Wrestlemania XXVI (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXVI (26)

 

Date: March 28th, 2010

City: Glendale, Arizona

Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium

Combined Attendance: 72,219

Sub-Theme: “Get All Fired Up”

Celebrities: Fantasia Barino

For the first time ever Wrestlemania culminates from the desert! Yes, Wrestlemania is taking place in Arizona. The land of the massive mountains, cacti and ranches will be the home of the greatest sports entertainment show of the year. Wrestlemania 26, produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment.

This would be the first Wrestlemania since 2005 where it would be a two brand presentation, as ECW is officially no more. The road to Wrestlemania actually started almost 1 year before; as Edge and Chris Jericho were an established tag team and they won the unified tag team championships at “The Bash” ppv. However, due to an injury received by Edge, the partnership died. During Edge’s absence, Jericho would make references about Edge and his injury, claiming he was the weaker force in the team. However, fast forward to the Royal Rumble 2010, we would see the return of the Rated R Superstar (Edge). And not only did he get a piece of Chris Jericho that night, he also won the Royal Rumble. Edge would earn a title shot at Wrestlemania against either the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Edge would chose Chris Jericho and the showdown will take place at Wrestlemania.

John Cena would defeat Shemus at the 2010 Elimination Chamber PPV, to win the WWE Championship in the chamber. However, shades of the 2005 New Years Revolution peered up when Vince McMahon would announce that Cenas night would not be over, and he would have to put the WWE Championship on the line and face Batista….NOW! Cena after going through a grueling 20 min+ battle of torture in the chamber, had nothing else left in the tank, and Batista would capture the WWE title from John Cena that night. John Cena would exercise his rematch clause and have it set for Wrestlemania 26. Cena vs Batista for the WWE Championship.

Wrestlemania 26 would start out with Fantasia Barrino singing American The Beautiful. Wrestlemania would start out hot with a victory by Show Miz over R-Truth and Morrison to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles.

We would then go on to the 6th annual Money In the Bank Match between Jack Swagger, Christian, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourn, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin and MVP, making this (up to that time) the largest MITB match in history. Some of the spots were undeniably impressive and all 10 men gave up a thrilling contest. Even Kofi had a creative spot by turning two ladders into stilts. But in the end it would be Jack Swagger to grab the briefcase and be declared the winner.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night was 13 years in the making. We would see the wrestlemania return of “Bret The Hitman” Hart facing Vince McMahon. 13 years ago, we all experience the Montreal Screw job at the 1997 Survivor Series; between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship. After it, Bret left to work for WCW. Bret was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and made a mini return to the WWE at the beginning of 2010; being the guest host of Raw. While back in the WWE, Bret made amends with Shawn Michaels, and their 20 year rivalry was officially dead. However, one chapter still wasn’t closed and that was the tension between Bret and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Vince wasn’t fully ready to make amends yet, instead wanted more. Vince would involve Bret in some screwball attacks to make a point to Bret as far as “who runs the show”. Being fed up with the antics, Bret would challenge Vince to a match at Wrestlemania and Vince would accept. At the match, Vince shooting for his “Wrestlemania Moment” would announce that he bought out the entire Hart family. And out with Vince came out Bruce, Keith, Diana, the Hart Dynasty and other members of the Hart family. However, the joke was on Vince as the Hart family turned on him. Bret viciously took Vince out and placed him in the sharpshooter to tap out.

 

The World Heavyweight Championship would be on the line as Edge challenged Chris Jericho for the title. Back n forth match as each man tried to get the better of each other only to be countered every time. The match ended when Jericho hit Edge with the championship belt and a Code breaker to win and retain his title.

The WWE Championship would be on the line as John Cena would challenge the champion, Batista. Batista dominated the first half of the match. Cena made a return after hitting a suplex. The match started to go evenly after that. One spot included Cena hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle off the top of the turnbuckle. The match came to an end after Cena reversed a Batista Bomb into an STF. Batista eventually tapped out. Cena won the match and the WWE Championship, making him a nine-time World champion. The Next night on Raw, Batista would announce his “Retirement”.

 

Undertaker Note

The Final match of the night would be Streak vs Career. In a very anticipated rematch from last year’s wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels would once again face The Undertaker. If Wrestlemania 26 was a night that focused on closure, then this match would be no exception. The rivalry between these two men date back to 1997 when Shawn Michaels “screwed over” The Undertaker, as he lost the WWF Championship to Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1997. These two would go on to having the first Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 97. Shawn was a beaten, battered and bloodied mess, but overcame the Dead Man and won the match. Here we are 13 years later on the grandest stage. If Shawn loses, he will walk away from the business. This match meant more to Shawn than a title, this was his life. The match started hard early on with both men exchanging a fury of offense on each other. The match, Taker attempted to do “Old School” on Shawn, but was unsuccessful and injured his leg in the process. Shawn made it a point to go after the leg and put concentration on the area. Without the legs, Taker would be useless. But that didn’t stop him, even with Shawn hitting Taker with SCM, Taker wouldn’t die. Taker would give his own offensive retribution on Shawn as he delivered the choke slam and the last ride. But still unsuccessful to put HBK away. Shawn decided to switch his game up to a more ground base game of various submission holds; delivering the Ankle Lock, Figure Four leg lock and crossfire to Taker. Anything he could piece together to rid his worries of the Dead Man. After being unsuccessful with those Taker went for Hell Gate, but Shawn would counter that move as well. Taker would attempt the last ride through the announcers table, but Shawn would counter that. This really was an example of how much this match really meant to both men! Shawn hits SCM 3 times on Taker, but still nothing. Taker gives Shawn the 2nd Tombstone, nada! WHAT A MATCH!!!! But Shawn had very little left and that last kick out may’ve been his last effort. Taker would give us the “cut to the throat” and deliver a 3rd Tombstone piledriver to Shawn Michaels and pin him 1,2,3 and ending the greatest career in the history of Professional Wrestling. Shawn Michaels career was over. The Greatest of All Time, has left the building…for good.

 

The Undertaker is now 18-0 at Wrestlemania.

Match Card

Dark-  Yoshi Tatsu won by last eliminating Zack Ryder in a 26 man Battle Royal

PPV

– ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) (c) defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship.

– Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in a Triple Threat Match.

– Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Matt Hardy, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Montel Vontavious Porter and Evan Bourne in the Money In the Bank Ladder Match.

– Triple H defeated Sheamus

– Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (with Luke Gallows and Serena). If Rey had won, then he would have had to haved joined the Straight Edge Society.

– Bret Hart defeated Mr. McMahon via Submission in the Sharpshiooter in a No Holds Barred Lumberjack Match.

– Chris Jericho (c) defeated Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

– John Cena defeated Batista (c) via submission to win the WWE Championship

– The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels in a Streak vs Career Match.

Wrestlemania XIII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 13

 

Date: March 23^rd 1997

City: Rosemont, IL (Outside of Chicago)

Venue: The Rosemont Horizon

Combined Attendance: 18,197

Sub-Theme: HEAT!

Celebrities: Ken Shamrock

Wrestlemania 13 was back in the windy city after an 11 year absence (since Wrestlemania 2). This wrestlemania was continuing the reconstruction of a new World Wrestling Federation.  1997 was the slow cooker that was making the WWF edgier and edgier, little by little. Due to the response that World Champion Wrestling was receiving from the viewing audience, the WWF had no choice but to go in a more mature direction, if they wanted to compete. Though, they weren’t fully there, the WWF at this time was a contrast to what it once was just two years prior with the very safe and family friendly Wrestlemania 11.

The backdrop of this wrestlemania was a pure scramble. The original plans was for this Mania to hold the rematch between Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs Shawn Michaels for the World Wrestling Federation championship, but this time it would be Michaels going in as the champion. Rumor has it that Bret was supposed to win the title back at Mania, but Shawn was very difficult about complying with this booking. As a result of an “injury” Shawn had to relinquish the title in Feb of 1997 and he went home to “find his smile”. Due to this, the World Wrestling Federation Championship was vacant and at In Your House 13, we would see a “Final Four” match between Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Vader and Stone Cold Steve Austin. The way to get eliminated was either by pin fall, submission or being thrown over the top rope and hitting the floor. These four men where chosen due to being the final four men in the controversial ending of the 1997 Royal Rumble in which Steve Austin won. Bret went on to win the WWF Title at the final four to be a 4 time champion. But the next night he would be challenged by Psycho Sid, on Raw. Due to Austin’s interference, Hart lost the title to Sid making him a 2 time World Champion. All this did was ignite the fire between Hart and Austin, which has been a continuing feud since the 1996 Survivor Series. This would lead to one of the matches at the double main event at Wrestlemania. Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs Stone Cold Steve Austin in a submission match, with UFC’s Ken shamrock being the special referee.

Wrestlemania 13 was an above standard card. This would be The Rock’s first wrestlemania (wrestling as Rocky Maivia) against The Sultan for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The Rock pins the sultan for the 1-2-3 victory and shared the moment with his father, Rocky Johnson.

The WWF Tag Team titles were defended as The King of Harts Owen Hart and The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith put the belts on the line against Mankind and Vader. The match ended up being a draw as Mankind held onto the Mandible Claw on Davey Boy outside the ring and both men were counted out.

The First main event was the No DQ submission Match between Hart and Austin. From the second the bell rung, this match was nonstop insanity. Watching this match live was just as intense for the viewer as it was for the combatants. You were witnessing two ring generals giving you a story that some of the top NY Time Best Selling Authors could never even fathom giving you. It was the greatest display of technical violence that could be seen at this time. What was interesting was that going into this, Bret was supposed to be a face and Austin the heel, but the Chicago crowd felt otherwise. With a rise in respect in the character of Stone Cold, you couldn’t help but back this man. Austin was the new flavor and everyone wanted a bite. Bret’s weeks of crying about getting “screwed” made him into old news with the crowd, thus the reason why 90% of this audience was pro-Austin.

After a toss into the steel barricades, Austin was a bloody mess, but that didn’t stop him, putting the boots to Bret as both of Bret’s parents (Stu and Helen Hart) watch from ringside. Just when it seemed as if Austin has the # of the Hitman and was going to choke him out with cable wires, Bret countered this, with clubbing Austin over the head with a steel ring bell. This went into Bret clamping the Sharpshooter onto Austin in the middle of the ring…it was only a matter of time. Bret continues to apply Pressure onto Austin with the hold, and with Ken Shamrock pleading with Austin for an answer if he gives up, Austin continues to fight the hold. With his back in pain and copious amounts of blood streaming down his face, Austin gives all that he could, but living up to his promise that he would never say the words “I Quit”, Austin passes out from excessive blood loss and no longer can continue the match. Ken Shamrock declares Hart victorious. Hart is declared the winner, but still attacks Austin until Shamrocks belly to back suplexes Bret away from the wounded warrior. Bret leaves ringside with a shower of expletives from the audience. Eventually Austin recovers, but refuses medical attention and just walks to the back on his own. With the combination of that and this match, the audience witnesses and comes to the conclusion that Austin would rather die than to say those dreadful words. Respect. Earned. Forever.

Undertaker Note

The 2^nd Main Event was for the World Wrestling Federation Championship as Sycho Sid would defend the title vs The Undertaker. The Undertaker was the final man to be eliminated in the Final Four Match, by Bret Hart. And Since Bret lost his automatic rematch to Sid; Taker would be the #1 contender. The championship match was also a no DQ match. Shawn Michaels provided guest commentary for the match. The match was a back and forth competition of strength and size between the two big men. During the match Hart came back down to ringside to have a verbal confrontation with Shawn and had some words for Taker as well. Sid took it upon himself to power bomb Hart. The match went on between the two giants. Taker’s “Old School” was blocked; Sid bear hugged the dead man, put on the camel clutch and attacked him with TV monitors. But Taker just wouldn’t quit, even at the edge of giving everything that he has. Later in the match, Hart returns to retaliate against Sid with a steel chair. After additional distractions from Hart, Taker takes advantage of the situation and catches Sid in the tombstone pile driver and pins Sid for the 1-2-3 and wins the World Wrestling Federation Championship for the 2^nd time. Undertaker is now 6-0 at wrestlemania

On a personal note, this was my FIRST wrestlemania that I attended live, going with a few of my HS buddies. I was elated that the Undertaker won the world title, but what stood out to me was the submission match. I was (and still am) a major Bret Hart fan. And I was refusing to cheer against Hart during the match, even though I was the minority in being in a sea of people who were pro-Austin. But if you were a fan of the pink and black or not, you couldn’t help but have a ton of respect for Austin after you saw what he went through in his match with Bret. I was able to find compromise and a solid median that I could and would respect and appreciate both men. But I know from that day forward, Stone Cold Steve Austin would forever change the game.

Match Card

Free For All- Billy Gunn defeated Flash Funk (with Tracy and Nadine)

–The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw), The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) (with Hillbilly Jim), and Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon.^[

^–Rocky Maivia (c) defeated The Sultan (with Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik) and retains the WWF Intercontinetnal Championship

–Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with Chyna) defeated Goldust (with Marlena)

–Owen Hart and The British Bulldog (c) fought Mankind and Vader (with Paul Bearer) to a double countout; As a result, Owen and Bulldog retain the Tag Team Titles.

–Bret Hart defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin

–The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and Ahmed Johnson defeated The Nation of Domination (Crush, Faarooq and Savio Vega) (with Wolfie D, J.C. Ice, D’Lo Brown, and Clarence Mason) in a Chicago Street Fight.

–The Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid (c). To win the World Wrestling Federation Championship

Wrestlemania XII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 12

 
Date: March 31st, 1996
City: Anaheim, California
Venue: Arrowhead Pond
Combined Attendance: 18,853
Sub-Theme: n/a
Celebrities:  n/a
 
Wrestlemania 12 was back in California and looking to be the rebound Wrestlemania. The Main event was announced on an episode of Monday Night Raw, that for the World Wrestling Federation Championship; Bret “The Hitman” Hart would defend the title against “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels in an 1 hour Iron Man match. The winner of the match would be the man with the most decisions over a 60 min period. Shawn won the 1996 Royal Rumble in January (first back to back winner since Hulk Hogan in 1990 and 1991) and earned the spot to wrestle the champion at wrestlemania. Bret and Shawn have had history in the past, main eventing two Survivor Series PPV’s (1992 and 1993) and also being the first to introduce the ladder match to the WWF. For those who are familiar with their past, this was a fantastic match to look forward to. Especially considering the fact that the WWF never did an iron match before. This was more prevalent in the NWA and WCW.
 
The show was an overall hit and a blatant rebound from the previous year. This Wrestlemania would be Steve Austin’s wrestlemania debut. He wrestled Savio Vega in a grudge match with Austin winning.
 
The Ultimate Warrior made his in ring return to the WWF to wrestle Hunter Hurst Helmsley. The last time the Warrior was in the WWF was in Oct 1992. When he was announced that he would be making his return, it just added to the already beefed up card. Warrior Returned with the full head of steam that we are so used to seeing him have, with a bit more of a modern look to him. He defeated Hunter in about a min and a half, in typical Warrior way.
 
Undertaker Note: The Undertaker faced Big Daddy Cool Diesel in a one on one match. Physical match of the battle of the big men; but Taker was just too much for Diesel as he defeated him with the Tombstone piledriver. This would be Diesel’s last Wrestlemania for the next 6 years. Undertaker is now 5-0 at wrestlemania.

 

 
Goldust and Rowdy Roddy Piper fought in what was called a Hollywood back lot brawl. They started their match, earlier in the evening, in the “back lot” of the Arrowhead Pond, in what looked to be a shoot fight. Both men gave each other potatoes and receipts, as there seemed to be legit blood. Goldust took off in his Gold Cadillac and Piper followed and chased him in his White Bronco. The WWF production did a parody of the OJ Simpson police chase, due to this. Later in the evening after the Undertaker match, both men “made it back” to the arena and finished the match in the ring, with Piper being victorious.
 
It was now time for the main event. The 1 hour Iron Man Match. Both men went back to their home towns to train for this match. We’ve seen weeks and weeks of footage of Shawn training at Jose Lothario’s gym and Bret Training with his father Stu Hart in the dungeon and in Calgary in general. Shawn entered the match in an overtop elaborate way of entering the ring, from doing a zip line from the very top of the Arrow Head pond and slid down all the way to ringside. Very impressive. Bret had the traditional entrance to the ring. The match build was so intense for this match, that even the mere going over the rule of the match, heightened the anticipation. Two year prior, both of these men stole the show in their matches at Wrestlemania 10 and here we are, 12 years later in what is to be looked upon as an epic. Let the classic begin.

 
As soon as the bell rang, the crowd sits down, to enjoy this story that was going to be told to them for the next hour. Bret and Shawn went at each other, and we see a more technical side to Shawn Michaels, that we’ve never seen before. We’re used to Shawn being more so in attack mode, but due to his endurance needing to be taken into consideration, he ground based his offense considerably. Bret on the other hand was a countering master. Not letting Shawn’s unseen style get the best of him, Bret made sure to capitalize on all any and all counters that he could onto Shawn, to make sure that Bret had very close holds on him. For the most part, that is what the match was, very close very tight between the two. They did a great job in breaking up the monotony and not making the match dull at all. There were parts in the match where we saw an immediate burst of energy. Shawn unexpectedly hits Bret with a flying cross body block to the outside of the ring. Shawn meaning to superkick Bret, accidently superkicks the time keeper at ringside, due to Bret ducking and moving. The match had many surprises from both men and kept the match going. At the final minutes of the film, we see Shawn getting a new surge of energy in him, after being dominated by the champ for a while; however, the score is still 0-0. Shawn goes for his patent moves for fly elbow off the ropes and flying elbow drops off from the top turnbuckles. We were seeing the Shawn Michaels that we are all familiar with, until the closing minute, Bret, counters one of Shawn’s offenses and turns the counters into the Sharpshooter. Bret locked the sharpshooter on perfectly and Shawn was left there screaming in pain. The clock continued to clock down until the final seconds and then the buzzer sounded. 60 min have past and the match was over with a tied score of 0-0. Bret “The Hitman” Hart was still the champion and leaves the ring. However, Interim President Gorilla Monsoon comes to ringside and orders that the match to continue and for it to be sudden death overtime. Bret was besides himself as he couldn’t understand as to why this was the decision, since the original rules were “60 Min Match”. Bret voiced his disagreement with the ref, but with no choice, the bell rang and Bret went back after Shawn. This was not the Bret that we saw for the last hour, but a more aggressive unorthodox Bret, who was attacking Michaels lower back with punches and with back body drops. When Bret went to throw Shawn into the turnbuckle; Shawn leaped over Bret when Bret came in to run in for the offense, but when Bret turned around POW, Shawn hits Bret with the superkick. But not thinking it was enough, Shawn prepares for a more set and on the money superkick, measures him and hits Bret Hart spot on.

 Shawn goes for the cover; and for the first time ever, Shawn Michaels defeats Bret Hart and wins his first World Wrestling Federation Championship.
 

 
Personally, I thought this wrestlemania was great to watch and went back to being a epic level event. It felt like a mega event again, unlike the year before. I was not a Shawn Michaels fan, I was (and still am) a mega Bret Hart fan, and I was convinced that Bret would win the match and retain the title, since he beat Shawn before, but that wasn’t the fact though. For the rest of the year, I had to watch my WWF weekly programs without one of my wrestling heroes on the show, and I despised the companies champion, since he was the sole reason why Bret was no longer on the show. But as I got older, I learned to appreciate the match and I can see how and why it is regarded as the best match in the company history. 
 
 
Match Card
 
– The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip) (with Sunny) defeated The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) (with Hillbilly Jim) to win the vacant WWF Tag Team Championships (Finals of Tournament)
 
– Camp Cornette (Vader, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog) (with Jim Cornette) defeated Yokozuna, Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson (with Mr. Fuji)
 
-Steve Austin (with Ted DiBiase) defeated Savio Vega
 
-The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with Sable)
 
– Roddy Piper defeated Goldust (with Marlena)
 
– Shawn Michaels (with Jose Lothario) defeated Bret Hart (c) 1-0 to win the 1 hour Iron Man Match to win the World Wrestling Federation Championship.
 
 
 
 

Wrestlemania XI (Written by: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 11

 

Date: April 2nd 1995

City: Hartford, Connecticut

Venue: Hartford Civic Center

Combined Attendance: 16,305

Sub-Theme: ????

Celebrities: Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Nick Tutouro, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Salt N Pepa, Lawrence Taylor and a bunch of NFL players (Ken Norton Jr., Chris Spielman, Rickey Jackson, Carl Banks, Reggie White and Steve “Mongo” McMichael)

 

Personally, two of my favorite matches on the card, involved the Hart Brothers. One match was for the WWF Tag Team Championship, Owen Hart and Yokozuna vs The Smoking Gunns (champions). Owen and Yoko defeated the Gunns and won the Tag Team titles (the only title to change hands at Mania). The 2nd match would be Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs Bob Backlund. This was one of their final encounters as they have essentially been having a 5 month feud, going back to their first mach on WWF Superstars Oct 1994. This was the match were Bob “snapped” on Bret after Bret defeated him. The next month the two had a rematch for the WWF Championship at the 1994 Survivor Series and Bob defeated Bret to win the championship (and lost it to Diesel 2 days later). But this would be the proverbial rubber match and this time it would be an “I Quit” match. Rowdy Roddy Piper is the special guest Ref for the match. Solid technical match in which Bret ended up winning.

 

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker made his wrestlemania return at this ppv and went against King Kong Bundy. Bundy threatened to pin the Undertaker for the 5 count, due to him not believing that Take could survive the avalanche splash. But it wouldn’t be enough to put the dead man away. The Undertaker defeated King Kong Bundy. Undertaker is 4-0 at wrestlemania.

 

 The WWF Championship match saw challenger Shawn Michaels (due to winning the 1995 Royal Rumble) face off against this former best friend Diesel (champion). Originally Pamela Anderson was supposed o escort Shawn down to ringside, but Shawn “fired” her for those responsibilities and instead Jenny McCarthy (to her credit looked like she was having the time of her life and just having a ton of fun) escorted him to ringside along with his bodyguard Sid. But when Diesel came out, he wasn’t alone, he had the blonde bombshell herself under his arms, Pamela Anderson (to much chagrin looked like she couldn’t care less and was just waiting to get paid and get the hell outta there) . Good match, Michaels relied on quickness and agility to get the advantage in this, and Diesel attempted to slow him down with pure strength. Shawn was close to winning then gold when he hit Diesel with the super kick, but Sid had the ref tied up, and for this reason, Diesel took advantage, went for the jackknife power bomb and covered him for the victory, to retain the WWF Championship.

 

The headlining main event was Lawrence Taylor vs Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow was a pure veteran of the WWF, so he was the most trusted and reliable man to be able to carry this match and work with Taylor. Taylor went for some stiff shots on Bigelow and looked pretty impressive in the match. Taylor has a very strong and measurable size, so he match well with Bam Bam (physically). Back n forth match it was and Bigelow went for his flying head butt from the top rope. However he was unable to pin the NY Giant! With Taylor getting his last gust of wind, he climb to the 2nd rope and hit Bam Bam with a forward flying forearm and covered and pinned Bam Bam for the 1-2-3 victory.

 

Personally, I remember watching this, and I remember thinking that it wasn’t as strong as Wrestlemania 10 in terms of match booking and quality. I didn’t believe that Shawn had a chance at beating Diesel. (at the time) I wasn’t an NFL fan, so I’m like “Who the F is Lawrence Taylor?” And I didn’t understand why the WWF Championship match wasn’t closing the show! The only match that I was looking forward to was the Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund match because (to me) that was the only match that had a solid story. Neither man has ever utter the words “I quit”. Just 11 years earlier Backlund lost the WWF title due to his manager “throwing in the towel”. Just some month earlier, the same thing happened with Bret Hart when his mother threw in the towel. So the story line for the I Quit match was very compelling, and the resolution would be a great pay off. I can say the same thing for the Undertakers match. It was a match I was very much looking forward to and was satisfied with the resolution. Owen’s match was a pleasant surprise. But I can’t really say the same about the rest. And also what was annoying, that is seemed as if the WWF was kissing a lot of Hollywood ass. Granted, Wrestlemania has always had celebrities there, but the celebs in the past played more of a footnote to the event. This year, the celebs WERE the event and as a guy who just wanted to watch some cool matches and resolve a storyline here and there, that was more distracting than anything. And I always hated Jonathon Taylor Thomas. I wanted to kick him in the dick.

Match Card

– The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog) defeated The Blu Brothers (Jacob and Eli) (with Uncle Zebekiah)

– Razor Ramon (with The 1–2–3 Kid) defeated Jeff Jarrett (c) (with The Roadie) by disqualification. Jeff Jarrett still held on to the World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship.

– The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated King Kong Bundy (with Ted DiBiase)

– Owen Hart and Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) defeated The Smoking Gunns (c) (Billy and Bart) And won the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championships

– Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund in an “I Quit Match”

– Diesel (c) (with Pamela Anderson) defeated Shawn Michaels (with Sid and Jenny McCarthy) to retain the World Wrestling Federation Championship

– Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Ted DiBiase)