411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #9 – WrestleMania 23

WrestleMania 23 saw WrestleMania 4 and 5 host Donald Trump get involved, as he was a part of the Battle of the Billionaires with the WWE’s Vince McMahon. Both men would chose a wrestler to represent the in the battle, but it just wasn’t pride on the line, but also the prized pompadours of the Billionaires. Elsewhere, the Undertaker would challenge Batista for the World Title and in the main event, and Mr. WrestleMania Shawn Michaels would return to challenge John Cena for the WWE Title…

* Mr. Kennedy won Money in the Bank @ 19:11
* The Great Khali defeated Kane @ 5:32 via pin
* US Title Match: Chris Benoit defeated MVP @ 9:18 via pin
* World Title Match: The Undertaker defeated Batista © to become THE NEW WORLD CHAMPION @ 15:47 via pin
* The ECW Originals defeated The New Breed @ 6:26 via pin
* Battle of the Billionaires: Bobby Lashley defeated Umaga @ 13:02. Donald Trump got to shave Vince McMahon’s head
* Lumberjill Match: Melina defeated Ashley Massaro @ 3:11 via pin
* WWE Title Match: John Cena © defeated Shawn Michaels @ 28:22 via pin

Steve Cook
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels [****½] John Cena was on fire in 2007, having classic to good matches with pretty much everybody he worked with. It was easily the best in-ring year of his career, so it wasn’t surprising that he had a classic match in the main event of WrestleMania with a guy that most people believe is one of the greatest ever. Cena vs. Michaels got a similar reaction to Cena vs. Triple H the year before, and it fed off of the energy in Ford Field with HBK pulling out every trick in the book but just coming up a little short. I forget what the deal was with the aborted handshake at the end or if it was ever properly explained. In any event, Cena & Michaels tore the house down.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Kane vs. Great Khali [*] This was just brutal to sit through. I know that Great Khali is a huge fan of 411 in general, so I kind of feel bad about saying this, but this match had no chance at all. Khali’s tough to have a good match, and Kane is probably the last guy on Earth that’s capable of it. I don’t know who thought that having matches with these guys going one on one was a good idea, but hopefully they were wished well in their future endeavors.

Show MVP And Why: Shawn Michaels. WrestleMania 23’s main event wasn’t supposed to be John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels. All signs were pointing to Triple H getting a rematch with Cena until he tore his quad, and HBK was inserted into the spot because he was Triple H’s buddy and could have a good match with Cena. Well, HBK had a great match with Cena and was a huge part in drawing over 80,000 people to Ford Field on this evening. Just another reason why WWE calls him Mr. WrestleMania.

Your Thoughts on The Show: This was a much better show than I remembered it being on first watch. In addition to Cena/Michaels & Lashley/Umaga, you also had Undertaker & Batista in what was probably Batista’s best match ever. MITB was strong as usual, MVP & Chris Benoit had a solid match and ECW’s debut was well received. There were a couple of duds (Who thought it was a good idea having Ashley challenge for the Divas title?), but overall WrestleMania 23 was a really strong show.

TJ Hawke
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Money in the Bank [Edge, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, King Booker, Randy Orton, CM Punk, Mr. Kennedy, Finlay] [****1/4] While most people seemed to be partial to the two world title matches on this show, I think this match ended up being the best match on the show. It was definitely one of the best Money in the Bank matches ever, in large part due to the atmosphere, the star power, and he stories told throughout.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Melina vs. Ashley [0] Yep, the girls had a worse match than Kane and Great Khali.

Show MVP And Why: Shawn Michaels: Sure, Vince McMahon and Donald Trump probably are the reasons this show got the highest Wrestlemania buyrate of all time, but I firmly believe that a great Wrestlemania Main Event is usually the determining factor of how fondly Wrestlemania is remembered. Shawn Michaels absolutely carried John Cena here to a damn good match.

Your Thoughts on The Show: This show had a little bit of everything and most of it was done very well. MitB was a great stunt show, Trump/Vince provided some fun moments, Batista and Undertaker had a great power match, and Michaels and Cena provided a very strong main event to end the show on a high note. .

Tony Acero
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: SHAWN MICHAELS VS JOHN CENA: [****] My knee-jerk reaction was to give the title of “Best Match” to the Money in the Bank match, but I think I was just being drawn in by the spectacle of it all, because in reality Michaels and Cena put on a match without all the excess of ladders and the like, and still put on a match worth watching. This was around the time where Cena was still having some good matches with the likes of Umaga, and really showing that he has the capabilities to wrestle and not just turn on the Superman switch. Of course, with HBK and Mania, you damned near expect greatness. Not even the chemistry between Taker and Batista could make me label their match better than this. Michaels does it again, but Cena deserves just as much credit.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: THE GREAT KHALI VS KANE: [1/2*] This should really go to the Divas Match, as it was crap, but the thing is that I expected this to be crap, even back then. Not to say I didn’t expect Kane and Khali to suck, but arguably, Melina vs. Ashley was much easier to watch and much more pleasing to the eye. This was crap, and it’s hard to believe that Khali is still around. We’ve got evil Kane here with Khali who is just sort of…there. The match was just a lot of crap, and ended with Khali choking Kane out with the chain from his movie. Just….bad, especially since it followed immediately after the Money in the Bank Match.

Show MVP And Why: DONALD TRUMP: More of a default pick, and mostly because he completely no sold The Boogeyman during the show. He also was able to clothesline Mr. McMahon and take a Stunner! The man with more money than I’ve ever seen was able to have some fun on a show and step away from his scowling attitude of the norm.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Let’s look at the positive first. An amazing opening match, a great World Title Match, and a spectacular Main Event! Now let’s look at the negative; Khali and Kane, ECW old vs. ECW New, Lashley vs. Umaga, and Melina vs. Ashley. Then there is the in between of Chris Benoit and MVP and his cheerleaders. While there was a lot of sucktitude, the Main Event and the opening match hold so much weight. All in all, the thumbs are pointing more up than down, but still, it’s not completely upward. While the opening and closing make it feel very Wrestlemania, a lot of the rest was just average or below. As such, I’m thinking just above average for this show.

The List So Far…
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania 4
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25
22. WrestleMania 5
21. WrestleMania 13
20. WrestleMania
19. WrestleMania 6
18. WrestleMania 16
17. WrestleMania 7
16. WrestleMania 12
15. WrestleMania 8
14. WrestleMania 22
13. WrestleMania 28
12. WrestleMania 18
11. WrestleMania 14
10. WrestleMania 26
9. WrestleMania 23

REMINDER, each 411 writer had the opportunity to rank the WrestleMania events (based on overall quality, historical significance and personal preference), those rankings went into creating the final list.