WrestleMania XXV is in the history books and, unfortunately, it will not go down in history as one of the all-time classics.

It was an amazing spectacle that I wish I had been lucky enough to see live like Colin, but it was marred by baffling booking and production decisions.

The crowd made it clear who they wanted to win Money in the Bank. It had been obvious since the idiotic decision to plunge Christian into the murky waters of ECW that the WWE Universe were looking for him to be elevated.

Punk won the MITB briefcase last year and cashed in. Unlike other writers I do not blame his failed title reign on him. It was designed to fail as he was always portrayed as a ‘lucky’ champion. That was never going to be conducive to a successful run with the gold.

In fact, all three of CM Punk’s title runs in his record Triple Crown in 7 months have been nondescript. It’s as if the thought-process of ‘creative’ is: “Goddammit, Punk is popular, we’d better stick a belt on him” and then they don’t follow through with anything after he gets the strap. I don’t believe it’s that they don’t have any ideas for him – more that certain members of that committee would rather see him fail than get over (which he already is!) and potentially threaten the spots of more preferred candidates.

The reason I place ‘creative’ in inverted commas is because at WrestleMania they proved that their title must be irony. I’m sorry, I think CM Punk is great, and would love to see him pushed – but Christian is ‘the man’ right now.

There are all these rumours that Vince simply brought Captain Charisma to punish him for leaving. Now that is dumb. Dumb, but sadly believable.

It was ironic that Kid Rock had a 10-15 minute performance on April 5th. The day before I had read an article in Power Slam (UK magazine) on how Kevin Dunn is obsessed with celebrity and despises the wrestling aspect of World WRESTLING Entertainment.

Yet the man who sung the most annoying song of 2008 was granted maximum exposure on the biggest card of the year. This was at the cost of the Divas who were forced to start their match before Justin Roberts had even explained the rules!

What annoyed me even more, as I’m sure it did almost everyone else, was the Lumberjack Match being relegated to the pre-show. I would quite happily have shaved off 5 minutes from the ‘main event’ of Randy and HHH and 10 minutes from the Kid Rock performance. This surely would have allowed them to put on a decent showing.

Speaking of the main event, I don’t buy this rubbish that the crowd weren’t really into the match because they were tired. The crowd sounded pretty into the Cena/Edge/Show match.

The fact of the matter is that the Orton / Hunter encounter was just plain boring.

It was devoid of any suspense. In the last 3 minutes there was no doubt that Triple H was getting the win. That was the classic ending to the Triple H match – which is why I have never rated him as this so-called ring general he is often credited with being. His ability to reading the crowd is up there with The Berzerker and Tekno Team 2000.

WrestleMania XXV of course did have its stellar moments. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels was an outstanding match. Instant 5-stars – no debate.

Both were in the 2 top matches of WrestleMania XXIV also. Which raises the question of both men being well into their 40’s, both known to be considering retirement very soon, who will take their places in the future? Another question for another column.

The Hardys and Money in the Bank match assisted the veterans in making the show a solid B-minus, let down by its main events.

Two main events that should never have been at the top of the card, in my opinion. How many times have we seen Edge vs. John Cena? Throwing The Big Show into the mix simply prevented them from achieving ‘the next level’ that they may or may not have been able to achieve.

Triple H and Randy Orton have never delivered in my view. Randy Orton is an interesting character, a great heel, but I have yet to witness him have that amazing match etched in my memory.

Anyone who has read the column before knows my feelings on Triple H. He did make me smile at the end of the show. Actually, he made me laugh out loud. This was when he was doing his ‘simulated-roar-pose’ at the finale – which actually looks more like a constipated penguin.

How seriously does this guy take himself and his character? The very thing he and Shawn Michaels used to blackball Bret Hart.

Apparently Evan Bourne and Jack Swagger were kept off the show as Vince didn’t think either man had enough experience in the industry to merit a place on the card. Okay: (a) then why the hell does Swagger have the ECW belt anyway? And (b) did Chris Masters have enough experience? Did Sable? Did Ahmed Johnson? Did the Mean Street frickin’ Posse??

You may notice that I refer to 2009’s WrestleMania as ‘WrestleMania XXV’ and not ‘The 25th Anniversary of’. This is because, quite simply, what happened on April 5th was the 24th Anniversary of WrestleMania. NEXT year is the Silver Anniversary. A marketing faux pas if ever there was one.

I recently purchased the WWE Encyclopaedia and was pleasantly surprised. Yes it is kayfabe. Yes it inexplicably misses out the likes of Kenzo Suzuki, Luther Reigns and Matt Morgan whilst including PJ Walker, Phantasio and The Goon. Yes, The Kliq are included as a ‘faction’ despite never being so on-screen. Yes, Linda McMahon gets a WHOLE page profile – more than the likes of Rey Mysterio and JBL get. However it is a great nostalgic read and will remind you of all those guys you forgot when you first got into wrestling. Like Lance Cassidy. I remember LOVING him when he first showed up – only for him to quietly disappear.

If you can find it at a decent price, I thoroughly recommend it.

What was the point in the draft? So far at Backlash we have 2 cross-promotional matches arranged. If you look at the European tours, the rosters are completely mixed with neither reflecting what the status quo was before OR after this week’s draft! I hope after Backlash, Vince or someone similar draw the line and state ‘no more crossovers’ – at least for the time being.

Edge has surely got to take the World Heavyweight Title back to Smackdown? Though the WWE, being twisted and wanting to spite the internet, would probably rather keep the belt on Raw than have a balanced product.

Speaking of belts, why is Triple H still carrying around the ridiculously bad Spinner-Belt that was synonymous with John Cena? Bring back the Winged Eagle Belt already!

Some things on the draft seem to be designed to get rid of what’s popular. Most fans love The Dirt Sheet. Miz and Morrison had an entertaining edge to them and charisma that is sadly not shown (or restricted from being shown) by other wrestlers. But dangit – they might get more popular than DX, so they are banished!

Wow – that was a helluva lot to get off my chest, but over the last few weeks I have felt the need to point out just how crazy some of the decisions that have been made recently in the WWE are.

I hope I peppered enough positive things into the column to make it a less tedious read!

I’ll take this penultimate-paragraph opportunity to congratulate Colin Vassallo on reaching 3000 editions of the newsletter. That’s truly a great achievement. Thanks for all your hard work over the years Colin and long may it continue. P.S. Thanks also for continuing to allow me to vent my wrestling frustration via your media.

If you have any comments, please be encouraged to email me at kaaboomuk@hotmail.com . I always do my best to reply!