cactus Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 As lockdown has given me a shedload of free time, I decided to watch all the Wrestlemanias in order. I've been posting my individual match reviews in the PWO database, but I thought it would be a good idea to get them all together here with some additional comments about the events themselves and I'll do a top 25/50/whatever off my all-time 'Mania matches once I'm nearly up to date. This is still a WIP, but let feel free to drop comments/feedback. 1 - 15 Spoiler Wrestlemania: "The Greatest Wrestling Event Of All Time!" Tito Santana vs The Executioner Santana has always been an underrated favourite for me. He has such a likable presence that's perfect for an undercard babyface. From his convincing punches to his crisp dropkick, all the stuff in his shine segment looks good. The Executioner tries to go for Santana's leg (like he said he would in his awful pre-match promo), but Santana is able to neatly wrestle out of his Figure 4 attempt and put him away with one of his own. The first match in Wrestlemania history is a decent five minute showcase for Santana, in which The Executioner didn't stand a chance. ★★½ King Kong Bundy (w/Jimmy Hart) vs SD Jones This was a quick squash to put Bundy over as a monster heel and to set him up for the big push that will cultivate with him main eventing the next Wrestlemania. This is announced as going nine seconds, when in reality it lasted a little over twenty seconds. I've always had a hard time rating squash matches that are as brief as this was, but they did everything that they set out to do, so it escapes the dastardly DUD rating. ¼★ Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne Steamboat here looks like Tito Santana if he became a body guy. He's still got that lovable mid level babyface look, but Steamboat is ripped to the gills. This was probably the strongest workrate match on the card. Steamboat's offence is crisp and Bourne's Southern selling compliments it well. Bourne even sells a Steamboat atomic drop like he's Rick Rude. Enjoyable bout, as to be expected with Steamboat! ★★½ Brutus Beefcake (w/Johnny Valiant) vs David Sammartino (w/Bruno Sammartino) You can't help but feel sorry for David Sammartino. He gets introduced first to little fanfare, and then the MSG crowd go bananas when Bruno is announced. The pity for David stops when you realise how dry and dull he is. The match consists of stalling, rudimental holds and a wearisome Beefcake control segment. It drags on for eleven minutes before Bruno storms the ring after Beefcake's manager interferes and the match ends in a double disqualification. Bruno fights off both, popping the crowd and making his son look like a total loser in the process. ★ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) (c) vs The Junkyard Dog Having JYD work with Valentine's slow and methodical style stopped him from getting gassed and stinking the place up. Whilst it's no workrate classic, JYD is over and Valentine's bumping from the basic offence being thrown at him was entertaining. Unlike the Sammartino vs Beefcake bout, they kept this at a respectable length and didn't allow the action to outwear it's welcome. The cheap finish reminded me of Lex Luger celebrating his win at Summerslam '93. The face didn't win the belt, no need to cheer that much. ★¾ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Barry Windham & Mike Rotundo (w/Captain Lou Albano) (c) vs Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik (w/Freddie Blassie) Rotunda gets worked over by Sheik and Volkoff. The attack by the heels is very basic, but they work a quick pace by utilizing a lot of quick tags. Rotunda eventually lands a hot tag to Windham, who cleans house until Sheiky Baby steals the win by landing a cane shot when the referee isn't looking. There's not much to say about this, it's completely run-of-the-mill. The U.S Express look like they could be decent, but they didn't get much of a chance to show off their skills. That's the first ever Wrestlemania title change in the books. ★★ Andre's Career vs 15.000 Dollar Bodyslam Match Big John Studd (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Andre The Giant Even as a big Andre mark, I can't defend this. This was a slow, lumbering mess. I understand this might of felt like a big spectacle at the time, but there's nothing engaging watching this through 2020 eyes. They trade piss-poor strikes, Andre locks on a bearhug and a headlock for what seems like an eternity before Andre mercifully ends this by landing a body slam. DUD WWF World Women's Title Match Leilani Kai (w/The Fabulous Moolah) (c) vs Wendi Richter (w/Cyndi Lauper & David Wolff) From what we got here, Richter looks like she could be a good worker. She throws Kai around the ring whilst holding her in a hammerlock. Most of Kai's attacks consist of hair pulling. They run through holds until Richter is able to counter a top rope cross body to win the title. This was a decent enough sprint, but Cyndi Lauper is the only person coming out of this looking like a star. She botches Kai's name in the post-match interview, but she sounds much more comfortable on the stick than Richter did. ★★ Paul Orndorff & Roddy Piper (w/Bob Orton) vs. Hulk Hogan & Mr. T (w/Jimmy Snuka) Even with the horrendous production values, they still convey that this is a big money match by bringing out a boatload of celebrities. This was better than your bog standard Hogan match of it's era as all the bodies fighting in and around the ring create a legitimate sense of carnage. Mr. T didn't look half bad out there due to Piper and Orndorff being complete pros. Piper's facial expressions and selling were excellent and combatted Hogan's hammy dramatics nicely. I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. ★★¾ Overall: Every wrestling fan should see this show for historical reasons. The production values are shockingly bad, but it's an easy watch as no match outwears it's welcome (with the exception of Sammartio/Beefcake and Andre/Studd). Clocking in at only 136 minutes, it's a breeze to sit though even if no match sticks out as particularly good. Wrestlemania II: "What The World Is Coming To" The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs Paul Orndorff A simple and standard match built around arm work, until the utterly shit finish puts a stop to the action. Orndorff looks great and is over with the crowd, and Muraco's stoogey selling on his arm made a basic hold just a touch entertaining. This is eventually thrown out after both men tumble to the floor and the ref rules this as a double count-out. The crowd aren't happy and treat us to some loud "Bullshit!" chants. I don't understand why we couldn't of gotten a decisive finish here. ★½ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) (c) vs George Steele Whilst Savage would obviously have better Wrestlemania matches, this was carried by both men's charisma and by Savage's mind games. Steele gives Savage a beating with a bouquet of flowers that Savage tried to use himself, before Steele gets himself distracted by the simple sight of Elizabeth at ringside. I was shocked that Steele was allowed to kick out of Savage's elbow drop. Savage rolls up Steele for the win, with some assistance from the ropes. This was basic stuff, but campy fun nonetheless. ★★¼ Jake Roberts vs George Wells For a guy who's clearly only here to do a job for an up and coming star, Wells gets a fair bit of shine after he comes out swinging. He has some decent punches and even lands a neat flying head scissors before Roberts catches him off-guard with a knee lift and lands a DDT for the win. After the match, Jake drapes his snake over the defeated Wells. Decent enough match to build up Roberts for bigger things. ★★ Boxing Match Roddy Piper (w/Bob Orton & Lou Duva) vs Mr. T (w/Joe Frazier & The Haiti Kid) Yeah, this was garbage. Worked boxing is never going to look good even if Piper lands a few convincing punches and T's ducking and weaving looked half-way decent. The majority of strikes look like they couldn't even harm a fly. This ain't Rocky, that's for sure! The crowd aren't buying this and if they aren't sitting quietly on their hands, they are cheering for Piper. After four rounds of boredom, Piper gets mad and body slams Mr. T, causing a disqualification. DUD WWF World Women's Title Match The Fabulous Moolah (c) vs Velvet McIntyre There's not much to write about here. Moolah snapmares and slaps Mcintyre around. Mcintyre uses her speed to counter and land a few dropkicks. She misses a splash and Moolah covers her for a pin in under 90 seconds. I'll give them a star for effort and that they worked at a rushed pace for the entirety of the match, I guess. You will be seeing a lot worse from Moolah in just over a decades time. ★ Flag Match Nikolai Volkoff (w/Freddie Blassie) vs Corporal Kirchner Ergh, yet another pointlessly short match and there's even less stuff of substance here than the last match. At least the crowd seemed to lap it up. They punch around a bit, Kirchner gets cut open somehow, the referee gets knocks down and Blassie attempts to throw his cane to Volkoff, only for Kirchner to intercept. Volkoff is hit with the cane and he's pinned once the referee comes back around. All done and dusted in two minutes. ½★ WWF & NFL Battle Royal Bruno Sammartino vs Big John Studd vs Dan Spivey vs Jim Neidhart vs Bret Hart vs King Tonga vs B. Brian Blair vs Jim Brunzell vs The Iron Sheik vs Andre The Giant vs Pedro Morales vs Tony Atlas vs Hillbilly Jim vs Ted Arcidi vs William Perry vs Russ Francis vs Bill Fralic vs Ernie Holmes vs Harvey Martin vs Jimbo Covert The famous Battle Royal with the NFL players is much better than it has any right to be. The Chicago crowd go crazy anytime any of the Bear players get a chance to shine. Perry landing a double tackle on The Hart Foundation was a cool spot. Andre's body is nearing Wrestlemania 3 levels of broken, but he's protected by The Hart Foundation during the finishing stretch to not stink up the match. ★★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Match The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) (w/Johnny Valiant) (c) vs The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid) (w/Captain Lou Albano & Ozzy Osbourne) A super physical match for 1986 WWF. After The Bulldogs get their shine, Valentine forces them to slow things down to his pace. The Dream Team put the beating on the Bulldogs, with Beefcake hitting a dangerous looking Hammerlock Slam and Greg Valentine even landing a freakin' Ganso Bomb. One thing stuck out about this match was that there was no traditional hot tag segment in this match, with the finish coming out of nowhere. You're probably not going to find many better matches than this on the 80's Wrestlemania cards. ★★★¼ Ricky Steamboat vs Hercules Hernandez Even though this is still a throwaway undercard match, Steamboat is always going to impress and even Hercules put in a good shift. Hercules is deceivably agile and is able to match Steamboat's speed by hitting a high leapfrog during the opening exchanges. Steamboat sells Hercules' strikes wonderfully. The crowd make a lot of noise for Steamboat and pop huge for his win. While it's not a classic for the ages by any stretch of the imagination, it's still a brighter spot on this otherwise utterly crap card. ★★¾ Uncle Elmer vs Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) Elmer is Khali levels of bad. You can still see glimpses of brilliance from Adonis, but he's well past his best days and his gay panic gimmick doesn't sit well with me. Adonis is still able to bump well, and that's what he does for Elmer until he is able to catch him off guard and get a win. I'll give this half a star for Adonis and his bumping. ½★ The Junkyard Dog & Tito Santana vs The Funk Brothers (Hoss Funk & Terry Funk) (w/Jimmy Hart) Has Terry Funk ever had a bad match? You could throw him on any card in history and he'd adapt and deliver something worth watching. His performance here was his usual crazy Texan self turned up to eleven and he fights right in with WWF's style at the time. Dory is mainly here to throw some beautifully crisp firearms and look disgusted with himself for working for Vince's silly cartoon wrestling show. JYD is here to take the hot tag, so he doesn't hurt the match at all. This is an underrated match, and one of the few things worth seeing from this show. ★★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Cage Match Hulk Hogan (c) vs King Kong Bundy (w/Bobby Heenan) Feels more like a a Saturday Night's Main Event match than the main event of Wrestlemania, but it's completely what you would expect from Hogan. Bundy gets colour after having his dome rammed into the cage. Bundy then works over Hulk until he inevitably Hulks Up. Heenan isn't able to stop Hogan from escaping the cage, and gets beaten up after the bell. A completely forgettable main event, but Undertaker vs Sid still holds the honour of being the worst Wrestlemania main event ever. ★¾ Overall: With celebrity overload and the three locations concept not working at all, Wrestlemania 2 is a hard watch with a few shinning spots. Bulldogs vs Dream Team is one of the better matches of it's era, Funks vs JYD/Tito is a sleeper hit and the battle royal is kind of spectacle that feels right at home at Wrestlemania. Outside of that, this is a pretty drab show. The worked boxing match was horrendous and the main event was lacking, not to mention the overabundance of filler bouts that never really had the chance to get going. Wrestlemania III: "Bigger! Better! Badder!" Bob Orton & The Magnificent Muraco (w/Mr. Fuji) vs The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel & Tom Zenk) This felt like the last hurrah for guys who looked like Orton and Muraco as we are coming to a time where Vince wanted guys who looked like Warrior and Savage and not workers who were stocky and pudgy. Despite them not looking like a superstar in the landscape of 1987 WWF, Orton and Muraco were great at cutting off Zenk and Martel and bumping for them in that entertainingly corny 80's way. Monsoon refers to Zenk as the 'Excellence Of Execution' and Orton's long-term wrist injury has finally healed as he's cast-free here. This was an enjoyable match to open the card and the finish was quite creative, with Muraco accidentally back body dropping his own tag partner! ★★★ Billy Jack Haynes vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) A basic power match, pitting the two users of the Full Nelson up against each other. Hercules cuts one of the most batshit promos ever before the match, talking about his time in Ancient Rome. The match starts with an intense stare down after which Haynes gets his shine in before he's brutally cut off by a Herc lariat. Billy Jack Haynes refuses to tap out to Hercules' Full Nelson and once he's able to lock in one of his own, Hercules launches himself with Haynes still on his back out of the ring. The result of this one is a double countout after they refuse to get back into the ring. Hercules busts open and lays out Haynes with a chain shot. I'm not going to hate on the non-finish, as this made Hercules look like a monster and it protected the babyface from having to tap out from the Full Nelson. Decent enough. ★★ King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo & Lord Littlebrook vs Haiti Kid, Hillbilly Jim & Little Beaver The commentators talk about the small performers like they are literal children. They get their little person shit in before it's time for Hillybilly Jim and King Kong Bundy get tagged in and stink up the place. Little Beaver tries to square up against Bundy and immediately regrets his decision. Bundy has had enough and lays out Beaver with a slam and a nasty elbow dropped, causing a disqualification and the heel little people to turn on Bundy. Not going to lie, I popped big for the Beaver assault, but there's nothing worth seeing here if you've already seen the famous ending. ★ Loser Must Kneel And Bow Match King Harley Race (w/Bobby Heenan & The Fabulous Moolah) vs The Junkyard Dog Just a three minute match showcasing how over JYD was and how excellent Harley Race was, even in his advancing years. The stipulation of this match is that the loser must bow to the winner. Harley bumps like crazy for JYD here. He misses a nasty falling headbutt of the apron and you can see why he regrets inventing that move. I'm not sure why a non-finish was needed here. Surely JYD could of done with the win, especially considering he's the man standing tall in the aftermath of this segment. ★★¾ The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake & Greg Valentine) (w/Dino Bravo & Johnny V) vs The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau) It's so strange seeing The Rougeaus as babyfaces. This unremarkable bout just barely makes the four minute mark and it's only purpose is to lay the groundwork for Beefcake's face turn. After The Rougeaus land their neat looking finish, Dino Bravo runs in and helps the heels steal this one. Beefcake is annoyed by Dino getting in the ring. Bobby Heenan, Bravo and Valentine sneak out of the ring area on those cool ring carts, leaving Beefcake alone. This is isn't the last we'll be seeing off Beefcake tonight. These guys were capable of putting on something better than this, but this felt quite rushed. ★★¼ Hair vs Hair Match Roddy Piper vs Adrian Adonis (w/Jimmy Hart) Much like the JYD/Race match, this has phenomenal bumping. Adonis throws himself around the ring in an almost slapstick like fashion. The spots where Jimmy Hart gets involved are even more marvellous. Roddy Piper is super over and the crowd even believes this is his final match. Piper's offense may look weak, but Adonis sells it so well it's forgivable. This had an incredible atmosphere and it's a rare sight to see such a firey brawl in peak cartoon WWF era. A total Adonis carry job. I could of done without seeing the 'AIDS Adonis' sign though. ★★★¼ The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid) & Tito Santana vs The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Danny Davis & Jim Neidhart) (w/Jimmy Hart) So this was meant to be for the Tag Team titles, but Dynamite Kid's injury prevented this. It was then made a six man tag match to cover up his limitations and it does so well. Danny Davis is fantastic as a chicken shit heel non-wrestler. He tags in when an opponent is down and he takes a shot and tag himself back out. This riles up the crowd and they can't wait to see Davis get taken down. Santana gets the hot tag and isolates Davis and beats him down, much to the roaring approval of the audience. Davey Boy Smith tags in and delivers an absolutely viscous Tombstone Piledriver before Davis sneaks away with a cheap win. Who would of thought a match with all this talent and Danny Davis is the MVP? ★★★ Koko B. Ware vs Butch Reed (w/Slick) The definition of a popcorn match if I'd ever saw one. Koko surprised me with a high dropkick followed up with a cartwheel. I wasn't expecting that level from athleticism from him. Reed wins after flipping a Koko crossbody and grabbing a handful of tights. Tito runs down and makes the save. Nothing offensive, but they could of left this from the card and nobody would of noticed. ★½ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) (c) vs Ricky Steamboat (w/George Steele) This is still incredible. I find myself doubt how good this is, but it wins me over every time I rewatch it every few years. Savage works a great segment over Steamboat's throat. The crowd are right behind Steamboat, even the ones that were cheering Macho when he made his entrance. These guys work at such a fast pace, even the referee looks worn out. This really is a masterclass in pro-wrestling and it's one of the most highly influential matches of all time and I can't see it ever aging. ★★★★★ Jake Roberts (w/Alice Cooper) vs The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) It's Honky and Jake The Snake, so nobody is expecting a workrate classic, but they stick to what they know and the crowd eat up everything they do. The ever valiant babyface Roberts attacks Honky before the bell and rips off his suit. Ventura refers to Honky's attire as an Elvis suit, the only time I think they referenced Elvis when talking about Honky. Roberts is accompanied by Alice Cooper. Damien popping up in his bag got one of the biggest pops of the match. I love the spot where Roberts punches Honky into the ropes and HTM sells it like he's in a rocking chair. HTM steals the win, but Jake gets the last laugh as he smashes Honky's guitar, beats on Jimmy Hart and lays Damien on HTM. A basic match, but they did everything they set out to do well. ★★½ Nikolai Volkoff & The Iron Sheik (w/Slick) vs The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell) Has there been a more dislikeable babyface than Jim Duggan in WWF? He decided to interrupt Volkoff singing the Soviet national anthem as he's in the land of the free. Fucking idiot. He sticks around and decides to manage The Killer Bees. Volkoff and Sheik get a lot of heat and the crowd even throw some garbage into the ring. The match is very simple and only lasts five minutes before Duggan decides to cost the Bees the victory by getting them disqualified by attacking the Russians with his 2 x 4. I'd be pissed if I was in the Killer Bees. ★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Hulk Hogan (c) vs Andre The Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) Unpopular take: this is nowhere near as bad as everyone makes this out to be. Andre is way passed it and very drunk, not a winning combination by any means. This is the Hulk Hogan show. He carries the giant to a serviceable match by selling his lumbering attacks like death. They milk everything can out of the staredowns and rest holds to make up for time. They stare off at each other as the match starts, with Hogan immediately failing to slam Andre and nearly lose the match after he's crushed by Andre. This all sets up for that famous conclusion to this match perfectly. Andre works a bearhug on Hogan and it goes on for way too long, but it doesn't take the crowd out of the match. The reaction they get when Andre takes his first bump after getting knocked down by the clothesline is momentous. Hogan slams Andre and the rest is history. It's hard to neglect the brilliant build-up and the historical significance of this match. The crowd eat up everything they see and that, along with Hogan working his ass off, makes this an easily digestible offering of 80s WWF. ★★¾ Overall: If you want to show someone a good example of Rock N' Wrestling WWF, show them this show. It's by no means perfect, but all the big matches delivered and there's some good stuff in the undercard too. The celebrity involvement is well placed and any card that can boast having both one of the greatest matches of all time and one of the most famous matches of all time surely is worth your time. It would take over a decade before they would put on a Wrestlemania as good as this one. Wrestlemania IV: "What The World Is Watching" Battle Royal Sam Houston vs Ken Patera vs Boris Zhukov vs King Harley Race vs The Junkyard Dog vs Jim Neidhart vs Bad News Brown vs Bret Hart vs Paul Roma vs B. Brian Blair vs George Steele vs Jim Brunzell vs Jacques Rougeau vs Ron Bass vs Nikolai Volkoff vs Hillbilly Jim vs Danny Davis vs Raymond Rougeau vs Sika vs Jim Powers A 20 man battle royal for a massive trophy kicks off the event. Ron Bass, Sam Houston, Jim Powers and Ken Patera all make their sole Wrestlemania appearances during this. The Rougeaus are still here, and they still are yet to turn heel. Like most battle royals, there isn't much to write about the majority of the competitors are eliminated. They spend way too long with a full ring whilst Bob Ueker bickers with Jesse Ventura. The last three wrestlers are Bad News Brown, Bret Hart and Junkyard Dog. The heels double team JYD and eventually eliminate him. Brown and Hart celebrate, until Brown blindsides Hart with a Ghetto Blaster and eliminates him. Post match sees Hart destroy Brown's trophy in quite a memorable moment. This was what it was, but it's cool to see Bret Hart get a big rub so early on in his WWF career. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Ted DiBiase (w/Andre The Giant & Virgil) vs Jim Duggan If Jim Duggan wasn't so awesome in Mid-South, I'd happily erase him from wrestling history and nothing of value would be lost. Speaking off Mid-South, we see some very fleeting glimpses of Dibiase and Duggan's brawls from a few years previously here, but it's lacking the blood, intensity and crowd heat that made those Mid-South brawls so magical. Just as Duggan is building up some steam, Andre trips him and Dibiase advances to the next round after a knee lift lays Duggan out for the count. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Don Muraco (w/Superstar Billy Graham) vs Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin) Since we last saw him curtain jerking at Wrestlemania III, Muraco has decided to turn face and become a Body Guy. He's tanned, jacked and becomes a babyface by recruiting Billy Graham as his manager. He looks awkward as hell working as a face and getting his shine in and he hits the world's worst Vader Bomb. Bravo's not much better, but he's always been mediocre. We get a crap finish as Bravo pull the referee into harm's way. He lands a piledriver on Muraco, but the referee decides to disqualify Bravo instead of counting the pin. This was too short to be anything too offensive, but it's still one of the many weaker matches on this event. ★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Ricky Steamboat While Steamboat would never come close to his match with Randy Savage the previous year during a Wrestlemania, he'd always put in a good performance. Valentine is a mismatch for him. He's too slow to keep up with Steamboat's crisp and quick style, and he looks awkward cutting him off. Thankfully he makes up for this by selling Steamboat's chops like he's a big redwood tumbling over. It's a touch corny, but it's endlessly entertaining. Valentine advances by countering a top rope cross body and grabbing a handful of tights, kicking Steamboat out of the tournament and out of the WWF for a few years. ★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Butch Reed (w/Slick) Savage would go on to wrestle four more times on this night, so whilst it's understandable that he's pacing himself, this wasn't a good match by any measure. Reed is way too sluggish and brings literally nothing to the table. After Reed beats on Savage a bit, he attempts a top rope move. He's thwarted when he spends way too much time trash talking Elizabeth and Savage lands an elbow drop to win. Donald Trump is sitting ringside for this event and it's interesting to watch his reactions. He look bored during Steamboat's match, but was grinning ear to ear during this, proof the man has zero taste. ★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Oliver Humperdink) vs The One Man Gang (w/Slick) Bam Bam is super agile here, busting out cartwheels and a high cross body. That's it. That's all the praise I can find for this. This consists of Bam Bam and One Man Gang punching each other around the ring, until Slick interferes by pulling down the top rope as Bam Bam tries to run them. He falls to the outside and is eventually counted out. The worst part about this is that all the interreference happened right in front of the referee. Blah match with a blah finish. ¾★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament First Round Match Jake Roberts vs Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) There's parts of this I can I say I like. Rude is so campy and fun when he's selling and bumping for Roberts. Roberts throws some nice punches. Rude throwing himself across the ring when he accidentally goes near Damien was funny. Sadly, this is a 15 minute time limit draw that felt like 50 minutes. After the Roberts shine, Rude keeps Roberts grounded with a chin lock whilst Jesse and Gorilla go on about how they only have 15 minutes to work with. It's clear that they are just trying to wait out out the time limit. Roberts makes the most uninspired comeback after we get literal minutes of boring chants from the crowd. There's certainly been worse matches than this on a Wrestlemania, but I can't remember one that actively bored me as much as this did. ★ The Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules (w/Bobby Heenan) Hercules has got on a lot on his plate as he's got to get something decent out of a green Ultimate Warrior. The crowd pop big for Warror's entrance, but he's still not hit his peak in popularity as the audience quiet down once this gets going. Very basic stuff here. Warrior doesn't sell much for Herc, as it takes three clotheslines to knock him down. Hercules gets his full nelson locked in, but Warrior pushes off the turnbuckle and gets the deciding pinfall. I don't know why they didn't just have Warrior steamroll Herc if they wanted Warrior to look dominant. Questionable booking aside, this was exactly what you'd expect out of a Warrior match. ★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament Quarter Final Match Hulk Hogan vs Andre The Giant (w/Ted DiBiase & Virgil) Andre's even more broken down than he was at Wrestlemania 3, so they keep this short and sweet. The crowd eat up everything that serve up and even Trump has a smile on his face during this. Dibiase tries to get involved and this is thrown out once both guys are swinging chair shots at each other. The double DQ is mind boggling as Hulk clearly swung first. Whatever. Hulk takes out Virgil with a suplex onto the concrete and body slams Andre as the Trump Plaza erupts. Not exactly a great match, but a decent angle to further the story of the entire tournament. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament Quarter Final Match Don Muraco (w/Superstar Billy Graham) vs Ted DiBiase After the events of the previous match, Dibiase has to go at this one on his own. He carries Muraco in this with his bumping and selling. Dibiase catches Muraco off-guard and lands a Stun Gun to advance cleanly to the finals. It's good to let your heels show that they can score some wins every now and then without having to bend the rules. Decent enough, but this struggles to be engaging by being so damn predictable. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament Quarter Final Match Greg Valentine (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) Yet another match that is hindered by it's predictability, even the crowd seem to be getting burnt out by this point. Valentine and Savage work an average match together, with Savage countering Valentine's Figure 4 with a small package to achieve the victory. It was a nice touch to the overarching story that Savage had a much tougher time reaching the finals when compared to Dibiase's relatively brisk two quick wins. ★½ WWF Intercontinental Title Match The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart & Peggy Sue) (c) vs Brutus Beefcake Honky is no Misawa in the ring, but he knows how to give the crowd all they need to get them to react. Sadly, Beefcake isn't much of an opponent and this has yet another cheap finish as Jimmy Hart knocks out the referee as Beefcake has his sleeper hold locked in. Beefcake makes himself look stupid by celebrating like he's won the title even though the bell hasn't rung. There's nothing worse than making your babyfaces look dumb. Beefcake doesn't win the championship, but he gets the disqualification win as well as giving Jimmy Hart a unwanted haircut. It's at this point when the show is really starting to lose me. ★½ Koko B. Ware & The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith & The Dynamite Kid) vs Bobby Heenan & The Islanders (Haku & Tama) Islanders, Bulldogs and Koko bring the workrate, whilst Bobby Heenan brings the hammy comedy by coming to the ring in a protective suit to protect him from the Bulldog's mascot. Jesse Ventura says that Brain looks like 'a chinaman' in his suit. Fucking hell. Tamu bumps all over the place to start things off, and takes a big catapult spot over the ring post and to the outside. Dynamite's back is seriously damaged by this point, but he's still able to hold his own and keep up with the energetic pace. Heenan tags in and shows the world at what an underappreciated seller he is by bumping his ass off. Heenan pins Koko after using his padded suit as a weapon and splashing Koko with the Islander's assistance. The Bulldogs get the last laugh by chasing Bobby down with Matilda. One of the best matches of the night, but that's not exactly high praise. ★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament Semi Final Match The One Man Gang (w/Slick) vs Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) Savage's next roadblock keeping him from the finals in One Man Gang. This is yet another predictable match with a dodgy finish. Seriously, six out of the sixteen matches on this show end in either a DQ or a count out. This isn't a good either, it's thankfully kept mercifully short. Savage does a good job at putting over Gang's size and power. Savage using Gang's beard to do his flying rope guillotine was a neat spot. Gang gets himself DQ'd by trying to use Slick's cane. Crap. ¾★ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Strike Force (Rick Martel & Tito Santana) (c) vs Demolition (Ax & Smash) (w/Mr. Fuji) A decent enough match hindered by a burnt out audience. Ax and Smash look the part and do a good job of being big bullies, cutting off the much quicker team of Martel and Santana. Demolition look cool as hell and even receive some cheers when they steal the win as Mr Fuji hands them his cane to use as a weapon. If this show was 30-60 minutes shorter, I'm sure this bout would of been better received. ★★¼ WWF World Heavyweight Title Tournament Final Match (vacant) Randy Savage (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Ted DiBiase (w/Andre The Giant) Andre is back in Dibiase's corner and as soon as he attempts to cut off Savage, the crowd immediately start chanting for Hogan and await his eventual appearance. Savage attempts an early elbow drop, but misses. The crowd go apeshit for this and it's clear that they are ready to move on from Hogan as champion. Hogan eventually comes in and lays out Dibiase with a chair as the referee is busy with Andre and allows Savage to win. Savage hoists Elizabeth in the air and celebrate in a picture perfect moment, only soured by Hogan coming in and trying to steal some of the glory. A fun and satisfying end to a piss-poor Wrestlemania. ★★¾ Overall: Easily the worst Wrestlemania. The over-arching tournament storyline was a good idea, but hardly any of the matches are given room to breathe. Nearly a third of the matches end in some form of non-finish. Savage winning the title might be this Wrestlemania's sole good moment. Wrestlemania V: "The Mega-Powers Explode" King Haku (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Hercules Hercules is free from Bobby Heenan's family and is working as a face now. He gets a good reaction as he fires away at Haku. Eventually Haku cuts him off and works him down as in a bearhug and the audience loses interest. They get a decent amount of time for an undercard match and the finishing stretch is cool at least. Herc is caught by a superkick as he dives off the top rope, Haku misses a headbutt and Hercules secures the victory with a bridging back suplex. ★★ The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) vs The Twin Towers (Akeem & The Big Boss Man) (w/Slick) Bossman, Michaels and Jannetty all make their Wrestlemania debuts in a hidden gem of a tag match. They play on the big and powerful versus small and quick dynamic well. The Rockers are able to chip away at the unfortunately named Twin Towers by moving around the ring quickly and by using some creative double team moves. Jannetty is hit with a stiff Akeem lariat and they work a brief FIP segment into this frantically-paced match. Bossman catches one of the Rockers flying off the top rope and hits an amazing spinning powerbomb to win. Check this out if you haven't before. ★★★¼ Brutus Beefcake vs Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) They keep it simple here. Dibiase sticks to the cowardly heel wrestler playbook by stalling and posturing. Beefcake sticks to only using punches and the most basic on manoeuvres. Both guys are over, so it works even though it's not all that exciting. I'm less keen on the double countout non-finish. Beefcake gets his hands on Virgil during the post-match, until Dibiase grabs his manservant and legs it out of there. ★★ The Bushwhackers (Butch & Luke) vs The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau) I was going to say that it's good to see that they give the matches on this Wrestlemania more time to breath than the previous show, but that was before I had to sit through a near 10 minute Bushwackers match. Rougeaus are good usually, but they struggle to mesh with their opponents and it leads to a nothing filler bout. The Rougeaus make the mistake of celebrating too early and get hit with the Bushwacker Battering Ram for the embarrassing loss. Dreadfully boring stuff. The only saving grace here is we get to hear the Rougeaus incredible theme song. ½★ The Blue Blazer vs Mr. Perfect It's eerie watching Owen rock the Blue Blazer gimmick considering what happened, but he puts in a hell of a shift with Mr. Perfect as both make their Wrestlemania debuts. The action is fast-paced and we see all kinds of suplexes, powerslams and a variety of high-risk moves. Blazer eats some knees in a nasty spot when Perfect counters his top rope splash. Even though it's clear that this is just here to elevate Perfect, they really make the most of the six minutes that they're given. ★★¾ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Demolition (Ax & Smash) (c) vs Mr. Fuji & The Powers Of Pain (The Barbarian & The Warlord) This looked better on paper. I was expecting a smash-face slugfest in front of a hot crowd. What we got was a solid no-frills match with an audience sitting on their hands. Ax gets worked over, and makes the hot tag to Smash once Fuji screws things up by missing a move from the top. Fuji doesn't exactly do too much. He tries to salt his former team, but his plan get foiled and he eats Demolition's finisher to lose the match. ★ Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin) vs Ronnie Garvin A quick squash for Bravo to build up some momentum. He still looks the shit in this three minute match by looking incredibly awkward and clumsy. Garvin is able to mount a small comeback after laying in a nice and snug forearm smash, but is eventually cut off and Bravo lands his abysmal side suplex finish. Garvin lays into Frenchy Martin after the bell. Not much to say about this. ★ The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard) (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Strike Force (Rick Martel & Tito Santana) This is Strike Force's return after Martel spent some time on the shelf. Arn and Tully are masters of isolating Santana from getting a tag, although that should come as no surprise. Tito accidentally hits Martel with a forearm and this causes Martel to eventually walk out on his partner. It's a cool angle and I'm sure it was shocking at the time, but this left me wanting to see a Strike Force vs Brainbusters get a good 15-20 minutes and tear the house down. Instead we get a satisfying heel turn and a one-sided match with some excellent heel tag team psychology peppered in. ★★¾ Jake Roberts vs Andre The Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) This was just sad. Big John Studd was the guest referee and he looked like he wishes he was elsewhere and Andre looks mentally spent as well as physically broken. Andre pulls off the turnbuckle cover when Roberts is making his entrance. He immediately drags Robert's head into the buckle to take control. What follows is one of the most slowest and plodding matches in Wrestlemania history. After slapping and choking Roberts at a snail's pace, Roberts tails it out off the ring once Dibiase tries to steal Damien. Roberts gets him back and sets him free in the ring, sending a terrified Andre to the back. DUD Greg Valentine & The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) vs The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) More filler, but at least this is an opportunity to see Bret Hart. Honky lands his finisher early, with little fanfare and build-up, but decides to tag Valentine in lock on a Figure 4. Bret counters and tags in Neidhart and he cleans house. Hart Foundation score the win after intercepting Jimmy Hart's megaphone when he was trying to throw it to the heels. The Hart Foundation looked motivated, whilst Honky and Valentine look like they were just out there for another paycheck. Fine for what it was, but this event would be a lot more palatable if they trimmed off the pointless filler matches like this. ★★ WWF Intercontinental Title Match The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) I've seen this touted as one of Warrior's best matches, but I thought it was just okay. Rude bumps his ass off trying to make Warrior look like a killer, but Warrior kills the match by locking in bearhug and keeping it locked in for a good few minutes. Rude tries to escape by poking the eyes, but the referee stops him. Rude finally escapes by biting the roided-up homophobe, and he returns the favour. The finish of Heenan pulling Warrior's leg down was smart, but poorly executed as Warrior's leg was clearly still on the ropes. All the working parts from Heenan to Rude to even the referee did their job of stopping Warrior from stinking up the place. ★★ Bad News Brown vs Jim Duggan Even more pointless filler! Jim Duggan calling Bad News Brown a 'son of a bitch' was the only highlight here. Brown works over Duggan's head, but it's useless as Duggan has no brain (Ventura's words, not mine!). Brown misses a Ghetto Blaster and gets nailed with a Duggan charge. Brown grabs a chair, and Duggan grabs his 2 x 4 in defence. They wail on each other as the referee has no choice, but to throw this out. At least this was short. ½★ Bobby Heenan (w/The Brooklyn Brawler) vs The Red Rooster I didn't think the Red Rooster was that bad of a gimmick. He's just a guy with a wacky nickname and even wackier haircut. That was until I saw poor Terry Taylor's hilariously bad clucking pre-match promo. Heenan brings out The Brooklyn Brawler as muscle, but he doesn't do anything of note. Heenan tries to play chickenshit, but Rooster grabs him and pins him in 30 or so seconds after Heenan misses a corner splash. I'm sure Heenan and Taylor could of work a fun and campy wrestler vs non-wrestler bout, but this wasn't that and was just a waste of time. DUD WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Randy Savage (c) vs Hulk Hogan Savage is the master of mind games and heel psychology, and Hogan is a pro at working the crowd with his hammy theatrics, so this worked a treat. Hogan is able to do a serviceable job keeping up with Savage when they trade holds, but the real meat of this main event is the drama involving Miss Elizabeth. Savage uses her as a human shield and this gets a shocked reaction from the crowd. She was fantastic in this and made this feel like a huge spectacle. Eventually she ejected from ringside and Savage takes control of Hogan. Hogan kicks out of Macho's finish and does his Hulk-up to win back the strap. ★★★½ Overall: A big improvement from last year, but there's still some shit here. Heenan vs Rooster, Andre vs Roberts and Rougeaus vs Bushwackers might be some of the worst Wrestlemania matches ever. There's good stuff here. The main event delivered in spades, and the Rockers made their Wrestlemania debut in an absolute cracker of a tag match. Everything else was watchable. Wrestlemania VI: "The Ultimate Challenge" Koko B. Ware vs Rick Martel Koko shines in this high energy (hah) opener. The audience quiets down once Martel takes control, but are right back to cheering their asses off once Koko makes his comeback after a failed Boston Crab attempt by The Model. Koko is a solid hand at being an over jobber-to-the-stars and Martel looks comfortable doing his campy gimmick, complete with big facial expressions. Martel locks on his crab and scores the first victory of the evening. This was here to give Martel some more momentum and to warm up the crowd, without burning them out without too much excitement. ★★¼ WWF World Tag Team Title Match The Colossal Connection (Andre The Giant & Haku) (w/Bobby Heenan) (c) vs Demolition (Ax & Smash) Haku has to carry the workload for his team as Andre is relegated to standing on the apron and attacking Ax or Smash whenever they come into his reach. The action here is rudimentary and unsophisticated as one would expect. Andre finally enters into the ring as an illegal man and Demolition double clothesline him into his corner. A miscommunication by the heels sees Andre getting himself tied up in the ropes and Demolition hit their finish on Haku to a monster ovation. Andre gets chewed out by Bobby Heenan after the match and Andre starts slapping him around before leaving on his own as the crowd cheer him on. This was an abysmal match with a good finish and a truly bittersweet post match. ★★ Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Hercules We start this off with some basic power-based posturing. Hercules works in a brief hope spot as he hits a barrage of clotheslines, which are only able to send Earthquake down to one knee. Herc makes the mistake of going for his backbreaker submission, but is unable to scoop the big guy above his head. A big elbow drop and a Earthquake splash wraps this up in just under five minutes. This wasn't going to win any MOTY awards, but they did everything they set out to do. Earthquake secures a dominant win over an established star, setting him up for much bigger things over the summer. ★★ Brutus Beefcake vs. Mr. Perfect (w/The Genius) This wasn't too different from Beefcake's match with Dibiase at last year's Wrestlemania. A basic bout with Beefcake following the lead of a much more talented heel. Perfect bumps all over the place for The Barber's primitive offence. Perfect takes control once The Genius throws Perfect his scroll to knock Brutus out with. Beefcake isn't half bad at selling Perfect's onslaught, but this segment goes on way too long and the finish feels anti-climatic as Beefcake wins after landing a catapult leg toss out of nowhere, sending Perfect face first into the ring post in a spectacular bump. After intervening with Perfect's haircut, the Genius is caught red-headed by Beefcake after gets de-mulleted instead. ★★¼ Roddy Piper vs Bad News Brown Oh god, where to begin with this? For those of you fortunate enough to not of seen this before, this was the match that Piper decided it would be a good idea to paint half his body black as he goes to war with a black man. Blackface aside, this wasn't an awful match, just a disappointing one. Piper has had some cracking brawls in his time, but this wasn't one of them. He pulls out a Michael Jackson-style mesh glove from his trunks and begins to use it as weapon and the referee doesn't seem to do anything. They eventually gets counted out as they fight to the back. ★½ The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) vs The Bolsheviks (Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff) The Hart Foundation attack the big Russians as they are singing their national anthem and land The Hart Attack for the win in 18 seconds. The crowd love it. No one needed to see Nikolai Volkoff in 1990 wrestle in long and competitive matches, so I can't hate on this much. We do get a funny backstage segment with Steve Allen and the Bolsheviks prior to this squash, which is well worth going out of your way to see. ½★ Tito Santana vs The Barbarian (w/Bobby Heenan) Yay for Tito, boo for more filler. Tito carries Barbarian to a decent match, which sees Barbarian getting some heat with a win over a popular babyface after the Powers Of Pain break-up. Tito gets the briefest of hope spots, until it's time to wrap this one up. Barbarian isn't anything special, but his top rope clothesline nearly decapitates poor Tito. ★★ Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire (w/Miss Elizabeth) vs Queen Sherri & Randy Savage Even by non-wrestler standards, Sapphire was bad. Sherri had to carefully lay out her spots and any time we see Sapphire, we get some of the worst offence ever. Rhodes and Sapphire bring out Miss Elizabeth out to be their manager for the night, which enrages Savage. Savage and Rhodes are god-tier talents, but it seems that they are having an off-night. While there's not much meat on the bone, the crowd absolutely love ever second of this. Jesse Ventura's commentary is a highlight, as he can't stop him ripping into Sapphire. ★¾ The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) vs The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) (w/Mr. Fuji) The Rockers and the Orient Express get a chance to showcase their flashy moves. Shawn and Marty are incredibly over and are one of the most consistent acts in the WWF at the time, although this felt like a touch lackluster when compared to the classic these two teams would have at next year's Rumble. Jannetty counters a back body drop by landing on his feet, which is probably the most impressive spot of the night. My main gripe with this match is that it ends just as things start to pick up, and it's weak finish at that. Fuji blinds Jannetty with salt and he's counted out. ★★½ Dino Bravo (w/Earthquake & Jimmy Hart) vs Jim Duggan The only good thing I can say about Dino Bravo and Jim Duggan facing off is that only one match is going to suck because of their presence. A poor match with Hacksaw more focused on shouting rather than selling for Dino. All we get here is weak punch-kick action with hardly any bumps whatsoever. Duggan tries to get the Canadian crowd to get a U-S-A chant going. Earthquake is in Bravo's corner and he squashes Duggan once this bout is concluded with multiple splashes. ½★ Million Dollar Title Match Ted DiBiase (c) (w/Virgil) vs Jake Roberts Solid wrestling with sound psychology, these two did everything right, but the Skydome audience would rather entertain themselves by doing the wave. Robert teases the DDT multiple times but is unable to ever land it. They build up well to a Roberts comeback, as Roberts is brilliant at subtlety egging on the fans to get behind without looking like he's pandering. Dibiase is able to retain his belt by getting Roberts counted out as Virgil interferes. Roberts get payback by stuffing money down Dibiase's throat. An okay match, with a cheap ending. ★★ Akeem (w/Slick) vs The Big Boss Man Way too short to break this down in detail. Bossman makes quick work of his former partner by landing a stiff boot as Akeem runs into the corner and laying him out with a Bossman Slam. Dibiase attacks Bossman before the bell, but it doesn't do much to slow down the big man. A good way to wrap up the Bossman vs Slick and Akeem feud, whilst giving some Bossman some momentum as his face turn gets underway. ★ Jimmy Snuka vs Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) Rick Rude looks the best he'd ever look during his career here, he's a total stud. He saves this from total mediocrity by bumping around the place for Snuka. Steve Allen joins the commentary booth for this one and cracks jokes about Snuka wearing his wife's underwear. Sunka goes to the top for the Superfly Splash, but Rude rushes up to his feet and is able to put the brakes on Snuka by landing a Rude Awakening. An average squash setting Rude up for a world title feud and to give the fans a chance to breathe for the main event. ★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title / WWF Intercontinental Title Match The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs Hulk Hogan (c) While this isn't as great as I thought it was when I used to wear out my VHS of this show as a kid, this is still a wonderfully, colourful main event with one of the most electric atmosphere ever. They have them eating out of their hands. Warrior brings the intensity and Hogan sorts out the rest, including laying out the match spot-by-spot. Despite all this, there is way too much downtime as they spent literal minutes down on the mat. I dug all the long stare down and test of strength spots, but I found myself skipping forward ahead whenever they would both collapse to the mat. Warrior wins after kicking out of the leg drop and Hogan finds a way to make it all about himself during the aftermath. ★★★¼ Overall: Even with all the filler, this was a mostly enjoyable watch because of the crowd staying consistently hot throughout the show. Gone are the days of the soulless Trump Plaza Wrestlemanias. There's nothing downright rotten here and the main event was a lot of fun despite my gripes. A one match show, but you could do a lot worse than this PPV. Wrestlemania VII: "Superstars and Stripes Forever" The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) vs The Heenan Family (Haku & The Barbarian) (w/Bobby Heenan) Typical Rockers versus big men stuff, not that I'm complaining! Both Marty and Shawn bump like crazy and the crowd are super hot for them. From his staggering selling to him catching Marty in a nifty powerslam, I thought Barbarian also looked good here. Every show needs a match like this to open things up and get the ball rolling in the right direction. As I go through all the Wrestlemanias in order, I can really appreciate how dynamic and fast-paced this match was compared to what we were usually getting on the undercard for these shows. The only match that has better workrate from the first six 'Manias is Steamboat vs Savage. The Rockers are over like rover and it's crazy that the office would split them up in a few short months. ★★★¾ Dino Bravo (w/Jimmy Hart) vs The Texas Tornado Dino continues to stink up the undercard of Wrestlemania, although this would be his last appearance thankfully. Texas Tornado looks like slimmed down and quicker version of the Ultimate Warrior. This was a simple squash for Tornado, but neither man looked good in this. Bravo looks like shit and works like shit, and Tornado looked so wooden and awkward in there. This is over once Von Erich kicks out from Bravo's side suplex and Bravo is pinned after Tornado lands his discus punch. Pointless not-so-fun fact: both guys would die within weeks of each in early 1993 from gunshot wounds. ½★ The British Bulldog vs The Warlord (w/Slick) Two beefy meatheads clobber at each other for a bit. Bulldog has bulked up big time since we last saw him at a Wrestlemania. He sacrifices a great deal of speed for his added mass. This wasn't pretty, with the exception of some surprising high spots, including a beautiful powerslam from Warlord and a Bulldog standing dropkick that gets a lot of height. Bulldog refuses to tap to Warlord's finishing Full Nelson submission, and is able to escape and landing a running powerslam to score a win to a monster pop. This was a bowling shoe ugly battle of powerhouses, but the crowd dug every second of this. ★★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Match The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart) (c) vs The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) (w/Jimmy Hart) You're not going to find anything fancy here, but this was a good match with a lot of heat. The Nasties aren't flashy at all, but know how to brawl when they feel like it. Bret is Bret and Neidhart is brilliant when he's in the role of the hyped up fresh man during the hot tag segments. After the referee is distracted with all the bodies in the ring, Knobbs nails Neidhart with Jimmy Hart's motorcycle helmet to steal the win and the tag titles. This would be the last time we would see the Bret and Neidhart team up for a while, as Bret is being groomed for a big singles run. ★★★ Blindfold Match Jake Roberts vs Rick Martel You couldn't get more anti-workrate than this, but it's fun for what it is. I like the small touches they added to make this work, such as Roberts trying to find Martel by using the crowd's reaction and luring Martel by clapping in one spot and moving to the next. Martel also deserves some credit for making this work as well as it did, his hammy comedic acting did wonders for a match like this. ★★½ Jimmy Snuka vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) As far as monster squashes go, this worked exceptionally well. Even here, it's clear that the Undertaker has an unique aura about him, with the kids at ringside looking in complete awe of him. He's in pure, no-selling Michael Myers mode and makes quick work of Snuka after catching him coming into the ring from a springboard attack. A tombstone later and Undertaker has scored his first of many Wrestlemania victories. I'm sure this was initially booked as yet another filler match, but the added historical significance stops this from being a complete waste of time. ★★ Career Ending Match The Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage (w/Queen Sherri) I admit that I teared up at the post match embrace, but I feel that it's entirely possibly that I might of found it rather sappy if it wasn't for the tragic deaths of Macho Man and Elizabeth. The match itself is special. Warrior doesn't do anything to bring the quality down and it's actually one of his better performance, even if Savage is mainly responsible for the workrate portion of this match to be as solid as it is. He bumps well for Warrior's abysmal punches. Sherri was phenomenal in this, acting as an interfering valet constantly attacking Warrior. The reason everyone rates this match highly is because of the emotion behind it. The atmosphere was something else. I personally found Warrior 'talking to the gods' and Macho Man hitting the elbow five times to be overly hokey, but I can forgive it. ★★★★½ Kitao & Tenryu vs Demolition (Crush & Smash) (w/Mr. Fuji) This is a depressing sight. Demolition are on their way out, with Ax out of the picture and replaced with Crush. Tenryu & Kitao are here as the WWF had a partnership with the short-lived SWS Japanese promotion. A large portion of the crowd are stretching their legs and the remaining fans sit on their hands, all whilst Bobby Heenan makes racist jokes about the Japanese wrestlers smelling like soy sauce. I'm sure these four could have a fun match in front of a hot Korakuen Hall, but this was just forgettable. The Japanese team pick up a win to zero reaction. It's a crying shame that Tenryu's biggest WWF match is pure filler designed to give the fans a break after the Savage/Warrior retirement match. ★½ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Mr. Perfect (w/Bobby Heenan) (c) vs. The Big Boss Man Perfect's selling here got a bit too silly for my tastes. He flips inside out from a Bossman punch and it reminded me of when Shawn Michaels tried to sabotage his match with Hogan by flopping all over the place. After Heenan and Perfect bend the rules, a haggard looking Andre The Giant comes down to even the odds. After Bossman looks like he has this won, Haku and Barbarian rush the ring and cause the disqualification. Bossman and Andre stand tall after the heels are fought off. Even with the naff non-finish, this was a fun, overbooked match with a molten-hot crowd. ★★¾ Greg Valentine vs. Earthquake (w/Jimmy Hart) Of all the filler we got on this show, this was by far the most pointless. Valentine is now face, has entrance music and works at a much quicker pace than he ever did during the entirety of his heel run. He strikes away at 'Quake until he falls down like a big redwood. The crowd pop for this and even get behind Valentine. Earthquake scores a quick win after an elbow drop and a Earthquake splash. Earthquake's single run was coming to end and Valentine is far beyond washed up at this point, so this match helped no one and was a massive waste of time. ½★ The Legion Of Doom (Animal & Hawk) vs. Power And Glory (Hercules & Paul Roma) (w/Slick) Not much to say here. Legion Of Doom squash Power and Glory in seconds. Hercules takes the Doomsday Device and that's all she wrote. A super easy payday for Paul Roma, as he gets shoved out of the ring as soon as the bell rings. Hawk and Animal debuted for the company in the summer of 1990 and were being booked incredibly strong, so it made sense for them to steamroll right through their opponents. ½★ Virgil (w/Roddy Piper) vs. Ted DiBiase Even with all the working parts in place, Virgil chokes on the big stage. The fans were insanely hot for this entire Dibiase/Virgil break-up storyline and Piper being in Virgil's corner gave everyone even more of an excuse to cheer him. They remain over for him at this show, but the reactions die down once he takes control and the fans see that Virgil is just not that great of a wrestler. Piper antagonises Dibiase and Virgil steals a countout win. It's fine, just not the pay-off that this incredible feud deserves. That satisfying pay-off would finally happen at Summerslam. ★★ Tito Santana vs. The Mountie (w/Jimmy Hart) Not crap because of the wrestlers involved, just crap because of the length and the lack of content. Santana lands his flying forearm, only for Mountie to roll out of the ring. Jimmy Hart then gives Mountie his cattle prod and Mountie cheats to get the deciding pinfall. All done and dusted in 81 seconds. Poor Tito. DUD WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Sgt. Slaughter (w/Gen. Adnan) (c) vs Hulk Hogan Slaughter has always been a good hand and he is a more interesting opponent than the majority of Hogan's foes during his first title run. He stalls well and is great at playing the chickenshit heel. Although this is worked miles better than Andre/Hogan, this was a far blander and duller main event. No one believed Sarge was winning this and not even the electric crowd and a nasty Hogan bladejob could pull me into this. The amount of blatant chair shots in front of the referee also had me rolling my eyes. At least this was decisive and sent the crowd home happy. ★¾ Overall: The main event might be completely tasteless and crap, but Wrestlemania VII is still a good show overall. The opener might be one of the best Wrestlemania openers ever and no match can come close to the emotion punch that Savage/Warrior packed. Things like the blindfold match and tag title bout added some variety to card too. Wrestlemania VIII: "Friendship Torn Apart!" El Matador vs Shawn Michaels (w/Sensational Sherri) I thought this was a great way to open up the show. Tito has always been a reliable worker and Shawn is starting to come into his own. He has taken to his new heel character like a fish to water. This has a slow start, with headlocks and a fair bit of stalling, but they kept it entertaining. Tito even manages to get a few convincing nearfalls by pinning Shawn when he's locked in Tito's headlock. Shawn's bumping might be over the top and cartoony for any other wrestling promotion, but it works well for the product WWF were putting out in 1992. I particularity love his bump to the outside, as he launches himself when Tito lands his Flying Jalapeno forearm strike. Shawn manages to get a semi-decisive win as Tito collapses trying to scoop Michaels up. I predict big things for that Michaels kid! ★★★¼ Jake Roberts vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) Jake Roberts cuts a promo backstage before the match and it's amazing stuff. They runs down an angle where Roberts attacks Undertaker and lays out Paul Bearer. He comes across as a sick killer and it's a damn shame that I know that the match isn't going to be anywhere near the quality of his promo. Undertaker has spent the last year working as a heel who doesn't sell anything. Now a face, he still doesn't show much emotion and it hurts the quality of his matches, but the crowd are enamoured by him. Roberts even lands two DDTs and Undertaker sits right back up after a few seconds. Undertaker wins by landing a Tombstone on the outside and throwing Roberts back in the ring to get the three count. This was short enough not to drag and the crowd lapped up everything, but the match isn't anything special. Check out the promo, skip the match. ★★ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Roddy Piper (c) vs Bret Hart This is a rare face vs face match for this time period. Watching these two babyfaces flirt with being a heel in order to win the IC strap was captivating. The pre-match promo not only brilliantly sets up this match, but also shows us that cocaine is a hell of a drug. We see glimpses of Piper wanting to embrace his older, darker persona. After Bret Hart gets a near-fall after playing possum, Piper is pushed over the edge. The drama with the ring bell was compelling. The story of Bret secretly blading and avoiding having to pay the blood fine by acting like he got colour the hard way shows what a pro in the ring he was. I wish Piper had more matches that matches his GOAT level promo skills. ★★★★½ Repo Man, The Mountie & The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) (w/Jimmy Hart) vs Jim Duggan, Sgt. Slaughter, The Big Boss Man & Virgil Ray Combs is here to be the guest ring announcer. He insults the heel team with some solid family-friendly level burns and the heel team freak out at him. The reason he's really here is to promote the WBF vs WWF special edition of Family Feud. I had no idea Ray Combs died, as I could of sworn that he was still alive until I googled to see what he's been up to after seeing this match. This is was okay for what it was. Nasty Boys Knobbs screws up by not breaking a pin in time. This went six minutes and the action moved fast enough to not bore me, even if said action was pretty unspectacular. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Ric Flair (w/Mr. Perfect) (c) vs Randy Savage Flair feels like he's finally settled in the WWF. The first ten minutes of this felt like both Flair and Savage were on autopilot. Thankfully, it's Flair and Savage so even with them phoning it in, they're still better than most. Once Flair gets colour this match starts getting real good. Flair attacks Savage's leg and Savage never stops selling it. I forgotten what a sublime seller Savage was. Elizabeth comes down to the ring to support Savage. She's swarmed by officials trying to get her to go the back. Savage's lucky roll-up (with a handful of tights) nets him the title and the post-match brawl and celebration, along with the rabid crowd, make this match feel like incredibly special. It's a damn shame they didn't carry on this feud. ★★★★ Tatanka vs Rick Martel Tatanka made his TV debut at the start of the year and it's obvious that they have big things planned for him. A Native American tribe perform a dance in the ring before the match and it's clear as day who's winning this. Much like many of the other undercard matches on this show, this wasn't anything special from a workrate perspective, but I found the ending to be completely baffling. Tatanka, who has been booked as a total powerhouse who crushes the opposition with ease, lands a lucky crossbody for the finish. Rick Martel, who played his role well, was winding down his career and could of afforded a jobber-like lose to their new star. The crowd did not care for this and the commentators were still talking about the result of Savage/Flair. ★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster & Ted DiBiase) (w/Jimmy Hart) (c) vs The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon) The crowd are still worn out after throwing all their energy into the World title match. Poor Earthquake works his ass trying to get them to care by laying both of Money Inc. out after a barrage of lariats, but it's clear they are just waiting for Sid vs Hogan. Dibiase is a great worker, but he's taking it easy tonight. His best performances are behind him at this point. Money Inc. soon decide they've had enough and hightail it out of there, leading to the second consecutive countout finish for the tag titles on PPV. ★½ Skinner vs Owen Hart Skinner spits his tobacco at Owen at the start and lays him out with his reverse DDT finish. Owen kicks out and lands a roll-up to win this match. This went less than a minute. I question to why they even threw this on the card as Skinner was a jobber at this point and they didn't do anything with Owen until years later, unless you want to count that dreadful tag team they threw him in with Koko B Ware. At least this was quick. ½★ Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice (w/Harvey Wippleman) Sid is the ultimate guilty pleasure wrestler. He can't work his way out of a paper bag, but his charisma and mic skills makes him impossible to hate. The video package they showed of him destroying jobbers and trashing Brutus' barber shop (somehow he gets a face full of shaving cream, but it's never shown how this happened) is golden. Dave Meltzer gave this a negative rating and I think that's a bit harsh, it's not even the worst match on the show. It's your standard Hogan affair. No frills, just a big test of strength and a long rest hold, but the crowd love every second of it. Papa Shango misses his run and it causes for a crap finish, but Warrior returning to clean house and to celebrate with Hogan was a cool moment. It's better than the stinker that Sid had with Undertaker at Wrestlemania 13, that's for sure. ★★½ Overall: 1992 might of been a weird transitional year for the company, but there's plenty to like on this show. The main event is nowhere near as bad as it's reputation suggests and the two big singles title matches deliver in spades. There's some meaningless filler dragging this down a tad, but with only a 2 1/2ish runtime, the show is a lot easier to sit through than the mammoth Wrestlemanias from the past few years. Wrestlemania IX: "The Biggest Stars In The World Are Coming To Las Vegas!" WWF Intercontinental Title Match Shawn Michaels (w/Luna Vachon) (c) vs Tatanka (w/Sensational Sherri) This was worked like something you'd see at a house show until the finishing stretch kicks into gear. Michaels already looks like a pro as he controls Tatanka and leads the match. Tatanka is an average worker, with a brilliant comeback. Michaels has ditched Sherri for Luna, but Sherri decides to show up and root for anyone not named Shawn Michaels. The women don't get involved much until the post-match. The finish is designed to keep the belt on Michaels without destroying Tatanka's win record, so they come up with a bullshit ending which sees Tatanka win by countout after some shenanigans. Crap finish aside, this was a satisfactory opener. ★★★ The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) (w/Afa) vs The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) Even if this is a throwaway undercard match, these two teams aren't afraid to go hard on each other. Scott Steiner nearly kills himself after an over-powered Stun Gun sends him headfirst to the outside. The Headshrinkers work over him until he is able to get a hot tag after Samu misses a huge top rope splash. Rick clears house and is able to counter a Doomsday Device with a powerslam! Like many other Steiner Brothers matches, this was reckless and dangerous, but I can't say I wasn't entertained! ★★★ Crush vs Doink As Crush enters the arena, he looks like the dog's bollocks and you're left scratching your head wondering how such a specimen never became a huge star. Then the bell rings and you realize why. He beats Doink all over the place and looks lost and awkward. Luckily Matt Bourne is a good hand and is able to stop Crush from completely shitting the bed on his first ever singles feud. I know it's not to everyone's tastes, but I dug the finish. After a ref bump, a second Doink appears from under the ring and lays into Crush with a prosthetic arm before returning back to his a hiding spot. After the bell, a second referee comes down to argue the result with the first ref, but the second Doink had mysteriously disappeared from under the ring. It's silly and campy, but it fits the product they were putting out at the time. ★½ Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund If you had never seen Bob Backlund before this, you'd be forgiven thinking he was an aging journeyman. The commentators never mention that he's a former world champion and the crowd give him zero reaction. This had solid fundamentals, Razor throws good punches and Backlund sells them well. Unfortunately that's all the good I can say about this. It's short and had no build-up. Razor rolls up Backlund for the win. As Backlund wasn't presented as much of a threat, this made Razor look bad as he was only able to escape with the skin of his teeth against a much smaller and older opponent. ★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster & Ted DiBiase) (c) vs The Mega Maniacs (Brutus Beefcake & Hulk Hogan) (w/Jimmy Hart) If you can put the godawful booking to the back of your mind, this match wasn't bad at all. Hogan, Beefcake and Dibiase have all worked with each other hundreds of times before this and can pull out something solid that the crowd eat up, even if it's not all that interesting. Beefcake is decent enough as a face in peril. The first bit of bad booking when the referee decides that he has the power to strip Money Inc. of their titles if they don't get back in the ring. The finish with Jimmy Hart turning his jacket inside out to count the pin was seriously dumb and made the babyfaces look like utter morons. ★★¼ Lex Luger vs Mr. Perfect Perfect himself said he had an off-day and fucked up this match and it shows. It's completely uninteresting, although that could just be as Luger is leading the match and Perfect character doesn't exactly allow him to work as a face fighting from underneath. Luger's entrance with the bikini-clad women and mirrors was great, as was Perfect flubbing his words in the pre-match promo and accidently calling his opponent 'the Lexissist'. This went on for ten minutes and felt like twenty. I'm sure if the heel and face roles were reversed, this would of been a great showing. ★¾ Giant Gonzalez (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) Gonzales at least tries to make an effort when he's selling Undertaker's big soup bones, but he's still the drizzling shits. He only takes one bump in this and that was after the bell! They awkwardly brawl around the place until Gonzales is disqualified by using a towel soaked in chloroform to incapacitate 'Taker. They do a post-match stretcher job, but Undertaker rush back out to clean house. Easily Undertaker's worst streak match, but at least the fans seemed into this. DUD WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Bret Hart (c) vs Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) Bret and Yokozuna put on a solid main event built around Yoko's size. Bret works at a slick pace and bumps off Yoko like he's a fly hitting a tank. Yoko is knocked off his feet by Bret smartly trapping his legs into the ropes and tripping him up. The finish sees Mr Fuji throwing salt into Bret's eyes felt a touch anti-climatic, but it's nothing when compared to the post-match nonsense with Hogan. ★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (c) vs Hulk Hogan So Hogan comes out to check on Bret and Fuji issues a challenge to Hogan to face Yoko right there and then. Hogan accepts and wins in seconds. This was Hogan stealing the moment and making it all about him yet again. There's not a bigger star in the company than Hogan at the time so it makes sense for him to be involved with the main event, but this still leaves a sour taste in my mouth after all these years. DUD Overall: While the first hour feels promising, this show takes a sharp nosedive after the second match. Everything Hogan is involved with on this show reeks of backstage politicking. The Caesar's Palace venue gives this show an unique look that helps it stick out from the rest of the Wrestlemania at least. Wrestlemania X: "Ten Years In The Making" Owen Hart vs Bret Hart Just a technical masterclass with unbelievable workrate built around possibly my favourite storyline ever. Both Hart brothers have to resort to old Stampede tricks to try and outsmart each other. Bret just wants to get this whole saga over quickly, he doesn't want to fight his brother and has a championship match later in the night, so he's always going for quick pins. Owen is at his best when he's playing the bitter little brother and this might be his best ever performance. ★★★★¾ Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon vs Dink & Doink Nowhere near as bad as you would think. Bam Bam always surprised me at how agile he was. He bumps aroud for Doink when he needs to. Dink looks to be a competent worker, who's also quite athletic in his own right. The comedy spots are fine for what they are and this doesn't go too long. This follows the epic Bret vs Owen match and serves as an acceptable cool-off match to stop the crowd from being burnt out. ★★½ Falls Count Anywhere 60 Second Count Match Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) vs Randy Savage Crush could of been anyone else and the match wouldn't of changed much. This is Savage's last ever Wrestlemania match and it feels bittersweet as the crowd absolutely adore him. The falls count anywhere stipulation is admittedly dumb, but they don't overuse the pinfalls and this is over quick ever enough to not be tedious viewing. The finish with Savage tying up Crush to stop him from returning the ring was creative too. ★★¾ WWF World Women's Title Match Alundra Blayze (c) vs Leilani Kai This only goes for three minutes and the crowd couldn't seem to care. The main thing that stuck out was how sexist Jerry Lawler's commentary was. Kai was the only person on this card who also wrestled at the first Wrestlemania. Both wrestlers are solid enough, with Blaze hitting a nice looking German suplex to get the win. The women's division would get better by later in the year, before they ultimately scrap it in late 1995. ★★ WWF World Tag Team Title Match The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) (w/Johnny Polo) (c) vs Men On A Mission (Mabel & Mo) (w/Oscar) Even taking into account the cop-out countout finish, this was better than it had any right to be. The tag team scene is still struggling come 1994, but it's clear that they have big things planned for Mabel. Mo works portions of this match to allow the bigger Mabel to not get too gassed and he's not too bad, he hits a really impressive cross body that gets a lot of height for his size. When Mabel is in the ring, the commentators gush over how huge he is and he gets a lot of power spots and even lands a spinning wheel kick that pops the crowd huge. The Quebecers double suplex Mabel and everyone in the building looks shocked. The Quebecers eventually get themselves counted out to save their belts. ★★¾ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Yokozuna (w/James E. Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (c) vs Lex Luger Mr. Perfect makes his return as a guest referee. I didn't hate the disqualification finish as it opens the door to a Luger/Perfect feud (that never happened, mind), but I did hate this match. Things start out well enough with Luger punching Yoko around the place. He attempts to slam Yokozuna, but is unsuccessful. Luger then gets trapped in a claw hold and the match slows to snail's pace. This felt like a Hogan match without the energy or charisma. The only reason I'm giving this even one star is that Yoko bumps well for Luger's forearms. ★ Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs Earthquake Earthquake squashes Adam Bomb in 30 seconds. Even though his gimmick was the shits, I had no idea why they made Adam Bomb lose this. Earthquake felt like a relic from the Hulkamania era and he was out of the company by May. With the exception of a brief cameo in the Gimmick Battle Royal in 2001, this would be the last time we would see John Tenta as Earthquake on a WWF PPV. DUD WWF Intercontinental Title Ladder Match Razor Ramon (c) vs Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) I'd love to be able to view this as this happened, as it's legendary status ends up hurting the match for me. This was the first ever WWF match to get five stars from Dave Meltzer and it might be one of the most innovative matches ever. The ladder spots feel primitive compared to what we would get less than a decade later. If you try and turn you brain and forget about this match's reputation, you can get a lot of fun out of it. I could watch Ramon, a man with seriously underrated punch, jab Michaels around the ring all day. The ladder spots are solid, yet unremarkable through 2020 eyes. I'd still say this is a great match, just an overrated one because of it's status. ★★★¾ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Yokozuna (w/James E. Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (c) vs Bret Hart I thought the match was understandably average, but the post match stuff is well worth going out your way to see. Roddy Piper is announced as the surprise guest referee. Watching that guy in the crowd desperately trying to get Owen to join his brother shows how much the audience were into the Bret vs Owen storyline. The top moments of the actual match were them doing the Samoan headbutt spot and Bret getting some very convincing nearfalls before finally winning the match. ★★ Overall: The first post-Hogan Wrestlemania was a roaring success. Bret vs Owen and the Ladder match are two of the most famous matches of all time. Even though I wasn't blown away by the Ladder match, everyone should see it at least once. Even stuff like the Quebecers vs MOM and Doink & Dink vs Bam Bam & Luna were better than they had any right to be. There's a few bad matches, but it's not enough to stop me giving this the thumbs up! Wrestlemania XI The Allied Powers (Lex Luger & The British Bulldog) vs The Blu Twins (Eli Blu & Jacob Blu) (w/Uncle Zebekiah) A completely forgettable opener that is severely lacking in energy. Jacob and Eli Blu bring literally nothing to the table, with the exception of being twins with a good size and look. They do the twin magic spot twice to little reaction. The crowd come alive, albeit briefly, once Bulldog is able to get the hot tag to Luger. The finish was decent enough, with Bulldog surprising one of the Blu Brothers by countering his powerbomb attempt to Luger with a top rope sunset flip after sneaking a blind tag. ★¼ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Jeff Jarrett (w/The Roadie) (c) vs Razor Ramon (w/The 1-2-3 Kid) This was a fun title defence built around Jarrett and Roadie always trying to cheat, with it always blowing up in their faces. The 1-2-3 Kid is in Razor's corner and he stops the heels from trying to leave. I've said it many times before, but Ramon is such an underrated puncher. Jarrett works over Razor's leg, who sells it well. Ramon has this one won, but the Roadie runs in and causes a disqualification to save his client from losing his title. 1-2-3 Kid lands some nice looking spin kicks to save the day and the faces celebrate, despite Razor didn't win the championship. Everyone was good in this, even if the finish did stink. ★★¾ King Kong Bundy (w/Ted DiBiase) vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) There's part of me that thinks that this is actually worse than Undertaker's match with Gonzales. That was laughably bad, this was just downright bad. The action consists of punches, kicks and a good serving of rest holds. Kama comes down and steals the urn. Jim Ross interviews Kama on his way to the back, and he cuts a promo saying he's going to melt the urn down. I feel like this was here to distract us from what was happening in the ring. We're even robbed of a satisfying ending, as Undertaker is unable to scoop Bundy up for a Tombstone or a Chokeslam, so he instead pins him after a flying clothesline. DUD WWF World Tag Team Title Match The Smoking Gunns (Bart Gunn & Billy Gunn) (c) vs Camp Cornette (Owen Hart & Yokozuna) (w/James E. Cornette & Mr. Fuji) Owen's mystery partner is revealed to be none other than Yokozuna. The Smoking Gunns are solid hands, but their lame gimmick does not endear them to the crowd and they get little in the way of reactions. Owen and Yoko instantly click as partners. Owen deals with the workrate, whilst Yoko is the heavy who puts the Gunns in their place. Owen gets the pin after a Yokozuna Banzai Drop and the crowd jump out of their seats in joy. Owen might of been a heel, but the fans in Hartford really seem to like him here. Decent enough, with the action keeping a consistent pace. ★★ I Quit Match Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund Backlund and Hart are obviously very capable wrestlers, but the stipulation hindered this big time. They trade some nice holds, but the mid-90's WWF audience aren't the type of crowd who are going to pop for submission wrestling. Bret locks in the winning submission by countering Backlund's finisher into a crossface chickenwing of his own. Roddy Piper is the special guest referee and he does a terrible job of it. He screams into Bret and Backlund's faces every few seconds and it didn't make this anymore tolerable. To make matters even worse, Backlund doesn't even say 'I quit!' when Piper calls for the bell. ★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Diesel (w/Pamela Anderson) (c) vs Shawn Michaels (w/Jenny McCarthy & Sid) Pamela Anderson is meant to be accompanying Shawn Michaels, but she shows up with Diesel. HBK brings out Mellissa McCartney instead. The celebrates are sat next together, but they don't do anything until Diesel celebrates with them both after his successful defense. Michaels makes his best mate look like a million dollars by bumping all over the place for him. This was structured well and it never looks out of place when the much smaller HBK is working over Diesel. Michaels isn't too interesting when working on top, but he does what he needs to do. This was a total Michaels carryjob. ★★★¼ Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Irwin R. Schyster, Kama, King Kong Bundy, Nikolai Volkoff, Tatanka & Ted DiBiase) vs Lawrence Taylor (w/Carl Banks, Chris Spielman, Ken Norton Jr., Reggie White, Ricky Jackson & Steve McMichael) Although I question the logic of feeding a credible heel to a celebrity non-wrestler, Bam Bam did a wonderful job of getting something worthwhile against a football player with zero experience. The NFL players and the remaining members of the Million Dollar Corporation standing around the ring and cheering their guy made this feel like a bigger deal, and we even get a rare look at pre-WCW Steve McMichael. This was very simple stuff, with Bigelow in the driver's seat for the majority of the match. Bam Bam nails his moonsault, but hurts his knee. The beating on L.T continues until he's able to mount a comeback and football tackles him multiple times to win. ★★ Overall: Although this many people's pick for the worst ever Wrestlemania, it has nothing on the horrors of 2 and 4. It's an average show which sees HBK carry Diesel to one of his better matches and Bam Bam drag a non-wrestler to an acceptable main event. The company did not look in good health during this show, but things would get a lot worse before they would get better. Wrestlemania XII Ahmed Johnson, Jake Roberts & Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs Camp Cornette (Owen Hart, The British Bulldog & Vader) (w/James E. Cornette) The stipulation of this is that if the babyfaces win, Yokozuna gets to have five minutes alone with Jim Cornette. The tags are quick and constant, never allowing the action stagnate. Everyone put in a good shift, with the exception of Ahmed Johnson, who looks like he struggled with even the most basic of wrestling fundamentals. He still looked intense and had buckets of charisma. He's probably my favourite guilty pleasure wrestler behind Sid. This was a solid opener that was designed to allow Vader and Yoko to go at it, without putting on a poor match. ★★¾ Hollywood Backlot Brawl Match Roddy Piper vs Goldust If you can overlook the homophobia of this angle, the Backlot portion of this felt like an interesting precursor to the Hardcore division. Piper might of been getting on a bit by 1996, but he still looks like a star and is as charismatic as ever. Once they finally make it to the arena, they brawl around the place until Piper strips Goldust down to his underwear and is declared the winner. Although this is impossible to rate, I didn't hate this as it felt different and the crowd dug it. N/A Savio Vega vs Steve Austin (w/Ted DiBiase) Vega and Austin kick this one off with some great brawling. Sadly, this stops being interesting once the action simmers down. Lawler and McMahon stop caring about this once Roddy Piper calls into the arena. We then go to the infamous OJ Simpson chase footage masquerading as Piper chasing down Goldust. I still have no idea why they would use that footage as it borders on tasteless and it's wasn't even funny. The finish of this was also lame. Austin nails Vega with Dibiase's Million Dollar belt when the referee is down, and locks in a sleeper which gives Austin the win after the referee finally wakes up and drops Vega's arm three times. The entire ending sequence went on for too long and Austin should of just pinned Vega after the belt shot. ★★¼ The Ultimate Warrior vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Sable) Sable makes her debut as Helmsley's valet and Lawler and Vince can't stop ogling her and it's clear that she's going to stick around and go on to big things, even here. Knowing all the terrible stuff that Triple H has done throughout his career, it's oddly satisfying watching him get squashed in seconds and have his finisher completely devalued in the wake of Warrior no-selling it. The post-match sees Helmsley argue with a debuting Marc Mero, who ends up leaving with Sable. The crowd love Warrior and it feels like a lifetime since he last wrestled in a WWF ring, when in reality it was only three and half years. I do wonder what would of happened with Warrior if he had stuck around the fed and not left after a disastrous four months. ½★ Diesel vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) I'm not entirely sure why I loved this so much when I first saw this, but I think it might have something to do with me finding finishers being kicked out of the ultimate sign of a good match when I was young in my fandom. This is a solid enough outing by both men, with Diesel being much easier to digest when he's working as smug and arrogant heel. The Undertaker shows that he's actually able to sell and moves around a lot faster than what we are used to pre-1996. Big Sexy does the honours for 'Taker after two of his Jackknife Powerbombs aren't able to get the job done. ★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title 60 Minute Iron Man Match Bret Hart (c) vs Shawn Michaels (w/Jose Lothario) Like many others, my opinion of this sixty-plus minute main event changes with time. I went from loving it, loathing it, to now just thinking that it's pretty good overall. The first half hour sees some rock-solid wrestling that bores a lot of the crowd. Hart's arm is worked over consistently, but it's eventually forgotten about during the finishing stretch. The most interesting thing that happens during the first half is the timekeeper accidently taking a superkick. It's brutal spot that really puts over HBK's Sweet Chin Music as lethal. The last thirty minutes kicks things into gear, with the guys hitting all kinds of exciting high spots. There's plenty of downtime hindering this overall, but this is the best Wrestlemania main event match behind Savage/Hogan at this point in time. Hart looked legitimately pissed off after he loses. ★★★¼ Overall: Your opinion on this show leans on what you make of the Ironman as it takes up over a third of the show. There's nothing too interesting on the undercard, with the exception of the crazy Hollywood Backlot Brawl. Proper middle of the road Wrestlemania for me. Wrestlemania 13: "Heat" Four Way Elimination Tag Team Match Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon vs The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn & Phineas I. Godwinn) (w/Hillbilly Jim) vs The Head Bangers (Mosh & Thrasher) vs The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Bradshaw & Blackjack Windham) The New Blackjacks could of worked as a great hoss heel team if they weren't saddled knocking off a gimmick that was over two decades old at this point. I never understood Vince's obsession with making 'new' versions of classic tag teams. There's a bit of confusion about the rules as both Headbangers are the two legal men at one point. Furnas hits a beautiful frankensteiner on one of the Blackjacks. Blackjacks and Lafon & Furnas are easily the most enjoyable parts of this match, although it's not long until both of them are eliminated in succession. Firstly the Blackjacks get DQ'd by attacking a referee, then Lafon & Furnas are counted out. The Godwins take control of The Headbangers as Lawler and McMahon have some great lines about McMahon being out of touch with rock music. The Headbangers eventually pick up the win after using their speed and aerial attacks. This did it's job of getting over The Headbangers as a quirky yet likeable opening tag team. Big Dave has this rated at -★★½. , but I have no idea why it's so low as it's a perfectly acceptable tag match. ★★ WWF Intercontinental Title Match Rocky Maivia (c) vs The Sultan (w/Bob Backlund & The Iron Sheik) The Honky Tonk Man joins the commentary team for this and he's humorously out of place for 1997. The Rocky Maivia character has been a massive bomb so far, with many 'Rocky sucks' chants being heard throughout the match. The Sultan can't work an interesting control segment to save his life. He keeps Rocky in a chinlock that felt like it went on forever. The only entertainment I got from this part of the match was the commentary. Rocky's dancing comeback is cheap initiation of his dad's, it's no wonder why he didn't get over initially. After hitting his signature top rope crossbody, Rocky goes for a pin only for the referee to be distracted by Bob Backlund and Iron Sheik at ringside. After a Sultan false-finish, Rocky scores a roll-up for the win. The heels lead a post-match attack and eventually Rocky Johnson gets involved and helps his son clean house. It's nice that they gave Johnson a moment at Wrestlemania, but it did his son no favours as it made him look like a right Daddy's boy. This match was saved from being completely dull by the ending and the post match stuff. ★★ Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) vs Goldust (w/Marlena) Despite also being a heel, Lawler rips on Chyna's appearance. Stay classy, Jerry. Goldust starts this match with the shine you would expect any southern babyface to get. Great Punches Dustin brawls Helmsley all over the place, getting him tied up in the ropes, a spot that has to be as old as pro-wrestling itself. Goldust is cut off by taking a nasty spill to the outside after a failed top rope move. The rest of the match consists of Goldust keep getting cut off whenever he tries to make a comeback. After standing still the entirety of the match, Chyna makes her way to Marlena. Marlena ends up in a bearhug as Chyna violently ragdolls her about. This distraction is enough for HHH to land a Pedigree and get the win. ★★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (c) vs Mankind & Vader (w/Paul Bearer) Both teams are heels, but Bulldog and Owen work as faces for this match. Bulldog does some cool power spots on Vader and Owen does a decent job at being a face, despite being a heel for most of his WWF run. I think he would of fared better if they gave us a reason to cheer to him. Lawler absolutely loses his shit when he finds out that Stu and Helen Hart are at ringside, as he rips into them in typical King fashion. Bulldog gets a hot tag and throws Mankind violently into the turnbuckle twice. The match goes to a double countout after Mankind and Bulldog get knocked outside. Looking at all the phenomenal talent in this match, this should of been better than it was. Being a heel vs heel match and having a weak non-finish all didn't help matters. Vader was clearly done with the WWF at this point, it's crazy to think that he would stick around for another year. ★★¾ No Holds Barred Submission Match Bret Hart vs Steve Austin Even watching these two trade punches is elite tier stuff. They brawl throughout the crowd and it feels organic. The crowd, who have been quiet all night, wake up as soon as the crowd brawling starts. Once their back in the ring, Bret starts his assault on Austin's leg. Austin sells this so well, flailing all over the place. Austin tries to keep with Bret, but Bret keeps cutting him off. After getting cut open, Austin doesn't have much more to give. He tries to choke out Bret with an electrical cord, but Bret wails him with a ring bell. All the weapon spots have meaning and aren't just used to add a nice spot here and there. Austin passes out in the Sharpshooter, and Shamrock calls for the bell. J.R's call of Austin never giving up adding a lot to his face turn. This is so much more than just a good bladejob. So glad this holds up. Arguably the best match in company history. ★★★★★ Chicago Street Fight Ahmed Johnson & The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) vs The Nation Of Domination (Crush, Faarooq & Savio Vega) (w/Clarence Mason, D-Lo Brown, JC Ice & Wolfie D) Yeah, I still enjoy this a lot. By no means a perfect brawl, but LOD and Ahmed Johnson look larger than life handling the entire Nation of Domination. LOD are well past their prime, but you wouldn't of noticed due to the chaotic pace of the match (if you can ignore that horrific piledriver spot). This type of ECW garbage brawling just wasn't seen in a major federation at the time. This is the only street fight than WWE have done that actually lives up to it's name. ★★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match Sycho Sid (c) vs The Undertaker I used to have this event on VHS and I watched it a lot as a kid, but I never remember this being such a drag. Bret Hart coming down at the start of this match to cut a whining promo might just be the best part of this. Sid spends a lot of time keeping Undertaker in rest holds. Undertaker not being able to show emotion limits him when he's teasing a comeback. The worst match on the card and a stinker of a Wrestlemania main event. At least the crowd seemed to enjoy this. ★½ Overall: Although this card has the best match in company history on it, the show itself is rather mediocre with one of the worst main events in Wrestlemania history. The company is still trying to find it's footing as the product becomes more edgier and adult-oriented. Outside of the submission match and street fight, everything else was just kind of there. Wrestlemania XIV: "The Greatest PPV Attraction Of All Time!" Tag Team Battle Royal Bradshaw & Chainz vs Flash Funk & Steve Blackman vs The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn & Phineas I. Godwinn) vs The Head Bangers (Mosh & Thrasher) vs The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) (w/Sunny) vs The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) vs The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs Too Much (Brian Christopher & Scott Taylor) vs The Disciples Of Apocalypse (8-Ball & Skull) vs The Midnight Express (Bodacious Bart & Bombastic Bob) (w/Jim Cornette) vs The Truth Commission (Recon & Sniper) vs Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez & Savio Vega) vs Los Boricuas (Jesus Castillo & Jose Estrada) vs The Nation Of Domination (D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry) vs The Nation Of Domination (Faarooq & Kama Mustafa) The Legion Of Doom return repackaged as the LOD 2000. Complete with new attire and Sunny as their valet, the Boston crowd absolutely adore them and they look like a million bucks. Sadly, this goes off a cliff once the bell rings. This is bad, even by battle royal standards. Not a whole lot of note happens. Barry Windham, who isn't in the match, comes down and starts brawling with Bradshaw. The LOD win by last eliminating Bob Holly & Bart Gunn. Even when they are being protected by being in a battle royal, you can still tell that the LOD's best days are well behind them. ½★ WWF Light Heavyweight Title Match Taka Michinoku (c) vs Aguila A fun showcase for the light heavyweight division. Some of the dives here were impressive, even by today's standards. Aguila's corkscrew plancha and Taka's spaceman dive were two notable highlights. You do get the feeling that the crowd were cheering more for the big spots rather than the wrestlers, as both guys got zero reaction when they were being introduced. Aguila is only 20 and is very green, but TAKA is able to carry him through this nicely. Although this has nothing on WCW's cruiserweight division, this added some welcome variety and flash to an already colourful card. ★★★ WWF European Title Match Triple H (w/Chyna) (c) vs Owen Hart Chyna is forced to be handcuffed to Sgt. Slaughter to stop her from interfering. Triple H is in a weird transitional phase, where he's still dressed like a blueblood, but is doing the DX cross chops. This was a solid title defence that was given a lot of time to breath, with Triple H working over Owen's leg. Owen gets some hard-way blood on his nose. The first half of this was solid and unspectacular, but the exciting finishing stretch is where things become very back and forth. Chyna blinds Slaughter with some powder and low blows Owen, allowing for Hunter to steal the win. ★★★ Marc Mero & Sable vs Luna & TAFKA Goldust Easily Sable's best match, but that's more on the great talents that she was working with rather than Sable's individual performance. Mero and Goldust deal with the workrate and Luna is able to carry Sable through her spots. Mero and Goldust both tease their finishers. Mero has a beautiful spinning moonsault. Sable gets the hot tag and the fans go apeshit for her clearing house. She even gets involved with Goldust too. I'm surprised that Luna was allowed to kick out of the Sablebomb. Mero isn't happy that his wife is getting all the attention, but Sable wins this one for her team by using the TKO. I wasn't expecting this to be as good as it was. ★★★ WWF Intercontinental Title Match The Rock (w/D-Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa & Mark Henry) (c) vs Ken Shamrock Shamrock rushes the ring and they brawl all over the place. They get as much as their shit in as they can during the four minutes that this lasts. Rock just brains Shamrock with a chair shot, but it's not enough to keep him down. Rocky taps out to the ankle lock, but Shamrock doesn't release the hold and the decision is reversed. The Nation try to save Rock, but Shamrock fights them off and brawls with the officials as well. Faarooq comes down to the ring, but decides to let Rock suffer instead signalling the end of his time in the Nation Of Domination. Shamrock snapping will never not be entertaining, and this made both wrestlers look like total stars. This was more of an angle than a match. ★★¾ WWF World Tag Team Title Dumpster Rules Match The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg) (c) vs Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie A fun garbage brawl. I thought Funk & Foley carried this a tad, with Foley taking some nasty bumps and Funk perfecting his middle-aged and crazy shtick. Terry Funk is so good at wrestling that he's even entertaining when he's just driving a folk lift. ★★★ Kane (w/Paul Bearer) vs The Undertaker Much better than any other big man match Undertaker had at this point in his career, but it's obviously not a technical masterclass or anything. Kane's character being over certainly helps matters. He has perfected his Michael Myers influenced act. There's a lot of sub-par brawling, broken up with some decent spots. There's enough big moments like the table bump, cinematic entrances and the barrage of Tombstones to keep you distracted from the fact that there's not a whole lot of worthwhile wrestling in this. The ending worked well as it gave Undertaker a win, while keeping Kane strong and giving them a reason to continue their feud. ★★½ WWF World Heavyweight Title Match Shawn Michaels (w/Chyna & Triple H) (c) vs Steve Austin This is neither man's best match, but they both put in a good performance and churn out a enjoyable match given the circumstances. The crowd is fully invested in Austin's rise to the top the Tyson stuff adds a lot of drama. They work around Shawn's hurt back by starting the match off with some stalling before having a brawl around the arena. Shawn even eats a back body drop from the ring to the floor, an insane move to take when your back is literally broken! The match quality takes a dip once they get back in the ring as it's becomes apparent that HBK can't wrestle the pace that he's used to. After a ref bump, the enforcer Mike Tyson to count Austin's pin. This is the moment the Attitude Era begun. Just imagine how good this could of been if neither man was injured! ★★★ Overall: We've finally reached the beginning of the Attitude Era and Wrestlemania XIV is one of the most consistent shows of the entire era. With the exception of the battle royal, every match ranges from decent to good. You can feel there's something special in the air, and it makes for an incredibly easy watch. Wrestlemania XV: "Ragin' Climax" WWF Hardcore Title Triple Threat Match Billy Gunn (c) vs Hardcore Holly vs Al Snow We've finally entered the age of the Hardcore title, with plenty of mindless weapon spots to boot. This was the first time that we see random stuff getting pulled out of the ring to be used as weapons, despite there being no logical reason for that item being there. They start wailing at each other with a hockey stick to pop the NHL loving crowd. Snow takes a Fame-Asser on a chair, and Holly sneaks the win by laying out Gunn with a chair shot and steal the win. Although there was a severe lack of workrate here, this was an entertaining way to open the PPV if you don't take it too seriously. ★★ WWF World Tag Team Title Match Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart (w/Debra) (c) vs D-Lo Brown & Test (w/Ivory) D'Lo and Test got their title shot by being the last two survivors in a battle royal. A truly Russo bit of booking, that. Not even clocking in at four minutes, this was way too short to be anything decent. D'Lo, Jarrett and Hart wrestle a frantic pace and get all their stuff in as well as they can and Test doesn't stink up this match too much. Ivory and Debra are here as valets and end up having a catfight, which distracts the makeshift team and costs them the titles. It's such a shame that Owen's last Wrestlemania sees him have such a nothing match. ★½ Brawl 4 All Match Bart Gunn (w/John Lotharo & Ray Rinaldi) vs Butterbean (w/Art Gore, Donny Dold & Manny Sutherland) Poor Bart Gunn. Now I'm not saying that he could of been a top star, but he's a good-looking guy with plenty of experience and they could of done at something with his Brawl For All win instead of having his career killed by being fed to Butterbean. What makes this even more baffling is that the Brawl For All wrapped up over six months ago. At least this was quick and the kill shot was truly devastating. Seeing a frail Gorilla Monsoon getting a huge ovation when he's introduced as a guest judge was a very touching moment. Mankind vs Paul Wight The winner of this goes onto referee the main event. Paul Wight really had a disastrous first year with the WWE. He's used as an enforcer to the Corporation and he's made to look like a complete idiot who can't get the job done. Mankind is way too beaten-up to get anything good out of Show. After some soulless brawling, the best part of this match was when Show gets out of a Mandible Claw by jumping backwards and squashing Foley like a bug. Even though Show uses a steel chair twice in front of the referee, he's finally disqualified when Show chokeslams Mankind onto two standing chairs in a gruesome spot. ½★ WWF Intercontinental Title Four Way Elimination Match The Road Dogg (c) vs Ken Shamrock vs Val Venis vs Goldust (w/Ryan Shamrock & The Blue Meanie) Shamrock and Goldust have both signed out mentally by this point. Goldust has put on weight and Shamrock is missing that spark that he had when he was ripping Rock to shreds at the last Wrestlemania. Being in a awful storyline with Ryan Shamrock will do that to you. Speaking of storylines, there are way too many of them connected to this. The action was decent enough, with Road Dogg being the most over guy by a country mile. Venis and Shamrock are counted out, and Dogg pins Goldust when Ryan accidentally trips up Goldust. ★★ Kane vs Triple H With the exception of Kane doing a running plancha and chokeslamming Trips crotch-first onto the barricade, this had nothing to bite into. Triple H and Kane looked like they have no idea on how to construct a compelling match here. Kane can't sell as well as the Undertaker can when he's in sympathetic monster babyface mode. Anyways, Chyna comes out and turns on Kane. Yet another swerve, bro. ★ WWF World Women's Title Match Sable (c) vs Tori Utterly dreadful. Sable cuts an incredibly wooden promo which sees her awkwardly grinding. Tori has worked a tour with All Japan Women's and it still looks like she can't work a lick, although though that could be because Sable was working as the heel and controlling the action. Although Sable is technically a heel, but there's nothing that indicates that just by looking at this match as she doesn't change anything up about her character and she gets the exact same reaction as she did when she was a face. Nicole Bass makes her debut her in a run-in. Someone in the crowd heckles Bass by asking to see her penis. Ergh, everything awful about the Atttitude Era perfectly encapsulated into one neat package. DUD WWF European Title Match Shane McMahon (w/Test) (c) vs X-Pac I have to tip my non-existent hat to Shane McMahon. This is his sixth match ever and he looks like a natural due to some padding and X-Pac leading the charge. Unlike the Shane of the 2010's, he works this as a non-wrestler and not as someone who can go toe-to-toe with the actual wrestlers. Test is in Shane's corner and the Mean Street Posse are front-row and they all get involved. Triple H and Chyna return and end up turning on X-Pac. A good match until yet another swerve ending soured things. ★★¾ Hell In A Cell Match The Big Bossman vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) I wanted to give this a fair chance, I really did. It's not even so-bad-it's good. Bossman tries to handcuff Undertaker to the cell, but the cuffs break and made everyone involved in this look like complete idiots. There is never a point that it feels like Bossman could win this. This was ten minutes of aimless and dull brawling. Both guys end up bleeding to try and improve this, but it's no use. The fans start audibly booing this once they realise they are not going to get another 'Taker/Mankind. The post-match hanging of Bossman felt like it was being shocking for the sole point of being edgy. DUD WWF World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match The Rock (c) vs Steve Austin Rock has finally caught up to Austin's level and these two put on one of the best matches of the year, with both guys at the top of their games. Austin works with his physical limitations and pads this out with plenty of crowd brawling. With multiple ref bumps and finishers being kicked out of, this was overbooked to hell. Despite it being overbooked, it never gets silly and the crowd up every second. Everything great about the Attitude Era perfectly encapsulated into one neat package. If this match bombed, this would of easily be one of the worst 'Manias ever. ★★★¾ Overall: An awful show that's only saved from Wrestlemania IV levels of dogshit by it's great main event. The undercard mainly consists of your typical Attitude Era matches, with screwy finishes and minimal work-rate. Even the most hardened Russo apologists will have to admit that the man could not book a Wrestlemania. 16 - 30 Spoiler Wrestlemania 2000: "A McMahon In Every Corner" Bull Buchanan & The Big Bossman vs D-Lo Brown & The Godfather (w/Ice-T) Godfather is one of the most over undercard acts during this period. The crowd eat up all his signature spots and it makes this opener so much more palatable. Bull Buchanan might not be very charismatic, but he impressed me with his surprising athleticism. He launches himself up to the top rope without using his hands as he hits D'Lo with a springboard clothesline. The air he gets on his leg drop was also incredible. Initially I questioned the logic of sending out two teams that are barely scraping the midcard to open Wrestlemania, but the fans loved this and it was better than it had any right to be. ★★½ WWF Hardcore Title 15 Minute Time Limit Battle Royal Crash Holly (c) vs Hardcore Holly vs Bradshaw vs Mosh vs Tazz vs Taka Michinoku vs Faarooq vs Joey Abs vs Funaki vs Thrasher vs Viscera vs Pete Gas vs Rodney After the 15 minute time limit has expired, whoever scored the last decision is announced as the winner. This was a complete mess. Pete Gas and Crash Holly end up bleeding like pigs in what looks to be a botch, as who's going to tell Pete Gas of all people to go out there and get colour? Most of this match was just 13 guys brawling around the ring and hitting each other with things like cookie sheets. The botched finish in infamous, but it doesn't affect my overall enjoyment is hampered too much as this wasn't exactly Flair Vs Steamboat in the first place. A crap match, but I can't say that parts of this wasn't entertaining. ★½ T&A (Albert & Test) (w/Trish Stratus) vs Head Cheese (Al Snow & Steve Blackman) Blackman and Snow are an odd couple comedy tag team called Head Cheese and they are joined by a little person in a cheese suit. Blackman wants to Snow to be serious, where Snow can't help himself from being goofy. The actual wrestling here wasn't terrible, but not one soul in the audience seems to care. This felt like it went on forever. After a decisive loss, Snow agrees to get serious and announces that it's time to cut the cheese before taking out their mascot. It seems that this entire match and angle solely existed to make a fart joke. A complete waste of everyone's time. ★ WWF World Tag Team Title Three Way Ladder Match The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) (c) vs Christian & Edge vs The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) I might be sick of seeing big car-crash spotfests every few months on modern WWE and AEW shows, but this is still a blast to watch as it felt fresh and the crowd can't believe what they are viewing. It's no wonder that they keep using Jeff's Swanton off the ladder in video packages two decades on as it's really quite a moment. The Dudleys placing a table between two ladders to create a makeshift platform was a creative way to work out some new high spots. Although they would later top this formula with TLC 1 & 2, this laid the groundwork and put all three teams on the mainstream map. This is still an incredibly influential spotfest and it's fingerprints are still all over future TLC, Ladder and Money In The Bank matches. ★★★★ Cat Fight Terri (w/The Fabulous Moolah) vs The Kat (w/Mae Young) Val Venis is the special guest referee and he's wearing his infamous shirt with the font that's made to look like sperm. Who brought that bit of merch? Moolah and Mae are at ringside as managers. Anyways, this was your typical bit of Attitude Era smut, but I won't hate on it too much as some of the comedy with Val, Moolah and Mae was halfway entertaining. Mae screws up her interference spot but I'm not going to pretend that I care. ½★ Chyna & Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay & Scotty 2 Hotty) vs The Radicalz (Dean Malenko, Eddie Guerrero & Perry Saturn) Guerrero was such a treat to watch in this. Of course he could keep up with Too Cool doing their cruiserweight sequences, but he was fantastic at doing the character stuff with Chyna and walking that thin line between charming and sleazy. Chyna wasn't good at all here, but she was mainly relegated to cleaning house after getting the hot tag and following Eddie's lead when he tried to flirt with her. Guerrero does the honours for Chyna, but he wasn't hurt by this lose and would carry on his program with Chyna. ★★½ WWF Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match Kurt Angle (c) vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho WWF European Title Triple Threat Match Kurt Angle (c) vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho Although they had the two falls nonsense and the tired crowd working against them, these three went at it with a lot of speed and intensity. They absolutely worked their arses off. Everyone involved in this would all eventually have better matches with each other, but this was a fine showcase of probably the three best pure wrestlers in the company at the time. Angle would lose both falls, but he's about to go to much bigger things. ★★★ Kane & Rikishi (w/Paul Bearer) vs D-Generation X (The Road Dogg & X-Pac) (w/Tori) The story goes that X-Pac turned down a programme with Chris Jericho so that he could finally wrap up his long dead rivalry with Kane. This didn't feel like a conclusion to a months long blood feud, but instead a perfectly acceptable filler match where Kane could get his hands on Pete Rose for the third year running. Rikishi is over as rover and the crowd go mental for the stinkface, especially when he's doing it to Rose. Still, X-Pac should of taken up the chance to work with Jericho instead. ★★ WWF World Heavyweight Title Fatal Four Way Elimination Match Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) (c) vs Mick Foley (w/Linda McMahon) vs The Big Show (w/Shane McMahon) vs The Rock (w/Vince McMahon) Even though 2000 was one of WWE's best ever years, the Wrestlemania main event was a sure misfire. Foley is back one month after his retirement and his heart is not in this at all and his entire appearance feels like such an afterthought. Show is eliminated quickly after a triple team attack, signalling the end for his main event run. Clocking in at over 36 minutes and with a Mcmahon in the corner for each wrestler, this was way too long and the overabundance of Mcmahon involvement hindered what could of been a great match between Rock and Triple H. ★★¼ Overall: When you look at how hot the WWF was during the year 2000, it's mind boggling how average the Wrestlemania was for that year. The main event was a flop and there's some a handful of abysmal matches on the show. It's not all bad though, the ladder match was the shot in the arm the tag divison needed and you can tell that Angle, Jericho and Benoit are going to be the future from what we saw during their two fall three way match. Wrestlemania X-7: "Houston... We Have A Problem" WWF Intercontinental Title Match Chris Jericho (c) vs William Regal The story going into this is that Regal has hurt Jericho's shoulder. It's a major factor of this match and Jericho's selling of his arm is consistent. Regal is super physical here and brings out the big spots for Wrestlemania, including a nasty release German suplex and a double underhook superplex. Regal tries to cheat by using an exposed turnbuckle to take out Jericho, but it ends up biting Regal on the arse as he ends up going head first into it instead. Regal might not be known for having many all-time classics during his WWE tenure, but he would always put in a excellent performance like he did here. ★★★ Tazz & The APA (Bradshaw & Faarooq) (w/Jacqueline) vs The Right To Censor (Bull Buchanan, The Goodfather & Val Venis) (w/Steven Richards) Probably the only weak match on this legendary card, and it wasn't even awful by any means. Right To Censor had well ran it's course by this point and it makes this feel like a complete afterthought designed to get the APA and RTC on the show. Bradshaw cuts an impassioned promo about Texas history in a backstage skit before this starts and looks fired up during this short six man tag. Everyone else looks like they were just going through motions and Godfather's (sorry, Goodfather) Ho Train looks extra dumb when he's doing it as a heel. ★★ WWF Hardcore Title Triple Threat Match Raven (c) vs Kane vs The Big Show You're not going to find a single wrestling hold in this, but I loved this and it's a great example of the WWF Hardcore division done right. They brawl all over the Astrodome, going through walls, doors and even windows. Raven infamously nearly cuts the power to the entire PPV feed during the golf cart chase. They finally end up on the stage, which sees Raven and Show get kicked off the stage in a big spot to wrap this up. Wrestling purists might hate this, but this was a hell of ride. ★★★¼ WWF European Title Match Test (c) vs Eddie Guerrero (w/Perry Saturn) Much like the Diesel vs HBK match from Wrestlemania XI, this was a much more talented shorter heel carrying a lesser talented big babyface to good match. Guerrero was brilliant as ever. Test brought some nice power spots to the table, but he could of easily been replaced with any other bigger guy and you wouldn't of noticed. Test looked lost and wasn't able to connect with the crowd. Dean Malenko runs out to the ring dressed like a zany 1950's dad and ends up costing Test his title. Guerrero has had many better matches under his belt, but I can't think of a better Test match than this. ★★★ Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit The opening features some intense amateur style technical exchanges. Angle is distraught about Benoit tapping him a few weeks previously, so this match is built about Angle freaking out when ever Benoit goes for the crossface. I wish Angle got more chances to show of his personality. Just as these two start bringing out the big spots, Angle rolls up Benoit to steal the victory. Maybe having an intense technical battle wasn't going to pop the majority of the 60,000+ Attitude Era fans in the stadium, but Angle and Benoit went out there and wrestled the way they wanted to. Your typical WWF fan would eventually start appreciating technical wrestling like this as the 2000's rolled on. ★★★¼ WWF World Women's Title Match Ivory (c) vs Chyna This was a competent squash for Chyna to get her revenge on Ivory and the RTC. Ivory did a good job of looking scared of Chyna, but she never managed to get any offense in. Chyna would have one PPV title defence before leaving the company and never returning. I can't say that I'm a fan of Chyna's work, but it's good to see that she gets one big shining moment before her WWF run wraps up. ★½ Street Fight Shane McMahon vs Vince McMahon (w/Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) Soap opera pro-wrestling at it's absolutely best. Vince is brilliant at being a batshit crazy sadist. We only get a few minutes of Vince and Shane brawling before Trish brings out a sedated Linda and the crazy overbooking begins. Vince calls Linda a bitch, and takes out the guest referee Mick Foley. Vince decides he wants to beat Shane in front of Linda. The monster pop Linda gets when she rises up from her chair is incredible. Who knew a street fight between two non-wrestlers could be so enthralling? ★★★★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Tables, Ladders & Chairs Three Way Match The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) (c) vs Christian & Edge vs.The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) More of the same from Summerslam with a few added bells and whistles. Each team has an interfering wrestler/valet to help them out and the spots are more crazier than those saw in the Summerslam match. They perfected the car crash spotfest formula and they would never come close to this brilliance again. Despite WWE having a PPV named after this match for a decade, I can't name a single excellent TLC or ladder match that wowed me anywhere close to the level of this. ★★★★★ Gimmick Battle Royal Bushwhacker Luke vs Earthquake vs Duke Droese vs The Gobbledy Gooker vs The Goon vs The One Man Gang vs Kamala (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs Sgt. Slaughter vs Doink vs Michael Hayes vs James E. Cornette vs The Iron Sheik vs Kim Chee vs Tugboat vs Bushwhacker Butch vs Repo Man vs Nikolai Volkoff vs Hillbilly Jim vs Brother Love After an exciting match like TLC II, it made sense for them to throw something to let the fans cool off, and this might be the most entertaining let-me-down matches ever. We have Bobby Heenan and Mean Gene on commentary. With participants ranging from all-time greats to comedy jobbers from a decade prior, the entrances alone are a trip down memory lane and you never know who is going to come out next. The action in-ring is bad, even by battle royal standards, but who cares about that? Jim Cornette eliminates Bushwacker Luke, and Iron Sheik wins because his body is too battered to take a bump to the outside. Three stars for this, not for the wrestling, because I wasn't able to wipe the grin off my face when watching this. ★★★ Triple H vs The Undertaker Easily the best Streak match by this point, as all the other ones have been god-awful at worse and average at best. The referee gets knocked out for ten minutes, so that they can brawl through the crowd and do the big scaffold bump. It's illogical and questionable, but it's the bullshit you need to pad up Bikertaker's matches. Triple H whacking Undertaker on the skull as he attempted a Last Ride was a cool spot that made for a convincing nearfall. This held up much better than I thought it would. ★★★¼ WWF World Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match The Rock (c) vs Steve Austin The pre-match video package is the 6/9/95 of video packages. Incredible stuff that makes Limp Bizkit listenable! The match itself is all the best components of the Attitude Era coming together perfectly. You got brawling, big kickouts, weapon shots, blood, using a lot of finishers, using your opponent's finisher, Rock, Austin and Vince McMahon. Austin having to use his old submission shows how desperate he is to win the title. They never go overboard with the finisher trading or the kickouts for me. They used exactly the right amount for a big stadium main event. The Austin turn might of bombed long-term, but as a standalone angle, it's shocking and executed perfectly. ★★★★½ Overall: The greatest wrestling show of all-time. Nothing even comes close. Wrestlemania X-8: "Icon Vs. Icon" WWF Intercontinental Title Match William Regal (c) vs Rob Van Dam We are in prime brass knuckles Regal era and he's brilliant at delivering the theatrics that come with the gimmick. He makes sure that everyone in attendance knows that he's going for a cheap shot without it ever looking hammy or pantomime. Van Dam's high-flying aerobics lends itself well to his shine segments, before Regal inevitably cuts him off. Regal folds up RVD like an accordion after delivering a half nelson suplex. RVD kicks the knucks out of Regal's hand and lands a Five Star Frog Splash to the crowd roaring approval. Like last year, Regal delivers yet another physical opener. ★★★½ WWF European Title Match Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs Christian Christian is the middle of a storyline where he throws a tantrum whenever things don't go his way. He goes on a losing streak until DDP helps him overcome his issues. Christian turns on him and that's how we got here. It's entertaining mid-card fodder and that's exactly what this match was. Christian is able to keep himself from freaking out, but DDP is able to score a Diamond Cutter and retain his belt. DDP cuts an amusing promo where he says he's proud of Christian as he kept his cool even if lost in front 60,000+ of his hometown fans, which causes Christian to freak out and throw a tantrum. ★★½ WWF Hardcore Title Match Maven (c) vs Goldust The Goldust vs Maven portion of this 'match' is short and rather forgettable with the exception of Goldust pulling out some golden trashcans. Because of the 24/7 rule, Spike Dudley runs down to ring and gets a pin to become the new Hardcore champion. Crash Holly chases him to the back and we are treated to a number of humorous skits throughout the evening. We get Al Snow trying to take out guys with a golf cart, Mighty Molly turning on Hurricane to win the title, Christian taking out Molly before Maven rolling up Christian as he is trying to leave the stadium. Many people at the time complained that the 24/7 rule had ran it's course, but the backstage segments were entertaining enough in a vacuum for me not to hate this. ★½ Kane vs Kurt Angle Angle gets a better match than you'd usually expect from Kane. Kane's able to throw decent strikes and has some impressive athleticism for a man his size, but he mostly leaves me cold. This feud was built up around head trauma and the commentary team won't stop going on about head trauma and brains getting scrabbled, which is something that would never happen in a post-Benoit world. After a exciting finishing stretch that sees Kane attempt a rare Tombstone and escape an ankle lock by using an enziguri, Angle steals the win after using the ropes for leverage. Angle looked like a super worker throwing Kane around with suplexes, but I wish he was able to secure a clean win. ★★★ No Disqualification Match The Undertaker vs Ric Flair Undertaker might not be the most explosive brawler, but he's brilliant here at being a slow and methodical sadist who wants to take his time dishing out punishment. Flair bleeds buckets and Arn Anderson makes a surprise appearance to land a Spinebuster on 'Taker. Flair had only had one match since WCW's closure over a year ago, so he wrestles this like a non-wrestler looking for revenge, and not as the workhorse Nature Boy of old. This was more of a slow burner, than the exciting Mid-South brawls from decades earlier, but this was still a lot of fun and the Anderson cameo makes this worth watching. ★★★ Booker T vs Edge As the bell rings, we can see a sign on the hard cam side reading 'They Are Fighting Over Shampoo' and that sums up this dud rivalry perfectly. It might of been nerves about wrestling in front of his hometown, but Edge looked sloppier than usual. He botches a top rope frankensteiner that could of ended up nasty. This was had a fast pace, but nothing of substance outside of a few high spots such as Booker T avoiding a spear by leap frogging six feet in the air. Seeing as they obviously had big plans for Edge in 2002, it baffles me why they didn't use him better here. ★½ Steve Austin vs Scott Hall (w/Kevin Nash) It's sad to think that this could of easily main evented any PPV two years ago and now it's just filler before the Rock vs Hogan dream match. Despite both men's physical limitations, they still know how to throw a good punch and they keep the action simple. Nash keeps getting involved and nearly costs Austin the win. Austin is able to fight them both off and deliver a Stunner to Scott Hall that was so over-the-top that it's now become a meme. A perfectly fine match, even though it's depressing to think that two of the biggest players of the 90's are starting to show the wear and tear from their long careers. ★★½ WWF World Tag Team Title Fatal Four Way Elimination Match Billy & Chuck (c) vs The APA (Bradshaw & Faarooq) vs The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) (w/Stacy Keibler) vs The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy) Like most four corner matches, this was a mess until they eliminate two teams. Bradshaw is fired up, but the APA aren't long for this world as they eliminated quickly by a 3D. D'von pulling out a table and Jeff taking of his shirt wakes up the comatose crowd. We see the classic wrestling trope of a babyface sexually assaulting a heel valet when Stacy Keibler tries to interfere. D'von ends up taking a horrifying table bump as he's thrown face first from the top rope to the outside. Everything becomes more cohernet when it's down to the Hardys and Billy & Chuck, but this was still nothing to write home about. ★★ Hollywood Hogan vs The Rock What more needs to be said about this legendary match? It might not have the best work-rate, but the crowd are absolutely electric and Rock and Hogan have them eating out of their hands and I have to give them massive props for changing the structure of the match on the fly and have Rock work as the heel after seeing the crowd reaction. The post-match angle sees Hall and Nash confront Hogan after shaking Rock's hand and eventually they turn on him. Rock saves the day and Hogan celebrates with him. No matter what you think of him as a person, seeing Hogan here is a good reminder of why he was so beloved in the first place. ★★★★ WWF World Women's Title Triple Threat Match Jazz (c) vs Trish Stratus vs Lita Jazz looks like Misawa when compared to her two opponents. Lita is very sloppy here and Trish is still learning the ropes. Trish gets a big hometown pop as she enters the SkyDome draped in Canada's colours. The crowd soon begin to entertain themselves by chanting for puppies, which Trish promptly shuts up by violently launching herself into the turnbuckle. Trish shows promise, but she needs more seasoning. While it's good to see the women get treated more like wrestlers and less like T&A, this wasn't a good match and being in the death spot between the two biggest matches on the card sure didn't help. ★½ WWF Undisputed World Heavyweight Title Match Chris Jericho (w/Stephanie McMahon) (c) vs Triple H There was no way this could come close to Rock vs Hogan. Jericho had no chance of retaining and Triple H isn't believable working as a sympathetic babyface in peril. Jericho going after Triple H's knee made sense, but Triple H isn't a decent enough seller to suck you in and have you rooting for him. Jericho felt like an afterthought as Stephanie gets more of a reaction once Triple H finally gets his hands on his backstabbing wife. It's not a terrible match, just too underwhelming to be the main event on the biggest show of the year. ★★½ Overall: An obvious step down from X-7, but still a good show overall. The business has taken a beating since last year, but stuff like Hogan vs Rock is enough to keep fans engaged. Speaking of fans, they were red-hot throughtout the event. I think if they moved HHH vs Jericho before Rock vs Hogan Wrestlemania XIX: "Dare To Dream" WWE Cruiserweight Title Match Matt Hardy (w/Shannon Moore) (c) vs Rey Mysterio Rey is healthy enough that his high flying stuff looks fresh and exciting. He still feels like WCW Rey and not the WWE version who would play it safe and stick to what he knows. The harder working Hardy working with cruiserweights allows him to be more believable at controlling the pace of the match as he dwarfs most of the wrestlers. Hardy retaining after interference from Shannon Moore was certainly a questionable move seeing how over Rey was at the time, but aside from that this was a good way to open the show with everyone playing their part well. ★★★ The A-Train & The Big Show vs The Undertaker This was much better than how it looks on paper as Undertaker has got his working boots on. He's in his faux-MMA phase where he ends up pulling off Fujiwara armbars and cross armbreakers. It's jarring, but at least he's mixing things up. Nathan Jones was meant to be Undertaker's partner, but he's so rotten that his involvement is limited to a run-in and he even looks bad doing that! He shows a lot of hesitation just before he spin kicks Big Show and you could tell right there that wrestling wasn't for him. ★★½ World Women's Title Triple Threat Match Victoria (w/Steven Richards) (c) vs Jazz vs Trish Stratus Trish has grown tons in the last year and she's placed in there with two great workers in the form of Jazz and Victoria. Jazz impresses me every time I see her, even in the dire women's division of early 2000's WWE. Stevie Richards tries to get involved, but he ends up nailing himself with a chair after missing Trish and hitting the ropes in the good comedy spot. Trish pins Victoria and we get a good feel-good pop. This was one of the few bright spots for the women during the 2000's. ★★★ WWE Tag Team Title Triple Threat Match Team Angle (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) (c) vs Chris Benoit & Rhyno vs Los Guerreros (Chavo Guerrero & Eddie Guerrero) Although this was quite similar to the tag title clusterfuck from last year, this was much more physical and had a much faster pace. Rhyno wrecking shop and Benoit and Guerrero going at it were two particular high points. This was six decent-excellent workers making something out of a nothing match and it worked. Rhyno takes out both Haas and Chavo with Gores, but Shelton is able to sneak a pin fall and retain the tag titles. It's crazy to think that two competitors in this throwaway bout would go on to be in separate world title matches at the next year's 'Mania. ★★★ Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels Michaels wants to make his Wrestlemania comeback feel special and Jericho wants us to forget how lackluster his last Wrestlemania was. After Michaels gets some spots to show off and to illustrate to the crowd that he's still got it, a Walls Of Jericho on the entrance ramp is enough to aggravate old injuries and Jericho works over HBK's back. Jericho wasn't that interesting working on top, but the finishing stretch felt like a callback to Savage/Steamboat with all it's nearfalls through small packages and counters. After an intense 22 minutes, HBK wins after a roll-up. Jericho nails him in the balls after teasing a face turn during a post-match hug, Great stuff! ★★★★¼ World Heavyweight Title Match Triple H (w/Ric Flair) (c) vs Booker T 18 years later and I'm still annoyed by this! Booker shows fire as a babyface, but Triple H is trying his best to emulate Harley Race and failing. His NWA champion cosplay majorly misses the mark and he just wasn't that interesting during this period. J.R is the only person marking out in the stadium when Trips busts out a rare Indian Deathlock. Booker's Houston Hangover felt like nice callback to his WCW days. Triple H pinning Booker T after nearly a full minute of downtime still leads a sour taste in my mouth. Racist angle aside, this felt like it should of been on a house show. ★¾ 20 Years In The Making Street Fight Hulk Hogan vs Vince McMahon This might just be my favourite match of Hogan in WWE. This was padded out with big weapon spots to hide the limitations or a banged-up Hogan and a 57 year old non-wrestler. Vince might not be a good worker per se, but he's an excellent entertainer who knows how to control the crowd. You got Vince's demonic facials, Roddy Piper and Shane McMahon's surprise returns and you've even got a poor Spanish announcer doing a bladejob after getting struck by a wayward chair shot. It's mental, it's wrestling, I love it! ★★★★½ Steve Austin vs The Rock Lacking the intensity of their previous two Wrestlemania outings, this was fuelled by Rock's unlimited charisma and Austin's enduring popularity. It's understandable that Austin's heart wasn't in it here as he literally nearly died 24 hours before the event. It's a shame we only got to see Hollywood Rock for a few months as he was a treat to watch. Rock puts away Austin after three Rock Bottoms. It's easy to criticise the finisher fests of this era, but the ending of this just felt like the right move. My only complaint is that I wish that Austin got a proper farewell match, much like Ric Flair's five years later. ★★★★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match Kurt Angle (c) vs Brock Lesnar Although it's rightfully overshadowed by the freakish SSP botch, this was the most physical main event of a Wrestlemania up to this point. This was two lads without fancy gimmicks going out their and putting on a rugged and aggressive wrestling match. Angle is more focused on putting on a clinic and doesn't get many chances to show of his huge personality and plays this one straight. Lesnar goes into this with injured ribs and Angle sets his sights on his injury by going after them with many German suplexes, including one onto the turnbuckle. Although you could tell that some fans weren't into this, this was a changing off the guard moment with the workrate feeling more important than the big gimmicks and characters. ★★★½ Overall: We are starting to see some of the stars on the 2000's make their way up the ladder as we bid farewell to Stone Cold. The HHH vs Booker T match is the only misfire on a damn near perfect show. This is the best Wrestlemania behind X-7. Wrestlemania XX: "Where It All Begins Again!" WWE United States Title Match The Big Show (c) vs John Cena Big Show is huge here and he moves around at a snail's pace, but it's no big deal as Cena is incredibly over with the MSG faithful and everything Show does feeds into Cena's eventual comeback. Show uses some of the more rarer moves in his arsenal, such as the Hog Lock and the Cobra Clutch. After an FU isn't able to put away the big man, Cena cheats by using his padlock and winning his first ever title. This was a good meat and potatoes match. Not everything has to be fancy for it to work. ★★★ World Tag Team Title Four Way Match Booker T & Rob Van Dam (c) vs Garrison Cade & Mark Jindrak vs The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley) vs La Resistance (Rene Dupree & Rob Conway) La Resistance and Cade & Jindrak come out to zero reaction. RVD & Booker T have one of the most horrendous mash-up themes ever. Man, the tag team scene on Raw wasn't looking too hopeful in 2004. This solely existed to get more bodies onto the card. RVD gets a hot tag and cleans house. Booker T lands a scissors kick on Conway, and RVD follows it up with a Five Star Frog Splash to retain. The problem with stuff like this is that it makes the usually massive personalities of people like RVD, Booker and the Dudleys feel small and irrelevant. Blah. ★ Chris Jericho vs Christian Although this was fast-paced and back-and-forth, it was lacking the heat that this blood feud required and just felt like your typical 2000's Jericho match. Jericho looked like he was wrestling for the IC strap and not like he looking for revenge against his former friend. Christian rips out some of Jericho's hair and is great at being a smug and sleazy heel, but Jericho's half-hearted attempts to get over the 'C.L.B' nickname felt massively out of place. The Trish turn went off well, even if it lacked logic (Christian had Trish in the Walls Of Jericho just a few weeks previously). ★★★ The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (Mick Foley & The Rock) vs Evolution (Batista, Randy Orton & Ric Flair) Has there been a more star-studded match at a Wrestlemania than this? Look at all the talent in this! The main reason to watch this is for the brilliant Flair and Rock interactions. Rock mocking Flair's strut will never get old. Flair takes some brutal back bumps for a guy in his mid-50's. This was Foley's return to action after being retired the last four years and he feels like an afterthought as he doesn't do much of note. I can see why he felt disappointed with this, although he would more than make up for it with his hardcore match with Orton the next month. This was decent, but just a touch underwhelming given the star power in this. ★★¾ Playboy Evening Gown Tag Team Match Miss Jackie & Stacy Keibler vs Sable & Torrie Wilson There's not much to say about this. Yet another T&A match. One thing that stuck out to me about this was the creepy men in the crowd trying to take creepshots of the women as they get themselves in certain positions. I'm glad this part of wrestling has died out with the times. Torrie rolls up Jackie for the victory and tries to shoot de-pants her. Jackie makes her sole Wrestlemania appearance nearly flashing her genitals in front of 20,000 people at MSG. Wrestling~! DUD WWE Cruiserweight Title Cruiserweight Open Match Chavo Guerrero (w/Chavo Guerrero Sr.) (c) vs Tajiri vs Nunzio vs Akio vs Rey Mysterio vs Jamie Noble vs Billy Kidman vs Funaki vs Shannon Moore vs Ultimo Dragon I simply do not understand the hate for this. One can argue that squeezing a 10 man gauntlet match into a 12 minute time frame is never going to work, but I thought this kept the the action fresh and exciting. This felt like the Slobberknocker match from the WWE games come to life! Ultimo Dragon starts off and gets a good showing, but everyone remembers this for him slipping up and falling face first as he makes his entrance into the Garden. Poor bastard. Billy Kidman's springboard shooting star plancha was a sight to behold. Chavo is able to cheat and retain his title with a little help from his father. ★★★¼ Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar Although it was disrespectful for the fans to shit on this straight out the box, Lesnar and Goldberg refusing to do anything for minutes and deliver an awful match like this felt like a slap in the face. Lesnar gives the fans the finger, both figuratively and literally. Most of this consisted of stare downs and grapples that went nowhere. Austin being the special guest referee is the only saving grace here and the look on his face when he realizes the whole segment was screwed was priceless. Goldberg wins as the crowd show their disapproval. Austin stuns Goldberg in one last attempt to save this. Never before had a marquee match shit the bed as badly as this one did! DUD WWE Tag Team Title Four Way Match Rikishi & Scotty 2 Hotty (c) vs The APA (Bradshaw & Faarooq) vs The Basham Brothers (Danny Basham & Doug Basham) vs The World's Greatest Tag Team (Charlie Haas & Shelton Benjamin) Very similar to the Raw tag title clusterfuck, this was just an excuse to give more guys a payday. Bradshaw has cut his hair and we are only a few weeks away from the APA disbanding. I bet every penny I have that no-one in the venue would of guessed that he would been WWE champion within three months. Rikishi does some nice power spots, one which sees him escape a Shelton Benjamin German by using his gigantic ass. This wasn't offensive and it was over in a few minutes, but there's literally nothing worth seeing from this. ★½ World Women's Title vs Hair Match Victoria (c) vs Molly Holly Molly puts her hair on the line against Victoria's championship. I give Molly Holly massive props for sacrificing her hair in an effort to get a serious women's match on the card, but this was a dull and nothing contest. Jerry Lawler is insufferable here, going on about if Molly's ever been shaved before. Even Jim Ross sounds annoyed at him. After having a rest hold go on for what felt like forever, Victoria escapes a Widow's Peak attempt and rolls up Molly for the win. Molly does a good job of looking shocked as she realises she's going bald. ★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Kurt Angle This starts out with some intense and gritty chain wrestling. Although I harped on Christian/Jericho fighting too technical when they were doing such a personal angle, these two made it work as they are so damn fierce and hot-blooded. I particularly loved Angle's body language before he would shoot for a takedown, it looked as if he was trying to psych out Eddie. After temporarily working over Eddie's mid-section, Angle focuses his attack on Eddie's ankle after he catches in a surprise ankle lock. The finish to this might just be my favourite ending ever. Eddie tries to loosen his boot to levirate the pressure, but Angle catches him in the act. The loose boot allows Eddie to escape the ankle lock and roll up Angle for the win. Genius stuff to cap off an incredible match! ★★★★¼ Kane vs The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) Much like their bout at Wrestlemania XIV, this relied on spectacle to make up for the lack of work rate. Seeing Undertaker return to his Deadman persona, complete with Paul Bearer, was a cool moment. The wrestling itself wasn't pretty though, with Kane nearly spiking 'Taker on his head after a botched back body drop attempt. There's some splendid visual moments here, such as Kane freaking out and not believing his own eyes as he sees his brother the first time since he buried him and I liked the duelling choke spot. Ga-ga like this is needed to break up the card and I had no problem with this. ★★ World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match Triple H (c) vs Chris Benoit vs Shawn Michaels Has there been a match that been more tainted by future events than this? Both Triple H and HBK get colour and bleed 70's style gushers. Benoit attempts a crossface early and it establishes the move as a huge threat. HHH and HBK form a brief alliance to take out Benoit by driving him through the announce table. Benoit finally tapping out peak Reign Of Terror Triple H was very cathartic and it felt like a huge deal. Everyone brought their A-game for this and it shows. Eddie hugging Benoit as the confetti engulfs the Garden was a huge emotional moment for me, that's now soiled by what would happen just three years later. ★★★★½ Overall: Both world title matches felt special, even though the Triple Threat feels tainted now. It's good to be back in the Garden for the 20th Wrestlemania and the crowd are molten-hot all night. Clocking in at a gargantuan 4 1/2 hours, this show feels bloated and they could of easily cut some of the fat such as the women's matches and the two tag title clusterfucks. Wrestlemania 21: "Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood" Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio One could make an argument that this felt like an exhibition and they wouldn't be completely wrong, but this was two of the best ever going out there and putting on a flawless showcase of lucha-styled moves. Eddie works over Rey's back and serves as the heel for this match, he hits his perfect corkscrew backbreaker which was a direct callback to their Halloween Havoc classic. Rey's high-flying stuff still looks incredible. These two had better matches before and after this together, but this was still a fantastic way to open up the show and it served it's purpose of laying out the groundwork for their epic feud which would dominate the majority of 2005. ★★★¾ Money In The Bank Ladder Match Kane vs Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho vs Christian (w/Tyson Tomko) vs Shelton Benjamin vs Edge This was an exciting spotfest, with an unrelenting pace and a responsive crowd who pop for every big moment. Benoit tries to sprinkle in as much psychology as he can into such a match by having his shoulder worked over, limiting his ability to reach up and grab the briefcase. He misses an Air Canada from the ladder and the visual of him bloodied-up hardway and violently convulsing is rather haunting. None of the spots are particularly innovative, with the exception of the Shelton's incredible ladder run-up, but everything moved at just the right stride and pace and it made for an incredible moreish watch. ★★★★ The Undertaker vs Randy Orton Undertaker is back to being the Deadman, but he's no longer the slow and lumbering Phenom of old. He's on Smackdown, surrounded by much more physical wrestlers than the ones he was fighting a decade previously, so he has to show that he can still hang with the new kids. You can tell just by way he circles Orton and runs the ropes that he's upping his game. Orton's still growing and not that engaging when he's controlling the match, but he makes up for this with his youthful speed and that Chokeslam to RKO counter was seriously smooth. All the near-falls had the crowd on edge and you can tell that people are finally buying into the Streak. ★★★★¼ World Women's Title Match Trish Stratus (c) vs Christy Hemme (w/Lita) Even though it's built up around a Playboy shoot, it's good to see that the feud for the Women's title actually get some time to develop. Lita being in Hemme's corner to couch her was a nice touch. Trish is a heel and she's great in her role, but even she can't get something worthwhile out of an extremely green and clumsy Christy Hemme. With this being her second non-T&A match, Hemme was not ready for this spot and it shows big time. Hemme puts Trish in a pinning clutch and isn't able to release Trish in time, so the referee has to awkwardly stop counting. Trish lands a Chick Kick to retain, but both her and Lita looked shoot-annoyed once this one wrapped up. ½★ Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels HBK tries to hang with Angle by using pro-wrestling styled maneuvers to match Angle's amateur stylings. I used to have an issue with Shawn hanging comfortably with Angle, but it makes sense in a kayfabe sense. Tensions flare up and slaps are exchanged, which results in Angle slamming Shawn's back right into the ring post. This is where the match takes a nosedive. Angle works over the back, but Shawn's selling is so inconsistent. HBK kips-up and disregards all the back work. We then get a lengthy Ankle Lock segment which goes on for way too long, complete with Shawn's bad hammy acting on show. My opinions on this has changed over the years, but I still think it's a good match overall, with a brilliant beginning and middle with a hollow finishing stretch. ★★★½ Sumo Match The Big Show vs Akebono Why the fuck did this match even take place? The sight of Big Show and Akebono of bare ass cheeks sticking out of their fundoshis was ghastly and no-one gained anything out of this. The audience looked confused and bewildered. Akebono wins after a few minutes of grappling. Big Show loses to a guy who was virtually unknown to the US fans and would never make another apperance on WWE TV. A waste of everyone's time. DUD WWE Heavyweight Title Match John Bradshaw Layfield (c) vs John Cena I've started appreciate Bradshaw more as a worker in the last few years. He was great when he was fired up Texan hoss when he was in the APA, and he was completely despicable as JBL. He throws some stiff shots and bullies Cena around, but he's mostly boring when working on top. Cena shows great fire even if his hokey facials need work and leave a lot to be desired. Not a whole lot of interest happens here and the finish comes out of nowhere. The crowd were burnt out, but they came alive for the finish. ★★ World Heavyweight Title Match Triple H (w/Ric Flair) (c) vs Batista We've reached the era of Triple H having the longest match on the card. Batista is still green and looks awkward a lot of the time. This was largely uninteresting until Trips gets colour. To his credit, he bleeds a gusher and sells it well. The finishing stretch saves this one from being one of the least exciting Wrestlemania main event, with the last five minutes featuring a lot of stuff that I like. Flair's interreference was tasteful and didn't feel excessive. Batista powering out of a Pedigree and countering with an Air Raid Siren caught me completely off guard. Triple H does the job to his mate and puts him over pretty well all things considered, but you can't help to think that this would be much better if they trimmed the fat and worked around Batista's limitations. ★★½ Overall: If the last hour didn't have such a big drop in quality, I'd say that 21 would of been one of the better Wrestlemanias. Both world title matches are lacking and that sumo match was a waste of time. Guerrero vs Mysterio might be the best opener to a Wrestlemania not featuring a Hart brother and the first Money In The Bank was a roaring success. Undertaker's starting to really put the effort in and HBK and Angle put on an interpromotional clinc. There's plenty of stuff to love about Wrestlemania 21. Wrestlemania 22: "Big Time" World Tag Team Title Match Kane & The Big Show (c) vs Carlito & Chris Masters I've forgotten how great Chris Masters' entrance was. He's not that great in-ring yet, but anyone who could make the Full Nelson an over finisher in 2006 deserves credit. Big Show is at his biggest here and looks like he's not taking care of himself, so Kane deals with most of the work here. Show and Kane steamroll their opponents, with the heels struggling to get much in way of offence in. Carlito struggling to wrench Show's massive was a small touch that I appreciate. Although the tag scene in 2006 was very anaemic, this was a satisfactory opener that had a house show like quality to it. ★★½ Money In The Bank Ladder Match Matt Hardy vs Finlay vs Shelton Benjamin vs Rob Van Dam vs Ric Flair vs Bobby Lashley The second ever Money In The Bank suffers from sequel syndrome. There's a fair bit it gets right, but it's just not as good as it's predecessor. Flair and Finlay are too slow to work in a stunt show environment like this, but Flair taking the superplex from the ladder at his age will never not impress me. There's still a lot of fun to be had with this, even if the pace wasn't as breakneck as the first one. Shelton does a big dive onto a few wrestlers who are huddled together on the outside. Give it a few years and we'd be sick of that phony looking spot. RVD going over was the right call, as the fans were going crazy for him here. ★★★½ WWE United States Title Match Chris Benoit (c) vs John Bradshaw Layfield I imagine these two had a gentleman's agreement before this to go out there and work as snug as hell. Every strike and hold looks stiff and it helps the match stick out a tad. JBL goes down the cheap heat route by using Eddie Guerrero's taunt and hitting The Three Amigos. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but Benoit gets his revenge by landing a Three Amigos of his own. Benoit locks in a Crippler Crossface, but JBL rolls into a pin and with some assistance from the ropes, steals the US title from Benoit. ★★¾ Hardcore Match Mick Foley vs Edge Any time Foley has a big weapons match with a younger guy, he ends up kick starting their ascension to the main event. It happened with Triple H and Randy Orton and on this night, Edge would be taken seriously as a main eventer. They felt like they were going through the greatest hits of Mick Foley's hardcore spots and they upped the ante with the flaming table spot. Edge takes a nasty bump onto thumbtacks and brings some harrowing facials to the mix, Lita played her role as an interfering valet well and Foley continues to gross me out whenever he takes a steel stairs spot knees first. This was a compact hardcore match which blew me away the first time I saw it. ★★★★ Booker T & Sharmell vs The Boogeyman As much as I dig The Boogeyman and his presentation, I do not want to see him wrestle. The ever animated Booker T does a great job of showing his disgust and fear. Boogeyman shoves a handful of worms into his mouth before planting a kiss on Sharmell. Booker is then pinned clean as a whistle. This was a fairly nothing squash. ★ WWE Women's Title Match Trish Stratus (c) vs Mickie James Lesbian objectification aside, I dug this storyline a lot and Mickie is fantastic at portraying a psycho. Trish tries to go for a Chick Kick on the outside and ends up kicking the ring post instead. Mickie works over Trish's leg and it's probably the first time we've seen some legwork and psychology in a diva's match. Trish escaping Mickie's half crab with a head scissors was a cool spot that I've not seen before. The most famous part of this match is when Mickie gets out of a headlock by grabbing Trish by the vag and licking her fingers. The crowd go insane for this and it sent Vince into a rage backstage apparently. Although the finish was a bit flat, this was the first time that they clearly put some thought into a women's match at Wrestlemania. ★★★ Casket Match Mark Henry vs The Undertaker This felt like a massive step back for Undertaker. Mark Henry isn't quite at the level as he was during his Hall Of Pain run and isn't able to show off the charisma that he has hidden away. He's just a heavy who's obviously going to do the job. Outside of Undertaker's incredible dive over the casket, this felt like it could of been one of Undertaker's many drab casket matches from 1995. The action was rudimentary and plodding. There's only so much you can do with a casket match stipulation, I guess. ★½ No Holds Barred Match Vince McMahon vs Shawn Michaels Never before had I seen a villain getting their comeuppances be as satisfying as Shawn Michaels humiliating and destroying Vince McMahon here, Vince isn't afraid to take some stiff shots and bleed buckets. That violent ladder shot to the head almost made me feel bad for batshit billionaire! The Spirit Squad rush the ring to save Vince, but HBK is able to eventually fight them all off. Although it's total McMahon low-brow humour, I popped huge for Shawn shoving Shane's face right into his father's exposed arse. Talk about commitment to the role. Shawn takes forever building up to the grand finale, but the big elbow drop from the top of the 20 foot ladder through the table made it worthwhile. ★★★★ World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match Kurt Angle (c) vs Rey Mysterio vs Randy Orton This was a fun spotfest hindered by it's short length and the crowd not reacting positively to Rey. When the story is of the underdog overcoming the odds, it's essential that the crowd is buying into the face. I think the audience was grossed out by the continued exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's death and Angle was finally getting cheered because of his insane athleticism and ability and the fans didn't want him to lose his title. Rey slipping when attempting a ring post 619 was just tragic. Some of the spots here were jaw-dropping, such as Angle landing a German on Orton and Mysterio at the same time. ★★★ Playboy Pillow Fight Torrie Wilson vs Candice Michelle Well... I give them credit for attempting some actual wrestling moves in this, but it's hard to take anything seriously when there is a bed in the middle of the ring. Truth be told, the era of the eye candy based match is dying by this point. The crowd sound dead and as if they are embarrassed to be watching this. Even Jerry Lawler isn't excited as he usually is around puppies. Speaking of puppies, Torrie brings out her small dog wearing an even smaller hat and it's easily the highlight of this segment. ¼★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match John Cena (c) vs Triple H Both guys get big, dumb theatrical entrances and I love them. The Chicago crowd are rabidly anti-Cena and it makes for an incredible atmosphere. Cena has to prove to the world that he can wrestle and not just fight. Triple H acts as the old guard who's out to teach the younger generation a lesson and his Harley Race cosplay actually feels right at home here and it's one of his better performances overall. He goes into this as a heel, but he starts playing to the crowd once the fans start to cheer for him. We even see a DX cross chop. The action here was kept simple, but it didn't need to be fancy as they had the crowd eating out of their hands. ★★★½ Overall: I think it was at this point when all the Wrestlemania start to blend into one for me. The world title matches are step-up from last year, but I say this is a slightly weaker show overall. The Vince/HBK and Foley/Edge match are big spectacle matches that you want out of a Wrestlemania. I also enjoyed James/Stratus, it felt like a step in the right direction at the time even if things would get a lot worse for women before it would get better again. Wrestlemania 23: "All Grown Up" Money In The Bank Ladder Match CM Punk vs Matt Hardy vs Finlay vs King Booker vs Mr. Kennedy vs Jeff Hardy vs Edge vs Randy Orton This is where the Money In The Bank match jumped the shark for me. The action isn't fast as it's predecessors and the spots aren't as innovative. The big dive through ladder from Jeff Hardy onto Edge was an amazing sight, but it loses it's charm once you can see the wooden shards of the supposedly steel ladder. I enjoy parts of this, like the Hardyz reunion and Matt taking Sharmell hostage as a way to get Booker down from the ladder. It's entertaining like a car crash, but it's not a particularly great match. Mr. Kennedy delivering the Green Bay Plunge on Hornswoggle from the ladder will never not be amazing though. ★★¾ Kane vs The Great Khali Yeah, don't expect any 450s from these two! Khali did all the big man spots competently enough. Kane tries to use a hook in reference to the character he played in See No Evil. The body slam that Khali took was his only bump of the match and it was a nice callback to Hulk/Andre. Nowhere near as horrendous as it's reputation will have you to believe, this was short freak show bout designed to give Khali a big win over a well-established name. ★ WWE United States Title Match Chris Benoit (c) vs Montel Vontavious Porter This was as rugged and aggressive as you can expect from any Benoit match. MVP pulls Benoit's arm over the rope as he's shoved to the outside which causes Benoit to sell like a wounded lion. After some decent arm work from MVP, Benoit shows of his ring savviness by countering an MVP superplex by cradling his legs on impact, Dynamite Kid-style. The crowd were quiet during most of this, but came alive for all of Benoit's signature spots, including the flying headbutt which wrapped this up. MVP gets to show off his technical chops and that he can hang with the veterans, even if he did take the loss on this night. ★★★¼ World Heavyweight Title Match Batista (c) vs The Undertaker No one expect these two to bring it as hard as they did. Clocking in at a brisk 15 minutes, there's little down time here and both guys are firing on all cylinders. Don't expect to find any rest holds here, as this was a big bombfest which they worked with their limitations. Undertaker gets his big Wrestlemania tope in and it still feels like a big deal. The finishing stretch features some tasteful finisher trading and teasing, but it never goes overboard. This might be one of Batista's best ever matches. ★★★★ The ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Sabu, The Sandman & Tommy Dreamer) vs The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorn, Marcus Cor Von & Matt Striker) (w/Ariel) The last dying fart of the original ECW in the WWE's bastardization of the brand. The Originals pick up the win in a nothing tag match. The New Breed looked like complete jabronis here, but there is only so much you can do when you're in a stable with a vampire named Kevin. Matt Striker shows off his bumping ability by getting some serious air from a RVD monkey flip. Sabu and Sandman make their sole Wrestlemania appearance and they miraculously don't botch anything, with the exception of Sabu nearly landing on his head during a dive. They would have an Extreme Rules rematch on ECW a few weeks later, which was much more of an entertaining watch and the right team went over. ★★ Hair vs Hair Match Umaga (w/Armando Estrada & Vince McMahon) vs Bobby Lashley (w/Donald Trump) One of the most financially successful matches ever, this is downright bizarre to see after Trump got elected. Trump struggles to get the fans behind him, despite him literally giving the fans real money as he makes his entrance. Vince felt like a caricature of himself by this point. The wrestlers in this are treated as complete afterthoughts. Lashley and Umaga both miss dives to the outside and the sound their bodies made when they hit the ground was sickening, but that's everything of note that they did during the entirety of this segment. There's enough bullshit to pad this out, such as seeing Vince and Austin interreact again and the constant interference stopped this from becoming boring. ★★★ WWE Women's Title Lumberjack Match Melina (c) vs Ashley After Trish left last year, the women's division became a dark place. The bra and panties matches would thankfully stop after the company goes PG, but the women aren't given a fair shout on the main roster until the mid 2010's. What we got here was a good example of what the women would be putting out for the foreseeable future. Replaceable women with little experience stinking the place up. You could tell that everything was laid out spot by spot because of how awkward the action was. It was mercifully short at least. ¼★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match John Cena (c) vs Shawn Michaels I've seen some people refer to this as a Michaels carryjob and those people couldn't be anymore wrong. Cena put in a corker of a performance here and was a lot less hammy as Michaels when playing to the crowd. His punches look urgent and that clothesline he uses to cut off HBK was beefy as hell. His selling of his leg is a good example of Cena being a truly underrated seller, even if it wasn't consistent. This starts out with Michaels leaning into his heel side as he slaps Cena right across the face. It seamless and slowly builds up into an epic that's fit for a stadium, with big moments and a finisher trading sequence to wrap this up. ★★★★¼ Overall: This felt like a Wrestlemania of old, as the undercard was mostly underwhelming and the big matches delivered. HBK and Cena put on the most workrate heavy main event since Benoit main evented in 2004. Speaking of Benoit, his last Wrestlemania perfomance sees him give MVP a good showing. Undertaker pulls his finger out and puts on a heavyweight clinic with Batista. It's clear that the Trump/McMahon stuff is here to lure in the casuals, but it's entertaining enough. Wrestlemania 24: "The Biggest Wrestlemania Under The Sun" Belfast Brawl Match Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) vs John Bradshaw Layfield Another year, another Wrestlemania featuring Hornswoggle getting abused. This time JBL lobs a trash can violent at poor 'ol Swoggle. This felt like a more cohesive early 2000's hardcore match with the added ruggedness of JBL and Finlay throwing potatoes at each other. After all the usual spots you can expect in WWE hardcore match (cookie sheets, trash cans and the obligatory table spot), JBL puts Finlay away with a Clothesline From Hell. The storyline going into this was awful, but the match was strong enough to make this worthwhile. ★★★¼ Money In The Bank Ladder Match CM Punk vs Carlito vs Montel Vontavious Porter vs Mr. Kennedy vs Chris Jericho vs Shelton Benjamin vs John Morrison After last year's misfire, this felt like a step in the right direction. There's one less body in this, allowing the action to flow better. Morrison's insane athleticism was on full show, the moonsault he hit while holding a ladder is still breath-taking. Benjamin gets his usual MITB spot in, with his somersault being so awesome that you can forget about the gimmicky wooden ladder that his body crashes through. Matt Hardy makes his return attacking MVP and it gets one of the biggest reactions of the night. His return would of had more oomph if it had directly cost MVP the match, but it's challenge to do that on such a big multi-man match. ★★★¾ Batista vs Umaga A basic power match that hid behind the useless Brand Supremacy™ gimmick to disguised the fact that this program had nothing going for it. It wasn't rotten per se, just rudimental and something that you would see on a house show. Umaga slaps on a nerve hold that sucks the life out of the crowd, who entertain themselves by chanting Umaga's name over and over again. Both guys do their usual schtick with no added flare before Batista puts Umaga away with a botched Batista Bomb. A total waste of one of their most over babyfaces at the time. ★½ ECW Heavyweight Title Match Chavo Guerrero (c) vs Kane Kane won a battle royal on the pre-show to get this title shot. This was a total squash, with Kane sneaking into the ring and landing a chokeslam on Chavo to win the ECW title. I question the logic of having a monster babyface like Kane having to blindside a much smaller heel like Chavo. You can tell that WWE are completely finished with putting any effort into the ECW brand, even though it would peter on for nearly two more years. DUD Career Threatening Match Shawn Michaels vs Ric Flair The way the pre-determined world of pro-wrestling generates emotion out of real-life situations is one of the reasons I love it so much. Flair is about to close the book on his legendary career (we can ignore TNA) and there's no doubt that the tears these two shed aren't genuine. There's still a great match to found here. Michaels takes some nasty bumps and he's not afraid to roughhouse the 59 year old Flair. There's little moments that make this match so special, like Flair resorting to his dirty tricks to try and keep his career alive. The result to this might of been obvious, but these legends have the ability to keep you guessing and you want to believe that this isn't the end of the Nature Boy. Even with the melodrama, this is still a top 10 'Mania match for me. ★★★★½ Lumberjack Tag Team Match Beth Phoenix & Melina (w/Santino Marella) vs Ashley & Maria This is promoted by Playboy and hosted by Snoop Dogg, but the T&A aspects are thankfully no where to be found. Beth uses her size to hit some power moves and Maria's attempts at doing hurricanranas and other athletic stuff weren't good, but I appreciate the effort. Santino gets involved, which causes Jerry Lawler to leave the commentary table and knock him out. Snoop Dogg hits Santino with a surprisingly decent clothesline after the match. Better than I expected, but it's still bad. ★ WWE Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match Randy Orton (c) vs Triple H vs John Cena Although this didn't feel like a Wrestlemania main event, this was a solid triple threat and Orton retaining was genuinely shocking. We get a number of interesting 3 man spots, including Cena trying to F-U Triple H and Orton at the same time. This was fast-paced and their was plenty of finisher teases to keep the action engaging. What is it with wrestlers doing the crossface in the years following the Benoit tragedy? The crowd came alive when Trips locked it on and it took me right out of the match. Orton is able to sneak out of Orlando by landing a punt on Triple H just as he had Cena down for the count after the Pedigree. ★★★ No Holds Barred Match The Big Show vs Floyd Mayweather Mayweather takes to wrestling like a fish to water. He's oozes confidences, but can show fear at a flick of a switch without it ever looking melodramatic. He tries to rely on his boxing talent, but has to play dirty if wants to stand a chance. Big Show is in the best shape of his career and plays the role of the unbeatable giant to perfection. Mayweather's entourage getting involved was a good way to hide Mayweather's limitations as a non-wrestler. Although this must of been carefully planned out spot-by-spot, you could never tell as everything flows naturally and not like they were just moving on to the next spot. Probably the best match featuring a non-wrestler. ★★★½ World Heavyweight Title Match Edge (c) vs The Undertaker Despite this match's supposed excellent reputation, I find myself bored for the first two thirds. Edge doesn't bring much to the table when he's working on top, with the exception of some hammy facials. Undertaker's back is worked over, but it's forgotten about in quick fashion. Undertaker's big Wrestlemania dive is starting to lose it's lustre. Things pick up when they start building up to their finishes. The referee is knocked out and all sorts of shenanigans take place. Edge attacking Undertaker with a TV camera was a appreciated bit of continuity. The Edgeheads try to interfere, but are taken out quickly. Undertaker counters a Spear into a Hell's Gate to keep the streak alive. This was lacking in places, but the finishing stretch made it worthwhile. ★★★ Overall: I used to think this was one of the better Wrestlemanias, but I'm not sure I'd say that now. Show vs Mayweather was better than it had any right to be and the Finlay/JBL brawl is a hidden gem, but the world title matches are just decent and stuff like Batista/Umaga and Chavo/Kane are a complete waste of time. Even if you end up hating it for it's hammy theatrics, Flair/HBK should be seen by every fan at least once. WrestleMania 25: "The 25th Anniversary Of WrestleMania" Money In The Bank Ladder Match CM Punk vs Finlay (w/Hornswoggle) vs Kane vs Mark Henry (w/Tony Atlas) vs Montel Vontavious Porter vs Christian vs Shelton Benjamin vs Kofi Kingston We've entered peak Diveamania. There's more incidents of guys huddling together to catch people than on your typical episode of AEW Dynamite! Light criticism aside, this did it's job of pumping up the crowd. Kofi Kingston makes his Wrestlemania debut showing off his freaky athleticism. Benjamin gets his usual big dive. Mark Henry and Kane pulling the two ladders full of wrestlers apart so they could have a stare down was a cool visual. There's too many people in this and some of the ladder match tropes are starting to feel like clichés, but this was an exciting opener. ★★★¼ Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal Miss Jackie vs Sunny vs Mickie James vs Molly Holly vs Victoria vs Torrie Wilson vs Katie Lea vs Gail Kim vs Beth Phoenix vs Jillian Hall vs Layla vs Joy Giovanni vs Michelle McCool vs Maria vs Melina vs Natalya vs Maryse vs Kelly Kelly vs Alicia Fox vs Santina Marella vs Rosa Mendes vs Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella vs Eve Torres vs Tiffany Before the match starts we are 'treated' to a nearly 15 minute Kid Rock concert. The participants of this battle royal are robbed of getting individual entrances as they all enter together during the last song. We've got returning stars like Sunny, Victoria and Molly Holly making their return, but you wouldn't of noticed that as they aren't introduced and are lost in the sea of blonde women in the ring. Santina (Santino in drag) wins this car wreck of a battle royal. This entire segment made all the women feel like afterthoughts and it's sole purpose was to build up to a joke that went over like a fart in church. DUD Three On One Handicap Elimination Match Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat & Roddy Piper (w/Ric Flair) vs Chris Jericho This whole angle is built around the Mickey Rourke movie 'The Wrestler' and he's sitting front row. Snuka and Piper's stuff looks rotten, but they aren't in the ring long before they're eliminated and Steamboat gets his chance to shine. He might look like yer da, but Steamboat wrestles like he's still in 1989. He hits all the signature Steamboat spots flawlessly and gets in a number of convincing near-falls. No one expected Steamboat, who retired in 1994, to still have it in him. Jericho puts him away with a Codebreaker before beating down Ric Flair. Mickey Rourke gets in the ring and sparks out Jericho. This was a nice bit of cross promotion. ★★★½ Extreme Rules Match Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy An entertaining hardcore match where the weapon spots overshadow the personal aspects of this rivalry. Although the spots were impressive, they move from them so quickly that don't have the impact that would of them if they built them up better. All the attempts of story-telling are moved aside so they can all get their shit in. The brutal finish sees Jeff miss a leapfrog legdrop over the ladder and Matt capitalizing by laying Jeff out with a Twist of Fate with Jeff's neck placed in a chair. I can't call this a bad match, but it's certainly a missed opportunity given the history between these two. ★★★ Intercontinental Title Match John Bradshaw Layfield (c) vs Rey Mysterio I can't get over the absolute state of Mysterio's tacky Joker gear. Mysterio is laid out with a stiff big boot before the bell, but Mysterio makes a quick comeback. Dropkick, 619, top rope splash and Mysterio wins this in a mere 21 seconds. JBL, still selling the shock of his quick defeat, gets on the mic and announces that he quits. Seeing as he was never a face as a JBL, I thought this was a great way to retire him. Not much of a match, but a good angle to write off one of the most despicable heels of the 2000's. ★ The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels Both guys have the crowd eating out of their hands that they even got the fans to pop on a chokeslam near-fall! They manage to create some real drama from the failed suicide dive spot and when 'Taker swats away a Michaels' moonsault, although that could just be because both men looked like they were actually hurt rather than working the crowd. Or they might of worked me all along, who knows? HBK kicking out of the Tombstone might be one of the most exceptional near-falls ever, with Undertaker's reaction to it really sealing the deal. Yeah, the finisher reversals are excessive, but the finishing stretch and the fatigued strike exchange helps this match feel like an epic; albeit a slightly flawed one. ★★★★½ World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match Edge (w/Chavo Guerrero & Vickie Guerrero) (c) vs John Cena vs The Big Show This match is memorable for two things: Cena's entrance and Cena scooping both Edge and Show simultaneously on his back at the same time. This was a good house show main event with a few added bells and whistles, but ultimately lacking that big Wrestlemania marquee match feel. Edge tries to form an alliance with Show, but is rejected. Vickie Guerrero gets on the apron to distract Cena, but Edge is sent crashing into her. It's a well worked Triple Threat, the right guy won and everyone played their parts well enough. I just think this struggled following HBK/Undertaker. ★★★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match Triple H (c) vs Randy Orton Triple H tries to get revenge on the man who punt kicked his father-in-law and kissed his unconscious wife by... *checks notes* wrestling him like he would if was any other guy on the roster. In fairness, the stipulation of this match states that Triple H would lose his title if he got disqualified or counted out, but that's still no excuse for the lifeless display we got as a main event of the biggest show of the year. Orton was routinely criticized for his overuse of rest holds during the early stages of his Viper gimmick and this match was a good example of that. Trips and Orton never had the best chemistry, but this was by far one of their most dullest matches. ★½ Overall: Coming at one of WWE's most creatively bankrupt periods, Wrestlemania 25 is an average show with some good stuff littered throughout. Things don't look too postive as Orton and Cena are starting to feel stale already and the old guard like Triple H, Undertaker and Shawn Michaels aren't sticking around as full timers for much longer. Michaels vs Undertaker is brilliant, but nothing comes close to touching it on this card. WrestleMania XXVI: "Get All Fired Up" Unified WWE Tag Team Title Match The Big Show & The Miz (c) vs John Morrison & R-Truth I have zero recollection of Morrison and Truth ever teaming up. These four make the most of the three minutes they are given. Morrison and Truth bring the speed and Show does all his giant stuff well, including swatting away his opponents as if they were a couple of bothersome flies. Show lands a knockout punch on Morrison as he's doing a springboard and gets the pin. Although this was the first time since 2004 that the tag titles were defended at a Wrestlemania, this still felt like filler. Seeing as both teams would split up within two months of this show, I would rather wait another year to see the tag titles return with a more meaningful program. ★★ Triple Threat Match Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes vs Ted DiBiase DiBiase and Rhodes form a pact to take out their former stable leader and shock horror, things eventually break down between them. Orton was easily one of the most over guys in the company in 2010, even if he wasn't given much to work with a lot of the time. Rhodes is taken out with an Orton punt, and Dibiase falls to an RKO after he failed to sneak up on Orton. Predictable and safe, Dibiase and Rhodes felt like they never had a chance and it's did them no favours. Even at a 2-on-1 advantage, they couldn't beat their former stable leader. ★★½ Money In The Bank Ladder Match Matt Hardy vs Kane vs Montel Vontavious Porter vs Christian vs Shelton Benjamin vs Evan Bourne vs Dolph Ziggler vs Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston vs Jack Swagger The Money In The Bank concept had gotten stale by this point, but these matches are always exciting when viewed in a vacuum. Ten men is way too many people to work this style of match, as you can see guys on the floor, waiting for their time to come in and it really ruins the immersion. A ladder is placed between the top rope and a standing ladder and it's used as a platform that allows to them to come up with some interesting spots. Bourne hitting a SSP and Christian landing an Unprettier from the make-shift platform were some of the coolest spots of the match. Swagger wins after spending forever trying to unhook the briefcase, a botch that has been thankfully edited off from the WWE Network version of this event. ★★★¼ Triple H vs Sheamus This was Triple H paint-by numbers. He's phoning it in and Sheamus has solid fundamentals, but he still needs more to time to grow into vicious brawler that he would eventually become. Triple H said in the build-up if Sheamus loses then he could fall into obscurity, so obviously the best thing to do here is beat the rising star clean as a whistle. Triple H kicks out of two Brogue Kicks before putting away his workout buddy with the Pedigree. Sheamus had debuted in the summer of 2009 and had already won the WWE title from Cena within that time and a win here could of really solidified him as a long-term main eventer, but instead he does the job. ★★ CM Punk (w/Luke Gallows & Serena) vs Rey Mysterio Punk's promos were excellent during this time period and we are treated to a brief one as he makes way to the ring. Mysterio's body is starting to show it's wear. He can still hit all the stuff he could ten years ago, but it's missing that flare that it once had. We get some cool sequences and Gallows and Serena try to get involved and cost Rey the match, although their efforts are unsuccessful. The exchange which saw Punk counter Rey's springboard moonsault into a Go To Sleep attempt was some good stuff. Even if it's cut down to a mere six minutes, this was an appetising taster to one of the best programs on WWE TV during 2010. ★★★ No Holds Barred Match Bret Hart vs Vince McMahon It baffles the mind how WWE could mess up Bret Hart finally getting revenge on the man who screwed him in Montreal 13 years previously. Bret can't bump or take any shots to the head because of his injuries, but he can still do all his moves of doom well enough. Vince pays off the entire Hart family to screw Bret as they appointed as lumberjacks, but it turns out to be a swerve as they were working with Bret all along. This is all fine, but they spent an eternity beating down Vince and I actually starting feeling bad for him. The Hart Dynasty triple-teaming a 64 year old didn't feel like a babyface move. Bret hits Vince with a chair eighteen times before finally putting an end to this. DUD World Heavyweight Title Match Chris Jericho (c) vs Edge The sequences are solid enough, but there's not much to bite into during the first half of this. A match needs to have more than just having quick back-and-forth action to pull you in. Jericho seems to wrestle one way only, but he added a few head slaps and smug facial expressions into this to let you know that he's the bad guy. Edge's 'crazy' faces when he was building up the spear was corny as fuck. In a much needed display of character work, Jericho attempts to use the spear, but gets a big boot for his troubles. The second half was much better, with Jericho working over Edge's previously injured Achille's heel. The finish might of been deflating, but Edge spearing Jericho through the barricade made up for it. ★★★ Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly & Mickie James vs Alicia Fox, Layla, Maryse, Michelle McCool & Vickie Guerrero Vickie is a pure heat magnet, but she obviously can't work a lick. After getting up to the top rope with some help of McCool and Layla, she hits her own butchered version of the Frog Splash and pays tribute to Eddie. I question the logic of one of the most despised heels paying tribute to one of WWE's most beloved stars ever even if she was married to him, but hey-ho. Vickie even manages to screw up a pin, by hooking the leg too tightly and causing her opponent to raise her shoulder up. Yeah, this wasn't good, but what were you really expecting? ¼★ WWE Heavyweight Title Match Batista (c) vs John Cena The last six months of Batista's full-time run brought us some of his best stuff. Batista counters an early Attitude Adjustment attempt with a spike DDT and it's gloriously brutal. This leads to Batista working over Cena's neck, which was previously injured during his match with Batista at Summerslam 2008. The exciting finishing stretch sees plenty of close calls as both guys get near falls on their finishers. Batista tries to land a second Batista bomb, but is countered and taps out to the STF. These two had watertight chemistry and play off each other well. What we got here was a proper heavyweight clash that could of went either way. ★★★¾ WrestleMania Streak vs Career No Disqualification Match The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels I totally get why some people don't like this. The acting is gloriously hammy and the action is fairly slow in places, with both men spending a lot of time recovering from their injuries, but this is still one of the best retirement matches ever. Even with HBK's GCSE drama level acting, he can sell you the urgency of the big moments and have you eating out of his hand. Undertaker hurts his leg early on and Michaels goes after it, giving the smaller wrestler a much needed advantage. Michaels using the Figure 4 and a grapevine ankle lock felt like a subtle nod to his other Wrestlemania matches with Ric Flair and Kurt Angle. They never go overboard with the close calls, with the crowd collectively losing their shit after the first Sweet Chin Music and in-ring Tombstone. The finish has to be one of the my favourite match endings ever, with Michaels giving his last shot before being finished off with one of the nastiest Tombstones I have ever seen. A fitting end to a one of the GOATs. ★★★★¾ Overall: The last hour saves this from total medicority. The general work-rate in WWE is better in 2010 than it was two decade prior, but a lot of the matches feel a touch lifeless. Sometimes decent just isn't enough, and that's the case of this Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania XXVII: "The Biggest Wrestlemania Ever" World Heavyweight Title Match Edge (w/Christian) (c) vs Alberto Del Rio (w/Brodus Clay) Edge's elbow is taped up and Del Rio sets his sights on it right away and softens it up for his Cross Armbreaker. Del Rio processes some superb technical skills, but is incredibly dry and lacks pizzazz. Edge's bug-eyed facials when he builds up to the Spear are still cartoonish and goofy. Christian tries to stop Clay and Rodriguez from interfering, but eats a T-Bone Suplex on the outside for his troubles. Edge's is able to escape the Cross Armbreaker and lands a Spear to land the win in his last televised match for nearly a decade. This was an exciting opener that had a fast pace, consistent limbwork and just the right amount of outside bullshit without it hindering the match. ★★★½ Rey Mysterio vs Cody Rhodes This is taking place because Rey smashed Cody's face in with his knee brace causing him to be 'disfigured' and forcing him to wear a mask. They try to do a lot of stuff here with Rey's brace and Cody's mask, but it doesn't land well because the fans just aren't buying into Cody's new gimmick. Cody hits a very impressive stalling superplex and there's some neat sequences here and there, but you can't help to think that these two could of hand a much better outing if they were limited by all the gimmicky stuff with the mask and such. ★★¾ Kane, Kofi Kingston, Santino Marella & The Big Show vs The Corre (Ezekiel Jackson, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel & Wade Barrett) Since the last Wrestlemania, Nexus had debuted as a roaring success, created some serious buzz and were wasted way too soon, and some of the members formed a forgettable spin-off group called The Corre. It's crazy how much can happen in a year. Vladimir Kozlov was meant to be on the face team, but he is taken out at Axxess by The Corre and is replaced with Kofi Kingston. Santino and Show get all their signature spots in before the match breaks down and Santino lands the Cobra to win in just over 90 seconds. A completely nothing match featuring a completely nothing stable. ½★ CM Punk vs Randy Orton Orton's leg was attacked by Punk with a wrench on Raw a few weeks previously and Punk goes to town on it. Punk's assault is focused and he keeps it engaging by taunting him and working it over in a variety of ways. Orton collapsing after attempting a punt kick was a satisfying payoff to Punk's work. I loved the finish of this too. Punk thinks he's outclassed Orton by sidestepping a RKO attempt. This line of thinking bites Punk in the ass as he's laid out with an RKO seconds later after he goes for a springboard move. This match is a good example of how to keep limbwork entertaining and also not forgetting about it once the babyface hits his comeback. ★★★¾ Jerry Lawler vs Michael Cole (w/Jack Swagger) They had a chance to create a genuinely touching moment with Lawler getting a win at his first Wrestlemania appearance as a wrestler and they fucked it up. Lawler hitting a piledriver after a few minutes of slapping the piss out of Cole would of sufficed, but they instead decide it's a great idea to have this monstrosity go on for nearly 15 minutes. Swagger locks on the ankle lock when guest referee Austin is distracted and this leads to the longest control segment ever. Lawler eventfully makes his comeback and spends way too long beating down Cole before tapping him out with the ankle lock. Lawler, Austin and Booker T all mill around in the ring until the Anonymous Raw GM reverses the decision and announces Cole as the winner by DQ. This was painful to watch and it felt like it went on forever. DUD No Holds Barred Match Triple H vs The Undertaker They waste no time here and start brawling all over the place. Undertaker gets gassed early and they have to take a long break recovering between the big spots and they start to lose me. I was ready to write this one off as not for me, but once Triple H hits a barrage of Pedigrees, they had me gripped. Triple H does everything he can in an effort to end the streak, including three Pedigrees, a number of chair shots (including a banned headshot) and even a Tombstone of his own. Undertaker sells his beating with conviction and the story they tell never felt corny or hammy. Oddly compelling even if I had a lot of issues with the bulk of the match. ★★★★ John Morrison, Snooki & Trish Stratus vs Dolph Ziggler & LayCool (Layla & Michelle McCool) (w/Vickie Guerrero) The crowd are understandably burnt out because of the last match, but this was decent enough as far as celebrity matches go. Clocking in at a mere 3 minutes, there's nothing downright offensive here. John Morrison hits a Starship Pain to the outside to keep Ziggler out of the match and it's mildly interesting to see Trish work with the next generation of women. Snooki only gets involved right at the end and she hits a Mutoh-style handspring elbow! I wasn't expecting that her to bring that level of athleticism. John Morrison gets put in the doghouse for what transpired during the post-match celebration. He gives Trish the cold shoulder as he wasn't happy with Melina, his partner, being left off the card so that Trish could come back. ★½ WWE Heavyweight Title No Disqualification Match The Miz (w/Alex Riley) (c) vs John Cena Cena sells his arse off for Miz in an effort to get him over as a legit main eventer. Miz tries his best, but I cannot take him seriously with his laughably bad mean facial expressions. He looks more like an angry child than a legit threat. Even the many anti-Cena fans in the audience can't bring themselves to back Miz, resulting in a main event that's severely lacking in atmosphere. After some convincing near falls and constant interference from Alex Riley, Cena and Miz get counted out. The Rock comes down and restarts the match and ends up costing Cena the title, a move that used to set up next year's Wrestlemania event. The initial double count-out finished sucked, but the second one wasn't much better as it made Miz feel like an afterthought, even in victory. No, this isn't the worst match to ever main event a Wrestlemania. It's horrendously booked, but the action itself felt like a solid Raw main event. ★★½ Overall: This was the first ever Wrestlemania that I got to see as it happened and I hated it then. The piss-poor main event booking, the overusage of Rock and Lawler vs Cole stinking the place up was enough to sour the entire event for me. However, there's some good stuff here too, like the opener, 'Taker vs HHH and Punk vs Orton. I'd say it's a mid-tier 'Mania overall. Wrestlemania XXVIII: "Once In A Lifetime" World Heavyweight Title Match Daniel Bryan (w/AJ) (c) vs Sheamus This is the match where Bryan loses the World Heavyweight title in under 30 seconds. I remember watching Bryan's entrance live and feeling so proud for him. A ROH guy finally in a World title match at Wrestlemania. If only I knew what was about to happen. Bryan kisses AJ, Sheamus lands a Brogue Kick, it's all over. This shock win pops the crowd, but it's not long before they start they start booing and cheering Bryan's name throughout most of the event. There's a part of me that wants to put on my tinfoil hat and say that WWE knew they would get strong backlash from this and it was all intentional as a way to get Bryan over at a main event level, but I'm probably giving them way too much credit. DUD Kane vs Randy Orton Both Orton and Kane are two wrestlers who can be good when they want to be, but can also be incredibly drab and dull when they aren't full motivated. Sadly, this was the latter. There's not much to say about the first five minutes. Kane throwing some nice throat thrusts is the only thing that comes to mind. It's all quite colourless and fans who are still annoyed by the treatment of Daniel Bryan aren't having this and you can hear a smattering of boring' chants. Thankfully, the crowd wake up and the action gets going once Orton hits one of his signature moves after countering a sidewalk slam attempt. Orton eats a chokeslam after missing his punt. He kicks out and the fans are invested again. Orton loses the match after Kane scores a rare top rope chokeslam. This was a solid enough match once it got going. ★★ WWE Intercontinental Title Match Cody Rhodes (c) vs The Big Show After Rhodes fails to take Big Show down as the match starts, Show gets a lengthy shine segment. Chopping Cody's chest, throwing him around the ring like a sack of shit and even giving him a stinkface. Cody takes control by going after the big guy's legs. After dazing Show with a Beautiful Disaster kick, Cody tries his luck and goes to hit him with another, only to be cut off with a nasty spear right to the groin. Shows gets a win and finally gets his Wrestlemania moment. This was a lot more enjoyable that you would think. They play up to the size differences, it's wrapped up in just over five minutes and it has a feel-good ending to boot. ★★¾ Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres vs Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos Jerry Lawler is still in perv mode, despite us being 5 years into the PG era at this point. I always remember Eve Torres as the workhorse of the PG Diva's era. She wouldn't get much to work with, but she always put in the effort to get something decent of any situation. Beth Phoenix and her are calling the match, which is good as their opponents are a non-wrestler in Maria Menounos and Kelly Kelly. To Kelly's credit, she didn't do anything to harm this match. She hit her flying hearscissors and even a somersault seated senton from the top rope. This wasn't a good match, but it was too short to be anything too offensive. Menounos had cracked ribs here and still wanted to do the match, so props to her. ★½ Hell In A Cell Match Triple H vs The Undertaker There's two types of wrestling cheese. The good and the bad. An example of the good kind is Undertaker and Triple H having a stare down, whilst the cell lowers around them whilst Metallica plays over the speakers. The bad kind is Shawn Michael's entire performance as guest referee in this match. His GCSE drama level acting is distracting and takes away from the match big time. Every time he counts a near-fall, he flails around the place like a moron. 'Taker and Triple H drum up some classic Wrestlemania Moments™. The Sweet Chin Music to Pedigree spot made me think that Triple H is going to end the streak. They use all the bells and whistles they can to give this a big match feel and it works for the most part. The weapon spots, ref bumps and finisher kickouts, it's all here. The opening brawling might lack heat, but the storytelling and visuals (Trips tripping after the Undertaker sits up is a particular favourite of mine) make up for it. This isn't the masterpiece they were hoping for, but it's a bloated epic that every wrestling fan needs to see, even if they end up hating it. ★★★½ Team Johnny (David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry & The Miz) (w/Brie Bella, John Laurinaitis & Vickie Guerrero) vs Team Teddy (Booker T, Kofi Kingston, R-Truth, Santino Marella, The Great Khali & Zack Ryder) (w/Aksana, Eve Torres, Hornswoggle, Nikki Bella & Teddy Long) If this looks like a match that they threw together just to get everyone on the card to you, then you would be right. The 'Taker/Trips HIAC match had drained the crowd and they spend most of the match sitting on their hands. Mark Henry feels wasted being here as he had just come off his incredible Hall of Pain run. He doesn't get much time to shine, but seeing him throw trash talk at a downed opponent is always entertaining. Santino will forever be a gullibility pleasure of mine. Anyone who can get something as dumb as the Cobra over is more than okay in my book. Things pick up when everyone gets a chance to throw a few of their signature spots in. The match ends in betrayal as Eve Torres enters the ring to distract her boyfriend Zack Ryder from hitting his finish. They did what they could here and the result was entertaining, even if the crowd was feeling burnt out still. ★★¾ WWE Heavyweight Title Match CM Punk (c) vs Chris Jericho Raw GM John Laurinaitis added the stipulation that if Punk gets DQ'd, he loses his title, so Jericho does everything he can to get under Punk's skin and try to get him to disqualify himself. I didn't find their acting corny at all, but I didn't like how they never played up on this again after Punk stops himself from levelling Jericho with the chair. After that they start working this match as you would expect out of these two. It's high on workrate, but low on actual drama as Jericho spends his time chipping away at Punk's back. Jericho just wasn't that interesting working down Punk. After Punk gets his comeback, the match picks up again. Each wrestler tries to lock in their submission and it results in some exciting back and forth action. I'm a big fan of the finish. After Jericho keeps escaping the Anaconda Vice by kneeing Punk's damaged back, so Punk hits the move with a bridge and that's enough for Jericho to tap out. ★★★½ John Cena vs The Rock After a year of build, there was no way they were ever going to match the hype. One thing that would of helped this greatly is that if they didn't go 30 minutes. There's a lot of lying around here. After some neat power struggles to kick off the match, Rock gets gassed early on and it's up to Cena to carry this. Cena is taking the role as heel as the Miami crowd are never going to be cheering him over the Rock. Cena as always, is at his best when he's getting under the skin of the older fanbase. He takes an extra second to perform his big moves and the crowd are out for blood. Could of easily been a ★★★★+ 20 minute match if they trimmed the fat. ★★★ Overall: It's good to have a show again where the main event felt like the biggest thing in the world at that point. Since last year, we'd seen the rise of Punk and the product felt a lot more hotter than the year previous. Bryan losing in seconds could of sent this show off the cliff early, but the show itself is very watchable even if nothing is MOTYC worthy. Wrestlemania XXIX Randy Orton, Sheamus & The Big Show vs The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) I love how each member of The Shield brings something different to the table. They feel organized and work as a unit, unlike their opponents. It makes sense from a kayfabe perspective how a polished collective of new guys can look stronger than a ramshackle team of three established veterans. The Shield isolate Orton and work over him until he's able to score a hot tag to Sheamus. Sheamus is fantastic at cleaning house as a fresh man. He kicks a lot of ass and shows loads of fire, that is until a miscommunication costs his team the victory. This was an exciting opener which told a great story of the younger guys beating the old guard by just being able to work on the same page. Big Show makes one of his many heel turns after the bell, but I dug the smaller details of him not getting tagged in, which is the eventual straw that breaks the camel's back and causes him to snap. ★★★¼ Mark Henry vs Ryback Henry can be a phenomenal worker when he's in there with a someone who can either sell all over the place for him like CM Punk or Daniel Bryan or someone who can being the beef right back to him like Big Show or Sheamus. You think that Ryback would fall into the latter category, but he's still green as goose shit here and it makes for a lacklustre power bout. The finish felt as flat as a witch's tit. Ryback gets a big comeback and attempts to hit a Shell Shock, but Henry is too heavy and crushes Ryback as he goes to scoop him up. This didn't make Ryback look good in defeat nor did Henry look impressive in victory as it felt like he won this by sheer luck. ★½ WWE Tag Team Title Match Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan & Kane) (c) vs Big E. Langston & Dolph Ziggler (w/AJ Lee) Ziggler starts the match by getting a peck on the cheek by AJ in an effort to insult Bryan, but it almost costs Ziggler the same way that it costs Bryan his match at Wrestlemania last year. Big E makes his main roster in-ring debut here and he gets a lot of shine, throwing Kane around like a sack of potatoes. Bryan is by far the most over man here, but he spends most of the match on the apron. Ziggler's attempt to use his Money In The Bank briefcase is thwarted by Kane, who lays out Ziggler with a Chokeslam. Bryan gets tagged in and picks up the win with a flying headbutt. Although this only had six minutes to work with, they keep everything at a fast pace and it made for some easy viewing. ★★★ Chris Jericho vs Fandango This was your typical Jericho performance, high on workrate, low on everything else. Fandango's constant attempts at dancing during the match hurt the flow and made him feel like a joke character. Jericho lands a Codebreaker early, but Fandago rolls out of the ring to save himself. Jericho kicks out of Fandango's leg drop finish, but is put away with a surprise roll-up. Although Fandango has a good look and is a solid enough worker, having a ballroom dancer gimmick isn't going to get you past the midcard, so I question the logic of Jericho putting over him. This was a bog-standard match with some head-scratching booking. ★★ World Heavyweight Title Match Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez) (c) vs Jack Swagger (w/Zeb Colter) Never before had the World Heavyweight Title felt more like a midcard belt than this match here. Swagger doesn't even get a full entrance! Face Del Rio is a strange beast. He's excellent at all the things you need a babyface to be good at (selling, making a comeback etc.), but with one glaring omission: getting the crowd to invest into you. Swagger attempts to break Del Rio's ankle, but Del Rio's got a submission of his own that he tries to lock on. The transitions between submissions was gloriously smooth and there's always a sense of struggle. Although this didn't feel like a big time title fight, this was still enjoyable. ★★¾ CM Punk (w/Paul Heyman) vs The Undertaker Punk is absolutely despicable here and Heyman really completes his act by being sleazy and reacting to every nearfall with such gusto. Punk using Old School and trying to end the streak by countout are two ways that he gets heat from the fans. Undertaker powering through a GTS by using his momentum and landing a desperation Tombstone was an awesome spot that felt like something out of a Tomohiro Ishii bombfest. If Punk didn't leave the company on bad terms less than a year later, I'm sure that awesome visual of Undertaker sitting up during the Anaconda Vice would be overused is video packages by now. This is less over-the-top than Undertaker's previous matches with HBK and Triple H, but the crowd were just as invested. Punk lays down the groundwork and Undertaker delivers the big moments. You can easily make the argument that this was the last good streak match. ★★★★ Triple H's Career On The Line No Holds Barred Match Triple H (w/Shawn Michaels) vs Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) Triple H is so lifeless during the opening brawling segments and the crowd are sitting on their hands. Even an announce table bump followed up with a meme-worthy Brock grunt couldn't breathe life into this. Lesnar broke Triple H's arm in a Kimura during the build-up, so them trying to lock in the move made sense, but I didn't buy that Lesnar would ever tap out. I'm a huge Lesnar mark, but he's Suplex City schtick dragged on forever. Heyman was incredibly animated at ringside and he ate that Sweet Chin Music like a pro after he tries to get involved. Trip's career is predictably saved by a shot from his trusty sledgehammer, followed up with a Pedigree on the stairs. Blah. ★¾ WWE Heavyweight Title Match The Rock (c) vs John Cena Similar action to last year but the magic of seeing these two go at it has gone. Both guys put on long headlocks that suck the life out of the already tired crowd. Things pick up once they start trading and teasing their finishers, but even that eventually starts to feel excessive. Cena was the quasi-heel here and his smug and arrogant facials and body language are one of the few highlights of this match. He attempts to do the People's Elbow again, a move that cost him the match last year, but he's able to outthink Rock and stop himself from running into a Rock Bottom again. The result of this never felt in question. How could a match between two of the biggest stars of the 2000s feel so lifeless? ★★¼ Overall: It felt like a slap in the face for them to redo last year's main event. This entire show was a drag with the exception of Punk getting the last great Wrestlemania match out of Undertaker and The Shield looking like the three next stars in the opener. Wrestlemania XXX: "Let The Good Times Roll" WWE World Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership Match Daniel Bryan vs Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon) Triple H's NWA Champion cosplay wrestling style worked wonders for this match, keeping Bryan down with crossfaces and chickenwings in an effort to further damage his bad arm. Bryan bumps like a madman here, that Tiger Suplex spot had me wincing. We are used to seeing the big stars like Undertaker and Shawn Michaels kick out of a Pedigree, but seeing a guy like Bryan getting a second wind felt shocking. After managing to fight out of every attempt of a second Pedigree, Bryan uses his own momentum from countering Triple H's backdrop to perfectly set himself up to nail his big knee to get the win. This was an emotional rollercoaster packed with the physicality of an 90's AJPW match. ★★★★★ Kane & The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) vs The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns & Seth Rollins) The Shield make quick work of their opponents and look like absolute stars in the process. Reigns looked especially charismatic as he cleaned house. After nailing everyone with a spear, the Shield hit their Triple Powerbomb on both Gunn and Dogg at the same time. How on earth did they manage to fuck up Reign's face push within 10 months of this? This was a perfect squash, setting up the Shield for big things. ★★½ 31 Man Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal R-Truth vs Cesaro vs Mark Henry vs Rey Mysterio vs Damien Sandow vs The Big Show vs Tyson Kidd vs Goldust vs Yoshi Tatsu vs Alberto Del Rio vs The Miz vs Fandango vs The Great Khali vs Darren Young vs Dolph Ziggler vs Sheamus vs Zack Ryder vs Drew McIntyre vs Heath Slater vs Sin Cara vs Cody Rhodes vs Kofi Kingston vs Santino Marella vs Brodus Clay vs Xavier Woods vs Jinder Mahal vs Brad Maddox vs David Otunga vs Justin Gabriel vs Big E vs Titus O'Neil One could argue that this was a waste of top-tier talent, but I'd rather have this on the card that have the show bloat over the five hour mark like some of the more recent Wrestlemanias. Kofi gets in his obligatory battle royal stunt and it's a doozy. Fandango prancing around the ring apron, soaking up all the fans singing his theme song got him more over as a midcard act than his entire match with Jericho did last year. Cesaro gets as much of a shine as you can get in a battle royal by upper-cutting fools all over the place. The finish sees Cesaro body-slamming Big Show over the top rope. The crowd came unglued and it was a small, subtle nod to Andre that I appreciated. This was decent, as far as battle royals go. ★★½ John Cena vs Bray Wyatt (w/Erick Rowan & Luke Harper) I could drone on for hours about how Wyatt losing here did severe damage to his momentum, so I'll try and focus on the actual match. Before they even lock-up, Wyatt drops to his knees and offers himself as a sacrifice to Cena. His character work never got too silly, but he wasn't particularly interesting when he's in control. Cena's hammy acting and meathead facial expressions did this no favours, but I love when he recoiled in horror as Wyatt goes into his freaky spider pose as it's exactly the kind of dumb shit that I wanted out of this match. It's around this point in Cena's career where he started to pull off all kinds of new moves to impress the anti-Cena fans and his matches can suffer as he's way too focused about debuting a new move instead of focusing on psychology, selling and stuff of that ilk. They forget about the character stuff so they could trade near falls, before bring it back during the finish. Good, but this was far from great. ★★★ Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) vs The Undertaker Undertaker gets concussed early, so it's up to Lesnar to drag and carry a dazed and confused 49 year old through a 25 minute main event match. Even forgetting about the concussion, the match layout is a mess and some of the Undertaker big match spots are starting to feel stale and cliché now. Lesnar works over Undertaker's leg after brutally thrusting his ankle into a ring post, but it's quickly forgotten about. There's zero heat once they get to the finisher trading segment as it felt as if they were going through motions. Lesnar kicking out of the Tombstone might had been shocking if everyone hadn't already done it during the last five Wrestlemanias. The corner punches to Last Ride spot is beyond old too, as the crowd reacts as soon as Lesnar climbs the ropes. Undertaker botches the Last Ride as he isn't able to lift Lesnar up. Lesnar shocks the world by ending the streak after 3 F5s, sending the fans into a hushed silence. Although Lesnar ending the streak is the most shocking match result in company history, the match itself is slow and sluggish. ★½ WWE Divas Title Vickie Guerrero Invitational Match AJ Lee (c) vs Layla vs Natalya vs Alicia Fox vs Rosa Mendes vs Brie Bella vs Nikki Bella vs Emma vs Tamina vs Aksana vs Naomi vs Cameron vs Summer Rae vs Eva Marie Yeah, I don't envy these women being in this spot. The crowd could not care about this as they are still reeling from the streak ending. Naomi hits a rope-hung slingshot piledriver and it gets no reaction. Natayla attempts a three women Sharpshooter, but is interrupted by a Eva Marie roll-up. After hitting stereo suicide dives, the Bella Twins start fighting each other. AJ Lee is able to retain her title after locking on a Black Window onto Naomi. The effort was clearly here and you could tell every woman here was trying their absolute best to wake the shocked crowd up, but there was too much going on with 14 different wrestlers trying to squeeze all their stuff into a brisk 7 minute match. ★¾ WWE World Heavyweight Title Triple Threat Match Randy Orton (c) vs Daniel Bryan vs Batista Bryan is taken out at the start and the crowd aren't too bothered at seeing just Orton and Batista go at it. Batista and Orton felt more like supporting characters to the Bryan vs Authority storyline, but that's okay as there wasn't one soul in New Orleans who wasn't invested into Bryan getting his moment in the sun. Once Bryan is able to make a comeback, Triple H, Stephanie and the crooked referee all come down to try and rain on Bryan's parade. They are both taken out by an incredible suicide dive spot, but Orton and Batista conspire to work together and they take Bryan out with gnarly looking announce table spot. Every nearfall that didn't involve Bryan winning had the Superdome gripped with anxiety, and the rush of joy when Bryan finally taps out Batista is infectious. This was overbooked and messy in places because of so much going on in and around the ring, but it was worth well in the end. ★★★★¾ Overall: Kicking off with an amazing promo with three of the biggest wrestling stars in the world and book-ended by two of the best Wrestlemania matches of all-time, Wrestlemania XXX might just be the best wrestling show WWE put on during the 2010's. This was Daniel Bryan's night and he put in phenomal perfomances on both of his matches. Sure, the undercard isn't mindblowing and Lesnar vs Undertaker is a poor match despite it's legendary result, but it's not enough for it hurt my enjoyment of this show. 31 - Present Spoiler Wrestlemania 31 WWE Intercontinental Title Seven Way Ladder Match Bad News Barrett (c) vs Daniel Bryan vs R-Truth vs Dolph Ziggler vs Stardust vs Dean Ambrose vs Luke Harper Stardust is so goofy, you can't blame him for leaving. He brings out a special sparkly ladder that's immediately destroyed by Barrett. He ends up taken a superplex from the ladder and it gets one of the biggest pops of the match, rivalled only by Ambrose being powerbombed through the ladder by Luke Harper. Barrett goes on a Bullhammer rampage and is stopped by a flying knee from Bryan, who ends up grabbing the title moments later. This was a fairly unremarkable ladder stunt show when compared to the dozens of similar matches WWE has put on over the last two decades, this was still an exciting way to open the PPV and the last few minutes had some urgency at least. ★★★¼ Randy Orton vs Seth Rollins (w/Jamie Noble & Joey Mercury) They open with an impressive exchange that sees Rollins land a standing backflip before eating a dropkick and Orton nearly lands a RKO early. J&J Security get taken out by a double DDT on the outside, but the distraction is enough for Rollins to hit a suicide dive that sends Orton into the announce table area. Orton looks more motivated that usual, and he even attempts a rare top rope cross body, but is reversed by Rollins. J&J try to get involved again, but they both eat RKOs to take them out for the rest of the match. Rollins uses this interference to land a Curb Stomp for a nearfall. After kicking out of his finisher, Rollins resorts to old tricks and attempts to use his old Asai DDT finish and Phoenix Splash to put Orton away. He misses the Phoenix Splash, but lands on his feet and it leads to an awesome sequence where Orton catches Rollins with a second fatal RKO as he's in the air going for another Curb Stomb. Although it's overshadowed by it's insane finish, this is still a well-worked match that actually shows off what Orton is capable off when he pulls his finger out. ★★★¾ No Disqualification Match Sting vs Triple H Don't expect to see anything too fancy during the first ten minutes. The action is kept simple to accommodate Sting, but the fans are just over the moon to see Sting in a WWE ring. Sting no-selling Triple H's knee smash was a cool spot that I hadn't seen anyone do before. The DX and NWO interference was an enjoyable bit of nostalgia, served to pop the casuals, even if the NWO coming down to help Sting doesn't make a lick of sense to anyone who watched more than a few seconds of WCW Nitro. I loved the visual of Sting breaking the sledgehammer with his bat. Not a good match in a traditional sense, but this was a moreish slice of 90's nostalgia if you can get over WWE insistence on burying WCW at every chance they get. ★★★ AJ Lee & Paige vs The Bella Twins (Brie Bella & Nikki Bella) The Bella Twins get a harsh rap (especially Nikki), but this wasn't one of their better outings. This looked sloppy and the crowd couldn't care one bit about this. AJ is knocked off the ring apron and stays there until it's time for Paige to make the hot tag to her. Paige kicks out to the Rack Attack to little fanfare. This would be the last time that the women would be referred to as Diva's at Wrestlemania. You can't help but think that AJ, who would wrestle her last match the next night, would of been given a much fairer shake if she chose to stick around for a few more years. ★½ WWE United States Title Match Rusev (w/Lana) (c) vs John Cena I used to find this angle tacky and tasteless, but I now find the patriotism so over the top and cheesy that it felt like it's ripped right out of Rocky IV! Rusev's offense looks so unique and he moves around at a lightening quick pace for a bigger guy. We are at peak workrate Cena time and he pulls off a tornado DDT and that gloriously ugly springboard stunner. Lana tries to interfere, but is knocked off the apron after Cena sends Rusev into her. Both guys try to lock in their submissions, but it's an AA that puts Rusev to bed. This was a fun heavyweight sprint that never had the chance to stagnate. ★★★¼ The Undertaker vs Bray Wyatt Undertaker returns after a year of losing at Wrestlemania and he doesn't look great. His hair is cut short and he's put on a lot of weight, but the crowd are happy to see him regardless of his appearance or performance. All his signature spots look good enough on during his shine segment, but the match comes to a screeching halt once Wyatt takes over the match. That spot where Wyatt launches himself into the steel steps knees first was beyond dumb as he barely scrapped Undertaker and could of busted up his knees in the process. Undertaker looked knackered five minutes in, but they felt the need for Wyatt to kick out of the Tombstone. The Wyatt doing his freaky walk pose right into an Undertaker sit-up spot looked good, but Lawler harping on about 'Wrestlemania Moments™' immediately after stopped it from feeling organic. Both men put in poor performances on this night and no-one came out looking good. ★ WWE World Heavyweight Title Match Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) (c) vs Roman Reigns Reigns is one of the few guys who looks like a total boss TAKING a beating. He smirks at Lesnar while getting the shit suplexed out of him. Lesnar gets an F5 early, but is in no rush to pin as he wants to hurt Roman. He doesn't spam the Germans, instead he opts to attack Lesnar with an array of violent knees and clotheslines during the early portion of the match. Brock eats a ring post and bleeds like a pig. He sells his injury well, staggering around the place with a glazed facial expression. Reigns gets in a few hope spots before Lesnar catches him in an F5. Seth Rollins' music hits and he cashes in his MITB briefcase and turns this into a 3 way. I knew Rollins was going to get involved some how, but I didn't expect him to do it while the match was still going on. The ending made Lesnar look strong while losing the belt and opens the door to a future Lesnar vs Reigns match. ★★★★★ Overall: Not enough people rave about this show. It's an consistently brilliant show with a truly underated gem as a main event. The Undertaker match and the Diva's match are the only low points, as was WWE's constant shots at burying the long-dead WCW during the Sting/HHH match. Wrestlemania 32 WWE Intercontinental Title Seven Way Ladder Match Kevin Owens (c) vs. Sami Zayn vs. The Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara vs. Stardust As someone who's been a fan of them since they were tearing it up on the indies, it warmed my heart seeing Zayn and Owens doing the same spots from their PWG ladder classic, only this time they're doing in front of 100,000 people. Starust brings out his own personalized ladder again, only this time it's a tribute to recently departed Dusty Rhodes. Ryder wins by creeping up on Miz as he's about to take the title. Although Zayn and Owens were much more over than him, Ryder winning by taking out the biggest heel was a smart way to stop the fans from turning on another face. The massive crowd are super hot to kick things off and this car crash opener was exactly what they needed to kick off the main show. ★★★¾ Chris Jericho vs. AJ Styles Jericho's heel work was good, even if it touched on comedic and Styles' stuff looked as crisp and smooth as ever. Jericho trying to attempt the Styles Clash was a good way to generate some heel heat. This was work-rate heavy, but it veered on feeling too much like an exhibition. Clocking in at 17 minutes with many finisher kick-offs, they could of trimmed off a minute or two and this would of been much better. This was yet another Jericho match that is good, but ultimately unmemorable in the grand scheme of things. I enjoyed this while it was on, but I struggle to remember much about it hours after seeing it. ★★★ The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) vs. The League Of Nations (Alberto Del Rio, Rusev & Sheamus) (w/King Barrett) This was painfully average and it felt like they were stuck on house show mode. Sheamus, Kofi and Rusev all try and show a bit of fire, but Del Rio looks checked out by this point. Xavier is worked over and he gets one of the coldest tags I've ever seen, you could of heard a cricket fart when he finally makes the tag to Kofi. The ever-forgettable League Of Nations steal a victory after Barrett gives them the assist. Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin and Mick Foley come down afterwards to clean house to the crowd's approval. It's good to see the legends, but this was another example of WWE making their current stars look like complete chumps by having the long-retired main eventers steamroll over them. ★½ No Holds Barred Street Fight Brock Lesnar (w/Paul Heyman) vs. Dean Ambrose This is the infamous match where Brock didn't want to play ball and shot most of Ambrose's ideas down when they were planning out the match. Lesnar looks like he's having the time of his life throwing Ambrose around like he's made of feathers. This was a one-sided beating where Ambrose took 13 suplexes, but Ambrose kept it entertaining by being charismatic as hell as Lesnar beats forty shades of shit out of him. I thought Ambrose attempting to use a chainsaw was way too gimmicky. What was he planning to do if he managed to get the thing working? Would we see the first dismembering in Wrestlemania history? Although it does put a bummer on things know that these guys could put on something so much better than what we got here, the end result was still an entertaining weapons match, even if the result never felt in question. ★★★ WWE Women's Title Triple Threat Match (vakant) Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte (w/Ric Flair) This was heavy on spots, less so on story with the exception of Charlotte getting the win over Becky, which was obviously leaving the door open for a singles program between Sasha and Charlotte. They work in some neat three person sequences and the dives in this are incredible. There's a few botches here and there, but the action is exciting enough that it doesn't ruin the immersion too much. Sasha's over-rotated suicide dive might of looked scary, but it's probably one of the better ones I've seen in WWE for a while. This was the reset the women's division needed at the time and it's probably the best main roster Women's match that WWE had put on by this point. ★★★★ Hell In A Cell Match Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker Shane is back and his punches look even worse than before, but thankfully Undertaker doesn't sell them much and one punch from 'Taker is treated as a bigger deal than one flurry of awful punches from Shane. Undertaker is dominant and hits a Last Ride and a chokeslam onto steel steps early, which Shane kicks out with ease. There's a lot of things that you have accept when watching a wrestling match, but buying in that long retired part-time wrestler Shane getting competitive with someone who's touted as one of the best ever is too much to buy into. Shane's big dive off the top of the cell is impressive and I'm happy that they actually ended this after one Tombstone, which is the first time that has happened in an Undertaker Wrestlemania match since 2008. Not a good match by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a hell of a spectacle if you 're able to turn your mind off for half an hour. ★★ Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal Diamond Dallas Page vs. Tatanka vs. R-Truth vs. Kane vs. Mark Henry vs. Damien Sandow vs. The Big Show vs. Goldust vs. Fandango vs. Konnor vs. Darren Young vs. Heath Slater vs. Jack Swagger vs. Viktor vs. Curtis Axel vs. Bo Dallas vs. Adam Rose vs. Tyler Breeze vs. Shaquille O'Neal vs. Baron Corbin Big Show and Shaquille O'Neal finally go face to face and their stare-off is a licence to print money. The match goes off the cliff once they are both eliminated by everyone still in the match and it's clear as day that they didn't put much thought into the last half of this. DDP gets a big pop during his entrance, but poor Tatanka doesn't even get a full entrance and I didn't notice that he was in the match until halfway through. Corbin eliminates Kane to win the trophy. I would say it's good that they gave an NXT guy a rub, but the Andre Battle Royal meant nothing by this point. ★½ The Rock vs. Erick Rowan (w/Braun Strowman & Bray Wyatt) We are over 3 and a half hours into the main show and they decided to throw out a long segment that led to an impromptu match out there after The Wyatt Family interrupt Rock as he announces the attendance record. Rock takes forever getting to the ring, as he has the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders doing their thing before he makes his entrance and they have him bring out a flamethrower to kill even more time. Rock ripping off his gear to show the Wyatts that he was down to have a match right now got a nice pop, as did Cena making his return by running to the Rock's aid. If they shorten this and put it on earlier during the night, I might have had more tolerance for this. It's shit like this is why I started to dislike Rock after his return. DUD WWE World Heavyweight Title Match Triple H (w/Stephanie McMahon) (c) vs. Roman Reigns Reigns mockingly doing the cross crops shows a man who's charismatic as hell, but the fans aren't buying him. A Stephanie distraction allows Triple H to land a low blow and starts a dull as dishwater control segment. He works over Roman's nose with some lifeless brawling. Reigns scores a spear through a barricade which wakes up the crowd momentarily, but that spot was beyond old at this point as you see it every few weeks. Reigns' comeback is stopped by Trips working over his arm after catching him in a Fujiwara armbar. There are some positives here such as Triple H & Stephanine's hilariously over-the-top entrance, Reigns working his arse off to make this work and the last few minutes were quite exciting. Stephanie is fantastic in her role and her taking a spear was a genuinely shocking pay-off. There was potential for this to be a good main event, but Triple H's ego making all his matches go 25+ minutes and WWE's piss-poor mismanagement of Reigns causing the crowd to violently turn on him created a main event that was severely lacking in atmosphere. ★★¼ Overall: The first Wrestlemania to nearly touch the five hour mark (that's not even including the two hour pre-show) is a test in patience. The first two hours are entertaing enough, but the show goes off a cliff after the excellent Women's match. Five hours is too long for any show to last. This one nearly broke me, lads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted January 28, 2021 Report Share Posted January 28, 2021 The first two stand best as curios of where the company was in terms of transitioning from a regional company to a national one. A lot of trial and error, especially with the 2nd one, as how to really pull a big show off. Hulkamania running wild in NYC with Cyndi Lauper and the Rock & Wrestling era was the birth of the vision. WrestleMania 3 is the realization of it, and also the beginning of Vince wanting to make the company bigger than any one star. The booking of WrestleMania 1 is a bit odd to me in that they didn't have more blow-offs, specifically Santana/Valentine which was a hot feud. I get that they teased it quite a bit in both of their matches, but it's disappointing that one had to open the show and the other had to work the Junkyard Dog in light of the classics they had in that arena. 2 is a bit of a hard watch, mostly for the guest commentators. They rectified this by having Bob Uecker yuck it up during two matches at 3 and 4. And while it comes across okay on video, it's my understanding the live feed was a bit of a clusterfuck, not having mastered the satellite hookup. I can imagine Vince watching Live Aid thinking he could do the same thing but across 3 cities, his ego not anticipating the problems even that show had putting it all together. About the only match with rewatchable quality is the battle royal, something I doubt they could ever pull off again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted January 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 18 hours ago, flyonthewall2983 said: The first two stand best as curios of where the company was in terms of transitioning from a regional company to a national one. A lot of trial and error, especially with the 2nd one, as how to really pull a big show off. Hulkamania running wild in NYC with Cyndi Lauper and the Rock & Wrestling era was the birth of the vision. WrestleMania 3 is the realization of it, and also the beginning of Vince wanting to make the company bigger than any one star. The booking of WrestleMania 1 is a bit odd to me in that they didn't have more blow-offs, specifically Santana/Valentine which was a hot feud. I get that they teased it quite a bit in both of their matches, but it's disappointing that one had to open the show and the other had to work the Junkyard Dog in light of the classics they had in that arena. 2 is a bit of a hard watch, mostly for the guest commentators. They rectified this by having Bob Uecker yuck it up during two matches at 3 and 4. And while it comes across okay on video, it's my understanding the live feed was a bit of a clusterfuck, not having mastered the satellite hookup. I can imagine Vince watching Live Aid thinking he could do the same thing but across 3 cities, his ego not anticipating the problems even that show had putting it all together. About the only match with rewatchable quality is the battle royal, something I doubt they could ever pull off again. Yeah, it's clear that it took them a few years to find their feet. I guess that a Santana/Valentine match might end up overshadowing the marquee matches of 1. Update: That's the first seven 'Manias written up. I've watched and reviewed up to 21, so there's still plenty of work to be done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 They had run Tito vs Hammer I think 6 times at MSG prior to Mania, including a lumberjack match only a few weeks before. It was the right call to go with the fresh match here, even if it turned out to be a dud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted January 29, 2021 Report Share Posted January 29, 2021 23 hours ago, flyonthewall2983 said: I can imagine Vince watching Live Aid thinking he could do the same thing but across 3 cities, his ego not anticipating the problems even that show had putting it all together. I assume he was trying to one up Crockett, who had just done the first dual city Starrcade a few months earlier. Not just with the extra city but by doing a cross-country show in the three most important cities in America instead of just a few hundred miles in the southeast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 I'm sure that played a role too, with a bit of grandstanding by having shows in the three biggest cities in America (well, technically two). The worst thing about the Valentine/Earthquake match from VII is that they cut down on time so they could interview some dude in a suit with silly hair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 Also, there was still a bit of a "save it for the house shows" mentality at the time of the first Mania since it was a total gamble. The show was drawing poorly until Hogan & T's guest spot on Saturday Night Live, IIRC, so i imagine they didn't want to risk major blowoff matches besides the women's title one. Note that the US Express won the tag titles back not long after WM1, and the world title wasn't even on the line! Also re: Race vs. JYD from WM3, Race was higher up on the card at that point so it made sense to give him the win then have the face get his heat back afterward. FYI, Race would go on to a full house-show run vs. Hogan a month or two after WM3 - that year saw quite a few pre-Hulkamania stars going for those juicy paydays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 The first two Manias were all about generating mainstream publicity by loading the shows with celebrities. It's largely forgotten today, but WM3 didn't receive nearly as much media attention as the first two despite doing much bigger business. The Big Event changed the game by proving it was possible to set business records with just basic pro wrestling angles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Strummer Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 Hogan and Mr. T hosting SNL was actually the night before the first Mania. They were a last minute replacement for Steve Landesberg, who became ill earlier in the week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
funkdoc Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 34 minutes ago, Strummer said: Hogan and Mr. T hosting SNL was actually the night before the first Mania. They were a last minute replacement for Steve Landesberg, who became ill earlier in the week Ah, thanks! So before that, but i remember hearing it was still just the week before the show or so that they started really moving tickets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarpetCrawler Posted January 30, 2021 Report Share Posted January 30, 2021 On 1/29/2021 at 10:50 AM, Ricky Jackson said: They had run Tito vs Hammer I think 6 times at MSG prior to Mania, including a lumberjack match only a few weeks before. It was the right call to go with the fresh match here, even if it turned out to be a dud That Lumberjack Match fucking rules, too. They completely have that crowd believing the title change is taking place. Highly recommended. 2 hours ago, funkdoc said: Ah, thanks! So before that, but i remember hearing it was still just the week before the show or so that they started really moving tickets. It was more the weekend of the show. The Richard Belzer incident from a few days before gave them tons of free publicity too. Most all of WrestleMania 1's closed circuit ticket sales came last minute, a large chunk of it Sunday. WrestleMania 1 didn't even do a full sellout of the Garden!! They kinda just assumed it would sell out so they also sold tickets for the Felt Forum. Also yeah the first WrestleMania was mainly about the idea of it being a spectacle and not really a way to settle TV feuds. Don Muraco wasn't even on the show and in exchange he got to headline with Hulk for three straight MSG shows. Not a bad tradeoff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted February 11, 2021 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2021 I've learnt a lot from this thread. Thanks for posting! I have finally written up everything I have seen so far. Even with some of the weaker shows I've had to watch, I'm still enjoying this, but those five plus hour shows are going to test me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robellion Posted February 28, 2021 Report Share Posted February 28, 2021 This thread has made me realise that a lot of the WrestleManias I thoroughly enjoyed at the time were actually pretty meh shows. The hype around WrestleMania and the notion that it's "the Granddaddy of them all!" certainly consumes me when watching live but there's only a select few I could go back to now and come away with the opinion that it still holds up well. When it comes to reviewing the more recent shows, I can't say that I envy you at all to be honest man; while there's some good stuff here and there, the thought alone of having to endure 20+ hours over four shows is enough to drive me insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robellion Posted February 6, 2022 Report Share Posted February 6, 2022 Bumping this thread because I'm still eager to see reviews for WrestleMania 33 onwards! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cactus Posted February 6, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2022 Thanks for the interest, but I really started to regret this project when I got up to the Wrestlemanias from the 2010s. Those shows drag, man. I can't see myself returning to this anytime soon. Maybe one day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robellion Posted February 6, 2022 Report Share Posted February 6, 2022 1 hour ago, cactus said: Thanks for the interest, but I really started to regret this project when I got up to the Wrestlemanias from the 2010s. Those shows drag, man. I can't see myself returning to this anytime soon. Maybe one day... I completely understand. Once you start creeping into 5 and 6 hour long shows, the dedication required is simply too much. Even if you have a 6 hour show full of 5 star matches, it'd still be a lot to handle - unfortunately though none of the WrestleManias that fit into that 5/6/7 hour long category can claim to be barn burners from the top to the bottom of the cards. WrestleMania 1 to 31 are shows that I would be happy to go back and watch, but I can't see myself ever going back and watching WrestleMania 32 onwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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