WWE - Wrestlemania XXI (DVD)

...question of why did the WWE fire her?

Possibly the greatest match of all time occurred next between Smackdowns! Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle and Raws Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels! This match alone would be the reason to buy the DVD! I know I may be slightly biased because these guys are my two favourite wrestlers ever but it was purely fantastic seeing these to battle it out. Two great workers don't always make a good match, ...
.../> JBL was defending his WWE Championship against John Cena. This was before people started to boo him. Apparently...the match got 11 minutes which, to be quite honest, wasn't long enough considering how long the 'Wrestling God!' had had the belt for. It worries me that this match was so high up the card and wasn't a patch on HBK vs Angle!

Lastly, Triple H defended his precious World Heavyweight Championship against former Evolution ... more

Wrestlemania 21, set in Hollywood California promised to be the most glamorous event in the WWE's history. With a very mixed card, how did it portray on television?

We start Wrestlemania with the talented Lillian Garcia singing the American National Anthem and a short video package of up and coming matches for that evening. A little bit of time wasting in my opinion...

The opening match between Rey Mysterio and the soon to be late Eddie Guerrero certainly got the crowd worked up into a frenzy. A very mixed crowd response with a fair few 'Eddie!' chants through out the match up. An awesome match, certainly great to get the event started!

Next, we move onto the 'Money in the Bank' Ladder Match where the winner would get a World Heavyweight Title shot anytime in the next 12 months. There were some incredible spots in this match, especially when Shelton Benjamin ran up a ladder to knock Chris Jericho off another! Chris Benoit sold his injuries like he never had before, with many wondering backstage if he was legitimately injured! Again, the crowd were very mixed and it was great to hear some well deserved cheers for Mr. Benjamin! Christian and Kane put on some good performances too but in the end, the Rated R Superstar Edge got the victory which, in some ways, was predictable but a disappointment as he didn't do that much, I felt.

The 'Legend vs Legend Killer' match between The Undertaker and Randy Orton happened next. Orton pulled a good match out of the aging 'Taker and, when you take into the account the serve shoulder injury Orton was wrestling with at that time, he put on one heck of a performance! However, I did think it would be nice not to see it be 13 - 0 at Wrestlemania to Undertaker. It would have done wonders for Orton's 'Legend Killer' gimmick.

Reigning Women's Champion Trish Stratus took on the companies then Playboy cover girl Christy Hemme in the only women's bout of the night and, after watching this one, was probably a blessing! Although, I would have been unfair to think that Christy would have pulled off a Gail Kim style match up. She was still pretty green at the time but, considering that, did quite well for her first ever singles match. Unsurprisingly, Trish won. However, when Christy was on Smackdown! a few months later, you could really tell how much the red head had improved since her near disastrous Wrestlemania match. Which leads to the question of why did the WWE fire her?

Possibly the greatest match of all time occurred next between Smackdowns! Olympic Gold Medallist Kurt Angle and Raws Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels! This match alone would be the reason to buy the DVD! I know I may be slightly biased because these guys are my two favourite wrestlers ever but it was purely fantastic seeing these to battle it out. Two great workers don't always make a good match, but this match certainly proved that theory wrong! The victory came when HBK tapped out to the Ankle Lock after being held in the submission for a vast amount of time. Trust me, everyone was standing by this point in the arena and they were so split on who to cheer for. Both men left with a standing ovation.

Piper's Pit was up next and, although advertised to be something ground breaking, didn't really work that well. Carlito came out which was cool (duh!) to spice things up a bit. Of course, it ended with Austin stunning everyone in site! Not a lot more to say about that bit!

The Sumo Match between Big Show and Akebono was up next...sorry, I can't review that as I've never been bothered enough to watch it! The pure idea of Big Show in a thong makes me feel physically ill, let alone seeing it!

JBL was defending his WWE Championship against John Cena. This was before people started to boo him. Apparently...the match got 11 minutes which, to be quite honest, wasn't long enough considering how long the 'Wrestling God!' had had the belt for. It worries me that this match was so high up the card and wasn't a patch on HBK vs Angle!

Lastly, Triple H defended his precious World Heavyweight Championship against former Evolution protégé Batista in a match that was better than the previous but not brilliant. It did show how much Triple H carried Batista through out the whole thing. After a long pin, Batista was the new Heavyweight Champion of the World!

In terms of extras, there is plenty to keep you entertained for a little while. With all of the nine parodies from famous movies, they don't take long to get a little tedious but, at the time, were the best way to advertise a Hollywood Wrestlemania! The Motorhead Unplugged with Triple H can only be described as ego boosting and tacky. The retrospectives of Kurt Angle, Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker's careers are worth a watch as is the majority of the Hall of Fame ceremony on Disk 3 although that was mainly a smear champagne for Hulk Hogan and his 'pop star' daughter which over shadowed all of the other Hall of Fame inductees in my opinion.

All in all, if you are a WWE fan, you might as well buy the DVD. If you love Shawn Michaels and Kurt Angles work, this is the DVD for you. For this match only, you should buy it. But matches such as the Sumo Match and the WWE Championship bout make me thankful that I wasn't there in person!

However, the DVD as a whole is not as strong as the previous years of Wrestlemania 19 and Wrestlemania 20 but is still worth the watch. 

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