Here’s Part 17 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania X-Seven (2001)
Tagline: Houston, We Have A Problem.
Sponsor: Snickers
Date: April 1, 2001
Venue: Reliant Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 67,925
The Undertaker’s Streak: 9-0 (Def. Triple H)

WrestleMania X-Seven was the seventeenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and presented by Snickers Cruncher. It took place on April 1, 2001 at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas.

The main event was a No Disqualification match between Steve Austin and The Rock for the WWF Championship. The main matches on the undercard featured Triple H versus The Undertaker, the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Vince McMahon versus Shane McMahon in a Street Fight. With WWE’s acquisition of long-time competitor WCW mere days prior and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin joining forces with storied rival Mr. McMahon.

A record-breaking attendance for the Reliant Astrodome of 67,925 grossed US$3.5 million.

Shane McMahon misses an elbow on to his Father Vince McMahon at WrestleMania X-Seven

A major feud that was built up in the lead to WrestleMania was the one involving Vince McMahon and his son Shane McMahon. The feud started with Vince’s disapproval of Mick Foley’s job as then-WWF commissioner as well as Foley’s decision of holding a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon 2000, taking into consideration about the well-being of the wrestlers involved in the match. Despite his attempts Foley was given full support by Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife and the WWF’s CEO. Not pleased with this result, Vince immediately demanded a divorce from Linda. Shortly after Armageddon, secretly to Vince’s delight, it was revealed Linda was rushed to hospital suffering with a nervous breakdown. With Linda hospitalized, the Board of Directors appointed Vince as the new CEO of the WWF, allowing him to fire Foley as commissioner. With Linda in a comatose-like state, Vince started to have a public affair with Trish Stratus. Vince’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, was at first far from pleased about the turn of events. At No Way Out, Stephanie and Trish squared off, with Stephanie scoring the victory after a run-in by William Regal. On the February 26th episode of Raw is War, however, during a match that placed Vince and Trish against Stephanie and William Regal, Stratus was turned on by the other participants in the match and had sewage dumped over her. In the following shows, Vince continued to demean Trish by having her do such actions as bark like a dog around the ring and stripping down to her lingerie.

TLC 2 at WrestleMania X-Seven was considered one of the best matches on the card.

Despite this, Trish remained loyal to Vince and begged for his forgiveness.On the March 12 episode of Raw is War, Shane McMahon made his return to the WWF. Angry with his father’s actions, Shane started to throw punches at Vince only to be stopped by William Regal.Shane explained his actions on the following episode of SmackDown! as a result of frustrations over the manipulation of his sister, his mother’s state and Vince’s treatment of Trish. On March 23, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. purchased their longtime rival promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. With it, the purchase brought in an extra twist to the storyline. On the March 26 episode of Raw is War, Vince McMahon made a live speech that was also simulcast on the series finale of WCW Monday Nitro. In the speech, Vince announced that the signing was not final and that he wanted Ted Turner to come to WrestleMania to hand-deliver the contract for signing. He then promised that with the purchase he was going to bury his rival forever. However, Shane, who was at the venue for Nitro, interrupted the speech and made an announcement:

Edge Going for The Spear on Jeff Hardy from a ladder at WrestleMania X-Seven

The Street Fight between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon was next. Shane dominated his father during the start of the match with attacks involving a Kendo stick and monitors from the Spanish announcers’ table. Lying Vince on the table, Shane climbed back into the ring and attempted to perform a diving elbow drop off the top rope. His sister Stephanie moved Vince off the table, however, leaving Shane to crash into it. Trish Stratus came towards the ring, pushing Linda McMahon out on a wheelchair. Vince tried to embrace Trish, but she slapped him. In retaliation, Stephanie got into a fight with Trish that led them out of the stadium. With Linda alone, Vince approached her to the detestment of guest referee Mick Foley but the owner replied with a few chair shots. Dragging Linda into the ring and placing her on a chair, Vince forced her to watch him beat his son down a couple of times with a trash can. As he went for a third shot with the can, however, Linda stood up and kicked Vince in the testicles. With Vince in the corner, Shane placed a garbage can in front of Vince’s face and hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick through it, before pinning his father to win the match.

The eighth match, dubbed “TLC II”, was a Tag Team Championship match pitting the champions, the Dudley Boyz, against Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. The match contained many dangerous spots involving the weapons involved. Respective associates of each tag team, Spike Dudley on behalf of the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno on behalf of Edge and Christian and Lita on behalf of the Hardy Boyz, interfered during the match. With Spike and Rhyno both laying on two tables outside the ring, Jeff Hardy set up a huge ladder beside them and performed a Swanton Bomb onto them through the tables. Jeff tried to go for the belts but has his ladder pulled off his feet by Bubba Ray Dudley, leaving Jeff hanging onto the belts in the air. After climbing onto a bigger ladder, Edge jumped off it and spears Jeff onto the ground. Bubba Ray and Matt Hardy started to climb the same ladder but were met by Rhyno who pushed them off the ladder and through some more tables outside the ring. With a boost from Rhyno, Christian managed to unhook the belts, making him and Edge the new Tag Team Champions.

The Iron Shiek wins the “Gimmick” Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven.

The ninth match was a gimmick battle royal, featuring nineteen WWF alumni famous for their outlandish gimmicks. To further increase the nostalgia, former announcers “Mean” Gene Okerlund and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan took over the commentary booth for the match. The match was a short one with the Iron Sheik throwing Hillbilly Jim out of the ring to win the match. In revenge for being eliminated, Sgt. Slaughter locked the cobra clutch hold on the Sheik.

The secondary feud leading into the event pitted the Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) against Triple H and The Big Show. After defeating Steve
Austin in a Three Stages of Hell match at No Way Out, Triple H felt that he deserved to be in the WrestleMania main event having defeated everyone in the WWF, including The Rock and Austin.11] The Undertaker took exception to that and told him that Triple H had never defeated him. Before WrestleMania X-Seven, the two had never faced each other in a one-on-one match on a pay-per-view event. During his entrance for a Hardcore Championship match against The Big Show, Triple H ambushed Undertaker. Kane ran in and saved the Undertaker from a further attack but was met with his own ambush by The Big Show. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker tried to break into the limousine of Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, on arrival but ended up being arrested by the police. As a result, Kane requested a match against Triple H later that night but lost when The Big Show interfered on behalf of Triple H. In retaliation, Kane interfered in The Big Show’s Hardcore Championship match against Raven on Raw is War, helping Raven pin Big Show to become the new Hardcore Champion. Undertaker’s arrest led to a restraining order from Stephanie. To circumvent this, the Brothers of Destruction interfered in Triple H’s match against Test, with Kane ordered to run after Stephanie. With Stephanie held at ransom on a balcony in the arena, WWF commissioner William Regal gave Undertaker and Kane matches at WrestleMania against Triple H and The Big Show respectively. After being attacked during a Hardcore Championship title defense, Regal would later include Raven into Kane and Big Show’s match, making it a Triple Threat Hardcore match for the Hardcore Championship.

Now known as “The American Bad-Ass” The Undertaker defeats Triple H at WrestleMania X-Seven to keep the streak at 9-0

The second to last match was between The Undertaker and Triple H. For his entrance, Triple H had British heavy metal band Motörhead perform his theme song, “The Game”, live. The match started with the two fighting outside of the ring with Triple H ending being put through the replacement Spanish announcers’ table. Later on, the referee Mike Chioda ended up being attacked with first by accident through Undertaker’s Catapult and later on by The Undertaker’s dissatisfaction over a two-count. With Chioda knocked out, the two brawled outside the ring without any risk of a countout and into the technical area. Over there, Triple H gave Undertaker several shots in the head with a steel chair but was eventually reversed into a Chokeslam off the scaffolding followed by an diving elbow drop. Back in the ring as Chioda regained consciousness, Triple H tried to pin The Undertaker after preventing Undertaker’s Last Ride maneuver with a sledgehammer shot in the head but only gained a two-count. Continuing the match, Triple H sent The Undertaker’s towards the corner with shots to the head but Undertaker reversed them with the Last Ride, allowing him to pin Triple H and increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 9–0.

The WrestleMania XV rematch between Stone Cold Steve Austin and “The Rock” at WrestleMania X-Seven

The main feud leading into WrestleMania X-Seven consisted of Steve Austin challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship. This event marked the second time that the WrestleMania main event featured The Rock and Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, the first one being WrestleMania XV. In April 1999 at Backlash, The Rock and Steve Austin fought in a WrestleMania XV rematch with Steve Austin retaining the Championship. The Backlash event was originally the last time the two men would wrestle for the WWF Championship until this event. Steve Austin earned his opportunity to compete for the WWF Championship in the main event at WrestleMania by winning the 2001 Royal Rumble match when he last eliminated Kane, while The Rock became the first ever six-time WWF Champion when he defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out. During their feud, Austin’s wife Debra, who was trying to get back into managing, was ordered by WWF chairman, Vince McMahon, to be The Rock’s manager against her wishes as well as both Rock and Austin’s. As a result, Austin would hold The Rock and McMahon responsible if any harm came to her. On the March 12 episode of Raw is War, The Rock was placed in an overlong Ankle Lock hold during his rematch with Kurt Angle. When Debra went to check on The Rock, Angle also placed her into an Ankle Lock hold. Austin soon ran in to save her and knocked Angle out of the ring. Keeping to his word, he immediately gave The Rock a Stone Cold Stunner as punishment. The following week on Raw is War, during a handicap tag team match involving The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and William Regal, Austin made his way down to the ring and ended up getting a Rock Bottom from The Rock as a result of the stunner the previous week. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown!, Debra was relieved from her managerial role by Mr. McMahon after failing to prevent a brawl between Rock and Austin.

The match between Stone Cold Steve Austin and “The Rock” at WrestleMania X-Seven was No Disqualification.

The final match of the night was the WWF Championship match between The Rock and Steve Austin. Before the ring entrances for the main event, it was announced that the match would be a No Disqualification match. During the match, the two took the fight outside of the ring and into the crowd. When the wrestlers returned to the ring, blood was shed from both Austin and The Rock after both had hit each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin into a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it and placed The Rock into his own Sharpshooter. After releasing the hold following the referee’s request he held The Rock by use of the Million Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, The Rock used Austin’s own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner. Vince McMahon then came to ringside to observe the match. When The Rock tried to pin Austin after the People’s Elbow, McMahon pulled The Rock away. After chasing McMahon around the ring, Austin responded by using The Rock’s signature move, the Rock Bottom. Later, after The Rock improbably kicked out of the Stunner after a two count, which he received after attacking McMahon in the ring, McMahon then handed Austin a steel chair to hit The Rock with at Austin’s request, revealing that Austin had sided with McMahon, a man he once considered his arch-nemesis. With this, Austin turned heel. Austin tried to end the match with the Stone Cold Stunner again, but after The Rock kicked out a furious Austin decided he’d had enough. The challenger then pummeled the champion with sixteen consecutive chair shots, enabling Austin to pin The Rock and become the new WWF Champion. The show ended with the chairman and the new champion shaking hands and sharing beers.

Stone Cold Steve Austin, Turns Heel at WrestleMania X-Seven by aligning with Vince McMahon

WrestleMania X-Seven Results

Heat X-Factor (Justin Credible and X-Pac) (with Albert) defeated Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexay Tag team match
• Chris Jericho (c) defeated William Regal Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Tazz and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) (with Jacqueline) defeated Right to Censor (The Goodfather, Val Venis and Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards) Six-man tag team match
• Kane defeated Raven (c) and The Big Show Triple Threat Hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship
• Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeated Test (c) Singles match for the WWF European Championship 0
• Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit

Chyna defeats Ivory to become the WWF Women’s Champion

• Chyna defeated Ivory (c) Singles match For the WWF Women’s Championship
• Shane McMahon defeated Vince McMahon (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) Street Fight with Mick Foley as the special guest referee
• Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff)
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• The Iron Sheik won by last eliminating Hillbilly Jim1 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal
• The Undertaker defeated Triple H
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship

Here’s Part 16 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania 2000 (2000)
Tagline: First Ever Fatal Four Way
Sponsor: M&Ms Crispy
Date: April 2, 2000
Venue: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Attendance: 18,034
The Star-Spangled Banner: Lilian Garcia
The Undertaker’s Streak: 8-0 (Did not compete)

WrestleMania 2000 (chronologically known as WrestleMania XVI) was the sixteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by Snickers and took place on April 2, 2000 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

The main event was a four-way elimination match for the WWF Championship involving reigning champion Triple H, The Rock, Mick Foley, and The Big Show, which Triple H won after last eliminating The Rock. Main matches on the undercard included a triangle ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship involving Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz, and a two-fall triple threat match for the WWF Intercontinental and European Championships involving Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, and Chris Benoit.

The only one on one match at WrestleMania 2000. Teri vs The Kat

Many critics site this as one of the worst WrestleMania’s of all time, with only the Tag team Ladder Match getting excellent reviews. The only one-on-one match w was a Cat fight between Terri and The Kat.

The brightest spot of WrestleMania 2000, the Tag Team Ladder Match

The second main feud heading into the event was between Edge and Christian versus The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) versus The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) for the World Tag Team Championship in a Triangle Ladder match. On the January 17 edition of Raw, Jeff Hardy was scheduled to face Bubba Ray Dudley in a match. The match saw Jeff pinning Bubba Ray after delivering a Swanton Bomb. After the match, the Dudley’s attacked the Hardy Boyz, in which they powerbombed Matt on top of a table. On the January 20 edition of SmackDown!, Matt was placed in a match again D-Von Dudley. The win was given to Matt, after a disqualification took place. Jeff and Bubba Ray made their way to the ring, in which both teams began brawling against one another. Bubba Ray prepared to powerbomb Matt into a table, that was set up by the Dudley’s. Bubba Ray, however, was hit by Jeff with a chair, causing him to fall onto the tables. The Hardy’s then set up a table of their own and put D-Von on it, and Matt proceeded to perform a legdrop on D-Von through the table. At the Royal Rumble, the Hardy’s defeated the Dudley’s in a tag team tables match. The following night after the Royal Rumble, the Dudley’s showed respect towards the Hardy’s in which they would help them defeat the New Age Outlaws for the World Tag Team Championship. In return, the Hardy’s would have to grant the Dudley’s a title shot at the Tag Team Championship. During the tag title match, the Dudley’s stopped the three count, after the Hardy’s had the match in their favor and allowing the Outlaw’s to retain the titles. After the match, the Dudley’s then went onto perform the 3-D on them.

Jeff Hardy sores at WrestleMania 2000

In The WWF Tag Team Championship triangle ladder match involving The Hardy Boyz, Edge and Christian, and champions The Dudley Boyz . Edge and Christian first gained the advantage after Edge climbed the top rope and speared Jeff, who was climbing a ladder. Edge and Christian were then given consecutive 3-D’s by The Dudley Boyz. The Dudley Boyz then brought tables into the ring and onto ringside, where D-Von splashed Jeff through a table in the ring, while Bubba powerbombed Matt through another at ringside. The Hardy Boyz would then retaliate after Jeff delivered a Swanton bomb off a ladder onto Bubba, through a table. As Jeff did so, Matt climbed a ladder, along with Edge and Christian, who pushed Matt off the ladder through a table. The situation allowed Edge and Christian to reach and grab the championship belts that were hung from the rafters, thus gaining their first ever the Tag Team Championship.

Before the main event of WrestleMania 2000, the tag team encounter between Kane and Rikishi against D-Generation X (X-Pac and Road Dogg). Shortly into the match Rikishi delivered a Diamond cutter onto X-Pac, which proceeded into Kane delivering a Tombstone piledriver into a pinfall for the win. The San Diego chicken came out to celebrate with Kane and Rikishi. Thinking that it was Baseball great Pete Rose, Kane went to attack the chicken. While the real Pete Rose came into the ring, with a baseball bat. Rikishi took the bat out of Rose’s hand, to allow Kane to give a chokeslam by kane, followed by a Rikishi Stinkface.

Pete Rose for the third year in a row, is on the receiving end of Kane’s wrath.

The WWF Champion The Game, with his on-screen wife at the time. Heading to the Main event at WrestleMania 2000

The main feud heading into WrestleMania was between Triple H, The Rock, Mick Foley, and The Big Show, with the four feuding over the WWF Championship. At the Royal Rumble two months prior, The Rock won the Royal Rumble match to become the number one contender to the WWF Championship at WrestleMania by last eliminating The Big Show, and Triple H defeated Cactus Jack (Mick Foley) in a Street fight to retain the WWF Championship. The proceeding month at No Way Out, The Big Show defeated The Rock to gain entry into the WWF Championship match at WrestleMania. Also at the event, Triple H defeated Foley in a Hell in a Cell match to retain the WWF Championship. Per the pre-match stipulation, Foley had to retire from professional wrestling. On the March 13 edition of Raw is War, The Rock managed to win back his title shot by defeating The Big Show with help from a returning Vince McMahon, thus making the WWF Championship match a Triple Threat match. Then, the following week, after Triple H retained his title against both The Rock and The Big Show, Linda McMahon came out announced that he would be defending his belt in a Fatal Four-Way match against not only The Rock and The Big Show, but also Mick Foley.

The Rock delivering a Rock Bottom to The Big Show at WrestleMania 2000

The main event was a WWF Championship four-way elimination match involving The Big Show (with Shane McMahon), Mick Foley (with Linda McMahon), The Rock (with Vince McMahon), and the defending champion, Triple H (with Stephanie McMahon). In the beginning of the match, Show press slammed Triple H and Rock; however, all three competitors then attacked Show. The situation allowed The Rock to eliminate Show, after delivering a Rock Bottom into a pinfall. After the elimination, Foley delivered a double arm DDT on Triple H. Though, Triple H retaliated as he performed two consecutive Pedigrees, and hitting Foley with a steel chair into a pinfall, thus Foley was eliminated. After Foley was eliminated, The Rock and Triple H brawled in and out of the ring with neither superstar gaining the advantage over one another. Although, Triple H gained the advantage when Vince hit The Rock with a steel chair two consecutive times, thus turning Vince heel. The attack with the steel chair allowed Triple H to pin The Rock to retain the WWF Championship. After the match The Rock gave the Rock Bottom to Vince, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, before giving Stephanie a People’s Elbow.

The Big Show, one of the four participants at WrestleMania 2000

The Undertaker
After SummerSlam (1999), The Undertaker suffered a groin tear and was seen limping in several matches. He avoided competing in wrestling matches in the following weeks, instead tyrannically ordering The Big Show to fight all his battles and oblige all his many wishes. To compensate for his lack of physical action, Undertaker became more vocal on the mic, often making smart-aleck remarks and performing commentary at the announcer’s table.

In an angle that occurred in September 1999 on SmackDown!, Undertaker was fired by Mr. McMahon in a backstage interview when he refused to participate in a casket match against Triple H. In actuality, Undertaker went on a four month hiatus from WWF in order to treat his groin injury.

In January 2000, one month before a scheduled return at the Royal Rumble, he tore a pectoral muscle. He would remain out until May 200, missing WrestleMania 2000

Mick Foley, living his boyhood dream of competeing in the Main Event at WrestleMania 2000

Stone Cold Steve Austin
Also absent from WrestleMania 2000 was Stone Cold Steve Austin. When Survivor Series 1999 rolled around, Triple H was the WWF champion. Austin was booked into a Triple Threat match for the Championship against Triple H and The Rock. However, Austin was run down by a car in the parking lot. What followed was neck surgery by Dr. Lloyd Youngblood and a nine-month rehabilitation. Stone Cold Steve Austin would at the end of April 2000, at backlash assisting The Rock in defeating Triple H To win the WWF Championship.

Triple H defeats The Rock, Mick Foley and The big Show to win the WWF Championship at WrestleMania

WrestleMania 2000 Results

• The Big Boss Man and Bull Buchanan defeated The Godfather and D’Lo Brown (with Ice-T and The Godfather’s hos). Tag team match 09:05
• Hardcore Holly won by last defeating Crash Holly (c).[Note 1] Hardcore battle royal for the WWF Hardcore Championship 15:00
• T & A (Test and Albert) (with Trish Stratus) defeated Head Cheese (Al Snow and Steve Blackman) (with Chester McCheeserton).
• Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff). Triangle Ladder match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. 22:29
• Terri Runnels (with The Fabulous Moolah) defeated The Kat (with Mae Young). Catfight with special guest referee Val Venis
• Too Cool (Grand Master Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty) and Chyna defeated The Radicalz (Eddie Guerrero, Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko). Six-person intergender tag team match
• First fall: Chris Benoit defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Jericho.
Second fall: Chris Jericho defeated Kurt Angle (c) and Chris Benoit. Two-fall Triple Threat match for the WWF Intercontinental (first fall) and European Championships (second fall)
• Rikishi and Kane (with Paul Bearer) defeated D-Generation X (X-Pac and Road Dogg) (with Tori).
• Triple H (c) (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) defeated The Rock (with Vince McMahon), Mick Foley (with Linda McMahon) and The Big Show (with Shane McMahon). Four-Way Elimination match for the WWF Championship

Here’s Part 15 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania XV (1999)
Tagline: The Ragin’ Climax
Sponsor: M&Ms Crispy
Date: March 28, 1999
Venue: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,276
America the Beautiful: Boyz II Men
The Undertaker’s Streak: 8-0 (Def The Big Boss Man)

Butterbean Vs Bart Gunn lasted only 32 seconds at WrestleMania XV

WrestleMania XV featured a main event that contested the WWF Championship between the challenger Steve Austin and The Rock. Another major match at the 1999 event saw The Undertaker wrestle Big Boss Man inside the Hell in a Cell, a roofed cage that surrounds the ring. Lower on the card, six of the seven active championships were defended, including the first WrestleMania defense of the Hardcore Championship. Also on the undercard was a Brawl for All match, an unscripted type of shootfight between wrestler Bart Gunn and boxer/mixed martial artist Butterbean.

The ticket sales of 20,276 at the First Union Center Philadelphia, Pennsylvania drew a gross of $1,437,050.

In the previous year, due to the suddenly enlarged roster, a shootfighting (unscripted) knockout tournament entitled WWF Brawl for All was organized on a voluntary basis with Bart Gunn winning the tournament on August 24 after defeating every opponent by knockout aside from his opening round opponent Bob Holly. When Holly rechristened himself Hardcore Holly on February 15, decrying the poor gimmicks and tag teampartners he had been given in the past, Gunn made his first appearance since winning the tournament, to remind Holly that not all his partners
were of a poor caliber. After a hardcore match between the two, which Gunn dominated until a masked assailant threw him off the stage, noted mixed martial artist and boxer Eric “Butterbean” Esch, who held a 43–1–1 record at the time, challenged him to a Brawl For All fight.

At WrestleMania XV, in The Brawl For All boxing match Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn in the first Wrestlemania’s boxing match since Wrestlemania 2. The match lasted a total of 34 seconds. This was followed with an appearance from the San Diego Chicken, who mocked special referee Vinny Pazienza and was punched to the floor for it.

Baseball’s Pete Rose returns to attack Kane, however gets a tombstone piledriver for his efforts.

Before Kane’s match with Triple H, Kane entered the ring only to be attacked while he was performing his signature entrance by the San Diego Chicken. Kane fought back and unmasked the chicken, revealing it be Pete Rose, trying to gain revenge for the previous year’s incident but receiving a Tombstone piledriver.

Prior to WrestleMania XV Chyna turned on Triple H, and allined herself with The McMahon Corporation. Durrning the match between Kane and Triple H, at WrestleMania XV, Triple H was distracted by Chyna coming to ringside. Triple H tried to Pedigree Kane as he stood up but failed while Chyna pushed the steel steps into the ring. Kane picked them up and ran into Triple H, who used the turnbuckle to swing his feet up and kicked them back into Kane causing Kane to stagger backwards and drop them before smashing his face into the steps from a drop toe-hold.

Triple H and Chyna reunite, with everyone seemingly back in DX.

Triple H then clotheslined Kane out of the ring, following himself and attempting to Pedigree Kane on the steps but was backbody dropped. When they made it back into the ring Kane chokeslammed Triple H while Chyna entered the ring with a steel chair, telling Kane she wanted to attack Triple H but as Kane turned, Chyna hit him with the chair causing him to corner her but again was hit with the chair, this time by Triple H who followed it up with a Pedigree onto the chair. Chyna and Triple H celebrated the reunion of D-Generation X afterwards.

Triple H & Chyna turn on X-Pac and DX helping Shane McMahon retain his European Championship.

Having been buried alive in a Royal Rumble qualification match at Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Undertaker disappeared from television while The Acolytes, Faarooq (Ron Simmons) and Bradshaw (John Layfield), began to act strangely eventually abducting Dennis Knight and leaving him tied up in a darkened room. On January 11 The Undertaker returned in slightly new attire, taking a seat in a ceremonial throne on the Raw is War stage while Paul Bearer stood beside him and The Acolytes brought Knight out and tied him to a table. There Undertaker performed a ritualistic ceremony, rechristening him Mideon. Undertaker began delivering ambiguous apocalyptic messages, but after recruiting Mabel, now Viscera (Nelson Frazier, Jr.) and The Brood he began to be more direct, revealing his plan to attack Mr. McMahon and take over the World Wrestling Federation.
The security of Mr. McMahon’s Corporation, The Big Boss Man, challenged the Ministry to a six-man tag team match which ended in a no contest when the Ministry abducted Shane McMahon and took him to Undertaker, who threatened him while choking him then gave him a letter to give to his father.

The Undertaker Goes 8-0 after defeating The Big Boss Man At WrestleMania XV

McMahon replied the following week on February 22 by booking The Undertaker in an Inferno match with Kane on Raw is War, the first network television airing of that type of match. During the match McMahon provided commentary, nonchalantly revealing he had placed Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match against Big Boss Man for WrestleMania.

After defeating The Big Boss Man in The Hell in a Cell match, with a tombstone piledriver, The Undertaker stood up and looked to the heavens with his hands upwards, signaling The Brood to descend onto the roof of the cell. They cut open the roof of the cell and passed through a noose, securing the other end to the top of the cell. The Brood then ascended back into the rafters as Undertaker put the noose around Boss Man’s neck, with Paul Bearer causing the Cell to rise and take a hanging Boss Man with it. After the match a video package of the Rage Party was shown while Boss Man was taken down and carried off on a stretcher.

During the X-Pac Shane McMahon match, Triple H came to the ring seeming to help remove Corporation Member Test out of the ring. While this was happening X-Pac hit McMahon with an X Factor. Chyna then distracted the referee to allow Triple H to Pedigree X-Pac, turnning on him and DX, and cover him with Shane, allowing him to retain the title. The New Age Outlaws ran in the ring and brawled with Triple H and Test until the lights went out and Kane’s music began to play but by the time the lights came up The Corporation were clear of the ring and had fled.

WWF The Rock faces Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV, he will go on to face him at two more WrestleMania’s

In The 1999 Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon tried to prevent Austin winning back the WWF championship by ‘randomly’ drawing him as the first entrant. and drawing himself as the thirtieth. Having annoyed Commissioner Shawn Michaels McMahon was placed into the match as the second entrant. Despite a $100,000 bounty on his head, Austin survived almost all of the match, being the last person eliminated by Mr McMahon thanks to the distraction of The Rock, meaning that McMahon had earned a right to go to WrestleMania.

As a part-time wrestler and a fellow member of The Corporation, McMahon explained the following night that he would be relinquishing his place at WrestleMania, the first Royal Rumble winner to do so, only to be told by Commissioner Michaels that if the winner is unable or unwilling to fight then the place goes to the runner-up. With McMahon irate, Austin revealed that he was willing to put his place on the line and not headline WrestleMania if McMahon would give him the opportunity to fight him one-on-one with no interference from The Corporation, and if he could beat him Austin would not go to WrestleMania.

Their steel cage match at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre mostly consisted of McMahon running away but eventually the two fought with Austin winning the match under unusual circumstances when Big Show made his debut, coming from under the ring and throwing Austin into the cage with the walls of it coming open, meaning that Austin had inadvertently won the match.

The Rock and Austin in front of 20,000+ at WrestleMania XV

Before the main event, Michael Cole announced Jim Ross returning to call the match. Mr McMahon then came to the ring as the special guest referee but once he was in the ring Shawn Michaels’ music began to play. Commissioner Michaels came to the ring and cut a promo joking that he had to buy a ticket to get in, then explaining that only the commissioner is entitled to appoint a referee for WrestleMania, ordering McMahon to the back and barring all members of The Corporation from ring side.

During the championship match, Mr McMahon came to the ring, distracting Austin while The Rock lowblowed him; the two men kicking away at Austin in the corner and punching Earl Hebner when he tried to stop them. As the two double teamed Austin, Mankind came running to the ring in his referee’s uniform, throwing McMahon straight out the ring and Austin tried a roll up pin. He followed with a Lou Thesz Press but Rock soon took the advantage with another Rock Bottom. With Austin in the middle of the ring, The Rock tried the Corporate Elbow but Austin moved out of the way at the last second. Rock caught Austin’s foot and spun him round, trying to Rock Bottom him again but Austin elbowed him away and delivered a stunner, finally securing a pin fall and winning the WWF Championship. This also marked the final appearance of Gorilla Monsoon before his death. Monsoon hadn’t been seen on WWF television since SummerSlam 1997.

Prior to this, Gorilla Monsoon had appeared in 12 of the last 15 WrestleMania events (from I to X, XII). In WrestleMania XI, he appeared only in the Coliseum Video release. Here, he would make his final appearance as a judge for the WWF Brawl for All match.

Stone Cold Steve Austin Becomes WWF Champion again at WrestleMania XV

WrestleMania XV Results

Sunday Night Heat Jacqueline (with Terri Runnels) defeated Ivory (with D’Lo Brown)
Sunday Night Heat D’Lo Brown and Test won when Droz and The Godfather eliminated each other in a 21 Man Battle Royal to become the no. 1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Hardcore Holly defeated Billy Gunn (c) and Al Snow Triple threat hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship
• Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (c) (with Debra) defeated D’Lo Brown and Test (with Ivory) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 03:58
• Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn Brawl for All boxing match
• Mankind defeated “The Big Show” Paul Wight by disqualification. Singles match to become the special guest referee of the main event.
• Road Dogg (c) defeated Ken Shamrock, Goldust (with The Blue Meanie and Ryan Shamrock) and Val Venis Four corners elimination match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Kane (with Chyna) defeated Triple H by disqualification.
• Sable (c) defeated Tori Singles match for the WWF Women’s Championship
• Shane McMahon (c) (with Test) defeated X-Pac Singles match for the WWF European Championship
• The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) No disqualification match for the WWF Championship

– Speaking to XFINITY by Comcast, Dolph Ziggler revealed that he is none too pleased with WWE opting to utilize part-time talent in the premiere matches at WrestleMania instead of regulars—four of the six wrestlers advertised in the top three billed bouts are part-timers. When asked whether he is annoyed or inspired by this fact, he replied “it’s both.”

“It really pisses me off,” Ziggler noted. “But, it also is good business. Every year a part timer comes back, but there’s a reason that they’re back. Whether it’s the fans want to see them, if they’re a draw, if they’re a movie star, there’s a reason that they’re back. They’re not back just to do it. There’s business to be had. And it pisses me off and it motivates me a hundred percent. It makes me want to be that guy that they’re begging to come back. I appreciate it, it’s just good business. When people come to Wrestlemania to see the Rock and the Undertaker and they leave that Wrestlemania thinking, “Wow, that Dolph Ziggler stole the show. I can’t wait to tune in to ‘Raw’ to see what he does next.” That’s how I’ve lived my entire career.”

• Related: CM Punk Also Not Happy About Part-Timers Main Eventing WrestleMania

“The Show-off” also offered his two cents on his affiliation with Big E Langston and AJ Lee, saying it’s “crazy” that he’s now a locker room veteran assisting young talent.

“As the roster is changing and we have less guys from the late 90s, unless they’re on a light schedule, I’m good enough to be giving back to young up and comers,” said Ziggler. “And it’s really cool to have someone like an AJ and a Big E. I really appreciate that they want the best, they want to know what’s going on, they want to know why I did things in a match. It helps that they were childhood fans. AJ’s dream as a child was to be a WWE Superstar. I was five-years-old and I wanted to be a Superstar. We have that bond. It makes it that much more rewarding. And we’re just getting started. Once Wrestlemania comes and goes we’ll have more time to settle in and I think you’ll see a nice trio of great talent that could be the future of the business.”

Ziggler also discusses hosting WWE Download, the wear and tear of the Money in the Bank briefcase, who he idolized growing up, and more. The full interview is available here.

Here’s Part 13 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania 13 (1997)
Tagline: Heat
Sponsor: Playstation
Date: March 23, 1997
Venue: Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois.
Attendance: 18,197
The Undertaker’s Streak: 6-0 (Def Psycho Sid)

WrestleMania 13 was the thirteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The event was presented by PlayStation and held on March 23, 1997 at the
The main event was a no disqualification match between The Undertaker and Sycho Sid for the WWF Championship, which Undertaker won following interference from Bret Hart.The main matches on the undercard were Bret Hart versus Steve Austin in a submission match, Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson versus Nation of Domination in a Chicago Street Fight.

The Undertaker competes in his first ever WrestleMania Main Event Psycho Sid to go 6-0 at WrestleMania

The main feud heading into WrestleMania 13 was between The Undertaker and Sycho Sid, with the two battling over the WWF Championship. At In Your House 13, Bret Hart last eliminated The Undertaker in a Four Corners Elimination match to win the vacant WWF Championship. Hart’s reign, however, lasted only one day as he lost the title the next night on Raw to Sycho Sid after interference by Steve Austin. Due to being the runner-up to the title at Final Four, Undertaker was made the number one contender and was booked to challenge Sycho Sid for the title at WrestleMania. However, on the March 17 edition of Raw, Sid defended the title against Hart in a steel cage match, with the winner defending his title at WrestleMania. During the match, both Undertaker and Austin interfered. Undertaker came out to help Sid because he wanted to wrestle Sid for the title while Austin helped Hart because he wanted to make his scheduled no disqualification submission match with Hart a title match.

Largely regarded as the best match at WrestleMania 13 – Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Bret Hart in an I Quit Match

Sid won the match and retained his title and as a result, Sid vs. Undertaker remained the main event of WrestleMania. Bret Hart, who faced Steve Austin in a No Disqualification Submission Match at WrestleMania The other main match on the card was Bret Hart versus Steve Austin in a No Disqualification Submission match. Hart and Austin’s rivalry began after Austin won the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and began taunting Hart, who was inactive at the time. Austin insulted Hart in his speeches so Hart would accept his challenge to a match. Hart returned in October and accepted Austin’s challenge, with the two facing each other at Survivor Series 1996 where Hart defeated Austin. Their rivalry continued as Hart and Austin were the final two participants in the 1997 Royal Rumble match. Hart had originally eliminated Austin from the match but Austin’s elimination was considered unofficial as the officials didn’t see it because they were busy in a brawl between eliminated wrestlers Mankind and Terry Funk. They were participants in a Four Corners Elimination match for the vacant WWF Championship at Final Four, which Hart won. The next night on Raw, Austin cost Hart the WWF Championship against Sycho Sid when Hart had applied the Sharpshooter on Sid, Austin nailed Hart with a steel chair followed by Sid powerbombing Hart for the win. Hart and Austin were booked to wrestle in a no disqualification submission match at WrestleMania, but Hart got a shot at the WWF Championship in a steel cage match on March 17 edition of RAW, with the winner defending the title against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 13. Hart almost had the match won, until Undertaker interfered and helped Sid in getting the victory.

The Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson defeated The Nation of Domination in a Chicago Street Fight

One of the main undercard matches was a Chicago Street Fight featuring Ahmed Johnson and Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) against Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega). Johnson was attacked by a newcomer Faarooq Asad, a Roman gladiator on July 22, 1996 edition of Raw during a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Ahmed was scheduled to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Faarooq at SummerSlam 1996 but Ahmed had legitimate kidney problems which forced him to vacate the Intercontinental Championship. In the storyline, Faarooq had caused Ahmed’s kidney problem. He returned from his injury in early 1997 and continued with Faarooq, who had formed the Nation of Domination during Ahmed’s injury. Ahmed joined forces with the “gang fighters” Legion of Doom and LOD were scheduled to wrestle NOD in a Chicago Street Fight at WrestleMania 13.

Not competing due to injury HBK provides commentary during WrestleMania 13

WrestleMania 13 Results
• Free for All Billy Gunn defeated Flash Funk (with Tracy and Nadine)
• The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) defeated The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw), The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) (with Hillbilly Jim), and Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon Fatal Four Way Elimination match to determine the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team ChampionshiP
• Rocky Maivia (c) defeated The Sultan (with Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with Chyna) defeated Goldust (with Marlena)
• Owen Hart and The British Bulldog (c) fought Mankind and Vader (with Paul Bearer) to a double countout Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Bret Hart defeated Stone Cold Steve Austin via submission Submission match with Ken Shamrock as Special Guest Referee
• The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) and Ahmed Johnson defeated The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega) (with Wolfie D, J.C. Ice, D’Lo Brown, and Clarence Mason) Chicago Street Fight
• The Undertaker defeated Sycho Sid (c)[ No disqualification match for the WWF Championship

Here’s Part 11 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania XI (1995)
Tagline: None
Date: April 2, 1995
Venue: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Attendance: 16,305
America The Beautiful: Special Olympian, Kathy Huey
The Undertaker’s Streak: 4-0 (Def King Kong Bundy)

WrestleMania XI was the eleventh annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event held by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on April 2, 1995. The event featured seven matches, which resulted from scripted storylines and had results predetermined by the WWF.

The WrestleMania XI Main Event – Football Great Lawrence Taylor vs Bam Bam Bigelow

The main event was a match between NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who faced Bam Bam Bigelow as the result of an argument that took place between the two at the 1995 Royal Rumble. Taylor won the match, which led to Bigelow being kicked out of Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation. Shawn Michaels faced WWF Champion Diesel in a title match but was unable to win the championship. Jeff Jarrett retained his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Razor Ramon. Owen Hart and his mystery partner, Yokozuna challenged The Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Championship and won the title belts.

The most heavily promoted feud going into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Lawrence Taylor. At Royal Rumble 1995, Bigelow teamed with Tatanka in the final round of a tournament for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Bigelow was pinned at the end of the match, which led to the crowd heckling him. He responded by pushing NFL player Lawrence Taylor, who was sitting at ringside. Bigelow refused to apologize and instead challenged Taylor to a wrestling match.Taylor agreed and trained with WWF Champion Diesel to prepare for the match.The storyline between Bigelow and Taylor brought the WWF much mainstream exposure, as the match was discussed by several news outlets.

The Undertaker goes 4-0 at WrestleMania XI against King Kong Bundy

At WrestleMania XI, The Undertaker faced King Kong Bundy. Ted DiBiase was at ringside holding the urn that his wrestlers had stolen from The Undertaker at The Royal Rumble 1995. During the match, when DiBiase was close to The Undertaker, he took back his urn. After The Undertaker returned to the ring, DiBiase called Kama, another Corporation member, to the ring. Kama stole the urn, and Bundy attacked The Undertaker in order to let Kama escape backstage.

Bundy picked The Undertaker up and powerslammed him to the mat. He then performed an Avalanche splash to squish The Undertaker against the corner of the ring. The Undertaker was unharmed, however, and performed a powerslam and a clothesline on Bundy before pinning him to win the match.

Larry Young, a Major League Baseball umpire was the referee for the match. Young, the special referee, was written into the storyline as an out-of-work sports official because of the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike, which had ended at the time of WrestleMania.

HBK vs Diesel for the WWF Championship

The other main event at WrestleMania was a match for the WWF Championship between Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel had originally entered the WWF as Michaels’s bodyguard but later began wrestling and forming a tag team with Michaels. The pair held the WWF Tag Team Championship together in 1994. At Survivor Series 1994, however, Michaels accidentally kicked Diesel in the face. This led to an argument during which Diesel dissolved the tag team and vacated the championship.Three days later, Diesel defeated Bob Backlund to become the new WWF Champion.At Royal Rumble 1995, Michaels won the battle royal main event, which earned him a match against Diesel for the title belt at WrestleMania.

Bret Hart faced Bob Backlund in an “I Quit” match at WrestleMania. The feud began the previous summer, when Hart defended the WWF Championship against Backlund. Backlund mistakenly thought he won the match and began celebrating, but Hart pinned him to retain the title. After the match, Backlund turned heel by attacking Hart.This led to a title match at Survivor Series 1994, in which Backlund won the title from Hart.Although Backlund soon lost the belt,the feud continued and Backlund attacked Hart during Hart’s match at Royal Rumble 1995.

WrestleMania XI Results
• The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and The British Bulldog) defeated The Blu Brothers (Jacob and Eli) (with Uncle Zebekiah)
• Razor Ramon (with The 1–2–3 Kid) defeated Jeff Jarrett (c) (with The Roadie) by disqualification Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated King Kong Bundy (with Ted DiBiase) w/ Larry Young as the special guest referee
• Owen Hart and Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) defeated The Smoking Gunns (c) (Billy and Bart) for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Bret Hart defeated Bob Backlund “I Quit” match with Roddy Piper as the special guest referee
• Diesel (c) (with Pamela Anderson) defeated Shawn Michaels (with Sid and Jenny McCarthy) Singles match for the WWF Championship 20:35
• Lawrence Taylor defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Ted DiBiase) w/ Pat Patterson as the special guest referee.

Diesel celebrates with celebrates at WrestleMania XI

Here’s Part 9 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania IX (1993)
Tagline: “World’s Largest Toga Party”
Date: April 4, 1993
Venue: Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 16,891
The Undertaker’s Streak: 3-0 (Giant Gonzalez)

WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993.

WrestleMania IX was the first to be held outdoors.

This was the first WrestleMania held entirely outdoors, a concept the company did not use again until WrestleMania XXIV in 2008.Because WrestleMania IX was held in Caesar’s Palace, the WWF promoted the event as the “World’s Largest Toga Party”.The arena was made to look like a Roman coliseum, and the event featured guards, trumpeters, and several live animals. The company built on this theme by having the commentators, including debuting announcer Jim Ross, wear togas. Ring announcer Howard Finkel was also renamed “Finkus Maximus” for the day. Randy Savage came to the broadcast booth accompanied by women throwing flower petals and feeding him grapes while he rode on a couch pulled by a horse. Bobby Heenan made his entrance wearing a toga and riding a camel backwards.

The Undertaker defeats Giant Gonzalez to become 3-0 at WrestleMania

WrestleMania IX was built around two main storylines. The first was the seemingly unstoppable Yokozuna challenging Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, a right he earned by winning the 1993 Royal Rumble. The other major storyline was the return of Hulk Hogan, who had departed the WWF following WrestleMania VIII but returned to team with Brutus Beefcake against the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). Hogan and Beefcake lost the tag team match, but Hogan later faced Yokozuna for the title in an impromptu match after Yokozuna defeated Hart to win the championship. In addition, Shawn Michaels retained the WWF Intercontinental Championship, though he lost his match against Tatanka.

In the final scheduled match of the event, Bret Hart defended the WWF Championship against Yokozuna. Hart tried to use his technical wrestling abilities against Yokozuna, while Yokozuna relied on his size advantage in the match.

Hulk shocks everyone by winning his 5th WWF Championship in an impromptu match at WrestleMania XI

While Hart was applying his signature submission, the Sharpshooter, Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna’s manager, threw salt in Hart’s eyes, which enabled Yokozuna to pin Hart and win the WWF Championship.

After the match, Hulk Hogan came to ring to check on Hart’s condition. Hogan had stated during an interview earlier in the broadcast that he wanted to face the winner of the match, and Fuji challenged Hogan to face Yokozuna immediately. Hogan agreed and entered the ring. Fuji tried to throw salt in Hogan’s eyes, but he missed and the salt hit Yokozuna. Hogan performed a leg drop and pinned Yokozuna to win the title in 22 seconds.

Jim Ross makes his WWF debut at WrestleMania XI

WrestleMania IX Results
• Tito Santana defeated Papa Shango Singles match
• Tatanka (with Sensational Sherri) defeated Shawn Michaels (c) (with Luna Vachon) by countout Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) (with Afa)
• Doink the Clown defeated Crush
• Razor Ramon defeated Bob Backlund
• Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) (c) defeated The Mega-Maniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake) (with Jimmy Hart) by disqualification Tag match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Lex Luger defeated Mr. Perfect
• The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Giant Gonzalez (with Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification
• Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji) defeated Bret Hart (c) for the WWF Championship
• Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji) for the WWF Championship (View video below)

– Promoting the release of The Marine 3: Homefront on DVD and Blu-ray, The Miz appeared on Fox & Friends this morning. During the interview, the Raw Superstar said he wanted to be the one to face Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson at WWE’s upcoming pay-per-view spectacular.

“He’s the WWE Champion, he’s going to be main eventing WrestleMania 29… I wanna be in John Cena’s spot, let’s put it that way,” remarked The Miz.

To view video of the interview, click here.

– The official WWE website has posted a video playlist of Hall of Famer “Mean” Gene Okerlund’s strangest interviews over his legendary broadcasting career, which includes interactions with Papa Shango, Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.

– Following the passing of legendary manager Paul Bearer Tuesday evening, ‘Paul Bearer dies’ has ranked among the top trending topics on Yahoo.com today.

– The following matches were taped before RAW for this week’s episode of Superstars:

* Team Rhodes Scholars vs. The Usos.

* Layla vs. Tamina Snuka.

– The Undertaker returned to WWE on Monday’s Old School RAW at the start of the show. The Undertaker signaled that he would be at WrestleMania 29. Later in the show, a 4-way match would be held to determine his opponent.

* Pictures of The UNDERTAKER’s WWE Return on RAW

– CM Punk defeated Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton to earn a match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29. Undertaker came out after Punk’s win and had a staredown with Punk.

– Also on RAW, Triple H challenged Brock Lesnar to a match at WrestleMania 29.

– Roman Reigns tweeted the following about Big Show after the brawl that took place at the end of Friday’s SmackDown:

“@WWETheBigShow bought crushed my face.. You should have finished me off. #MISTAKE Watch your back.”

– WWE Divas Natalya tweeted the following about her work with the Nothing But Nets campaign this while while in Rwanda with Alicia Fox::

“Goodbye, Rwanda. Will never forget this experience… Can’t wait to see all of these children again soon!”

– WWE has published the following video looking back at the Top 20 celebrities who have appeared at WrestleMania:

A list of 10 was not enough! From the biggest names in Hollywood sitting ringside to those who dared to enter the ring; these 20 famous men and women helped make WrestleMania a must-see event!

– WWE will turn back the clock this Monday on Raw as the program is being branded as an “old school” episode. Aside from the likely return of The Undertaker, the episode is being internally considered a throwaway show and undercard matches for WrestleMania will not start to take shape until at least the following week.

– WWE ring announcer and songstress Lilian Garcia revealed on Twitter Wednesday that she is in Nashville, Tennessee working on an upcoming album.

“Soooooooo excited my #LilRockers! Just got 2 Nashville 2 work w some amazing songwriters this wk! Writing songs 4 my new album!! #LoveMusic,” she wrote.

– Donald Trump appeared on the daytime talk show The Wendy Williams Show this morning with daughter Ivanka and did not mention his upcoming induction into the WWE Hall of Fame. During the appearance, Williams asked the Trumps what they have in common. Ivanka said they both enjoy real estate and golf. Donald said they both enjoy sex. Williams then remarked that Donald’s response was “Hulk Hogan creepy.”

(source: F4WOnline.com)

– WWE is advertising both John Cena and Triple H for the April 9th SmackDown taping from Boston, MA. Triple H appearing at a taping just 2 days after WrestleMania 29 could be another indication that he’ll be wrestling Brock Lesnar at WM29.

– The following matches will take place on tonight’s episode of WWE Main Event:

* Cameron and Naomi vs. Aksana and Tamina.

* Cody Rhodes vs. Sheamus.

* Damien Sandow vs. Daniel Bryan.

– Chris Jericho is headed down under to Australia from 2/23-3/4 to tour with his metal band, Fozzy. After Jericho gets back, he’s scheduled for almost all RAW and SmackDown tapings through WrestleManai. He then heads overseas to Europe for another Fozzy tour that begins on April 11th and runs through the end of the month.

At Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown tapings from Jacksonville, Florida, Mark Henry defeated Randy Orton to earn a spot in the upcoming Elimination Chamber match at the upcoming pay-per-view.

The participants for the match now include Mark Henry, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Daniel Bryan. Two more Superstars will be decided in the coming weeks, with the winner facing the World Heavyweight champion at WrestleMania 29.

Remembering The Twin Hebner Angle And Hogan’s First Title Loss

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, HULK HOGAN LOSES HIS MIND (AND THE WWF TITLE)
by The Solomonster (thesolomonster@gmail.com)
Podcast | Twitter | Facebook

“HOW MUCH MONEY DID THEY SPEND ON THE PLASTIC SURGERY??!”

Those infamous words were uttered by Hulk Hogan on national television 25 years ago today. And astonishingly, Hulk wasn’t referring to his (now ex) wife and her friend when he said that. No, you see, he was referring to the evil trio of Ted DiBiase, Andre the Giant and… EARL HEBNER! What? Earl Hebner, evil? Bret Hart would find out years later exactly how evil Dave Hebner’s baby brother really could be, but let it be known that Hulk Hogan was the original Screwjob victim way back in 1988 when INXS had the #1 hit single in America and the Road Warriors made it cool to wear Zubaz pants.

Here in 2013, Chris Daniels and Frankie Kazarian are trying hard to make Zubaz cool again, but it’s just not the same.

So, why then was the Hulkster ranting and raving like a mental patient about plastic surgery? Let’s set the stage. The date was February 5th. The WWF had been airing taped “Saturday Night’s Main Event” specials on NBC for a few years by this point. As a young wrasslin’ fan, I have fond memories of those shows. The sight of Andre the Giant sneaking up behind an unsuspecting Hogan, following his victory over King Kong Bundy, and wrapping his massive hands around Hogan’s throat, squeezing the life out of him, gave me nightmares. But this show was different. This show, dubbed simply “The Main Event”, aired live on Friday night (back when Friday was perhaps the best night for television) and would feature the first singles meeting between Andre and the champion since their epic encounter at WrestleMania III the previous year.

WWF and NBC hit a homerun that night. The show would do a 15.2 rating, good for 33 million viewers (that number is a bit skewed and likely also includes international viewers, so figure half that number were watching in the U.S. – still impressive), making the Hogan vs. Andre sequel the most watched wrestling match in history, a record that still stands today. Hulk Hogan had headlined as WWF champion for four consecutive years and was arguably at his peak of popularity. Andre, on the other hand, was clearly in physical decline and had long past his peak. In fact, he was barely mobile. One memorable spot from their match saw Andre simply fall face down in what the announcers could only describe as an attempted headbutt (he missed). And maybe it was, but it looked terrible. In fact, as a wrestling match, this pretty much sucked. But with these two guys in the ring, it was never about workrate. That’s what guys like Savage and Steamboat and Santana were there for.

As the match drew to a close, Andre grabbed Hogan and flung him around in the worst excuse for a hip toss I’ve ever seen in my life. As he covered the champion and the referee began to count, Hogan got his shoulder up off the mat, but Hebner kept counting. Just like that, Hogan’s run came to a screeching halt at 1,474 days and Andre was awarded the title.

I guess in hindsight, CM Punk’s 14-month reign ending on a People’s Elbow doesn’t seem nearly as ludicrous.

After the match, Gene Okerlund interviewed Andre, who inexplicably talked about winning the World tag team championship (?!!) and proceeded to surrender the tag team title (don’t look at me, that’s what he said) to Ted DiBiase. And I must say, the title looked awfully good around DiBiase’s waist. I believe he got to defend the title at some house shows in the days that followed before Jack Tunney officially declared the title vacant, but it really is a shame he never had a run on top.

As Hogan stood flabbergasted by what had just taken place, THE GOOD HEBNER emerged to confront his evil twin. It’s funny because, while Dave and Earl do look very much alike, I never had much trouble discerning one from the other, even as a kid. Dave was always the pudgier one. Maybe he was simply big-boned. Whatever the case, when Hogan turned around, he could not believe his eyes, nor could he tell one from the other. He figured it out when Earl knocked his brother to the mat and caved in his ribcage with a wicked kick (supposedly breaking a rib legit). Now, Hogan figured it out. He hoisted Earl high above his head, got a running head start, and proceeded to overshoot his target by a country mile, sending Earl SOARING into the aisleway over everyone’s head (including Andre, and he was a giant!). They were supposed to catch him, but hey, shit happens.

Backstage with Mean Gene, Hogan was a wreck. He was so distraught, he was literally in tears over this grave injustice that had just been committed. It’s too bad The Shield came 20 years too late. Maybe they could have helped prevent all of this. As Hogan whined and cried about plastic surgery, he talked about seeing both Hebners for the first time, exclaiming, “When I turned around, they were identical. IDENTICUUUUULLLL!!!!” Moments later, as they showed a replay in slow-mo of the finish, Hogan desperately tried pointing out to us all the hundred dollar bills falling out of the referee’s pocket. Okerlund didn’t have the heart to tell the big guy that, in fact, there were no hundred dollar bills. As hilarious as this all was, Hogan was a pathetic mess here. Between this and his temper tantrum at the 1992 Royal Rumble when he helped Flair eliminate Sid (who did nothing wrong!), I’m not sure how I was ever a fan of this man.

By the way, there’s a little “easter egg” of sorts to watch for on this show. Prior to his title defense, WWF shot to a pre-taped Hulk Hogan interview backstage. In it, he can be seen wearing what has since been dubbed as the “Hogan ‘87” belt. Yet moments later, when he emerges from the curtain, he’s wearing the Winged Eagle belt that would become synonymous with the company over the next decade. Not sure if the ’87 belt held out for more money before Hogan walked out or mouthed off to the wrong person, but it was never seen again.

A quarter century ago on this date, history was made. Hogan lost his smile. The plastic surgery was bought and paid for. And Andre won the tag team title. A memorable night, indeed.

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– Monday’s 2/4 edition of WWE RAW drew a 3.56 rating, down only slightly from last week’s 3.68. The show averaged 4.81 million viewers, down only 4% from 5,020,000 for the post-Rumble show. Here’s the hourly breakdown:

Hour 1: 4,863,000
Hour 2: 4,857,000
Hour 3: 4,711,000

Overall, another strong showing for WWE and a good sign that fans are engaged in the product as WrestleMania season gets into full swing.

– WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart underwent knee surgery today. He tweeted:

Finally got a matching set …. pic.twitter.com/WLdA9OnU

— Bret Hart (@BretHart) February 5, 2013

In a major development, we have learned EXCLUSIVELY that the WWE writing team has been told Undertaker is “less than 50 percent for WrestleMania,” and that before the writers can present a “grid” (long term storyline planning) to Vince, HHH and Stephanie for review, Undertaker needs to be examined, as he is “not medically cleared” as of yet.

A member of the writing staff told us “this is going down to the wire, and members of the team actually joke that we’ll find out on the Internet about Taker before we’re told definitively here!”

No word yet on when Undertaker will be evaluated for medical clearance.

– WWE Champion The Rock will give CM Punk a rematch at next month’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. CM Punk interrupted an in-ring promo by The Rock on RAW, which prompted him to give Punk another shot at the belt.

– Royal Rumble winner John Cena announced on RW that he wants to face the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 29, which will be the winner of Rock vs. Cena Elimination Chamber match.

* Picture of CHRIS JERICHO’s Huge New Tattoo

– WWE officials have broached the possibility of an Alberto Del Rio vs. Dolph Ziggler match at WrestleMania 29, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. However, it was noted that the match may not necessarily be for the World Heavyweight Championship currently held by Del Rio.

– Current plans call for this Sunday’s 30-Man Royal Rumble Match to feature 90-second entrance intervals. However, it will likely be altered based on the pay-per-view event’s remaining time.

– Alberto Del Rio appeared on Good Day Sacramento Tuesday promoting that evening’s SmackDown taping at the Sleep Train Arena. In the following video, he is set out to surprise some kids.

(source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– WWE is no longer opening RAW with pyro.

– WWE recently made several changes to the top planned matches for WrestleMania 29. The Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H rematch is still scheduled to take place and there has been talk of adding a stipulation.

– WWE’s decision to stack the January 7th, 2013 edition of RAW with Punk vs. Ryback in a TLC Match and an appearance from The Rock is a response to the stiff competition they will be facing that night from the college football BCS championship game.

Some sports pundits are predicting the BCS game could do over 30 million viewers, which would make it the most-watched show in cable television history. Now that the NFL’s regular season is winding down and WWE won’t be facing weekly competition from Monday Night Football, RAW’s ratings are expected to rise and hover around the 3.0 mark as we head in to WrestleMania season.

* SPOILERS For Next Week’s RAW & SmackDown

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– Devin Cutting sent in word that Chris Benoit’s name was mentioned on a WWE show this week, something that we haven’t seen in a long time. During this week’s WWE Vintage Collection, one of the featured matches was Rob Van Dam vs. Eddie Guerrero from Backlash 2002. While on commentary, Jim Ross mentioned Chris Benoit and it was not edited out.

– Friday’s SmackDown had a Trendrr.tv social media score of 57,022, down 4% from last week and one of the lowest scores in month. SmackDown was #4 on cable for the night

– With WrestleMania 29 now less than 4 months away, WWE officials are currently finalizing the match plans for The Rock, John Cena, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker.

– Here’s the latest episode of WWE Backstage Fallout, featuring backstage interviews from Friday’s SmackDown:

– With Triple H taking over WWE’s developmental system earlier this year, it’s almost unanimous that talent development has been strong than it has been in a long time. A few of Triple H’s pet projects (Kharma, Sin Cara) have been busts so far, but time will and it will take more talents getting called up before a fair assessment can be made.

– WWE’s current plans for the World Heavyweight title match at WrestleMania 29 is for Sheamus to wrestle Randy Orton for the gold This would obviously require one of them winning the belt in early 2013 and Randy Orton will probably get his wish of turning heel again soon.

– WWE Intercontinental champion Kofi Kingston is featured on the latest episode of WWE’s Outside The Ring Youtube series.

Will Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston be the next Regis? Go “Outside the Ring” with the high-flying Superstar as he co-hosts the entertainment and lifetime show, “Daytime.” Watch this webisode

* The Latest On RYBACK’s WM29 Opponent, Top WWE Superstar Talking About Retirement

(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– A member of WWE’s creative team suggested this week that Brock Lesnar perform a run-in during CM Punk’s WWE Championship defense against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson next month at Royal Rumble. This would then lead to a match between Lesnar and Johnson at WrestleMania.

– General Motors and WWE salute the Achilles Freedom Team. See the following video message, featuring John Cena.

– Former WWE talent Shane Helms appears at The Wrestling Universe 34-29 Francis Lewis Blvd. Flushing, New York, on January 20, 2013 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Call 718-460-2777 for more information.

(source: F4WOnline.com)

– Former WWE superstar Shad Gaspard just finished acting in his third film this year. He’s currently working on a graphic novel.

– As of this week, it appears the Undertaker will be working at WrestleMania 29. With his potential opponents limited to strong heels that can get a great match out of him, the current front runner is CM Punk.

– WWE RAW on January 14th, 2013 from Houston, Texas will be the 20th Anniversary episode of the show. WWE is expected to hype it as a historic night, but it won’t be as loaded of a show that RAW 1,000 was this past summer.

* WM29 Plans For RYBACK, BIG Angle Planned For THE SHIELD & Top Babyface Turning Heel

(Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– WWE has contemplated building towards a Ryback vs. Big Show match at WrestleMania 29 on April 7, 2013 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It is based on the idea of Ryback having a “WrestleMania moment” by hoisting Show onto his shoulders and marching around.

– Ring of Honor wrestler Mike Bennett met with WWE officials last week. Additional details have not been disclosed.

In August, “The Prodigy” remarked on whether he would be interested in joining the promotion if an offer came along: “Well, I’ll give you the political answer right now and say never-say-never. I’d be absolutely lying to you if I said I didn’t become a wrestler to be at WrestleMania and headline WrestleMania, which is what 99% of all guys want to do if they’re in wrestling. They want to make the big bucks and be on the main stage. But for me, right now, I’m 100% happy in Ring of Honor. I mean, I feel like I’m building a company. Its been around since 2002, its been building since then, but I feel now with the Sinclair network behind it we really are truly building a company. Is WWE ever an option? Like I said, I’d be lying if I said wouldn’t want to go there, but right now Ring of Honor is where I like to be.”

(source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

– With WrestleMania 29 just 5 months away, creative planning for next year’s mega-show from the MetLife Stadium in the NY/NJ area is well underway.  It’s said that most of WWE’s plans for their top storylines are solid through the Royal Rumble, but the top matches for WrestleMania are still not locked in.

According to sources close to the writing team, several of the ideas pitched for this year’s top matches included controversial finishes.

– Smackdown announcer JBL shot the first episode of his new internet show “The JBL Show” on Tuesday. His first guests include John Cena, AJ Lee and Michael Cole. JBL tweeted the following behind-the-scenes picture from the first episode.

His tweet says the show premieres “next Friday” but it actually airs this coming Friday, December 1st. Michael Cole replied to JBL’s tweet below and said,  “hey goof the show airs this coming Friday!”

First guest on my show @JohnCena @MichaelCole is there also! Airs next Friday! pic.twitter.com/loRcPtGh

— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) November 27, 2012

(Partial Source: PWInsider.com)