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.

What the Hell do you mean “Three Hours of Raw”?!?!? (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

My Thoughts Exactly

Today, on this unforgivable 97 degree Chicago heat, I spent the afternoon at US Cellular field, watching the Chicago White Sox make an example out of the Cleveland Indians. I was with two of my long time best friends, Samuel Vaughn and Matthew Adams, and met a cool kat name Ricardo who came with Matt. In conversation, Matt and I were talking about our blogs. Matt has an amazing blog on http://southsideshowdown.com that he updates daily, sometimes twice a day. He had me thinking, that my wrestling blog hasn’t really made any traction in a few weeks. Giving it deeper though, I asked myself, what do I want to talk about? Since WrestleMania, we had the return of Brock Lesnar and that was white hot, but now since he is “fired”, the WWE tidal waves have slowed down considerably.  However, one wrestling issue that has sprout up has really ruffled my feathers and really is worth a mention. A week and a half ago, we were presented with news that WWE Monday Night Raw will move to 3 hours. And I’m sorry to say, but if you are looking forward to this you really are a fucking moron.

WWE’s formula for Monday night raw usually goes as this:

8pm cst-8:17pmcst – In ring promo by either John Cena, Triple H, John Laurenitus and maybe the WWE Champion (emphasis on WWE CHAMPION) CM Punk.

8:20pm -8:26pm- Opening match, usually involves Kofi Kingston somehow

8:26pm-8:27pm- Backstage promo to set up the midway point match.

8:31pm cst- The WWE “Rewind”, Commercial for the new WWE Magazine, Product placement, another backstage segment.

8:36pm- Divas match begins

8:39pm- Divas match ends.

8:40pm- Backstage segment

8:42pm – commercial

8:46pm- Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler speak about what happened either earlier in the night or what took place last week, queue the over produced video package.

8:51pm- The midway point match begins.

9:07pm – the midway point match ends with a couple of commercial breaks.

9:08pm- quick backstage segment

9:13pm – back from commercial break

9:14pm- Broadus Clay match

9:19pm- DVD that is either on sale right now, on sale tomorrow or on sale next Tuesday

9:20pm- Commercial

9:23pm- The WWE Slam of the night.

9:24- WWE Tag match

9:36pm – Tag match ends

9:40pm- Special in ring promo cut by Jericho or someone.

9:46pm- Teaser for the Main event

9:52pm- Main event (or John Cena Promo and/or Contract Signing) begging.

10:08 pm cst- Raw Ends

I know what you’re saying, “well that looks like a lot of content”. Yes, it does, on paper, but Raw has become nothing more but paint by numbers.

Look what I painted all by myself! 😀

So, if this is what takes place in a 2 hours show, what in the hell is going to happen with the 3^rd hour??? I know, you’re saying to yourself, “but they can showcase some of the younger, no name stars!” Yeah, I’d like that, I’d love that, but is WWE really going to give MNR air time to the likes of a Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Reks or Darren Young? Ummmmm, no. Raw’s ideology is for at all seconds on the air, you must either have a big name superstar (is: Cena, Orton, or Triple H) a Diva (i.e.: Kelly Kelly, was The Bella Twins or Beth) or someone larger than life (i.e.: Kane, Big Show or Broadus Clay). So, they are not concerned with giving the younger guys any of the precious Raw airtime.

Its…Just…Not…FAIR!!! *wimper*wimper*sniff*sniff*

This is why they have WWE Superstars show, which only half the country gets on WGN America. That is designated for “them”. But when the announcement of Raw going 3 hours was made, the first thing that came to my mind was “WCW Monday Nitro”! Now when that show went 3 hours at first, I was happy and looking forward to it happening.  More wrestling = More Good TV. Not in this case, it just meant more fluff. It meant tacking on another Lee Marshall 1800 Collect Road Report! Shit, I don’t need! So after thought, came when Raw has a gimmick night and need the extra hour; per USA Network’s deal, of WWE having to hold a certain number of Raw’s per year. So with that, WWE just makes up these gimmick filled shows. The Roulette, WWE All Stars Monday Night Raw, “Old School Night”. And while, the idea is good on paper (there goes the power of the p-a-p-e-r again), after the 2 hours 10 mark, the gimmick either wears thin or WWE forgets they’re doing it and it feels like as normal show. By this time, you’re looking at the clock saying “Jesus Christ, another 50 min of this?” At one time, the 3 hour raw only occurred once a year and it was for the WWE Draft and those shows were prime excellence, 2oo2 roster at the time was great as opposed to 10 years later.

HaHaHa! Our d*ck is bigger than yours!

So, with every complaint of mine, I have to provide some sort of a solution, and even though, I’m not on the booking committee, I can suggest this, give us an hour of WRESTLING. Do that for us on the first hour. Give us  Yoshi Tatsu, Tyler Reks, Kurt Hawkins, Darren Young, Titus O’Neal, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel, talent from FCW. No backstory, no pending drama, just two guys in the ring, and let the wrestling tell the story. Give that to us for an hour, hell even have Josh Matthews and Matt Stryker do the commentary. But make that 60 min mean something. To wrestling fans, and the next 2 hours can be paint by numbers.

And yes, true, that is very WCW Monday Nitro, but while the WWE, (sometimes) TNA and the wrestling world learned from WCW mistakes, it won’t hurt to learn from their triumphs either.

Whoa! Whoa! Wait….we did something right??? What was it again? So I can tell friends.

Wrestlemania XXVII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXVII (27)

 

Date: April 3^rd 2011

City: Atlanta, Georgia

Venue: Georgia Dome

Combined Attendance: 71,617

Sub-Theme: “The Biggest Wrestlemania Ever”

Celebrities: Snoop Dogg, Snookie, Keri Hilson, Pee Wee Herman and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

 

Wrestlemania invades HOT-LANTA!!!!!!! The ATL!!!! What was once the official territory of World Championship Wrestling, was now being taken over and flooded by The World Wrestling Entertainment! This would be the final PPV to be under the “World Wrestling Entertainment” banner. A few days later the company name changed to just WWE. Wrestlemania 27 would once again be a duo brand show.

The road to wrestlemania started at the Royal Rumble. The 2011 Royal Rumble would be the largest Rumble in history, this time having 40 men. Alberto Rodriguez would win the Royal Rumble and would challenge the World Heavyweight Champion, Edge at Wrestlemania.

The WWE Champion, The Miz has been on a tare since Nov 22^nd 2010 as WWE Champion, but he has yet to meet an opponent to pose a major threat to him, in John Cena. The WWE made the announcement, that Wrestlemania would have a “guest host”. The guest host was announced on the Feb 14^th edition of Raw, when we found out it would be…THE ROCK! The Rock made his return to the WWE! Rock poked his attention toward the two men involved in the WWE Championship match, both Cena and Miz. We can assume that The Rock will be involved in the WWE title match in some way, shape and form.

The PPV started out, for the first time with one of the main title main events! The World Heavyweight Championship was on the line as Edge face Alberto Del Rio. Del Rio would be at the ring along side with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay. Edge would be at ringside with Christian. During the match Del Rip put a lot of focus on Edge’s arm, looking to lock him in the cross armbreaker. Edge locked in the Edgeucator while Del Rio locked in the Cross Armbreaker. When both men got up, Edge hit the Spear for the win. After the match, Edge and Christian both destroyed the luxury car that Del Rio came out in.

Undertaker Note: After defeating The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels in two wrestlemanias in a row and retiring him, The Game Triple H felt he would be the only one that would be able to be fit to finish what Shawn couldn’t by defeating The undertaker. Triple H would bring nothing but intensity in the match against Taker. Triple H would make this one of his most physical matches of his career, even crashing Undertaker through Michael Cole’s “Cole mine” as well. The match was a back n forth exchange between the two from spinebuster, to chokeslam, to bodyslams. But no move was strong enough to put down undertaker. A gasp went through the crowd as Triple H, gave Taker the cut throat and then tombstone. When Triple H crosses Undertakers arms over his chest and even sticks the tongue out, but even that wasn’t enough to put away Taker. When Triple H went to his last resort, the sledgehammer, Taker caught Triple H in the “Hells Gate” and would make Triple H tap out.

The Undertaker is 19-0 at Wrestlemania

The last match was for the WWE Championship. It featured John Cena facing off against current champion The Miz (accompanied by Alex Riley). The first highlight of the match occurred when Cena hit the Five Knuckle Shuffle on The Miz. Cena then went for the Attitude Adjustment, but Miz countered with a DDT. There was a lot of back and forth action until The Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale. That didn’t keep Cena down as he managed to hit the Attitude Adjustment; however, that didn’t keep Miz down either. Both men fought outside of the ring, but knocked each other out in the process. The match ended in a double count out, meaning The Miz would retain his title. The Rock came out to intervene, but the Raw GM made an announcement. The Rock went to read it, but then disregarded it. He called for a restart to the match with a no disqualification, no count out, no time limit stipulation. The match restarted and, with Cena dragging Miz back inside the ring and attempting to execute an Attitude Adjustment, wasn’t successful. In retaliation for the Attitude Adjustment that Cena gave him on the Raw episode prior to WrestleMania, The Rock stalked Cena from behind and hit a Rock Bottom on him. Taking advantage, The Miz then covered a fallen Cena for the win.

Match Card

Dark- Sheamus (c) wrestled Daniel Bryan to a no-contest for the United States Championship in a Lumberjack Match.

Dark- The Great Khali won by last eliminating Sheamus in a 23 man battle royal

PPV

–Edge (c) (with Christian) defeated Alberto Del Rio (with Ricardo Rodriguez and Brodus Clay) to retain the World Heavyweight Championship

–Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio

–Kane, Big Show, Santino Marella, and Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre (Wade Barrett, Ezekiel Jackson, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater)

–Randy Orton defeated CM Punk

–Michael Cole (with Jack Swagger) defeated Jerry Lawler by Disqualification

–The Undertaker defeated Triple H by submission in a no holds barred match.

–John Morrison, Trish Stratus and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi defeated Dolph Ziggler and LayCool (Layla and Michelle McCool) (with Vickie Guerrero)

–The Miz (c) (with Alex Riley) defeated John Cena for 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.

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.

Wrestlemania XV (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 15

 

Date: March 28^th 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 3^rd 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.

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

Wrestlemania XIII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 13

 

Date: March 23^rd 1997

City: Rosemont, IL (Outside of Chicago)

Venue: The Rosemont Horizon

Combined Attendance: 18,197

Sub-Theme: HEAT!

Celebrities: Ken Shamrock

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

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

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

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

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

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

Undertaker Note

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

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

Match Card

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

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

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

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

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

–Bret Hart defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin

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

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

The Great Divide (The Rock vs John Cena) By: Maurice D. Proffit

 

 

 
 
April 4th 2011; The day after Wrestlemania 27; in Atlanta, GA. The Rock addresses the crowd. Giving his take on what happened in the night before WWE Championship match between John Cena and The Miz. The Miz walks away with the victory over Cena; but this night was not about The Miz, this was about Cena. The Rock was not focused on the man who was (at that time) proudly holding the WWE championship and coming off the victory of the lifetime, but rather the attention of The Rock was on the man who in fact lost the championship title fight in the headlining main event. The Rock; before a sold out crowd in the Philips Arena, made an unprecedented announcement, where be put out a challenge to John Cena, in a one on one match at Wrestlemania 28 in Miami, Florida. With the exception of Mr. Kennedy (with an asterisk) in 2007; never has there been a wrestler to make a challenge to another wrestler, exactly 1 year from the date. A very bold, brash and calculating risk that the WWE is taking in scheduling a match 1 year in advance. 
 

Dream Match...Check!

 
 
Who’s to say what will take place in one year? Who’s to say where the wrestlers will be? Who’s to say where the company/business would be? Would this be able to hold the attention of the audience and keep them interested? So many questions and so many red flags can be raised when doing this. But knowing how the WWE is when it comes to what the present to their fans, this was a risk that was worth taking and was executed perfectly. Between promoting the film “Fast 5”; to being involved with “The Summer of Punk”, to shooting “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, to the WWE Title triangle, to Survivor Series Tag Match main event; to promoting Disney’s “Journey 2”, to Kane trying to make Cena “Embrace the Hate”, here we are at the end of February/ beginning of March, just 4-5 weeks away from wrestlemania, the journey is close to coming to a close and our final destination will be the dream match between The Rock and John Cena. 
 

 
 
The Rock came back a year ago to the WWE, in what is being looked at as one of the biggest and most astounding comebacks in wrestling history. The buzz that The Rock created was absolutely uncanny. Between The Rock being the #1 trend worldwide on twitter to every facebook status (at his return) on FB that night, being in relation with The Rock. Fan or no fan, you were talking about the return of the peoples champion (See my issue of Proffits Piledriver from 2-3 weeks ago that talks more about this…*link*). The Rock said one line in that promo, that seems to be like an STD, it just keeps looming its ugly head over and over again periodically. The Rock gave a memorable 20 min promo and he stated “I am never ever going away”. Yes, hearing that was comfortable and hearing that from him felt great knowing that The Rock was back. 
 

Honey, Guess who got fired?

 
 
But let’s be real…
 
 
I would hope that anyone with a half a brain would know that, he would NOT be wrestling full time the way he did back in 1998. No, Rock still had films to promote, we all knew about G.I. Joe, so how would it be possible for him to wrestle full time again? 
 

Duh!!! I need to fulfill contract obligations by kicking Cobras ass, prick!

 
 
I had a lightly heated discussion with someone after The Rocks comeback where I was explaining to them, that he’s not back full time. He will be back on a legends contract but not full time, he doesn’t need to. But there is a percentage of fans that feel that he is supposed to be in the ring wrestling full time, and that is what confuses and bothers me. 
 
 

Yeah, this is just the scheudle for the 2nd week of May. You didnt have anything planned now, did you?

 
 
If indeed The Rock came back and wrestled on a full time basis, he would then be deemed as “boring” or you’ll hear people crying saying “he’s taking up a roster spot”, also “The Rock is old.” Any of those variations, we would be flooded with all of those comments.
 
 

I have nothing to do but cry about something that's awesome! (In your Nancy Kerrigan voicce) Why! Why! Why!

 
 
 So, The Rock doesn’t come back immediately the next week on Raw, and he goes back to fulfill his Hollywood obligations. We see The Rock on a very sporadic basis due to his schedule. But fast forward to right now, fans are pissed off at The Rock for leaving! Fans…WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT??!?! Do they want to see The Rock vs Tyler Reks on a weekly basis? Is this what you want? 
 
 

Whoaaa Dude. Im relevant again? Gnarly!

 
 
Really? C’mon. American Wrestling fans who expect the world from everyone, calm down and relax and just enjoy what we are getting. The Rock does not need to wrestle on a full time basis at all. This man is arguably one of the greatest entertainers pro wrestling has ever seen. He was one of the leaders of the Attitude Era (the WWE’s most financial successful years in the companies existence) to help propel the WWE into competing ranks with other top outlets of entertainment. The Rock has toured the world, headlined several wrestlemanias, sold out arenas all over the world. Sold a gaudy amount of merchandise and is a constant hit on the media circuit. He is the man that Access Hollywood, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, The Tonight Show, Conan, Letterman, all go to, to appear on their shows. There is a reason behind this and it’s not that The Rocks name keeps getting pulled from a hat, that’s for sure. But it’s because he is the right man to choose from when it comes to mainstream media. 
 
 

This over taking bumps, injuries, living out a suitcase and politics? Yeah, I chose right.

 
 
The Rock still at the moment, still holds the segment for the highest rated segment in the history of professional wrestling, with “The Rock; This is your life” segment, with him and Mankind (Rock and Sock Connection). The Rock main evented three…excuse me, I don’t think you heard me….THREE Wrestlemanias wrestling Stone Cold Steve Austin. And two of those matches were for the WWE Championship. When has that ever happened in the history of the WWE? Never! The Rock has won every major title in the company from the WWE title, the World Heavyweight Championship, The IC championship to the Tag Team Championships. Arguably, he has made the company more money than any other superstar. So please help me in understanding where it is a mandatory that a wrestler who is THIS accomplished, HAVE to work a full time schedule like he did his rookie year within the WWE? Where does it say that he has to fulfill these obligations? But I guess according to many of these current disgruntled fans, this is obviously a requirement. An odd requirement, but a requirement never the less.
 
But the most common heat is “The Rock Leaving” in the first place. Fan are besides themselves that The Rock pursued a Hollywood career. How dare he make an independent adult decision to take advantage of an opportunity.
 
 

 
 
Let me just ask this first. You are a young professional; mid to late 20’s, in your ideal career. Within your department, you are a hot shot and your work speaks for itself. You work hard and you have a great respect and admiration of your peers. One day, someone approaches you and informs you of a wonderful opportunity that is available. The work is not as strenuous, still in a similar field, but the pay is out of this world. Here you are, with a long time girlfriend, whom you’re looking to propose to soon. And you know down the line you two will be speaking of starting a family as well. What would be the logical move? Turn down the opportunity because you are Mr. Office Funny Guy, and what would the department do without your presence? Or seize this opportunity so you can set up a better life for you and your family?  
 

Do I take the new offer and provide for my family or do i stay so I can continue being the office douche?

 
 
Exactly. So why is The Rock being crucified for making the same decision that we would all make as well?  Why is it ok for us to seize better opportunities, but he’s not allowed to. I think that is a massive imbalance that I would need clarity on. 
 
 

Becuase if I tweet my anger and frustration, then it must hold some merit. (Mom. can you let me know when its time for my show?)

 
 
Survivor Series 2011; live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The main event was a tag match between The Miz and R-Truth vs John Cena and The Rock. This would be the first time The Rock would be in the middle of the ring wrestling, for the first time in 7 ½ years (since wrestlemania 20). The Rock stood in the middle of the ring next to John Cena and (at the risk of sounding like I want to rape him) The Rock looked like a Greek god. 
 

This aint gonna tickle.

 
The Rock was in the best shape that he’s ever been in, in his life. Rock looked like an exaggerated characterture of himself, because he really did look like he was chiseled out of stone next to everyone else. Nothing against John Cena, because Cena is in amazing shape, but standing next to The Rock, Cena looked like he was no where even near his league. Cena looked pale compared to him. He looked very short and small next to The Rock. Cena did not look strong at all next to The Rock. There was an obvious contrast between the two, and I’m sure that if an average Joe fan like myself could notice it, you know the boss; Vince McMahon; noticed it more than ever. The Rock looked flawless in the ring that night, and even though Cena did most of the work, The Rock looked better than the entire WWE Roster, easily. Physically and how smooth his ring work was. Lord, if wrestlemania was that night, and Cena went over, there wouldn’t be a soul in that arena who would’ve bought that. 
 

What Cena looks like Next to the Rock.

 
 
Lets fast forward to 2012. The John Cena/Kane storyline was MUCH needed. Some people thought the storyline was a waste of time, I on the other hand felt it was extremely necessary because Cena needed to go through a slight transformation and embrace a more aggressive side of his. If Cena is going into Mania as the happy go lucky, “Awwwww shucks” wrestler that we know him as, he’d be laughed at. Vince needs for this dream match to look as credible as it can. The last time we had this match of this caliber was Hogan-Rock at Wrestlemania X8 (18). Those were two guys you can put in the middle of the ring, both of them look like they belong, and they will give you something memorable.  
 
 

Veteran Status In Da Hooooouse!!!!

 
 
Yes, Cena IS the right man to be in this spot. Yes, Cena IS whom we want to see in the middle of the ring with The Rock. But we all know that Cena just needed more of an edge to make this match credible. So with the storyline with Kane and how that evolved and what it resulted to, Cena has his edge. But he needs more of a direct edge with The Rock. Enter The Monday night raw edition of 2/20/2012. John Cena cuts a very intense promo against The Rock…
 

 
 
 
And the Buzz around the world was. How will The Rock respond to something so strong and passionate from Cena. Finally Cena gave us something that wasn’t full of clichés, potty humor, gay jokes (which I have a true problem with) and of course the ONE joke he’s been leaning on ALLLLLL YEAR “Being Via Satellite” or “He’s not here”. We didn’t get Robo Cena, where he comes out and is just reciting the memorized promo that was written for him by Brian Gerwitz team, in the back. We actually got a John Cena that channeled a legit emotion and brought out to the television audience. JOHN, THIS IS WHAT WE WANT FROM YOU!!!!! THANK YOU!!! He has finally arrived. 
 

 
 
Cena now has a credible and almost meanacing edge to him, but one more piece of the puzzle needs to be added on, The Rock needs to scale back.
 
 
On the Feb 27th edition of Raw, The Rock was live in Eugene, Oregon. He cut a promo…but…it….just….wasn’t…Rock….like….
 
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mus3F3AvS-o&feature=related

 
 
Huh? #1.) Was The Rock NOT intense? #2.) Was he frazzled and thrown off?   #3.) Did he have blatant notes on his arm? HUH?!?!?!?
 

What was the over/under of some fan boy going through thr trouble to make this pic and post it online. Mr. Internet Hero! WoooHooo!!!

 
 
Since when has The Rock NOT been intense? It could be for a 45 sec promo, The Rock always brings it.  Since when does The Rock needs noted to help him know what to say next??? Since when does The Rock look thrown off? Dude, you’re a professional actor, you…wait….you’re a professional actor. 
 

"Ha! Yeah, you forgot. Im a professional actor, Moron!"

 
 
What better way to control the crowd in a direction that you want them to go in? Yes, YOU direct them yourself. Makes all the sense in the world. I see many many many comments of people bashing The Rock for what he did. I see many comments that are damn near filled with vile hate for him. People wishing death upon him. I’m sorry are these fans of pro wrestling or is this a lynch mob? 
 

 
 
It’s odd, how one year ago, the electricity and the buzz of The Rock returning brought a resurgence back to professional wrestling that is has been missing for so long; suddenly turns into this hostile hate for someone, who is on a part time schedule with the WWE. But to me, it was obvious that this was done all on purpose. The scaled back promo, the stumbling and bumbling, the written notes. All of this has to be a work in order to make Cena look like the more superior. If The Rock is The Rock every  week going into Mania, Cena will look so insignificant in that match, that the match would no longer look like money the way it once did. So, in other words, all of these angry wrestling fans that are having an aneurism over this, guess what kids…you’ve been worked. 
 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

 
And it doesn’t just take one for that promo to work, it took 2…maybe 3. It took The Rock; John Cena and possibly an agent. That promo was systematically done a certain way to move the crowd. The plan worked. So if you think that you’re getting one over on The Rock because you jump on a Facebook page or twitter and leave disparaging comments about The Rock, guess again genius, because you’re only doing what he wanted you to do in the first place. 
 

 
Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a piece for me to write so I can say “You have to choose The Rock! What’s wrong with you?!?!” Not at all. I understand that there are Rock Fans and I understand that there are Cena fans. And it should be that way. I love the emotion that is going through people right now. There is such a vested interest in both of these men, that you cannot help but select a side. There hasn’t been this kind of emotion since WWF vs. WCW (during the hay day years, not the Invasion Angle). 
 

Ahhhhh, the glory days of war...

 

You had to choose a side and it’s that I love. But I can seriously deal without the ignorant hate that I see coming from other “fans” (and I use that term loosely with them).
 
I can admit that Cena had the upper edge once again on the 2/27 edition of Raw, in terms of promos. And that is fine. But something stood out tremendously in his 2/27 promo. The Rock’s influence.  The Rock mentioned something that I felt was very significant. Last year, when he did his first promo on his comeback, he called Cena a “bowl of fruity pebbles”. Cena response to that insult by a quiet video shot of him eating a bowl of fruity pebbles. About a good 6-9 months later, boom, John Cena is on the front of the box of Fruity Pebbles. As funny as that sounds on paper, the numbers are even better. We’re talking about a multimillion dollar endorsement with Post Cereal, for John Cena to be on the box of cereal. A one liner for The Rock turns into a mega bank role with a billion dollar company. Good for The Rock, Great for John Cena, Tremendous for The WWE.

 

I just paid BEEEEOTCH!!! Thanks Rock!

Add this to his existing endorsement deals with Subway and with Gillette.  In addition to this, When The Rock speaks, people are going to be all ears; whether they like him or not. But people will tune in to see and hear what he is going to say. He has the crowd just eating out of the palm of his hands on Monday in Eugene. And the last time he spoke, and the last, and the last, and the last. The Rock has been controlling the crowd for many years before his semi retirement to Hollywood, and he knows the ring and knows the culture. The Rock knows what the do’s and don’ts are in pro wrestling (which is why it’s laughable that people really bought the writing on the arm). The Rock has been around this business for literally his entire life. But overall, The Rock understands and respects the time honored tradition of pro wrestling. Which is why The Rock will indeed put over John Cena at Wrestlemania 28.
 

Haha!

 
He did it before with Brock Lesnar at Summer Slam 2002. The Rock put over Lesanr and dropped the WWE Undisputed Championship to him. Pretty much passing the torch that was passed to him by Hulk Hogan 4 months earlier. And now it is time to do it once again, but this time to Cena. When we think of the greatest of all times we automatically think of Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart. That is a very elite class of men to be a part of. John Cena is a tremendous worth and a great man to have represent your company. But he’s just not in that class yet. But with the assistance of The Rock, and with him putting Cena over at the grandest stage of them all at Wrestlemania 28, it will be at moment in the middle of Sun Life Stadium where The Rock will then endorse John Cena as the true leader of this current era of pro wrestling and from there and so on, Cena will then be a part of that upper echelon of legends that were mentioned earlier, to make him immortal.

Insert badass Action Music Here.

 
 
Thank you Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

You're Welcome Jabroni.