Dave Meltzer Explains The Undertaker & Shawn Michaels 5 Star Snub

Star ratings in wrestling are sure to get people talking one way or the other, and now Dave Meltzer has explained why the WrestleMania 25 match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels wasn’t awarded five stars – and it has nothing to do with it not taking place in the Tokyo Dome.

With wrestling following society at large into ever-more tribalism, the faith and respect given to Dave Meltzer’s star ratings are seen by many as an indication of where you stand as a fan and what kind of wrestling you prefer. But for some, the ratings are still just one man’s opinion.

Some people take issue with a perceived bias against WWE with the company only playing host to 18 five star matches over the years with AEW already having 22, despite the fact the latter company has only been in existence for four years.

[sided-debate-embed debate-id=”27666″]

Only four WrestleMania matches in history have achieved five stars with two of those coming in 2023. But many fans feel some classics have been overlooked in that regard, not least The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels’ famous bout in 2009.

Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Dave Meltzer explained why he didn’t think the match considered by many to be the greatest in WrestleMania history didn’t get the five star treatment:

“I mean, number one, when I watched it, I thought this is pretty damn close. And whenever I say pretty damn close, that’s a 4 and 3-quarters-star match. I gotta be like, 100%. Okay, so, two of the greatest wrestlers, I mean, literally, after that match, which just, you know, I mean, I’d already rated the match, but I just remembered, I mean, these are two of the all-time greats.

“[Someone] Called me up you know, what do you think? And I go, I thought that match is freakin awesome. That match was fantastic. And it’s like, you know, basically, one was if I tried to do a match like that, if I did a match like that, I’d have to fight my way out of the dressing room because so many guys would have heat for me for killing the finisher. And you could say that about a lot of other matches too. But it was a perspective.

“And then you know, another one was just, and I think subconsciously, I thought the same thing. When I Shawn and Undertaker the first one, which was great and I almost did give it five stars. And some people think it’s because of the dive spot that went wrong. It’s like, it really wasn’t, it was, I’m gonna say, there was a predictableness to it, that I could feel like I knew what they were doing. And sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

“But it was so long, and I always knew what they were going to do. And it was thrilling as hell. But it was not – it didn’t give me that, ‘Oh, my God, this was brilliant.’ It was like, ‘Okay, this is what they were doing, my turn, your turn.’ And it worked. It was like, again – look it won match of the year, I easily could have given it five stars. But whatever it was, you know, when it was over, it was like, I was debating. And I’ve done that at many matches.

“You know, I mean where it’s just kind of like is it 4 and 3 three quarters or five? Well, that means it’s four and 3 quarters. When I say that, if I say five, no debate, then it’s fine.”

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