5 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE WrestleMania 25

The Show(stopper) Of Shows.

by Michael Hamflett
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WWE.com

It took until 2009 for anybody to notice that the modern-day 'Show Of Shows' had actually become everything the company had purported it to be, and that was only because WrestleMania 25 was a crushing disappointment.

A crushing disappointment that housed what many consider the greatest match in company history - and, in doing so, set the trend for the new modern-day 'Show Of Shows' going forward. The permanent move back to stadiums in 2007 wasn't just Vince McMahon's final necessary flex as his organisation comfortably dominated the North American wrestling landscape he reshaped, but an instant visual clue that his 'Grandest Stage' was for everybody.

Mammoth (yet still artificially inflated) crowds filled the venues. Folk bought in their hundreds of thousands on pay-per-view. Talk shows took wrestlers as safe bet guests instead of host-injuring wild cards. Celebrities made themselves available to a show that once carried stigmas worse than the fallen stars themselves.

Fitting it all in forced the figuring in of longer runtimes. More pre-show patter. More PPV performances. More monetised WWE Network minutes. For better, and worse...

(Want more WrestleMania Ups & Downs? We got 'em: I, 2, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, 13, XIV, XV, 2000, X-Seven, X8, XIX, XX, 21, 22, 23, XXIV)

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett