Well, after a bit of a delay, here’s part 3 of this 4 part series. I actually watched this set of Wrestlemania disks a long time ago, but just been super busy and no writing chances the past few weeks. But here I am now, so let’s get down to business!
Wrestlemania XI
Now we’re right smack dab in the middle of my anti-wrestling phase. Well, not anti-wrestling I guess, but I didn’t care much about it. But the hype for the main event of this Wrestlemania had me excited, so I did watch it on video.
THEN: One thing I miss was the star power of Wrestlemania in the past. This Mania was kind of lacking in terms of wrestling stars, but Hollywood stars? Damn, they were everywhere. I thought it was cool back then and I still do now. One thing I do remember is being bored as heck watching a lot of this. I’ve always loved the British Bulldog and Owen Hart, but I hated their tag teams with Lex Luger and Yokozuna respectively. A lot of the first team had to do with me not liking Luger, and the second was more for it seeming like such a random team. And like I said, the rest of the matches were pretty meh to me, but I did enjoy the main event. I remember wondering how L.T. could possibly hang in there with a guy like Bam Bam, but the match was very well done I thought.
NOW: Ok, I was still as bored as heck watching a lot of this. Honestly I can usually name most the matches on a Wrestlemania card before watching it, but this one I could name the main event and that was about it. Heck, I didn’t even know who was in the title match beforehand. One thing I do like a lot more is the Owen/Yoko team (especially with Cornette in the corner) but basically this whole card left me nothing I really wanted to see again at all. The main event still stands up to the test of time though, I think Taylor did extremely well in there and it made for one heck of a fun match with a very cool back-story. Overall though, I think this is maybe my least favorite Wrestlemania so far in the series.
Wrestlemania XII
Oh yes, no we’re talking. Michaels vs. Hart in an ironman match? Yes please.
THEN: Again, still not totally back into wrestling at this point, but watching Wrestlemania was such a tradition I just had to keep it going. I do remember being really pumped up for the Ultimate Warrior return at the time. And you know how well that ended up turning out! I remember still laughing that Roddy Piper continued to have matches so many years after his “last” match at Wrestlemania III (I still do chuckle from time to time too.) And again, I didn’t care much about the undercard, but I was all about the main event. I thought the whole no falls after regulation thing was a very cool way to end this big feud, and even though Bret lost, I thought it was such a fun match.
NOW: I really don’t remember the Ford Bronco segments, but looking back now that was pretty hilarious. And it’s extremely hard to believe how badly Hunter was squashed in this one. Can you imagine someone jumping RIGHT up after the Pedigree? Just a very good example of how good booking can overcome just about anything that happens in the past if you want. HBK/Hart is still an excellent match I think, although I have a couple other Ironman matches I think I like a bit more. I think Bret was screwed out of the title though! Which is a good lead in to…
Wrestlemania XIII
Just weeks after this, I was hooked back into wrestling for good. So of course I went back to watch this one!
THEN: I actually liked the Undertaker/Sid main event. I thought Sid was a great character, and Taker was right around his prime at this point. I also really dug the streetfight between Ahmed/L.O.D. and The Nation (fun fact from the Road Warriors DVD: Ahmed Johnson stole those L.O.D. shoulder pads after this show!) The Nation was a team I hated, but for all the right reasons. I thought they were an amazingly good heel group at the time and I really wanted to see them get an ass kicking. But the one thing everyone remembers from this show is obviously the Austin/Hart match. What a fantastic way to double turn both men, but I admit, I was still cheering Hart and booing Austin as a fan.
NOW: Another fun fact: According to John C. when I first told him I bought this set, Maivia vs. Sultan is the only match in Wrestlemania history. Anyways, yet another dull Mania to watch these days, with the exception of Hart/Austin of course. And looking back now, I don’t remember the whole Bret being screwed story going in, but how weird is it to see now? No wonder some people might have thought the screwjob was a work for a while. Not much else to say about this show really. What a bad stretch of Wrestlemanias.
Wrestlemania XIV
Ah yes, first Mania after my dad got an illegal PPV descrambler. Despite Bret being gone, I was in love with WWF at the time.
THEN: Easily the Wrestlemania I’ve seen the most. One of the few I still have on tape. LOD 2000 was…interesting. I loved seeing them back, and I loved seeing them with Sunny, but the new uniforms were pretty ugly. I also thought Owen was criminally underused as a face, I thought he could be one of the biggest faces in the company if they wanted after Bret left. The promo he had on his return was just awesome and the crowd ate it up. But I guess the feud to put HHH over was pretty good anyways. I was in LOVE with The Rock back then, and I hated Ken Shamrock. Don’t know what it was, I just found him very unlikable. The Outlaws/Foley/Funk feud was just outstanding I thought too, I wasn’t into Foley and Funk as much as now, but the Outlaws were (and maybe still are) my personal favorite tag team ever. Undertaker/Kane feud was just built outstanding too, and the match was very interesting as well. But the main event: outstanding. The pop for Austin coming out was enormous. Too bad it was Michael’s last match for several years, I would have loved to see what he could have done after this show with the roster as hot as it was.
NOW: What a difference a year makes. We go from several shows with boring undercards and maybe one good match to this beauty. Lots of very good storylines going in and whether or not the matches were outstanding, the entertainment value was there for this show. And watching it year by year like this, it’s a pretty big overhaul in the stars of the show. We suddenly have a much longer show and we see a lot of the bigger stars of the past few years really starting to find their spots with the company. Honestly, not much has changed in my opinion over the years of this show. I thought it was very good all around and still do today.
Wrestlemania XV
Now we’re full out into the Attitude era, and this card is stacked from top to bottom.
THEN: Someone started a thread on this in the Oratory forums recently, wondering why Road Dogg had the IC belt and Billy Gunn had the Hardcore belt, when just a short while before they were reversed. Personally I thought it made no sense as the two guys seemed better suited for the other divisions. The Brawl for All was easily the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen on TV, and I was happy going in knowing this was the last time we would ever see it. And what a waste too, doing all that just to have the winner squashed by Butterbean. I really loved the X-Pac vs. Shane feud, and I couldn’t believe HHH turned to the corporation right after Chyna re-united with DX. I really hated it, I was such a DX fan, I guess I never wanted it to end. I did love having the Big Boss Man back, but I thought this whole Undertaker mess was pretty stupid, especially the hanging afterwards. But the main event…damn. I was so pumped up for it. Austin and Rock were just such natural enemies, and this was such a fun encounter, with Austin finally getting the belt back. Really fun show.
NOW: You know, seeing Vince these days is nothing like he was back then. He was just PURE evil on this show! His line “and I’ll be the guest referee!” was such a great evil genius voice. Now he’s more an asshole owner, back then he was an evil genius. I love it. The video package going into the Bossman/Taker HIAC match is pretty funny since Bossman isn’t even shown in it. It’s a Taker/Vince feud, just without Vince fighting in it. You know, if you don’t show a guy in a video package heading into a match, it might not be a good idea to have that guy in a Hell In A Cell match. Just a thought. But otherwise, this was a very fun show again, another one I loved a ton. But less Nicole Bass please. Good lord I forgot how awful that thing is.
Well, a bit shorter than the first couple parts, but with some boring Wrestlemanias, I didn’t have much to say I guess. Plus with these ones being so close to now, not much is really going to change opinion wise. But, hope you all enjoyed it again, and expect part 4 pretty soon!
Questions? Feedback? I’m at mikesawaryn@hotmail.com
