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 XXVI (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXVI (26)

 

Date: March 28th, 2010

City: Glendale, Arizona

Venue: University of Phoenix Stadium

Combined Attendance: 72,219

Sub-Theme: “Get All Fired Up”

Celebrities: Fantasia Barino

For the first time ever Wrestlemania culminates from the desert! Yes, Wrestlemania is taking place in Arizona. The land of the massive mountains, cacti and ranches will be the home of the greatest sports entertainment show of the year. Wrestlemania 26, produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment.

This would be the first Wrestlemania since 2005 where it would be a two brand presentation, as ECW is officially no more. The road to Wrestlemania actually started almost 1 year before; as Edge and Chris Jericho were an established tag team and they won the unified tag team championships at “The Bash” ppv. However, due to an injury received by Edge, the partnership died. During Edge’s absence, Jericho would make references about Edge and his injury, claiming he was the weaker force in the team. However, fast forward to the Royal Rumble 2010, we would see the return of the Rated R Superstar (Edge). And not only did he get a piece of Chris Jericho that night, he also won the Royal Rumble. Edge would earn a title shot at Wrestlemania against either the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion. Edge would chose Chris Jericho and the showdown will take place at Wrestlemania.

John Cena would defeat Shemus at the 2010 Elimination Chamber PPV, to win the WWE Championship in the chamber. However, shades of the 2005 New Years Revolution peered up when Vince McMahon would announce that Cenas night would not be over, and he would have to put the WWE Championship on the line and face Batista….NOW! Cena after going through a grueling 20 min+ battle of torture in the chamber, had nothing else left in the tank, and Batista would capture the WWE title from John Cena that night. John Cena would exercise his rematch clause and have it set for Wrestlemania 26. Cena vs Batista for the WWE Championship.

Wrestlemania 26 would start out with Fantasia Barrino singing American The Beautiful. Wrestlemania would start out hot with a victory by Show Miz over R-Truth and Morrison to retain the WWE Unified Tag Team Titles.

We would then go on to the 6th annual Money In the Bank Match between Jack Swagger, Christian, Matt Hardy, Evan Bourn, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin and MVP, making this (up to that time) the largest MITB match in history. Some of the spots were undeniably impressive and all 10 men gave up a thrilling contest. Even Kofi had a creative spot by turning two ladders into stilts. But in the end it would be Jack Swagger to grab the briefcase and be declared the winner.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night was 13 years in the making. We would see the wrestlemania return of “Bret The Hitman” Hart facing Vince McMahon. 13 years ago, we all experience the Montreal Screw job at the 1997 Survivor Series; between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship. After it, Bret left to work for WCW. Bret was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005 and made a mini return to the WWE at the beginning of 2010; being the guest host of Raw. While back in the WWE, Bret made amends with Shawn Michaels, and their 20 year rivalry was officially dead. However, one chapter still wasn’t closed and that was the tension between Bret and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon. Vince wasn’t fully ready to make amends yet, instead wanted more. Vince would involve Bret in some screwball attacks to make a point to Bret as far as “who runs the show”. Being fed up with the antics, Bret would challenge Vince to a match at Wrestlemania and Vince would accept. At the match, Vince shooting for his “Wrestlemania Moment” would announce that he bought out the entire Hart family. And out with Vince came out Bruce, Keith, Diana, the Hart Dynasty and other members of the Hart family. However, the joke was on Vince as the Hart family turned on him. Bret viciously took Vince out and placed him in the sharpshooter to tap out.

 

The World Heavyweight Championship would be on the line as Edge challenged Chris Jericho for the title. Back n forth match as each man tried to get the better of each other only to be countered every time. The match ended when Jericho hit Edge with the championship belt and a Code breaker to win and retain his title.

The WWE Championship would be on the line as John Cena would challenge the champion, Batista. Batista dominated the first half of the match. Cena made a return after hitting a suplex. The match started to go evenly after that. One spot included Cena hitting the Five Knuckle Shuffle off the top of the turnbuckle. The match came to an end after Cena reversed a Batista Bomb into an STF. Batista eventually tapped out. Cena won the match and the WWE Championship, making him a nine-time World champion. The Next night on Raw, Batista would announce his “Retirement”.

 

Undertaker Note

The Final match of the night would be Streak vs Career. In a very anticipated rematch from last year’s wrestlemania, Shawn Michaels would once again face The Undertaker. If Wrestlemania 26 was a night that focused on closure, then this match would be no exception. The rivalry between these two men date back to 1997 when Shawn Michaels “screwed over” The Undertaker, as he lost the WWF Championship to Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1997. These two would go on to having the first Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 97. Shawn was a beaten, battered and bloodied mess, but overcame the Dead Man and won the match. Here we are 13 years later on the grandest stage. If Shawn loses, he will walk away from the business. This match meant more to Shawn than a title, this was his life. The match started hard early on with both men exchanging a fury of offense on each other. The match, Taker attempted to do “Old School” on Shawn, but was unsuccessful and injured his leg in the process. Shawn made it a point to go after the leg and put concentration on the area. Without the legs, Taker would be useless. But that didn’t stop him, even with Shawn hitting Taker with SCM, Taker wouldn’t die. Taker would give his own offensive retribution on Shawn as he delivered the choke slam and the last ride. But still unsuccessful to put HBK away. Shawn decided to switch his game up to a more ground base game of various submission holds; delivering the Ankle Lock, Figure Four leg lock and crossfire to Taker. Anything he could piece together to rid his worries of the Dead Man. After being unsuccessful with those Taker went for Hell Gate, but Shawn would counter that move as well. Taker would attempt the last ride through the announcers table, but Shawn would counter that. This really was an example of how much this match really meant to both men! Shawn hits SCM 3 times on Taker, but still nothing. Taker gives Shawn the 2nd Tombstone, nada! WHAT A MATCH!!!! But Shawn had very little left and that last kick out may’ve been his last effort. Taker would give us the “cut to the throat” and deliver a 3rd Tombstone piledriver to Shawn Michaels and pin him 1,2,3 and ending the greatest career in the history of Professional Wrestling. Shawn Michaels career was over. The Greatest of All Time, has left the building…for good.

 

The Undertaker is now 18-0 at Wrestlemania.

Match Card

Dark-  Yoshi Tatsu won by last eliminating Zack Ryder in a 26 man Battle Royal

PPV

– ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) (c) defeated John Morrison and R-Truth to retain the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship.

– Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in a Triple Threat Match.

– Jack Swagger defeated Christian, Matt Hardy, Kane, Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Shelton Benjamin, Montel Vontavious Porter and Evan Bourne in the Money In the Bank Ladder Match.

– Triple H defeated Sheamus

– Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk (with Luke Gallows and Serena). If Rey had won, then he would have had to haved joined the Straight Edge Society.

– Bret Hart defeated Mr. McMahon via Submission in the Sharpshiooter in a No Holds Barred Lumberjack Match.

– Chris Jericho (c) defeated Edge to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

– John Cena defeated Batista (c) via submission to win the WWE Championship

– The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels in a Streak vs Career Match.

Wrestlemania XXIII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXIII (23)

Date: April 1st 2007

City: Detroit, Michigan

Venue: Ford Field

Combined Attendance: 80,103

Sub-Theme: “All Grown Up”

Celebrities: Aretha Franklin and Donald Trump

Hall of Fame: “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Perfect, Jerry “the King” Lawler, Nick Bockwinkel, Mr. Fuji, The Sheik and Jim Ross.

 

Wrestlemania is back in a stadium, this time Wrestlemania goes back to the state where they broke the all time indoor attendance record of 93,173 fans. Wrestlemania 23 will take place from the Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Like mentioned before, WWE broke the world indoor attendance record, and that record stood strong until Feb 2010 when Dallas hosted the NBA All Star game, which drew in over 100,000 fans at the new Dallas stadium. If the rumors are true about WM 30, Vince is looking to break that record with Mania. This would also be the first Wrestlemania with the Tri Brand Extension. Raw, Smackdown and ECW matches would be represented on the card. The ruthless aggression era is making a solid landing and the WWE is just about to transition over into its next era.

Going into this Mania, The Undertaker would be victorious at the 2007 Royal Rumble and would earn the right to face a champion of his choosing. The Undertaker had a choice to choose between John Cena (WWE Champion), Dave Batista (World Heavyweight Champion) and Bobby Lashely (ECW Champion). The Undertaker made it known that it would be Him vs Dave Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bobby Lashley would be set to face Umaga (IC Champion) in a non-title champion vs champion hair cut match. However, it wouldn’t be the wrestler getting his hair cut, it would be the man in their corner. Donald Trump would be in Lashleys corner and Vince McMahon would be in Umagas corner. This match would be officiated by Stone Cold Steve Austin. To determine the WWE Title match, Shawn Michaels wrestled in a triple threat match against Edge and Randy Orton and was victorious. The feud built when Cena and Michaels were not only opponents, but also tag team champions but did not trust each other. Something had to give at Wrestlemania 23.

Wrestlemania 23 started out HOT with the MITB Ladder match. This match would consist of Mr. Kennedy, Edge, CM Punk, King Booker, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Finlay and Randy Orton. MITB continues to grow and get better and better. During the match, Edge is carted out, due to being the recipient to a leg drop from Jeff Hardy while laying on the ladder. The ladder broke in half and so did Edge. Mr. Kennedy would go on to be victorious in this match.

Chris Benoit would successfully the defend the United States Championship against MVP. This would be the last Wrestlemania Chris Benoit would be a part of before his suicide.

This would be the first Wrestlemania with ECW representation. The “New Breed” consisting of Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn would face off against The ECW Originals: RVD, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and The Sandman. The ECW Originals win.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker challenges Batista for his World Heavyweight Championship. Batista showing no fear and no signs of intimidation against The Dead Man and would set to be one of his toughest opponents yet. Taker and Batista were hard hitting on each other and brought a new meaning of smash mouth wrestling. Both of these giants pulled nothing as they mounted a feast of tough offense on each other. But even with the spine buster and Batista Bomb, that wouldn’t be enough to put Taker away. Undertaker would lock Batista up in the Tombstone piledriver and pin him 1, 2, 3 and win The World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.  The Undertaker is 15-0 at Wrestlemania.

The “Battle of the Billionaires” match. This match would be between Donald Trump vs Vince McMahon, but with both men having representation as stated earlier. Bobby Lashley vs Umaga. This match was all shenanigans, but in good fun as Austin was the ref. Accompanying with Umaga and McMahon would be Armando Alejandro Estrada, and with Bobby Lashley and Donald Trump would be Tara Connor. Through the match, Umaga attacked Austin and Shane tried to interject himself as the ref of the match in Austins place. But after being blatantly biased, Austin regained his composure and took Shane out with a Stunner. Lashley got the spear on Umaga and was declared the winner. As a result, Lashley, Austin and Trump shaved Vince McMahons hair in from of the massive crowd.

The Headlining Main Event would be for the WWE Championship. Shawn Michaels would challenge John Cena for the title. Continuing his over the top entrances, Cena would enter the arena in an impressive manner via a Ford Mustang, grabbing the attention of the audience. Not sure if this made it on TV (I was there in person), a streaker would interrupt the very beginning of the match, which was a little off setting, but you could tell that it didn’t even phase Shawn Michaels, as this would be his first WWE Championship title match at Wrestlemania in 9 years. And just like in Anaheim at the Pond in 1996, this could once again be his moment. The match went into a feeling out process and then some hits to remind each other who the other man was. The match transitioned over into more of a ground game where they were both wearing down each other. Cena had to know that even with the steady tempo, it would sure pick up eventually, and the only thing to do, is to anticipate it and defend as much as he could and away we go! The match contained several notable spots, including Michaels hitting a Piledriver on Cena onto steel steps outside the ring. Cena was unable to execute an FU during the match, and Michaels also failed to execute Sweet Chin Music several times. Later in the match, Cena managed to place Michaels in the STFU submission hold, with Michaels reaching the ropes to break the hold. Cena then managed to place Michaels in the STFU again, and as a result, Michaels tapped out and Cena retained the WWE Championship.

 There were reports that Shawn was in disagreement before the match, to lose to Cena, and he was adamant against this. We (as fans) do not know if this is actually true or false, but one thing that cannot be denied, both of them gave a helluva match and gave us something to talk about for years to come.

Match Card

Dark- Ric Flair and Carlito defeated Gregory Helms and Chavo Guerrero

PPV

-Mr. Kennedy defeated Edge, CM Punk, King Booker (with Queen Sharmell), Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Finlay and Randy Orton in the money in the bank ladder match

-The Great Khali defeated Kane

-Chris Benoit (c) defeated Montel Vontavious Porter to retain the WWE united Stated Championship

-The Undertaker defeated Batista (c) to win the World Heavyweight Championship

-The ECW Originals (Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu and The Sandman) defeated The New Breed (Elijah Burke, Marcus Cor Von, Matt Striker and Kevin Thorn) (with Ariel)

-Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump) defeated Umaga (with Vince McMahon and Armando Alejandro Estrada) in a Hair vs Hair match with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the special guest referee.

-Melina (c) defeated Ashley to retain the WWE Women’s Championship

-John Cena (c) defeated Shawn Michaels to retain the WWE Championship

Wrestlemania XXII (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXII (22)

 

Date: April 2^nd 2006

City: Rosemont, IL

Venue: The Allstate Arena

Combined Attendance: 17,159

Sub-Theme: “Big Time”

Celebrities: Michelle Williams

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Match Card

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

PPV

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

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

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

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

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

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

-The Undertaker defeated Mark Henry in a casket match

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

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

-Torrie Wilson defeated Candice Michelle in a playboy pillow fight

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

Wrestlemania XXI (Written by: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania XXI (21)

 

Date: April 3^rd 2005

City: Los Angeles, CA

Venue: Staples Center

Combined Attendance: 20,193

Sub-Theme: “Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood”

Celebrities: David Arquette, Motörhead, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, The Black Eyed Peas, Billy Corgan from The Smashing Pumpkins, Anthony Kiedis from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ice Cube, Carmen Electra, Sylvester Stallone, Marge Helgenberger, Matt Groening, Rick Rubin, and Will Sasso.

 Hall of Fame Inductees: Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Cowboy Bob Orton, Jimmy Hart, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik

Back in California! Wrestlemania has returned to the golden state! First time in 5 years to celebrate the 21^st annual Wrestlemania produced by the World Wrestling Entertainment. WWE wanted to lean greatly on the Hollywood theme of this show. Leading into wrestlemania were many WWE vignettes of the WWE superstars doing parodies of some Hollywood classics. Some of the classics included Braveheart, Taxi Driver, A Few Good Men and more. Giving this Wrestlemania a very over the top feel with it being sensational eye candy for the media.

Going into Wrestlemania, Batista would be the winner of the 2005 Royal Rumble. In what looked like was going to be a replay of the 1994 Royal Rumble; since both Batista and John Cena went over the top rope eliminating each other since they were the final two men. However, per Vince McMahons order, the match continued and Batista won. Batista would go on and chose to face his former co-member of the stable “Evolution”, The World Heavyweight Champion, Triple H. This would be set to be the Main Event at Wrestlemania. The Royal Rumble ruling didn’t fall short in holding back John Cena. Cena would eventually go on to be at scheduled to face off against the WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) at Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania started off with the WWE Tag Team Champions facing each other in the opener contest. The historic rivalry of Eddie Guerreo vs Rey Mysterio would continue as they went head to head in a decent match with each other. Rey would go on to be the victor. This would be Eddie Guerrero’s last Wrestlemania, due to his passing in November 2005.

Shawn Michaels faces Kurt Angle and once again, Shawn displays why his nickname is “Mr. Wrestlemania”. These two put on a Wrestlemania classic that is still being talked about to this day amongst wrestling fans, as these two showcased some of the best most, counters and holds anyone could ever ask to see. This inter promotional match would bring out the best from these two men, especially from Kurt Angle who was hell bent on defeating the man who was been dubbed as the greatest in the world. Naturally the Olympic Gold Medalist thinks differently about this. At the end of the match, Kurt would block Shawn’s superkick and trap him in the ankle lock. Shawn would fight this hold for minutes (which felt like hours), but instead of dealing with the risk of not being able to walk, Shawn taps out and Kurt wins the match. Unreal.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker would face The Legend Killer Randy Orton in the other Inter promotional Match of the night. Orton is motivated to be the man to end the Wrestlemania streak of the Undertaker. Orton has been trailblazing in taking out WWE Legends such as Jake The Snake Roberts, Hacksaw Jim Duggan even Harley Race. The Undertaker would be next on his list. Orton gave Taker hell in this match. Too young, too quick, too motivated. But the Deadman brought experience to the table and the Tombstone Piledriver would prove to be too much for young Orton as he was pinned 1, 2, and 3 in the middle of the ring. The Undertaker is now 13-0 at Wrestlemania.

The next match was John Cena Vs JBL for the WWE Championship. JBL controlled most of the bout. In the end, Cena would win the match after ducking a clothesline attempt from JBL, hits him with the FU and pinning JBL to become the new WWE Champion. This would be Cana’s first reign as WWE Champion. Ushering in the new era of the World Wrestling Entertainment.

The eighth and final match of the night was Triple H defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Batista. Triple H entered to “The Game” performed live by Motorhead, shades of Wrestlemania 17. The action was back and forth, with neither man in control for very long periods. In both the match’s and the event’s climax, Batista would hit Triple H with the Batista Bomb and pin him 1, 2, 3 to win the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time.

Match Card

Dark- Booker T won the 30 man interpromotional battle royal by last eliminating Chris Masters.

PPV

-Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero.

-Edge defeated Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, Chris Benoit, Christian (with Tyson Tomko) and Kane. In the first ever Money In the Bank Ladder Match

-The Undertaker defeated Randy Orton (with “Cowboy” Bob Orton).

-Trish Stratus (c) defeated Christy Hemme (with Lita). To retain the WWE Womens Championshop

-Kurt Angle defeated Shawn Michaels.

-Akebono defeated The Big Show. In a Sumo match (yeah…a Sumo Match)

-John Cena defeated John “Bradshaw” Layfield (c). To win the WWE Championship

-Batista defeated Triple H (c) (with Ric Flair) to win the World Heavyweight 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-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 2000 (Written By: Maurice D. Proffit)

Wrestlemania 2000 (XVI)

 

Date: April 2nd 2000

City: Anaheim, California

Venue: Arrowhead Pond

Combined Attendance: 18,034

Sub-Theme: “California”

Celebrities: Michael Clark Duncan, Dustin Diamond, Martin Short, Pete Rose, Carrot Top

 

This was a very unique Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania, for the 2nd time is back in the Arrowhead Pond, where it was for Wrestlemania 12 (4 yrs earlier). Making up for what they missed out on 4 years earlier, the WWF made sure to bring a solid celebrity feel to the event and show all together. After all….it IS in California. So no excuse this time. Another factor that made this event interesting was, this was the first wrestlemania without 1 one on one match. (with the exception of the “catfight”) All matches has multiple people involved. Not sure if this was a concentrated effort or if it just happened to work out this way with the booking, but every match had 3+ people involved. Looking on the horizon of this show, the action should be hot and heavy.

 

The backdrop of the main event started at The Royal Rumble, where The Rock wins the Rumble and earns the right to Mania. Triple H retains the WWF title that same night against Cactus Jack. So at the time, the main event at Mania will be Triple H vs The Rock for the WWF Championship. The next month at the No Way Out PPV, The Big Show faced The Rock for the right to wrestle in the main event at Wrestlemania, and he defeats the Rock now earning him the championship match against Triple H. W few weeks later, The Rock defeats The big Show on Raw to earn back his title shot with the help of Vince McMahon. Not taking away Show’s title opportunity, the match is now a Triple Threat Match. The next week on Raw, the triple threat match came early and the three fought it out that night. Triple H went on to win the match, but now the title match at mania has been altered as Linda McMahon announced that Mike Foley would be in the match as well. Making it a Fatal Four Way for the WWF Title, with a McMahon in each corner of each wrestler. Triple H – Stephanie McMahon; The Rock – Vince McMahon; The Big Show-Shane McMahon and Mick Foley – Linda McMahon.

During the PPV, we witnessed the Triangle Ladder Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Edge/Christian vs The Dudley Boyz vs The Hardy Boyz. This match was shades of Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon Ladder match for the IC belt at Wrestlemania 10. The reason why I say this, is because we saw moves and situations in this match that at this time were completely unheard of. We have seen ladder matches since WM 10, but they were more grounded, were as this match was half the time on the ground and half the time in the air. They gave some incredible moments and unforgettable spots. One spot that will not be forgotten was then Jeff Hard set up a 20 foot tall ladder in the middle of the aisle way, and Bubba Ray Dudley laid on the tables in front of the ladder and Jeff commenced to do a swan dive from the top of the 20 foot ladder. Unreal. Edge and Christian constructed a self made structure using 2 ladders and a table in the middle of the ring, and used it to grab both the belts and went on to victory.

There was also a very unique match for both of the mid card titles. It was a two fall triple threat match for the WWF IC title and WWF European title. Kurt Angle was holding both belts entering into this match. The first fall was for the IC belt and Chris Benoit won that fall to win the IC belt. The next fall was for the European title and Chris Jericho won that fall and the belt. Both men left with a championship, Kurt Angel let beltless.

Undertaker Note: The Undertaker did not particpate in this Wrestlemania. Undertaker is 8-0 at Wrestlemania.

The Main event was for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. Triple H, the defending champion is facing off against The Rock, Mick Foley and The Big Show. This was an elimination match, so it would be 3 falls.

The match went very intense from the sound of the bell. The Big show was the first man to be eliminated after a chair shot to the back by Foley and a Rock Bottom by The Rock. Mick Foley was the next to go down after two pedigrees (the latter being on a chair) which “retired” Mick Foley.

The next 16 min would be between Triple H and The Rock, going all into the crowds and brawling everywhere. But not only did it take the current champion, but also the chairman of the board who turned on The Rock (after being in his corner) and gave The Rock two chair shots to the head. Triple H goes for the pin and obtains the victory. This would be the first time the WWF title was retained at Wrestlemania since WM 11.

 

Match Card

– The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather and D’Lo Brown (with Ice-T and The Godfather’s hos).

– Hardcore Holly won by last defeating Crash Holly (c)  in a Hardcore Battle Royal for the WWF Hardcore Championship

– T & A (Test and Albert) (with Trish Stratus) defeated Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman) (with Chester McCheeserton).

– Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). To win the WWF Tag Team Championships in a Triangle Ladder Match.

– Terri Runnels (with The Fabulous Moolah) defeated The Kat (with Mae Young). In a Catfight

– Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) and Chyna defeated The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko) in a 6 person intergender tag team match.

– First fall: Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Jericho.

Second fall: Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Benoit. In a two fall triple threat match for the WWF Intercontinental championship and WWF European championship.

– Rikishi and Kane (with Paul Bearer) defeated D-Generation X (X-Pac and Road Dogg) (with Tori).

– Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon) defeated The Rock (with Vince McMahon), Mick Foley (with Linda McMahon) and The Big Show (with Shane McMahon) to retain the WWF Championship.

 

 

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.