Whether or not you like it, there's no disputing that Wrestlemania is undoubtedly the biggest annual event in wrestling there is. Young athletes in sports entertainment dream of performing on such a stage to exhibit their talents, so you know when they get there they will be giving it their all. Yes, professional wrestling has been vehemently labeled 'fake' and I am not here to deny or clarify that statement. What I will say is that every so often in this sports entertainment, something astonishing happens, and Wrestlemania is hardly ever an exception.

We now have the privilege of witnessing Wrestlemania XXII (all over again, if you watched it on pay per view) and this 3 disc DVD set doesn't disappoint. After you have got past all the 'don't try this at home' and Wrestling montages, you can instantly see that it is very high budget. They must have got NASA to calculate the cost of the set and all the elaborate entrances that the competitors get to flex their pectoral muscles in!

The beauty of owning this on DVD is the ability to skip all the parts you don't wish to watch. For example, at the beginning of each match is a featurette to convey how the wrestlers loathe each other and what has happened to create such a feud. If you have seen all this before, you can just press the fast forward button. However, these featurettes are great if you haven't been keeping up to date with the build-up to Wrestlemania. The transition between each match is very long-winded, but once you get to the action, most of it doesn't disappoint. The action begins with a face-off for the tag team championship belts: Carlito and Chris Masters versus the current champions Kane and the Big Show. This match exhibits some great power-moves but it is merely something to get the 17,000+ fans warmed up, at least when compared to the next match.

The second face-off is a 'money in the bank' match, which means that the winner will get a championship title shot to use at any point in the year. The winner is the first one to grab a briefcase that hangs about twenty feet in the air above the ring. To do this, the athletes must use fifteen-foot ladders and that is where most of the fun lies. I don't wish to give too much away, but there are high-flying dives off these ladders and even suplexes from the top rungs. Ouch! The match definitely left a few marks on the six wrestlers competing in this free-for-all; Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Rob Van Dam, Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Ric Flair all play their part in creating the best face-off on the DVD.

This is also a good mix of athletes to exhibit together. You have the younger talents in Matt Hardy and Shelton Benjamin, out to prove that they are main event material by putting their bodies on the line. You have Rob Van Dam, whose acrobatics are matched by very few individuals, then there are the veterans, who prove they can still rumble with the best, in Ric Flair and to a lesser extent Finlay. And of course you have the simply gigantic Lashley, who can throw them all around like rag dolls. This match is brilliant and is the highlight of Wrestlemania 22.

After the boring Hall of Fame induction ceremony thingy there's a match between Chris Benoit and JBL for the United States Championship. Benoit tries his best to make it exciting by suplexing the huge JBL dozens of times in a row, but the match is pretty dull overall. JBL doesn't seem to want to do anything too energetic, as he is out of shape and his scantily clad female manager is a far more entertaining sight to behold.

At least the boredom is soon batted away by the next feud. The fourth face-off is a hardcore match between Edge (accompanied by the fantastic Lita) and Mick Foley. These two wrestlers tear each other apart using a variety of weapons, including barbed wire and thumbtacks (drawing pins). If you have a weak stomach, it would be a good idea to skip to the next chapter on the DVD, because there is plenty of blood and many cringe inducing moves are performed. This is a great brawl - its only downfall is that it is nothing new. Once again, Mick Foley gets so angry with his opponent that he becomes his alter ego, Cactus Jack. Wrestling fans will be incredibly familiar with this storyline, as it happens way too often. The two athletes performances are entertaining though, and that's the most important thing.

The fifth match is a huge disappointment, as expected. Booker T versus the Boogy Man is boring and almost entirely uneventful. However, this can be easily cured with a dose of the next chapter button on your remote. The next match is one for the guys: the women's championship face-off between the current titleholder Trish Stratus and the vengeance obsessed Mickie James.

I can't say I can concentrate too much on the actual wrestling during the match, as these are two of the sexiest women in the industry, in very close contact with each other. I didn't totally ignore the wrestling however, as it was pretty good. I don't wish to sound sexist here, but the women's matches are usually pointless. Hear me out please: there are some great female wrestlers out there, but they tend to be used in the industry merely as eye-candy, making their performances extremely dull. This match is an exception to the rule, because Mickie and Trish actually give a great performance at the same time as looking incredibly desirable. If people do not want to watch top-level wrestling and merely want to stare at silicone heaven, maybe they should be buying an entirely different kind of DVD!

After this excellent women's match comes Mark Henry's duel with the Undertaker. Once again, someone is attempting to end the Undertaker's undefeated winning streak at Wrestlemania in a casket match. This match is mediocre at best, but the Undertaker does manage to fire up enough energy to make a running leap over the top rope to hit Henry on the outside. This is the highlight of the match, as the two wrestlers try frantically to avoid being thrown in the casket - perhaps the pink lining clashes with their spandex?

Once one of these giants is defeated we are then permitted to get back to the real stuff: Shawn Michaels versus Vince McMahon in a no holds barred match. Vince is in great shape for a sixty-year-old and can really take moves well, like the unfortunate meeting of a chair to the teeth. This is a brilliant match and shows a lot of stamina from the two veterans.

By the ninth match, the entrances have really become too elaborate. The anticipation for some action between each bout is lengthy and hinders the enjoyment of the matches somewhat. After the first watch it will really pay off to be heavy on the fast forward button for subsequent viewings! On the plus side, the facility is there and the chapters are set out well for skipping matches and other footage that you don't want to watch. Once you get past the incredibly long entrances though, this ninth match is great, if a little short. It's a triple threat match for the Heavyweight championship between Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton and Kurt Angle. The face-off is high octane and exhibits all of the athlete's best attributes. It ends a little sooner than most of the other matches though; perhaps they should have extended it and scrapped the next event.

Unlike the first women's bout, the tenth match of the night is as pointless as a broken pencil, if I can be blunt for a moment. It is a Playboy pillow fight, and as you might have guessed, it features two women who have been in Playboy magazine hitting each other with pillows. Its not just pillows they use; they also exhibit their hissy-fit style fighting and roll around on the mat a lot. This is clearly just a quickly thrown together idea to try and fill some seats with drooling men. Unlike Trish and Mickie's match, there is no real wrestling to be seen and it is an awful transition into the main event.

The timid reaction from the crowd for the Playboy match soon turns into an immense roar for the final bout: Triple H versus John Cena, competing for the WWE championship. Both superstars have equally elaborate entrances that are unique for this occasion (don't worry, I won't give them away!) Once the bell rings, the match is slow to start but the crowd reaction is immense. Triple H and Cena pick up the pace and continuously elevate the cheers and booing. However, it is hardly the best Wrestlemania main event there has ever been - and it is certainly surpassed by the 'money in the bank' match from earlier in the night. Triple H and Cena show some excellent talent in a large portion of the match, there are just a few too many Irish-whips to the ropes and right hands that slow the pace down too often.

Having said all of this about the main feature, you may actually want to view the extras on the 3 disc set before you watch it. This is because it has some great matches that build up to Wrestlemania. Some of these matches are even better than those of the main feature and create some real tension beforehand. Most of these build up matches include the athletes who go on to compete at Wrestlemania and although they are much shorter than the main feature, they do display a lot of action and excitement. Other than the extra matches, there are loads of featurettes and exclusive footage - it will take you ages to watch the DVD from start to finish in its entirety. The only problem with the extras is that they are placed on the wrong discs in the set. The main feature is on the first disc, but so are some of the extras - this means that during the main feature you have to swap discs (and watch all the 'don't try this at home' warnings again!)

Wrestlemania XXII is an excellent addition to any sports entertainment collection; it probably won't be your best, but there are some matches on there that beg to be watched plenty of times over. You will have to be prepared to skip through a lot of the build up on subsequent viewings and you will have to totally ignore the Booker T match and the pillow fight, but apart from a couple of bad matches, WWE fans will be very pleased with this offering and it is without doubt a recommended purchase.

Reviewed by Liam Bennion for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).