yang Vs Chavo Guerrero Vs Paul London Vs Jamie Noble Vs Brian Kendrick
Cruiser weight Title 6 pack challenge Match. I'd have chavo win the title here by cheating after helms has been built up as a decent champion he gets shafted.

5) Bobby Lashley Vs Umaga
Hair Vs Hair Match. I'd keep this the same but I wouldn't have Lashley as champion and is have the same outcome.

6) Melina (C) Vs Ashley
Women's Title Match.

7) Batista (C) Vs Undertaker
World Heavyweight Title Match

8) Rated Rko (C) Vs The Hardy Boys Vs MnM
Triple Threat Tag Team Titles. I'd have this match take place it could of been a show stealer and would of had the Hardy Boys go over and win the titles.

9) John Cena (C) Vs Shawn Michaels
No DQ Wwe Title Match. I'd have Michaels win some tournament to get here and would of done anything to win the title I was debating whether or not triple hhh should of been added to the match.

That is my Mania card it looks decent in my opinion feel free to give your opinion guys.

 

[Dagger Dias]

This is another Wrestlemania event that I loved. It was a step up from 22 and almost as good as 21. I really have no issues with the match order and most everything with the event went fine. My only change that I would make is that I would have made Ashley defeat Melina to win the Womens Championship in their match. Melina was awful. Ashley wasn't THAT much better, but she got the big push that year and I loathed Melina as champion. My least favorite match at the time was the ECW match. I didn't watch the ECW brand as often, I started to get more into it when Christian was on it and they used it as more of a development show instead of a watered down version of the real ECW. Looking back on it now though, the divas match was worse than the ECW match.

My favorite was John Cena VS Shawn Michaels. My two favorites on the active roster going at it on the biggest show of the year, I couldn't possibly have asked for more in 2007. They went on to top that match in every way possible in their very long match on Raw that followed, although that's a topic for another thread. Batista VS Taker and the Battle of the Billionaires Hair VS Hair match were also quite good. Another change I might have made was to put Orton and Edge against each other instead of in the Money In the Bank match, but they added a bigger match feel to it by participating in that match. Not the best Wrestlemania ever, but one that was very enjoyable.

 

[AegonTargaryen]

Lacklustre and a clusterfuck of a Wrestlemania which had a big feel and the two world title matches saved it from being awfully underwhelming. Some of you have already presented some great ideas, especially Cub McCallister.

Here's my WM Card:-

1. WWE championship two out of three falls match/30-min Ironman match-
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels.
The reason I make the change is simple. John Cena was not, and never will be a good enough "wrestler" and "performer" as Shawn Michaels, heck, not even as good as HHH. He had done NOTHING to deserve beating Shawn Michaels cleanly, via the same-old STFU that he did beat HHH last year with. Either ways, to add more to the match than just a John Cena Beats HBK, that's the change I'd propose.

2. WHC- Batista Vs The Undertaker. Everything stays the same.

3. Edge vs Randy Orton in a #1 contender's match or put something else up, perhaps some speciality match to culminate their resentment/bitterness into a decisive battle. I'd say 2-out-of-3 falls, if HBK vs Cena wouldn't have it.

4. ECW championship triple threat match:-
Rob Van Dam vs Sabu vs CM Punk.

5. Pointless idiotic match between 2 big bums represented by Vince Mcmahon and Donald Trump.
Bobby Lashley vs Umaga.
OR
Find something else for Lashley, and have THIS match:-

KANE(Donald Trump) vs Umaga(Mr. Mcmahon)

6. Ladder match for the Tag team championships:-
Jeff and Matt Hardy vs MVP and Mr. Kennedy vs Ric Flair and Carlito vs Finlay and King Booker(Unify the tag titles or do whatever but it needed to have these 4 teams, except that Ric Flair would be out of place for a Ladder match).

7. Bobby Lashley vs Khali. If you really need Khali on the card, or Lashley.

8. Chris Benoit vs MVP for the US title.

 

[Elchicano15]

For me this was a step down from the string of 6 manias in a row that delivered. By then stars such as Angle, & Big Show were gone. JBL and Triple H were out on injury so it was up for the stars on the active roster then to step up.

I actually thought the Cena/HBK match was pretty good. It was my favorite one of the night. HBK could make anyone he was facing look great in a match.

I think the changes I would make would be to take Randy Orton and Edge out of the MITB match and have them go against each other. Of course MITB would be cut down by maybe 5-10min. Rated RKO at the time was coming to an end and both performers later on that year were on their way to main event status so it would have been cool for them to square off. In that match I would have Edge go over or end the match to a double count out, just to play off on Edge's then undefeated streak at Mania. I would leave Bobby Lashley vs Umaga. After all that hair vs hair match was a publicity stunt, however I wouldn't have Lashley as ECW champion. Instead I would have Sabu go into the event as champion against RVD and RVD going over, and get rid of the new blood vs the originals. It would have been cool since both are from Michigan.

 

[jameyt2003]

one of my favorite WrestleMania's ever right behind 14,17,21,& 22 respectively.
and right above 8, 13, 19, & 26.

I totally agree that the UT/'Tista match should have main evented. But perhaps Batista could not handle the pressure at the time.

 

[RedRegan1005]

I've always been high on WrestleMania 23. It wasn't a spectacular show, however what makes me love it was the two World Title matches. In the ten years the WWE had two word titles, and thus two world title matched at Mania, this Mania had the best pair of World title matches of them all, IMO. The Undertaker and Batista match was awesome and i though they may have stolen the show from Michaels and Cena. But it was foolish of to ever bet against the showstopper on the grandest stage of them all. Cena and Michaels put on a 5 star match and impressed the hell out of me. Those Two World Title matches impressed me so much that the less than stellar under card didn't really spoil the night for me at all. Every time I think back to WrestleMania 23 i immediately go "oh that was awesome!" Then i look at the card and take a trip down memory lane and realize maybe it wasn't in my top three manias of all time. But just for the fact of the amazing championship matches I will always think highly of WM23.

 

[Judah's Lion]

Mania 23 was pretty impressive, especially when you consider how many big names were absent due to injury, retirement, moving on, etc. Angle, Rock, Foley, Triple H, Big Show, Jericho still, and a few others that could have added to what was a really decent effort. some quick changes... posters note: after doing my "quick" changes, i read thru my ideas and saw that i had 11 matches penciled in and many of them kinda thrown together, which obviously doesn't help any card at all; least of all a WrestleMania card. so now, without further ado, my second stab at some quick changes...

World Title #1: like many others have stated, i'd have Taker/Batista close out the night. the match was quite good, exceeding all expectations and Taker regaining the World Title should have been the final image of the night.

World Title #2: Cena/HBK was great. Cena definitely had to go over here and i'm torn on whether i'd have preferred the win via F-U or STF-U. either way, it was a great match and i was happy to see HBK come out to his DX theme and attire.

Hair vs. Hair: Lashley vs. Umaga. i thought that this was a decent match. i could have done with a less complicated, interference-ridden finish, but it is what it is. the only change i'd make here is that i wouldn't have Lashley or Umaga holding any singles titles at this point. instead, i'd use the storyline of Cena/HBK being World Title opponents while simultaneously being Tag Team champs here. Tag Team champ Lashley vs. Tag Team champ Umaga with Hair vs. Hair on the line in a Battle of the Billionaires. i've got plans for their respective singles straps.

US vs. IC Title: Benoit vs. MVP. like Brain, i felt that this match was just a tad anti-climactic. let it peak a bit more before ending but otherwise leave as is. i loved this feud and MVP beating other "champions" from around the world leading up to this match. Benoit winning here was a good call to continue the feud in more grueling matches, such as the 2/3 falls to occur later on. make it Title vs. Title with one man walking out a double champion as opposed to unifying the belts.

ECW Title: RVD vs. Sabu; Extreme Rules. these two guys were really the two most watched and most popular of the brand at the time. let them put on a one-on-one match for those that never saw them in the original ECW. either man can win. with both men being from Michigan and this Mania taking place in their home state, the reaction should have been solid.

MITB: Punk vs. Kennedy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Booker T vs. Finley vs. Nitro vs. Edge. you can play off of the King's Court with Booker and Finley, still have Jeff go thru a ladder, although this time with a prone Nitro instead of Edge to play off the feud of the Hardy Boys vs. MNM that was happening at this time. Edge HAS to win here to set up a Streak vs. Streak match with Taker for the World Title next year.

Legend vs. Legend Killer: Flair vs. Orton; Steel Cage Match. Flair needed to be in a big match at Mania, this Mania in particular given the lack of star power. this fits perfectly for both men. i'd let Orton get the big win over the big legend, and this could set up for an Edge/Orton match later on at a different ppv, possibly with the MITB contract on the line. split up Rated RKO properly.

Kane vs. Khali. i'd actually keep this exactly as is. say what you will, but when Kane bodyslammed Khali and hit the running leg drop, 20 years after Hogan did the same thing to Andre, and it happened again in Michigan, i popped pretty big time. it was a neat moment. and the match was mercifully quick, so no real complaints.

ok, so i went from 11 matches to 8. hopefully that's a little more doable. i would really love to do Edge/Orton but i also like Flair/Orton. do one or the other here, and i think inside the Steel Cage either way. Edge beat Orton or Orton beat Flair, depending which match you book in my fantasy world. Edge NEEDS to win his match to remain undefeated at Mania.

really decent effort from the talent that was available. the 3-4 biggest hyped matches delivered either what i expected or even more than i expected, which is okay for me. i do wish it was just a bit better if only cuz we're talking about WrestleMania and not a random ppv in the middle of the Big 4.

 

[Bythedockofthebay]

1. WWE championship two out of three falls match/30-min Ironman match-
John Cena vs Shawn Michaels.
The reason I make the change is simple. John Cena was not, and never will be a good enough "wrestler" and "performer" as Shawn Michaels, heck, not even as good as HHH. He had done NOTHING to deserve beating Shawn Michaels cleanly, via the same-old STFU that he did beat HHH last year with. Either ways, to add more to the match than just a John Cena Beats HBK, that's the change I'd propose.

I hate to agree with you but this is one of the few times I thought they had a huge opportunity to help Cena by losing. If Cena loses this match, it's a "go home moment" for the fans. And they could've had Cena win it right back in a classic on raw, that will be talked about for a very long time. I think it would've helped more for it to go down like that. In essence they didn't have much to build on. HBK beating Cena on that Raw really left a sour taste in my mouth. Have HBK go over at WM, have Cena win the classic and have the rubber match at the next PPV. Could've been insane.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

A good Wrestlemania, but the ECW Originals VS the New Breed match was mediocre at best, and it's a shame, because the potential was there. The main events delivered, and Batista VS Undertaker is worthy of a top five spot for the best streak matches.

As far as the Hair VS Hair/Battle Of The Billionaires stuff goes, the moment with Vince getting his head shaved was fun to watch, and the match between Lashley and Umaga was decent enough. I wouldn't change anything with Melina VS Ashley or Kane VS Khali, because the crowd needs something breathing room at Wrestlemania.

If I could make one change, I would have Jeff Hardy win the MITB match. Yeah, I know it's a risky choice, because of Jeff's problems outside of the ring, but Kennedy had a bad injury prone problem in WWE.

 

[klunderbunker]

Now this is more like it. This is the big show feeling that Wrestlemania is known for and it worked exactly like it was supposed to. SHawn vs. Cena felt much more like a Wrestlemania main event and Batista vs. Undertaker was the night Batista rose up to become a legitimate main event wrestler instead of just being a power guy. Yeah the real main event was Trump vs. Vince, but it's still an entertaining spectacle and having Austin out there just felt right.

 

[roipdh123]

I believe that there was a wrong use of talent jn a WM with some potenial in it.
If I would have booked the top 5 matches of the show they would have looked as folliws:
Cena vs michaels
Taker va batista
Orton vs edge
Umaga vs lashley
Rvd vs booker t vs kennedy vs jeff hardy vs matt hardy vs kane vs finlay vs burke - mitb

 

[DX vs NWO]

Wrestlemania 23 was a very solid Wrestlemania, but as many others have said, there was a little something missing.

This was a return to the stadium venues which we had not seen since the all-time classic Wrestlemania 19. But I think it would be unfair to expect this Wrestlemania to be nearly as good as that one was. Especially considering the severe loss of talent in the form of Triple H, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and even Y2J Chris Jericho and Big Show.

So it was up to the rest of the roster to carry the card, and for the most part it did, as the two main-event matches delivered and the Battle of the Billionaires was acceptable, if a little overbooked. However, I felt that too much of the pre-show hype was for head-shaving match which most predicted the outcome of beforehand. Still it was fun to see Austin and the actual head-shaving was cool.

The HBK v Cena match was very good, excellent in fact. Props go to Michaels for some good ring psychology working on Cena's leg. Though the match they would have three weeks later on RAW is frankly superior to this. I liked the entrances from both and I liked the story of the old-timer who thinks he still has it and the young champion who respects him but will put him away. It played well here and the crowd helped as well.

Yet the show stealer for me was Batista v Undertaker. At the time, I thought this match would simply serve as a typically slow big-man match which 'Taker would win. The fact that they chose to have this match early in the card was a sign of the company's lack of faith in the match. Boy was I wrong! This is a classic and was the beginning of a fantastic series of matches these two would have throughout '07.

My least favorite was of course the divas match. I know it is an easy target but I only pick this because of the divas match in the following par per view Backlash, between Melina and Mickie James. That match at Backlash was superb, and seeing James as a lumberjill in this match is frankly insulting as it highlights how the WWE simply has Ashley in because she covered Playboy. Insulting and derogatory to the divas division which had given us a terrific bout the year before.

In terms of changes I would have taken out Edge and Orton from the Money in the Bank as perhaps pitted them against each other. I know it's heel v heel but I feel that would have served the storyline that was going on between them, as Rated RKO began disintegrating gradually. Regardless, I feel that they would not have been in this match had Triple H not been injured, as I recall Hunter once saying that the mainevent was initially planned to be Cena v Trips (a rematch from WM 22), which probably would have left room for HBK to go up against both Edge and Orton in a triple threat, allowing Rated RKO to also break up properly.

As I've said, this is a very good Mania, but it really isn't more than that. Things could have been better if Triple H was around, or hell Kurt Angle, but still this was solid. No major gripes but I kinda wish they structured the card better. It is worth it for a solid MITB, a damn fine HBK v Cena mainevent and a classic between Batista and Undertaker. Won't be in anyone's list of all time great WWE shows but still worthy of its title.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

This was a pretty good Wrestlemania, with highlights throughout the card. I really enjoyed the Money In The Bank match, 'Taker v Batista was fantastic and of course Michaels v Cena stole the show. Even the Hair v Hair match was better than I expected, and it was great seeing Vince get his head shaved (Trump was never going to lose that hair!).

The main changes I would make would be:

1. Make the ECW Originals v New Breed match into a No DQ match. ECW was famous for it's violence, so it's only appropriate that when they made it to the "Grandest Stage of Them All" that their match should have been a war, including chairs (so we could see the Arabian Facebuster, Triple Jump Moonsault, Van Daminator and Van Terminator), Tables (well, Sabu was involved) and Singapore Canes (Hi Sandman!). The New Breed could put up a good fight, but I'd keep the result the same, with the Originals getting the win and their WM moment.

2. Jeff Hardy should have won the MITB Ladder Match. I know Mr Kennedy was a good pick at the time, he was on a roll but as a huge Hardy Boyz fan I would have liked to have seen Jeff get the contract. I know he reached the top of the mountain eventually, but for him to win the briefcase would have been a great moment for me personally as a fan.