Wrestlemania is the biggest wrestling event of all time. It
features high profile matches, celebrity involvement, and showcases World
Wrestling Entertainment’s product on a global stage. An event this big only
happens once a year, but that does not mean you only have to watch it once
every 365 days. WWE has released every Wrestlemania on some sort of home video
format whether it be on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray. Over the course of the next few
weeks, I will review the different home video editions of Wrestlemania that I
own.
The Wrestlemania 25 3-Disc DVD set is the subject of this
week’s review. This Wrestlemania was shot in high definition and was released
on both Blu-Ray and on DVD. The Blu-Ray version obviously has better sound and
picture quality than the DVD version, but both have are able to be presented in
either a 4:3 aspect ratio or a 16:9 aspect ratio. I prefer the 16:9 aspect
ratio as the picture is wider, and you are able to see more things on screen as
opposed to the 4:3 aspect ratio.
Disc 1 contains the first few hours of the Wrestlemania 25
pay-per-view on it. It starts with the traditional singing of “America the
Beautiful” by Nicole Scherzinger and continues up to the Triple Threat Match
for the World Heavyweight Championship between Edge, John Cena, and the Big
Show.
Disc 2 starts with the continuation of Wrestlemania 25,
which includes the introduction of the 2009 WWE Hall of Fame Inductees and the
WWE Championship Match between Randy Orton and Triple H. Also on disc 2 is the
preWrestlemania 25 Lumberjack Match for the Unified Tag Team Championship in
which the team of Carlito and Primo took on the Miz and John Morrison. The
other special features are highlights from Wrestlemanias 1-24. The highlights
are fun to watch as you get to speed through the first 24 Wrestlemania events.
The third disc of the set contains the entire 2009 WWE Hall
of Fame Induction Ceremony and features the inductions of the Funks, Ricky “The
Dragon” Steamboat, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This was a good class with the
biggest name on the list of inductees being Austin. Even if you do not enjoy
watching the induction ceremonies, every wrestling fan needs to at least watch the
induction of Stone Cold, one of the biggest if not the biggest icon in the
professional wrestling industry.
The packaging for this Wrestlemania is fantastic, and I
think it is the best-looking Wrestlemania packaging that WWE has ever done. The
front of the packaging has the Wrestlemania 25 logo and a variety of wrestlers
who were in the WWE at that time surrounding it. The inside of the packaging
features pictures from the event with the two most prominent being of both
world title matches. The DVD discs even look good as the first two discs have a
similar look to the front of the packaging. The look of the third disc mirrors
that of the first two with the difference being that instead of the
Wrestlemania 25 logo and the wrestlers from WWE’s 2009 roster, it features the
WWE Hall of Fame logo and the 2009 inductees.
Overall, the Wrestlemania 25 3-Disc DVD set is a great home
video version of the pay-per-view. The packaging looks great, there are a lot
of bonus features, and the event itself was really good. Highlights that make
this Wrestlemania worth a watch are the Extreme Rules Match between Matt and
Jeff Hardy, Chris Jericho taking on Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, and Ricky
Steamboat in a match in which Steamboat showed the world that, despite his age,
he can still perform in the ring, the Money in the Bank Ladder Match, the
Triple Threat Match for World Heavyweight Title, and the show stealing battle
between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker, which is one of the greatest
Wrestlemania matches of all time. This was a really good Wrestlemania and one
that needs to be in every wrestling fan’s collection.
Keep an eye out for the Wrestlemania 26 3-Disc DVD set
review!
