Post by DiBiase is Good on Mar 27, 2008 0:48:06 GMT -5
For most fans, this show really needs no introduction. It's considered amongst the very best of Wrestlemanias. For many fans who started watching in the Attitude era it's their favourite mania ever and it also ranks pretty high with a lot of older fans.
A lot of people consider it the pinnacle of the "Attitude Era" and it came at a time when WCW had just been bought out by Vince. When the first match was announced WCW was still in business but a week before Wrestlemania, WCW was history.
So, other than the WCW buyout, here is what was happening around the WWF at this time...
The Rock had won the WWF title at No Way Out a month earlier. His challenger at Wrestlemania would be Steve Austin. Austin had won the Royal Rumble 2 months earlier and although losing to HHH in a 3 stages of Hell match at no Way Out, he would still be challenging at Mania.
Speaking of HHH. He had started a feud with the Undertaker. Stephanie McMahon had a restraining order against Taker after he had been arrested after destroying Steph's limousine. But Taker sent his brother Kane to go after Steph and when Kane had Stephanie (or a mannequin) pressed above his head on a balcony, commissioner William Regal had no choice but to set up HHH/Taker at WM17.
As for Regal, he was the recently appointed commisionner and set his sights on the Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho. Regal made Jericho fight handicap matches and Jericho decided to piss in Regal's tea!
So what about Mr. McMahon? He had demanded a divorce from his wife Linda which sent Linda into a breakdown. Vince was involved in an affair with Trish Stratus and had made out with Trish in front of his semi-conscious wife. Vince publicly humiliated Trish by making her strip on TV but the affair continued. Shane McMahon had had enough of this and came back to attack Vince. This would lead to a street fight between father and son at Wrestlemania. And when Shane McMahon purchased WCW instead of Vince, the match had more meaning.
In the tag scene, the Hardys and Edge and Christian were trying to get the titles from the Dudleys. At SummerSlam the previous year, these 3 teams put on a great Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. So 7 months later, we would have the 3 teams fight in TLC II.
So, enough rambling. Let's get on with the event.
We have an awesome opening promo with Fred Blassie narrating and our commentators are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman.
Up first is the I/C title match between Regal and Jericho. Jericho starts off fast with some nice aerial stuff but when he tries to put Regal into the Walls of Jericho Regal kicks Y2J into the turnbuckles and follows up by firing Jericho's already injured shoulder into the steel ringpost. Regal takes over with some great mat wrestling and works on the shoulder. Jericho comes back with an enziguri but Regal gets the upper hand again with a nice top rope underhook suplex. Regal applies his Regal stretch but Jericho escapes and makes a comeback. He eventually hits a lionsault and that's enough for the 3 count. A very good match between 2 great workers and a good choice for the opener.
Backstage we see Shane getting out of a Limo with the numberplate "WCW1". It then cuts to the APA and Jacqueline playing poker and Bradshaw basically lists several local sporting legends (none of which I've heard of).
So, we have APA and Tazz vs the Right to Censor (Val Venis, Bull Buchanan and the Goodfather). It's pretty much one of those matches so more wrestlers can get on the card. It's not a bad match, but it's pretty average. The Goodfather goes for the Ho Train on Bradshaw but Bradshaw moves out of the way and gets the win with the clothesline from hell.
Backstage we see Trish wheeling Linda McMahon around. Steph wants Trish to prepare the champagne for the victory party after Vince wins.
It's time for the Triple threat match for the Hardcore championship. Champion Raven faces Kane and the Big Show. As with most hardcore matches around this time, it ends up backstage where Kane throws Raven through a window and Show puts Kane through a door for good measure. Raven spilts up Show and Kane and drives off on a golf cart with Show hanging on the back. The ride doesn't last long as Raven drives the cart into a fence. Kane (with the ref on board) then drives another cart and ends up smacking the cart into Raven's leg (ouch!). We end up back at the entrance and Show goes to press raven off the set but Kane comes back and kicks Show in the face causing them both to fall off the stage. Kane then drops a leg from the stage for good measure and pins the Big Show to become the hardcore champion. It was a decent match with Raven looking pretty good as he didn't back down from the 2 monsters.
Backstage, Edge and Christian chat to Kurt Angle, who is annoyed after Benoit made him tap out to the crossface (albeit without an official ref).
Now it's time for Eddie Guerrero (accomapined by Perry Saturn) vs Test for Test's European Championship. For some reason I remember this match being pretty bad, but after watching it again it's actually a pretty decent match. This is defintely one of Test's best matches in the WWF and he pretty much dominates Eddie with some power moves. With the help of Saturn, Eddie comes back and works Test's leg. Test makes his big comeback but Dean Malenko interferes and Eddie hits Test with the title belt and it's enough for the pin and the championship.
Backstage, Michael Cole interferes Mick Foley, who is the guest referee in the Vince vs Shane match tonight. Mick claims that although Vince has humiliated him in the past, he'll call the match right down the line.
It's time for Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. There's no way I'm gonna and do a quick rundown of this match because they were both awesome wrestlers. Angle gets the pinfall when he rolls up Benoit with a handful of tights. It's a very good match but these two would go on to have even better matches in the future (including an absolute classic at the Royal Rumble a few years later).
Backstage we have Kamala dancing on the table in Regal's office and rubs the picture of the Queen on his belly. After a video segment of the superstars at Ft. Hood, we cut to Kevin Kelly interviewing a victorious Kurt Angle. Benoit jumps Angle and puts him in the crossface, Angle taps.
It's time for Ivory vs Chyna for the womens championship. Ivory gets the quick start by attacking Chyna's injured neck, but Chyna comes back and destroys Ivory. A press slam is enough to get the pinfall and Chyna is the new Womens champion.
We get a nice segment hyping up the McMahon vs McMahon fight then it's time for the match. Shane is out first and gives a shout out to the WCW wrestlers in one of the skyboxes (can't really tell who's there except for Stacy Kiebler, there's no mistaking those legs). Foley comes out next and eventually Vince comes out accompanied by Steph. Vince overpowers Shane at the start but Shane fights back with a clothesline and a spear. The fight spills to the outside and Shane beats up Vince with a chair, a kendo stick and a monitor. Shane lays Vince on the Spanish announcers table and goes for his leap of faith elbow, but Steph pulls Vince out of the way and Shane crashes through the table.
Trish wheels Linda down to ringside and helps Vince up, but slaps him around the face (didn't see that one coming!!!). This leads to a catfight between Trish and Steph and they end up running to the back. Vince sees Linda in her wheelchair and walks up to her, but Foley stops Vince and wheels Linda to the other side of the ring. Setting Mick up nicely for Vince to cheapshot him with a chair. Vince drags Linda into the ring and sits her on a chair, he then beats up Shane with some trashcans but as vince is about to hit Shane again, Linda stands up and boots Vince in the nuts (notice how Vince nicely spread his legs for that one). Foley then beats up Vince and leaves him slumped in the corner with a trashcan in his face. Shane hits his beautiful coast to coast dropkick right into the trashcan (shame Foley obscures the camera shot) and that's enough for the pin. We see the WCW guys clapping and Shane hugs Linda. It wasn't much of a wrestling match, but it was a great brawl with some nice spots.
A lot of people consider it the pinnacle of the "Attitude Era" and it came at a time when WCW had just been bought out by Vince. When the first match was announced WCW was still in business but a week before Wrestlemania, WCW was history.
So, other than the WCW buyout, here is what was happening around the WWF at this time...
The Rock had won the WWF title at No Way Out a month earlier. His challenger at Wrestlemania would be Steve Austin. Austin had won the Royal Rumble 2 months earlier and although losing to HHH in a 3 stages of Hell match at no Way Out, he would still be challenging at Mania.
Speaking of HHH. He had started a feud with the Undertaker. Stephanie McMahon had a restraining order against Taker after he had been arrested after destroying Steph's limousine. But Taker sent his brother Kane to go after Steph and when Kane had Stephanie (or a mannequin) pressed above his head on a balcony, commissioner William Regal had no choice but to set up HHH/Taker at WM17.
As for Regal, he was the recently appointed commisionner and set his sights on the Intercontinental champion Chris Jericho. Regal made Jericho fight handicap matches and Jericho decided to piss in Regal's tea!
So what about Mr. McMahon? He had demanded a divorce from his wife Linda which sent Linda into a breakdown. Vince was involved in an affair with Trish Stratus and had made out with Trish in front of his semi-conscious wife. Vince publicly humiliated Trish by making her strip on TV but the affair continued. Shane McMahon had had enough of this and came back to attack Vince. This would lead to a street fight between father and son at Wrestlemania. And when Shane McMahon purchased WCW instead of Vince, the match had more meaning.
In the tag scene, the Hardys and Edge and Christian were trying to get the titles from the Dudleys. At SummerSlam the previous year, these 3 teams put on a great Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. So 7 months later, we would have the 3 teams fight in TLC II.
So, enough rambling. Let's get on with the event.
We have an awesome opening promo with Fred Blassie narrating and our commentators are Jim Ross and Paul Heyman.
Up first is the I/C title match between Regal and Jericho. Jericho starts off fast with some nice aerial stuff but when he tries to put Regal into the Walls of Jericho Regal kicks Y2J into the turnbuckles and follows up by firing Jericho's already injured shoulder into the steel ringpost. Regal takes over with some great mat wrestling and works on the shoulder. Jericho comes back with an enziguri but Regal gets the upper hand again with a nice top rope underhook suplex. Regal applies his Regal stretch but Jericho escapes and makes a comeback. He eventually hits a lionsault and that's enough for the 3 count. A very good match between 2 great workers and a good choice for the opener.
Backstage we see Shane getting out of a Limo with the numberplate "WCW1". It then cuts to the APA and Jacqueline playing poker and Bradshaw basically lists several local sporting legends (none of which I've heard of).
So, we have APA and Tazz vs the Right to Censor (Val Venis, Bull Buchanan and the Goodfather). It's pretty much one of those matches so more wrestlers can get on the card. It's not a bad match, but it's pretty average. The Goodfather goes for the Ho Train on Bradshaw but Bradshaw moves out of the way and gets the win with the clothesline from hell.
Backstage we see Trish wheeling Linda McMahon around. Steph wants Trish to prepare the champagne for the victory party after Vince wins.
It's time for the Triple threat match for the Hardcore championship. Champion Raven faces Kane and the Big Show. As with most hardcore matches around this time, it ends up backstage where Kane throws Raven through a window and Show puts Kane through a door for good measure. Raven spilts up Show and Kane and drives off on a golf cart with Show hanging on the back. The ride doesn't last long as Raven drives the cart into a fence. Kane (with the ref on board) then drives another cart and ends up smacking the cart into Raven's leg (ouch!). We end up back at the entrance and Show goes to press raven off the set but Kane comes back and kicks Show in the face causing them both to fall off the stage. Kane then drops a leg from the stage for good measure and pins the Big Show to become the hardcore champion. It was a decent match with Raven looking pretty good as he didn't back down from the 2 monsters.
Backstage, Edge and Christian chat to Kurt Angle, who is annoyed after Benoit made him tap out to the crossface (albeit without an official ref).
Now it's time for Eddie Guerrero (accomapined by Perry Saturn) vs Test for Test's European Championship. For some reason I remember this match being pretty bad, but after watching it again it's actually a pretty decent match. This is defintely one of Test's best matches in the WWF and he pretty much dominates Eddie with some power moves. With the help of Saturn, Eddie comes back and works Test's leg. Test makes his big comeback but Dean Malenko interferes and Eddie hits Test with the title belt and it's enough for the pin and the championship.
Backstage, Michael Cole interferes Mick Foley, who is the guest referee in the Vince vs Shane match tonight. Mick claims that although Vince has humiliated him in the past, he'll call the match right down the line.
It's time for Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit. There's no way I'm gonna and do a quick rundown of this match because they were both awesome wrestlers. Angle gets the pinfall when he rolls up Benoit with a handful of tights. It's a very good match but these two would go on to have even better matches in the future (including an absolute classic at the Royal Rumble a few years later).
Backstage we have Kamala dancing on the table in Regal's office and rubs the picture of the Queen on his belly. After a video segment of the superstars at Ft. Hood, we cut to Kevin Kelly interviewing a victorious Kurt Angle. Benoit jumps Angle and puts him in the crossface, Angle taps.
It's time for Ivory vs Chyna for the womens championship. Ivory gets the quick start by attacking Chyna's injured neck, but Chyna comes back and destroys Ivory. A press slam is enough to get the pinfall and Chyna is the new Womens champion.
We get a nice segment hyping up the McMahon vs McMahon fight then it's time for the match. Shane is out first and gives a shout out to the WCW wrestlers in one of the skyboxes (can't really tell who's there except for Stacy Kiebler, there's no mistaking those legs). Foley comes out next and eventually Vince comes out accompanied by Steph. Vince overpowers Shane at the start but Shane fights back with a clothesline and a spear. The fight spills to the outside and Shane beats up Vince with a chair, a kendo stick and a monitor. Shane lays Vince on the Spanish announcers table and goes for his leap of faith elbow, but Steph pulls Vince out of the way and Shane crashes through the table.
Trish wheels Linda down to ringside and helps Vince up, but slaps him around the face (didn't see that one coming!!!). This leads to a catfight between Trish and Steph and they end up running to the back. Vince sees Linda in her wheelchair and walks up to her, but Foley stops Vince and wheels Linda to the other side of the ring. Setting Mick up nicely for Vince to cheapshot him with a chair. Vince drags Linda into the ring and sits her on a chair, he then beats up Shane with some trashcans but as vince is about to hit Shane again, Linda stands up and boots Vince in the nuts (notice how Vince nicely spread his legs for that one). Foley then beats up Vince and leaves him slumped in the corner with a trashcan in his face. Shane hits his beautiful coast to coast dropkick right into the trashcan (shame Foley obscures the camera shot) and that's enough for the pin. We see the WCW guys clapping and Shane hugs Linda. It wasn't much of a wrestling match, but it was a great brawl with some nice spots.