Well, last night, the WWE held their annual Super Bowl-type event. WrestleMania. But, not just any WrestleMania, it was the 25th anniversary of WrestleMania? So, how was it? Fortunately, I was able to watch it online, so I can give you my 2 cents worth on it.

Opening:
The opening history of WrestleMania video played, and all the pyro went off. Always awesome. Then Nicole Sherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, sang “God Bless America” in the ring. That brought to mind when I was in attendance at WrestleMania 23. Aretha Franklin sang it there. Hmm, Nicole Sherzinger, Aretha Franklin. I think we all know who we would rather see.

Money in the Bank Ladder Match:
The annual MITB match wasn’t that bad. I am sure we all felt it was going to be something to behold, what with all the high-fliers in the match…..you know, like Mark Henry and Kane. It wasn’t bad, thought. Shelton Benjamin ran cat-like up a series of ladders, and Kofi Kingston ran up the ladder ash it was held, closed, by Mark Henry. CM Punk won the match, for the second year in a row. The crowd didn’t seem too keen on Punk. I wonder if that is just a Texas thing, or that is becoming the norm? Kind of surprising that he won again. I was kinda hoping Christian would have won. Anyway, like I said an ok match. But, I am not sure if there was a “Holy $#!%” moment.

Kid Rock Performs:
Ok……Kid Rock is performing. Nice performance, not sure why they needed him to perform, though. At least it was a different way to bring the Divas to the ring for the 25 Diva Battle Royal. But, I wished that they would have introduced all of the Divas, especially the returning Divas from yeteryear. I am sure many people at home didn’t know the likes of Sunny, Molly Holly, etc were actually in the match until they were eliminated.

25 Diva Battle Royal:
Like I said, I wish they would have introduced the Divas, so we could see the ones that were returning. Oh well. It was an ok, match. Nothing noteworthy, except the introduction of a new Diva, Santina Marella, Santino’s twin sister, no less. She seems to have quite a future in front of her, becoming Miss Wrestlemania and winning the Battle Royal in her debut. Odd, I would have thought Santino would have come down to the ring and celebrated with her. He wasn’t even on the show. Well, I guess they only have room for so many wrestlers.

Chris Jericho vs Legends
I couldn’t believe how this match turned out. It was basically no contest when Jericho pinned “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. But, I’ll be dipped, Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat can still do it. He looked really good. For one thing, he looked to still be in decent shape (at least he looks better than JBL). He skinned the cat and sailed over the top rope like he was an active wrestler. But, in the end, Jericho won. Then, of course, like we all expected, Jericho mocked Mickey Rourke, who was sitting at ringside, and egged him into the ring, which Rourke eventually did. They both threw a few jabs, then Rourke sent a “thunderous left” (cough, cough) and laid out Jericho, then celebrated in the ring with Ric Flair. It was at that point where, reportedly, “Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, had the same reaction as me: “That was it?” All of that buildup and media hype, and that was it? It was a little pathetic. If it wasn’t for Steamboat, who I am sure surprised most with his ability, it was a pretty forgettable match.

Hardy vs Hardy:
This was a match I was looking forward to. Matt and Jeff Hardy, 2 extreme risk takers, were going to let it all hang out! No telling what moves they were going to do to each other in this epic battle. At least, that is what I thought. Seemed like Jeff did all the crazy stuff. Not that there was a lot, but he did most of the high risk manuevers. But, in the end, that is what did him in, as he tried to leapfrog over a ladder and land on Matt, who moved out of the way. Jeff got all mat, but no Matt. (Did that make any sense?). Matt was able to capitalize for the win. I was a little surprised that was the end, but I am sure this sibling war has just begun.

Rey Mysterio vs JBL for the Intercontinental Championship
Well, unfortunately, I looked down into my popcorn bowl to get a big handful of popcorn, and when I looked back up, the match was over! Rey Mysterio pinned JBL in 21 seconds to become the new Intercontinental Champion! Wow. Who would have thought that? JBL was so ticked off, he quit! Now, he has known for a while that WrestleMania would be his last match, as he is ready to move on. Well, you sure did go out in a blaze of glory, JBL! On a different note, what the heck was Rey wearing? Looks like an homage to Heath Ledger as the Joker. OK? Looked more like Doink the Clown. Suspenders too, eh? Okie Dokie! Well, it worked! JBL was probably dumbfounded when he saw Rey, causing him to lose. Back to JBL’s performance for a minute. At least Snuka and Piper and say they out-performed him. Sheesh.

Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker
Match of the night, by far! A picture of it even made the front page of the Houston paper! You could see why Shawn Michaels is Mr. WrestleMania, even in defeat. First of all, he made one of the coolest entrances of the night, as he “ascended from heaven” dressed in white. And what a performance he and the Undertaker put on. I am not sure how long the match was, but it was a long one, and a very hard fought one. At one point, I thought the Undertaker might have broken his neck, when he flew over the top rope, only to seemingly land head first on a cameraman that Michaels pulled in front of him. But, he didn’t. The Undertaker, later in the match, put Michaels in 3 different finishers: the chokeslam, the last ride, and a tombstone, only to kick out each time. But, he couldn’t withstand a second tombstone, and the Undertaker went to 17-0 at WrestleMania. Both performers should have gotten a standing ovation. They both equally gave it their all.

John Cena vs Big Show vs Edge for the World Heavyweight Title
I didn’t get to see much of this match, as my computer and my video stream had issues. So I had to reboot my computer at this point. I did manage to see all the John Cena look alikes come out to his old “Thug Life” entrance music and stood along both sides of the isle while Cena came out. That was kinda neat. When my computer came back on and I got the stream back just in time to see John Cena hoist the Big Show and Edge up on his shoulders (over 700 lbs of wrestler) to give them an attitude adjustment. But, Edge slipped off, so he gave it to the Big Show first, and then Edge. I wonder if Cena was to flip both of them off into the attitude adjustment at the same time, but Edge couldn’t hold on. Well, either way, it was a very impressive feet by John Cena, who won the championship, and celebrated by going into crowd, like he did when he won the title for the first time. So, the 10 seconds of the match I saw were good.

Stone Cold and the Hall of Famers
The Hall of Fame class of 2009 was introduced, including Austin, who then went to the back, only to come back out to his entrance music in a 4-wheeler, and take it down and circle the ring, then get out, and have several beers in the ring, as he saluted the crowd. Jim Ross mentioned this as being the end of the Stone Cold era, and that he was saying goodbye. That actually made me sad. It was like we were never going to see him again, which I know we will, someday.

Triple H vs Randy Orton for the WWE Title
This match was pretty disappointing to me, too. I expected a knock down, drag out match from 2 wrestlers that hated each other. Well, it kinda was I guess, but I don’t think there was anything really special. I kind of thought it would be neat if somehow, Stone Cold would have gotten involved and helped Triple H beat Randy Orton by giving him a Stone Cold Stunner, and ironically helping the McMahon Family. That would be fitting, since Orton keeps on bragging about how Austin was one of his legendary victims. But, there was no such outside interferance by anyone. Triple H did win, but I was surprised that that was when it ended. But, I guess it was fitting. Triple H nailed Orton with the sledgehammer, and got the 1-2-3. You know that this battle, like the Hardy battle, is just beginning.

Final Thoughts
I am glad I didn’t pay almost $60 for this on PPV. I enjoyed it, as I have seen very few WrestleManias live. But, I just think some of the matches could have had more to them. The legends match was very disappointing. In a way, it is too bad the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker match didn’t end the show, as that was the best match of the night by far. But, that is usually reserved for a championship match, so I won’t make too much of a stink about it. So, for the money I paid, I got my money’s worth!

On the heels of a very successful return to the big screen in “The Wrestler”, Mickey Rourke has been selected to play Whiplash in Iron Man 2.

Variety is reporting that the 56-year-old actor had reportedly been offered only $250,000 to play the role. On Feb. 18, New York magazine reported that the deal seemed to have fallen apart, although sources told EW the next day that it wasn’t necessarily dead yet. Rourke’s agents have since renegotiated his deal, Variety says, but there’s no word on exactly how much he’ll be paid. Rourke will play a Russian character called Whiplash, using elements from another comic book bad guy, Crimson Dynamo.

Rourke recently scored an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, in “The Wrestler”. That was a movie about a once headlining professional wrestler who, now at the end of his career, makes his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.

This story doesn’t necessarily relate to wrestling, except for that fact that Rourke has been welcomed into the wrestling world with open arms for his dead-on portrayal of a has-been wrestler in “The Wrestler”, plus he is going to be in attendance in WrestleMania 25, and have some role in a match with Chris Jericho.

This story seems to change day by day. It looks as if the WWE is/was going to have some sort of match with Mickey Rourke and Chris Jericho. It would apparently be the match that features a celebrity outside the wrestling world, which is what WrestleMania does every year.

If you saw Raw this past week, you saw a clip of Mickey Rourke being interviewed on the red carpet before the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles this past weekend, and calling Chris Jericho out, of all people. Later on Raw, Jericho came out to the stage and basically excepted.

Using Rourke as this year’s celebrity at WrestleMania 25, is a good move. Rourke has gotten rave reviews for the Wrestler, even from the mainstream media. I am sure this would bring more interest to WrestleMania from people who would like to see how well he performs, and if his acting skills from “The Wrestler” carry over.

For Jericho, it should be a nice pat on the back for him to be involved in this high profile match, and will get bigger exposure because of it. He already pops up on VH1 shows and the like from time to time and has hosted a weekly radio show on XM Radio.

Now, it isn’t known yet if this would be a normal 1 on 1 match with the 2 of them or not, of if there will be any stipulations in the match. Both were on Larry King Live Tuesday night and seemed to get the ball rolling. When Rourke was asked if he would wrestle Jericho, he said that wrestling was Jericho’s world, not his, although he does have experience boxing. So, it might be some sort of gimmicky match.

However, yesterday the Associated Press reported that a spokeswoman for Rourke said he won’t be taking his role as a professional wrestler into a real-life ring after all, and that he will be entirely focussing on his acting career.

Apparently, the thought is his appearance could hurt his chances of getting an Oscar. However, Vince McMahon still sounds confident that a match will take place. He issued a statement on www.EOnline.com, stating “I am pleased that Mickey Rourke will be in attendance at WrestleMania to support the WWE Superstars who support him and the film in which he stars, “The Wrestler”.”

I guess all we can do, is stay tuned.

When I first heard of the movie “The Wrestler”, starring Mickey Rourke, I didn’t really think it was going to amount to much. I thought it was probably going to get panned by the critics, and that it probably wouldn’t last long in the theaters. Boy, was I wrong. From the beginning it got really good reviews, and Time Magazine has called it Mickey Rourke’s comeback film.

“The Wrestler”, directed by Darren Aronofsky, stars Rourke, Earnest Miller, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood, premiered at the 2008 Venice Film Festival, and won top honors. Fox Searchlight then acquired the rights to distribute the film in the US, and was released in a limited capacity on December 17, 2008.

The film is centered on retired professional wrestler Randy “The Ram” Robinson, once a headlining professional wrestler and now at the end of his career, as he makes his way through the independent circuit, trying to get back in the game for one final showdown with his former rival.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Rourke being interviewed on NBC’s Today Show. I thought, maybe people are going to give this film a chance. Famous film critic Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars, stating “I cared as deeply about Randy the Ram as any movie character I’ve seen this year. I cared about Mickey Rourke, too. The way this role and this film unfold, that almost amounts to the same thing. Rourke may not win the Oscar for best actor. But it would make me feel good to see him up there. It really would.” Other critics have applauded Rourke for his portrayal of Robinson. Some have said this work could earn him the Oscar. Well, if he doesn’t win that, his performance was good enough to win him a Golden Globe award.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to see “The Wrestler” yet, since it hasn’t played in my area. But, I will be sure to watch it when it comes out on DVD. I will watch it as a wrestling fan, to see what it is like for wrestlers like him and what they go through during this stage of their lives/careers, and not as someone looking for some artistic masterpiece. But, if I do find it to find it to be that way, then that is just gravy!