Edge vs. The Undertaker

[9.0] "Its crazy to think Taker in his early to mid 40s suddenly started having all timer matches year after year at mania. Usually at this point most wrestlers are starting to cool down Taker leveled up. I think both guys of course were hugely motivated to put on a great match. This was Taker's first main event in 11 years and he wanted to make people forget about the snoozer he had with Sid at WM 13. And this was Edge's first main event. After spending nearly a decade putting on show stealing matches either with Christian or singles matches (His match with Foley at 21 is still one of the best sprints in history) he wanted to show he deserved to be here in a main event match at mania. Up to this point this was Taker's best mania match but the fact that he would totally blow this match out of the water the next two years after with Michaels is proof of how good he got in this period. It starts a little slow but it really heats up by the 10 minute mark and becomes pretty breathless until the ending. Taker and Edge had great chemistry and spent the rest of 2008 having banger matches. Easy top 5 streak match here."

[9.0] "Two of WrestleMania's greatest performers, one on one in the main event for the World Heavyweight Championship, turn out just about as good as you could hope for. Undertaker has some great high-flying moves, and Edge looks legit as hell against somebody much bigger than him in size. Excellent counters, kickouts, some good outside-the-ring stuff (very sparingly). Easily, this point was the best match we had seen during the streak, though that honor would end a year later. As much as I love Edge in this match, the right decision was to have Undertaker continue the Streak (something he should have continued till the day he retired). Charles Robinson has one of the most iconic ref run-ins of all time, and it really adds to the whole mystique of the match."

[9.0] "Streak vs Streak, and yeah that sounds strange but Edge came into that match with also an streak. Don't remember if it is only counting single matches or that does inclues tag team as well, but it doesn't really matter for my review. This is the match on the streak I felt Undertaker much more "lost" on his skills, he did some weird sequences that didn't caught up the crowd, and when a guy like him don't get heat, you know something is wrong. However, Edge performance here is great. It might be the best match non related with weapons during his entire career as a wrestler, his psycologh was so good, he knew the moments to bump, to sell, to counter, facial expression on point to sell his heel side and it was a tough job here to solidify the streak and the World Heavyweight Title as huge things at the same time. And yeah, at this point, the Streak is already that huge. Hell's Gate always was an hell of a submission, happy to see Undertaker using it in a WrestleMania match, finally."

[9.0] "A good match for the WHC. These two had a great feud. The first half of the match was pretty slow luckily when it did pick up it the action got better. Surprisingly the Undertaker used hells gate to win this one."

[8.0] "Much like Taker's classic against Batista the previous year, the "Streak vs. Title" nature of the match makes it feel so unique and prestigious while the drama and the ramifications get turned up a notch. It's not the classic Taker and Batista delivered the year prior, but it's still pretty damn good. The first half is quite frankly slow and uninteresting. Edge's work on top is fairly boring and the crowd is dead. The crowd comes to as the action peaks up significantly, and from there, it's a wild ride! Edge countering Taker's signature moves with his own so smoothly is great, the character work is excellent, and with Edge being that cheating opportunist make for some high-stakes drama. Those late shenanigans with the ref bump, Edge's low blow, him blasting Taker's head with a camera, Hawkins and Ryder coming in... Just breathtaking stuffs that make for a thrilling final stretch before Taker locks in the Hell's Gate and makes Edge tap out like a b! tch! Taker closes WrestleMania on top is perfect. ***3/4+"

[7.0] "Very long and slow buildup. There's high spots and some hard bumps, but it never keeps me invested. Liked this, didn't love it."

[8.0] "You can tell how high they were for Edge. Walking into the main event of Wrestlemania as World champion that he held for a long time, feeding with Taker for a year and to walk out after the deadman. Put on a classic main event and provided one of the best matches in The Streak. Even having the oppurtunity to break the Streak yet rejects it out of respect to Taker and the history. You feel the respect during the match from Taker, of the back and forth he willing to provide Edge throughout. The exhaustion from Taker played well into the story they told, be in scripted or real. So many iconic moments here, including Little Nach running like there's no tomorrow to the ring to the tap out finish. Incredible."

[9.0] "A worthy title match and a streak defense that is well worth watching. Over the course of the match, Edge transforms from an underdog into a desperate psycho machine, repeatedly putting the Taker in trouble with clever counterattacks to his signature moves. The multitude of plausible near falls contribute to the quality of the match, as do the conservative scripts 'ref bump' and 'outside interferenc'. It's fun, entertaining, and therefore, with a rounded nine, a clear recommendation."

[9.0] "Undertaker's most underrated Wrestlemania match IMO. This was perfect, and at the time it happened and the way the match built I actually believed he might lose(it went on last, I didn't expect this to go on last so the fact that it did had me scared. Great contest, these two always had good chemistry."

[9.0] "A great match as usual between these guys. Undertaker winning was obvious. I like how it was booked. Any time you get a main event at WrestleMania over four stars that's pretty damn good."

[10.0] "The first 5 star streak match. Absolutely brilliant final stretch, complete with an instantly iconic false finish featuring Charles Robinson's great ramp run."

[9.0] "Probably the match of the night especially the second part was absolutely amazing. Edge did an amazing job here and at some point you really thought he was going to win but the streak continues for the deadman as he won the World heavyweight championship. An incredible performance by both wrestles which led to an very entertaining match."

[9.0] "Excellent match which goes from good to great in the second half. Edge was really the first guy since the streak became a big deal that you felt like had a chance at breaking it. There were some good spots throughout, but Edge being pushed off of the turnbuckle to hit the floor and land the way he did was pretty gnarly. Really liked the finish with Taker catching Edge in the triangle lock and getting his first Wrestlemania victory via tap out."

[9.0] "Edge and Undertaker, once again, prove that they are simply incapable of having a bad match with one another. Their chemistry was fully on display throughout the match. What a match to close the show. ****1/2"

"***** (10/10) 16 and 0! And the streak lives on. Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury: Taker/Edge might have been the best bell to bell encounter since the Streak first began at WrestleMania VII. The aura of the Streak had been growing through the previous three Manias, but it never felt bigger till Edge would risk the life of his streak against the Undertaker's. And can you believe that Vince wanted Edge to go over. Its like one of those computers that he says lives in his brain lives to f**k up the quality of each WrestleMania. Though, we should be grateful that at this time Edge knew what was good for business, and he wasn't going to ruin this amazing thing that WWE still had going for them."

[9.0] "Well structured match with great second part which led to an impressive ending. Edge's win was in the air."

"Con una primera mitad lenta destacada por los distintos reversals que Edge hacia en cada movimiento critico del Undertaker como tambien haciendo honor a su nombre del "Maximo oportunista" este combate inicia pero cuando llega la segunda mitad del combate es cuando la tension y los mejores movimientos de Edge y el enterrador salen a flote, contando hasta con golpe bajo, uso de herramienta y hasta intervencion del equipo de aquel entonces de Edge pero siendo contrarrestado por la hegemonia de Taker en Mania que en ese entonces era de 15-0, un combate legendario que facilmente es de las mejores luchas de ambos luchadores. Puntuacion: 8.75"

[10.0] "Man, this was an upgrade from last year's mania main event. Undertaker finally getting to main event the show 11 years to redeem himself as a credited mania main eventer just to remove the stinker he had with psycho sid. Anyways talking about this match, edge felt like a prepared opponent for taker, he structured his action like an architect, where to cheat, where to cause a ref bump, where to counter taker's moves, where to bring his sidekicks. And taker felt like this was a tough challenge for him. And props to referee Charles Robinson for that running towards the ring, it felt like an actual mania entrance. And the spear to hell's gate spot at the end was amazing. Overall a great main event."

[7.0] "Just about good enough for a WrestleMania main event, even if that's not as high as bar as it should be. Right around the level that WWE was capable of topping out at around the time, surpassed by the Flair vs Michaels match that had the kind of old-school psychology that fell out of fashion at some point."

[7.0] "The beginning of this match suffered from crowd fatigue, and the visual of people walking out made matters worse. However, once Taker gained brief control and dove to the outside around the 7-minute mark, it's like the entire crowd rejuvenated and became fully immersed, and what played out from then on produced some great work. Also, the work done within those 7 minutes isn't bad, and it did well at setting up the thread of Edge damaging Taker's spine, to which they had some work centered around that; it just felt lifeless due to crowd disinterest. The more obvious story that was developing from the start was that of Edge successfully managing to cut off Taker just when it seemed like he was about to gain dominance and have a control segment. This produced some of the greatest work here that created suspense, drama, and it added a lot to them kicking out of their respective finishers by the end. However, how everything played out as it concluded unfortunately wasn't to my taste, as I felt some of that stuff, like Edge cheating, was unnecessary. I was cool with the ref bump because we got the dramatic visual of the ref Charles running, and it aided the pinfall's suspense. Although I felt some of that stuff in the third act lessened the work they had constructed, the crowd was ballistic for it, so there's that. This match still climbed quite high for me, and I do think there is some truly great work in there. ***1/2"

[8.0] "I liked this more upon my most recent rewatch. I still found the first half of the match to be pretty slow, and not at all that interesting. There were some highlights, like Taker hitting his big dive to the outside, but it was too slow for its own good. That being said, I did appreciate the story both men were trying to tell, with Edge using his craftiness to gain the advantage whenever the opportunity presented itself. This was made apparent early on with Edge weathering Taker's initial flurry and gaining the upper hand after the latter overshot a clothesline to the corner. Edge countering all of Taker's signature offense was meant to highlight this, as was his working over the Deadman's back to negate any power advantage. However, just because I thought the psychology was sound, doesn't mean I actually found it to be that interesting when put into action. It definitely felt like it was missing something, and I think that something was the rather muted crowd reaction elicited by the bout during the first half. For whatever reason, the crowd didn't seem all that interested in what was going on in the ring with the exception of the most spectacular spots like Taker's aforementioned dive. Perhaps they were simply tired after a long show. If that was the case, then wrestling a rather slow match might have been a mistake. I think that's also reflected by the crowd's reaction to the second half, which was much faster paced and consisted of a bunch of nearfalls, a ref bump, and interference by Ryder and Hawkins. Sure, it's not the most psychologically interesting, but it was effective in eliciting crowd noise, which created a great atmosphere and made the nearfalls far more believable than they otherwise would have been. The finish was also great, and was a nice way of tying the first and second halves together by having Taker catch Edge off-guard with the Hell's Gate after the latter thought he had the Deadman dead and buried. Oh, and Charles Robinson sprinting to the ring to make the nearfall on the Tombstone will never not be hilarious. The man absolutely booked it. Overall, a very good match that probably would have benefitted from a swifter and more action packed first half. ***3/4"

[8.0] "[4.0*] I really wish I could give this a 9.0 because I really loved the 2nd half of this match, but I have to be honest here. First of all, no, I am not dumb. I obviously saw that Edge was doing a limb-work on Takers back, with the strategy of using his agility to reverse the moves from the Deadman. This is not hard to see at all lol, a pretty clear scenario. While I think this work was solid, with Takers selling being truly great, I found the limb-work quite basic and not creative. The most inspiring move was a Single Leg Boston Crab that the crowd did not buy as a threat at all. Actually, they were pretty fucking quiet until the Taker super Suicide Dive. I enjoyed the reversals, they were cool, but I do not think that having a definitive psychology automatically makes something an all-timer. It is very important, but not everything. For example, Taker vs Batista at Mania 23 was just a 15-min slobber-fucking-knocker with power moves, tables being broken and nearfalls. You can argue that the Edge match was much smarter, but the WM 23 match got WAY more over with the crowd and had a way better atmosphere. It was just hotter. The 2nd half of this match actually reminded me of that, it was incredible, with a lot of dramatic elements such as the ref bump, the interference and the 2 biggest nearfalls on the Tombstone after the classic Charles Robinsons sprint and the first Spear by Edge. The ending was also amazing with Edge hitting a 2nd Spear that Taker immediately transformed into a Triangle Choke for the win. Edge tried to out-smart the Deadman during the whole match and at the end Taker won with the exact same trick. Pretty damn cool, man. I think I would have loved the match even more with a more creative and gracious limb-work at the 1st half, although Taker sold it very well, as I said."

[8.0] "This was a fantastic match & up to this point one of Undertaker's best matches in his entire streak ****.25"

[10.0] "A real phenomenal match and WrestleMania main event. The action was super hard hitting and incredible, the storytelling was spectacular, Edge did some of his best heel work and this was a perfect match for Undertaker before he would tore the house of WrestleMania down even more from 2009 to 2012 with Shawn Michaels and Triple H."

[7.0] "A strong end to a strong WrestleMania, with Edge and Taker putting on a perfect showcase of their gimmicks in conflict. Edge comes across as crazed and cunning while Taker continues his dominant 'Mania run of enigmatic invincibility. As for the match itself, it's a strong (but not astounding) in-ring performance, with a strong sequence before the ref bump with Edge maneuvering out of a couple of Chokeslames before Undertaker finally hits a great one. A really strong finish, and the great start to the match are kind of undermined by a poor post-ref Bump segment, with everything after the Tombstone (but before the final Spear into Hell's Gate) feeling pretty meaningless and doing more to undermine the stakes than increase them."

[6.0] "Taker does do a dive, but there isn't much else special about this match, other than it is very long. I'm really not sold on these two competitors. Undertaker is probably the most overrated wrestler of all time, and isn't good at being the one to really shoulder the burden of carrying an opponent through a match. Edge is competent, but I don't think he has a very deep "bag" of shit to pull out a lot of the time, and also really needs to be paired with someone good to deliver a truly spectacular match. We get a ref bump (lazy booking) and two of edge's lackeys run out to get chokeslammed. Uninspired finish too. The audience seems tired for the first half of this but then they get into it towards the end."

[7.0] "I liked the story of the match with Edge avoiding and countering Taker's signature moves very well for the most part as it was his only chance of winning until the energy ran out and started trading finishers. They also had a clear babyface and heel dynamic here with the crowd being all in for Taker, while Edge's facials and overall heel demeanor were fantastic once again. They had some great false finishes near the end and it was very easy to watch, plus they got a huge pop for Deadman's win."

[2.0] "I've never enjoyed this match very much. Edge isn't someone that's particularly known for having in ring talent but he still has a real knack for psychology and character work inside the ring. Taker, while I'm not the biggest fan of him, still can work a decent match and also has a good grasp of things like Edge. But when you mesh the two together I don't think it really works all that well. I didn't find the weapon spots interesting and I didn't find the in ring work particularly engaging either. There wasn't really anything in this match for me to latch on to or remember it by."

[9.0] "This was an awesome main event. The in ring action was really well done with the heel work from Edge and the suspense with the near falls near the end."

[9.0] "back when the WHC felt special and important. excellent heel work by edge, great storytelling and incredible ending."

[8.0] "A fine WHC match back when that title still felt special. I think Taker and Edge had better matches in their HIAC and TLC encounters but this was still bout. Edge seemingly had a counter for everything Taker threw at him. I'd be remissed if I didn't mention the iconic sprint down the ramp by Charles Robinson. This deserved the main event as the Streak was starting to become the main attraction of Mania on its own. You throw in the world title and an opponent like Edge and you have a recipe for a banger."

[9.0] "Best Undertaker match at WM if we esclude the legendary period from 2009 to 2012. This contest shows why these two are two of the best Superstar in WWE history. Excellent storytelling woth Edge who studied all the moves of the Deadman and was able to escape from them a lot of times, but couldn't nothing against his opponent's Hell's Gate. The intervention from Ryder and Hawkins are well planned and the rush of referee Robinson always makes me smile. GG for Edge that proved that he could do a great great match even with a normal 1v1 stipulation."

[8.0] "A very solid main event. I enjoyed this one as well. Great story told where edge had a counter for a lot of takers big moves but at the end finally got caught with a tombstone and then the hells gate for the finish. Good stuff 4/5"

[8.0] "A nice WrestleMania Main Event as well as a very good match. A good battle with overbooking not disturbing at the end. Not much to say about it but I liked it. (4*1/4)"

"This was the main event for the first Wrestlemania I ever watched. Even on rewatches I enjoy watching this match and as I start the process of going in and rating matches, this one only felt right to be the first to comment on."

[7.0] "The true blow to this match is the fact that the first few minutes are unbelievably dull. I think it'd be an easy task to tune this match out for the duration because the first handful of minutes are not good. In fact, the start of the 'back injury' for Taker is awful. Edge is in the corner, and it looks like Taker hits a knee flush on him, but then he takes a tumble outside the ring for no reason. Not sure if Edge was supposed to move and forgot, or if he was supposed to land differently, but it was a really bad looking spot. But almost every minute this match goes by after that point it gets better and better and better. The crowd even reflects this. The first third of the match, the crowd feels tired. Like they're ready to go home early. But as this match builds and builds, they get more and more into it. Edge's counters, Taker's selling, and the big spots all come at magnificent timing. What I really enjoy about this match is that it's excellent without being cheap. No one is kicking out of 3 finishers, and no one is Superman-ing themselves out of an insane amount of damage. It's just a very well crafted and well worked match. If the first handful of minutes of this match weren't such a waste of time, this might be an 8 or a 9 point match from me, but the match just takes SO long to get going that it can be hard to engage with it. Still, an EXCELLENT match and a worthy addition to The Undertaker's Streak."

[8.0] "I recall really disliking this when it first aired, but rewatching it now I thought it was better than I remembered. My criticisms at the time were that the match was very generic and formulaic, and that all the nearfalls felt very predictable and unconvincing. I didn't disagree with any of that upon a rewatch, but I also don't believe that a match being formulaic necessarily makes it bad as long as it is executed well, and I think they did a very good job here. The early portion of the match was all good - I really liked Undertaker countering the usual Old School reversal early on with an arm drag. It was a little slow in the middle as Edge worked over the lower back, but nothing too bad and I didn't think that it outstayed its welcome. I can see several comments about the first half or more of the match being boring, and while I can see where they're coming from, I didn't really have that issue. I do think the lower back work was ultimately very superfluous, though, as it was ignored for the rest of the match. I still think the nearfalls were lacking in drama and they all just felt like Undertaker 101, but the pace of the match at least built well and the crowd was buying in to it even if I didn't. The shot of Charles Robinson hauling ass down the incredibly long entrance ramp is still hilarious. The finish is pretty cool and makes for a nice moment as The Undertaker regains the title and his streak continues for another year. I don't agree with people that feel this is an unsung classic, but I do think it's a worthy WM main event, even if it is a bit paint by numbers."

[10.0] "Edge only has two mania main events. Both matches are incredible. Of course any taker match pre mania 30 is great and this lives up to the hype. 10/10 imo (slight bias cuz Edge is my fav) SOTM ( Spot of the Match): Charles Robinson runs down the ramp for one of the best near falls ever."

[7.0] "This is a quite good match but I think you want a bit more out of a WrestleMania main event, even if the two did have a few more months of feuding to go before the blowoff in the cell. I still liked it, just hits a ceiling from being a little basic for its reputation and high stakes, which feels slightly negative a review for a 7/10 score but I guess that's how it goes sometimes with matches you like in a vacuum but could've done something different for the situation. ***3/4"

[7.0] "This is good, but I never understood why it was held in such high regard. By no means a top 5 Undertaker Wrestlemania match, and probably below average for a post-2005 Undertaker main event if anything. Still, its not terrible, and some of these near falls are great. Just a shame it isnt even better."

"Arguably the most underrated match of the Streak, typically overshadowed because of the two bouts with Michaels. Anyway this match was Amazing"

[5.0] "This was...fine. Fine is the perfect word for it. 23 minutes is too long for these two and for a Wrestlemania main event, it felt very cold. The lack of real good story going in made the first 2/3rds of the match feel flat and the crowd weren't too into it. They had something going with Edge working on Taker's back, using his momentum against him and countering almost everything Taker did until they just go toe-to-toe with strikes which felt odd given Edge was the cowardly heel. The counters from Edge did get tedious when it was every other move and the counters didn't particularly get creative. They also go to the moves-fest towards the end. Charles running down for the Tombstone nearfall was awesome and while Taker essentially no-sells two spears, the Hells Gate finish with Edge coughing up blood looked pretty awesome - **1/2"

[7.0] "This was very good, but just a bit slow. I feel like having this kind of match after 3+ hours of mania is alot. Charles Robinsons sprint was the highlight of course."

[5.0] "The highlight of this match was literally referee Charles Robinson doing a 200 meter sprint to the ring, no joke. This match was so generic besides that, nothing really stands out. First half was basic, unmemorable offense with a dead crowd. Then they did some nearfalls, but none of them were all that convincing. Then you get your typical ref bump stuff. The whole thing just felt like the basic script for a Raw/Smackdown main event, just stretched out for 20 minutes and done at a slower pace. It was executed just fine, I just found it unremarkable and largely forgettable, especially for a Wrestlemania main event."

[9.0] "Great match but once again with this match I remember how it left me at the time and I cant help be feeling the same way no matter how many years I view this match after the initial year. Great match between both men with two notable spots of the spear through the announce table and interference by the Edge heads. However despite the great match and possibly the greatest singles match between the two and always have a great story behind them that was my entire problem. Where was the story supposed to go after Taker won? What was next for Edge? Hated him as a heel when at this time, as in he was doing his job very well, and still felt like...dang how did Edge not win that?"

[6.0] "From their match in 2008, I find it less good than Summerslam and One Night Stand (which are classics), less good also than Backlash. The match is good, but what bothers me is the storyline, in March, we were at the beginnings of this rivalry that would become sublime, so less hate in this fight is the debut of Taker vs Edge."

[9.0] "This was a fantastic WrestleMania main event. This had awesome counters and great storytelling. Undertaker and Edge gave excellent performances here. It does take a little bit to get going though. ****1/2"

[8.0] "A great match between Undertaker and Edge (and on par with the streak match from the previous year against Batista). This was a really good main event and Edge (interestlingly) was on top for a lot of this match. Lots of cool counters from Edge, showing he did his homework against Taker. To be honest, I wouldn't say this is up there with my favourite matches from either wrestler, but it WAS really good. Great match!"

[9.0] "What a great ending to WrestleMania, I loved it, it's definitely what I remember best about this event, when Undertaker got that victory in the Main Event, it was a great moment for a character like him, who had already left the legacy too high and once again climbed positions."

[8.0] "They actually let Edge stay in control for a lot of this, he focuses on the back/mid-section of the Undertaker. In the 1st half of this besides the opening sequence, a part where he takes control after pushing Edge off the top rope to the outside Taker doesn't do much. The work Edge did on the lower back came into play when Taker attempted the last ride for the 1st time. The final 10-15 minutes of this is more back and forth, we got tons of counters from Taker's big moves from Edge. They had a nice callback with the camera attack from survivor series 07. Taker has Edge down for when he hits the tombstone but there's no ref so he can't win quite yet, Edge kicks out(Charles Robinson running to the ring was hilarious). We get an interference from the edge heads but Taker still kicks out from a spear. Edge hits another spear, but as Edge goes for the cover we get a counter into the triangle choke and Taker makes him tap.****Œ"