Wrestlemania 15
Date: March 28th 1999
City: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Venue: First Union Center
Combined Attendance: 20,276
Sub-Theme: “The Ragin’ Climax”
Celebrities: Eric Esch, VinnyPazienza, Kevin Rooney, Pete Rose, Boyz II Men,
Arguably, this was the absolute hottest time in pro wrestling in the history of the business. We are in the core of the Attitude Era, and we are now at the grandest show of the year, Wrestlemania 15 live from Philadelphia, PA. Earlier in the year, Monday Night Raw once again shifted the power of influence and the power of product, but reclaiming the throne as the top wrestling company in the world, by knocking out WCW from the top of the mountain. The WWF at this time had the touch of Midas and could not do any wrong. The poster of WM 15 just boldly showed it all. The poster of the show has Stone Cold Steve Austin, Mankind, Triple H, The Rock, The Undertaker and The Big Show. When you have a roster of that kind of talent, the only thing that you can do is win.
The road to Wrestlemania15 really started at the 1998 Survivor Series. The PPV had a tournament to crown a new WWF Champion after the title was vacated. The outcome of the tournament saw The Rock winning the title, but at the same time, joining forces with the chairman of the WWF; and joining the “Corporation” by aligning himself with Vince McMahon. The Rock and the rest of the Corporation run rampant through the WWF and he has back n forth battles with Mankind for the title. The tile went back n forth between him and Mankind, but both were not short in giving us quality in the ring. The 1999 Royal Rumble occurs Stone Cold enters at #1; Mr. McMahon comes in at #2. They were the first two in the ring, and the last two in the ring and Mr. McMahon wins the 1999 Rumble. McMahon is going to Wrestlemania! By the looks of this, it makes you wonder why would occur at Mania. At St.Valentines Day Massacre in Feb 1999, Vince faced Austin in a steel cage. If Austin wins, Austin gets McMahons title shot, and Austin wins. Austin is now going to Wrestlemania to face the Corporate Champion, The Rock.
The Event started with Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett, the WWF Tag Team Champions faceing off against D’Lo Brown and Test and retaining those titles.
One treat of the night was the conclusion to the WWF’s experiment, “Brawl for All” where there have been a series of “shoot fight” Boxing style matches on Raw. Many wresters were involved in these matches, such as Marc Mero, JBL, Tiger Ali Singh, etc. This match would pit the man who won the WWF Brawl for All tournament; Bart Gunn. Bart Gunn would face Boxing’s #1 competitor, Butterbean. The prep for the match was longer than the match itself, because Butterbean knocked out (cleanly) Bart Gunn in less than 40 seconds. Wow. The one part of this match that I wanted to make note of was that this would be Gorilla Monsoon’s last wrestlemania and last public appearance before passing. Gorilla was a judge at ringside for the boxing match. Gorillas was at Wrestlemania 1-10; on tape for 11, there for 12 and took absence 13-14 and came back at 15. An emotional standing ovation Gorilla received from the sold out crowd in Philly.
Taker Note: The Undertaker faced The Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match. The Undertaker defeats Boss Man to go 8-0.
The Main Event was for the World Wrestling Federation Championship in a No Disqualification match; The Rock vs Stone Cold. The birth of what is to be (arguably) the greatest rivalry in pro wrestling. The build that was created for these two, had bad blood written all over it. The Rock is looking to defend the honor and the strength of the Corporation and Austin is looking to win his 3rd World Title and hopefully put an end to the Corporation. One piece of the puzzle that was a pleasure was that this would be Jim Ross’s return, and return he did, to call the main event along side with Jerry the King Lawler. Originally, Mankind would be assigned to ref the match, due to the match that he won earlier in the night against The Big Show, but The Corporation made little work of Mankind after his match to send him to the “hospital”. Vince McMahon took the liberty to referee the main event. However commissioner Shawn Michaels had a word to say to that, and removed McMahon from his ref position and told him to beat it, and Mike Chioda took over as ref. The two enter the ring and the match is hot instantly. Both men went back n forth and even took the match into the crowds, and even threw Austin into the WM structure.
The Spanish announce table was taken out; nothing was safe when it came to these two. Even referee Mike Chioda was a casualty as he took a chair shot, Tim White comes out to take the place and to count the shoulders down. When Austin was building up momentum, The Rock, out of desperation, Rock Bottoms Tim White. This give Austin wind and hits The Rock with the Stunner. Earl Hebner comes out to count the Rock out, but The Rock kicks out. McMahon makes his presence back at ringside and both him and The Rock take out Hebner and put work on Austin. But the original ref comes down, Mankind, throwing McMahon out the ring and having the two really see who the better man is. Rock is hit with the Lou Thez press by Austin, but Rock retailates with the Rock Bottom. Going for the Peoples Elbow, Austin moves out the way and goes for the stunner, Rock catches it, spins him around, goes for another rock bottom, blocked by Austin and hit with the stunner and pins the Rock, 1-2-3 to win the WWF Championship
Match Card
Heat- Jacqueline (with Terri Runnels) defeated Ivory (with D’Lo Brown)
Heat – D’Lo Brown and Test won when Droz and The Godfather eliminated each other.
PPV
–Hardcore Holly defeated Billy Gunn (c) and Al Snow to win the WWF Hardcore championship
–Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (c) (with Debra) defeated D’Lo Brown
and Test (with Ivory) to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship
–Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn in a “Brawl For All” Match
–Mankind defeated The Big Show by disqualification to earn the rights to referee the WWF title match
–Road Dogg Jesse James (c) defeated Ken Shamrock, Goldust (with The Blue Meanie and Ryan Shamrock) and Val Venis to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship in a four corner elimination match.
–Kane (with Chyna) defeated Triple H by disqualification.
–Sable (c) defeated Tori to retain the WWF Women’s Championship
–Shane McMahon (c) (with Test) defeated X-Pac to retain the WWF European Championship
–The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Big Boss Man in a Hell In A Cell match.
–Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) to win the WWF Championship.