The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania was presented by the National Guard and took place on April 5, 2009 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The most watched wrestling show completed 25 years and the company had every reason to be happy about this.
Also read: WWE SmackDown Results: March 31, 2016
The event featured talent from all three WWE brands: Raw, SmackDown, and ECW and the reported attendance was 72,000. It was the second WrestleMania to be held in Houston, with the first being WrestleMania X-Seven at the Reliant Astrodome, which was held in 2001. The match card was very special with 9 matches and a lot of star power once again. With all this said, let us have a look at some of the best moments from the event:
Rey Mysterio vs. JBL
In a match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, JBL defended his title against Rey Mysterio and this match was special for a very weird reason. Just before the match got underway, Rey was attacked by JBL and the challenger was down after the beatdown by the champion.
The referee checked with Rey and after confirming that he was ready, he asked the timekeeper to ring the bell and the match officially started. It didn’t take much time for Rey to put JBL on the ropes and quickly deliver a 619 for the win. All of this happened in just 21 seconds and there was a look of disbelief and shock on JBL’s face. JBL looked very frustrated and grabbed the microphone and uttered the words, “I Quit!”
Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy
A battle between brothers in WWE is always fascinating. The Hardy Boyz competed against one another in an Extreme Rules match at WrestleMania 25 and the only thing they had in mind was to torture each other with what all they could get their hands on.
Jeff attempted to end the match and with some evil thoughts in mind, he set up a ladder and tried to deliver a leapfrog leg drop but Matt's last-minute dodge prevented damage. Matt then forced Jeff's head in between the seat and back of a steel chair and executed the Twist of Fate with Jeff's head in the chair to win the match. A match that really stood for its name!
Randy Orton vs. Triple H
Triple H defended his WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 25 against his arch-rival, Randy Orton. Triple H had absolutely no Champion’s advantage heading into this match as the rules stated would lose the title in case of a count-out or a DQ.
Randy attacked Triple H by sending him into the turnbuckle and this sent the referee outside the ring. Randy tried to capitalize on this and brought Triple H’s sledgehammer into the ring and tried to attack the Champion. The ‘Game’ escaped this attack and delivered a punt kick to Orton, giving him a taste of his own medicine, followed it up with a sledgehammer shot and a Pedigree for the win.
Edge vs. John Cena vs. Big Show
The 25th anniversary of WrestleMania witnessed a triple threat match between John Cena, Edge and Big show for the World Heavyweight Championship. Edge went into the match as the champion but couldn’t retain the title.
Edge and Show worked as a team to incapacitate Cena but the alliance soon crumbled. Edge speared Big Show and Cena followed it up with an STFU on Show to take him out. Edge and Cena tore each other apart and soon Cena gained the advantage. He delivered an AA to both Show and Edge at the same time and covered Show to win the title.
The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels
The most amazing performer in the history of WrestleMania, Shawn Michaels and the most successful performer in the history of WrestleMania, The Undertaker produced a blinder at the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the most picturesque Show of Shows, WrestleMania.
Inarguably, the best WrestleMania match for both The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, this match lasted for over 33 minutes and I would go ahead and rate this among the top 3 WrestleMania matches of all-time.
Some of the remarkable moments from this match are Taker diving headfirst into the cameraman outside the ring, Michaels mimicking Taker’s signatures and Michaels’ resilience, among others.
Both superstars delivered their respective submission manoeuvres a couple of times but couldn’t get the win. It was a mammoth Piledriver at the end that gave Taker the win and he ascended 17-0 at WrestleMania.
