WrestleMania time always has me thinking of the great matches, and the great wrestlers, and the great Mania moments over the previous 28 editions of this great PPV. After all, the PPV is WWE’s version of the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Breeder’s Cup, whatever sports reference you want to use. WWE fans get to not only look forward to this year’s Mania, but they start reminiscing about past Manias. Many times, you will get to think about great memories,such as a great wrestler winning his/her first major title, but at times, you will remember sad ones as well, such as you remember seeing that wrestler in the PPV who is now dead .

In this blog, I will post my personal top ten WrestleMania moments of all time. I admit it was hard to narrow it down to just ten, but I did. I should state that they are not in any strict order, as you could ask me next week, and I could write a different list. Before I start, I do want to say, that my definition of “moment” is broad: Moment could be defined from an embrace to the entire PPV.

Here we go, and I hope you enjoy.

10. Hogan slamming Andre in WM3 in Detroit, MI

No matter how many times Hogan exaggerates Andre the Giant’s weight, and no matter how many times I see on YouTube or on TV, this spot is amazing. The match isn’t great, but it is a heck of a moment. Hogan finishing off Andre with the leg drop was cool. It is one of the most defining moments in WrestleMania history, in front of over 93, 000 screaming fans at the Pontiac Silver Dome in Detroit, Rock City (sorry. I had to get that in) in Michigan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMoXP6zY1QY&feature=endscreen&NR=1

9. “I’m sorry. I love you” – HBK defeats Ric Flair in Flair’s Retirement Match at WM 24 in Orlando, FL

The night after a very emotional, and teary WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which I was present at, the newly inducted Ric Flair, and soon to be Hall of Famer HBK Shawn Michaels had an excellent match which had all the emotional heat you could imagine. It was Flair’s “last match ever.” (of course we all know it would not be the case) Flair would have it with the best worker in the company, HBK, and why not. The ever defining moment was right before Shawn delivered the match winning Sweet Chin Music, he said, “I’m sorry. I love you.” After the pin, there was so much adoration and love between the two competitors and the fans, yours truly included. I was really believing that this would be Flair’s last. Great moment.

http://youtu.be/mMewKqXG9vg

8. World Champion Eddie Guerrero and his friend WWE Champion Chris Benoit embracing at the end of WM 20 in New York, NY

Yes, I know this pick is controversial, but this moment is still unforgettable nonetheless. I am not one to erase history because of the treacherous acts of one of the people in a sport or whatever.

Now, I was at this PPV, and AT THE TIME, this was a fantastic moment. It was very emotional seeing two guys who not only were friends, and were in not only ECW together, but WCW as well before joining WWE. Both guys were seen by some as “too small” to carry the World Titles, but were finally given a chance, and at the company’s biggest event, Eddie retained his World Title in a fantastic match against Kurt Angle, and Benoit, in one of the best WrestleMania main events ever defeated both Shawn Michaels, and the defending WWE Champion Triple H in one of the best Triple threats ever, at least in my opinion.

After the match, while Chris Benoit was celebrating, out came Eddie Guerrero with his belt, and the two embraced. It was such a great moment. Of course, as wrestling fans know, that image is marred by the devastating tragedies that would befell both men and their families. I want to add that I feel sad for Eddie and his family, and I CONDEMN Benoit for his TREACHEROUS ACTIONS. However, this moment is still one that is on my list regardless.

http://youtu.be/eh4hoiJppCQ

7. Anytime Vince McMahon got owned at WrestleMania

This moment is a culmination of moments, and it involves the one and only WWE Chairman Vincent Kennedy McMahon (God, how I love saying that.). Vince McMahon has an 0-4 record at WrestleMania, and that is no accident. As much as some moan and groan about seeing him put himself in matches with his own talent, I think it is awesome, because we all know that he is going to get his ass handed to him. Now, I am going to show a couple of my favorites. In fact, I was present for two of them: Vince McMahon getting his head shaved bald by his fellow Billionaire (except his opponent is an actual Billionaire) Donald Trump at WM 23 in Detroit, Rock City in Michigan at Ford Field, and at WM 22 (I was 9th Row ringside.) in Chicago at Allstate Arena when Vince McMahon was laying on a table, the top half of him in a garbage can, and HBK did an elbow drop from the top of a huge ladder. The third, which I was NOT at, was when at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA at WM 19, Vince gets his comeuppance from Hulk Hogan. I was not at this PPV either, unfortunately (KISS was in Australia at the time, and I was there for three weeks for six of their shows), but at WM 17 at Houston’s AstroDome, Vince got his butt kicked by his own son, Shane, after his “comatose” wife Linda got up and hurt Vince where the sun don’t shine.

WM 22 against HBK (last part of match): http://youtu.be/9OIPmNZ0DDo

WM 23 gets shaved bald: http://youtu.be/UZ1L013k5Hw

WM 19: against Hogan ( last part of match): http://youtu.be/QbBXe_qNeUs

WM 17. Linda’s Revenge: http://youtu.be/E17jqpLYajg

6. Stone Cold Steve Austin’s bleeding face as Austin refuses to say “I Quit,” while in Bret Hart’s Sharpshooter in WM 13 at the then named Rosemont Horizon (now All State Arena) in Chicago.

WM 13 is not known as one of WWE’s best Manias. It is known as one of the worst. The highlight of this PPV is this “Submission” or “I Quit” match between “Hitman” Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Bret was going into a tweener mode in early 1997, while Austin was still in a heelish mode. During the buildup, there is this famous confrontation between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon where during an interview in the ring and Bret went on a obscenity filled rampage saying how he isn’t respected, etc. Austin eventually comes down and the two go at it.

The match at WM 13 itself is a classic. Bret Hart comes out as a babyface. Austin comes out as his heel persona. Ken Shamrock is the special guest referee. Austin and Hart go all over the arena, and during the match, the crowd changes loyalties. The crowd starts cheering for Austin, and Bret starts getting booed. When Bret locks on the Sharpshooter, and won’t let go, and Austin passes out from the pain, a few things happen. One, you get one of the most classic moments in not only WrestleMania History, but in wrestling history. Two, you have , at least in my opinion, one of the best double turns I have ever seen. I mean, I think this has assisted Austin becoming the top star that the company ever had, along with the famous, “Austin 3:16″ promo at King of the Ring 1996. Bret would go on to become an awesome heel, and start that Canada vs the USA angle, and create the new Hart Foundation with his brother Owen Hart, the British Bulldog, Jim “the Anvil Neidhardt, and Brian Pillman. Lastly, you see an example of the art of “putting someone over.” For me, it wasn’t so important that Bret “won” the match, that makes this so awesome. It was that Austin got put over. Watching the product today, it feels like forever since I have seen a promising young talent being properly put over.

One could say the entire match could be a moment, but it is the image of Austin’s bleeding face and the aftermath that is so striking.

(Last part of the match) http://youtu.be/qTYcx8dq7KY

5. Stone Cold Steve Austin shaking hands with Vince McMahon after defeating The Rock at WM 17 in Houston, TX.

Well, here is another Austin moment, and it involves my personal favorite WrestleMania main event match EVER. Mind you, I have seen six WrestleManias in a row, Manias 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25, and I plan to be at this one. I mean, my readers who know me well, you all didn’t think I was going to miss Edge being inducted into the Hall of Fame now, did you? Anyway, the only one that had a shot of toppling this particular Austin match was Mania 24′s Edge (c) vs Taker in Orlando. Very VERY close. This match also happens to be my favorite match by Steve Austin.

Before I go on, I nearly made the entire PPV the 5th best moment. WM 17, at least in my opinion, was an amazing PPV. I just thought every match was booked just about perfectly, even the silly stuff like the McMahon vs McMahon stuff. I mean, there was something memorable about every match, and I can not remember a match that was bad. I thought it was a nearly perfect PPV from the McMahon match (as in being a fun match), to the Taker/HHH match to the TLC match (Edge’s spearing Jeff Hardy in mid air is a memorable moment in itself) to this fantastic main event between the Rock (C) vs Austin.

As I discussed previously about the “I Quit” match, Bret Hart went on to have his heel run in 1997, and everyone knows what happened on November 9, 1997 in Montreal at the Survivor Series. Well, out of the ashes came this whole Evil Mr. Vince McMahon character where he was the evil owner who would try to thwart the hard working hero Stone Cold Steve Austin. As most fans know, this feud lasted for years during the Attitude Era.

Well, leading up to this particular match between the Rock (C) and Austin for the WWE Championship, Vince McMahon was manipulating both men by having Austin’s wife, Debra promise that there would be no contact between the two. Well, when there was contact between the two as one week, Austin gave Rock a stunner, and the Rock in retaliation, gave Austin a Rock Bottom, Debra got fired by Vince.

The match itself was a spectacle, and a classic. Great work by both guys, and Earl Hebner was fantastic as referee. Both Paul Heyman and Jim Ross were great on commentary. Ross especially was great, especially at the start when he was wondering about the mysterious announcement before the match began that the match was “No Disqualification.” Fans were treated to two terrible looking Sharpshooters, but other than that, the match was great. During the latter part of the match, who comes down the aisle, but Vincent Kennedy McMahon in his wrestling gear from his prior match with his son. There was a point where Rock had the cover, and the likely win where Vince pulled him out. Rock gave Vince the look of death, and chased Vince around the ring, and it was on. With the help of Vince and some chairs, Stone Cold Steve Austin not only won the title, and not only turned heel (which even he admitted was a bad idea), but did the unimaginable. He shook hands with the once evil, and reviled, Vincent Kennedy McMahon, and had beers with him.

That is an image I can’t get out of my mind, and I can STILL remember Jim Ross going crazy.

Scroll to about the 30:00 mark and go to the end: http://youtu.be/zwkQ2WNkXqY

4. Undertaker’s Return to face his brother Kane at WM 20 in New York, NY

Yes, I know that there are certain things that are guaranteed in this world: Death, Taxes, and the Undertaker winning at WrestleMania. Taker has defeated 19 previous opponents, and sorry, Hunter, as much of a die hard fan of yours that I am, you will be number 20. You could have Shawn as the ref, and Peyton Manning calling your plays or designing your game plan, you are, for the THIRD TIME, lose to the Undertaker. Heck, even the newly retired Hines Ward breaking through the Cell, and giving Taker one of his famous hits with former Steeler teammate James Harrison coming in, and hitting Taker, and leading with his helmet without fear of Commissioner Goodell is going to help HHH. HHH is losing at Mania……Career vs Streak or not.

That being said, what is also guaranteed is Undertaker’s long, but fantastic entrances. I mean, sure it takes him forever and a day to get to the ring, even on Raw and Smackdown, but at a PPV, especially at WrestleMania, it is well worth it.

In late 2003, Undertaker took some personal time off when he lost a Buried Alive Match at Survivor Series to Vince McMahon of all people, with the help of his “brother,” Kane. During this time Kane had gloated about putting away Taker, and said Taker was dead, etc. Right before Mania, on Raw, he faced a casket in the ring. The ring lifted up with Kane in it, and there was an urn with 11-0 in it which was a challenge from the Undertaker.

At the event itself, it was a spectacle to see. Out came the druids with flames, and with Paul Bearer leading them, and finally, the Undertaker. I was at this show, and it was a great site to see. I had seen Taker wrestle previously at shows, but this was my first WWE PPV, and I had never seen Taker all decked out in his costume walking with the druids and Bearer with Bearer carrying that urn. Great stuff to see live for the first time.

Of course we know who won, but that’s not important. Great moment.

At the 1:16 mark: http://youtu.be/dWd4B4Onu2o

3. A pair of Edge Landmark Moments. One at WM 21 in Los Angeles, and the other at WM 22 in Chicago

Well, my readers didn’t think I was going to leave Edge off of my favorite moments of all time list, did you? Well, I paired these two moments up into one because I feel they were landmarks and were kind of intertwined.

I will start with WrestleMania 21. That was the very first Money In The Bank Ladder Match. Of course, being that it was a ladder match, as his fan, I was worried about his neck, and all, but the other guys are professionals and such. Anyway, as people know by now, the idea of the MITB match is the person who climbs the ladder, and grabs the briefcase hanging above, wins the case, and its contents which is a contract. The winner has a year to “cash it in” from that year’s Mania, and challenge for whichever World or WWE Title he wants.

Of course, everyone knows Edge won it. When he did, it was a great moment. Being at the PPV, I could sense that he got a lot of heat. Of course, Shelton Benjamin had that awesome spot with the ladder in the match. However, it was Edge’s winning moment. I felt at that moment that we could be seeing a potential star. Well, he cashed in his case at New Year’s Revolution in January 8, 2006 on John Cena, and since then won the WWE/World Titles 10 more times, and became one of the best heels, and one of the best wrestlers in WWE history (yes, I said it). I would say he became a star.

Now, the second moment I picked: Edge’s first title, despite his ratings success, lasted three weeks. He started a feud with Mick Foley who Edge blamed for costing him a chance to headline WrestleMania 22 as the WWE Champ. That lead to a feud between the two which lead to a Hardcore match.

I was 9th row for this match, and the match not only kicked ass, but it was the best match on the card. The match also, at least in my opinion, solidified Edge as a main eventer in WWE. At least in my eyes it did. It showed me that he was willing to do just about anything to prove to a lot of those “in the back” (and there WERE the doubters) that he was a great singles star. The moment for me was the image of Edge spearing Mick Foley into that flaming table. It was awesome, but scary as well. After it was over, I was more concerned that Edge got to the back and got treatment.

However, it was a great moment. Both were great moments, and I thought they related to each other well.

Edge Winning MITB at WM 21: http://youtu.be/XsBZCXkT40E

Edge Spearing Foley at WM 22: http://youtu.be/OP-Iz1tQQoI

2. Edge’s last match at WM 27 in Atlanta, GA

Well, at the previous WrestleMania, fans saw the “Career vs Streak” match between Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker. Of course, Taker won the fantastic match which was a rematch of their sensational WM 25 classic in Houston. Shawn, of course, lost, and retired which he was going to do anyway. Shawn Michaels made a heartfelt speech at Raw tonight, and hugged HHH, his real life best friend after the speech.

The point of all this is that this particular last match, and retirement,was expected. The moment I am going to discuss was not, at least to the FANS anyway.

At WrestleMania 27, Edge was in a match to defend his World Title against the Royal Rumble winner, Alberto Del Rio. Inexplicably, at the PPV, the match , a WORLD TITLE MATCH, mind you, was put on first. Why WWE did that, I have NO clue. Being that it was for the World Title, and I know Smackdown is the red headed stepchild, but really. They could have started with the Rey/Cody match. Maybe it is just me, but I think when you have a World Title match, it should be higher up on the card than the curtain jerker spot. Anyway,in an excellent, 10 minute match where both Edge’s sidekick Christian, and Del Rio’s sidekick Brotus Clay (now the Funkasaurus) ran a little interference, Edge retained his World Title, and post match, destroyed Del Rio’s precious car.

Of course, we all know what happened with Edge about a week later on April 11, 2011, and the background leading up to the heartbreaking announcement. In recent interviews, Edge said that he had no idea it would be his last Mania. The plan was that they would get through the Ladder Match at Extreme Rules (where I assume Del Rio would get the belt), and he would take time off for his sore neck,but when the MRI came back, he was told he was done. He knew he planned to retire soon, but it just came sooner rather than later. He said everyone else was shocked, but he wasn’t as he knew his neck was off for some time.On a personal note, I had noticed for a few months that he seemed to be in a lot of pain, especially when he was hit in the left arm. I remember from his book when he started having neck issues, the left arm would go numb.Well, on that Raw after the 2011 Rumble, when Del Rio hit him with the guitar, even though he was selling, I could see him flexing his left hand trying to get the feeling back in. I was wondering if his neck was starting up.

The moment, at least to me, is incredible. Yeah, there were probably some who thought it was his last, but evidently it wasn’t the case. I thought after the ladder match he would take time off, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Yes, HBK retired, but I knew it was coming. Edge said he was going to retire within the next couple of years way back in June 2010, but I figured it would be in 2012 (right about now, and even he said this year’s Mania would have been his last had he not been forced to retire). It was just when I was trying to mentally prepare for Edge’s eventual retirement, that is when Edge made that announcement on Raw. It was so shocking. I just was not ready. I had such a crisis of faith as well. The realization that he had just wrestled at his last Mania was very hard to take. The finality of it. What’s even harder is the realization is that he can never wrestle again.

The great thing about it, though, is that a great wrestler , gets to leave on top, as champion. That does not happen a lot in wrestling. I am so glad, and so proud, as his fan, that he got to do that.

Edge’s Entrance and Match Only: http://youtu.be/O4shJ7k33kk

1. Shawn Michaels “Boyhood Dream” Coming True at WM 12 in Anaheim, CA

Well, here is the moment that for me is the best WrestleMania Moment EVER. It was at WrestleMania 12 at the Anaheim Pond in Anaheim, CA. It was in the Main Event, which was the 60 minute Iron Man Match. The two contestants were “Hitman” Bret Hart, who was the defending champion, against Shawn Michaels. The backstory is that Bret was going to take some time off, and Shawn was going to be pushed as the young man going for his “Boyhood Dream” of becoming WWE Champion.

Bret Hart made his usual entrance, and Shawn made this fantastic entrance that could be a moment in itself. He was wearing white and silver tights, and came down this wire from the rafters onto the floor. Great image. Anyway, after the rules of the match were laid out, etc, the two went back and forth in what I thought, and still think was a fairly good match. I personally am not in love with this particular match, despite the two participant, and despite many fans’ being in love with it. Anyway, in the last couple of minutes of the 60 minute regulation, Bret had Shawn in his sharpshooter, and Shawn would not give up. The time expires, and here was Bret, thinking he retained the belt, walking away, and all, but not so fast, the late Gorilla Monsoon announces that in case of a tie, they go into overtime. Let’s say the Hitman was not happy. He runs in and tries to finish off Shawn, but it was not to be. Shawn had to hit Sweet Chin Music twice to put the Hitman away, but Shawn won his first of four WWE/World Championships.

It is the post match moment that I just love. That moment of him with the belt. His looking at the belt, and cradling it. What a moment. That image of the man who would go on to become the Showstopper, the Headliner, the Main Event, or as I call him, the Greatest of All Time, with his belt is just amazing and will always be my favorite WrestleMania moment ever.

The moment is at about the 7:50 point, but this is the last 2 minutes of regulation: http://youtu.be/NpOZxSkp2DU

Well, that is my list. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Terri Bey currently blogs for CamelClutchBlog.com about Wrestling, NFL, and other sports/pop culture related subjects. Her work has appeared in BleacherReport and for F4WOnline.com. Terri can be found here at Facebook- http://www.facebook.com/TerriBey and at Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/giopontifan

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WRESTLEMANIA XXVI
From University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, AZ
March 28, 2010

BACKGROUND
One of the biggest differences between WWE and TNA is that when WWE utilizes older wrestlers, it’s to their maximum.

In the fall of 2009, TNA went ahead with a considerable end-run to bolster their roster, with the target of running a monster three-hour episode of Impact, live on Monday, January 4, up against Raw.

To sweeten the pot and lure in casual fans not familiar with TNA, the company brought in Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff to be major players, while negotiating with Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Ric Flair, and Jeff Hardy, as well as other familiar faces.

WWE, knowing that TNA was going to bring their best laid plans to that Monday night, countered with something that would shock fans all over the world.

On January 4, 2010, for the first time in over twelve years, Bret “The Hitman” Hart would return to Monday Night Raw.

WWE Fans didn’t know what to think. Bret Hart, really? The same man who, while he’d done a few side ventures with WWE in recent years, had a rocky relationship with the company that embarrassed him on PPV with the “screwjob”? The same Bret Hart that locked horns with the company when the two sides became embroiled over who was responsible for the death of Bret’s brother, Owen?

Indeed, Hart showed up on January 4 in Dayton, OH, where he’d won the 1993 King of the Ring tournament.

To add to the surreal nature of Hart even standing in a WWE ring, he called out longtime nemesis Shawn Michaels. Hart had Michaels removed from the 2006 Hall of Fame ceremony, not wanting him there to witness his speech.

On this night, Hart and Michaels shook hands, and then embraced with a hug, dropping the jaws of fans around the world.

Only in WWE.

THE EVENT
Edge made a surprise comeback after a near six-month injury layoff, and won the 2010 Royal Rumble from the #29 spot. Edge waited to pick the champion he would face, and it paid off when he selected Chris Jericho, who won the World Heavyweight Championship three weeks later at Elimination Chamber.

Jericho and Edge had won the Unified Tag Team Titles in the summer, and then Edge bowed out with the mentioned injury. Jericho chose Big Show as his replacement, and then would off-handedly slag Edge for his shortcomings. Edge would taunt Jericho with threats of spearing him, getting the fans to yell, in Pavlovian fashion, “SPEEEEEEEEEAR”. Jericho’s improbable title win on February 21 meant he might have to eat his words at WrestleMania.

On the opposite brand, John Cena won the Raw Elimination Chamber match, winning Sheamus’ WWE Championship. Immediately after the grueling contest, Vince McMahon, who was on bad terms with Cena after he’d stood beside Bret Hart (explanation forthcoming), sent Batista to the ring for an immediate title match. Batista mauled Cena to win the belt within seconds.

Cena had a chance for a WrestleMania rematch if he could beat Batista in a non-title rematch the next night on Raw. Batista got himself disqualified intentionally, due to his hatred of Cena, his success, and what he stood for. In fact, Batista made it clear that when the two men had their skyrocketing career paths parallel each other just several years earlier, Cena got more love and Batista admitted that he was jealous.

Batista also made it clear that Cena had never, ever beaten him, and promised that WrestleMania, in front of the world, would be no different.

But back to Hart, Vince McMahon had assaulted him at the end of the January 4 Raw, continuing the bad blood that had existed since 1997. McMahon would spend over two months ripping Hart for hanging onto the past, claiming that he’d made “The Hitman”. Bret, however, would get a chance at revenge as he’d challenged Vince to a street fight.

McMahon accepted, but after Bret attacked him, Vince would renege. After Hart was then injured in a car accident backstage, McMahon would accept, thinking Bret was too hurt. However, after Vince signed the contract, Hart proved that his injuries were merely a ruse to get Vince to agree, and that the accident was all a set-up. Hart would have his chance to get 12 years worth of revenge after all.

Speaking of revenge, Shawn Michaels had some in mind as well.

Michaels lamented not ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak one year earlier, and became obsessed with doing so.

Shawn Michaels had cost The Undertaker the World Heavyweight Title at Elimination Chamber, doing whatever he could to get a rematch at WrestleMania, so that he could end the streak. After weeks of hounding “The Dead Man”, Michaels finally got Undertaker’s attention. However, Undertaker would only accept the match if Michaels agreed to put his career on the line.

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Michaels implied acceptance, saying “If I can’t beat you….I have no career.”

Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Matt Striker called the action from ringside. Fantasia Barrino performed “America the Beautiful”. Entering the WWE Hall of Fame were Ted Dibiase, Antonio Inoki, Wendi Richter, Mad Dog Vachon, Gorgeous George, Stu Hart, and Bob Uecker.

THE RESULTS
Unified Tag Team Championship: The Miz/Big Show def. John Morrison/R-Truth in 3:24
(Miz and Morrison get a “make up call” from one year earlier, and get to be on the actual show. Of course, it gets 1/3 of the time as their dark match from last year. Life’s just not fair)

Triple Threat Match: Randy Orton def. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in 9:01
(This was decent, and did what it was supposed to do in elevate Orton, but Rhodes and DiBiase’s slap fest was so horribly goofy that it became hard to take either man seriously. Some Mania debut for both)

Money in the Bank: Jack Swagger def. Kane, MVP, Christian, Dolph Ziggler, Matt Hardy, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Drew McIntyre, and Evan Bourne in 13:44
(Swagger was an interesting choice for a winner. And by “interesting”, I mean “odd”. He’d become World Heavyweight Champion two nights later in one of the most forgettable reigns in recent memory)

Triple H def. Sheamus in 12:09
(Ever feel like Orton and Hunter were punished for their crappy main event from last year by being stuck in the first half of the show? Match was pretty good, actually. Sheamus deserves more love)

Rey Mysterio def. CM Punk in 6:30
(Damn good match, but way short. Mysterio had to go “straight edge” if he lost, as if that were a heelish thing to have to do. “How dare that villain infringe on Rey’s right to take HGH! That cad!”)

Lumberjack Match: Bret Hart def. Vince McMahon in 11:09
(All of the Hart siblings, as well as the Hart Dynasty, surrounded the ring for a match in which Bret slowly and meticulously stomped Vince and beat him with a chair for eleven minutes. Well, it’s fine by me. By the way, look at the match’s time. What date was Montreal again? 11/09! CREEPY!)

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Jericho def. Edge in 15:48
(Like Jericho’s previous WrestleMania World Title match, this had no heat, seemed a bit awkward, and is not often remembered. It’s a shame, because it was a pretty good match, but Edge’s entire face schtick centered around him bellowing “SPEEEEEEEAR!!!” which does nothing for anyone)

Michelle McCool/Layla/Vickie Guerrero/Maryse/Alicia Fox def. Mickie James/Beth Phoenix/Kelly Kelly/Gail Kim/Eve Torres in 3:26
(The last major WWE appearance of Mickie “Lesbian Stalker” James. I’ll always have the memories)

WWE Heavyweight Championship: John Cena def. Batista in 13:31
(A bit abbreviated, but still a damn good outing. Cena and Batista have pretty good chemistry when they’re not bogged down by pointless stipulations, as they were in subsequent rematches. Batista’s face when Cena kicked out of the Batista Bomb is a sight to behold)

Career vs. Streak: The Undertaker def. Shawn Michaels in 23:59
(Not quite as “epic” as last year’s match, but epic nonetheless. Gah, I’m splitting hairs here. This was a great match, and a great way for Shawn Michaels to go out. I hope, unlike Flair, he stays retired and lets his tremendous legacy tell the story of how amazing a performer he was. I hope when Undertaker retires one day, he has the sense to do the same. Great ending to the show)

ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
I never would have guessed, in 2010, that we’d see Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels wrestle on the same show ever again. Hart and Michaels were, at one point, both retired simultaneously, until Michaels found the itch to wrestle again in 2002.

Hart’s match wasn’t really a match as it was a slow beating. Michaels’ match was an enthralling epic, considered the best match of 2010.

But for both men, WrestleMania XXVI was about closure.

For Hart, it was about giving the fans “one more match”, the one he’d wished for at his Hall of Fame speech in 2006. Sure, it wasn’t anything great, but it was one more Sharpshooter in front of millions of fans, as a way of putting some of his bitterness into his past.

For Shawn Michaels, it was one last great performance. The most talented wrestler the world has known stole the show once more, from peers young and old. He could now rest his battered body forever.

A photo surfaced one day after WrestleMania with both Hart and Michaels smiling, congratulating each other after the show had ended.

If you can think of a more appropriate portrait for this show, I’d like to see it.

Justin Henry is a freelance writer who splits time between this site, WrestleCrap.com, and FootballNation.com. He can be found via his wrestling Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wrestlecrapjrh

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WWE: Bret Hitman Hart – The Dungeon Collection

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Sunday, March 20th, 1994 – New York City, New York – Madison Square Garden – One of the few WrestleMania’s that, when I was younger, I always went to the video store and rented on VHS to see the Ladder match between Shawn Michaels and the Intercontinental Champion, Razor Ramon. A funny note to that, I always got angry at the finish of the match, hoping that the end would change each time I would go out and rent it.

One thing that I never gave thought to for this year’s WrestleMania, besides being the first Mania to hit double-digits for age, the 1994 WrestleMania was the first time Hulk Hogan won’t grace us with his presence or compete in a match with anyone! It’s odd to know that WrestleMania X was the first WrestleMania without the Hulkster. What an accomplishment!

Knowing that the Bret Hart versus Owen Hart match is a highly regarded technical match and the Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship match is an innovator to the future Ladder matches in WrestleMania history, let’s see how I enjoy both matches and the card in general.

Welcome everyone to WrestleMania X!

WrestleMania X opens with a video package reviewing the history of WrestleMania. We see a few clips from WrestleMania 1, which was held in the same arena this Mania is held, Madison Square Garden! Then we are welcomed by the classic WrestleMania theme song, and the fans going bonkers! Every WrestleMania should open like this!

Once we see several shots of the fans inside MSG, we hear Vince McMahon welcome us to WrestleMania, which, no matter how many times I watch it or hear him say it, it gives me chills to hear Mr. McMahon welcome us to WrestleMania!

Vince was in the ring to welcome Little Richard to sing “America the Beautiful.”

After Little Richard finished singing “America the Beautiful,” McMahon announced that Jerry “the King” Lawler as his color commentator, with the Chairman being the play-by-play man for WrestleMania X!

Vince McMahon tells us the opener for tonight will be Bret Hart versus Owen Hart, brother taking on his brother! With that, we are welcomed to a video package of the build-up with Bret and Owen, were it all started at Survivor Series 1993, where Owen was the only member to lose in the Hart family Survivor Series team.

Bill Dunn opens us to the first match! Let’s do it!

“The Rocket” Owen Hart vs. Bret “the Hitman” Hart

When Owen’s theme hit, the fans showered him with boos, and who can blame them? Something that helped Owen to gain more heat was he walked out with a Hitman shades on and once he got to the ring, he ripped them into pieces.

When the Hitman’s theme song played, the crowd jumped to their feet and welcomed Bret to his first match at WrestleMania.

It’s always encouraging to see Earl Hebner as the referee for the opening match at WrestleMania. Along with that, I am in love with the crowd response for the first match in 1994’s WrestleMania! Everyone’s hot to see Bret and Owen grapple with one another!

The Hart brothers have the fans in their hands when they exchange counters and when they chain wrestle. They knew how much they had the fans in their hands, picking up the pace of the match when they needed to and slowed it down for they wouldn’t burn the crowd up rather quickly.

Owen was going to walk out on the match and Bret ran out and brought him back into the ring and asked him something similar to, “Why walk out? Let’s finish what you started!”

A loud “Owe” from the crowd happened when Owen hit a beautiful belly-to-belly suplex and got a two-count on his brother Bret. I jumped to my feet when I saw that belly-to-belly perfectly executed.

Lawler asked McMahon if Bret lost to Owen, would Bret be ashamed to show his face in the main event for the WWF Championship. McMahon said that he might but we wouldn’t know until we finish this match.

Something that I was surprised to see that didn’t finish the match was when Owen hit the Tombstone Piledriver on Bret and neither McMahon or Lawler called it! Owen went to the top rope to hit a flying splash and Bret moved out of the way. Come on! Granted the Undertaker wasn’t on the card either, does that mean you have to kill his finish?

McMahon at the announcers table makes the matches better for me, because when Bret hit the second-rope elbow drop, McMahon counted with Hebner, made it seem that elbow drop could of finish Owen at that moment. Thanks Mr. McMahon for doing play-by-play for as long as you did!

Lawler’s logic made sense when he mentioned that Bret should quit whenever he’s in a submission hold, giving Owen the victory, and more importantly for Bret, be as close to a 100 percent for his title match in the main event than stay in the submission.

The crowd ate up the figure four leg lock Owen had Bret in and the crowd loved Bret even more when he was able to make it to the ropes, causing Owen to break the leg submission.

Longer and longer that the match goes on, more pain Bret’s in, selling his left knee. Great selling by the Hitman.

Another perfectly executed move that was pulled out was when the Hitman hit Owen with the piledriver! I popped for that move! Great trust between brothers to hit that move.

Vince and the crowd were yelling at Bret after he hit Owen with the top-rope superplex to roll over and cover him. Once Bret did, he only got a two, and McMahon started to question what Bret has to do to put his little brother down for the victory.

Lawler put over the Sharpshooter Owen put Bret in, yelling that Bret gave up, even though he never did. Once Bret reversed it , the fans leaped to their feet, hoping that Owen would give in. Lucky for Owen, he was right by the ropes, which caused a break.

Bret was going for a victory roll on Owen and the Rocket countered and pinned Bret, shocking the live crowd in New York City and making Lawler scream at McMahon, telling Vince and us that Owen is the better brother!

Winner: “the Rocket” Owen Hart and the fans!

Using Dave Meltzer and the Wrestling Observer 5-star system, I have to give Bret and Owen Hart’s opening match a ***** rating! I can’t see how any other opening match at WrestleMania could top this match between the Hart brothers!

McMahon threw it back to Todd Pettengill, who ran into Owen to get a few words from him. Owen told us that he feels great and he’s on cloud nine. Owen said he beat Bret and now he’ll get the recognition that he should get, finally getting out of his older brother’s shadows. Todd asked if Bret would be able to compete in the main event match and Owen told us that he doesn’t want to take anything away from his brother, since he’s a fighter, but after the beating he got from him, Bret has no chance on winning the World title later in the card.

Pettengill showed us a WrestleMania moment, showing us moments from WrestleMania 2!

Bill Done welcomes Sy Sperling, who’s the president of the Hair Club for Men, showing the hair on Howard Finkel’s head. With that, Finkel announced the following contest.

Mixed Tag Team match: Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon vs. Doink the Clown and Dink

I was surprised when the Fink announced the total combined weight when each team entered the arena, knowing that women normally don’t like to announce their weight.

The match started rather fast when Doink rolled into the ring and Bam Bam attacked Doink, enough that Doink’s still in his green jacket.

This mix tag was in no comparison to the last match, but it’s different in a good way, giving the fans inside MSG and the fans who would later watch WrestleMania X a different taste of what the WWF was doing in 1994.

Seemed that the crowd was most into the match whenever Dink and Luna were in the match, which makes me feel bad for Doink and Bigelow, since both competitors were great workers.

Dink was knocked off the apron, which caused Doink to fall off his game, giving Bigelow the upper edge, and scoring with his flying headbutt.

Winners: Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon

This match wasn’t the greatest technical match but it wasn’t built up to be either. I have to give this match a ** and ¼ * match, since the competitors had a tough act to follow and still had the fans into the bigger spots in their match.

We hear the “President’s theme song” and see the United States President, Bill Clinton. After he waved to the fans, McMahon welcomes another WrestleMania moment, which was WrestleMania 3, where we see Hogan and Andre go face-to-face before they began their main event match.

Falls Count Anywhere match: Randy “Macho Man” Savage vs. Crush (with Mr. Fuji)

The rules for this falls count anywhere match isn’t a normal falls count anywhere. Wherever in the building you score the pin (or submission), the wrestler who took the fall has to get back to the ring within sixty seconds. So in a sense, this is a variation of a Texas Death Match.

Before Crush was able to make it down to the ring, Savage ran down and attacked him maybe fifteen feet from the entrance stage.

That didn’t turn out too well for the Macho Man. Crush took control of the brawl and press slammed him into the guard rail and scored the pin. Thankfully for the Macho Madness, he was able to make it back to the ring within a minute.

Macho Man was able to pick up the second fall when he hit the flying elbow and pushed Crush to the floor and pinned him out there. Smart thinking by the Macho King. Mr. Fuji spilt water on Crush’s face to wake him back up to get him back into the ring to continue the match. Great work Fuji!

The third and deceive fall came when Macho Man brought Crush to the backstage somewhere where construction was taking place and Savage tied Crush’s legs to the scaffold. After hanging him upside down, Savage ran back to the ring for he can celebrate the victory!

Winner: Macho Man Randy Savage and his future rap career!

To be honest, this wasn’t a technical match, which is my favorite kind of match, but like the mix tag before, all three matches on the card were different and that helped this match. I have to give this match a ** and a ½ *’s because of the creative ways each fall took place.

Todd Pettengill was with the Presidential box and talked to “President Clinton.” Clinton said that he wouldn’t miss WrestleMania X for anything in the world. IRS was sitting behind Clinton and they shook hands. IRS congratulate Clinton for raising taxes for all those tax cheats in American couldn’t run away from paying their taxes.

Pettengill threw us to a video package, showing the fan fest from the weekend of WrestleMania. I guess you were able to get into the ring and have a match with one of your friends and meet a lot of wrestlers. What an awesome experience!

McMahon shoots us to another WrestleMania experience and we see clips of the Macho Man defeating four different men to become the new Undisputed World Wrestling Federation Champion!

Women’s Championship: Leilani Kai vs. Alundra Blayze (Champion)

When Blaze made it to the ring, her pyro went off, and McMahon got excited for it. Great work McMahon on putting over your women’s division!

Leilani Kai sent Blayze to the ropes and when Alundra came running back; Kai ran towards her and knocked her over, screaming. What a heel foreigner, trying to do damage to a pretty American.

A WrestleMania fact that McMahon mentioned was Leilani Kai was at the first WrestleMania. So the twice Kai made it to WrestleMania, both happened at MSG.

The finish came when Alundra Blayze hit the German Suplex bridge and scored the victory.

Winner: Alundra Blayze, still the WWF Women’s Champion!

The crowd didn’t care at all for this match and I had a hard time paying attention for the match. So judging by those two things, it appears that either the WWF didn’t care much about the women’s division in 1994 to give them much television time or the fans weren’t invested into the match, so I have to give this match a * for their effort.

McMahon brought us back to WrestleMania V for another WrestleMania moment. In this clip, we seen Roddy Piper put the “fire” known as Morton Downey, Jr. during a “Piper’s Pit” segment at WrestleMania V!

WWF Tag Team Championship: Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo with Oscar) vs. the Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre – champions – with Johnny Polo)

After Oscar rapped Mabel and Mo to the ring, McMahon sends us to the back with Todd Pettengill, who’s with Rhonda Shear from ‘Up All Night.’ Before Pettengill got to any of his questions, Shawn Michaels came to get a picture taken with her, and then Burt Reynolds showed up and ran the Heartbreak Kid off. When we came back, the Quebecers were in the ring. We couldn’t have had that interview before the match?

One of the bigger pops from the match came when Mabel came in and leg dropped Pierre. If I were Pierre, I would have asked to be on my stomach to receive the leg drop as well, because I would have been scared to watch that huge leg coming down across my neck.

The crowd got into the match when Mo was getting his backside handed to him by the Quebecers. Great way to get heat to the babyfaces and great tag work.

A spot that surprised McMahon and the crowd was when the Quebecers got Mabel up for a double-suplex. Being as big as that guy was back in 1994, that was a big spot, even now in 2013.

Men on a Mission got the victory when they did their tag finishers on the Quebecers on the outside, causing a count-out.

Winners: Men on a Mission, yet still tag champions, those darn Quebecers.

I have to give this match * star. Wasn’t too involved with the match and didn’t really get much out of it (as noticed in the amount of notes I wrote for it). The four tried their best but the crowd wasn’t involved that much into it – neither was I.

McMahon sent us to another WrestleMania flashback, to WrestleMania VI, and the clip we saw was from the main event, where the Intercontinental Champion, the Ultimate Warrior, defeated the WWF Champion, Hulk Hogan, proving, in words of Gorilla Monsoon, that “no one is unbeatable.”

The Fink brought out some celebrities, Rhonda Shear, who was our guest time keeper and Donnie Wahlberg, who was our guest ring announcer, for our first-of-two WWF Championship matches.

Wahlberg announced who our special guest referee for this main event, Mr. Perfect! The crowd popped for his return, as does Mr. McMahon, telling us that he won’t take any of Yokozuna’s crap and Lawler questions how Luger got Perfect as the referee.

WWF Championship: Yokozuna (WWF Champion with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) vs. Lex Luger

When the WWF Champion came out, Vinnie Mac put over how large Yokozuna was at the time of the 1994 WrestleMania. That is true, this man was large.

When Lex Luger’s theme hit and was announced, the crowd popped and Vince went wild for him. Vince seemed more thrilled that Luger might walk out as the new WWE Champion and may take us into the new generation. In other words, Vince McMahon was excited that Lex Luger might be the new Hulk Hogan.

Vince put over that no one knows who’ll walk into the last match as WWF Champion, to face Bret Hart. This being the only WrestleMania were the WWE title was defended twice made this card super special to me, even though I was never much of a Luger, Hart, or Yokozuna fan.

The match rolled to the outside and the fans seemed into the brawl. Once Luger got the huge WWE Champion into the ring, he flew off the top rope and nailed the champ with a cross body, Perfect went down to count the fall and after the slap of two, Yoko kicked out by stopping Perfect’s hands (which I’m surprised the announcers didn’t catch that).

When Yokozuna had Luger in a rest hold, I saw a sign in the crowd saying “LEX LOSER.” Made me chuckle to myself, I guess there were fans in 1994 who knew that Luger wasn’t that great of a wrestler.

Also during the rest hold that I was describing in the paragraph above, the fans tried to get Luger motivated to get out of the hold with chanting “USA!” but that didn’t work. Sorry Luger, try Hulking up, maybe the fans would be into your comebacks.

Luger did somewhat Hulk-Up but Yoko threw a few fists and got Luger back down on the mat and put him in another rest hold. Great job Yokozuna!

Lawler makes me laugh, I wish he would play heel color guy again like he did for this show. During this match, Lawler was ripping on Perfect for his “slow counts” towards Yokozuna and his “fast counts” for Lex Luger, trying to put over that Perfect were in favor for screwing Yoko out of the WWF title.

One thing I appreciate about Yokozuna was how beautiful his belly-to-belly suplexes were, and how beautiful he was able to pull off on Lex.

After Luger hit his running forearm finish, Fuji and Cornette came into the ring for distraction, and Luger pulled them into the ring and beat them up. After their beating, Luger covered Yokozuna and Perfect didn’t go for the count. Lawler and McMahon were in confusion on why Perfect didn’t count for Luger and crown him the new champion.

Perfect went to the Fink and walked out, saying that Luger was disqualified for putting his hands on the managers and putting his hands on him, the official.

Winner: Yokozuna, by disqualification, and STILL WWF CHAMPION! GREAT WORK LUGER, YOU’RE NO HULK HOGAN!

Something I’ve been saying for this whole blog is, this WrestleMania featured a different style of match every match we had, and I really enjoyed that. I know both workers can put on a great match, depending on who they work with, and to my surprise, since I hadn’t watched this card in years; I was entertained by Yokozuna defeating Lex Luger. I have to give this match a *** and ¾ * rating.

After Perfect got to the back, Luger was in the ring, irate on what happened, and the New York crowd was chanting “bull****!” Looking back now, I am surprised that chant made it on WWE television in 1994! I guess the fans wanted to see Luger as WWE Champion, which surprised me. Considering it now, I am surprised the WWF didn’t pull the trigger on him back then.

Pettengill ran into Perfect backstage and he explained that since Luger put his hands on the official referee, he got himself disqualified. Luger came back and Perfect told him that and since he threw the managers into the ring and punched them, which gave Perfect more of a reason to disqualify Luger. The fans booed the decision and explanation, pooping all over the decision.

McMahon sends us to another WrestleMania memory, going back to WrestleMania VII, showing us the blind fold match, having Jake Roberts taking on Rick Martell.

When we came back, the Fink introduced Harvey Wippleman. Harvey insulted the Fink on how he looks and started to rip his tux apart. After shoving Wippleman down, Adam Bomb came out to defend his manager against the Fink, and that brought out Earthquake.

Adam Bomb (with Harvey Wippleman) vs. Earthquake

The bell rings and the match begins! Earthquake made short work of Adam Bomb, body slamming him a few times and hitting him with his finish, the running sit down splash, ending the match in around 30 seconds.

Winner: Earthquake!

I have to give this match * and ½ * for rating, simply because it was short and saved us from a possible horrible match that would of happened if it was any longer. Thanks to Earthquake for attacking Adam Bomb from behind, saving the Fink!

We go backstage with Todd Pettengill, trying to interview Yokozuna, and Cornette walked in and told Pettengill that Yokozuna still has the title and that’s the only thing that matters. Cornette felt that Mr. Perfect did a great job on being the referee and both him and Yokozuna chose Perfect to be the referee, so he can’t be upset on how he called it. Cornette brings Bret Hart up, saying that all the history with Owen and his family might cloud his vision when he faces Yokozuna later in the night for the title, and with all that he’s going thought, might hinder him more on being unable to defeat Yoko.

We get another WrestleMania flashback for WrestleMania VIII and that Mania marks an experience of the Undertaker!

Ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (with Diesel) versus Razor Ramon (WWF Intercontinental Champion)

This clouded history always interested me when I was younger. I never knew why Michaels was stripped of the Intercontinental title until I read his book. He failed a drug test (and claims he never did any drugs to fail the test) and the title was put up in a Battle Royal where the last two fought the week later and Razor won the vacant title. When Michaels came back from suspension, he gunned Ramon down, wanting his rightful Intercontinental Championship back.

After both men entered the arena and the ring, Lawler mentioned that in his eyes, Shawn Michaels is the rightful and undisputed Intercontinental Champion and Razor was “Johnny Come-Lately” on being the champion. I wished McMahon and Lawler would of explained on the feud between the two when they walked out or had a video package explain why those two are fighting for the two title belts.

Shortly after the match started, Michaels threw out Razor to the outside and Diesel closelined him down, giving Michaels more of the advantage. Because of this, Hebner threw Diesel out for his interference, wanting it to be fought evenly. Can’t blame him, the cards should be decked evenly.

When Razor got back in the ring, he got the upper hand and closelined Michaels outside of the ring, facing the hard camera. Razor followed and pulled the ring mats up and exposed the concrete floor. McMahon and Lawler mentioned it.

Both men went back to the ring and brawled a little more and Razor was going to throw Michaels out of the ring, to the concrete floor with the Razor’s Edge, but Michaels countered with a backdrop, dropping Ramon onto the cold, hard floor.

Once Ramon was out, Michaels walked and grabbed the ladder and brought it most of the way down, until Razor stopped him. Michaels was thrown into the ring and Ramon was about to throw the ladder into the ring, then Michaels baseball slide into the ladder, which made contact with the Bad Guy’s ribs, softening them up for more damage.

After the baseball slide, the Heartbreak Kid had the upper hand, using the ladder to inflict damage to the champion, weakening Ramon for he wouldn’t be able to climb up the ladder and capture the two championship belts.

Michaels set up the ladder and started to climb and Razor distracted him, pulled his trunks down, showing off a full moon inside MSG. Michaels kicked Ramon in the face, knocking him back to the floor, and dropping the elbow off the ladder.

With some set-up, Michaels pulled Ramon to the center of the ring and put the ladder in the corner, the Heartbreak Kid climbed up the turnbuckle and dove over the top of the ladder and splashed Ramon, making sure he’s unable to get back up.

Michaels moved the ladder to the center of ring and started to climb up the ladder again, trying to capture the two belts. Before he got up, Ramon got to his feet and pushed the ladder over, teaming with gravity and the top rope, closelining Michaels, having both men on the mat below.

Both men got up and exchanged some blows, and Michaels got the upper hand when he nailed the Bad Guy with the Sweet Chin Music (which wasn’t the Sweet Chin Music at the time, just a super kick that Michaels used once in a while for the hell of it). The men caught their breath, giving them a breather, and the fans. Man, what a beautiful story these two men are telling us inside that ring!

The Heartbreak Kid got up to his feet first and he grabbed the ladder and set it up in the corner and Irish Whipped Ramon to it. Well, Ramon countered, sending Michaels into it, and Michaels flopped over the top rope and landed on the concrete floor below.

After that, Ramon followed suit and brawled with Michaels outside, making sure Michaels took a beating too.

Moments later, Ramon was climbing up the ladder to grab the belts and Michaels jumped off the top turnbuckle to knock Razor off, Razor did, and the ladder crashed on top of the back of the Heartbreak Kid, which had to hurt.

Both men got back up and climbed the ladder, and Ramon suplexed Michaels off of it, giving us a faint “Holy ****” chant from the crowd. Razor fell off too, but he got back up, set the ladder back up, and climbed it again. Michaels got to his feet and dropkicked the ladder, causing Ramon to fall on the mat below, in pain. Michaels was in pain too, and it took him about 30 seconds to get the energy to come over and push the ladder on top of Ramon.

Michaels got up and pulled Razor to his feet, Irish Whipped him and nail another super kick, knocking Ramon out. After that, he gestured for a Razor’s Edge on Razor, put executed a beautiful piledriver on the champ! Michaels grabbed the ladder and climbed the turnbuckle, driving his body and the ladder into Ramon, trying to drive Ramon into the mat!

The Heartbreak Kid set the ladder up over the Intercontinental Champion and started to climb. The challenger didn’t get far up the ladder when the Bad Guy got back up. Razor started to shake the ladder, then ran to the ropes and booted the ladder, forcing Michaels to fall off and somehow get his feet tied up into the top and middle rope, letting Ramon to climb up the ladder and capture the two Intercontinental titles.

Winner: Razor Ramon, retaining the title, and being billed as the Undisputed WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion.

Wow! What a match! Never thought this match would have been has hard to blog as it was for me, simply because I wanted to type out every spot that they hit on each other! Because this match was the match that I grew up on and caused me to fall in-love with the industry and it set up many of future ladder matches, I have to give this Intercontinental Championship Ladder match the ***** rating. Two five-star matches on one WrestleMania in the early days is amazing!

If you never watched this match before, what’s wrong with you! Go out and watch this match! I know it’s on the Ladders 2 DVD set that the WWE put out (and that’s on Netflix). If not, it might be up on YouTube, check it out.

McMahon sends us backstage and there was supposed to be a ten-man tag match and the heels couldn’t agree on who the captain of their team should be, so we never got that match at WrestleMania. According to Wikipedia, so take it for what it’s worth, but I guess the match got kicked off the card for time constraints. Thankfully McMahon didn’t decided to shave off time from the Owen vs. Bret match, the Ladder match, or the two WWF Championship matches, since those four matches were the four main events people bought the card on pay-per-view and bought tickets to see.

McMahon sent us back to Todd Pettengill to the Presidential Box and the Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase met President Clinton. DiBiase said that everybody has a price and Clinton said he doesn’t want to talk politics and wants to enjoy the show. That made me laugh. Pettengill sent us to another WrestleMania video package!

This WrestleMania moment was WrestleMania IX, where we see how Yokozuna screwed Bret Hart out of the WWF Championship. So, indirectly, we have the WrestleMania IX rematch for the main event at WrestleMania X, all wrapped around the WWF Championship!

WWF Championship match: Yokozuna (WWF Champion with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) vs. Bret Hart

Before the competitors came out, we see a video package of Bret Hart looking the only way he can look, giving us a brief history of his wrestling career. The package also included highlights of Yokozuna, showing his greatest moments of his WWF career. I enjoyed how the video put both guys over.

Burt Reynolds was our guest ring announcer and the guest time keeper was Jennie Garth.

The fans jumped to their feet when it was announced that “Rowdy” Roddy Piper was announced to be the special guest referee for the second WWF Championship match! A great guy to be the referee for the main event for WrestleMania X at Madison Square Garden, where he main evented the first WrestleMania at the same arena!

I caught on rather quickly that Yokozuna was announced first for both WWF title matches and that caught me off guard, since it’s been tradition that the champion always was announced last. Unless that tradition didn’t start until after this WrestleMania, or they wanted to change it up for this card, to throw all those marks off rather fast.

Before Bret made it through the ropes, Yokozuna didn’t waste any time and attacked the Hitman, taking advantage of his challenger before his challenger had a chance to throw a punch.

One thing that I noticed too a few minutes into the match was the crowd seemed burnt out from the card. Can’t blame them since they already seen these two men twice and already seen two amazing matches and this match won’t live up to the other two great matches.

A move that made me laugh and cringe at the sight was when Hart headbutted Yokozuna, since knowing firsthand how painful headbutts can be, and how Hart sold it like he hurt himself to punish the champion, I appreciated the move attempt, until Yoko fell on his butt from the move, which showed me that the headbutt worked.

Jim Cornette distracted Piper and pulled him out of the ring when he was counting Hart’s pinfall attempt. So what does Piper do? He nailed Cornette with a fist, which laid him out. Lawler was irate over it, claiming it was favoritism, but McMahon said that Cornette got what was coming to him.

A few minutes later, Yokozuna allowed Hart to get to his feet, which I found to be silly, since that let Bret to catch his breath. Yoko sent Bret sailing to the outside of the ring, causing a ten-count to start, but before being counted-out, Bret got back into the ring, and rolled into more punishment from the champ.

Both men exchanged having control of the match, both times the pace of the match slow, since both were still tired and wasn’t able to recover fully from their matches from before.

A dumb move Bret tried to do was jump from the turnbuckle at Yokozuna, since Yoko caught Bret and hit the belly-to-belly suplex. When Yokozuna pulled Bret to the corner for the Banzai Drop. Before being able to execute the move, the champ’s footing slipped and fell backwards, giving Hart the opportunity to roll over and cover for the victory, giving us a new champion!

Winner: Bret “the Hitman” Hart, the NEW WORLD WRESTLING FEDERATION CHAMPION!

Since it was both of their second match of the night, I can’t rip on them for being a slow paced match, which as a whole, was smart coming after the Ladder match, and the crowd seemed burnt out from that match. But for ratings, I have to give this match a ** and ¾ * match, since it seemed average. It lasted around ten minutes, which was a positive for it, since if it ran much longer than fifteen minutes, it would of hurt it, and I don’t think both men were able to last that long.

When Bret was celebrating with the belt, Lex Luger came out and raised Bret’s hand, congratulating him on his win. Piper, Ramon, and all the faces came out to celebrate with the new WWF Champion at the end of the night! Savage showed up, and after, McMahon took off his headset and joined the party in the ring.

Moments later, Owen Hart walked out from the stage, shocked that after the beating he gave his brother, he still pulled this out, beating Yokozuna and capturing the WWF Championship, once again.

As a whole show, I really enjoyed this WrestleMania. Like said during the review, I rented this card on VHS during the ‘90s and I was reminded with each match why. Every match was different from each other, which made that match stand out on the DVD, and for me, in my review as well. You can tell which matches weren’t as great at others by how many notes I took down for it. I can relate to the fans live on why they weren’t too into the Yokozuna/Hart match since I, too, was burnt out from watching this show. But using Dave Meltzer’s five-star rating, I have to give this card a **** star rating. I could of done without the Adam Bomb/Earthquake stuff, even though the match itself was less than a minute, and I would rather see Doink and Bam Bam Bigelow have a one-on-one match instead of the mix tag that we see.

Overall, if you haven’t seen WrestleMania X, what’s the matter with you? Go out and watch it! It’s worth the two and a half hour watch. If you have seen it, watch it again, it’s fully worth the revisit, each and every match. To my surprise at the start of the blog and before starting the show, Vince McMahon, the WWE, and WrestleMania, didn’t need Hulk Hogan for future WrestleMania’s here-on-out. Yes, the first few Hogan were needed to help get WrestleMania on the map as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling and the Super Bowl of the World Wrestling Federation.

If you liked my review here of WrestleMania X, and my WrestleMania 13 review, please check out a blog site where one of my buddies and I are reviewing old shows and blogging about it.  Someday in the future we’re hoping to start podcasting, too!  Check out those blogs at https://maineventstatusradio.wordpress.com/.

Eric Darsie is known as a ‘common-man’ among his peers, at least he thinks so. He works hard with his hands in the heart of Minnesota and on his free time, he thugs and a bugs with his family and friends. Whenever he doesn’t do that, he’s found to be writing. Now more of a rare thing, he’s gems could be found here. If you would like to see more of Eric’s work outside of the professional world, check him out at http://vintagedarsie.wordpress.com/, http://www.writerscafe.org/Darsie/writing/, and on Twitter @IAmDarsie.

WWE: WrestleMania XIII DVD

WWE: WrestleMania 29 DVD

WWE: Bret Hitman Hart – The Dungeon Collection

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WRESTLEMANIA XXIII
From Ford Field in Detroit, MI
April 1, 2007

BACKGROUND
Being World Wrestling Entertainment has its share of diverse ways in which it can present its product. With an impressive active roster, a tremendous amount of classic legends willing to appear, expansion into wrestling-starved foreign countries, and a stranglehold on social media and merchandise licensing, even when the product falters, WWE still manages to thrive.

In 2006, WWE found itself spinning its wheels. John Cena, while a popular champion to youthful audiences, was getting choruses of boos from the more “time tested” fans who were used to wrestling being more coarse, bloody, raw (pun intended), and risqué than a near-thirty year old man in rainbow-ish t-shirts, trucker caps, and sneakers running his mouth as if he were the Disney Channel’s version of Eminem.

Since WWE was keen on keeping Cena champion long term (a strategy that has paid off if you consider merchandise sales and Cena’s cross-promotions), Vince McMahon needed something to keep the “hardcores” happy.

And the answer WAS hardcore. Well, rather, Vince’s definition of “hardcore”.

In June 2006, WWE opened a third brand, resurrecting the five-years-dead ECW, complete with Paul Heyman in charge. Joining Heyman were Joey Styles and Tazz on the stick, as well as classic stars of ECW’s past, such as Rob Van Dam and The Sandman. While the new ECW (dubbed WWECW by smart alecks) lacked the unpolished feel of the previous incarnation, ECW would serve as a nice alternative to Raw and SmackDown, creating a number of new stars in the process.

Also in the spring, WWE brought back another uncouth concept: D-Generation X. Triple H turned face for the first time in four years, reuniting with Shawn Michaels to recreate some old mayhem, albeit with less controversy.

With this mix of classic chaos and modern marketing, WWE was on the road to Detroit.

THE EVENT
For the first time since WWE allowed for two world titles to exist, the two title matches at WrestleMania would be exclusive to babyfaces only.

The Undertaker, after a decade and a half of raising Hell in WWE, finally could add a Royal Rumble victory to his resume. Being the first #30 entrant to win the January classic, Undertaker brawled with Shawn Michaels for the final eight or nine minutes, ousting his legendary counterpart by avoiding Sweet Chin Music.

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Undertaker now had his pick of opponent. Choosing between WWE Champion John Cena, World Heavyweight Champion Batista, and ECW Champion Bobby Lashley, “The Phenom” settled on Batista, who reigned supreme over Undertaker’s home show, SmackDown.

With SmackDown’s main event locked in, Cena’s opponent was determined by a triple threat match between Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Randy Orton. Michaels managed to beat the former World Tag Team Champions to earn the spot.

Making this match interesting was the fact that, long before Michaels had become Cena’s #1 contender, he and Cena had beaten Orton and Edge to become World Tag Team Champions. This marked the first time in WrestleMania history that tag titlists would fight over a singles belt.

Orton tried to stir the pot between the two men, showing a video of how Michaels had turned on every tag team partner he’d ever had, including Marty Jannetty, Diesel, and Hulk Hogan, among others.

Michaels tried to smooth things with his unlikely partner by saying that “this time is different”, but Michaels would still taunt Cena with a feint attempt at a Sweet Chin Music.

At No Way Out in February, Undertaker actually teamed with Batista to face Cena and Michaels in a non title match. The Raw brand team won, and things looked to still be copacetic between the two men.

Six days before WrestleMania, however, the two teams would have a rematch. This time, Michaels came through on Cena’s paranoia by blasting the WWE Champion with Sweet Chin Music. Michaels left Cena laying, and his partner fell victim to the loss. Michaels’ well-timed double cross fueled the fire for the main event match at WrestleMania XXIII.

Meanwhile, in an attempt to build mainstream interest in his annual money-making machine, Vince McMahon began a feud with real life media mogul Donald Trump. The two had a disagreement after Vince used an actor playing Trump (indy wrestler Ace Steel) to beat an actress playing Rosie O’Donnell on Raw. The match was so ill-received, that Trump himself taunted McMahon by saying that Vince didn’t know what the fans wanted.

The two bickered further, each picking a man to represent him at WrestleMania. Vince chose WWE Intercontinental Champion Umaga, while Trump chose ECW Champion Bobby Lashley. Stone Cold Steve Austin would be the guest referee, and the losing cornerman (Trump or McMahon) would have their head shaved bald after the match.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler handled Raw, Michael Cole and JBL called Smackdown, and Joey Styles and Tazz covered ECW, with all six men coming together for the opening match of the night. Aretha Franklin performed “America the Beautiful” as she had twenty years earlier at WrestleMania III. The Hall of Fame inductions saw the inclusion of Ross, Lawler, Dusty Rhodes, Mr. Perfect, Mr. Fuji, The Wild Samoans, The Sheik, and Nick Bockwinkel.

THE RESULTS
Money in the Bank: Mr. Kennedy def. Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Edge, Randy Orton, King Booker, CM Punk, and Finlay in 19:05
(Highlights including Kennedy’s annoyed face at Hornswoggle when he tried to interfere, as well as Matt encouraging Jeff to do a crazy dive onto Edge through a ladder. “Do it Jeff! He stole Lita from us! Now no one’s there to make you ramen noodles!” Second best MITB match in WrestleMania history)

The Great Khali def. Kane in 5:31
(I like how Kane slamming Khali was juxtaposed with Hogan’s legendary slam of Andre from twenty years earlier in the show’s closing highlight package. As if they had the same memorable value)

WWE United States: Chris Benoit def. MVP in 9:19
(This, of course, would be the final WrestleMania for Benoit, as three months later he…..well, we all know what he did. It was a good, not great, match to go out on, and I still miss the man)

World Heavyweight Championship: The Undertaker def. Batista in 15:48 to win the title
(That’s fifteen. This match was a pleasant surprise, as Batista and Undertaker have this weird chemistry that simply cannot be explained. The two men exchange crisp power moves and ramp up the intensity with their above-average brawling. Great match, and the best feud of a dismal 2007)

Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, and The Sandman def. Matt Striker, Marcus Cor Von, Elijah Burke, and Kevin Thorn in 6:25
(Seven men had their first WrestleMania match here. Those seven also had their last WrestleMania match. Oh, don’t act so surprised)

Battle of the Billionaires/Hair vs. Hair: Bobby Lashley def. Umaga in 13:04
(If Undertaker/Batista was a good surprise, then this was the opposite. Lashley was given a feud with McMahon and an endorsement from Austin and Trump, and still brought none of the energy or personality needed to make it to the next level. Lashley was overpushed, plain and simple)

WWE Women’s/Lumberjill Match: Melina def. Ashley in 3:13
(The bad news: this match was about 3:08 longer than Ashley is capable of working. Good news: Mickie looked great in her tight jeans at ringside. Shame she wasn’t wrestling)

WWE Heavyweight Championship: John Cena def. Shawn Michaels in 28:20
(The fact that Cena won turned a lot of fans off, but this is up there with the greatest matches in WM history. Michaels brought a more reserved, but grinding, personality to this, which included the awesome piledriver on the ring steps on Cena. Cena and Michaels worked their asses off here, and both of them deserve for this match to get a lot more credit than it does)

ITS PLACE IN HISTORY

The two World Title matches, as well as Money in the Bank, featured twelve men who worked their hardest to make WrestleMania as special as it’s meant to be. However, most of the hype going into the show revolved around Donald Trump‘s involvement, as well as his feud with McMahon, who was seriously getting out of control at this point regarding on-camera time.

When you have the three aforementioned matches on your show, you should walk away feeling great. But when you watch that Battle of the Billionaires, and you see how the fans barely reacted to Vince being shaved bald, and how they barely got behind an anemic talker like Lashley, who never looked like he wanted to be there, you feel a bit sour.

It’s like a concert. If you hype up Guns n Roses as the headliner, and you have three popular, but not yet legendary, acts (say Disturbed, Godsmack, and Saliva) performing, what if those three bands (who got less hype) rocked, and then GNR came out and absolutely sucked?

Do you hate the show because GNR sucked, or do you love it because the other bands owned it?

I guess the answer’s up to you.

Justin Henry is a freelance writer whose work appears on many websites. He provides wrestling, NFL, and other sports/pop culture columns for CamelClutchBlog.com, as well as several wrestling columns a week for WrestlingNewsSource.com and WrestleCrap.com. Justin can be found here on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/notoriousjrh and Twitter- http://www.twitter.com/cynicjrh.

WWE Wrestlemania 28 DVD

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology 1985-2006

WWE WrestleMania – The Complete Anthology 1985-2006

WWE Greatest Wrestling Stars of the 80s DVD

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WRESTLEMANIA XXII
From The All-State Arena in Chicago, IL
April 2, 2006

BACKGROUND
A scant fourteen hours before he would have won the World Heavyweight Championship from Batista at a rare Sunday SmackDown taping, Eddie Guerrero was found dead in a Minnesota hotel room at the age of 38.

Despite beating the alcoholism that plagued much of his life four years ago, Guerrero’s weakened circulatory system, a body worn down by the rigors of the ring, and a life numbed by drugs, both prescription and elicit, all came back to haunt him at a time when his diligence and courage were heralded as one of wrestling’s greatest fairy tales.

Guerrero’s death was a blow to not only his family, friends, and fans across the globe, but to WWE itself. Guerrero’s rise to the main event scene in World Wrestling Entertainment wasn’t just a reward for cleaning up his life. Statistics showed that Smackdown’s TV ratings were ballooning, heavily so in Latin markets. With Guerrero, his nephew Chavo, and the dynamic Rey Mysterio, Smackdown was able to cater to the fastest growing ethic demographic in the United States.

It was Guerrero’s natural charisma, however, coupled with his silky-smooth in-ring performances that made him a standout to fans who couldn’t, in any faith, boo his “cheat to win” heel act. Instead, the gimmick was retooled to make him into a cunning and clever hero, outwitting villains left and right to remain on top.

With Guerrero’s death, the company was losing a considerable lifeline to a market that didn’t explode until “Latino Heat” helped WWE tap into it.

However, all was not lost.

Except for WWE’s sense of decency.

For the next six months or so, Guerrero’s name was used by Rey Mysterio in infinite tribute, while Mysterio’s opponents actually defamed Guerrero’s name just to further storylines.

Sadly, the Eddie Guerrero exploitation would grow more disturbing.

THE EVENT
With “Eddie Guerrero” becoming a buzz phrase after the man’s demise, coupled with Mysterio’s constant evocation of his name, Mysterio dedicated his performance at the 2006 Royal Rumble to his deceased friend.

Rey Mysterio would enter the match at #2 and set the longevity record, lasting over one hour to surprise #30 Randy Orton with a hurrachanrana elimination to win. Mysterio could now further his tribute to Guerrero by winning the World Heayweight Championship at WrestleMania XXII.

However, Orton goaded Mysterio into putting his contender’s spot on the line at No Way Out, getting Mysterio to agree by declaring that Eddie Guerrero was in Hell. Tasteless as it was, the match was signed, and Orton cheated to win. However, GM Teddy Long made a concession: since Orton had to use nefarious means, the match would now be a triple threat between Mysterio, Orton, and champion Kurt Angle.

Over on Raw, John Cena was WWE Champion, and not a popular one. Fans were either heavily divided on his goofy superhero schtick, or they outright booed him out of the arenas. After winning feuds with heels who were cheered over him (Angle, Chris Jericho, Edge), Cena was locked in to face Triple H, who won a tournament to earn the shot.

The Game, for reasons unclear, was allowed to declare Cena a bad champion due to a lack of wrestling ability, as well the unfavorable crowd reactions.

Oddly enough, none of this did anything to improve Cena’s cracked image.

In one of the more bizarre builds for a marquee match, Shawn Michaels had confronted Vince McMahon late in 2005, after McMahon attempted to publicly embarrass Bret Hart. Michaels, from whom Hart was estranged from after a litany of controversies, came to the ring and told Vince “move on”.

McMahon didn’t take the perceived insult lightly, and became hell-bent on ruining Michaels’ life. This included enlisting Shane McMahon to toss Michaels out of the Royal Rumble match after a distraction, and then later trying to force Michaels’ former partner Marty Jannetty to join his “Kiss My Ass” club in exchange for employment. Michaels intervened, and took a chair to the head from Shane. Then, while Shawn was out cold, Shane lifted Michaels and forced him to perform the kiss unwittingly.

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McMahon and Michaels would then sign for a street fight, McMahon’s typical style, in which Michaels promised that it wasn’t going to be one of his five-star classics.

Speaking of brawls, Edge and Mick Foley had fallen into a skirmish. After Edge won the WWE title in January by cashing in his Money in the Bank chance on a wounded John Cena, Edge lost the belt three weeks later back to the man he’d felled. Foley refereed a rematch between the two and Cena won, prompting Edge to cry foul. He agreed to lock horns with Foley in a hardcore rules match to create his own WrestleMania moment.

Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler called Raw’s action, while Michael Cole and Tazz brought us Smackdown. Joey Styles filled in for Ross during the aforementioned hardcore match. Lillian Garcia sang “America the Beautiful” to kick off the show. As for the Hall of Fame, 2006 saw Bret Hart, Eddie Guerrero, Mean Gene Okerlund, Sensational Sherri, The Blackjacks, Verne Gagne, Tony Atlas, and William “Refrigerator” Perry inducted.

THE RESULTS
World Tag Team: Kane/Big Show def. Carlito/Chris Masters in 6:41
(Wasn’t expecting much out of it, but it turned out to be a decent opener, all things considered. Besides, it was Big Show’s first win in WrestleMania history. So there’s that)

Money in the Bank: Rob Van Dam def. Shelton Benjamin, Matt Hardy, Finlay, Ric Flair, and Bobby Lashley in 12:21
(Not up to the level of last year’s, but still featuring some craziness. Lashley and Flair seemed out of place, but everyone else was game. Shelton’s springboard onto one side of the ladder still amazes me to this day)

WWE United States: JBL def. Chris Benoit in 9:44 to win the title
(This would have been a fine enough match with a normal face/heel dynamic, but JBL had to mock Eddie Guerrero with his arm swivel taunt about fifteen times. Just not necessary)

Hardcore Rules: Edge def. Mick Foley in 14:37
(The earliest a “match of the night” has ever occurred at ‘Mania, I believe. Lita taking barbed wire to the mouth was crazy, but Edge spearing Mick Foley through the flaming table was beyond insane. Edge going into the flames makes me think he was telling Vince “Gimme the belt back, or I’ll kill myself on your show.” Looks to have worked)

Handicap Match: The Boogeyman def. Booker T/Sharmell in 3:52
(Much as I like both men for different reasons, the less said about this match, the better)

WWE Women’s Title: Mickie James def. Trish Stratus in 11:48 to win the title
(It’s the best women’s match in WrestleMania history, and perhaps Mickie’s finest hour as a character. Sadly, the DVD release omits Mickie’s finest moment, but it’s burned into my brain forever anyway)

Casket Match: The Undertaker def. Mark Henry at 9:26
(That’s fourteen. That’s also Mark Henry’s second WrestleMania match in ten years with the company. Makes you think forces have conspired against him. Or maybe he’s just that bad?)

Street Fight: Shawn Michaels def. Vince McMahon in 18:28
(One of Vince’s most entertaining matches ever, and it’s fun to watch Shawn beat the hell out of him for about fifteen straight minutes. The highlight was Vince McMahon being stretchered out, giving Shawn the finger while near death and bloodied on the gurney. It’s worth watching for the belly laughs)

World Heavyweight Championship: Rey Mysterio def. Kurt Angle and Randy Orton in 9:18 to win the title
(All of that forced build with Guerrero’s exploitation for a nine minute match? And it didn’t even finish the show? Chavo and Vickie Guerrero coming out to celebrate with Rey just made a decent match muddled by a bad angle worse. I was just glad that the angle was finally over….sort of)

Playboy Pillow Fight: Torrie Wilson def. Candice Michelle in 3:54
(Much like the Booker/Sharmell/Boogeyman fiasco, the less said about this, the better)

WWE Heavyweight Championship: John Cena def. Triple H in 22:02
(Forget about the match, which was decent and enhanced by a virulently anti-Cena crowd. The highlight was Triple H making his entrance dressed as a Nordic barbarian, and Cena trying to suck up to Chicago with a fleet of faux gangsters while dressed like Al Capone. One of those gangsters was CM Punk, which begs the question: why would the straight-edge Punk associate with anti-prohibitionists?)

ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
Rey Mysterio, for his contributions to the business in terms of opening doors for smaller athletes to thrive on an international level, deserved very much to win a World Championship at an event the caliber of WrestleMania.

However, the ham-fisted, intelligence-insulting fashion in which WWE paved his road to said title will go down as perhaps the most jaw-droppingly insensitive booking that WWE has ever used to sell an event of WrestleMania’s standing.

I truly believe that, to this day, when WWE mentions Guerrero in reverent terms, or when they showcase him as part of a positive video package, it’s to deflect any negative thoughts one may have about the undignified manner in which Guerrero died, as well as to try and make fans forget about the horrible way in which WWE bungled the aftermath of his passing.

But Mysterio, Chavo, and Vickie to this day have more detractors than they’ve ever had, and much of it is kneejerk. Their direct involvement in a year (a YEAR) of exploitation is something that hasn’t washed off easily.

WrestleMania XXII was a decent show, one that is stained by feeling the need to tie in a real death to a fictional production.

Justin Henry is a freelance writer who splits time between this site, WrestleCrap.com, and FootballNation.com. He can be found via his wrestling Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wrestlecrapjrh

WWE: WrestleMania 29 DVD

WWE: Bret Hitman Hart – The Dungeon Collection

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For every bad WrestleMania, the WWE has put on some amazing shows that left fans awestruck. There were certain points in history that WrestleMania left wrestling fans on the edge of their seats in amazement! It was a very tough job putting these WrestleMania’s in order because all of these were obviously very good WrestleMania events.

Each WrestleMania had its own certain feel to it and each were at a certain point in history where they had the talent and resources to put on a better show. I wish the WWE could look at these WrestleMania shows and realize what they did right and make WrestleMania feel really special again like it once did. Maybe it’s the way the announcers are nowadays that makes it feel not that special. Jim Ross doesn’t go nuts anymore, Jerry Lawler is tamed down, there’s no more Bobby Heenan or Gorilla Monsoon. Either way I want you guys to sit back, grab a bag of Cheetos and enjoy my list of the Top 10 WrestleMania Events of All Time.

#10
WrestleMania X-8
Skydome
Toronto, Ontario

This was another WrestleMania, like WrestleMania 25, where the other big match on the card overshadowed the main event. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan was a roller coaster ride of emotions throughout the entire match, just like the Stone Cold vs. Bret Hart match from WrestleMania 13. Hulk Hogan was supposed to be the heel of the match and Rock was supposed to be the face, but the fans at the Skydome would not have it that way. They booed The Rock and cheered the nostalgic Hogan, appearing in his first WrestleMania since WrestleMania IX. This match was one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time, not necessarily for its wrestling, but for the entertainment and emotional factors that went into it.

The rest of the card was good as well. The opening match between RVD and William Regal for the Intercontinental Title was very good, as was the match between the young up and comer at the time Edge and Booker T. We had a few of the old timers go up against each other with The Undertaker going up against Ric Flair, which was a decent match considering how old both guys were. Even the main event which got shadowed by Hogan vs. Rock, which pitted HHH vs. Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Championship, was pretty good, especially for it having to follow an epic match like that. Even Stone Cold vs. Scott Hall was pretty cool to watch, albeit it wasn’t the most exciting match in history.

#9
WrestleMania 2000
Arrowhead Pond
Anaheim, CA

WrestleMania 2000 is one of those WrestleMania’s you can’t help but remember. It was during the peak of the WWF’s popularity and it was the first WrestleMania Triple H had ever headlined. The main event match that pitted Triple H vs. The Big Show vs. Mick Foley vs. The Rock was actually a very good main event after I went back and looked at it before writing this article. I still think to this day it should have been Triple H vs. The Rock for the WWF Championship in its place, you know that sounds and seems like it would be so much better. The ending was a little surprising with Vince taking the side of Triple H and enabling him to retain the WWF Championship.

This is significant too, in the fact that it was the first time a heel had ever won in the main event at a WrestleMania. We had a masterpiece of a match in my opinion when Chris Jericho faced off against Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in a triple threat, 2 out of 3 falls match for the Intercontinental and European titles. It was a fast paced match that lasted a little below 15 minutes. In the end, Kurt Angle, who walked into the match a dual champion, walked out of the match holding no titles after Chris Benoit won the Intercontinental title in the first fall by pinning Chris Jericho and Chris Jericho won the European title after pinning Chris Benoit in the second fall. Watch this match if you loved technical wrestling.

The most exciting match of the night is the Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team titles between Edge & Christian, The Dudley Boyz and The Hardy Boyz. This was a fast paced match, with death defying leaps and moves that had never really been seen before in the WWF at the time. You had Jeff Hardy swanton bombing Bubba Dudley on a table and in the end had Edge & Christian winning their first ever Tag Team titles after throwing Matt Hardy off of a ladder through a table. The special and exciting feel of this WrestleMania is a big reason for me ranking it this high and it is one reason you should go back and watch it right now so you can see for yourself.

#8
WrestleMania VIII
Hoosier Dome
Indianapolis, IN

This WrestleMania could go down as possibly the most underrated WrestleMania of all time. The show started off with a pretty good match between a young Shawn Michaels vs. “El Matador” Tito Santana. This was a perfect beginning match for the pay per view as it set a good pace for the rest of the show. In probably the most underrated match in WrestleMania history, Bret Hart defeated Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental title. These two guys went at it for around 15 minutes and it was pure technical skill and emotion throughout. These were two friends fighting for a championship that actually once met something to the wrestlers. Piper played the “heel”, if you can call it that, throughout the match. Hart vs. Piper just had that special feel to it, as did this entire WrestleMania. I rank this WrestleMania in my top 25 matches in WrestleMania history. Another match I rate in my top 25 WrestleMania matches of all time is Randy Savage vs. Ric Flair for the WWF Title. The buildup to this match was pure brilliance and I wish they could do something more like this these days. They put on one of the better WrestleMania matches of all time that night, and of course Flair did his patented blade job that made him look like a red mess. Probably the most unexpected and exciting moment I have ever seen in WrestleMania history occurred at the end of this WrestleMania as well.

Towards the end of the main event between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice, Papa Shango came running down to the ring to start beating on Hogan with Sid (Yeah I know, I have no idea what Papa Shango had to do with anything and still do not to this day.) All of a sudden out of nowhere a familiar music hits and the crowd goes crazy! Gorilla Monsoon yellss out “That’s the Warriors music!” You cannot help but get goosebumps when you see and hear this and I still do every time I see it. The crowd was just electric when this happened and it just added to an already classic WrestleMania.

#7.
WrestleMania X
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

Any WrestleMania with possibly two of the top ten matches in WrestleMania history deserves to be ranked this high on anyone’s list. The first match I am talking about is the opening bout between Bret Hart and Owen Hart. This match had so much emotion in it and was a technical masterpiece from start to finish. You thought that Bret was going to win from the very beginning and go on to be in the WWF Title match at the end of the night. But to everyone’s surprise, and this came out of nowhere, Owen reversed one of Bret’s moves and ended up winning the match! No one saw this coming and Bret played it off perfectly, looking more shocked then any one of us that he was beat by his little brother.

The next match that I am talking about is the first ever televised ladder match that had Shawn Michaels going up against Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental title. This was such a revolutionary match at the time as things that they were doing had never been done before. They used the ladder to beat and batter their bodies throughout the entire match, and they wowed us with their athleticism as well. In the end Razor Ramon ended up winning the match and being the sole Intercontinental champion. This match propelled Shawn into main event status and had him headlining WrestleMania the next year for the WWF title. The rest of the card was so-so, but the main event with Bret winning the World title from Yokozuna and having Owen come down the aisle and look disgusted because he had beaten Bret was priceless.

#6.
WrestleMania XX
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

WrestleMania XX brought WrestleMania back to the garden for the first time since WrestleMania X, and it did not disappoint. This card had a bunch of fantastic matches on it and that is the reason it is ranked so high on my list of the best WrestleMania events ever. The opening bout was surprisingly entertaining as it had John Cena going up against The Big Show for the United States title. Cena had turned face not to long before this, and the crowd loved him at the time. I did not mind him as face at the time as his rapper gimmick was still going on and he could still put on a good match. I honestly hate the fact that John Cena is a face right now, but that is a topic for a later article. Another match I loved was the Chris Jericho vs. Christian match. The whole storyline with these two and Trish Stratus was played off very well and they put on one hell of a match also. It comes very close to making my top 25 matches in WrestleMania history.

The next match I loved was not necessarily the best match in the world, but it is a very nostalgic one for a lot of people. This was The Rock’s last WrestleMania match as it was him and Mick Foley against Batista, Randy Orton and Ric Flair. It still is to this day a great match to watch and I would recommend it to anyone. The Cruiserweight Open for the cruiserweight title was an excellent match to have in the middle of the card as it was a lot of high flying, fast paced action that kept the viewers and audience entertained. Chavo Guerrero Jr. ended up winning the tournament and the title.

The Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero match for the WWE Title was an excellent match between two of the best technical wrestlers of all time. This was a great match that I can watch over and over again, and it makes me miss Eddie Guerrero even more when I see at the end of the match how Angle pulls off Eddies shoe because he untied it. A great wrestler and a great entertainer to the fans.

The final match of the night was a triple threat match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit. One of the best matches I have ever seen, hands down. The fact that you have possibly the best technical wrestlers of all time in Chris Benoit, one of the best all around wrestlers ever in Shawn Michaels and a very, very good wrestler in Triple H in the same match together, it already makes it special. These guys did not disappoint us at all this night. Many finishing moves were applied throughout the end of the match and it eventually ended with Triple H surprisingly tapping out to Benoit and him winning the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time. I know this is a cause of controversy because of what Chris Benoit eventually did, but the ending to this WrestleMania was one of the most emotional events I have ever seen in wrestling. Eddie Guerrero came down to the ring and celebrate with his friend that they were both world champions and had come such a long way together to get to that pinnacle.

#5.
WrestleMania III
Pontiac Silver Dome
Detroit, MI

WrestleMania III is one of those WrestleMania shows that people tend to remember for one or two key moments and rightfully so. The historic moments that happened at this WrestleMania are moment’s that will be remembered forever in the history of professional wrestling, but that shouldn’t take away from a pretty good rest of the card. WrestleMania III originated from the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit Michigan and had a reported over 93,000 people in attendance. I have since heard that the number was closer to like 74,000, but in any event this is still a whole lot of people to show up to watch a wrestling event. The opening match was actually a pretty good match between The Can-Am Connection (Rick Martel & Tom Zenk) and Bob Orton & Don Muraco. This was your prototypical fast paced match with a bunch of guys who were over at the time, and the baby faces triumphing in the end.

Harley Race vs. The Junkyard Dog was a match between two of the greats of all time that should have lasted longer than the 5 minutes it did, but either way it was a pretty solid match between a major heel and baby face. Roddy Piper vs. Adrian Adonis has a lot of historic value to it as it was billed as Piper’s retirement match at the time, and it was a hair vs. hair match. At the end Piper and Brutus Beefcake ended up cutting off Adonis’s hair and this gave way to Beefcake’s “Barber” gimmick, which was actually a pretty cool and over gimmick at the time. The Hart Foundation & Danny Davis vs. The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana was an excellent 6 man tag match between two of the greatest tag teams of all time. This is another thing the WWE is missing these days, tag teams like these two. This match could have been given a few more minutes to go on to showcase more of the talent between the two but I know that Dynamite Kid was hurting really bad at the time.

Next we get to what is probably the greatest match in the history of WrestleMania, Ricky Steamboat vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the Intercontinental title. The match was pure technical and high flying genius from the very beginning. They put on a show for the crowd at the Silverdome and the fan’s at home watching on television. I have heard that the match was literally planned out from start to finish, more so because this is what Savage wanted to do as he was a stickler for things like that. This paved way for Savage’s rise to the top of the WWF when he won the title the next year at WrestleMania IV. The final match of the night is essentially the main reason wrestling is as huge as it is today.

It was a huge main event that pitted the biggest rising star at the time Hulk Hogan, against the biggest and most popular star of the 1970′s and early 80′s, Andre the Giant for the WWF Championship. While not the greatest match in terms of pure wrestling skill, its lack thereof was made for in pure storyline telling and emotion. People wanted to see Hogan get the victory over the Giant who was undefeated for two decades. At one point in the beginning of the match Hogan tried to slam Andre but his back gave way and Andre fell on top of him and almost got the victory. Later in the match Hogan scooped Andre up and slammed him to the mat! The crowd went crazy. This is the most historic moment in the history of wrestling to this day and is what many people believe brought wrestling onto the map. Hogan did his signature leg drop and pinned Andre for the win and he had finally conquered the once unbeatable Giant.

#4.
WrestleMania XIV
Fleet Center
Boston, MA

This was the WrestleMania that brought the WWF fully into the Attitude Era. It signaled that there was a change that was going to be happening in the WWF. Overall this card was very solid from top to bottom and is one of those WrestleMania events that you can watch over and over again. In a vastly underrated match, Triple H defeated Owen Hart in just under 12 minutes for the European championship. Another great mid card match was between The Rock & Ken Shamrock for the Intercontinental title. The Rock was just starting to come into his own at the time and Ken Shamrock was an amazing wrestler. The match did not last long however, and I wish it had. These guys were given only 5 minutes, and I think with more time they could have put on even more of a show. Even still it was a vastly entertaining match as in the end Shamrock got The Rock in an ankle lock and made the Rock tap. The Nation of Domination members jumped into the ring and Shamrock quickly disposed of all of them Referees stormed the ring and tried to get him to let go of the lock but Shamrock refused and suplexed a referee until finally calming down and letting go. In the end Shamrock was disqualified for not letting go of the ankle lock and The Rock was still Intercontinental champion.

The next good match was the Dumpster match for the WWF Tag Team titles between The New Age Outlaws and Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie. This was an all out brawl throughout the entire match as one would expect. In the end Chainsaw Charlie got a forklift and when they both got the Outlaws into the dumpster Charlie drove the forklift to the backstage dumpster and dropped both of the Outlaws inside to win the Tag Team Championships for him and Cactus Jack. In a match that one would not expect to be that good, Undertaker defeated Kane in a match that lasted close to 17 minutes. This was a really good match between the two wrestlers, and at the time it made sense. They had never faced each other before and it was a culminating match in the feud between the two. After a furious back and forth match between the two, with choke slams and aerial moves throughout, it took Undertaker three tombstone pile drivers and a guillotine leg drop and clothesline in between for Undertaker to secure the victory over Kane.

The main event of the night was Shawn Michaels vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin for the WWF Title. Mike Tyson was the special guest referee for the match, and this added to the Attitude feel of the whole show. Tyson was believed to be sided with Degeneration X at the start of the match and people thought Austin had no chance because of this. Even though Shawn Michaels back was in really, really bad shape at the time, he and Austin put on a very good match that lasted for around 20 minutes. After brutally beating each other throughout the entire match and seeing Michaels in obvious pain, Michaels went for the Super kick on Austin and Austin ducked it and went for the Stunner on Michaels. Michaels then threw Austin into the ropes and went for the Super kick again and Austin spinned him around and hit the Stunner on Michaels. Tyson went into the ring and proceeded to count the three count on Michaels and revealing under his DX shirt that he was a Stone Cold fan. Michaels stood up all pissed off and got in Tyson’s ace and Tyson laid out Michaels with one punch. Austin celebrated in the ring, standing on the ropes and holding up the WWF championship and signaling a new era in the WWF, the Attitude Era.

#3.
WrestleMania 21
Staples Center
Los Angeles, CA

WrestleMania 21 is a WrestleMania that has one truly masterpiece of a match and a bunch of really good matches to back its ranking up on my list. In the opening match Rey Mysterio defeated Eddie Guerrero. This was a perfect opening match to a PPV as it featured two high flying wrestlers that put on an amazing show for the crowd. The feud that went into this match helped the special feel to the match as well and having many times to cheat and beat his friend, Guerrero let his conscience get the best of him and this ended up costing him the match in the end when Mysterio hit a hurricanrana to win the match. In an interlude to the event Eugene was in the ring celebrating being in his first WrestleMania when, one of the best heels ever in my opinion, Mohammed Hassan came down to the ring to berate Eugene and claim that he should be in a WrestleMania match. Hassan and his manager Daivari attacked Eugene and put him in the Camel Clutch until out of nowhere Hulk Hogan came down for the save. Hogan then celebrated in the ring to the crowd as they went nuts.

The next great match was the first ever Money in the Bank Ladder match, where the winner got a shot at any World title of his choosing at any time. This idea was thought of by Chris Jericho as a six way ladder match to determine who would get a shot at a World title and was put into place by Eric Bischoff at WrestleMania 21. This in my opinion is the best Money in the Bank match that has ever taken place. You had six great wrestlers involved in the match that suited all their styles perfectly. It was Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian, Chris Benoit, Shelton Benjamin and Kane involved in the match. After repeated head butts to Kane, Benoit knocked him off the ladder only to be hit with a steel chair by Edge who climbed up the ladder and claimed the briefcase to win the match and the title shot. Continuing the great WrestleMania that was going on there was an inter-promotional match between The Undertaker and Randy Orton. This was billed as a “Legend” vs. “Legend Killer” match. I loved Orton’s “Legend Killer” gimmick at the time. At one point during the match Bob Orton, Randy’s father and ringside manager at the time interfered in the match by hitting Undertaker with his arm cast. Undertaker attempted to choke slam Orton but it was countered into an RKO for a two count. After this Orton attempted Undertakers own finishing move on him, the Tombstone piled river, but it was reversed by The Undertaker into one of his own for the pinfall victory.

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels was one of the top 5 matches in WrestleMania history and was a pure technical show between two of the greatest wrestlers of all time. The match lasted over 27 minutes and it did not disappoint anyone for a second. It was a back and forth match between the two for the beginning. Michaels eventually tapped out to the ankle lock, giving Kurt Angle the victory in one of the greatest WrestleMania matches of all time. The two main events were not exactly the greatest wrestling matches in the world but they told a good story and started a new generation of wrestlers in the limelight, which has not necessarily been a good thing in my opinion. In one main event you had the charismatic up and coming baby face in John Cena defeat the super heel John Bradshaw Layfield for the WWE title and in the other main event of the night you had Batista defeating his former Evolution stable mate and leader Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. I did not mind these two guys at the time as their gimmicks did not make me want to puke like they do now.

#2.
WrestleMania XIX
Safeco Field
Seattle, WA

WrestleMania XIX was a spectacular WrestleMania for many reasons, but the main reason it was I because a lot of the matches had that big, special WrestleMania feel to them. The opening match was really the start of the feud between Matt Hardy and Rey Mysterio for the Cruiserweight title, which was won by Matt Hardy. The first match with that true WrestleMania feel to it was the match between Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho. This was one of the best done feuds ever heading into a match at WrestleMania. After Michaels freed himself from the Walls Jericho, Jericho attempted a suplex on Michaels but it was countered into a rollup victory by HBK. At the end of the match it appeared as if Jericho wanted to make friends with Michaels, but he ended up low blowing him and in a truly awesome and emotional moment Michaels slumped to the floor looking up at Jericho wondering why he would do what he did. Triple H vs. Booker T was not one of those matches with a huge WrestleMania feel to it, but it was a very good match between two wrestlers in their prime at the time for the World Heavyweight Championship. Triple H ended up hitting the Pedigree for the win to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

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The next match definitely had one of those true WrestleMania feels to it, as it pitted two of the most iconic figures in the history of the WWE, Vince Mcmahon and Hulk Hogan against each other in a Street Fight. The feud was basically Mcmahon saying he was responsible for the WWF’s early success and Hogan saying he had a lot to do with it. In a surprisingly watchable match between the two, McMahon ended up getting busted open by Hogan after a chair shot to the head. Later in the match Roddy Piper interfered in the match hitting Hogan with a pipe. Hogan however, by hitting McMahon with his patented big boot and leg drop for the pinfall victory over McMahon. Seeing Hogan defeat McMahon at WrestleMania nineteen years after it all started was truly a historic WrestleMania moment. The second to last match of the night was a pure singles match, where no championship was on the line, between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin. This was Austin and Rock’s third and final meeting at WrestleMania and it did not disappoint. The Rock ended up hitting three Rock Bottoms on Austin to finally get a victory over him at a WrestleMania.

The main event of the night was a match for the WWE championship between two of the best wrestlers of all time in Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar’s career was short but he surely left his mark on the WWE forever. It was a typical back and forth technical match between the two in the early going. As Lesnar escaped the Ankle Lock, Angle attempted to perform an Angle Slam on Lesnar but it was countered into an F-5 by Lesnar. Instead of just covering Angle and going for the victory, Lesnar climbed the top rope and attempted to hit a shooting star press. Now that move in general is very hard to perform, and for a man his size, it seemed almost stupid for Lesnar to try to perform it. Surprisingly Lesnar would have hit the move perfectly if he had calculated the distance correctly. Instead Lesnar hit the ground and it looked like he almost broke his neck on the fall. Angle went for the cover on Lesnar and ended up getting a two count. After Lesnar kicked out, Lesnar picked Angle up and hit another F-5 for the pinfall victory on Angle. Lesnar look obviously shook up when he was performing the F-5 and rightfully so. One other thing that made this unbelievable match even better was the fact that Kurt Angle was essentially risking his life wrestling this match as he was supposed to have neck surgery but instead insisted on doing the match.

#1.
WrestleMania X-7
Astrodome
Houston, TX

Coming in at the greatest WrestleMania of all time is WrestleMania X-7. This was a WrestleMania that ended up having three of the top 25 matches in WrestleMania history in my opinion, with one more quite possibly being included in that top 25 as well. The opening match for this card was Chris Jericho vs. William Regal for the Intercontinental title. This is a vastly underrated match that is a must watch for people looking for a good technical WrestleMania match to watch. This was when Jericho was still in the younger stages of his career and he performed the match perfectly. Jericho ended up hitting a Lionsault on Regal for the victory and to retain his Intercontinental championship.

In one of the top 25 matches in WrestleMania history, Kurt Angle faced Chris Benoit. It was a technical masterpiece from the very beginning with a lot of mat wrestling between the two to start off the match. Towards the conclusion of the match Benoit tried to pin Angle after performing his patented Diving Headbutt onto Angle, but it was only met with a two count. Angle capitalized by rolling up Benoit and using his tights to secure the pinfall victory for the match. The street fight between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon was the next good match on the card. Shane dominated the start of the match with his usual kendo stick barrage and using the Spanish announce table monitors on Vince. Shane placed the trash can on top of Vince in the corner of the ring and climbed up to the other corner and performed a Coast to Coast on Vince for the pinfall victory in the end.

The next match on the card is another of the top 25 matches in WrestleMania history, more likely being in the top 10. It was a TLC match between The Hardy Boyz, Edge & Christian and The Dudley Boyz for the Tag Team championships that the Dudleyz held at the time. There were many interferences during the match with Rhyno interfering on Edge & Christians behalf, Spike Dudley for the Dudleyz and Lita for the Hardy Boyz. Rhyno then propped Christian onto his shoulders and walked him over to the hanging titles and secured the victory and the WWF Tag Team championships for Edge & Christian after a historic match. In a filler match between the two main event matches they had a Gimmick Battle Royal that was very entertaining to watch. It brought back “Mean Gene” Okerlund and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan to announce the match. I love listening to the Brain announce a match like no one else. It was a short match that ended up being won by The Iron Sheik. The second to last match of the night was a fight between Triple H and The Undertaker that is that match that is possibly one of the top 25 matches in WrestleMania history. This was a brutal back and forth match between two wrestlers who had not yet shown their age. They performed one of the best matches of each others careers. The match ended with The Undertaker performing the Last Ride on Triple H to extend his WrestleMania winning streak.

The final match of the night was the second meeting between the Rock and Stone Cold, and it ended up being the best out of the three they eventually had. It was announced before the match started that it would be a No-DQ Match. Vince McMahon came to ringside to observe the match and everyone, including me had no idea why he was at ringside since both of the wrestlers were face’s at the time. Everyone thought he was probably there to help out The Rock because of Austin’s history with McMahon. The Rock then performed The People’s Elbow on Austin and when he went for the pin was pulled off of Austin by McMahon at the cont of two. Everyone was in disbelief. Why would McMahon pull Rock off Austin everyone was wondering? He then went into the ring and handed Austin a steel chair to hit The Rock with. This revealed that McMahon was actually here to help Austin and Austin had sided with McMahon in his quest to win the WWF title. With this move, the unthinkable happened, Austin had turned heel and sided with McMahon. Eventually after multiple chair shots and failed pin attempts that made this match even better than it already was, Austin was able to pin The Rock and become the new WWF champion. The event ended with Austin and McMahon shaking hands in the middle of the ring drinking beers. While the Austin heel turn did not turn out the way the WWF wanted to, the actually turn itself at this WrestleMania was purely shocking to everyone and added to what was the greatest WrestleMania in the history of the WWE.

I welcome your questions, comments or suggestions for future articles. Contact me at [email protected].

Note: Originally published March 2010

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WRESTLEMANIA XX
From Madison Square Garden in New York, NY
March 14, 2004

BACKGROUND
Poor WWE. Despite being the most lucrative, proliferative, and memory-composing wrestling entity to ever be seen, it feels like that they sometimes can’t win.

On the one hand, fans criticize World Wrestling Entertainment for clinging to the past like rats to the hull of a sinking ship. In recent years, the likes of Hulk Hogan and Stone Cold Steve Austin have been “brought off the bench” to star in an occasional segment wherein they usually wind up destroying somebody who could use a victory to solidify himself.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, WWE also takes it in the shorts when things change TOO much. The company’s innovative experiments of the past decade, such as the brand extension, guest hosts on Raw, the Diva Search, having two world titles, and other concepts were met with flat-footed resistance.

So to score this, hardened WWE fans don’t like it when Vince McMahon relies on the same old tricks and characters be the support pillars of his programming, but the same fans also detest it when McMahon tries to reinvent the wheel with his own magnanimous spin.

See what I mean by “poor WWE”?

WrestleMania XX’s tagline was to be “Where it All Begins Again”. The slogan seemed somewhat vague as it wasn’t explained what “it” was. Would WWE begin relying on the past again? Would the company begin to churn out foreign concepts to a rigidly inflexible audience again?

Or would the company rekindle fan interest, both general and ardent, with a show that would set new standards in quality and story-telling?

Going into the event, WrestleMania XX put together a blend of developmental stars on the rise, cherished veterans in prominent roles, and beloved underdogs who were on the verge of greatness.

What would ‘begin’ at MSG on that night?

THE EVENT
In a twist served to reward longtime fans for their dedicated fandom, Chris Benoit was the winner of the 2004 Royal Rumble. In story canon, Benoit believed he couldn’t get a fair break from biased Smackdown general manager Paul Heyman, which caused Benoit to leave the brand, jumping ship to Raw.

Chris Benoit’s title shot remained intact, and thus he would challenge World Heavyweight Champion Triple H at the big dance. Shawn Michaels, then Helmsley’s nemesis, had lobbied for a rematch after he and the champion fought to a double knockout in a last man standing match at the Royal Rumble.

At the would-be contract signing for the World Heavyweight Title match, a frenetically desperate Michaels pleaded with Benoit to give him the match with Triple H, as if his very life depended on settling this score. Benoit flatly turned Michaels down, since he fought for one hour to win the Royal Rumble. Michaels responded by blasting Benoit with Sweet Chin Music, and added his name to the contract before Benoit could sign. GM Eric Bischoff’s solution was to make the match a triple threat between Helmsley, Michaels, and Benoit.

On the Smackdown side, Eddie Guerrero provided wrestling with one of its truest comeback stories when he put behind his alcoholic past in February 2004, felling Brock Lesnar to become WWE Champion. Guerrero would then be challenged by #1 contender Kurt Angle, whose attitude soured on the bitterness of Guerrero reigning, due to his past troubles with substance abuse.

Angle, with the blessing of GM Paul Heyman, proceeded to rail against Guerrero’s demons, while proclaiming himself to be a better role model, and, thus, better champion. Angle even taped his fists and beat a defensless Guerrero bloody, all while Guerrero was handcuffed (Guerrero was to have faced Heyman, agreeing to handcuff himself as a handicap, making Angle’s attack easier).

While Benoit and Guerrero were being groomed for their unlikely ascents, a squad of Attitude-era heroes and villains would make up the remainder of the upper card.

The Undertaker was taken out at Survivor Series by Kane, buried alive under a mountain of gravel. As Kane cackled loud and often about driving his brother away for good, hints of The Undertaker’s presence between to surface. From Undertaker’s classic “gong” blaring through the arena, to Kane being fronted by a casket and an urn, it was clear that the Undertaker was due back, and no longer as his highway-carousing biker self.

Stone Cold Steve Austin would appear at WrestleMania XX to moderate a match between Goldberg and Brock Lesnar, while The Rock and Mick Foley ended their exiles to face Randy Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair of Evolution, after Orton and Foley had been a “legend killing” war. Chris Jericho would also settle a score with longtime cohort Christian, who had chastised Y2J for trying to romance Trish Stratus.

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Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler would call the Raw action, while Michael Cole and Tazz covered SmackDown for this five hour event. The WWE brought back its WWE Hall of Fame for the weekend, inducting legends like Bobby Heenan, Jesse Ventura, Big John Studd, Junkyard Dog, Tito Santana, Greg Valentine, Harley Race, Sgt. Slaughter, Superstar Billy Graham, Don Muraco, and celebrity Pete Rose. The Harlem Boys Choir kicked off the show with “America the Beautiful”.

THE RESULTS
WWE United States: John Cena def. Big Show in 9:14 to win the title
(Once upon a time, John Cena was opening shows and warming up the crowd. Highlight was him mimicking Ultimate Warrior’s “questioning God” routine when he couldn’t put Show away)

World Tag Team: Rob Van Dam/Booker T def. The Dudley Boyz, La Resistance, and Garrison Cade/Mark Jindrak in 7:51
(Ahh, the classic “get everybody involved” match. Surprised nobody thought to name Van Dam and Booker “Tokin’ Black Guy”. Too offensive?)

Christian def. Chris Jericho in 14:52
(Christian’s prize for winning was to spend several months paired with a now-heel Trish Stratus, while Jericho’s reward was getting to feud with the both of them. I like all three, and this match was rather excellent, if underappreciated)

Randy Orton/Batista/Ric Flair def. The Rock/Mick Foley in 17:03
(An insanely fun match with Rock, Flair, and Foley running through their body of tricks, including Rock and Flair just going back and forth with humorous antics. The match served its purpose though, with Orton going over strong by RKOing Foley. Just fun)

Evening Gown Match: Sable/Torrie Wilson def. Stacy Keibler/Miss Jackie in 2:33
(Were you aware that Sable is undefeated at WrestleMania? She’s 3-0, which makes her the female Undertaker. Come to think of it, she is bony and corpse-like….)

WWE Cruiserweight: Chavo Guerrero won a Cruiserweight Open over Rey Mysterio, Tajiri, Akio, Billy Kidman, Jamie Noble, Nunzio, Funaki, Ultimo Dragon, and Shannon Moore in 10:28
(Eight falls (Akio was never actually eliminated) in just ten minutes, and the WWE couldn’t figure out why fans didn’t take the cruiserweights seriously. At least it was fast paced)

Goldberg def. Brock Lesnar in 13:42
(And here it is: the greatest “bad match” in WrestleMania history. I can’t even do it justice. Just watch it sometime. Trust me)

WWE Tag Team: Rikishi/Scotty 2 Hotty def. APA, Basham Brothers, and The World’s Greatest Tag Team in 6:01
(See the earlier tag team title match for perspective. Highlight: Rikishi’s ass being so fat that he has to suck his gut out before giving Charlie Haas the stinkface. Time to lay off the butter sticks)

WWE Women’s vs. Hair: Victoria def. Molly Holly in 4:53
(And thus Molly Holly was shaved, giving us her best V for Vendetta tribute. I actually liked shorned Molly. Made me want to take her to a tanz-metal club)

WWE Heavyweight Championship: Eddie Guerrero def. Kurt Angle in 21:36
(Great, great back and forth match between two of the finest athletes in wrestling history. Eddie Guerrero was in his element as the clever babyface who finds ways to win that are outside the box. In this case, Guerrero untied his boot so to render Angle’s ankle lock useless, with an easy escape. How can anyone hate this match?)

The Undertaker def. Kane in 7:45
(Undertaker indeed returned to his “Dead Man” roots here, complete with Druids, Paul Bearer, and classic symphonic score for his music. A chill-inducing scene, even if the match wasn’t really any good)

World Heavyweight Championship: Chris Benoit def. Triple H and Shawn Michaels in 25:10 to win the title
(And there you have it: the last time a wrestling moment actually made me misty-eyed. Benoit making Triple H tap out to the Crossface was a dream come true, as was Benoit’s tearful celebration with Guerrero, as the ultimate “we made it” moment. Sadly, real life events have diminished this moment some, but I’ll never forget what it meant to have witnessed it live)

ITS PLACE IN HISTORY
A somewhat morbid joke sees wrestling fans talking about Undertaker and Kane as if it were the main event of WrestleMania XX. This is, of course, because of WWE’s policy of outright ignoring Chris Benoit in the wake of the double murder-suicide that claimed him and his family.

Is it unfair? Well, some fans still can’t bring themselves to like Chris Benoit for his past contributions due to the actions in the last two days of his life. Perhaps it’s best that WWE keep their safe distance from the “Canadian Crippler”.

But for those of us who watched WrestleMania XX, repeat viewings are unnecessary. If you watched Benoit ascend wrestling’s peak on that night, and share his accomplishment with the also-deceased Guerrero, with sweat and tears mixing on their faces, then you don’t need to see it again.

In my mind’s eye, as is the case with many other fans, having seen it live is a privilege. It’s one of the last few times that a moment in WWE required no caption, no more words to be said.

Parts of WrestleMania XX may be long since buried. But what happened that night is so special, our memories will keep it alive.

Justin Henry is a freelance writer who splits time between this site, WrestleCrap.com, and FootballNation.com. He can be found via his wrestling Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/wrestlecrapjrh

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