Top 10 Moments of Raw That Are NEVER Mentioned! (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

******Top 10 moments of raw never mentioned******

From all areas of media, whether it’s the internet, phone calls, TV ads, text messages, email alerts, smoke signals, messages in a bottle, Morse Code, WWE has taken the liberty to make sure that all walks of life are aware of the 1000^th episode of Monday Night Raw that is happening on July 23^rd 2012, live from St. Louis, Missouri. Taking nothing away from this crowning achievement, because this is an accomplishment that is rarely seen in today televisions standards. Gone are the days when a family sitcom can average about 8-10 years on television. Now shows are struggling to have 10 episodes filmed for them. But above all of the episodes of M*A*S*H, The Simpsons, Gunsmoke, Seinfeld, we see the most unlikely underdog grab that heavyweight crown and we are reminded (or grinded with) that Monday night Raw is the longest weekly episodic television program in TV history and continue they shall.

This “fake” stuff actually works, huh?

Raw has provided us with some unbelievable viewing. Television that made those Tuesday morning talks with your buddies on the bus or Tuesday water cooler talk at the office about the happenings that took place the night before on Raw.

So….about that Katie Vick segment from last night….

Whether it be a solid IC title match between The Rock and Triple H. Or an interview that Mankind delivered. Or even a Diva Segment that held our attention. And could be seeing an actually title change occur on live TV. The smorgasbord of happenings was endless and Raw never failed (for the most part) in giving us something memorable.

*Sniff* I swear…I’ll never forget this episode of Raw. *Sniff*Sniff*

Leading up to this 1000^th episode of Raw, we have been seeing some great Raw Moments in its history. Whenever I see the visual bumper for it, I always get Goosebumps in me, knowing that I’m about to indulge in some nostalgic goodness. But what tires me is that whenever they do these “Raw Flashback”…I GET THE SAME THING! Not taking anything away from the moments we have all shared together, but sometimes, the WWE wants to act as if Raw did not exist before 1998. With the exception of showing the quick highlight clips of the inaugural episode and the infamous “1-2-3 kid upset”, between Jan 11^th 1993 and January 19^th 1998, the WWE forgets that Raw was even on the air because we never get any highlights during that 5 year span. And not only that, many moments get over looked beyond that 5 year span.

1993-1998??? Bitch Please!!!

When WWE gives us our “Raw Moment of the Week”, I got $20 that says that we are going to see one of the following:

–McMahon in the hospital, Austin attacks him

-the Austin Beer truck before wm 15

-something involving the 200 guest hosts that they had

-John Cena coming to Raw per the draft

-Mike Tyson/Stone Cold Scuffle the night after the 1998 Royal Rumble.

But what about those key moments that NEVER get mentioned. I at times hold on to a sliver of hope, hoping that one day, one of these will be mentioned and/or highlighted on a broadcast of Monday Night Raw.

Lets see what treasures are beyond…

10.) Howard Finkel vs Harvey Wimpleman in a tuxedo match.  (January 10^th 1994)

Yeah, lets just get this one out the way.
(Thank the lord none of them wear a thong)

This has been an slow burn of an issue with both the veteran ring announcer and the manager. They have always had a passive aggressive relationship where Howard Finkel would not give Harvey the appropriate introduction, according to Harvey’s standards. This got to a point where a Tuxedo match was appropriate for the two and the match would take place on the 1 year anniversary of Raw on Jan 1994.

Aftermath: The Fink wins; but in theory, we all lose due to seeing both of them in their draws.

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9.) -WWE IC contender battle royal for vacant IC belt/Rick Martel vs Razor Ramon (Oct 11^th 1993)

Machismo > Arrogance

This was a significant Raw moments to me, because this was one of the first times when it was evident that Razor Ramon was indeed a ring general. He and Rick Martel opened the show on Oct 11th 1993. This coming off an announcement made by Jack Tunney that Shawn Michaels has been “stripped” of the Intercontinental title due to not defending it in 30 days. Due to the ruling, that coming up Monday night Raw will hold a 20 man battle royal. The last two men in the battle royal will face off in the next episode of Raw in a 1 on 1 match and the winner will be the new IC champion. Martel and Razor were the last two, and wanted to go at it instantly. The next week, both men put on an excellent match, which told a stellar story. In the end we would see Razor Ramon win his first Intercontinental Championship.

Aftermath: Unbeknownst to the fans, this would actually be a connecting storyline to Wrestlemania 10, where Shawn and Razor would face each other in a ladder match. Shawn claimed he was the real IC champ since he never lost the title. Razor would go on to win the latter match to be the undisputed IC champion.

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8.) The Steiner brothers  vs The Quebecers for the WWF Tag Team Championship; Under Québec Province rules (Sept 13^th 1993)

Yup! Thats right. Dont adjust your sets. It really is a WWF Tag Team Title Match on Raw that had Meaning! o.O

The Steiner Brothers have been having a very strong title reign for months now, really being the cornerstone of tag team wrestling in the WWE. The Quebecers were an obnoxious tag team making up of Jacques’ and Pierre, managed by Johnny Polo. This episode of Raw the Quebecers were challenging the Steiner Brothers for the WWF Tag Team Titles, however, the stipulation was what was called “Quebec Province Rules”. These rules were No moves can be executed from the top rope, throwing your opponent over the top rope was illegal and the title can change hands on a DQ or Count out. The Quebecers claimed that these are the official rules in said province. With said rules this would rule out the possibility of the bulldog from the top rope, that the Steiner’s have made theirs and any “Stiner-Lines” over the top rope in which the Steiner’s use to gain momentum. Due to the nature of the match, the Steiner’s found themselves cornered as they were not used to these rules and with Jonny Polo being the obvious distraction, call of this could cause frustration. Leading Scotty Steiner to that brink as he brought in the Hockey Stick of Johnny Polo and used it on the challengers. Per the rules, the Steiner’s were DQ’d and the Quebecers were the new WWF Tag Team Champions.

Aftermath: The Steiner’s never won back the Tag Titles, as the Quebecers went on to hold those belts for another 6 months.

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7.) Edge and Lita have “Live/Torrid” Sex!!! (January 9^th 2006)

Oh shit. I forgot my moms in row 7, Lita.

January 2006 was the beginning of a half year of some memorable overall WWE moments. The first PPV of the year was WWE New Years Revolution. The night before the Jan 9^th edition of Raw, Edge cashes in his Money in the Bank contract to face John Cena for the WWE Championship immediately after John wins the Elimination Chamber. Edge pin Cena to win the WWE Championship for the first time. To celebrate this feat, Lita decides to give Edge a reward he’ll never forget. She will reward him with live sex, live on Raw in the middle of the ring. (Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow!). The time comes for this segment to begin and in the middle of the ring is a large heart shaped bed. This segment quickly turned into the first 5 min of the TV show, “Silk Stalkings” that used to come on immediately after Raw, where we saw a lot of skin from the two and Lita in a very revealing bra and panties set. And for the added enjoyment of the male audience, there actually was a live boob slip on Litas behalf which brought the crowd to their feet. Making this segment, that much more legendary.

Aftermath: The ending of the segment ended with Shenanigans

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6.) Gorilla Monsoon Ejects Bobbie Heenan from Raw…and the WWF (November 29^th 1993)

I’m telling you bud, Schivone sucks.

The pairing of both Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan goes back to the early years of the Golden Era of WWF. So, we’re talking about a good 5-6 years of these two giving us some of the best back n forth commentary. Monsoon and Heenan were welcomed into our homes and their relationship was unlike anyone else’s. The two would spend hours debating back n forth with each other about the state of pro wrestling and the athletes. Heenan would justify his dubious ways as Gorilla had no problems at all, calling his wrong ways out. Bobby Heenan was on his way out the door to leave for WCW, but Gorilla had the honor to physically “throw him out the building and out the WWF”. It was only fitting that it would happen this way on an episode of Raw in late 1993. Before the show went dark, we would see Bobby Heenan giving a final salute to Raw and the WWF.

Aftermath: Heenan would go on to WCW, but never really captured that magic that he had in the WWF. Nothing lacking on his part, but due to WCW not pairing him with the right personality. We would see Heenan once again in the WWF at Wrestlemania 17, where he called the Gimmick Battle Royal with Mean Gene Okerlund.

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5.)” The Nature Boy “ Ric Flair vs Mr. Perfect (Retirement Match) (January 25^th 1993)

If you would’ve told me that WCW was going to try to recreate this in 4 years…yeah, I’d believe it.

This was a very unique and very exciting match due to the history of both Flair and Perfect. When Ric Flair came into the WWF in 1991, he was soon paired with Mr. Perfect with Perfect being his “Executive Consultant”. In Nov. 1992 at the Survivor Series, Macho Man and Ultimate Warrior were booked to take on Ric Flair and Razor Ramon. The Warrior was no longer with the WWF and live on Primetime Wrestling (the Monday night show, before Raw), Macho Man announced that replacing The Warrior, he wanted Mr. Perfect as his partner. While Perfect and Bobby Heenan had a laugh over it, Perfect thought that it would be a good opportunity to step aside and remove him from being the shadow of Ric Flair. Flair and Heenan were not fond of this and Perfect took it upon himself to no longer be affiliated with Flair. The WWF was not big enough for the two of them and someone had to go. And we were given this incredible match which told the story of a lifetime. In the end it would be Mr. Perfect to reign victorious. Good Bye and Thank you Ric Flair.

Aftermath: Ric Flair would go back to WCW and win 6 more world titles. Ric would be back in the WWF in late 2001.

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4.) Brian Pillman is armed as Stone Cold invades his home.

I don’t Call 9-1-1!

On an episode of WWF Superstars, Brian Pillman has an in ring interview with Stone Cold Steve Austin. To wrestling enthusiast, this was an interview worth watching as this would be the first time we’d be seeing the former members of “The Hollywood Blondes” (WCW Tag Team) in the ring together. But in the WWF, they were billed as being “Long Time Friends”. At the end of the interview, Pillman called Austin “The Best Was, the Best there is and the Best There Will Be”, and Austin attacks him. At the tail end of the attack, Austin “breaks” Pillmans ankle by placing his ankle in-between the top and base of a folded up folding chair and jumped off the top rope and onto the chair “Shattering” the ankle. The next week on Raw, Vince McMahon was interviewing Pillman via satellite while Pillman was at home nursing his injury. During the interview, commotion stirs up as they hear that Austin is on his way to Pillmans house to “finish the job”. In the interest of protecting his home and his family, Pillman announces on Raw that he has a loaded 9mm hand gun and if Austin comes in, he’s going to blow his brains out. This was one of the most intense segments ever on Raw as Austin was nearing closer and close, Pillman was cocking that weapon more and more just ready to pull the trigger. At the defining moment when Austin actually broke in the house and was in Pillmans living room, the camera shot over to Brian pointing the gun at Austin and then the live satellite feed was lost.

Aftermath: According to Vince, Pillman was restrained and the gun was taken away. Both him and Austin were restrained and pulled away from each other. Vince McMahon received A LOT of heat from the USA network regarding this segment, claiming it be “too real”.  McMahon had no idea what the difference was between this and a movie having the same kind of scenario happening. Good point.

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3.)WWF  Monday Night Raw gives us WCW Monday Night Nitro; ON RAW!

I want to watch, but Mark Madden is talking on my TV? Where is the Cyanide tablet when I need it?

On an episode of Raw in May of 2001, all I remember hearing from Jim Ross was this, “After this next commercial break we will be giving you Monday Night Nitro. WHAT?!?! And Nitro they gave us for a couple of segments. The house lights changed the little “WWF” logo in the corner of the screen changed to the “WCW” logo. Ross and Heymans mics went down and Arn Anderson and Mark Madden’s mics went on. Out came Booker T and Buff Bagwell for a one on one match. This was weeks after the World Wrestling Federation purchased World Championship Wrestling. All rights belonged to the WWF. It looked as if this was going to be a regular segment on Raw until Nitro had its own show again, but this lasted very short. But this would be the first that we see Nitro on Raw.

Aftermath: This and about 1 or two more segments would be the only time this plan was done. Moving forward was the invasion storyline.

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2.) Fatal 4 Way Tag Team Ladder Match: Hurricane and Kane vs. Chris Jericho & Christian vs. Jeff Hardy & Rob Van Dam vs. Bubba Ray & Spike Dudley (7/10/2002)

Arrive. Become Match of the F’n Year. Leave.

What a gem this was! I know the placement of this, may be a bit questionable, but going into this match, you’re really not thinking too much of what it could be, but when you watch it, this is one of the best matches ever seen on Monday Night Raw. Historically the Triple Threat ladder matches have always been something memorable, as we saw them happen at Summer Slam 2000 and Wrestlemania 17. Those matches were of the Dudley Boys, Edge and Christian and The Hardy Boys. And in this match, (with the exception of Kane and Hurricane) each team had 1 represented from those two matches on each team. The match truly was art and they seriously tore the house down. Combining Psychology with amazing spots, told a story that you could never forget and giving us the match of the year in 2002. Outstanding!!!

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Bonus Pick (1.5)

**The Crush Savage Summit**

Its only because you let Doink kick your ass!

This took place in the latter part of 1993. Earlier in the year Yokozuna faced Crush in a one on one match on Raw for the WWF Championship. Yoko went on to win the match via the Bonzai Drop, but Yoko had more plans for the native Hawaiian. Yoko would deliver 3 banzai drops onto Crush and it took those three to happen for finally, Crush’s “best friend” Macho Man Randy Savage comes to Crush’s aid and pulled him out the ring. Crush has been on bed rest for the entire time while out and on Raw, Crushed called into Raw to have a conversation with Savage. McMahon and Heenan saying he will be on Raw the next week and he has something to say. Crush comes onto Raw and enters the ring with Mr. Fuji. Crush cuts a harmful promo on Macho Man, blaming him for what happened to him. And the only one that had Crushes best interest in mind was Master Fuji. Macho Man cannot hear anymore and enters the ring to confront Crush and to knock some sense into him, that he is better than siding himself with Fuji. Macho’s words of wisdom looked to have made Crush rethink his decision of his alignment with Fuji. Macho asked for Crushes hand in forgiveness and Crush shakes it, bringing the friendship back. But this would be short lived as Crush attacks Savage. Crush would go on to Gorilla press Macho Man on the outside of the ring and dropping him to have Savages teeth land on the steel guard barrier, busting him up. And on top of that bringing Yoko down to give Savage the Banzai drop. Completely laying Savage out and giving us a heartbreaking ending to Raw.

Aftermath: Macho Man would return a couple months later and challenge crush to a match at Wrestlemania 10. Macho Man would gain the victory at Wrestlemania concluding and winning the war.

 

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And the Number 1 Overseen and Never Mentioned Moment of Monday Night Raw…

 

1.)    ECW Invades Monday Night Raw! Live from the Manhattan Center!

G*D DAMN RIGHT!!!!

In 1997, WWF started working directly with ECW to give their talent some more exposure. ECW was this renegade wrestling promotion stationed in Philadelphia, PA that had a major cult following and was the hottest indy promotion, possibly on the planet. The week before, Jerry Lawler put out a challenge to the ECW to come onto Raw and bring their best and WWF will have their best available. The next weeks Raw was in the Manhattan Center where Raw Originated. With this wild crowd that came out and packed the Aragon Ballroom expecting to see something memorable, no one went home disappointed. After the first match, a Jobber entered the ring awaiting his opponent. As Raw was in-between segments, Vince McMahon was addressing the home audience but suddenly a monster rumble came from the crowd and all you see are two large men in the ring with said jobber giving him their finishing move, Total Elimination. The Eliminators (Saturn and Kronos) were in a WWF Wrestling Ring! But to make the situation even more deafening, on the microphone was a determined mad man to make sure that world hears him as he stands with the eliminators, takes the mike, points to Jerry Lawler at ringside and with every drop of emotion in him says the infamous words, “YOUR CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ACCEPTED! ECW IS IN…THE…HOUSE!” We have Mr. Paul Heyman standing in the middle of a live WWF Ring Live on Monday Night Raw! The top of the mountain top he has reached. Paul was the single match to light the fuse of dynamite to make this episode of Raw one of the greatest episodes of raw to ever be broadcasted. That night we saw the Eliminators, The Dudley Boys, The bWo,  Little Guido, Taz, 9-1-1 and Sabu. Never has this been done on wrestling before where a rival promotion would be on the air with that promotion. But it was done that night. And after that, Monday Night Raw and the WWF overall would never be the same again.

Aftermath: This would be ECW’s launch pad as ECW went on to being bigger and better than it ever has been before. Their First PPV was in April of 1997 and excelled from there. Due to some internal financial issues, ECW would close its doors in 2001. WWF would buy the rights to ECW and would resurrect the promotion as a WWE Brand. Having a reunion show in 2005 and 2006 and launching the brand in June 2006. ECW would be put to a permanent rest in Feb 2010.

Wrestlemania XXII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXII (22)

 

Date: April 2^nd 2006

City: Rosemont, IL

Venue: The Allstate Arena

Combined Attendance: 17,159

Sub-Theme: “Big Time”

Celebrities: Michelle Williams

Hall of Fame: Bret “The Hitman” Hart, Eddie Guerrero, “Mean” Gene Okerlund, “Sensational” Sherri, Verne Gagne, “Mr. USA” Tony Atlas, William “The Refrigerator” Perry

 

Completing the major city Tri-Fecta, Wrestlemania returns to Chicago, IL! For the first time since 1997, Wrestlemania is back in Chi-Town! Wrestlemania 20, 21 and 22 took a break from being in monster stadiums and went scaled back to having Mania in an arena. The WWE wanted to focus on Mania being highlighted at the 3 major cities of the United States. Sort of like Wrestlemania 2 but in 3 years. After this wrestlemania, this just may be the last time Wrestlemania will be held in an arena. If this is the case, this is the way to fly as you put this wrestlemania in arguably the hottest crowd in North America. Personally, this was my 2nd Wrestlemania attending live and we ripped it that night.

Going into this Wrestlemania; Rey Mysterio would win the 1996 Royal Rumble. Entering in at #1 and outlasting 29 other men. He would join the likes of Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit doing this accomplishment. Due to this, Rey would challenge the World Heavyweight Champion, Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania. Due to Orton’s involvement with both wrestlers, Orton would be inserted into the championship match, making it a Triple Threat. To see who would challenge John Cena for the WWE title, Raw held a tournament to see who would be the number one contender. The finals would be Triple H vs RVD. Triple H would go on to be the victor and Wrestlemania 22 would be headlined by John Cena defending the WWE title against Triple H.

Early in Wresatlemania 22, we would see the 2^nd Money in the Bank ladder match, which has shown to be extremely popular now. Edge would be the first winner of the match, this year, the match included RVD, Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Bobby Lashley and Matt Hardy. RVD would go on to win the match and the briefcase.

Last year’s MITB winner would be in a one on one match with the hardcore legend himself, Mick Foley. This match may’ve rivaled Foleys 1998 Hell in a Cell classic against The Undertaker, because this match was pure violence, and fitting for the Chicago crowd. The match saw barb wire, barb wire bats, barb wire Mr. Socko, a million thumbtacks and if that wasn’t enough…FIRE! Lita lights a table outside the ring on fire and Edge spears Foley from the ring through the table, getting the pin and the victory.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker would face Mark Henry in a casket match. Henry out muscled Taker, but Taker does not stop and the world strongest man could not stop the Dead Man. Undertaker would land Mark Henry in the casket and go on to victory. The Undertaker is 14-0 at Wrestlemania.

Shawn Michaels would face Vince McMahon in a street fight. Shades of WM 17 when Vince faced Shane. This was an exciting, remove your reservations, crash and burn type match which was enjoyable to watch. The match concluded with Shawn delivering a flying elbow off the top of a 20 foot ladder, crashing through Vince who was wearing a garbage can on top of the table. Mayhem after mayhem, Shawn would go on to be the victor.

The match that followed was the Triple Threat match between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio and Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship. During Mysterio’s entrance, P.O.D. performed Mysterio’s music entrance live. At the end, Mysterio performed a 619 on Orton followed by a West Coast Pop for a successful pin fall victory. As a result, Mysterio became the new World Heavyweight Champion. After the match, Mysterio celebrated with Chavo and Vickie Guerrero.

The main event was for the WWE Championship between champion John Cena and Triple H. Triple H came out to the ring on a throne dressed as a Conan the Barbarian-type king, while Cena came out with a tommy gun and was accompanied by a group of “gangsters” (one of whom was future WWE Superstar CM Punk) in a 1940s Chicago-era vehicle. The match was evenly matched with both men getting the advantage over each other. Triple H tried to perform a Pedigree, but it was countered by Cena into an FU. After Triple H kicked out of a two-count, Cena locked him into the STFU. Triple H got to the ropes and went for another Pedigree, but was countered into the STFU again by Cena. Triple H tapped out, and as a result, Cena retained the WWE Championship.

 

Match Card

Dark- Viscera won by last eliminating Snitsky. The other participants were: Eugene, Goldust, Tyson Tomko, Rob Conway, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Striker, Super Crazy, Psychosis, Funaki, Steven Richards, Johnny Nitro, Joey Mercury, The Road Warrior, William Regal, and Simon Dean in an 18 match inter-promotional battle royal.

PPV

-Big Show and Kane (c) defeated Carlito and Chris Masters to retain the World Tag Team championship

-Rob Van Dam defeated Shelton Benjamin, Ric Flair, Finlay, Matt Hardy and Bobby Lashley in the 2^nd annual MITB Ladder Match.

-John “Bradshaw” Layfield (with Jillian Hall) defeated Chris Benoit (c) to win the US title.

-Edge (with Lita) defeated Mick Foley in a hardcore match

-The Boogeyman defeated Booker T and Sharmell in a handicap match

-Mickie James defeated Trish Stratus (c) to win the WWE Women’s title

-The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in a casket match

-Shawn Michaels defeated Vince McMahon in a No Holds Barred match

-Rey Mysterio defeated Randy Orton and Kurt Angle (c) to win The World Heavyweight Championship

-Torrie Wilson defeated Candice Michelle in a playboy pillow fight

-John Cena (c) defeated Triple H to retain the WWE Championship

Wrestlemania XIX (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XIX

 

Date: March 30^th 2003

City: Seattle, Washington

Venue: Safeco Field

Combined Attendance: 54,097

Sub-Theme: “Dare to Dream”

Celebrities: Limp Bizkit and the “Bud Light Girls” (smh) and Ashanti

 

 

Wrestlemania 19 was live from Seattle, Washington. Depending either how you look at it or who you are, you can say this was either the 2^nd outdoor wrestlemania or the 1st semi outdoor wrestlemania. Either way, it was a fully eventful mania.

This would be the first Wrestlemania where both of the company’s main championship titles would be defended. Since the Undisputed title was born a year prior (the physical belt), the idea of the champion bouncing back between the Raw and Smackdown Brand just wasn’t enough. And there was no way in the world that the IC title would be parallel as the main title on Raw, next to the Undisputed Championship on Smackdown. To remedy this situation, Eric Bishoff brought back the World Heavyweight Championship belt on an episode of Raw in September 2002 and awarded the title to Triple H. Triple H was the Champion on Raw and Brock Lesnar was the champion on Smackdown (which was now the WWE Championship). Brock lost the title at the 2002 Survivor Series to The Big Show, after being betrayed by Paul Hayman. Kurt Angle defeated The Big Show at Armageddon 2002 to win the WWE Championship. Brock Lesnar goes on to win the 2003 Royal Rumble, but there is a fall out between him and Angle. Angle is dead set on making sure that Brock is in no condition to wrestle for the title at Mania. Paul Heyman (no aligned with Kurt) Awards him with two wrestlers who are known as “Team Angle” Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Each week, both Haas and Benjamin try to take out Lesnar, but the plans never work out. After a series of matches between the three, this leads us to the final solution, Angle has to face Brock and defeat him himself, and this brings us to Wrestlemania. In the meantime, Triple H has been defending the title left and right against many competitors. Between RVD, Bubba Ray Dudley, Kane, Shawn Michaels and more, it’s been a nonstop battle. Booker T, wins a Raw battle royal to see who will wrestle the champ at Mania, and this leads to Triple H’s next opponent, Booker T.

Wrestlemania 19 is one of the most stacked Manias ever and loaded with top tier main event caliber matches. It’s hard to determine where to start since it seems as if every match on the card is worthy enough to close the show. An intense mania this is, indeed.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker was originally involved in a tag match, teaming up with Nathan Jones to take on The Big Show and A-Train. Nathan Jones suffered an “injury” and could not compete, leaving the dead man to fend for himself. Undertaker took on both giants and defeated them both. The Undertaker is 11-0 at Wrestlemania.

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho goes down as one of the top 10 greatest wrestlemania matches of all time. This would be Shawn Michaels Wrestlemania return to the ring. He has not been at a wrestlemania since WM 14 when he dropped the belt to Austin. The story leading into this Mania was about Chris Jericho’s (legitimate) childhood obsession of HBK. Hair like his as he’s coming up, style like his, build like his. Jericho admired Shawn to the fullest extent and naturally when you’re obsessed with someone, the best thing to do is take them out. This match was almost like a mirror match watching these two men go at it with each other. It was move after move, hold after hold, bump after bump that was a mimic of the other. But Late into the match, Michaels attempted to hit Jericho with Sweet chin music, however, Jericho countered it into a Walls of Jericho. After Michaels freed himself from Jericho’s submission hold, Jericho attempted a suplex that Michaels countered into a roll-up that gave Michaels a successful pinfall, thus Michaels won the match.

Triple H would successfully defend the World Heavyweight Championship belt against Booker T, but Booker T definately took Triple H to the absolute limit. With the exception of losing the WHC championship in the elimination chamber to Shawn Michaels, Booker legitimetly looked as if he was going to take the championship belt off the waist of Triple H.

Hulk Hogan faced off against his former employer, Vince McMahon in a street fight. Vince made the claim that he was the one that created Hulkamania, and that Hogan should acknowledge it. Hogan was hell; bent on the fact that the FANS were the ones who created Hulkamania. Due to Hogan’s defiance, Vince stated that he is going to kill what he created, and that would be Hulkamania. Both Hogan and McMahon tested each other’s strength in the beginning of the match, until McMahon tossed Hogan onto ringside. Hogan then countered a chairshot by McMahon into several of his own, that caused McMahon to bleed from the head. Late into the match, Roddy Piper interfered in the match as he hit Hogan with a pipe. Hogan however, later retaliated by hitting McMahon with a Big boot into a Leg drop and successfully pinned McMahon, thus Hogan won the match.

The next sharing the main event was the impeccable; Rock vs Austin Part 3. Never in the history of the WWF or WWE, has there been two men who main evented 3 wrestlemanias against each other. That just tells you a lot about the impact of influence that both Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock have on the business. They wrestled at both WM 15 and WM 17, on both occasions Stone Cold Steve Austin would leave victorious. This match proved that this was The Rock’s destiny to win. The match was a nonstop brawl between the two as they engaged in a heated exchange with each other. Austin was suffering from complications from his neck and looked as if he may not be able to compete, but he did indeed and gave a helluva match. Throughout the match, Rock worked over Austin’s leg, which included Rock applying a Sharpshooter on Austin. Rock then began to taunt Austin, as he put on his vest and imitated his taunts, which led to The Rock running into a Rock Bottom by Austin. Rock then retaliated by hitting Austin with a Stone Cold stunner. Earlier, The Rock cut a promo in which he stated that in Hollywood, it’s not about Act 1 nor Act 2; everyone goes home and remembers Act 3. And Act 3 is what they remembered. Because after he failed to pin Austin with the People’s elbow, Rock then hit Austin with three Rock Bottoms that led to the Rock successfully pinning Austin, thus The Rock won the match.

The final main event was a WWE Championship match between Brock Lesnar and the champion, Kurt Angle, with the stipulation that there would be no Champion’s Advantage (in other words, the title could change hands on a disqualification or a count out). Both men put on a clinic! The match began with Lesnar and Angle wrestling back and forth, until Angle countered a shoulder block into a German suplex. Lesnar would then attempt to retaliate by attempting to F-5 Angle, however, Angle countered it into an Ankle lock, that Lesnar was able to escape out of. As Lesnar escaped, Angle would attempt to deliver an Angle slam, however, Lesnar countered it into an F-5. Instead of covering Angle, Lesnar climbed to the top rope and hit a botched Shooting star press on Angle, which Angle covered for by going for the pin attempt and getting a two count. After Lesnar kicked out, Angle picked up Lesnar only to be hit with another F-5, Lesnar then successfully pinned Angle, winning the match and the WWE Championship.

Match Card

 

Heat- Lance Storm and Chief Morley (c) (with Dudley Boyz) defeated Kane and Rob Van Dam to retain the WWE World Tag Team Championship titles (First time a title match was on a Wrestlemania pre show)

PPV

–Matt Hardy (c) (with Shannon Moore) defeated Rey Mysterio to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship

–The Undertaker defeated The Big Show and A-Train in a handicap match.

–Trish Stratus defeated Victoria (c) (with Steven Richards) and Jazz to retain the WWE Women’s Championship

–Team Angle (Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas) (c) defeated Los Guerreros (Eddie and Chavo Guerrero) and Chris Benoit and Rhyno to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship  (The Smackdown Tag Team Titles)

–Shawn Michaels defeated Chris Jericho

–Triple H (c) (with Ric Flair) defeated Booker T to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

–Hulk Hogan defeated Vince McMahon in a street fight

–The Rock defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin

–Brock Lesnar defeated Kurt Angle (c) to win the WWE Championship

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.

American Wrestling Crowds…OWNED?

 

Written by: Maurice D. Proffit

Thank you 2/6/2012 edition of Monday Night Raw for being a very lackluster and underwhelming show because that motivated me even more to talk about something that has been itching my brain since Thursday 2/2/2012.

So any wrestling fan, that takes his wrestling somewhat seriously, you were well aware that TNA Impact Wrestling was being broadcasted from Wembly Arena in London England last week. Queue “Rule, Britannia”

RULE BRITAINNIA!!!

Living in a current day and age where TNA is normally the punch line and/or but of all jokes, I like to consider myself a “TNA Apologist”. I don’t necessarily take part in the constant bashing of the organization. Is it flawless? FAR from it! Is it perfect? FAR from it. Can I put together a global wrestling federation on their level? FAR FROM IT! And that’s the reason why I don’t beat it up to much. While people focus on its negatives, I take into consideration how far they have come and their direction. I look at those attributes and it makes me hold on to the bumpy ride even longer. There have been plenty of times where I would just look at the product with absolutely disgust and/or embarrassment. And I’m asking myself, “Why in the hell would they air this?” But in all fairness, I’ve asked those same questions and visited those same feelings about the WWE as well. So, I cannot be hypocritical. So now here we are at the Impact Wrestling that is in London. And just from the mere opening of the show as they are panning the crowd, I am HOOKED AND SOLD. Never, and I mean NEVER have I seen a TNA audience with so much electricity and so much passion. Gorilla Monsoon coined the phrase “The Electricity in here is so thick, you can cut it with a knife”, and my sentiments were exact for this London crowd.

Eat your F*ckin heart out Impact Zone, We own you!

Did it matter that Bound for Glory back on Oct 9^th 2011 left us with a very sour taste in our mouths, considering how the PPV finished? No. Did it matter that TNA is the hub for what is called “The home of Russo booking?” No. Did it matter than almost a year ago; Jeff Hardy made his way down to ringside at the Victory Road ppv, to face Sting in a world heavyweight title match, but was higher than a Boeing 757?

Dude wait, is the belt thingy on the line or my bong?

No, it didn’t. To these fans, “To hell with the past! We just want to see some wrestling.” And at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about? Wrestling. Isn’t that the reason why we tune in on Mondays and Thursdays? Why we buy the ppvs? Why we buy tickets to the arenas? Isn’t this the reason why we do these things? For the in ring wrestling? Now, I hate to do this, but I must prove a point, let me compare the UK Wrestling Audience to the United States Wrestling Audience. Black/White difference. And I feel that there is a black/white difference because the WWE has raised and set the bar to a level where only they can reach. Now, is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. This is 2012, in order to progress, we have to accept modernity. But why is it that American Wrestling fans have difficulty with distinguishing the difference between a multi-million dollar product vs a successful yet meager product? It’s like if it’s not the multimillion dollar product, it’s not worthy of being on our television sets.

Yeah, F*ck Off! We’re not going anywhere!

Example. When I was I college, my now wife (who was then my girlfriend) were hanging out in my dorm room (QN: We were on campus during the summer working and going to summer school and there were times where we had a lot of down time, just so you don’t think we never used our time wisely, lol) and I had an ECW wrestling tape that I was borrowing from a friend of mine and I wanted to show her. She had never been exposed to anything outside of WWE, but she was a good sport anyway and told me she’d check out the tape. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the PPV, but it had an RVD vs Sabu match on it, that (to this day IMO) was a classic. I wanted her to watch that match, because I knew she would appreciate it. Just a few days before, we watched RVD vs Eddie Guerrero on Monday Night Raw in a ladder match, that just stole the show and to this day is her favorite match of all time. We watched the RVD/Sabu match, and I noticed that I was the only one who was really into the match. As a matter of fact, she asked if we could turn it off because it was “boring”. BORING?!?! Seriously??? I asked her the problem and she said “it looks bootleg and low budget.” Well…yes, it is very low budget. But the beauty of ECW is what was lost in the glamour was made up for it in the ring. That wasn’t enough for her. She wanted lights, pyro, a stage, 14,000-20,000 person stadium, big original music, great camera work and set designs. Her bar of what to appreciate with pro wrestling was set so high, that no other org (even the original ECW) would not be able to reach that standard.

 

Is that the current problem now? Are we just too jaded by the pomp and circumstance that WWE gives us on a bi weekly basis that it almost like we expect it already and the novelty has worn off? Going back to that crowd in London England, that crowd reminded me of what pro wrestling used to be in the 80’s. Rabid crowd popping for every and all big move that took place. They even reminded me of the WWF Attitude Era crowd who just went nuts over anyone who was in the ring. I was watching on WWE Classics on Demand the other day; an old episode of Monday Night Raw where it was Jacqueline vs Sable in an arm wrestling match…a women’s arm wrestling match, and the crowd was eating up every second of it. Loved it! If we were to get right now Kelly Kelly vs Brie Bella in an arm wrestling match, the crowd would rebel and the home audience would twitter/Facebook “Worst sh*t ever” and all that good stuff. So what is/was the difference? Why is it that a live crowd cannot get pumped to see a Yoshi Tatsu vs Drew McIntyre match? Why do we pop for the entrance music but when the bell rings it’s the total opposite? I cannot even begin to tell you how much it kills me when I see people who are sitting ringside, TEXTING! C’mon man! You’re ringside at a live WWE event! Nothing at that moment compares, unless your house is on fire, and if it is, you have insurance…you can wait! There’s a world title match going on in front of you.

I know these seats were $500 but, I wonder what Brad is doing? *sigh*

How many times do I have to see the people in the first 4 rows more concerned about making sure that they are on TV by looking at the titan tron? Or what about the guy who is ON his cell phone, and simultaneously looking at the titan tron and waving at the hard camera saying “Hey! You see me!?!? I’m in the gray shirt! Yeah dude! That’s meeeeeeeee.” UGH!!!! I would KILL for your seats! And not just to I can call my buddy and tell them to turn on USA to look at me, just so I can watch the action going on just a mere 5 yards away from me. I challenge you to look for any old WWF tape from the 80’s and 90’s and find me a crowd that is dead and critical to the product. And where did the heavy heavy criticism come from? Now it’s not wrong to voice your opinion of what’s going on with wrestling, but it’s come to obsessive hate now with fans. For example, TNA had a poster that was out to promote one of their shows and there was a very slight typo on it. And the typo occurred on a line that was not even prominent. But someone on Facebook felt the absolute need to harp on this type and him and others just ripped the company apart and did everything but wish death on them. Wow, all of this over a typo? Hey genius, open ANY magazine, I promise you, you will find some. Since when did people all of a sudden become editor in chief of the New York Times???

Yes! I found a TNA typo! I Rule…(looks around moms basement)

Have we as fans really gotten to that point? Where our only reason for breathing is to hate on a product that we love? I’ve said for some time now that No on hates pro wrestling more than WRESTLING FANS. I am more than convinced by this. And it seems like it’s really on this side of the pond. True, there are those who are extremely critical over in Europe, but when we see examples of this last Impact, the new TNA spinoff “Ring Ka King” and whenever we see footage of WWE in Europe, we get the same reaction across the board. We get that energy, that passion, that excitement, that emotional investment. As Americans, are we just generally overly stimulated? Remember when once upon a time, cable TV just meant 10 extra channels in addition to 2, 5, 7 and 9? Now, I hit the guide channel and I have a channel numbers “957”. Remember when once upon a time when the sole reason for your car was to drive you from point A to point B? Now our vehicles turn on with a remote control. Open the doors with the censor of your hand, voice activated. Heats your seat individually and your coffee mug. Have televisions sets in it. Remember when once upon a time, your phone was used to… (*gasp*) make phone calls? Now a phone does everything under the sun and making a phone call is so down on the list. I’m not even going to go into the details of what a phone does now. I’m just waiting for it to microwave your food.

Whats this “Phone Call” that you speak of?

But are we just overly stimulated to a point where we cannot appreciate the dignity of simplicity? Where just a mere match between two men or two women is way under our expectations and our immediate reaction is to mock the talent? Is our attention span that bad where we as fans cannot appreciate a Broadway (Wrestling Term: “Broadway”: A match that last 1 hour or more) anymore??? Gone are those days. This is why the Divas get a 90 sec 8 woman tag on Raw! Attention spans are next to none.

Collectively, we work 10 min a week!!!

Maybe, just maybe we need to take a page from our friends in international waters and understand that they really are the fortunate ones who are ahead of us. From the Canada, to the UK, to India, to Japan, these wrestling fans are seeing something that we just will not accept that is in front of us. WrestleMania will never go on international soil due to the economics of the whole thing. But…maybe Wembly Stadium or the Tokyo Dome does deserve a WrestleMania. And we in the United States should watch on tape delay.

Add one more seat and we’ll break the 1992 record!

I’m just sayin…

 

 

Before I end this. Just want to show some love to a few SOLID bloggers that I am learning A LOT from (thank you gentlemen)

For your Baseball Fix, this man is a walking/living Wikipedia of anything dealing with Major League Baseball. Check out Matt Adams (Twitter: @2012WhiteSox) His Web sites are: http://ramblingsofbaseball.com and http://southsideshowdown.com

For your Premier English Football League fix, on opinions, topics, analysis and all that good stuff that deal with English Football, check out Ross Bell (Twitter: @RossBell1984  ) His Web Site is: http://www.johnnykashmirsrandomblog.blogspot.com/

For anyone that take an appreciation in commentary on computers, Video Games and other outlets of technology (of which i am completely clueless about but I envy the hell out of him), Check out Sekani Wright (Twitter: @Sekani2  ) his Web site is http://www.sekani2.com