WWE Wrestlemania XXII (3 Disc Box Set) [DVD]

This 3 disc DVD features the full Wrestlemania 22 event, headlined by Triple H trying to put an end to the WWE championship reign of John Cena and Kurt Angle defending his World Heavyweight title against Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton. The DVD has plenty of extras such as promos from the aftermath of Wrestlemania such as the WWE.com post show, the full 2006 hall of fame ceremony headlined by Bret Hart and Eddie Guerrero and a full episode of Saturday Night's Main Event from the build up to Wrestlemania.SATURDAY NIGHT'S MAIN EVENT:Triple H & John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton & Kurt Angle - After an old school Saturday Night's Main Event style intro we have a match putting the participants of the two Wrestlemania main events against each other. They had a pretty good match, the teams worked together reluctantly for most of the match. When Triple H managed to isolate Mysterio he got frustrated that Cena wouldn't take shortcuts to get the win. Towards the finish the match got chaotic(in a good way) with neither set of Wrestlemania opponents being able to work together.**Edge hosted his Cutting Edge show with his guest being his Wrestlemania opponent, Mick Foley. As Foley comes out Edge covered a table in lighter fluid and set it on fire, the two had a short brawl and Foley poured thousands of thumbtacks onto the mat which he would get driven into. Foley hit Edge with a con-chair-to on the entrance ramp. This was a really good segment and worked as a great preview of what was to come at Wrestlemania****Next JBL challenged Steve Austin to a beer drinking contest, it was a fairly entertaining segment as moments with Steve Austin tend to be. It didn't really serve much of a purpose but it was still fun**Candice Michelle & Victoria vs. Trish Stratus & Mickie James - At this time Mickie James was obsessed with Trish Stratus and volunteered to be her partner after her original partner got a concussion. This was a fairly short match, Trish Stratus did all the work for her team as Mickie James didn't even get tagged into the match. This was more about the aftermath which was building towards Mickie vs. Trish at Wrestlemania.**Next in a confrontation between Mark Henry and The Undertaker, they fight and Undertaker stands tall after taking out Henry and tombstoning his manager, Davari, on a casket. This was a decent segment.**Shawn Michaels vs. Shane McMahon - This was a street fight before Michaels would face Shane's father, Vince McMahon in a no holds barred match at Wrestlemania. Shawn went right after Shane in the entrance way and took him out. He hit Shane with a devastating superplex off a ladder to the outside of the ring through two tables. Vince would get involved on multiple occasions allowing his son to capitalise. The finish wasn't clean but it made sense with the feud that was going on so I didn't mind that too much.WRESTLEMANIA 22:Pre-show Battle Royal - Before the event officially kicked off we had an inter-promotional battle royal. Like the year before it was a fairly average battle royal, there was nothing special but it wasn't bad either. Afterwards we see Viscera sexually assault a ring announcer, it was weird.Big Show & Kane vs. Chris Masters & Carlito - The main show starts off with a match for the tag team championships. This was a pretty dominant match for the champions, they were too much for the challengers for most of the match. Carlito and Masters managed to get in some offence briefly after sending Big Show into an exposed turnbuckle. It was a decent match and was kept fairly short which was the right call.Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Matt Hardy vs. Finlay - This was the second ever money in the bank ladder match and while it wasn't quite as good as the original this was still a really good match. Hardy took out Flair with a suplex off a ladder early on but he came limping back to the ring later on. Benjamin pulled off a load of impressive moments as he always does in these matches and Rob Van Dam showed his experience in these kinds of matches.JBL vs. Chris Benoit - This was for the united states championship, Benoit would out wrestle JBL while JBL would use his usual brawling style to fight back. JBL would get under Benoit's skin by mocking the late Eddie Guerrero. Benoit almost had the win when he counters a clothesline from hell into a crossface. This was a really good and hard hitting match.Edge vs. Mick Foley - Edge connected early on in this hardcore match with a spear to Foley but appeared to hurt himself as much as he did Foley. Foley had barbed wire wrapped around his body underneath his shirt. Plenty of weapons were used in this match, from road signs to barbed wire wrapped baseball bats. Edge poured out thousands of thumbtacks but he gets back suplexed onto them. The match just gets more and more hardcore until they introduce a flaming table. This was an amazing match, it was one of the most hardcore matches in WWE history and finally gave Mick Foley his great Wrestlemania moment.Booker T & Sharmell vs. The Boogeyman - Booker T uses his wife as a decoy so he can attack Boogeyman to start off, he then beat him down for a while until Boogeyman comes back, eats some worms and the match is over soon after. This match was awful, there was nothing good about it, but at least it was short.Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus - This was for Trish's women's championship and Trish started off the match strong. Mickie ducked a kick and Trish hit the ringpost instead, from there Mickie targets Trish's leg and every time Trish gets some offence in she goes back to that leg to stop her momentum. This was a really good match, it was the best Wrestlemania women's match up until this point and would stay the best until Wrestlemania 32.Mark Henry vs. The Undertaker - This is a casket match and Mark Henry attacks before the bell. Undertaker tries to come back but Henry keeps over powering him, for most of the match Undertaker couldn't even get Henry off his feet. Undertaker hit an amazing dive over the top rope and clearing the casket too. I've heard a lot of bad things about this match but I actually thought it was pretty good, it didn't go too long and was enjoyable while it lasted.Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon - Shawn started this no holds barred match off going right after McMahon and beating him up around the ring. The Spirit Squad got involved to help McMahon but luckily Shawn managed to get rid of them. Shane McMahon also got involved on Vince's behalf and tried to make Shawn join Vince's "club". Shawn came back and teased finishing the match a few times before dealing out some more punishment to McMahon. I feel the match could have benefitted from being slightly shorter but it was still a good match centred around Michaels' revenge.Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton - Kurt was defending his world heavyweight championship in this match and he was fairly dominant in this match, at one point he german suplexed both of his opponents at the same time and then made them both tap out, which the official didn't see. This match was shorter than expected but it was a very fast paced match with so many near falls and counters. It was a really great match.Candice Michelle vs. Torrie Wilson - This was a "playboy pillow fight" and I'm not sure why this was part of a Wrestlemania. Candice did a wrestling move at one point, it was awful.John Cena vs. Triple H - This was for John Cena's WWE championship and in the opening moments Triple H was out wrestling Cena. Cena eventually came back with his brawling style. Triple H started targeting the neck of Cena for a while to wear him down. Triple H eventually tried to introduce a sledgehammer after the official was knocked down. This was a great back and forth main event, there were lots of near falls and the pace built up into a good exciting match.I really liked this event, it only had two bad matches and they were both very short so didn't do any harm over all. The two main events both delivered great matches, the hardcore match was great, we had another exciting money in the bank match, a violent no holds barred match and a US championship match that also delivered. The bonus addition of a full Saturday Night's Main Event is also worth watching and is one of the better bonus features they've given to the Wrestlemania DVDs.

Wrestlemania 22 will go down as one of the modern great events,of that i have no doubt,a great card,a few flaws perhaps,but what matters most is that the majority of matches were superb and you cant really ask for more than that.The event opened with the world tag team championship up for grabs,the champs kane and big show went up against chris masters and carlito.This wasnt an out and out classic but was a worthy enough opener,the match was uneven in terms of dominance but was solid enough and captivating.The money in the bank ladder match was next and what a match,what a match indeed,the combatants were matt hardy,rvd,bobby lashley,ric flair,finlay and shelton benjamin(thankfully at this stage 'momma' was gone,),this match had so much going on that you would need multiple screen angles to keep up with it,glorious moves a plenty and suicidal tendencies flooded this match,superb.The united states championship was up next,the champ chris benoit went up against JBL in a very physical and lively encounter,the best of both worlds then,the ourtcome was good and the crowd were very vocal here.Next up was a match so good that it could be released on a dvd by itself,well at 15 minutes it may be a bit stingy,but if it was it would make for a great seller,a hardcore rules match where mick foley went up against edge.This was viciously brutal with a very nasty heart,blood flew like wine at a tramp convention,this was excellent,i cant find the words to say anything else,see for yourself.Next up was a bit of a lame match,wasnt terrible,but i have one word for you that just is wrong in a review this good,wait for it-boogeyman,yes that idiot with the terrible gimmick,he went up against booker t and charmell in a handicap match,the match wasnt awful but booker t didnt really want to fight this clown but he did his best and as for the validity of a falling chokebomb as a cause of defeat,i dont buy it.mickie james went up against trish in a decent enough match next for the wwe womans championship,in keeping with the energy and expectation that mania creates these two ladies rose to the moment and did their part decently.The undertaker and mark henry were up next and they contested in a casket match and this was good,henry and pay per views are sometimes a source of contention,especially when he headlines them but here he plays his part against a man that was on a mission,a good contest.A no holds barred match was up next and was again a classic,shawn michaels and vince mcmahon fought here in a brutal and snappy contest,shawn michaels brought the best out of WWE owner vince here as he does with everyone really and this was just a very enjoyable match.The world heavyweight championship was up next in a triple threat match,the champ kurt angle went up against randy orton and rey mysterio in a very good match,this match was fast and skilled and aggressive enough so a winning combination,each men did their best to maintain a level of passion that meant that this match didnt sour,great. A pillow fight between torrie and candice bored the crowd next,dear lord,why so high up on the bill,oh yeah,we can all make tea i suppose and then we were onto the main event.The WWE chamionship was up for grabs next as the champ john cena defended it against triple h,this match was great and the crowd played their part,they cheered on the heel triple h more than they did cena and turned this match on its head,both men gave their all and this was a brilliantly carved match,i couldnt ask for more really.The dvd extras include cena pleading with the crowd the next night on RAW as to whether they are with him or not,mick foley getting stitches after his match and the return of saturday nights main event which isnt great but has a nice street fight between shawn michaels and shane mcmahon and the third disc has the 2006 hall of fame featuring bret hart who wouldnt show his all to proud face at mania itself.This is a great dvd package and im praising it well,4 stars.