WRESTLEMANIA X8
The Undertaker vs. Ric Flair
My
friend Jay moved off campus during my sophomore year of college, so I would
drive over to his place every Monday to watch Raw, which mostly consisted of
the Invasion angle involved former WCW and ECW wrestlers banding together as
the Alliance to take over the WWF. However, WrestleMania fell over spring
break, and while I headed home, the dudes I watched wrestling with in high
school were scattered to the winds on trips and having different weeks off, so
I seem to recall watching this one solo in my basement, a far cry from two or
three years earlier.
It’s
an uneven show, with some great matches and memorable moments, but a general
sense of letdown, I think. I believe most people agree the Invasion angle
should have been extended and paced to end here—it began in July of 2001, so
that would have been roughly eight months—but they ran through it faster than
the bulk of fans were hoping and blew it off at Survivor Series instead,
leaving the company somewhat directionless and coasting on stuff like Ric Flair
battling Vince McMahon for control, a-year-too-late nWo invasion, and Chris
Jericho unifying the WWF and World titles. We all knew coming out of
WrestleMania they were splitting the roster into two brands—Raw and
Smackdown—so it all felt a bit anticlimactic.
That
said, while the main event of Jericho defending his Undisputed title against
Triple H fell a little flat and Steve Austin taking on Scott Hall felt like an
afterthought, this was the show where Hulk Hogan made his WWF return after
nearly a decade away and faced off against The Rock in a match that hearkened
back to the larger-than-life WrestleMania moment of the early days (the crowd
response and how both men played it may never be duplicated). There were also
several good matches that tend to slip under the radar like Kurt Angle vs.
Kane, Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal for the IC title, Diamond Dallas Page
defending the European title against Christian, and the Women’s title three-way
with Jazz, Trish Stratus and Lita.
Once
again, though, my pick goes to the Undertaker, who took on Flair in a bloody
brawl that showed both guys still more than had it. The build was great, as
Flair was trying to be an executive but Undertaker goaded him into a match by
attacking his friends and family; classic, but for a reason. Thought beyond
past his prime in WCW a year earlier, Flair dusted off his work boots here as
he had against McMahon two months earlier at the Royal Rumble and looked better
than he had since 1994, masking what he had lost with age by utilizing his
second-to-none abilities as a storyteller. Taker, despite being a monster, sold
Flair’s offense perfectly, making the “Nature Boy” look like a legitimate
threat, but still keeping himself strong enough to serve as the big bully. It
was a great dynamic and two legends clashing for the first and only time on a
huge stage.
WRESTLEMANIA XIX
Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho
In
2003, WrestleMania fell not during spring break, so me and my best bud Jordan
took the five minute drive over to Jay’s place to enjoy the show (another of
our friends, Erin, decided to tag along last second, but she mostly did
homework and occasionally asked us who somebody was). The combination of Jay,
who I watched weekly with, and Jordan, who was not quite as into WWE but super
enthusiastic about it nonetheless (and who had gone to the Royal Rumble with me
live two months before)—plus a girl who knew nothing about what we were
watching but freaked out when somebody did a high flying move or got busted
open—made for one of my all-time favorite groupings to watch WrestleMania with.
Fittingly,
this was a tremendous show, one I would have up until recently called the most
underrated of all-time, but as the sage gents on the Place2BePodcast have
pointed out more than once, at this point so many people have recognized that
fact that it’s more universally appreciated.
Matt
Hardy in his great heel Cruiserweight champion role kicked things off against
Rey Mysterio, who had dope ring gear based on my beloved Daredevil movie. Trish
Stratus and Jazz put on their second straight awesome Women’s title triple
threat, this time with Victoria stepping in for Lita. Triple H beat Booker T to
retain the World title in a match that drove us crazy hoping Booker would win. Hulk
Hogan and Vince McMahon pulled out all the gimmicks for a street
fight—including Roddy friggin’ Piper, returning after seven years away. Steve
Austin had his final match, capping off a classic WrestleMania trilogy with the
Rock where he finally ended up on the losing end. And in the main event, Kurt
Angle, neck being held together by crazy glue, coughed up the WWE title to
Brock Lesnar, who nearly killed himself on a botched shooting star press during
a 20-minute wrestling clinic we were freaking out for all the way through.
For
me though, the highlight of the night was my all-time favorite wrestler, Shawn
Michaels, who seemingly ended his career five years prior at the show I saw
live in Boston, making his return to the big stage to go up against a guy who
had in part supplanted him in my eyes, Chris Jericho. It was the longest match
on the card, with HBK clearly determined to show he was truly back, and Y2J
equally motivated to prove he could hand with his idol. Every near fall had me
jumping out of my seat (on the floor) as I truly didn’t know who was going to
win, but rooting hard for Michaels, my Jericho fandom out the window. Not only
did all of Shawn’s classic moves look crisp as ever, Jericho’s approximations
of them (his own superkick, his own kip-up) were great touches. In the end, after
throwing out everything he had, HBK pulled it off and I cheered…then cheered
again when a frustrated Jericho kicked him low after faking a good
sportsmanship hug. I’ve watched this one time and time again and it still holds
up big time.
WRESTLEMANIA XX
Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris
Benoit for the World title
I
was supposed to go on a cruise with my friends Jordan, Liz and Maggie during
the spring break of our senior year, but I got sick and had to stay home.
Silver lining: got to watch WrestleMania XX live with my dad—well, he came and
went, but still, first wrestling PPV I watched with my dad in nearly 15 years,
so, pretty cool.
WrestleMania
XX is the successor to WrestleMania X in so many ways. Once again, it emanates
from Madison Square Garden so it goes without saying that the crowd is
fantastic. Also, like X was highlighted by a couple of classics, this show had
an excellent Eddie Guerrero WWE title defense against Kurt Angle plus an
underrated Chris Jericho vs. Christian contest…and then a lot of filler. XX
does have the advantage of its less than great matches being better for other
reasons: Undertaker vs. Kane had Taker’s return to the Deadman character, Brock
Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg getting booed nearly out of the building because both
guys were leaving WWE. The Evolution team of Ric Flair, Randy Orton and Batista
had a fun handicap match against The Rock and Mick Foley, plus Victoria and
Molly Holly put on a solid Women’s title encounter, then there were a lot of
“get everybody on the card” deals like the Cruiserweight Open and two separate
Tag Team title four-ways. Ultimately, against like WrestleMania X, I feel like
this show suffers from having to live up to being an anniversary.
I’ll
be honest; I struggled with my favorite match here. I was tempted to go with
Jericho-Christian as a sentimental pick or Guerrero-Angle as a great match, but
truth be told, I was rabid for the main event: a triple threat with Triple H
defending the World title against Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit. I hesitated
because I’m not a person who can separate Benoit the performer from what he did
and I could never watch this match again, but there’s no denying how good it
was. I’m the biggest Michaels fan you’ll find, and I was actively rooting
against him, wanting Benoit to pick up the win here, and I’ve heard many HBK
and HHH devotees alike echo similar sentiments, it’s just that well-built as a
story. That image that closed the show of Guerrero and Benoit—two guys who
could not match the classic “WrestleMania image” less, but who fans
loved—embracing and holding the top two titles in wrestling was incredible, and
it’s sad that WWE can never trot it out again.
WRESTLEMANIA 21
Money in the Bank
At
this point in 2005, I had graduated college and was living in the tiny burg of
Highland Falls, New York, five minutes away from West Point and nothing else. I
had a tiny apartment where everything broke constantly and ordered WrestleMania
to watch solo on my futon with my feet up on my makeshift coffee table and
pasta boiling on my tiny stove; it was the portrait of a man chasing the dream.
Even
though it was a decent show, I had trouble paying attention, as there was
nobody else to share the experience with and too many distractions on my
computer and elsewhere to divert my focus. I do distinctly remember the
“WrestleMania Goes Hollywood” theme of the show, which yielded a cool set and a
lot of neat vignettes with wrestlers spoofing different movies (Eddie Guerrero
and Booker T in Pulp Fiction, Kurt Angle and Christy Hemme in When Harry Met
Sally, and the Basic Instinct and Tax Driver mash-ups being the best; the John
Cena/JBL A Few Good Men one was pretty weak).
Rey
Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero kicked off the show with a decent match that
crumbled a bit under the weight of their WCW encounters from years earlier. The
Undertaker beat Randy Orton in the first actual “beat the streak” deal. Kurt
Angle and Shawn Michaels had an unsurprising classic. The double main event
with John Cena and Batista beating JBL and Triple H for the WWE and World
titles were underwhelming as it felt like both were going for Ultimate Warrior
at WrestleMania VI moments and neither could quite live up.
WrestleMania
21—besides pissing me off with lack of Roman numerals—marked the advent of the
Money in the Bank Ladder match, a six-way chase for a briefcase containing a
contract the winner could cash in for a title shot for up to a year. In his
second book, Chris Jericho details how he and a member of the WWE creative
whose name I’m failing to recall came up with the idea of a multi-man ladder
match in hopes it would become a WrestleMania fixture (which it did until it
got its own pay-per-view in 2010). The inaugural installment was the perfect
mix of ladder match veterans—Edge, Christian, Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit—a
show-stealing rookie—Shelton Benjamin—and a big dude to catch the little
guys—Kane. Edge became the first-ever Mr. Money in the Bank and history was
made.
WRESTLEMANIA 22
I
have never seen WrestleMania 22; it’s the only one. If I recall correctly, I
was headed back from visiting Megan at Connecticut College to my friend Jamie’s
house in New Jersey, got caught in traffic, and missed the show. In the seven
intervening years, I’ve never watched it.
Anybody
got a copy?
WRESTLEMANIA 23
Batista vs. The Undertaker for the World
title
2007
was my first full year living with Megan, and thus the end of my “I’m bored so
I’ll order a wrestling pay-per-view tonight” days. Now shows really had to sell
me, and this one did not, though I was in the minority as I believe it still
stands as the most watched WrestleMania of all-time. I personally watched it
for the first time just a couple weeks ago on WWE Classics OnDemand.
Most
of the aforementioned interest came from the “Battle of the Billionaires” where
Vince McMahon and Donald Trump put their hair on the line, pitting proxies
Umaga and Bobby Lashley against one another with Steve Austin as the special
referee; it’s not a bad match, but more memorable for Vince’s entertaining
histrionics. There’s also a decent Money in the Bank match, a nice moment with
the ECW Originals getting a WrestleMania win, and John Cena defending the WWE
title against Shawn Michaels in a match where I was rooting for HBK to get the
championship six years after knowing it didn’t happen.
That
Cena-Michaels match got to go on last, and reportedly Undertaker and World
champion Batista were not pleased they got bumped to the middle of the card.
Accordingly, the two heavyweights went out and beat the star out of one
another, determined to steal the show. It’s the polished up version of
Undertaker-Diesel from a decade earlier, with a Taker who has gotten way more
versatile and an opponent equipped to hang with him. They work an athletic
power style with plenty of believable false finishes and an earned ending.
These guys clicked nicely and would go on to have many more excellent
encounters.
WRESTLEMANIA XXIV
Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels
This
was the first time I indulged in WWE OnDemand’s putting the previous year’s
WrestleMania up in the week leading to the upcoming one, watching this in 2009,
12 months after it went down. It would be the first one I watched in the
comfort of my Saddle Brook, New Jersey apartment, and over the course of
several days with the ability to pause, rewind, etc.
I
had been greatly anticipating this show as it kicked off what would be an
awesome middle of 2008 that saw CM Punk’s rise to prominence—he wins Money in
the Bank here—Edge reaching new levels as a heel—he loses the World title to
Undertaker on this show—and even the ECW brand started to become a cool mix of
veterans with up-and-comers—Kane takes the ECW title off Chavo Guerrero in
eight seconds. There’s also an overlooked little power gem with Batista beating
Umaga, Randy Orton upsetting Triple H and John Cena to hold on to the WWE
title, and boxer Floyd Mayweather in a little sideshow with The Big Show.
But
all the best stuff from 2008 kicks off from one incredible, emotional,
brilliant tale of a match as Ric Flair put his career on the line against Shawn
Michaels. For 25 minutes, HBK faced his childhood hero, giving it his all so
the Nature Boy had the opportunity to go out on his terms with one last
classic. Flair may have been a step or two off pace, but the emotion he poured
in more than made up for any physical lag. Everybody who’s seen it will never
forget the final moments: Flair staggers to his feet, daring his opponent to
finish it, Shawn mouths “I’m sorry, I love you,” then a superkick seals the
deal. The next night, Ric Flair got a hero’s sendoff on Raw. Over the coming
months, Michaels would enter into a great feud with Flair protégé Batista. From
there, it branched into a quintessential war between Michaels and Chris
Jericho. A banner year and it all began here.
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