Background in
Houston,
Texas.
WrestleMania is considered
World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) flagship
professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV)
event, having first been held in
1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of WWE's original four pay-per-views, which includes
Royal Rumble,
SummerSlam, and
Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". WrestleMania 25 was held on April 5, 2009, at
Reliant Stadium in
Houston,
Texas. The event featured wrestlers from the
Raw,
SmackDown, and
ECW brands. The event was marketed as "The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania" and written as "WrestleMania 25th Anniversary", although it actually occurred in the year of the 24th anniversary of the
inaugural event. As the second WrestleMania to be held in Houston and the state of Texas after
WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001 at the
Astrodome, WWE mainly promoted WrestleMania 25 under the tagline "Everything Is Bigger in Texas, Especially WrestleMania" since its announcement at
WrestleMania XXIV in March 2008. WWE later began using "The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania" name in late 2008 to primarily promote the event. Tickets for WrestleMania 25 were originally scheduled to go on sale September 20, 2008, but had to be postponed out of concern for the residents near the
Gulf of Mexico due to
Hurricane Ike and the disaster area declaration by Texas
Governor Rick Perry. Following another postponement due to the effect of Ike on the state of Texas, WWE announced that ticket sales would be postponed until November 8, 2008. The official
theme songs for the event were
AC/DC's "
War Machine" and their
live version of "
Shoot to Thrill", as well as "
So Hott" by
Kid Rock. Other songs used at the event include "
Crash" by
Decyfer Down and "
Touched" by
VAST.
Marketing According to WWE's executive vice president, Michelle Wilson, WrestleMania 25 featured the most extensive promotional campaign in WrestleMania history. Promotion for the event included a merchandise deal with
Kmart enabling discounts on the pay-per-view's retail price, as well as deals with
DirecTV and
Dish Network to promote through
interactive television. The campaign also saw WWE mail to previous purchasers of WrestleMania,
professional boxing and
mixed martial arts pay-per-views to order their show. WWE spent US$10 million for cross-channel spots on television networks such as
ESPN,
MTV and the
USA Network. The
Army National Guard were the primary sponsor for the event, using the event to help enhance their recruitment. To commemorate the event,
THQ and
Yuke's produced a
video game,
WWE Legends of WrestleMania, that was released a few weeks prior to the event and featured past competitors from the company. As with previous WrestleMania events, a series of events were held in the week preceding WrestleMania 25. For the second consecutive year,
WrestleManiArt, an art exhibition and auction featuring work by WWE wrestlers and local artists, was held at the
Julia Ideson Building on April 1, with the proceeds going to
Houston Public Library Foundation. WrestleMania's annual
fan convention,
WrestleMania Axxess, was held from April 2 through April 5 at
Reliant Center. On April 4, WWE hosted its annual
WWE Hall of Fame ceremony at the
Toyota Center, where the Class of 2009 were inducted.
Storylines WrestleMania featured
professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing
scripted feuds,
plots, and
storylines that were played out on
Raw,
Friday Night SmackDown, and
ECW on Sci Fi—
World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) primary television programs. Wrestlers were portrayed as either a
villain or a
hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches. The event featured wrestlers from WWE's Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands—a
storyline division in which WWE's employees are assigned to a television program of the same name.
John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) defeated
CM Punk on the March 9 episode of
Raw to win the
WWE Intercontinental Championship. A week later, JBL's old rival
Rey Mysterio issued a challenge to face JBL for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania. With the match accepted by JBL, this would be the first time since
WrestleMania X8 that the Intercontinental Championship would be defended at WrestleMania. On the March 30 episode of
Raw, JBL was pinned by Mysterio in a non-title match. At
No Way Out,
Shawn Michaels defeated John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) in a match with the added stipulation that if JBL had won, he would have become the owner of Michaels'
name and likeness. On the February 16 episode of
Raw, Michaels challenged JBL to another match, with the winner advancing to WrestleMania to challenge
The Undertaker to attempt to end his
undefeated streak at the event. Simultaneously, Orton began to assault the
McMahon family, the owners of the WWE. During this conflict, Orton
punted both
Vince and
Shane McMahon (father and son, respectively) in the head as well as
RKO-ing Stephanie McMahon (Vince's daughter), which enraged the WWE Champion (and Stephanie's husband)
Triple H. On the March 2 episode of
Raw, Triple H convinced Orton to use his title opportunity in a match for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. The following weeks saw Triple H attack Orton both backstage and at his house. In retaliation, Orton attacked Triple H's wife Stephanie McMahon. As a result, Triple H recruited his brother-in-law and father-in-law, Shane and Vince McMahon respectively. , seen here making his entrance at WrestleMania 25, challenged
Edge and
Big Show for the
World Heavyweight Championship. After the main event of the March 2 episode of
Raw, SmackDown
general manager Vickie Guerrero announced that her husband
Edge would defend his World Heavyweight Championship against
Big Show at WrestleMania. The next week on
Raw, Vickie announced to the surprise of Edge and Big Show that Cena would be in the match, thus making it a
Triple Threat match. It was soon revealed that the match would involve the new challenger based on Cena
extorting Guerrero with footage of the general manager having
adulterous relations with Big Show. The next week on
Raw, Edge, Vickie and Big Show were set to confront Cena due to Cena revealing the affair between Vickie and Big Show, much to the chagrin of all three. As a result, Guerrero arranged a match pitting Edge against Cena with herself serving as a special guest referee. With all that misdirected hostility focused on Cena, who could not touch Vickie or he would sacrifice his World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania, a lopsided confrontation seemed inevitable. As Edge and Cena battled, Big Show walked down the ramp toward the ring. When he arrived, Edge joined him in tying Cena up within the ring ropes. Fittingly, each drove their anger in his direction: Edge speared him, Vickie slapped him and Big Show drove his giant fist into Cena's ribs several times before clocking him in the jaw. Edge then speared Big Show and sent a message that he would retain his title at WrestleMania. The fifth annual
Money in the Bank ladder match was announced for WrestleMania 25 on the February 23 episode of
Raw. The briefcase holds a symbolic contract which the holder would be able to exchange for a WWE, World Heavyweight, or ECW Championship match at any time or location of his choosing up until one year. To participate in the match, a wrestler had to first qualify for it by winning a match; this process began on the February 23 episode of
Raw, in which
CM Punk qualified by defeating
The Miz and
John Morrison in a Triple Threat match. The next week of
Raw,
Kane defeated
Rey Mysterio and
Mike Knox in another Triple Threat match. Both
Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) and
Shelton Benjamin qualified for the match on the March 6 episode of
SmackDown by defeating
Matt Hardy and
Jeff Hardy in respective singles matches.
Finlay was the final wrestler to qualify for the match when he defeated The
Brian Kendrick on the March 13 episode of
SmackDown. Over the following weeks, the participants competed in
eight-man tag team matches and an eight-man
battle royal. (left) and
Matt Hardy (right) engaged in a rivalry before WrestleMania. The buildup to WrestleMania 25 also included a rivalry between brothers Matt and Jeff Hardy. During Jeff's match against Edge at the
Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship, Matt came down to the ring, appearing to help his brother. Instead, Matt
turned on Jeff by hitting him with a steel chair, costing Jeff the match and his WWE title. After losing his Money in the Bank qualifying match to MVP on the March 6 episode of
SmackDown, Matt interfered in Jeff's qualifying match later that night by punching Jeff's opponent, Shelton Benjamin,
disqualifying Jeff from the match. On the January 23 episode of
SmackDown,
WWE Tag Team Champions The Colóns (
Primo and
Carlito) defeated
World Tag Team Champions John Morrison and The Miz in a
tag team match. After their loss, Miz and Morrison proceeded to harass their defeaters on their weekly
Internet show, the
Dirt Sheet, as well as profess the brothers' impotence towards their
associates,
The Bella Twins. The two teams wrestled again on the February 13 episode of
SmackDown, with the winning team earning a date with the Bellas. Miz and Morrison won the rematch and the date. The two teams continued their feud in the coming weeks, and while the initial focus of the feud was the competition for the Bella Twins, the feud took on a dual purpose as each team successfully defended their respective titles in subsequent matches with both teams retaining their respective belts; it was announced on the March 17 episode of
ECW that the WWE and World Tag Team titles would be
unified at WrestleMania into what would be called the "Unified WWE Tag Team Championship". with
Mickey Rourke at WrestleMania 25 At the
15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, actor
Mickey Rourke, who gained critical acclaim at the time for his role in the film
The Wrestler, had announced he would be competing at WrestleMania, specifically targeting Chris Jericho. The announcement led to a storyline confrontation between the two on
Larry King Live, which showed signs of second thoughts from Rourke. On January 28, it was announced Rourke's spokesperson that the actor would not compete at the event, but would still be in attendance. Jericho's narrative subsequently evolved towards one of the themes from
The Wrestler, which was the respect for older wrestlers after their careers start to decline, of which Jericho disapproved. On the February 9 episode of
Raw,
Ric Flair appeared to protest Jericho's tirades, professing that the wrestlers should be respected, as they had paved the way for the future generations to make a living, leading to a heated exchange between the two. Over the coming weeks, Jericho was confronted by a number of legends including
Roddy Piper, == Event ==