Post by wendytorrancev1 on Feb 25, 2022 11:57:30 GMT -5
Hello all!!!
Happy Friday!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and has a wonderful, relaxing weekend!
Something has been nagging at me a bit behind the main event at Wrestlemania XVI.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in the minority here, as I believed that Wrestlemania XVI AND the main event were amazing. I'm often torn between liking this one better than Wrestlemania X7. They both have pros and cons that equal each other out. At the most basic level, Wrestlemania XVI was leaps and bounds better than Wrestlemania XV, which was a train wreck that had one great match on the card, a couple of decent ones, while the rest were absolutely horrid.
Looking back on the main event of Wrestlemania XVI, it was a cacophony of epic proportions that brought the four men in the ring together, starting sometime around Unforgiven 1999, with Triple H winning the vacant WWF Heavyweight Championship. This earned Trips the ire of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin was taken out (with that storyline being put on ice until it was convenient to bring back up) at Survivor Series 1999, with him being replaced by The Big Show. The Rock forged an alliance with Mankind/Mick Foley, and due to The Game's cruel and brutal treatment of The Rock, Cactus Jack emerged to take out Trips. Around the same time, The Big Show and The Rock began to annoy each other over a hotly contested winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble (which was basically a win for The Rock anyway, even though Show showed Trips and Stephanie "proof" that he won), and the two fought at No Way Out 2000. Also, at No Way Out 2000, Triple H emerged victorious over Cactus Jack and Jack had to "go away forever" or whatever.
The McMahons were also involved in this whole mess and each had to pick a side: Stephanie, of course, was standing by her man and the current WWF Heavyweight Champion; Vince, who had been absent for a few months previously, had returned to join forces with The Rock; Shane was squarely in the corner of The Big Show due to his hatred of his brother-in-law and The Rock; and Linda, performing fan service, brought Mick Foley back to main event Wrestlemania because it was his "dream".
The four men, accompanied by a member of the McMahon family, would do battle in a fatal-four-way elimination match that was no DQ.
With all of that history out of the way, the thing that has been bothering me about this match is who was supposed to be the hero? Who was the crowd supposed to be 100% behind? I would say that it was Mick, but even that would be a stretch considering how the audience reacted to it.
I know a lot of people don't really care for this match, and I can somewhat understand why. It was a bit overbooked and somewhat uneven. It essentially was just Triple H vs. The Rock in a no DQ match. The chemistry and the pacing was all over the place, coupled with a bizarre finish. I personally enjoyed it, as I was thinking either The Rock or Mick Foley was going to emerge victorious out of the match, as the odds were completely stacked against Triple H.
Again, I'm just attempting to figure out the dynamics on who was supposed to be our protagonist going into this.
Triple H- The then current WWF Heavyweight Champion, Trips had been displaying sadistic and cruel methods to punish his opponents, including Cactus Jack and The Rock. Upon gaining the WWF Heavyweight Championship from The Big Show on the January 3rd episode of RAW, Trips started a regime of lawlessness and brutality in the WWF, aiming not only to humiliate his opposition, but also to leave them psychologically scarred and physically broken. His first target, The Big Show, was defeated on a regular episode of RAW. Trips then amplified his cruelty when his feud with The Rock began to heat up by putting The Rock's job on the line multiple times and getting his buddies Road Dogg, X-Pac, and Billy Gunn to beat up on The Rock. Trips also had a special kind of hatred for Mankind/Cactus Jack. I mean, a Pedigree on thumbtacks? Putting his job on the line in a Hell in a Cell? Being a huge bully and a thug, Triple H wreaked havoc on his enemies and sometimes his allies (i.e. kicking Billy Gunn out of DX) when they wouldn't fall in line. When he did suffer loss, it was for only a temporary amount of time before cooked up, and eventually obtained his revenge. Obviously, Triple H was not supposed to be the hero here.
The Rock- Though he was clearly a face in all of this, The Rock acted very antagonistic leading up to the Wrestlemania XVI main event. Outside of staging a walkout to get Mankind reinstated (like he ever went anywhere to begin with) and displaying a fair amount of courage, The Rock would talk over and over about how he was the "top dog" in the company and how much of a wuss Triple H was. The Rock was thirsty for the title, wanting it for his own selfish reasons and not in the mindset of stripping Triple H of the WWF Championship because Trips was an ineffective and callous champion, who hid behind his belt to settle personal vendettas. No, The Rock wanted the championship to prove that he was the best in the business and that he is far more popular with the fans. Ever the arrogant and cocky one, The Rock basically wanted the the title for bragging rights, not because he actually wanted to do good by the fans when he obtained it. When he aligned himself with Vince McMahon, his gloating became even worse as it seemed as though he had absorbed some of McMahon's ego. He certainly didn't lack for confidence, and that came back and bit him in the ass big time.
The Big Show- Show wanted to get his hands on the title due to the fact that he was "wronged" and in his mind, he was the rightful owner of it. Beaten by Trips in January, Show began an obsessive quest on getting his hands back on the title. When he and The Rock both fell out of the ring at the 2000 Royal Rumble, Big Show turned from an intimidating force to be reckoned with to a giant cry baby who whined incessantly about how he was the the winner of Royal Rumble 2000. He kvetched to everybody who would listen about how he was the winner and The Rock was the crazy one. Show finally found an ally in Shane McMahon, who was basically his henchman in his war against The Rock. We knew The Big Show wouldn't win in the Wrestlemania XVI main event, and he was the first one eliminated, due to everyone randomly teaming up against him. If I feel bad for ANYONE in this match, it's The Big Show, because he never regained his footing after this. He was sent to "development" because of his weight, was taken out of two of the WWF video games that released later that year (despite being a big player in storylines in 2000), and when he did finally come back at Royal Rumble 2001, he just mired in the Hardcore division where his talent was squandered.
Mick Foley- The long-suffering Mick Foley couldn't seem to get one over on Trips, despite having two PPV matches with him. Arguably, Trips targeted Mick the most, humiliating him by placing his job on the line, teasing him with title shots, allowing his wife to slap him around. You felt the worst for Mick out of Trips' opponents. Mick gave his heartfelt speech about his "dream" of being in the main event at Wrestlemania and all of that. His dream was crushed in his match against Triple H in a Hell in a Cell at No Way Out 2000 when The Game emerged victorious over Cactus. The crowd gave an emotional goodbye and Cactus walked out of the arena. Less than a month later, Linda McMahon brought Mick Foley back, who ran to the ring and pummeled The Game, which rendered that whole "my dream" storyline moot. In the main event itself, Mick was eliminated by Trips when he received a Pedigree on a chair. Linda McMahon was freaking out saying "Oh, no! Oh god, no! Mick!" while he was getting pinned. When he was pinned, the audience was dead. After he was eliminated and was walking up the ramp with Linda McMahon, he turned around and raised his fist and the crowd was dead silent. If the writers or bookers or whatever wanted this to be an emotional finish to Mick's journey to headlining Wrestlemania, they fumbled it royally. If they wanted the crowd 100% behind Foley in this match as the true hero behind it, it was extremely bungled. The crowd just didn't care. Maybe if they didn't just do the same exact thing a month and a half prior, then it would have more of an emotional impact.
Again, I love this match, but I can see how some people were a bit put off from it, especially with the fact that the main antagonist emerged victorious in the end. I was happy with that, but like I said, the match had some pacing and chemistry issues.
I just wanted to open up a dialogue with you guys and hear your thoughts.
Happy Friday!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and has a wonderful, relaxing weekend!
Something has been nagging at me a bit behind the main event at Wrestlemania XVI.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in the minority here, as I believed that Wrestlemania XVI AND the main event were amazing. I'm often torn between liking this one better than Wrestlemania X7. They both have pros and cons that equal each other out. At the most basic level, Wrestlemania XVI was leaps and bounds better than Wrestlemania XV, which was a train wreck that had one great match on the card, a couple of decent ones, while the rest were absolutely horrid.
Looking back on the main event of Wrestlemania XVI, it was a cacophony of epic proportions that brought the four men in the ring together, starting sometime around Unforgiven 1999, with Triple H winning the vacant WWF Heavyweight Championship. This earned Trips the ire of The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Austin was taken out (with that storyline being put on ice until it was convenient to bring back up) at Survivor Series 1999, with him being replaced by The Big Show. The Rock forged an alliance with Mankind/Mick Foley, and due to The Game's cruel and brutal treatment of The Rock, Cactus Jack emerged to take out Trips. Around the same time, The Big Show and The Rock began to annoy each other over a hotly contested winner of the 2000 Royal Rumble (which was basically a win for The Rock anyway, even though Show showed Trips and Stephanie "proof" that he won), and the two fought at No Way Out 2000. Also, at No Way Out 2000, Triple H emerged victorious over Cactus Jack and Jack had to "go away forever" or whatever.
The McMahons were also involved in this whole mess and each had to pick a side: Stephanie, of course, was standing by her man and the current WWF Heavyweight Champion; Vince, who had been absent for a few months previously, had returned to join forces with The Rock; Shane was squarely in the corner of The Big Show due to his hatred of his brother-in-law and The Rock; and Linda, performing fan service, brought Mick Foley back to main event Wrestlemania because it was his "dream".
The four men, accompanied by a member of the McMahon family, would do battle in a fatal-four-way elimination match that was no DQ.
With all of that history out of the way, the thing that has been bothering me about this match is who was supposed to be the hero? Who was the crowd supposed to be 100% behind? I would say that it was Mick, but even that would be a stretch considering how the audience reacted to it.
I know a lot of people don't really care for this match, and I can somewhat understand why. It was a bit overbooked and somewhat uneven. It essentially was just Triple H vs. The Rock in a no DQ match. The chemistry and the pacing was all over the place, coupled with a bizarre finish. I personally enjoyed it, as I was thinking either The Rock or Mick Foley was going to emerge victorious out of the match, as the odds were completely stacked against Triple H.
Again, I'm just attempting to figure out the dynamics on who was supposed to be our protagonist going into this.
Triple H- The then current WWF Heavyweight Champion, Trips had been displaying sadistic and cruel methods to punish his opponents, including Cactus Jack and The Rock. Upon gaining the WWF Heavyweight Championship from The Big Show on the January 3rd episode of RAW, Trips started a regime of lawlessness and brutality in the WWF, aiming not only to humiliate his opposition, but also to leave them psychologically scarred and physically broken. His first target, The Big Show, was defeated on a regular episode of RAW. Trips then amplified his cruelty when his feud with The Rock began to heat up by putting The Rock's job on the line multiple times and getting his buddies Road Dogg, X-Pac, and Billy Gunn to beat up on The Rock. Trips also had a special kind of hatred for Mankind/Cactus Jack. I mean, a Pedigree on thumbtacks? Putting his job on the line in a Hell in a Cell? Being a huge bully and a thug, Triple H wreaked havoc on his enemies and sometimes his allies (i.e. kicking Billy Gunn out of DX) when they wouldn't fall in line. When he did suffer loss, it was for only a temporary amount of time before cooked up, and eventually obtained his revenge. Obviously, Triple H was not supposed to be the hero here.
The Rock- Though he was clearly a face in all of this, The Rock acted very antagonistic leading up to the Wrestlemania XVI main event. Outside of staging a walkout to get Mankind reinstated (like he ever went anywhere to begin with) and displaying a fair amount of courage, The Rock would talk over and over about how he was the "top dog" in the company and how much of a wuss Triple H was. The Rock was thirsty for the title, wanting it for his own selfish reasons and not in the mindset of stripping Triple H of the WWF Championship because Trips was an ineffective and callous champion, who hid behind his belt to settle personal vendettas. No, The Rock wanted the championship to prove that he was the best in the business and that he is far more popular with the fans. Ever the arrogant and cocky one, The Rock basically wanted the the title for bragging rights, not because he actually wanted to do good by the fans when he obtained it. When he aligned himself with Vince McMahon, his gloating became even worse as it seemed as though he had absorbed some of McMahon's ego. He certainly didn't lack for confidence, and that came back and bit him in the ass big time.
The Big Show- Show wanted to get his hands on the title due to the fact that he was "wronged" and in his mind, he was the rightful owner of it. Beaten by Trips in January, Show began an obsessive quest on getting his hands back on the title. When he and The Rock both fell out of the ring at the 2000 Royal Rumble, Big Show turned from an intimidating force to be reckoned with to a giant cry baby who whined incessantly about how he was the the winner of Royal Rumble 2000. He kvetched to everybody who would listen about how he was the winner and The Rock was the crazy one. Show finally found an ally in Shane McMahon, who was basically his henchman in his war against The Rock. We knew The Big Show wouldn't win in the Wrestlemania XVI main event, and he was the first one eliminated, due to everyone randomly teaming up against him. If I feel bad for ANYONE in this match, it's The Big Show, because he never regained his footing after this. He was sent to "development" because of his weight, was taken out of two of the WWF video games that released later that year (despite being a big player in storylines in 2000), and when he did finally come back at Royal Rumble 2001, he just mired in the Hardcore division where his talent was squandered.
Mick Foley- The long-suffering Mick Foley couldn't seem to get one over on Trips, despite having two PPV matches with him. Arguably, Trips targeted Mick the most, humiliating him by placing his job on the line, teasing him with title shots, allowing his wife to slap him around. You felt the worst for Mick out of Trips' opponents. Mick gave his heartfelt speech about his "dream" of being in the main event at Wrestlemania and all of that. His dream was crushed in his match against Triple H in a Hell in a Cell at No Way Out 2000 when The Game emerged victorious over Cactus. The crowd gave an emotional goodbye and Cactus walked out of the arena. Less than a month later, Linda McMahon brought Mick Foley back, who ran to the ring and pummeled The Game, which rendered that whole "my dream" storyline moot. In the main event itself, Mick was eliminated by Trips when he received a Pedigree on a chair. Linda McMahon was freaking out saying "Oh, no! Oh god, no! Mick!" while he was getting pinned. When he was pinned, the audience was dead. After he was eliminated and was walking up the ramp with Linda McMahon, he turned around and raised his fist and the crowd was dead silent. If the writers or bookers or whatever wanted this to be an emotional finish to Mick's journey to headlining Wrestlemania, they fumbled it royally. If they wanted the crowd 100% behind Foley in this match as the true hero behind it, it was extremely bungled. The crowd just didn't care. Maybe if they didn't just do the same exact thing a month and a half prior, then it would have more of an emotional impact.
Again, I love this match, but I can see how some people were a bit put off from it, especially with the fact that the main antagonist emerged victorious in the end. I was happy with that, but like I said, the match had some pacing and chemistry issues.
I just wanted to open up a dialogue with you guys and hear your thoughts.
