The Montreal Screwjob will probably go down in history as the most controversial event in the history of pro-wrestling as well as one of the most influential in the business because it was one of the pioneers of the WWE's Attitude era which helped them become bigger than WCW and eventually buy them.

People have mixed opinions about the Montreal Screwjob. I'm sure there are facts out there which we fans don't know of, even if we've heard all the
interviews that Bret Hart or Vince McMahon or Shawn Michaels gave about it and even if we read its Wikipedia page along with all the references. Some facts would be embedded within the minds of the people involved in it, and others who were present in the roster at that time (e.g., Undertaker). Bret Hart has stated in a few interviews that Undertaker would be able to back him for every word that he stated, but I have never heard Undertaker mention anything about the Montreal Screwjob in any of his back-stage out-of-character interviews. I'm sure he knows all about it, though (being a good friend of Bret, the locker-room leader for Vince, and the longest lasting wrestler in the WWE along with Shawn Michaels).

My personal take on it is that championships, victories and matches are scripted. Bret Hart did not own the championship title. He was given the belt because he was a good wrestler and one of the fan-favourites, but he should not have felt that he was bigger than the business and larger than the company. If he was going to WCW, he should have had no problems in dropping the title to Shawn Michaels as Vince asked him to do on Survivor series. He can't be willing to goto WCW on one side and also hold the WWF championship belt on the other side. Bret said that he did not want to lose the title in his country in front of his country-men and he was all-right with losing the title to Shawn the next night on Raw, but how would that have made a difference? He was still going to lose it in front of his country-men and in his own country. His character was that of a Canadian national hero and he also said that he was treated that way in Canada, but once again - it was only an on-screen character. It was not a real character. I'm sure that his fans in Canada knew that wrestling is scripted, and so are the results of matches or championships. His character or his fan-following cannot be more important than the company which created it in the first place, and gave it the platform to grow. I'm sure his contract-price would not have gotten altered whether he would've retained the title or dropped it that night, so I don't understand how it mattered to him. A lot of champions have otherwise dropped their titles in their home-towns or countries, so I don't see why Bret couldn't.

This leads me to believe that whatever Vince did was correct, because Bret left him with no other option, as he was adamant about retaining the title that night. You have to do what the boss says because he created the industry and made you (and many others) popular. Don't get me wrong here - I have immense respect for Bret Hart, and I think that he is one of the greatest wrestlers ever. Very few could match him in technical skill. I stood up, clapped for him during his Hall of Fame induction and bowed down to him in salute. I was very happy that Vince decided to induct him, and he showed up. It was one of my happiest moments in the wrestling industry. But hey, there are lot of wrestlers out there like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels who have survived in the industry for much longer than Bret Hart and who have never been title-hungry. Look at the number of championships they have, as against the high number of championships and long title-reigns which HHH or Edge or John Cena have had. But there is no doubt that Undertaker and Shawn are bigger legends than them. Championship titles don't matter that much, because they are scripted at the end of the day. Bret had passion for the job he did and the skill he had, but he got too emotional with it (in my estimation) instead of treating it as 'business'. That makes me feel that what Vince said ("Bret Hart screwed Bret Hart") was true. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter as to how many championships you held, and why do you want to hang on to it when you are leaving the company?

I don't expect everyone to agree with me, and if you post a reply to this, please bear in mind that I have not offended Bret Hart. I have backed my points with reasoning and I expect the same from you when you state your opinions. No offensive comments from die-hard Bret Hart fans, please - I have also been one of you.

A lot of people have been discussing this matter and so I feel it is time that I voiced my thoughts on the same. Some of these are not opinions but facts.

Many times when I told people about the Undertaker being the locker-room leader and about the respect which he has back-stage, some people have responded back by saying that he betrayed his wife Sara for Michelle McCool and that he is unethical in having an affair with somebody so young to him. I have read so many articles on the Net discussing this and a lot of fans posting opinions on forums which were so preposterous that some of them said Edge is having an affair with Sara and that is what resulted in his rivalry with Undertaker. Get a life, people!

Now, on what basis can they say that Undertaker betrayed Sara? Did Sara tell them? It is also possible that Sara betrayed Undertaker instead, but you didn't hear the news that way because she is not as popular a public figure as he is (so you heard the news stated in a way that it was revolving around him instead of her). It is also possible that nobody betrayed anyone but they both came to a mutual conclusion that they cannot extend their family-life any further together, so they came to a divorce. How can you make a conclusion without knowing what happened between them? This is the important point - they have legally divorced, and so you don't have any right to question as to what happened in their personal lives, just the way you would not want anyone to peek into your personal lives.

As far as Michelle McCool goes, so what if she is very young compared to Undertaker? Since Undertaker has divorced Sara, he is free to date whom he wants. They are both adults, and it is none of your business as to what 2 consenting adults do!

The bottom-line is - don't meddle with others' "personal" lives (matters and things that don't concern you), let them have their personal space, don't believe in rumours and more importantly don't spread rumours - you know them as wrestlers so be concerned only about their wrestling performance, and mind your own business! For those who think that I am not minding mine by writing about this, such people should mind their's and not even read this. If the others had not started such rumours, I wouldn't have posted this - solve the root of the problem instead of the after-effect.

Let me confess that I had stopped watching wrestling after class X in school. While I was in college, I had absolutely no idea of what is happening in the wrestling world. During school days, the Undertaker used to be my favourite simply because of his wrestling-style, his skill, his combination of strength and speed, his perfect character-presentation of a mortician-man who is already dead, who cannot be hurt, who buries his opponents and plants the tombstone – it was the best gimmick ever in wrestling-history. Right from his entrance when the lights went out, the church gong/ bells tolled and the funeral music started, to the time when he methodically walked towards the ring and intimidated his opponents as well as the crowd with his mere sight, to his actions in the ring where he sat up from all the beating that his opponents gave to him and then symbolically nailed them off with his finisher move, the tombstone-piledriver – it was the most awesome experience in wrestling and there isn’t a better word to describe him. There were certain moves which only he could execute (like walking over the top rope, balancing his huge body on it). Unlike the other wrestlers, he didn’t interact with the crowd or smile or jump in joy or shake hands with them or shout about how great he was to make them believe in him. He set a standard of performance, dominance and destruction which was new to the wrestling-world that was until then reigned by kiddy-chocolate-goody-heroes. He personified the representation of terror and fear in the wrestling world, something very unique, mysterious and unheard-of in those days. He single-handedly introduced and perfected the dark-side, spreading the highest level of devastation in wrestling. His mere presence was something that the crowd paid to see, and he was a man of few words, mainly his signature line “Rest In Peace” (echoed by his fans, the Creatures of the Night). It was the finest, the most innovative and break-through character-creation ever done, and it will never be topped. Some referred to him as Dracula, some as Frankenstein, some as the Grim Reaper, some as the Devil himself. He sold himself to the crowd by remaining quiet and focused, through his in-ring performance that led him to carry the WWF (as the WWE was called in those days) alone on his shoulders in the early and mid 1990s.

One fine day after I started working in Bangalore, my room-mate Subho was watching wrestling on TV. I wanted to say to him, “dude, you are still interested in this thing?” until I saw that the Undertaker was on TV. I could never make a mistake in identifying that man, regardless of how much he changes his gimmick, attire or looks. I was awe-struck. I said to myself, “He is still there?”. I must say it was that very moment that made me watch wrestling again, and it was only for the Undertaker. He was larger than the game for me. I made a promise to myself that even if I never watch wrestling again, I will see the Undertaker perform in front of me one day.

Fast-forwarding a few years when I was in Chicago, I realized I could attend Wrestlemania, the biggest annual pay-per-view event in wrestling – its equivalent to a world-cup or a super-bowl. That too, this time it was the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania and Undertaker was fighting Shawn Michaels in a legend vs legend match (and one of my best friends in Houston was a big Shawn Michaels fan). I decided to see Wrestlemania from the front-row seat, because I probably will never get to see the Undertaker again at such a big show. What’s the point in watching them from a distance when you can’t even see their faces properly and recognize who they are – you’re probably better off watching them from TV. Luckily I got the ring-side ticket just before they went out of stock. Despite how expensive the tickets were, I realized that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and I assumed that my last year’s tax returns will pay for the ticket ;-)

I watched plenty of videos to get in touch with the current story-lines, rivalries and see some past performances including back-stage interviews of super-stars to get an idea of the real thing which is not shown on TV. I realized that the Undertaker is the most respected athlete in the history of the WWE, is also the locker-room leader who helps mentor and train younger super-stars (instead of quitting the company and joining some other wrestling promotion like WCW or TNA for more money), and always works towards fetching them a lot of popularity through the rivalries and matches which they have with him. Most wrestlers usually maintain the same gimmick, attire, entrance, theme and wrestling-style throughout their careers. But the Undertaker was a walking example of Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution because he always kept evolving from time to time, changing his gimmick/ attire/ theme and even wrestling-style/ finisher-moves based on the character that he was presenting. He has gone from the darkest to the most human personas, and returned to the dark-side while maintaining a perfect link between his characters, showing a smooth transition from one character to the other. His current character, which is believed to e his last, is derived out as a culmination of all his previous dark-side as well as human personas, containing a mixed-attire from them and a super-set of all their wrestling-moves. That is one hell of a thing to deal with in the ring. Most of the WWE wrestlers themselves said that even though fans will always have their own choice of who is the greatest wrestler, but the WWE wrestlers and employees themselves considered Undertaker to be the greatest of all time. He is the smartest of the lot, a guy with who even the media or the chairman Vince McMahon don’t mess with, but genuinely respect and seek advice from. I also saw a couple of interviews in which he talked about his passion for the pro-wrestling industry, how he works in it now not for the money (because he has made all of it) but just to enjoy himself and to give back to the company, which will be his contribution towards continuing the success of the industry. My respect for him suddenly increased ten-fold. I knew I always had a good choice ;-)

So, the day came and I travelled to Houston from Chicago to see Wrestlemania 25. I rented a car and while driving down to my hotel in Houston, got lost because I had trouble finding the route which Google maps told me. Luckily I had carried my room-mate’s GPS and it got me on the right track after I wasted a few minutes. I got fresh, took my bright-green poster (which carried my name on it, it also had my home-town Ranchi’s name on it because my friends wanted to see it on TV, it also had 17-0 written on it because in his last 16 Wrestlemania appearances, the Undertaker has never lost and I expected him to win this time too, and it also had Phenom Forever written on it – “Phenom” being the Undertaker’s nick-name because he is the most phenomenal performer ever), and then drove to the arena at down-town Houston.

The Reliant Stadium was BIG…. It was bigger than any stadium or arena that I had seen. It had over 20 different entrances on it. After standing in 2 wrong-queues, I finally found out what was the correct queue in which I was supposed to be standing in - it was very difficult for everyone to figure out their correct queues because there were no signs and the officers on duty were sitting only at the end of the queues (which you can’t break through). Although, since I had a ring-side ticket and had paid more, I got faster access. When I entered the stadium, I couldn’t compare the aura with anything else that I have ever been a part of. It felt like you are going to be part of history, it felt like you are going to be a part of something big, it felt like this was going to be a memorable day and something very special was going to happen tonight. You could feel it in the air. I have attended a weekly WWE Smackdown/ ECW show in 2007 and that was nothing compared to this. The atmosphere here was spell-binding. This time, I was as close to the ring as you could get.

There were a lot of Undertaker fans everywhere, because big events like Wrestlemania are full of veteran and serious wrestling fans, who have been watching wrestling since ages, and who had travelled from far and wide. Moreover, Houston is the real home-town of the Undertaker (who is otherwise told to be from Death Valley due to his death-oriented on-screen character). There were people dressed like Undertaker, all in black, wearing a long coat and a hat. They led the fan-following by far. I was wearing an Undertaker T-shirt myself, the only non-rock-band T-shirt I am proud of. There were also a lot of Shawn Michaels fans wearing his T-shirts and carrying his posters all around the place, because his home-town of San Antonio is also in Texas and they probably drove down from there. The third highest number of T-shirts and banners bore the Stone Cold Steve Austin 3:16 signs (again, Texas :-) ).

Before the event started, I saw referee Charles Robinson at ring-side, giving a big smile. I remembered him officiating some Undertaker matches in the past. I quickly took my chance to meet him. He was very polite and friendly (as most of them in the wrestling business are in reality while dealing with fans), and didn’t ignore me at all. He talked to me for as long as I wanted, though there were other people waiting in a queue after me to meet him. He got a couple of pictures clicked with me, and was very impressed that I came from India. I thought I might not get a chance to get a photo clicked with the Undertaker but at least I can get a photo clicked with somebody related to the wrestling ring for a memory! I asked him if he was refereeing the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels match today but he said he was refereeing the Money in the Bank ladder match.

By now, commentators like Todd Grisham and Matt Striker started walking to the ring. Anyway, I didn’t clap for too many people and didn’t waste my energy cheering for many super-stars because I wanted to save all of myself for the one match that I was interested in.

MATCH DESCRIPTIONS:

Carlito and Primo vs Miz and John Morrison (Johnny Nitro) – Tag Team Championship match: This was a dark match, which means that it will not be shown on TV. It was only for the audience to see (putting this match on the DVD or the live pay-per-view on TV would’ve increased the duration of the show to beyond 4 hours). I actually laughed while watching this match because it was so funny. You could make out so easily that they are not hitting each other and just slapping around (although it doesn’t seem so on TV). Well, they are young performers and have a long way to go. This was a lumber-jack match, meaning that there were other wrestlers surrounding the ring. If any competitor from the ring gets thrown out, they had a right to beat him and then throw him back. Khali led the group of lumber-jacks, and the good thing about Wrestlemania is that you get to see many known faces. I must say, Khali is HUGE. I took a picture of him. If I shouted his real name “Dalip Singh” to him, I know he could’ve heard me because I was that close to the ring, but I decided not to interrupt him. I took a picture of him. The photos are taken from my cell phone camera so the quality need not be good. Finally Carlito and Primo won as I expected, because Primo showed some good high-flying moves that actually impressed me.

Now, legendary commentators Jim Ross and Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler walked to the ring. Ok, this was time to take a photo and clap because you don’t get to see people like Jim Ross everyday, who has perhaps been awarded the ‘Best TV Commentator of the Year’ award some 10 or 12 times since the late 1980s. He was way better than all the cricket, soccer and NBA commentators I have ever heard, though he calls a sport which is not as popular as those. Michael Cole also came to ring-side, but of late I don’t like his commentary much although he was good earlier.

Money in the Bank ladder match: Ok, there is a briefcase hanging at the top of the ring. There will be 8 or 9 super-stars competing in the ring, beating each other until one of them manages to put a ladder in the ring and climb it to retrieve the brief-case. Once he does so, he will be granted an opportunity to have a championship match any time in the next one year against any champion, whenever he wants it. This is WWE’s way of dealing with situations when a champion is injured and needs time off, or for creating new rivalries. The competitors were Mark Henry, CM Punk, Finlay, Shelton Benjamin, MVP (Montel Vontavious Porter), Christian, Kofi Kingston and Kane. Maybe I missed a name there – I am not sure. But Kane! Kane! I couldn’t care less about any other super-star in that ring. I was cheering only for Kane, because he was the story-line brother of the Undertaker. He had been almost as dominant and destructive as Undertaker in the late 1990s, and used to strike terror in the hearts of wrestlers and fans alike, much like Undertaker used to in the early and mid 1990s. Kane had also given me many good memories during my child-hood days and as much as I wanted him to win it, I knew he won’t – because the WWE is Rated PG-13 these days and so the big, scary monsters will only be promoting the other new superstars and losing to them :-( whom they can otherwise squash with one arm if they wanted in reality. So, the prize went to CM Punk, and I was disgusted, disappointed.

Kid Rock’s Performance: Now Kid Rock came to make a performance and he was not that good. I wish AC/ DC had performed because they had provided the official theme song for Wrestlemania 25. They kick way more a** than Kid Rock ever will. Kid Rock is a kid in front of the electrifying AC/ DC.

Divas’ Battle Royal for Miss Wrestlemania: Now, 25 WWE divas walked to the ring (actually only 24 divas along with one male Santino Marella dressed as a girl). Their job was to throw each other out of the ring, and the one remaining diva will be crowned as Miss Wrestlemania. This match actually saw some divas making a return to the WWE, like Torrie Wilson and Sunny whom I remember from my school days. However, there was not much done to introduce them properly and the match started before even the bell rang. Some earlier divas like Sable, Chyna and Debra were missing. Trish Stratus was also missing perhaps due to an obvious reason – if she made an appearance, she would have had to be made to win it. But the WWE had other plans. You could make out very easily that it looked so fake. The divas were barely beating each other. At one point, Torrie just slapped a diva when it looked like she will hit her very hard, and I laughed out loud to it while another fan next to me shouted, “Yeah, slap it, babe”. Soon all the divas were eliminated and Beth Phoenix, the strongest of the divas was left in the ring with Melina and the disguised Santino Marella. Santino had until now been evading every diva and had not laid hands on anyone, at the same time not letting anyone beat him. He was just staying away from where the fights were happening. The crowd was cheering for Santino because he is very funny and entertaining. Beth had been very impressive – I think she eliminated just about every other diva. She was so strong that she had lifted one diva on her shoulders with just one arm and held her like that for a long time while she was eliminating another diva with the other arm. I wondered if Chyna had been there, then a match between Chyna and Beth Phoenix would’ve actually been better than several male super-stars. Finally, when Beth was trying to eliminate Melina, Santino eliminated both of them from the ring and won the match. When he was asked who “she” was, he replied back saying, “I’m Santina Marella, the twin sister of Santino Marella”. After getting crowned as Miss Wrestlemania, he showed some nice break dance in the ring, while still disguised as a girl. As though the fans didn’t know who it was!

Chris Jericho vs WWE Legends (Jimmy ‘the Superfly’ Snuka, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat): Ric Flair came to the ring-side along with his friends, the legends, who were fighting Chris Jericho. Jericho had insulted them a lot recently and had challenged them to an elimination-match, in which he would take all of them one by one. Watching from ring-side was Ric Flair’s friend Mickey Rourke, the Hollywood actor and star of ‘The Wrestler’ (whom Jericho had also recently insulted). I expected Jericho to lose this one but he ended up pinning Jimmy Snuka and Rowdy Piper very quickly. But when Ricky Steamboat got into the ring, it was a completely different story. Steamboat took a lot of offence from Jericho but kept on coming back. He was as fast and athletic as a young wrestler though he was over 60 years old; he connected all his moves, and made it look like Jericho didn’t have a chance of surviving. It just goes to show what class the WWF had back in the 1980s and 1990s. The current wrestlers can’t just wrestle like these guys. I was impressed by the way Ricky Steamboat performed and so far he had been the best of the lot that we had seen. It was a heart-breaker when Jericho finally beat him (but we knew who was the better wrestler - if this match had happened when Steamboat was young, then he would’ve finished Jericho in no time). Then Ric Flair entered the ring, all angry, and started beating Jericho. But Jericho made quick work of Flair too. Then I understood that this entire segment was all about Mickey Rourke. Jericho then took the mic and called Rourke to the ring to fight him. Rourke took a lot of time to walk to the ring and enter (as though the fans had paid to see him), and finally beat down Jericho with a punch. It looked so unbelievable, but I guess that is the way the WWE wanted it to be done. So our hero Ricky Steamboat and the other legends had to lose to Jericho just so that this Hollywood actor could come and display some skill. However, he was not that entertaining. Rourke and Flair then celebrated in the ring, but I was not that delighted by the whole segment. I couldn’t care less, though – I didn’t come here to see them.

Jeff Hardy vs Matt Hardy – Extreme Rules Match: This was the match I was least interested in because I hate Jeff Hardy. Why? Because I had read in the news that he had taken drugs and violated the WWE Wellness Policy. However, he had still been made champion for some time due to the fact that a lot of kids (who didn’t know these realities) liked him a lot, and that made me feel sick. This is when I decided to take a nature break, because this match was just like a filler-break for me. When I came back, I saw a drunk fan (we will call him the “funny drunkard”) who was also at ring-side really cheering very heavily for Jeff Hardy. His slow, drunk accent made it sound like “Jyaeff Haaadddie” and he was so funny but loud that everybody started noticing him. Another fan at the back started responding in the same style (and surprisingly similar voice) “Matt Hardy” and that exchange of comments was more entertaining than the exchange of blows in the ring. Jeff tried some very extreme moves where he put a trash can over Matt Hardy’s head and then beat him with a stick. He put Matt on a table and then put another table on top of him and jumped over it from a ladder, breaking both tables and I thought that at least one of them would be badly injured. Surprisingly, Matt Hardy came back into the match, he put a chair around Jeff’s neck and then swung him to the floor. Matt Hardy won! Ok, this was something to be happy about, because the result of the match was better than my initial expectations from this match. Even though he was being portrayed as the villain or the bad guy in the story-line, he won the match against the real bad-guy and so I was happy, even though the kids were not.

JBL (John Bradshaw Layfield) vs Rey Mysterio – Intercontinental Championship match: Rey Mysterio is another kiddy-hero whom I hate. Though he is a better performer in the ring than JBL is right now (JBL was better in the early 2000s), he is still more detested by me than JBL. In fact I find JBL quite funny and entertaining. It has been rumoured that JBL was going to retire and become a commentator, so I expected him to lose this match and that is what happened. But the match was too quick and over in a couple of seconds, if not a minute. That is what disappointed me. JBL deserved more ring-time than that and they could have taken a few minutes away from that Mickey Rourke segment before this, to give them to JBL.

John Cena vs Edge vs Big Show – World HeavyWeight Championship match: The next match was Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels but I am going to discuss the 2nd last and the last match first, followed by that one in the end because it deserves the most attention. So the match after that was between these 3 clowns for the so-called championship (if they win it, that is what it should be called). Surely, these guys were under a lot of pressure to out-perform the classic which the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had just presented, and they couldn’t have topped it, no matter what. John Cena made a stupid entrance in which some 50 of his look-alikes came to the aisle and did some idiotic “you can’t see me” gesture when he made his way. It looked like a very bad imitation of the classic Undertaker entrances in some of the earlier Wrestlemanias where he was preceded by druids dressed in black, holding flaming torches. Anyway, so the kids who don’t know anything about wrestling were cheering for John Cena, but there were more veteran fans who were booing him out too. Every “Let’s go Cena” chant was followed by a louder “Cena sucks” chant, to which I contributed whole-heartedly. He just doesn’t know how to wrestle, but is made to win matches because the kids like him and so do the girls who like his good-looks (no offence to those girls who think that talent is more valuable than good-looks). In the end, however, he won, because it’s the rated PG-era and you have to surrender to the kids.

Hall of Fame introductions: The WWE introduced their Hall of Fame inductees for 2009, including Howard ‘the Fink’ Finkel (the best and most legendary ring-announcer ever, who is also the oldest WWE employee and who coined the name ‘Wrestlemania’), Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stone Cold, the most popular star of the attitude era, made his regular salute to the fans by coming out on his scooter and circling the ring, then drinking beer in the ring and later with his friend Jim Ross. It was a good way to say good-bye.

HHH vs Randy Orton – WWE Championship match: This match was supposedly the main-event as it was the last match, but nothing could top the match of the ages which took place 2 matches before, between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. As a result, this match disappointed me and the other fans a lot. I expected Randy Orton to win it because he had won the 30-man Royal Rumble match in January and earned this match. The fact that he lost it made the Rumble lose significance and that might be bad for the business, because fans might not pay to see it next time. I must say Randy Orton looked very professional in the ring and was good at both, throwing his offences whereas selling HHH’s offences on him. The best part of the match was that the “funny drunkard” whom I described in the Jeff Hardy match had decided to cheer for HHH this time and he started once again like “Trippppppppple Aech, Tripppppppppppple Aech”. He was so loud and noticeable that everyone stopped seeing the match and started looking at him, even filming his video instead of the match because he was providing a better show. The guy who was shouting “Matt Hardy” in response to his chants during the Hardys’ match again started jokingly shouting “Matt Hardy” in return. Eventually the security had to ask the funny drunkard to stop, and when that didn’t happen, the police were called. This is when his friend had to stand up and request to the police to forgive him, and he said that he will handle him. The funny drunkard let out one more long and loud “Trippppppppple Aech” chant before he sat down quietly for a few seconds. HHH won in what was not a very great match and I left the arena even before he started celebrating his victory.

The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania’s Undefeated Streak vs Mr Wrestlemania – Build Up: This was the 3rd last match of the night, but I am covering it last because you have to save the best for the last, and this match deserved it the most. It was by far the strongest match on the entire Wrestlemania card, and it was what all veteran wrestling fans considered to be the real main-event. It was not about championships or titles, but it was about who is the better man. It was between two icons, no, two legends, who will go down in history as the 2 greatest in-ring performers of all time. These 2 have been in the pro-wrestling industry for almost 25 years, and have been through every era of wrestling. They have seen a lot of competitors come and go, and while most of their peers like Hulk Hogan, Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart, Ric Flair, Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock had retired, these 2 were still on top of their game. They have not been championship-hungry and they have helped promote a lot of other stars like Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock through matches and rivalries with them, during the eras when Stone Cold and Rock were supposed to made champions even though they were not as good as these 2 were in wrestling-skill (because you can’t have the same people like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels remain champions for 20 years – you have to divide it between all your talent and ensure that everybody gets a fair share of their popularity with the fans. That is how the industry grows). They both created several main-event level rivalries without them revolving around any championship belt. But longevity in the business is something which only true wrestlers can accomplish, and here we had the 2 most loyal and the 2 longest-lasting wrestlers in WWE history come face to face with each other. What is better is that these 2 were still at the top of their game, though they had reached their 40s. Amidst all the injuries and time-offs (Undertaker had several hiatuses for months whenever he had injuries including knee cysts, hip problems, and also a career-threatening injury some 9 years back, whereas Shawn Michaels had a 4-year hiatus after a Casket match that he had with Undertaker in 1998), these 2 had kept on ticking even though a lot of wrestling analysts had been predicting their retirement since 2000. They fought in the first ever Hell in a Cell match in 1997, a match which received a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In the Hell in a Cell as well as the Casket match, Shawn had defeated the Undertaker with help from Kane because Kane attacked his big brother. So, they always had unfinished business and the 12-year old rivalry came around at the grandest stage in wrestling. This match could only happen at a Wrestlemania, and what more fitting a stage for it, if it is its 25th anniversary, with the greatest 2 performers in the last 25 years performing in it, that too in their home-state of Texas?

For those who are unaware, the Undertaker joined WWF in 1990 (he was in WCW before that) and has been competing at Wrestlemania since 1991. He missed 2 Wrestlemanias due to injury, and in all the other 16 Wrestlemanias that he has competed in, he has always won. This is called as the 16-0 Undefeated Streak of the Undertaker, and is considered to be the greatest and biggest record in pro-wrestling history. No other wrestler has even made these many appearances at Wrestlemania, leave alone win all the matches. It is like going to a world-cup or super-bowl every year and then winning it. Who other than the most talented performer, the most dominant and destructive character, and the long-time locker-room leader/ mentor deserves this respect? The victims of his streak comprised a long list of names including some legendary wrestlers like 16-time champion Ric Flair, 13-time champion Triple H (HHH), Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, Jake ‘the Snake’ Roberts, Sid, rising stars like Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, and performers of every type – from the 8 foot tall Giant Gonzales to the 450-pound King Kong Bundy to the 7-foot tall Diesel (Kevin Nash) to the largest athlete in the world, the 500-pound Big Show to the world’s strongest man Mark Henry to Undertaker’s own story-line brother, the monster Kane. No other list will ever contain such names. That is one of the Undertaker’s claims to fame and a token of his dominance and capabilities – even though he may not have won the championship belt as many times as Ric Flair or HHH (because he was never title-hungry and was always more about promoting other super-stars through his rivalries, and providing good matches), but all such champions fell to him at Wrestlemania. On the other hand, Shawn Michaels has also been a part of several memorable Wrestlemania matches and main-events, though he lost some of them (but his performance in each match was awesome). This is why Shawn has self-proclaimed himself to be Mr Wrestlemania. Hence, this match was about who is the better man – the man who is undefeated at Wrestlemania or the man who calls himself Mr Wrestlemania.

Let us see their nick-names. First, Shawn Michaels – The Heart-Break Kid (HBK), The Show-Stopper, The Head-Liner, The Main-Event, The Se*y Boy, Mr Wrestlemania. Next, the Undertaker – The Phenom (for ‘the most phenomenal and respected’ athlete in history), the Dead-man, the Lord of Darkness, the Demon of Death Valley, the Big Evil, the Grim Reaper, the Conscience of the WWE, best pure-striker in the history of the game, the most dominant force in the history of professional wrestling, the master of mind-games, the American Bad A**, the list goes on. Ok Shawn, you can’t beat the Undertaker in nick-names and respect.

The build-up to this match had been absolutely fantastic. WWE Creative are definitely not creative enough to come up with such stuff, so Shawn and the Undertaker had themselves worked towards creating the story-line. Shawn claimed to the Undertaker that he was Mr Wrestlemania and so he will end the Undertaker’s undefeated 16-0 streak. He also said that he represented ‘good’ and ‘light’ whereas the Undertaker represented ‘evil’ and ‘darkness’. He went to the extent of cutting a promo from the graveyard where he said that he has created a grave for the Undertaker himself (much like the promos that the Undertaker used to cut against his opponents in the early and mid 1990s) with a tomb that had 16-1 written on it. In another promo, Shawn came dressed as the Undertaker (in a long over-coat and hat) but all in white instead of black, preceded with druids (like the Undertaker used to come in some matches preceded by his dark druids who held torches of fire and sung a holy hymn). He said that he is the angel of light, who will fight the demon Undertaker at Wrestlemania. Shawn that Undertaker has never defeated him in singles’ competition before (which was true because Kane always attacked Undertaker in them), to which Undertaker said that he was himself the most dangerous entity to ever step into the ring, and Shawn will realize it the hard way just like all his fallen Wrestlemania opponents of the past did. So the rivalry was all about Shawn getting into the Undertaker’s head, playing mind-games with the master of mind-games himself like nobody has done before, giving the Undertaker a taste of his own medicine of psychological war-fare, and being the show-stopper who will stop the undefeated show of the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. However, this would be the only time when evil was expected to prevail over good, and evil was going to be cheered more than good ;-)

Shawn Michaels made an entrance dressed in white again, with a hat and long over-coat as the Undertaker. He was descended from high above the rafters, at least from a height of 30 or 40 feet on a platform. Smoke surrounded him and you couldn’t make out the platform much, so it made it look like he was coming down as an angel from the skies above. Then his regular heart-break-kid se*y-boy music hit, he opened the coat and hat, and then made his standard entrance to the ring. Next, the lights went out, and the Church gong hit. You could hear the home-town fans erupt and scream for Undertaker. The funeral music started, and from below the floor ascended the Undertaker on another platform with smoke surrounding him. It looked like he is coming from the depths of Hell. Fantastic story-telling. He made his usual slow, methodical and intimidating entrance to the ring. He was an amazing sight – he was like something I’ve never seen before. While he was walking down the aisle, I started showing my poster because this is the match that I had preserved it for. However, as my fate always has it, important moments in my life (which would otherwise never happen again) always have a black-spot associated with them. One of the security officials walked up to me and said “No flashing of signs”. I don’t know why he said that. There were so many fans all around the place who were flashing their posters – this is what the posters are meant for, and why they are allowed inside the arena. Everyone flashes them during the matches that they are interested in, and when the wrestlers referred in those posters are in the ring. Its an age-old thing, and no security officer is told to stop fans from showing posters. Moreover, there was nothing derogatory in my poster, and I was stunned because he did not tell any other fan to stop flashing the poster. This is a regular thing, it is always allowed to show posters and I did it even when I attended the weekly Smackdown show in 2007. Everybody was doing it. I branded this guy as a “racist”, even though he was otherwise polite and professional. Usually Americans are not racists but are very friendly and nice people, but this guy was an exception. I was the only Indian at ring-side flashing a poster, and he stopped only me – he didn’t stop anyone else. Anyway, I did not want to argue with him or tell him that fans flash posters on every wrestling show and that other fans around me were still flashing posters. I didn’t want to waste time with such a jerk and ruin the moment more because it would have made me miss the other moments of the fabulous entrance – the most astounding ring-entrance in wrestling-history which is that of the Undertaker. I clicked a few photos with my cell phone as Undertaker raised his hands which brought back the lights. He went inside the ring and removed his over-coat/ hat. This is when I realized that I had 2 options – either to click photos throughout the match/ make a video recording, or to just see the match. I decided that I should not click photos, but just be a witness to the event and see it from my naked eye instead of the camera’s lens.

The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels – Wrestlemania's Undefeated Streak vs Mr Wrestlemania – Match Details: The crowd was standing throughout the whole match right from the entrances of the two super-stars to show their respect for them, because this match was so amazing. It went on for over half an hour and was one of the longest matches in Wrestlemania history, but it didn’t even feel that it was so long due to the back-and-forth action. The Undertaker gave a scary look to Shawn but Shawn did not look intimidated. The Undertaker came closer to Shawn and started stalking him as he had the obvious size advantage. Undertaker was in his regular mixed-martial-arts pose, which speaks for his versatility. The crowd started loud chants of “Undertaker”, to which I also contributed. Some Shawn Michaels fans also started chanting “HBK” but right now the Undertaker chants were louder. Shawn was trying to keep distance from Undertaker and due to his shorter height was able to duck below the Undertaker’s attacking arm and instead start hitting Undertaker in the chest. Undertaker stood unaffected by the offence. He pushed Shawn to the corner of the ring but Shawn again used his smaller size to escape from Undertaker and started attacking again. Shawn tried to send Undertaker for an Irish whip across the other side of the ring, and this is when Undertaker gained advantage with his power and instead sent Michaels to the other side. When Michaels raised his hand to attack again, Undertaker caught and twisted it. He then lifted Michaels and threw him to the corner of the ring. Shawn had been hurled over the top rope to the outside and struggled to somehow balance himself. He then tried to show the DX chop to Undertaker, displaying some brash arrogance which won him some cheers from his fans. He then jumped over Undertaker and both men were on the floor. Shawn was on top of Undertaker, trying to hit him in the face but Undertaker had both his hands in front of the face in defence (like a boxer). Undertaker then threw Michaels aside and both men got up. Undertaker again lifted Michaels, hurled him to the corner of the ring and started punching him. A memorable quote from commentator Jim Ross: “The cat and mouse game maybe over now”. Now Undertaker was standing tall and Shawn was down on the floor. Undertaker took Shawn to the other corner of the ring, put his hand around the ring and started connecting more body-shots, head-butts and kicks to the gut.

Once again, there are chants of “Undertaker”, followed by “HBK” chants. The crowd was almost equally divided. Shawn now tried to resist Undertaker’s offence and instead started hitting the Undertaker himself. Again there was an Irish whip done and Undertaker once more threw Michaels to the other corner of the ring where he went upside down. Shawn bounced back to the Undertaker who lifted him up and threw him above his head. A memorable quote from the commentator Jerry the King Lawler: “I’ve got a feeling that Shawn Michaels is going to get some Frequent Flyer miles during this match”. Undertaker lifted Shawn again, kept him high up in the air with both his hands as though he is doing a military press, and threw him down to the floor to demonstrate his superiority to Michaels, as well as his strength. Undertaker now tried to pin Shawn for the victory but couldn’t. The Undertaker now twisted Shawn’s hand and gave him a few shoulder-blocks. Now, the Undertaker did something which only he does. He went to the corner of the ring holding that twisted arm of Shawn (due to which Shawn couldn’t do anything but had to follow him), and then Undertaker climbed on the top rope. It was a phenomenal sight – a near 7-foot tall man, who weighs over 300 pounds, is over 40 years old and has numerous knee, hip and leg injuries, was balancing his huge body over the top rope and walking the top rope. I had to capture this moment no matter what and so I took out my camera to click a photo of him standing on the top rope. This is when one of the fans standing next to me told me not to go ahead of him. I wonder why he said that because I was just standing at my place and taking the picture – I wasn’t going anywhere and I did not even touch him. His seat was even behind mine but he was the one who had come ahead of my row to see the match from closer. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind or complain to the security but once again, I decided not to waste a moment doing anything else other than watching the match. Branded another racist! As I said, my memorable moments in life always have a bad-spot to them.

Anyway, so Undertaker successfully managed to connect his old-school top rope-walk and then came down on Michaels with a clubbing blow to the shoulder, and he had some momentum coming from such a height with such a huge body. This is usually the only non-finsher move which gets the crowd to stand up in a show of respect, but today the crowd was anyway standing throughout the match :-) Its these athletic moves of the Undertaker (despite his huge body) which make him unique and differentiate him from all other wrestlers. Shawn went to the corner of the ring to breathe a bit, but Undertaker started running towards him in full speed. Shawn ducked and Undertaker kicked the ring’s corner instead. His body was misbalanced on the corner now and he hurt his leg. Shawn realized that this is an opportunity and he started beating Undertaker’s leg. He tried to destroy Undertaker’s vertical base so that Undertaker’s size-advantage is cut down. This was good strategy. He kicked Undertaker in the head. The alternate “Undertaker” and “HBK” chants continued. Shawn tried to put Undertaker in the Figure-Four leg-lock but Undertaker blocked it. With a few kicks, Shawn gained the advantage and put Undertaker in the Figure-Four. The Undertaker refused to submit because he has never submitted or tapped out in his entire career. Michaels retained the hold with the leg-lock for some time but Undertaker finally punched his way out of it using his long hands to reach Michaels and hit him. Undertaker was now limping so you could make out that leg-lock did some damage to his leg, and he sold it well. If he can’t stand, how will he wrestle? Shawn continued to kick Undertaker in the leg and once more, Undertaker fell down. He ran into Undertaker but now Undertaker stood up, lifted him and ran into the ring corner. He kicked and punched Shawn. He hurled Shawn to the opposite corner and ran into him. A 7-foot, over 300-pound man showing such quickness at such an age is like you being run over by a running train. He then lifted Michaels over his shoulder with one arm and hurled him onto the ring (Snake Eyes) and then came running into him from the other side of the ring and hit him with a big-boot to the face. Shawn was down. He connected another high-jump like led-drop and tried to pin Michaels for the victory but couldn’t. Now there were some ‘boos’ from the crowd for Michaels.

At this time, a Shawn fan came and stood next to me. He started shouting "HBK", to which I responded by shouting "Undertaker". We were both looking at each other, smiling, and shouting our wrestlers' names in response to each other! Everybody at ring-side was looking at us, and they soon started shouting their wrestlers' names along with us. This was a real fun moment!

Undertaker looked in control now and raised his arm for a choke-slam. Shawn retaliated and instead put a cross-face head-lock on the Undertaker. As I said, Undertaker has never tapped out. They were both on the floor, and somehow Undertaker lifted Michaels from his legs and made his shoulders touch the floor! What an amazing counter – now Michaels was in a pinning predicament and the referee started the count. However, Michaels got out of the count in time and still retained his hold on Undertaker’s head. After some time, Undertaker managed to lift Michaels up from the side due to his strength and size advantage and gave a thunderous side-slam to Michaels. Undertaker tried to pin Michaels again but no luck. Again some ‘boos’ from the crowd for Shawn. Undertaker showed some pain in his jaw as a result of the cross-face and sold Michaels’ offence well. Now there was an exchange of right-hands between the two. Undertaker swung Michaels for an Irish whip but Michaels came back and kicked him. Undertaker stood straight, impervious to pain, as though the kick had no effect. Shawn gave some Ric-Flair-like chops to the chest and his fans started chanting “Woo” as Ric Flair used to when he hit his opponents that way. So far, the crowd is completely into this match.

Shawn knocked Undertaker down and went down with him. He got up first, and when Undertaker got up, Shawn gave him two atomic-drops. Using some help from the ropes and a fast clothesline, he was able to bring Undertaker down again. Shawn climbed to the ring’s corner to attempt to jump on Undertaker from there but Undertaker got up in his usual zombie dead-man style as a soul who just arose from the grave. He caught Michaels’ neck for a choke-slam but Shawn again countered it and kicked him in the leg. Undertaker fell once more, and Shawn tried another Figure-Four leg-lock. This time, the Undertaker countered it and converted it into a Gogoplata submission hold (another mixed martial-arts move) in which he put his legs around Michaels’ neck and head in a choke! This was amazing – it now looked like an Olympics wrestling match in which you don’t beat the opponent down with power but try to make him submit by putting him in predicaments through which he is not able to come out. Shawn somehow reached the ropes and touched them with his legs, therefore Undertaker had to relinquish the hold. Shawn went outside the ring to maintain distance from Undertaker, who followed him. Undertaker rammed Shawn into the steel steps and then put him inside the ring in a way that Shawn’s chest was outside the ring but his waist and legs were inside the ring. This was great – since Shawn was partly in the ring, both men could not be counted out and Undertaker could do any offence he wanted. He punched and kicked Michaels in the head and then went for his vintage leg-drop across the apron. He stood in the ring and looked at his prey below. As he jumped high in the air to land on Michaels’ chest, Shawn managed to get up and go inside the ring, thereby avoiding injury. Undertaker hurt his leg again, and Shawn kicked him in the leg again. You could hear the Shawn fans chanting “HBK” loudly now. As Undertaker was lying on the floor outside the ring, Shawn climbed to the ring’s corner and went for an inverted moonsault drop. However, Undertaker avoided it and moved away, so Shawn landed from a height of almost 11 feet onto no man’s land on the ground. That had to hurt anyone.

Undertaker now got back into the ring, and after catching up with his breath, he stood up in his regular zombie-style. I realized now that Shawn is outside the ring, it is time for one of my favourite wrestling moves – the suicide dive. Its another thing which only the Undertaker can execute, in which he runs from one side of the ring to another, lifts his huge 7-foot, over 300-pound body vertically over the top rope without any help from the rope and launches himself on the opponent like a jet-plane. Shawn always claims that even if he loses a match, he steals the show and out-performs his opponents. But this is a move in which the Undertaker out-performs everyone, and nobody else in the WWE history has ever done this move, let alone do it with such a huge body and at such an age. I had already started shouting “suicide dive” and Undertaker answered to it :-) However, while the referee was checking on Shawn outside, he got up and pushed the referee to the steel steps. He then moved away, avoiding contact from the Undertaker and instead bringing a camera-man to face the Undertaker’s assault. The camera-man was supposedly Sim Snuka, the son of Jimmy ‘the Superfly’ Snuka, who ironically was the first victim in Undertaker’s undefeated streak of 16-0 at Wrestlemania. Undertaker had a nasty fall, because this camera-man was standing farther from the ring than he was supposed to, and it looked like Undertaker landed head-first on the ground and broke his neck. If that had happened, this classic of a match would have had to be stopped and now everyone was scared as to what will happen. However, this moment created more unpredictability in the match and a lot more people expected Shawn to win it now that the Undertaker seemed badly injured. There were loud “HBK” chants now. Shawn showed some villain characters and brought the referee back to the ring, asking him to count Undertaker out. There were some ‘boos’ for Shawn now. Miraculously, Undertaker got up at the count of 9 and entered the ring before the 10-count. Shawn was trying to symbolically show some fear for Undertaker, wishing that he stays down and does not come out. He showed distress now.

Once more, several “Undertaker” chants followed by “HBK”. Shawn started preparing for his finisher-move, the Sweet Chin Music super-kick to the jaw, waiting for Undertaker to re-group and stand up. But Undertaker avoided it and instead caught Shawn by the neck, finally connecting one of his finisher-moves, the choke-slam. He lifted Michaels up with one arm, hurled him very high up and slammed him to the floor. This was one of the biggest choke-slams you will ever see. Undertaker tried to pin Michaels again for the victory but couldn’t. Undertaker looks tired now. Shawn got up and tried for his super-kick but Undertaker avoided it. Shawn tried once more and this time he connected it. Undertaker was down on the floor. Shawn tried to pin Undertaker for the victory now but couldn’t get it. They both got up and now Undertaker tried for his other finisher-move, the last ride or inverted power-bomb in which he lifts his opponent over his own shoulders and then slams their back to the floor from a 8 or 9-foot elevation. Shawn countered and went below Undertaker, and Undertaker countered the counter, bringing him back to the front! He again kicked Michaels and this time managed to connect the last-ride. Undertaker tried to pin him for the victory but couldn’t. Who would believe that someone as small as Shawn would kick out of that? It was getting really interesting now. Undertaker looked frustrated. He now climbed up to the ring’s corner and jumped on Michaels, attempting to connect a high elbow. This was a fascinating sight to see once more, the Undertaker flying from such a height. He missed and found only the floor because Shawn moved away. Now both men got up and Shawn tried to run into Undertaker. Undertaker ducked and lowered the rope, so Shawn went to the outside. He hung to the rope, however and did not fall outside. He then tried to bring himself back in and tried to lock his legs around Undertaker’s neck. Undertaker came up with one of the best counters ever, when he reversed this into a tombstone piledriver, his best finisher-move. He had Michaels held completely in reverse with his legs at the top and head down below, and slammed him down on his head (taking most of the impact on his own knees otherwise it will break Shawn’s neck) just like you plant a tombstone on a grave. But he only got a 2-count when he tried to pin Michaels for the win. The look on his face was priceless now. What more will it take to beat Shawn Michaels?

Undertaker got up and looked really angry now. He removed the shoulders of his vest/ tank-top, which meant that things got serious now. He slashed the cut-throat sign, which meant the end is near now for Shawn. He got a lot of cheers from the crowd now. He tried for another tombstone, but Shawn countered it into a DDT in which he hit Undertaker’s head to the floor. Shawn then got up and went to the ring’s corner and connected the high-elbow drop which Undertaker had missed on him some time back. He went to the ring’s corner and waited for Undertaker to get up. Then he again connected the super-kick to Undertaker’s jaw. For once, almost everyone except me thought that Undertaker has lost the match now. That was the best part about this match – even though everyone expected Undertaker to retain his undefeated streak, if it can reach to a point where even his fans and veteran wrestling analysts feel that the result will be different from what they expected, what more can you ask for in a match? But to Shawn’s surprise, Undertaker kicked out even of the second super-kick and Shawn was unable to pin him! Now the fans were chanting “This is awesome” and I have never heard that in a wrestling match.

The “Undertaker” chants started becoming louder now. Both men brawled with right-hand exchanges until Undertaker gave another big-boot to Michaels. Shawn still got up and laid more offence on Undertaker, whose chest was now red due to the hard beating. Undertaker sent Michaels for a whip to the other corner and tried to run into him again like a train, but got kicked down. Shawn now went to the top of the ring’s corner again and tried for another inverted moon-sault attempt (which he had missed last time). Undertaker got up and stood ready for Michaels. When Michaels jumped, Undertaker caught him in perfect position for another tombstone piledriver. This was the most breath-taking sight of the match. Undertaker had Shawn in the same precarious position, and nailed the tombstone. This time, the referee counted 1-2-3 and Shawn did not get up. Undertaker had won the match!

After-effects of the Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels Match: The Dead-man lives! Every Undertaker fan as well as every Shawn Michaels fan was cheering. Every neutral fan realized what wrestling is actually all about. I actually bowed down and saluted to the Undertaker. Nobody deserved it more. The Phenom showed us why he is undefeated at Wrestlemania. He took his streak to an unprecedented 17-0, a record which will never be paralleled in all of sports, and a record which no other sports-star in the world deserves to break or equal. This match single-handedly stole the show, and it was not even a championship match. It was about who is the better man, it was about pride and passion. This match was the only memorable thing about the 25th anniversary of Wrestlemania, in which none of the other matches were of the standard of a Wrestlemania. It saved the show, made up for all the other bad matches, and was worth the entire event. I am honoured to have seen this match in person, and it alone was worth all the money which I spent into buying the ticket for the event. Thank you, Undertaker and Shawn, for making it worth-while and justifying my trip.

These guys performed just as they would have performed 20 years back. They are ageless. Such a professional performance, that you actually felt that every moment of it was real and nothing was scripted or planned. This was the best match to see, and you believed in everything that you saw in it. That is what a professional wrestling performance should be like – it should keep everyone not at the edge of their seats but standing, without even caring if there is a seat. Today, these two gave you a reason to watch wrestling.

After watching this match, I feel that if there was ever good wrestling done in the world like never before (and which never will be repeated), it was in this match. I feel that nobody else can wrestle – Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, Brock Lesnar, Triple H, none of them could ever wrestle. Even Ric Flair, Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart or the Olympic champion Kurt Angle never wrestled like this. If there are 2 wrestlers who stole the show and gave a wrestling-performance like no one ever has, they were the 2 greatest pro-wrestlers in the history of this world, the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, on the day when I attended Wrestlemania.

Here are some of the comments that renowed people or editorials gave it:

Jim Ross: As a fan of Sports Entertainment, I am honoured to have the opportunity to sit at ring-side and see this. I feel like we’ve just seen heaven. What a match. As a wrestling fan, how could you ask for anything more? My 16th Wrestlemania experience was highlighted by the best WM bout I can recall broadcasting. The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels bout was simply a classic. Old school approach, a magnificent story, amazing near falls, drama, surprises, intensity, and awesome athleticism were just a few of the memorable attributes of this extraordinary contest. Quite simply, it’s a wrestling match I’ll never forget and I’ve seen plenty of them. I had immense personal respect for both men going into the match but that respect swelled ten-fold when this “instant classic” concluded. If any young wrestler doesn’t thoroughly study this one then they are doing themselves a gross injustice.

Houston Chronicle (Front Page): Michaels and the Undertaker, scripted or not, was simply one heck of a slobberknocker. In 31 minutes of Tombstone piledrivers, superkicks, DDTs, figure-four leglocks and crossface headlocks, the Undertaker prevailed over Michaels to run his WrestleMania record to 17-0 in the most widely anticipated event of a 4-hour card that surely justified the trip to Texas for WWE fans from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries.

Pro Wrestling Examiner: Absolutely fantastic match and was exhausting just to watch. It certainly saved the show and may have well been worth the price of admission itself. Jim Ross on commentary said it was just an honor to be able to call this match. How do you follow that masterpiece? Kid Rock’s performance and the Divas battle royal should have come after this match to calm the crowd and everyone else down. Jim Ross just equated this match to wrestling heaven and he may be right.

The Sun, UK: The two standout stars of WWE for years came together tonight to put in a match for the ages.

Wrestling Observer (Dan Wahler): It was essentially a one match show, and while that match was a classic and personally none of the best matches I’ve seen in a long time, the other top matches on the show didn’t really deliver. It was one of those shows where the true main event of the show was third to last, and anything that followed it was anti-climatic in comparison. Going into Wrestlemania on Sunday, it was universally expected and as close to a given as you can have in wrestling, that The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels were going to have the best match on the show. And if it’s possible, they actually exceeded those lofty expectations with a match that was not only the best match on this show, but one that will rank up there among the greatest matches in Wrestlemania history. It was that good. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a match as much as I enjoyed HBK/Taker. It was about as close to a perfect match as you’re going to get in WWE. Finally, Michaels went for a moonsault from the top rope, and he was caught in mid-air by Undertaker, and dropped with the second and deciding Tombstone in an unbelievably creative finish. Match over, victory to The Undertaker, and victory to anyone that saw the match. Jim Ross wondered on commentary “what more could you ask for as a wrestling fan?” And the answer is you couldn’t ask for anything more. That match was plain and simple about as perfect in every way as you’re going to get in the WWE style of wrestling. I can’t think of anything else that they could have possibly done to make the match any better, or make it any more memorable. But I do know that nobody came close to following it on that night, and I have a really hard time imagining anyone following it for the rest of the year, at least in WWE. You’re also talking about a match that, regardless of what anyone gives it star ratings-wise, will still be remembered as one of the classic Wrestlemania matches of all-time. There is no debate about that among anyone. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels went out and stole the show on Sunday. They put on a clinic of a wrestling match that should be the prototype for all current and future wrestlers out there that aren’t at the top of the business, but want to be, and want to know how to have a match that is well worked, that has awesome, off the page crowd heat, and that is full of drama and emotion. Watch that match, watch two of the best performers of this or any other era show you how it’s done. And at 44 and 43 years old respectively, out work and out perform most 20 year olds in the industry today and everyone else on the WWE roster on that given night, including those wrestlers that were in the “main events.” Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels was the main event, and it should have closed the show. Nothing could follow it, and nothing should have followed it. It was indeed a true modern day classic.

Bleacher Report: All in all, an excellent match. And all with no weapons or extra gimmicks. Somewhere even Bret Hart would have to be smiling. And somewhere backstage, after that match was done, Cena, Edge, and the Big Show must have felt a knot in the pits of their stomachs as they knew they would have a hard time trying to top this one match. And it was the only match that made you feel you watched something special for your money.

The Sun, UK (again): It’s over. Undertaker wins by Tombstone. I can get my breath back. No prizes for guessing the finish or that it was one of the best matches I’ll ever see, even if I attend the next 25 WrestleManias.

These Were Worthy Of Respect And A Salute:

The Undertaker
Shawn Michaels
Ricky ‘the Dragon’ Steamboat

These Also Impressed Me:

Randy Orton
Edge
Matt Hardy
Beth Phoenix
Chris Jericho
Primo

I Wish These Had More Impact On The Event:

Kane
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Vince McMahon

I Wish These Had Made An Appearance:

Paul Bearer
Bret ‘the Hitman’ Hart
Kurt Angle
Bill Goldberg
Mankind
The Rock
Chyna
Trish Stratus

These Disappointed Me More Than I Expected:

HHH
Mickey Rourke

These Disappointed Me As Much As I Expected:

John Cena
Big Show
Jeff Hardy
Miz
John Morrison (Johnny Nitro)

I Did Not Miss These At All - They are Good As Far Away As Possible:

Hulk Hogan
Ultimate Warrior
Brock Lesnar

Let me announce that I am going to Wrestlemania 25 and I have a ring-side seat (C6, # 15). Unless the Gods are against me, you should be able to spot me somewhere with a light green poster (shiny colour, so that it gets noticed) saying “Mayank came from Ranchi, India to see Phenom Forever 17-0”. My friends wanted me to put the name of my home-town somewhere in it, and I thought it might be good to put my name in it as well apart from the name of the great legend whom I am going all the way to see.

Money in the Bank Ladder match: Oh how much I want Kane to win this. Though, the WWE rarely does what I want. However, I am still going with him. I predicted him to win the ECW belt last year and he did! Kane, with his tweener character, is a perfect fit for winning the title by surprise at any time. Let’s face it – he was one of the most dominant and destructive stars ever, and lately he has lost his dominance and is losing to much smaller guys (and stars) just to promote them in this Rated PG-13 era. If they stop his heel turn and make him a tweener again, he can feud with just about anybody and kick anybody’s a** anytime to win the title. So in case there is an injury and the actual champion needs to take time off or the belt needs to switch brands, etc - Kane is the perfect choice to beat just about anyone and win the belt. I’m betting that he has one long reign left in him because he never had a long one – give it to him before he retires even if he does not want it. Having him return with the mask will be the icing on the cake because then we will see the same mean big red a** kicking whom we know (and today’s fans don’t know) as the real Kane. But I know he won’t return due to no such story (even though they came up with the impostor Kane, and then the rivalry with Mysterio over the ‘mask’). Ok , I know Paul Bearer said he won’t come to Wrestlemania, but at least get him on Kane’s side as a surprise!

Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy: As much I’ve started hating Jeff Hardy for his recent push despite taking drugs and violating the WWE wellness policy, I think I will have to go with it that due to his support from the ‘kids’, he will have to win. And its an extreme match, in which he is supposed to be a hero, isn’t it?

JBL vs Rey Mysterio: Again, I like JBL more than Mysterio because he is better at character-presentation. Be it a face or a heel, JBL is always entertaining and makes me laugh. He was also a good wrestler in the days he was under the Undertaker in the ministry of darkness. However, I think he is going to retire and take it to commentary, so I guess Mysterio is winning this one. And keep him at that ‘Intercontinental’ level - don’t bring him to the world championship level again, please.

Carlito, Primo vs Miz, Morrison: Ok, I still get confused as to who are the WWE Tag team champions and who are the World Tag Team champions, and I get confused which one belongs to which brand, but I think Carlito, Primo will win this simply because Miz, Morrison have had a much longer tag-team championship reign.

25-Diva Battle Royal: Well, some veteran divas might return, e.g., Sable, Torrie Wilson, Debra, Sunny, Trish Stratus, etc. I don’t know if Chyna is going to be there. If she does show up, I would prefer to see Chyna and Beth Phoenix as the last 2 women in the ring, with Chyna coming out on top. If Chyna is not coming back, then I am pretty sure Trish Stratus will be crowned Miss Wrestlemania.

Chris Jericho vs WWE Legends: With all due respect to the legends, who wants to see this match? It would have been so much better if Chris Jericho kept on insulting legends on Raw, and then started insulting Hall of Famers, saying that all of them are trash. What next? There would’ve been a glass-breaking noise and Stone Cold would’ve walked in, saying, “I’ve been watching you for 6 straight weeks, coming here and insulting Hall of Famers, saying that they can’t wrestle anymore. I too am a Hall of Famer”, and then he would’ve turned to the crowd and said, “If you all wanna see Stone Cold whoop Chris Jericho’s a** at Wrestlemania 25, give me a ‘Hell Yeah’”, to which the crowd would have obviously responded, “HELL YEAH”. It would have been good to see Austin in one last match and winning it, that too in his home-state of Texas. But alas, the WWE don’t want to do this. In either case, be it with Austin or with these legends, I expect Jericho to lose this one. But again, the WWE will as usual not do what I want. I still expect Austin to come to Mania and lash out a few stunners to the most unexpected people (maybe Santino Marella, who wants to be in the diva match).  It’s the 25th anniversary, so imprint all the popular faces from the past on the DVD – get the Rock too!

Edge vs Big SLow vs John Cena: Ok, if there is one person who has a Streak at Wrestlemania comparable to Undertaker’s, it is Big SLow – but it’s a losing streak. At least I can’t recall when he last won. Therefore, Big SLow doesn’t strike to me as material who will win the gold at Mania. Edge has a chance of winning, but aren’t we sick of seeing Edge becoming champion in the same ‘opportunistic’ and ‘manipulative’ way again and again? And what's up in this love triangle with Vickie? Is that the only way she can get attention? Gone are the days when people fell in love with Torrie Wilson or Sable or Debra, what is the standard now? Vickie? With the new complication in the relationship between Edge, Vickie and SLow, I expect Vickie to turn on Edge during the match for SLow, but Cena will take advantage of the situation and become champion. Of course, he won’t have anything to do with Vickie after that. But hey, I am sick of seeing Cena as champion too, so guess what – I am predicting a feud between Undertaker and Cena after Wrestlemania over the belt. There is no doubt that Undertaker will soon be in a title feud because he never lost the title last year, and why do it with Edge again? That feud is over, and Edge along with his entire factum of minions got “owned” by the dead-man. Undertaker vs Cena will be a fresh feud for the title. The last time they feuded, Undertaker was in his human big-evil persona, it was not about a belt and Cena was not such a big star. Now, it will be interesting to see Undertaker vs Cena for the belt, with Cena getting his a** kicked and all the kids realizing who the real man is. Superman has a weakness – Kryptonite. The dead-man has no weakness.

HHH vs Randy Orton: The more the WWE promote somebody before a PPV and make him look like the favourite or more dominant, the more are his chances of losing at the PPV. If HHH keeps winning before Mania, I have a feeling that it means he is the one chosen to lose the title at Mania.

Now don’t get me wrong here - I am a HHH fan more than I am an Orton fan (hell, Orton won’t be anywhere even in my top 20 list of all-time) and I don’t intend to create trouble here, but from an unbiased business-point-of-view, I don’t see HHH winning the title at Mania. Why? Because HHH has held the title 13 times (including winning it at Mania earlier), held long title reigns and been a main-eventer for long. He just had a long and dominant title-reign last year. Would it be repeated again this year? No, its time now to pass the torch.

Why would Randy Orton be getting the kind of push that he has been getting since early this year, if he was not to become champion soon? Why would he be made to win the Rumble? That is why HHH pinned Undertaker and won the belt at No Way Out, so that he could get involved in his family feud with Orton at Raw and Orton could challenge him for the title at Mania (and Undertaker was not supposed to be in the title scene for Mania because they were planning a legend vs legend feud for him with Shawn Michaels - that is why he said to Shawn “Its hell trying to get to heaven” at the Rumble itself).

If the Rumble winner does not win the championship at Wrestlemania this year, then it would be 2 consecutive years that the Rumble winner did not win the belt at Mania. That would lead to the Rumble losing its significance and then people would not pay to see the Rumble next year on, which would be bad for the business. Last year, the WWE screwed up the Rumble by making it all about the return of the jacka** Cena (whereas I was expecting either Undertaker or HHH to win it - since none of them won it, it was obvious that they would win their respective Elimination Chamber matches at No Way Out 2008), but this year if the Rumble winner again does not win the title, many fans would not be interested in the Rumble match from next year on.

The WWE might surprise me and make retain HHH retain the title at Mania (like last year, I was expecting HHH to win the belt at Mania but Orton retained - however, eventually HHH won it in the story-line), but I guess eventually this time, Orton will win it soon and keep it until Batista returns for his revenge (remember Orton was the one who took out Batista). Then we’ll have an Orton-Batista rivalry, which should also be a relatively fresh, good and long one to see.

My guess is that Steph will remain on HHH’s side but maybe that Vince will turn on HHH. Then Orton will also have the advantage of having the two idiots Rhodes & Dibiase on his side. From the looks of the Orton-HHH rivalry, I was pretty much assured that it will not be a regular one-fall wrestling-match but a no-disqualification kind of match, but in any case it will somehow allow Rhodes/ Dibiase to help Orton for getting the win.

Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels: This is the match I have awaited the most. Please script it nicely because it is the match from which all veteran wrestling fans and observers have the highest expectations. A lot of people have said in the past that if anyone deserves to end the streak of the Undertaker, it should be a new rising star, because it will give him a good boost. Tell me, did the feud with Undertaker not give a good boost to Orton, Batista and Edge even though they lost to him? That is the best part about a rivalry with Undertaker - you get famous and noticed without winning.

Why do people still don’t understand that it can’t be anyone younger “also”, because in all probability the younger guy might not become a legend AS BIG as Undertaker? Let me ask these questions:

What is the guarantee that he will be as phenomenally athletic and strong as Undertaker, that he will do as many gimmick matches as Undertaker and stand in the ring with superstars of all size/ skill as Undertaker has, that he will be as popular as Undertaker, as long-lasting as Undertaker, as respected (and locker-room leader) as Undertaker, that he will contribute to the business as much as Undertaker, as loyal to the WWE as Undertaker (instead of switching jobs later for TNA or any other)? Why ruin something which you spent 2 decades to create, and moreover why do injustice to the dominance of the ‘character’, which you created as a unique one, different from all the human characters like Hogan or Flair or Austin or Hart or Rock or any other? If it had to be done by anyone younger, it would have been done by now (e.g., Orton). If you take Undertaker’s streak away from him, he will have no commendable ‘numbers’ mentioned in his career - he is not a 16 time champion like Flair or 13 time champion like HHH, but they all fell to him at Mania, right? Let that be the claim to fame for the man whom WWE wrestlers themselves consider to be the greatest of all time, as per all their backstage interviews.

Its listed as the greatest Record in the history of the WWE at the WWE records page and I’m counting on it that it won’t be removed from there, and that due to the respect that Undertaker has both in the ring as well as back-stage, the streak will never be broken - at least as long as the great business mind Vince is alive. The WWE need one name to quote in history which never lost at Mania and which always delivered the most when it mattered the most, and what better a character for it than the indestructible dead-man, who cannot be hurt. The streak should only be broken by somebody who has or is definitely going to have a bigger streak at Mania - and what’s the guarantee for that? I’m going with it that Undertaker will at least go on till 20-0, if not beyond. And if anyone ever mentions losing at Mania to Undertaker, he should just say “Ok guys, I’m calling it a day”. I’ll be much happy, and I’m sure so will be many other Undertaker fans (not all, of course) if he retires at 18-0 or 20-0 instead of something like 18-1 because the 18-0 will remain a record forever which in all probability will never be equalled in our lifetime! (And I’m not discussing his retirement here, so keep that off-topic.)

Summary - it should never end! (That's the bottom-line, 'coz I said so!)

I must say I enjoyed the build-up for this match because they wanted to give Shawn the upper-hand before the match, so that he can lose gracefully. He said that Undertaker has never beaten him, which is true because Kane always came out to interfere and help Shawn Michaels. The only one time they had a clean one-on-one confrontation was Royal Rumble 2007, where obviously Undertaker came out on top. I expect the same to happen at this Wrestlemania. Of course, the build-up for the match was good because Shawn copied the Undertaker’s gimmick (the graveyard promo, the promo where he came out dressed as Undertaker with druids but in white, the funeral, etc) because the Undertaker’s gimmick allows for more manipulation and story-telling around it - that itself tells you how strong it is. We all know how horrible it would have been if Undertaker came out dressed as Michaels and started dancing around to the music “I think I’m dark, I know I’m scary, I’ve got the looks, That makes the dead rise. I’m just a demon boy, I’m not your bad-a**. My gong sends chills down their spine.... etc” Michaels wanted this great, big match at Mania before he calls it a day, and he got it. I have heard that JR will not call this match, but come on! You need to have JR calling this match for sure! Shawn might win the greatest legend of Wrestlemania award at the Hall of Fame ceremony, because I don't see Undertaker coming out and winning it in his current dead-man persona (though he deserves it the most), and since Shawn will lose to Undertaker after that, it will prove that Undertaker is truly the greatest legend of Wrestlemania in reality (but didn't get the award for it, as usual, like he didn't get his long title reigns despite being the greatest and the best).

I will be happy as long as I see this match ending with a tombstone piledriver. More than one tombstone will make me happier. What will happen after the match leaves me in doubt. Some people said that Paul Bearer will come, but I hope that he will not come for this match because it should be a clean legend vs legend match. I think Michaels will offer a hand-shake to Undertaker but Undertaker will refuse. He will then kneel down and return the respect to Michaels, motioning towards him in his signature fashion, thereby also retaining his super-human character instead of turning more human. It’s the dark-side that you introduced, Undertaker! That is how you gained fame, that is what differentiates you from all the other wrestlers - only you can pull it off, please remain that way!

Shawn Michaels, Rest In Peace.

I cannot believe the kind of build-up that the WWE are coming up with for Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels for Wrestlemania 25. This is unbelievably, by far the best build-up and the best set of ‘promos’ that I have seen from the WWE superstars in a LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG time. Even the Stone Cold/ Rock promos were not as interesting and exciting as these promos. Surely, the WWE Creative department is not creative enough to write these promos. I am sure that Taker and Shawn are themselves coming up with the material for their promos, because Taker used to do a lot of script-writing during the days of the ministry of darkness as well.

Normally, we are used to seeing Undertaker coming out and saying “'Wrestler Name', Rest In Peace” and the crowd chants the same words with him in support, for any of his Wrestlemania opponents. But this time, its like the other way round. Here are some of the confrontations which Undertaker and Shawn Michaels have had so far (in the past and then currently in this story-line):

1997 First Hell in a Cell: To start with, Undertaker always had unfinished business with Shawn Michaels. Their first Hell in a Cell was a classic, and it is one of the only 4 matches in professional-wrestling history which received a 5-star rating from Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s editor Dave Meltzer. First of all, the rivalry itself had got so intense (because Shawn hit Taker with a chair, costing him the title and allowing Bret Hart to pin him after Taker had killed Bret Hart), that Undertaker innovated and introduced the Hell in a Cell concept for the first time because a steel cage match was not enough to settle this rivalry (as a steel cage is open from the top, but Undertaker wanted no openings in the cell so that Shawn cannot escape). Though Undertaker had the match won after literally killing Shawn Michaels (and giving us a view of what he will do to Mankind in the next Hell in a Cell, when he slammed Shawn on the roof of the cell and later threw Shawn from the cell’s wall to the announce-desk), Kane interfered and beat Undertaker down with his own tombstone piledriver. Although you could make out that the tombstone from Kane was not as beautifully executed as the dead-man executes it himself (which means Kane recently learnt it from the dead-man himself, at back-stage), the story-telling was impeccable. Being the first Hell in a Cell, it showed what the possibilities in a HIAC match are. The beating which Undertaker gave to Shawn was so classic that to this day, Undertaker himself calls it his favourite match despite the final result. And such words coming from Undertaker himself mean something – given the fact that he is the only wrestler who has survived through all eras of the WWE and stood in the ring with every kind of superstar with every kind of size or skill. The story-telling in the match was so amazing that just when Taker choke-slammed Michaels and slashed his trade-mark “cut-throat” sign (signifying that the end is near for Shawn and the tombstone is coming), the lights went out, Kane’s music hit and he entered the ring. Since Taker had said that he will not fight his own flesh and blood, he did not raise hands over Kane, and Kane ensured that the end is near for the dead-man himself. So effectively, when the dead-man signaled the cut-throat sign, he was actually signifying it for himself and not for Shawn. I have not seen such impeccable story-telling in any other match. Kane’s introduction was the most innovative character-creation that the WWE ever came up with, after the creation of the Undertaker character himself.

So, in their first match itself, Taker and Shawn did such great story-telling and put forth such a splendid physical performance. It proved why they are the best in the business.

1998 Casket Match: Their second match was a casket match where the result was the same. Kane interfered and helped Shawn defeat Undertaker. Though, Shawn was injured so bad that Shawn ended up sitting at home for 4 to 5 years due to injury. During this time, he was made as the WWF Commissioner to still keep him on screen and involved in story-lines, though he was not competing in the ring. The Undertaker-Shawn Michaels rivalry was left unfinished as Kane started interfering in all of the matches, starting a new legendary rivalry with Undertaker. Undertaker had devastated all competition put in front of him until then and had established himself as the most dominant and feared superstar in pro-wrestling history. So they had to create Kane as a brother of the Undertaker himself to position somebody who had a chance of equaling him. The feud was very memorable and bitter, leading to Paul Bearer taking Kane’s side and being introduced as Kane’s father (so Kane was only a half-brother to Taker, having the same mother) and the story-telling/ innovation done in this feud was the best that the WWE have ever done. It led to countless matches including 2 matches at Wrestlemania, casket matches, invention of the inferno matches (in one of the most iconic and memorable moments, Taker did the suicide-dive launching his 6’10/ 300+ pound body flying over the top rope when the ring was surrounded by flames), and also helped Kane emerge as a dominant legend who went on to defeat Stone Cold to become champion, and who single-handedly kicked a** of DX, NWO (Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash/ Diesel, Scott Hall/ Razor Ramon), Rock, etc.

2007 Royal Rumble: The Rumble was hosted in Shawn Michael’s home-town of San Antonio. So obviously, he had to be kept as one of the last survivors in the Rumble. Since Undertaker was scheduled to win it, both of them were the last 2 men standing in the ring. This was the first time in a decade that the 2 veterans were one-on-one. Undertaker removed the shoulders of his vest/ tank-top and challenged Michaels to come forward, as both men put together a splendid last-battle for the Rumble match, one which is regarded to be the best Rumble-match endings ever. The local San Antonio crowd cheered for their home-town boy Michaels in a rare occasion (because usually Undertaker always takes away the lion’s share of the cheers), however this time there was no Kane to help Michaels out and he ended up getting eliminated by Undertaker. After the match, Undertaker raised his hand towards Michaels to show his respect and acknowledge the good performance that he put through, whereas Michaels sat on the floor outside the ring, looking at the Undertaker and showing his respect to him through expression. Finally the show ended with the lights going out, the church-gong/ bell tolling music and the Undertaker kneeling down doing his signature motion in the ring to head on to a title-match at Wrestlemania, a stage where he has never lost. It is the greatest record in the history of the WWE, mentioned at www.wwe.com/inside/news/w... because no other superstar has even made 16 Wrestlemania appearances, let alone win all of them to make it a 16-0 undefeated streak.

Raw: Undertaker was supposed to choose his Wrestlemania opponent (any champion against whom he will fight for the title at Wrestlemania) but then Shawn came out and said to him that both of them were above titles and they thrived on competition, and on knowing who the better man is. So he wanted a singles’ match with Undertaker, to which Vince came and said no. Instead he made a tag-team match with John Cena and Shawn Michaels against the incomparably strong a**-kicking tag-team of Undertaker and Batista. But we did get some hints that though Vince said, “Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels is not happening, at least in the near future”, that it might happen sometime in the far future. In fact, while cutting that promo, Shawn had actually stated his real-life wish which was to do a good match with Undertaker at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania.

2008 Royal Rumble: This time, the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels started the Rumble because they were the ones who ended it last year. None of them were booked to win it, so it was only fitting that they should start it so that they get some time to perform in a singles’-like competition, before other superstars come pouring in. By the time the next superstar was supposed to come in, Undertaker had gained the upper hand. They kept on pouring and the Rumble match went underway. Both, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels lasted for more than 30 minutes in the ring, however this time Shawn Michaels was hungry for revenge from the last year’s Rumble. Michaels is known to capitalize on the moment, so while the Undertaker was busy eliminating some other opponent, he attacked Taker from behind with his sweet chin music and eliminated him. The dead-man was damn angry and the consequences of that had to be borne by Snitsky who had just been eliminated at ring-side, and Undertaker choke-slammed him on the announce-table, sending a message to Michaels.

2009 Royal Rumble: Michaels was not in the Rumble match this time as he was an employer of JBL, who was paying him for his services and had ordered him to help him in his title match against John “I’m the biggest jack-a** who can’t wrestle” Cena. However, Michaels wanted to get out of JBL’s corner and this resulted in a memorable back-stage moment where Undertaker came into JBL’s locker-room and gave advice to Michaels with the following words, “Sometimes its Hell trying to get to Heaven”. Some veteran fans in the crowd understood that these lines spoken at this Rumble are actually culminating the 12-year old rivalry whose sparks were renewed in the last 2 Rumbles, and it probably means some confrontation between the two, going forward.

Raw after No Way Out 2009: Michaels did not successfully help JBL win his title match against Cena which made JBL angry, so JBL challenged Michaels for a match at No Way Out with the stipulation that if JBL loses, he will release Michaels from his contract and pay him all the money he owes him but if Michaels wins, then he has to serve JBL for the rest of his life. It was obvious that Michaels will win this. Then JBL appeared on next week’s Raw, claiming that his destiny is actually to end the Undertaker’s undefeated streak at Wrestlemania. This saw Shawn Michaels appear, and make the statement that he himself is Mr Wrestlemania because he has been in memorable Wrestlemania matches (ladder match against Razor Ramon, 1-hour Iron man match against Bret Hart, Ric Flair’s retirement match) and so he should be the one who deserves to face the Undertaker at Wrestlemania. JBL refused, and so they set up a match next Raw to decide who should face Taker, where obviously Michaels won. Shawn also stated that when the Undertaker said to him that its hell trying to get to heaven, he was right – because now Michaels could see himself out of hell (JBL’s employment) and getting to heaven (the bright lights of Wrestlemania).

Smackdown: Vladimir Kozlov claimed on Smackdown that he is undefeated in singles’ competition, so he should be the one who faces Undertaker in a Streak vs streak match at Mania. He challenged the winner of the Shawn-JBL match at the next Raw.

Raw: Michaels became the first man to end Kozlov’s undefeated streak in singles’ competition (even though Undertaker had originally pinned Kozlov at the 6-man elimination chamber at No Way Out, which was the first time that Kozlov was ever pinned but it was not a singles’ match). So now, Shawn’s chances of ending a streak really looked good and this is what led to the beginning of the story-line build-up for Taker vs Michaels at Mania.

Smackdown: Undertaker made his classy entrance to the ring and cut a verbal promo with the crowd by his side. Usually, his verbal promos are very much in-character because he doesn’t do them very often, and he always winds them up with a “ Rest In Peace”. This time, however, when he cut the promo in the ring, Shawn Michaels played a video on the titantron showing his achievements at Wrestlemania and the memorable moments of his matches, e.g., the ladder match and the iron-man match. Some cheers for HBK could be heard. This was the beginning of an increasingly good set of promos which both these superstars were going to cut. Taker also said to Shawn, “You’ve chosen the wrong person to play mind games with”.

Raw: Shawn Michaels cut a promo, saying that he sent the Undertaker a message on Smackdown by showing him a video package of his achievements at Mania. He said that, “I respect the Undertaker but I am not afraid of the Undertaker. Good things must come to an end (Undertaker’s undefeated streak), and absolutely nothing lasts forever”. At this time, the lights went out, we heard the infamous gong, and a video started playing on the titantron which showed high-lights of the Undertaker’s 16-0 undefeated streak at Mania including his title matches against Sid, the animal Batista, the opportunist Edge, matches against giants like the 8 foot tall Giant Gonzales, the 7 foot tall Diesel, his own demonic brother Kane, the 500 pounders King Kong Bundy and Big SLow (handicap match including A-Train), the casket match against Mark Henry, the Hell in a Cell against Big Bossman, matches against legends like Ric Flair and HHH, etc. By the end of the video, the crowd was obviously on Taker’s side as they could see all the personas that he has evolved through (mortician to dead-man to lord of darkness to ministry of darkness to American bad-a** to big evil to the current Hybrid) and how each persona had dominated the WWE, whereas Michaels had always been only the heart-break-kid/ se*y boy. Taker appeared in the ring out of nowhere and cut a great verbal promo himself, where he talked like a regular human being to Shawn, showing expression and emotion, walking up and down the ring and raising his hand/ pointing his finger to prove his point like a normal human being, while still staying in the dead-man attire/ character and the lights were still blue. Taker said to Shawn, “You concern yourself with being the show-stopper. What you should concern yourself with is what I am going to do to you physically. I don’t need to steal the show but when I take center-stage, you will realize like all my earlier opponents did, that I am the most dangerous entity who ever set foot into the ring”. What was also interesting was that Taker said that he respected Michaels, and he used the word “peers” for his opponents (these things don’t go by his super-human character because he is treated like one level above humans, but he came down one level and talked like a human). Shawn said that, “I shouldn’t have to beat other people like JBL and Kozlov to qualify to face you at Wrestlemania. You might be undefeated at Wrestlemania but I am Mr. Wrestlemania”, to which Undertaker said, “You’ve had epic victories at Wrestlemania but you’ve also had bitter defeat”. Taker was going to his signature words when he started saying, “At Wrestlemania 25, You will Rest….”, the crowd already enchanted “In Peace” but before Taker could utter those words, Shawn stopped him and said, “I’ll Rest Very Comfortably, knowing that I did the impossible – I beat the Undertaker at the grandest stage of them all, Wrestlemania, and stopped his undefeated streak, something which no other man has ever been able to do. You have never beaten me and you never will”. That was hint enough that Michaels will lose the match. Almost everyone says that to the Undertaker before Wrestlemania and I wished Michaels had not made it so predictable by saying the same thing so many times. It should have been something different this time, but well with the rest of the promos, it definitely was. By the end of this promo, you could see that Shawn is getting the upper hand and this promo had already beaten all the Stone Cold/ Rock promos of the past which used to be very verbally gripping.

Smackdown: Undertaker dominated Kozlov in a match to show to Shawn that if he could beat Kozlov, then the dead-man himself could do it with more ease. So much for Kozlov’s undefeated streak on Smackdown, the Phenom connected all his moves including old school top-rope walk, snake eyes followed by big boot, choke-slam and an unbelievable tombstone piledriver on the heavy Kozlov to end the match. Undertaker then rose and pointed towards the Wrestlemania logo, and the lights/ music effect made it look even more classy.

Raw: Taker and Shawn Michaels teamed up in a tag-team match against JBL and Kozlov, where obviously the legends won. Shawn took a beating and then tagged in Taker. Taker cleaned house, beating both the fatsos of the other corner, and when he was just about to choke-slam JBL, Michaels touched Taker’s raised-hand to tag himself in and connected Sweet Chin Music on JBL to win the match. Taker was angry, because he did all the hard work which went towards winning the match, but Shawn showed his cocky behavior of capitalizing on the situation once more. Taker tried to kick Shawn but Shawn escaped, and then Taker followed him through the aisle-way in anger. Shawn quickly ran back-stage in fear of getting beaten up. Taker left following him and while he was looking towards the crowd, Shawn came back out of nowhere and super-kicked Taker on the jaw with Sweet Chin Music. The crowd loved it, because it was once again Shawn’s home-crowd of San Antonio, and Michaels had to be given the upper hand in front of them.

Raw: Taker appeared in the ring out of nowhere said that once again, Shawn’s arrogance had taken him too far and he was himself opening the gates to hell with his actions. Taker said to Shawn, “Need I remind you that the last time we met, you spent 5 years at home in agonizing pain”. (Undertaker even flicked a very minute smile when he said that!) To this, Shawn cut another unbelievable promo where he appeared on the titantron but he appeared in a graveyard like Undertaker used to earlier!!!!!!!! This was reminiscent of the promos which Undertaker did from the graveyard against Hulk Hogan, Yokozuna, Kane, Kamala, Vince McMahon, Batista, etc. This time, Shawn was standing I in a graveyard and supposedly, the tombs shown there belonged to Undertaker’s Wrestlemania opponents. Shawn showed a video package of Undertaker’s achievements at Mania and himself quoted all of them as he went past each tomb. Then he went to the last tomb which read 16-1, and he said that he had created this one for Undertaker himself. Then he broke that tomb, pushed it into the grave below, said “Undefeated Streak – Rest In Peace”, and started putting mud into it with a shovel as Undertaker used to do in his earlier promos. This was way too amazing, and when the video ended and the lights came back, Undertaker was as angry as hell, striding up and down the ring and rolling his eyes back, with a groan in anger. The commentators spiced it up by saying that, “I have never seen the Undertaker like this – does Shawn Michaels have a death wish or is it actually Mr. Wrestlemania winning in mind-games against the Undertaker? Nobody has done this to the Undertaker before. Will we see the same Undertaker that we’ve known at Wrestlemania?” By now, Shawn had gained the upper hand in mind-games as well as action. What is interesting is that Shawn himself put the 16-1 tomb inside the grave which indirectly could mean that it won’t be 16-1 at Mania but in reality the dead-man will go 17-0.

Smackdown: Shawn Michaels appeared dressed as the Undertaker! But he was dressed all in white instead of black. He made a similar entrance, and raised his hands to bring back the lights from the ring-corner. He then claimed himself to be the angel of good and said that he will fight the lord of darkness at Wrestlemania and beat him so that good prevails over evil. However, this might be the only case where evil will be cheered more than the good, and that evil will actually prevail over the good. Undertaker came out from below the ring (reminded me of how he came out against Diesel, Shawn's former manager) and tried to choke-slam him, but he lifted Michaels so high that he escaped from above the ring. It is important to give Shawn the upper-hand in the mind-games and the build-up to the match, because otherwise he cannot compare to Undertaker in power/ size or popularity. Everybody remembers how badly Undertaker beat him in their matches in the 1990s, and since Shawn is at an obvious disadvantage in strength (moreover he is fighting Taker at Mania, where Taker never loses), it is obvious that to make the rivalry look double-sided, Shawn should be given the upper hand right now. They are making it look like Shawn Michaels is not scared of the Undertaker and he is as cocky/ confident as ever, and he is playing Undertaker’s own mind-games with him to make him weak and obtaining the psychological advantage before the match (unlike regular story-lines where Undertaker plays the mind-games, scares the opponents, says Rest In Peace and beats them). The more he is given an upper hand before the actual match (to make it look double-sided), the more are his chances of losing the actual match at Mania. Of course, most of the promos are derived from Undertaker’s character (like Shawn appearing in his attire or in the grave) because the Undertaker’s gimmick is more innovative and allows for a lot more manipulation/ story-telling around itself.

Raw: Shawn Michaels offered a funeral for the Undertaker, who appeared in the ring and started throwing just about everything in anger. Shawn was hiding under the casket, and then he came out to give another super-kick to Undertaker.

I cannot stop to imagine what the Smackdown promo will be this week. Surely it should be something explosive! I guess that either Undertaker will get a hand at Michaels or he will evade a kick from Michaels, sending him a message back. Shawn will still retain the advantage before the match.
 
Shawn has long waited for this match because he wanted a good match with the best in the business, the Undertaker, before calling it a day. It is not known whether Shawn will actually retire after Mania or not, but considering his recent injuries and last year’s part-time schedule, he might quit soon. So he wanted to have a good show with Undertaker before quitting, and this will also help culminate their 12-year old rivalry. Taker might go for the championship after Mania (which he never lost last year but which he was stripped off due to injury). What will make this match more interesting is that Wrestlemania is in Undertaker’s home-town of Houston, so the crowd support for Undertaker should be awesome. At the same time, since Houston is in Texas and close to San Antonio, there should be good support for Shawn Michaels also. The both have met several times at San Antonio before as stated earlier but this time when the 2 greatest war-horses and the longest-lasting legends in the business battle it out at Undertaker’s home-town for the first time and that too at the silver jubilee (25th anniversary) of the grandest show in pro-wrestling, Wrestlemania, the atmosphere is bound to be spell-binding!