Wrestlemania X-8 (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XVIII (18)

 

Date: March 17th 2002

City: Toronto, Ontario

Venue: SkyDome

Combined Attendance: 68,237

Sub-Theme: “The One and Only”

Celebrities: Drowning Pool and Saliva

Wrestlemania 18, is the 18th annual wrestlemania professional wrestling pay per view, produced by the world wrestling federation. 

This would be the last Wrestlemania with the company being named “World Wrestling Federation” or “WWF”. Shortly after this maina, The WWF would then be The WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment); due to a lawsuit settlement between the WWE and World Wildlife Fund.

Wrestlemania is returning back to Toronto. The last time Wrestlemania was in the Sky Dome was for WM 6; where over 60,000 fans witnessed Hulk Hogan vs The Ultimate Warrior; title for title. This year, the arena would hold yet another dream match. This would be the house that will bring you Icon vs Icon- The Rock vs Hollywood Hulk Hogan. In addition, Hogan is making his illustrious Wrestlemania Return!

This Wrestlemania was on the bell curve of a new era of the company. The Attitude Era was no more, this would be the rooted beginnings of the “Ruthless Aggression” era (some argue that, that started at WM 17). The invasion angle is long over, WCW guys have fully assimilated into being WWF guys. The World Titles of Wrestling have consolidated into one and a major player of THE GAME recently returned as well.

A little under a year ago, Triple H suffered a devastating quad injury (while in a match partnered with Steve Austin against Jericho and Benoit on a live edition of Raw), which immediately put him on the shelf. After surgery and many many months of rehab, Triple H made his return at the 2002 Royal Rumble and won the event. This would grant him the right to face the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World; Chris Jericho. Jericho won this honor back in Dec of 2001 when he was victorious in a 3 match stipulation; by defeating The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin; both in the same night. With Triple H earning the main event spot, and his “ex-wife” now siding with the champion; this is set up to be a wild contest.

A week before the No Way Out 2002 PPV, in an attempt to gain vengeance against Ric Flair who has taken over the company (thanks to him being the consortium who bought Shane and Stephanie’s stock of the company), Vince McMahon announced that he is “injecting a poison into the company he father built”. Vince broke news by announcing that he was bringing in the New World Order into the WWF, and they will be debuting at No Way Out in Milwaukee, WI. After they debuted, The Rock pressed and had some fun on the expense of Hall and Nash. However, when Hogan came out to cut a promo and lash out on the fans, is when The Rock got involved. It was during this promo where The Rock challenged Hulk Hogan, one on one at Wrestlemania. Hogan accepted…GAME ON!

Wrestlemania begins with already getting 5 STARS! Rob Van Dam challenges William Regal for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. And with the 5 star frog splash, RVD wins his 2nd singles title with the company!

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker faces Ric Flair. This would be the first time (and only time) that The Undertaker is wrestling as a heel at Mania. Due to some disagreements between the Deadman and Flair, this match came about. This was a very good 20 min match, and Flair looked as good in the match as he ever did. But Taker was just too much for the Nature Boy and pins the 16 time former heavyweight champion of the world. Undertaker is 10-0 at wrestlemania.

 

The video package begins showing the clips of the return of the nWo at No Way Out, and then leads to the epic promo between Hulk Hogan and The Rock, where the challenge is set for Wrestlemania. Clips follow, along with heart pounding rock music to illustrate the story of these two. The last image you vividly see, is a black and white image that looks to be cutting into the current footage that we are looking at. A spliced scene from one of the many invasions the nWo did on the Monday Nitro set between Hogan, Hall and Nash. A graphic of the footage looks to be ripping in half to show us present day and plays the most familiar theme music of them all, the nWo theme, Enter Hollywood Hulk Hogan. I swear to you, as I am writing this, I am getting Goosebumps thinking of this moment. 68,237 people on their feet screaming in joy, not only because of the one of the most familiar and coolest themes of our time is playing, but because (at this time) the King of Wrestlemania, Hulk Hogan is walking down a WWF Aisle into a WWF ring for his Wrestlemania return, that was have not seen in 9 years. The electricity of the crowd was so electric, that it would’ve made sense to be exhausted by the time the opening bell hit, but that wouldn’t be the case, not for this sold out crowd. Hulk Hogan, was finally home. But at an even louder ovation, The Rock’s theme hit and with (what seemed like) millions of cameras flashing in the crowd, The Rock enters into the Ring and is set center stage in front of millions watching around the world, face to face with the Icon of Pro Wrestling, Hulk Hogan in the ring with him. The match started with a memorable stare down onto each other and the crowd.

The two lock up and Rock overpowers Hogan and muscles him to the ground. Hogan back to his feet and locks back up with The Rock, however, this time it would be Hogan to overpower and throws The Rock. This send the crowd into a complete frenzy and to add fuel to the fire, Hogan breaks the cool Hollywood persona and goes back into Retro Hogan and throws poses at The Rock. There is not a soul sitting for this monumental moment. The match goes on. During the match, The Rock locked on the Sharpshooter, causing Hogan to tap out. However, the referee was down and unable to acknowledge the submission. The Rock let go of the hold and tried to revive the referee, but Hogan gave him a low blow followed by his own version of The Rock’s finisher, the Rock Bottom for a two-count. The two tried their respective finishers, the Rock Bottom and the leg drop but each kicked out. After two more Rock Bottoms and a People’s Elbow, The Rock pins the Legendary Hulk Hogan and gets the 1-2-3 victory to win the match. After the match, Hall and Nash come to ringside and express disappointment o Hogan for losing and jump Hogan. The Rock assist Hogan and both of them beat on Nash and Hall. They clear the ring. The Rock also steps to the side and gives the spotlight to the 68 thousand plus, to pose for the crowd. Hogan, not only stole the show, but was once again and officially a face in the world wrestling federation.

The main event was for the World Wrestling Federation Undisputed Championship. Chris Jericho vs Triple H. Just like how Triple H entered with Motorhead playing his theme, Drowning Pool would play a version of his theme song as he entered to the ring. Jericho, entered the arena with Stephanie McMahon on his side and the match takes place. In all fairness, both of them really do give the world a very very good match. If you watched this match isolated to the rest of the card, you can really appreciate the efforts by both of them. However, at the same time, the crowd just was not into it, and it was not anything against the two men in the ring, but more so due to how overwhelming the Rock/Hogan match was and drained the crowd of all of their energy. Not even the Divas match before the championship match could help matters. During the match Triple H went for the Pedigree on Jericho through the announcers’ table. However, Jericho reversed it into a back drop, sending Triple H through the Spanish announcers’ table. Stephanie tried to hit Triple H with a steel chair but had it removed by referee Earl Hebner. Stephanie pushed Hebner aside but then, she was met by a Pedigree from Triple H. Jericho tried his own Pedigree on Triple H but ended up having it reversed into a catapult. Triple H then hit the Pedigree on Jericho and pinned him to become the new Undisputed Champion

Match Card

HEAT- Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Albert defeated Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and, Test

PPV

-Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship

-Diamond Dallas Page (c) defeated Christian to retain the WWF European Championship

-Maven (c) fought Goldust to a no contest in a Hardcore Match for the WWF Hardcore Championship. The title changed hands on a number of occasions between The Hurricanne, Molly Holly, Christian and back to Maven.

-Kurt Angle defeated Kane

-The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair in a no DQ match

-Edge defeated Booker T.

-Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall (with Kevin Nash).

-Billy and Chuck (c) defeated The APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw), The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (with Stacy Keibler) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) in a Four Corners Elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship with Billy and Chuck retaining the titles.

-The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan

Jazz (c) defeated Trish Stratus and Lita in a triple threat match to retain the WWF Womens Championship

Triple H defeated Chris Jericho (c) (with Stephanie McMahon). To win the World Wrestling Federation Undisputed World Championship.

Wrestlemania X-Seven (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XVII  (17)

 

Date: April 1st 2001

City: Houston, Texas

Venue: Reliant Astrodome

Combined Attendance: 67,925

Sub-Theme: “Houston…We Have A Problem”

Celebrities: Motorhead

Wrestlemania 17, is the 17th annual wrestlemania professional wrestling pay per view, introduced by the world wrestling federation and in my opinion (and many others), this is the GREATEST Wrestlemania of All Time!

This wrestlemania was truly a solid depiction of the success the WWF has been enduring for the past few years. The simple fact that last year’s wrestlemania drew about 50,000 more fans, screams victory for the WWF. And speaking of being victorious just 12 days before Wrestlemania 17, on a live edition of WCW Monday Nitro, for the first time ever, the show opened up and the first image you saw was Vince McMahon and him announcing that he has purchased World Championship Wrestling and WCW would be no more. It was finally done, McMahon, who was at the brink of being put out of business, was the sole winner in the Monday Night wars and was the single #1 entity on planet earth who would hold all of the power of big time professional wrestling. If this wasn’t a shot of adrenaline shooting into the arm of the WWF before going into its biggest revenue earner of the year, then I don’t know what is.

The backdrop of this wrestlemania went back to basics; with Stone Cole Steve Austin wining the 2001 Royal Rumble (for the 3rd time) and heading to Wrestlemania to face the WWF Champion…Kurt Angle. At No Way Out 2001, Kurt Angle lost the WWF Championship to The Rock. Wrestlemania 17’s main event would now feature one of the biggest rematches of all time with The Rock defending the WWF Championship against Stone Cole Steve Austin. Let the games begin.

One of the fascinating things about this mania was every championship title was on the line (6 titles) and 5 of them changed hands. The Intercontinental championship was on the line as Chris Jericho faced off against William Regal. Jericho had some significant build up against Regal on some past Raws and was able to follow through with the win to retain the title.

One match that stood out was not for a title, Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. Excellent matchup between two technical masters. This would also be (somewhat) of a rematch from the previous wrestlemania, as the two wrestled at WM16. Kurt Angle went on to be the victor.

In an extension of last year’s wrestlemania; the McMahon Saga continued. This time it would be a Street Fight with Shane McMahon (the new “owner” of WCW) vs Vince McMahon; with Mick Foley as ref and with Linda (in a comatose state), Stephanie and Trish Stratus at Ringside. The match was complete shenanigans, but was ever so fun to watch this drama just completely unfold. With the combination of seeing Steph and Trish fight at ringside; with Linda “reviving” from her comatose state and with Lind kicking McMahon where the sun don’t shine; seeing the ending of Shane giving Vince the “coast to coast” was the fine topper as he scores the victory.

The next match would be another return match but this time enhanced. TLC Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Edge/Christian vs The Dudley Boys vs The Hardy Boyz.

Just like they did for Mania the year before, these guys blew the roof off once again and gave an absolute stellar contest to determine the superior Tag Team. Each team had someone in their corner as well (Spike = Dudleys; Lita = Hardys and Rhyno = E&C) so this just added to the match. One unforgettable spot would be when Jeff Hardy climbed up to grab the titles, but Christian would take the ladder fro under Jeff, which left Jeff, literally, hanging from the hook holding the titles. Edge was already perched on the ladder, parallel to Jeff and from 10 feet in the air, gave Jeff a spear to the ring. As I write this, I still get Goosebumps thinking of that spot. The match was crash after crash after crash. These men put their bodies on the line for our entertainment and disappoint, they did not. With the assistance of Rhyno, Edge and Christian won the WWF Tag Team Titles.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker returns to Wrestlemania and faces The Game Triple H. These two gave a fight that you can never forget as they went all over the arena and at the camera structure. Absolutely breath taking match; but Taker; via the last ride; gets the victory. The Undertaker is 9-0 at Wrestlemania

 

The Main Event would showcase Stone Cole Steve Austin Challenging The Rock for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. The match began with announcing it would be No Disqualifications. Both came in with full intensity, both knowing and understanding the immediate importance of this match up.

Similar to the last time it was face vs face in the main event (WM 6 and WM 12) the crowd was divided once again as both of these men were and are fan favorites. With it being No DQ, these men had unlimited resources to try to outdo one another. Not a dull moment in this match as you witnessed much back n forth between the two. During the match, the two took the fight outside of the ring and into the crowd. When the wrestlers returned to the ring, blood was shed from both Austin & The Rock after both had hit each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin into a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it and placed The Rock into his own Sharpshooter. After releasing the hold following the referee’s request he held The Rock by use of the Million Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, The Rock used Austin’s own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner. At this time Vince McMahon made his return to ringside. Trying to distract the Rock, Austin was able to give Rock a taste of his own Medicine by giving him the Rock Bottom and later the Stone Cold Stunner. Normally, this would be the trick to end an opponent, but just like the amount of intensity that is in Austin, The Rock had it too and kicked out from the pin. Austin besides himself and cannot piece this together. Austin is desperate to win the WWF Title. Just a week before Raw, Jim Ross held an intimate interview with both Rock and Austin, and Austin stated that he “HAS to beat The Rock; There is no other choice BUT to beat the Rock. And he will do whatever it takes.” And his words rang true moments later when McMahon handed Austin a steel chair and Austin bangs Rock with the chair multiple times to the face and the back. Austin finally goes for the cover and just like that we have a new World Wrestling Federation champion in Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin sold his soul to Satan himself to win the World Title.

 

Match Card

HEAT – X-Factor (Justin Credible and X-Pac) (with Albert) defeated Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexay

PPV

– Chris Jericho (c) defeated William Regal to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship

– Tazz and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) (with Jacqueline) defeated Right to Censor (The Godfather, Val Venis and Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards)

– Kane defeated Raven (c) and The Big Show in a Triple Threat Hardcore Match for the WWF Hardcore Championship

– Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeated Test (c) to win the WWF European Championship.

– Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit

– Chyna defeated Ivory (c) to win the WWF Womens Championship

– Shane McMahon defeated Vince McMahon in a Street Fight match with Mick Foley as the special guest referee.

– Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff) in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship

– The Iron Sheik won the 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal by eliminating Hillbilly Jim

– The Undertaker defeated Triple H

– Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) to win the World Wrestling Federation Championship in a No DQ match.