Wrestlemania XIV (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 14

Date: March 29^th 1998

City: Boston, Massachusetts

Venue: The Fleet Center

Combined Attendance: 19,028

Sub-Theme: dX Raided

Celebrities: Mike Tyson, Pete Rose, Gennifer Flowers and Chris Warren.

This Wrestlemania was a loud and emphatic scream of “Welcome to the Attitude Era”. This would be the Wrestlemania to officially usher in the new day and age of the World Wrestling Federation. This was no longer your dads WWWF, this was OUR WWF. A WWF that was a mirror image of the current times where Alternative and Rap music were mainstream, where people, who at one time had no voice, could express themselves to the entire world via the world wide web. Where expressionism was not just a mere idea, but was a mandatory way of life. The new WWF would be immediately embraced due to the worlds youth movement. This came at the perfect time as World Championship Wrestling was continuing to blaze the television and wrestling world. But gone are the days where the WWF would just be regarded as a wrestling punch line, the boys were ready to fight. And if the Wrestling war between both companies was that, then this wrestlemania was a missile from a B-52 Bomber.

The background of Wrestlemania can be tracked back to the formation of Degeneration X in the fall of 1997. After Bret Hart left the WWF after the Montreal Screw job, the WWF was treated as a frat boy’s playground via the likes of Shawn Michaels (WWF Champ), Triple H and Chyna. Every week, Monday Night Raw would be graced with antics (some not suitable for television) by the 3. Although most of them inappropriate, they still drew people to their TV sets to see what else they would be up to (me included). At the 1998 Royal Rumble, Shawn Michaels defended the WWF title against The Undertaker in a casket match. On hand to witness the main event was The Baddest Man in the World, Iron Mike Tyson. Tyson watched as HBK retained the title and also witnessed and celebrated as Stone Cold Steve Austin won the 1998 Rumble. The next night on Raw was supposed to be an announcement of some sort from the Chairman of the WWF, Vince McMahon with Tyson as his guest, but that was short lived as Stone Cold Steve Austin came unannounced and “ruined” the party, by getting into a scuffle with Tyson. As the weeks went on, the championship match at Mania was announced as it will be The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels defending the title against Stone Cold Steve Austin, with Mike Tyson as the special guest ref. When this was announced Shawn was irate and wanted to confront Tyson one on one in the ring. When Shawn confronted Tyson in what looked like it would be a heated verbal exchange between the two, Shawn grabs Tysons shirt, rips it off his back, just to reveal a “Degeneration X” T-shirt on him. Tyson was the newest member of DX. The odds were definitely stacked against Austin going into Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania 14, live from Boston. The opener of the ppv, would show a 15 team tag team battle royal. This would be the purpose of the long waited return of the LOD (Legion of Doom). But with a new look. Not only a new look of half way shoulder spikes and a helmet, but also managed by Sunny. And on top of that, a new name LOD 2000. LOD 2000 would go on to win the match.

This would be the first Wrestlemania where the WWF European Championship would be defended. Triple H would defend the title against Owen Hart. Triple H defeats Hart to retain the title.

For the WWF Intercontinental Title, The Rock (for the 2^nd year in a row) would defend the Intercontinental title against Ken Shamrock. Ken Shamrock and The Rock had a very hard hitting match, and Shamrock did in fact make the Rock tap with the ankle lock. Shamrock Wins! Not so fast. Shamrock, never relinquished the hold and it took a band of referees to make him unlock the move. Due to his insubordination, the decision was reversed, Ken was disqualified and the Rock retains the IC title.

The WWF Tag Team Titles were on the line as Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) would face The New Age Outlaws (champions) after dumping both the men in the trash, Funk and Jack win the match and win the WWF Tag Team titles.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker faces his brother Kane in, at that time was The Undertakers toughest opponent to date. Kane was too strong and too much of a machine to be stopped. But the Deadman showed incredible resilience and with the tombstone, The Undertaker was able to defeat his younger brother Kane. The Undertaker is 7-0 at Wrestlemania.

The WWF Championship Match is now on hands. Shawn Michaels comes in with a blaze glory (and a bad back), and then enters the challenger, Steve Austin. With fellow DX member, Mike Tyson on the outside of the ring, anything was possible in this encounter. Austin and Michaels went at it, just like two ring veterans. Just one year before, Austin was in the ring giving a clinic with Michaels’s #1 adversary, and now it was Shawn’s turn to dance with the Texas Rattlesnake.

The match went beyond the ring as Austin and Shawn brawled out by where the band was playing and even used some of their equipment as weapons. The match was brought back to the ring and slowed down a bit with a few submission holds and additional back n forth exchange. Eventually, Austin would be put in the figure four leg lock and then hit with Shawn’s flying elbow. But that wasn’t enough, Austin was ready for another comeback, when Shawn went for his sweet chin music, Austin grabbed the leg and reversed it, and hit Shawn with the Stone Cold Stunner. This would take Shawn out and due to referee Mike Chioda being knocked out; Mike Tyson came into the ring and counted HBK’s shoulders down for the 1-2-3. Stone Cold Steve Austin was the new World Wrestling Federation Champion, ushering in and leading the new Attitude Era.

Match Card

– L.O.D. 2000 (Hawk and Animal) (with Sunny) won by last eliminating The New Midnight Express (Bombastic Bob and Bodacious Bart) (with Jim Cornette)

– Taka Michinoku (c) defeated Aguila to retain the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship

– Triple H (c) (with Chyna) defeated Owen Hart to retain the WWF European Championship

– Marc Mero and Sable defeated The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna

– The Rock (c) (with Kama Mustafa, Mark Henry and D’Lo Brown) defeated Ken Shamrock by disqualification to retain the WWF Intercontinetnal Championship

– Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie defeated The New Age Outlaws (c) (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) to win the WWF Tag Team Championship

– The Undertaker defeated Kane (with Paul Bearer)

– Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels (c) (with Triple H and Chyna) to win the World Wrestling Federation Championship

Punk Enough for Brown

 

Written By Maurice D. Proffit

 

 

 

So, I feel inspired to weigh in my 2 cents about this CM Punk/ Chris Brown rivalry that is currently taking place. For those who may be unaware, back on Feb 19^th, CM Punk sent out a random tweet about Chris Brown; brining up his actions that he took upon 3 years ago when he violently assaulted R&B Superstar and then girlfriend Rhianna. The images of Rhianna, after the beating took place, still stays etched in each of our minds when we have to think of the black/blue bruises on her cheeks, the swollen eye and the busted up lip. 

damn…

 Chris did a number on her, that really took a great amount of effort to create. There wasn’t 1 single person that I knew that didn’t feel quite enraged after this all took place. Eventually after turning himself in, he accepted a plea deal which granted him 5 yrs probation, clean the side of the road and domestic violence counseling…

…that’s it? 

Problem?

 Seems like a slow back n forth (left to right) wave of the finger if you ask me. (The wagging finger of shame)

Chris becomes the butt of late night TV jokes, dyes his hair to pay homage to Shelton Benjamin, makes a new album, goes on Good Morning American and throws chairs out the window and continues to peel the layers back to show how much of an asshole he really is. 

That chair in the corner...is gonna get it.

 Somehow, someway, the public starts to accept him again. We see him appearing at BET awards shows, Soul Train Award Shows, MTV Music Award Shows and when he hits the stage, the crowd just goes haywire, as if nothing ever happened. I’m sorry, but I missed the memo stating that he was vilified of his wrong doing? Why is society embracing him again? Why is it ok to honor this guy who committed a heinous crime (only murder and assault a child may be the only things worse than what he did)? Why are we indulging him? Why? Because he did a Michael Jackson Tribute and started crying?!?! 

I dont care if i nail the moonwalk. As long as I can cry like a baby at the end, I'm home freeeee!

 I think what irritates me the most about Chris Brown; is that before the assault and more so after the assault (when he started making more public appearances), he has this arrogant demeanor about himself where he really thinks he is bullet proof. My thoughts tell me that he laid low for a reason between the night of the assault and the final judge hearing in June 2009. The man was scared and he should’ve been. Chances are, he was going to go to jail for a long time. But come on this is big bad Chris Brown; self promoting R&B thug, this should be nothing, right? Don’t think so. But when the judge just ordered him to be on probation for 5 years, what message did that send to a guy that is like the way he is? I’m Untouchable!

The Irony is that the size of this shirt, fits the guy on the shirt. BTW, Im a Thug...YAY!!!

So enters vilified Chris who is Teflon to the world. Walks around with a snarky swag, which amazes me how people see though it. Is completely out of line when he trashes his dressing room at Good Morning America. But nothing seems to happen with this guy. When he appears on television, I either turn or I leave the room because I honestly do not care for anything that he has to say.

Someone asked me this week “You feel this way about Chris Brown, but you’re one of the biggest Mike Tyson fans that I know”. 

Dude....

Let me say this about Tyson. What happened between Tyson and Desiree Washington (though NONE OF US have the full story) was unfortunate, and I think the fame and lifestyle did a number of Mike before it happened, thus why he wasn’t in the right state of mind. However, here is the difference. Mike served prison time. A judge of the court of law, sentenced Mike Tyson to 6yrs in prison. Tyson served 3 yrs of prison (let go early due to approval of probation for good behavior) and gave his spiritual life to the nation of Islam. Now for me, that’s another subject for another time, but if spiritual guidance can help you get your life back in track, then I’m all for it. Mike show compassion for what he did, when he went on national television and indicated that his actions and decisons were morally and humanly wrong and would take that back any day of the week. His only focus was to try his best to erase the memory of being a better human being. Mike walked out of prison not with the arrogant, cocky, “yeah, f*ck you” mentality. But walked out of prison humbled and a new man. Now granted, shades of the “old” Tyson reared its ugly head when he fought Evander Holyfield, but that was more “odd” than “heinous”. Tyson now is no more Americas most hated, because he had no qualms about showing a more sensitive and more humanistic side to him, which American has embraced. Chris Brown…not so much. 

Imagine the Tyson voice with the Nelson Muntz voice saying “HA-HA!!!” 

 

 

When I see Chris Brown on television I ask myself “why”? When I hear about his tweets, I ask myself “why”. When I get a reminder of his arrogant prick attitude, I ask myself “why”. But then when I hear about WWE Champion CM Punk calling him out on Twitter, I say “WHY NOT?!?!” 

 

CM Savior

Finally someone, who is a public figure decided to speak up and out on this Chris Brown situation and is calling the man out. I’m sorry, but so many people have forgiven him and act like the assault never took place on Rhianna. Some on needed to give him a stiff reminder that “No! It’s NOT ok what you did! You are NOT sorry for what you did! You are NOT going to send this dangerous message that it is ok to violently assault women!” Thank you CM Punk for overriding these sheep who have just decided to block the past, just because you have some new tattoos and a new CD that came out.

He said while promoting "This Album is gonna be a HIT" (the room filled with awkward scilence)

After CM Punk made his tweet, Chris Brown, went on one of his usual twitter rants that included calling Punk irrelevant, calling him a “fake” wrestling (see my last issue of the Proffits Piledriver about my take on the word “Fake” in wrestling), saying he’s on steroids. Brown also went on to say that “music lasts forever and wrestlers come and go.” Also mentioned that “…I don’t know who you are and don’t give a shit about you.”. Clearly you do Brown when you left about 6 twitter messages to Punk.

Chris couldn’t have really thought that he was going to forever dodge this bullet of him committing this assault. This will always be the stain on the white t-shirt in terms of his career. And it was long overdue for someone to highlight how irresponsible, ignorant and inconsiderate that he really is. For the way that he handled the Rhianna incident.

Eh, Eh. Yeah. I drugged her to be with me again.

Punk made a video response to Chris Brown and basically challenged him to a 1 on 1 match in the ring.

But he said something that I felt was very interesting in the video. “Donate some more time, to explain to kids what you did was not right.” And this goes back to what I said earlier about the way how he treated this situation, and how he is handling himself. I’m sorry, but winning Grammy does not erase the past and does not mean that the public forgives you. Now, a match between him and Punk, in HIGHLY unlikely, more than likely that will never take place. But I would like Brown to really put this into perspective. Yes, you do have a fan base that still adores you and still purchase your records. But there is a large amount of the population that is FAR from forgetting and forgiving him. I would really like him to learn from this experience and understand that there still is some wrong that needs to be made right, from his end. Stop the cockiness, stop the ridiculous antics on twitter where you tweet something offensive and then quickly delete it. Stop being overly sensitive when this is brought up. Chris Brown may want to own up to what he did to Rhianna and do what is right in terms of cleaning up his mess. And no making a song called “Birthday Cake” with her (why she would want to work with him again, I have no idea and I feel it sends a dangerous message to women who are assaulted on a daily basis) does not clean it up. The way Chris beat Rhianna before, only indicates that, that was not the first time that he did that to her, and unfortunately will not be the last, because he is that type of character.

You...No...Good...HOOLIGAN!!!!

But if I had to send a message to Chris Brown, I say this, your chance of winning back the sympathy and the hearts of America, that window is closing at a rapid pace. It may be in your best interest to learn to be a man and take on full ownership of your actions. And instead of just sweeping it under the rug, and acting like this issues isn’t a big deal, my advice is to finally treat it as a big deal and bring awareness to why this problem is such a problem and what was the cause of your problem. What are you battling within yourself to make yourself believe that assaulting your girlfriend is the best decision possible to handle adversity? That is the core problem that you fail to recognize and I highly doubt that you have done anything to fix it. So Rhianna; I hate  your decision to work with him again, and I hope that the rumors are not true that you two are close to becoming a couple once again. But understand that if you do decide to go down this path one more time, history has no problem repeating itself and Feb 2009 will repeat. And Chris Brown, if and when you do feel the need to use your girlfriend as a human punching bag, there is going to be an 18 x 18 foot ring set up at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Florida on April 1^st of this year, in front of 70+ thousand people. If and when you feel like using your girlfriend as a punching bag, maybe you want to channel your anger in that direction. Because a man by the name of CM Punk will be in the middle of said ring, and you can finally see what it is like to fight someone closer to your size.

Oh shit, this aint the BET Awards, is it?

 

Man up Bitch.

Oh this is how she felt...ok, my bad.

Two Kings Take Their Royal Thrones and are Etched into History.

By Maurice D. Proffit

 

I went into this years rumble not knowing too much of what to expect. The E seemed pretty numb when it came to giving details about who was going to be in the Rumble. All we knew for sure was The Miz would be the first entrant and Mick Foley would be involved in the Rumble as well. What about the other 28? Who’s in it? Who pulled what number? Did Ted Dibiase Jr. try to purchase a better number from someone? What happened to watching the wrestlers pull their number and then they cut a promo after wards? What happened to “Rumble Qualifying Matches”? So, needless to say, there was a lot of mystery behind all of this. So naturally I’m intrigued. I must say, the undercard was entertaining. I think that everyone who performed in the under card matches really showed out and brought their A game. Personally, I could’ve done without Brodus Clays match against Drew McIntyre, because it was just a Raw squash match, and in place of that match, I would’ve appreciated about 5-7 more minutes of the World Heavyweight Championship match between Daniel Bryan (champion), The Big Show and Mark Henry, in a Steel Cage match. That match has so many elements of something special, but it was way too rushed. So yeah, I could’ve done without the Funkasaurus, just for this night.

Yeah, us bitches mean bidness.

The Divas 8 woman tag match was VERY impressive. I loved the fact that the heel Divas, lead by the Diavs Champion Beth Phoenix, came out in matching colors (Emerald Green). It was symbolic of unity and had a very tradition al feel to it, which is missing in wrestling at times and I did like that (Oddly though, TNA is pretty good at that). But even though the uniformity was on the surface, it didn’t show in the match when Beth purposely tagged out her partner Brie Bella so this way she could score the victory. Brie didn’t take too well to that obvious.

It's not a Tamborine, Dolph!

The WWE Championship match was executed well showing that both Punk and Ziggler had what it took to main event one of the “Big 4”. I know people are wondering what does this mean for Dolph. Since Dolph (essentially) lost about 3 times in the match. People, this can only mean BETTER THINGS TO COME. They are developing for the future of the company and Dolph is entrenched in those plans. In fact (and I made this prediction a year ago before it was announced that there would not be a Money In the Bank at Wrestlemania), but if Dolph is going to be in the MITB match at this years  wrestlemania, he IS winning it, and he IS cashing in the briefcase , and he IS going to be the WWE Champion THIS YEAR. Yes, you heard it here first on the Proffits Piledriver, Dolph Ziggler will be the WWE Champion THIS YEAR. And a program with him and Punk this summer will be one for the books. Sunday night was a mere temperature check and they both read HOT!

I'll point to it in case the fireworks arent enough to get your attention.

The Royal Rumble was good. I did appreciate the bulk of the younger guys who were in the Rumble. I liked seeing both of the WWE Tag champions (Primo and Epico) in it, I liked that Hunico was in it, I loved that the Miz and Cody Rhodes DOMINATED the Rumble. I liked how strong Wade Barrett looked in the match, he looked super legitimate. I appreciated the comedy spots by Foley and Santino. I am very pleased to see that Kofi Kingston is still being used as a strong asset amongst the guys, despite the fact that his tag team partner lives a life as if he’s at a Cypress Hill concert 24/7. And to tell you the truth, I did not mind the winner too much. While we’re on the subject, Congratulations to Mr. Ken Coleman for winning the “TRIPLE-R” Contest (Reese’s Rumble Roulette) for the 2012 Royal Rumble. Ken has #22 and #22 was Sheamus and Sheamus went on to winning. Ken won a sealed unopened copy of Summer Slam 2009 and a copy of the 2001 WWF Royal Rumble, both on DVD. Ken, your items will be in the mail at the end of this week, enjoy. This is all brought to you by Proffits Piledriver. Ok, commercial over with. At first, I was a bit salty that Sheamus won because him and Jericho were the last in the ring and Jericho was my pick to win (if you remember last weeks’ back and forth commentary on here). And for the purpose of just “being right”, I wanted him to win. However, after I gave it some thought, the WWE NEEDED Sheamus to win. They didn’t necessarily need Jericho to win.  Jericho didn’t need the Royal Rumble Rub in order to “get over”. Smackdown is a little dry when it comes to “established” stars. They have Randy Orton, Big Show, Henry, but that’s really about it. Daniel Bryan, Wade Barrett and Sheamus are your stars for tomorrow. Bryan is the WHC, Barrett is feuding with Orton, so that leaves Sheaums needing and opening because all he’s been doing lately is beating the hell out of Jinder Mahal. So, the Rumble victory was what was needed by him to make Smackdown that much more legitimate and a strong force of a show overall. And a roster overall. However, here is my difficulty. Sheamus is a two time WWE Champion, a former US Champion and the King of the Ring. A resume like that, you would think that we’d be beyond trying to build a superstar. Once upon a time, it you just had ONE of those credentials, you were made….you were legit. Three of them and we’re STILL trying to get you over and convince people that “yeah! This guy means business”. Hmmmmmmm…makes me wonder a little bit. Sheamus has already been the WWE Champion and both of his title runs were a bit luke warm. Sheamus won the WWE Championship for the first time in Dec 2009 by defeating John Cena in the TLC match. The next month was Royal Rumble PPV, you can put him in the middle of the ring with a broom and people will still buy the PPV because they want the Rumble. Then he loses the title the next month at the elimination chamber ppv, because he was eliminated from the chamber. Later that year, he wins back the WWE Title and defends it at 3 PPV’s; MITB, Summer Slam and Night of Champions. MITB has a bonafied stacked card and a gimmick PPV. Summer Slam, he wasn’t even the headliner, and NOC he lost it within a match with about 8 other guys in it. I’m just saying. If/when Sheamus wins his next world championship whether it be the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight championship, if he was in a one on one match with someone to headline a PPV card, would YOU the buyer, be influenced enough to purchase it? Sheamus gets the initial shock pops when his music plays and when he does get initial victories. But is he the type of champion that you can really get behind and rally for? Are you invested in Sheamus enough where whatever he says and/or whatever he does, you buy it? Yeah, I didn’t think so either. I can hope that a heel turn for him will be coming soon. Because I prefer the Sheamus that retired Jaime Noble.

  

I get the WWE “Celebrity Wing HOF”. I like how the WWE decided to put greats like Pete Rose and Bob Euker (That’s for you Matt Adams, lol) in. I was a bit tongue and cheek on the Drew Carey addition, but I let it slide. But this year’s “Celebrity” induction may have me more excited than seeing the wrestlers get inducted. Monday morning, the media circuit went crazy when it was announced that IRON MIKE TYSON would be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame. I grew up during the Tyson Era in the late 80’s early 90’s. That was a BADASS time to be alive, if you want me to be honest. Pop culture at that time had such a cool edge to it and if you were in the know of what was happening, you were riding a high that not even pedialyte could remedy. I remember, as a kid, we didn’t have cable in our house, so I would get my Mike Tyson updates just from the 10 o’clock news. I remember the news stories of “Is Tyson good for Boxing” since his matches were only 45 seconds. I remember boxers were legitimately afraid to step in the ring with him. My older brother, Doni was in college at the time during the Tyson era and he would see the fights, get them on tape and when he’d come home to visit, he’d bring them home and him and I would watch the fights on tape. I didn’t care if his fights only lasted 45 secs, to me, he was a machine. I loved it, I ate it all up! I remember thinking “He’ll never lose!” when he was the undisputed world champion. Even when the Barbara Walters interview happened and Robin Givens made my boy look like a criminal, I still stood by his side. Even when that Dessire Washington stuff went down and he went to prison, didn’t matter, I still stood by his side. I haven’t felt this elated about Mike Tyson since it was announced in 1995 that Tyson was being paroled from prison and was making a comeback to the ring to fight Peter McNeely. My hero was back in the ring and ready to retake his throne and dominate the boxing world once again! For the next 10 years, I see Tyson rise back to the top and slowly begins to dwindle down and by 2005 in his final professional fight, he loses to Kevin McBride by forfeiting during the fight, refusing to leaving his corner. Tyson was a mere shell of himself. After that, Tyson has turned himself more so into an attraction. Did a circuit tour, some TV, charity work, movie appearances and especially resurrecting himself as a comedy character in the “Hangover” films. It’s great to see Tyson when we do see him. In the summer of 2011 Tyson is inducted into the Boxing Hall of fame. Helluva honor, and well deserved, but the announcement of him being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, instantly takes precedence! I’ll never forget when Mike Tyson was at the 1998 Royal Rumble and the next night on Raw, he comes out and goes face to face with Stone Cold Steve Austin. A chilling moment that I still remember thinking that when the “scuffle” happened with Tyson, his entourage, Austin and the WWE officials, that it was something that went wrong and I bought into it. Yup…they worked me. What Tyson did for the WWE, in my opinion was just as important as to what Austin and The Rock did for the WWE to bring fire to the Attitude Era. Tyson is what put WWE on that mainstream media wave and kept them there. Tyson was a major part of pop culture at that time and was always on Sports Center. Whatever Tyson did, the cameras were on him. Especially since during the time Tyson was working with Vince McMahon, him and Don King had the very public split, so the WWE and Tyson connection became the immediate love child for the media. This was what made the WWE a legitimate force and something that the fans who trashed it for so many years, would want to tune in to see what was going to happen next. Bait Set…CATCH! We eat good tonight. And Wrestlemania 14 Shawn Michaels vs Stone Cold Steve Austin with Mike Tyson as the special enforcer was the dream combination. And the rest, as they say, is history. So yes, hearing the announcement of Mike Tyson being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame brought me back to when I was 9 yrs old following him on the news sports segment, just to see who Mike beat and how fast. It brought me back to the countless hours I spent in front of the television playing Mike Tyson Punch out on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It brought me back to the joy I felt when it was announced that he would be released on parole and would be making a return to the ring. It brought me back to when he won the World Boxing Association title from Bruce Seldon (unfortunately the same night that Tupac was gunned down in Vegas). This announcement brought me back to when I realized that Iron Mike Tyson was indeed a machine. And though he may not be in the ring anymore, Tyson is that machine that seriously never quits. All hail the King.