WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania XIV

Did I have time to blog? Yes I did! We’re continuing with our look back on the history of WrestleMania. Looking back WrestleMania XIV, you can really see how this was a transitional period for the WWE. The main event really is a final chapter on the pre-Attitude Era of the WWE. This leaves the WWE roster looking completely different, especially who the top stars are. Steve Austin walks out of with the World Championship, and the company switches over to being Austin-centric. That works, because he really was the biggest star at that point. 

THE GOOD:

Remember VHS cassettes? I think I picked up a copy of this at Shop-Rite for $5 at some point.

The one interesting thing that stuck out to me after re-watching this was how appropriately short it was. The whole show was over in about three hours. That’s amazing when you look at it through the 2019 lens, where every week Raw is three hours and it is not uncommon to see a four and a half hour long pay per view.

THE BAD:

Match wise, there wasn’t too much to complain about. It was exactly what you would expect from a WWE event in 1998. The biggest gripe to me was the ending of the Owen Hart/HHH match, which had HHH winning due to some interference from Chyna. In a post-Survivor Series 1997 world it felt all but certain that Hart would be walking out of this match with the European Championship, but it didn’t happen. If you remember, Hart was red hot when he came back to the company. Losing in this fashion really cooled him off as a character. In hindsight, it doesn’t feel like he ever recovered from this. I guess you could say the same thing about the Rock retaining the Intercontinental Championship over Ken Shamrock.

MATCH TO WATCH:

I remembered really liking the New Age Outlaws/Cactus Jack and Terry Funk match a lot. I still did. But I completely forgot about the Taka Michinoku/Aguila match. WWE didn’t have a lot of matches like this at the time and it really stands out–in a good way–from the rest of the event.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania XIII

So maybe it is fun to blog once or twice almost every two years or so. Who’s keeping track? Thanks to the WWE Network, it’s been a lot of fun rewatching old pay per views, which reminded me that I used to have a blog.

Enough about me, let’s get back on track. Today we talk about Wrestlemania 13. I really didn’t remember much about this event, or even what was going on in the WWE at that point. WCW was in full swing with the nWo. I was probably much more into watching Nitro than Raw at that point.

Rewatching it now–twenty years later–does have one minor thing of note does happen at Wrestlemania 13. Colt Cabana makes his WWE debut as an audience member. What’s even more entertaining is that he actually gets involved in the Legion of Doom/Ahmed Johnson vs. the Nation of Domination match!

“I was a hectic fan. I wanted to be part of the action,” said Cabana. “I knew it wasn’t going to hurt him; Road Warrior Hawk was huge. I was just getting into it. I was part of Chicago, and I wanted to be part of the street fight, and so I just dove right in. I didn’t think a second of it. Now as a performer myself I would hate that kind of fan.”

You can read more of that over here at Slam Sports.

THE GOOD: I would say that the motto for this show would be perfectly acceptable. For me, there really wasn’t anyone featured that I didn’t mind watching. There’s one amazing match that blows everything else out of the water, but we’ll talk about that one later on.

THE BAD: I have a hard time saying that anything was awful at this event. A young Rocky Maivia defeating the Sultan didn’t really light the world on fire, but you would never know that the two respectively grew into their the Rock and Rikishi characters a few years later.

MATCH TO WATCH: Well, to be honest, you can miss most of this event. The submission match with Bret Hart and Steve Austin is stellar on so many levels. The double turn between the two works so well, and this is what really propelled “Stone Cold” into the pantheon of wrestling greats. Plus you get Ken Shamrock’s WWE debut, which at the time was really cool.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania XII

WrestleMania had a bounce back from the year before. So was it worth watching? I’m going to say yes on this one. You get a match that is over an hour-long for the WWF World Championship.

THE GOOD: The build to theBret Hart/Shawn Michaels match was epic, and the Iron Match itself didn’t disappoint. Well maybe it disappointed me a little, as I’ve always been a Bret fan. The “Backlot Brawl” was absurd, but in a good way. They framed this Roddy Piper/Goldust match with a gold Ford Bronco car chase, reminiscent of the one from the OJ Simpson saga the summer before. The premise itself was very silly, but still fun to watch.

THE BAD: If anything, the match for the Tag Team Championship with the Bodydonnas and the Godwinns, and the Vader/Owen Hart/British Bulldog versus Jake Roberts/Ahmed Johnson/Yokozuna one are pretty forgettable. Although I really did like the Camp Cornette Stable with Vader, Hart and Smith.

MATCH TO WATCH: It’s funny watching the Ultimate Warrior squash Hunter Hearst Helmsley in under two minutes, especially through modern eyes. You would never believe that Triple H would wind up becoming such a superstar, one of the faces of the company and now be so heavily entrenched in the behind the scenes aspect of the business from this.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania XI

Well they all can’t be good. And not even Salt-N-Pepa could save WrestleMania XI. There was something about this event that just doesn’t make it feel special. And that’s why it’s mostly forgettable.

THE GOOD: This was part of the era where Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were always having the best (if not one of the best) matches on the card every night. So their respective matches with Bob Backlund and Diesel really carry the show.

THE BAD: The Undertaker/King Kong Bundy, well, they have  match. At least you get the trivia question of having longtime MLB umpire being the special guest referee. And what was up with all of the celebrities at WrestleMania XI? Not only was there Bam Bam Bigelow’s match with football player Lawrence Taylor (which I still don’t understand was the main event), but the rest of the show featured a who’s who of the early 1990s by having Nicholas Turturro, Jenny McCarthy and Pamela Anderson also appearing at the event.

MATCH TO WATCH: You can really skip this one. Go read a book or something instead.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania X

I started this feature a few years back, giving me a reason to re-watch all of the WrestleManias. Unfortunately, I’m clearly a lazy blogger so this got put to the backseat for a long time. Anyway, with the WWE Network making it so easy to see all of the old pay-per-views, so I have no excuse to not finish this.

THE GOOD: WrestleMania X is a really good show. It has the Shawn Michaels/Razor Ramon ladder match that is a classic. The show’s opener, Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, is a great match that still holds up. Not only that, but it set up a bunch of rematches and story lines for the rest of the year. At the end of the show, Bret manages to pull out a good match out of Yokozuna, reclaiming the WWF World Championship he lost a year earlier.

THE BAD: Thankfully, there isn’t that much at WrestleMania X that was bad. If anything, I’d have to say the Bam Bam Bigelow/Luna Vachon match against Doink/Dink, or the Quebecers/Men on a Mission Tag Team Championship match are pretty much skippable.

MATCH TO WATCH: Randy Savage has an awesome Falls Count Anywhere match against Crush that I really loved at the time and still do to this day. The story that built up to it is so cartoony and everything that you love about professional wrestling. Crush–who was a brightly, neon colored good guy–gets squashed by the evil Yokozuna. When he comes back, he’s super bitter and angry. Not because he was nearly crushed (see what I did there?), but because Savage, whom he thought was his best friend, didn’t send him a get well card. This sets off a huge feud between the two former friends. You read that right.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania IX

I really wasn’t that into WrestleMania IX at the time. But looking back at the event, and what happened after, this is really an event of transition. This is pretty much the end of the “Hulkamania” era of the WWF, and new stars are coming in, like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. Times are a changing.

THE GOOD: The look of this show is so unique. It was the first WrestleMania to be held outside. But what really sets it apart is the unique set pieces. It was held at Cesar’s in Las Vegas, and the theming reflected the casino’s Roman look.

THE BAD: At the time, I was really bummed out that not only did Bret Hart wind up losing the WWF Championship to Yokozuna. What even made it worse for me was that Hulk Hogan wound up winning the title from Yokozuna only minutes later.

MATCH TO WATCH: The Steiner Brothers have an awesome match with the Headshrinkers. Need I say any more?

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania VIII

WrestleMania VIII was an interesting show. There were a few really cool matches, and a really confusing ending. What happened?

THE GOOD: Randy Savage had a great match with Ric Flair for the WWF Championship. Flair was talking trash about Savage’s wife, Miss Elizabeth, which set up this feud. Flair was being so scummy towards her the whole time, so you really REALLY wanted him to not only beat the tar out of Flair but take away the title. And he did. Another awesome WrestleMania moment from Savage.

THE BAD: The ending of the Hulk Hogan/Sid Justice match. Sid was so awesome, and Hogan wound up costing him the Royal Rumble, which made him go crazy. Rightfully. I was so sure that Sid would end Hulkamania once and for all. Unfortunately, the next day I found out at school that Hogan one and never got around to seeing this match. I just saw this for the first time this month and it is confusing. There’s a lot of confusion, Papa Shongo and the Ultimate Warrior get involved. Just craziness.

MATCH TO WATCH: Bret Hart beating Roddy Piper to win the Intercontinental Championship is the highlight of the event, if not the best match I’ve ever seen Piper in.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania VII

WrestleMania VII took place at the end of the Gulf War and American patriotism was at a fevered pitch. This was the most Americana themed WrestleMania, with its red, white and blue themed ring and advertising. The main event had Hulk Hogan challenging everyone’s favorite wrestler turned GI Joe toy turned Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter for the WWF Championship.

THE GOOD:  The second half of WrestleMania VII is pretty good. For some reason, there’s a match pitting Demolition against the team of Japanese wrestling legend Genichiro Tenryu and former sumo wrestler Koji Kitao. For whatever reason, I’ve always been a fan of random foreign wrestlers showing up for one-shot appearances like this.

THE BAD: Jake “The Snake” Roberts and “The Model” Rick Martel had been feuding for a while, thanks to Martel attempting to blind Roberts with his personal cologne scent called Arrogance. How cool is that? Unfortunately this wasn’t, as it was a blindfold match. The two kind of stumbled around with bags over the head and this is fast forward-able.

MATCH TO WATCH: Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior stole the show with their match. The loser would have to retire from the WWF, so there was a lot of drama throughout. The ending had Warrior barely winning. After the match, Savage’s manager Sensational Sherri berated him, only for his previous manager the beloved Miss Elizabeth coming to the ring to stand up for him. The crowd went nuts with the two reuniting.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania VI

WrestleMania VI was pretty forgettable, except for the Ultimate Warrior/Hulk Hogan match for the WWF Championship. But it didn’t matter, because everyone thought that the Warrior was the most amazing thing EVER in 1990.

THE GOOD: WrestleMania VI was held in Toronto and it is amazing how many future Canadian wrestlers were in attendance. BFF’s Edge and Christian were at the SkyDome that night. So was Lance Storm.

THE BAD: There were three matches that ended in a count out or disqualification. For the big showcase event of the year, you would have hoped that there were a few more definitive endings.

MATCH TO WATCH: I guess it would be the previously mentioned Warrior/Savage match. The crowd is electric for it and win Warrior claims the title is quite the moment.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania V

I really wished that Macho Man had beat Hulk Hogan. Oh well...

WrestleMania V was the big thing right around when I became hooked on professional wrestling. We had moved in with my grandmother for a bit, and this was the first time we had cable. Watching the feud between the two grow was epic.

But I’ll admit I was disappointed. When I was young I always preferred Macho Man and Roddy Piper to Hulk Hogan, so this was kind of a bummer to me.

THE GOOD: As a whole, it was decent but nothing too spectacular.

THE BAD: Did they really need to include the Red Rooster/Bobby Heenan match? It just felt like a time filler, and at most a break before the main event.

MATCH TO WATCH: Mr. Perfect and the Blue Blazer (a masked Owen Hat) have a really good match that is so different from anything else that was in the WWF at that time.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania IV

WrestleMania IV is awesome because the whole show is built around a one-night tournament for the vacant WWF title. Being that this is from 1988, you would assume that Hulk Hogan or Andre the Giant would be the winner. But in an amazing swerve, the two of them were eliminated in the first round!

THE GOOD: When I re-watched this for the first time in years, I had no idea how the tournament played out, save for the Andre/Hogan match. The unpredictable nature of a tournament really helped make this a fun show to watch.

THE BAD: Don Muraco versus Dino Bravo wasn’t so hot. I would have liked to see more Rick Rude, but those are the breaks. On the bright side, it gave us that awesome Rude/Jake Rogers feud.

MATCH TO WATCH: The final match of Randy Savage versus Ted DiBiase for the championship is great, and the crowd goes insane when Andre and Hogan get involved in the finish.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania III

Ricky Steamboat takes on Randy Savage.

Like anyone who was a kid in 1987, WrestleMania III is remembered as the time Hulk Hogan beat Andre the Giant. That, and it was the WrestleMania that had Entertainment Tonight’s Mary Hart on it.

It was held at the Silverdome in Detroit and it really has the big event feel. There was literally 90,000 people packed into the stands at this football stadium. The dressing room was so far away that the wrestlers came to and from the ring in these funky looking little carts that were made to look like tiny wrestling rings.

From the wide cast of characters to the big went feel, this is really a textbook example of what professional wrestling should be–a huge spectacle.

THE GOOD: Rightfully so, everyone always talks about how awesome the Ricky Steamboat/Randy Savage match was. It might be the best WrestleMania match ever.

THE BAD: There’s nothing really terrible on this event. Andre/Hogan isn’t as good as the Steamboat/Savage match, but the storytelling aspect carries it.

MATCH TO WATCH: Most people would recommend either of the two previously mentioned matches, but they have been discussed to death over the years. I’m going to go with Roddy Piper versus Adrian Adonis in a hair match. The feud between the two was great to watch unfold and is an appropriate conclusion.

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania II

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Mr. T duke it out at WrestleMania II.

 

WrestleMania II is unique for two reasons:

1. It was the only WrestleMania to happen on a Monday.
2. It was the only WrestleMania to be held at three different locations, Chicago, Long Island and Los Angeles, thanks to the magic of television satellites.

Those logistics alone make it impressive. As for the show itself, it felt pretty average. There was some good stuff on the event, but as a whole it felt like it went on for far too long. I do have a short attention span you know. None of the matches were over 15 minutes, but the show as a whole time felt like a chore to get through.

THE GOOD: Roddy Piper and Mr. T’s “boxing” match was pretty fun.

THE BAD: The Velvet McIntyre/Fabulous Moolah match wasn’t that good at all. And this is on an event with an Uncle Elmer match!

MATCH TO WATCH: The British Bulldogs win the Tag Team titles from Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake in an awesome match. How awesome? The Bulldogs don’t only have longtime manager Captain Lou Albano in their corner, but Ozzy Osbourne!

WrestleMania Flashback: WrestleMania I

Mr. T hip tosses "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorf

Just as much as I love comics, I probably love professional wrestling. It seems the two go hand in hand. Some of the top guys in pro wrestling these days–like CM Punk–are avid comic book fans. Anyway, the biggest day in the wrestling world is coming up next week, WrestleMania 28. Thanks to my own collection and the local public library, I’ve been going through the past 27 events.

WrestleMania I was the first back in 1984. Watching this now just doesn’t seem that it was that big of a deal. The matches kind of blur together, and nothing really sticks out. The total time of the matches is approximately an hour. By today’s standards, is about the same in-ring time of an episode of Raw.

It just goes to show what a marketing juggernaut the WWF was back then. With a lot of celebrity involvement and promotion, they mad this the event for wrestling fans that year. If your sentimental for the early 1980s, you’ll enjoy this. Otherwise, it’s pretty skippable.

THE GOOD: Everyone involved acted like it was important, which helped make WrestleMania special.

THE BAD: The whole thing feels so dated. Not only the way the wrestlers perform, but even the celebrity guests. With the big names in attendance (and involvement) being Cyndi Lauper and Mr. T, it just feels so far removed.

BEST MATCH: Hands down, the main event which pitted the team of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorf. Ric Flair might have been having much better matches at the time, but this works well for what it is. Piper and Orndorf are cowardly villains, and the crowd loves it when Hulkamania goes wild at the end.