Wrestlemania X-Seven review

It's Wrestlemania Season (or as Twitter users say Wrestlemania SZN) and it is truly the best time of the year for wrestling fans all around the world. The show itself has become a staple in the tradition as wrestling fans, as for one night only wrestling fans can put all their differences aside and celebrate the art that is Professional Wrestling (easier said than done). 

There have been some great Wrestlemania's over the years and with each one, it has that unique moment we can always look back on, take last year when we saw The Hardy Boyz return. At Wrestlemania 30, we saw Daniel Bryan win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and The Undertaker's streak was broken by Brock Lesnar. Wrestlemania 25 we got that classic from Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, five years prior we got to The Undertaker return to his deadman gimmick as well as Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero celebrating at the end of the show after Benoit won the World Heavyweight Championship. If you take a look back to Wrestlemania 12 where Bret Hart and HBK put on a 60 minute classic for the WWF Championship and then a year later we saw arguably the greatest face turn in the history of professional wrestling where Stone Cold Steve Austin turned face whilst not willing to tap-out to Bret Hart's Sharpshooter. What about Wrestlemania X8 where we saw a dream match when icon faced icon, pitting The Rock against Hollywood Hulk Hogan in front of a raucous Toronto crowd. And of course, the slam heard around the world when Hogan lifted Andre The Giant in the air with those 24-inch pythons and slammed him down to the mat at Wrestlemania III.

There is one Wrestlemania that sticks out in my mind as the greatest Wrestlemania of all time and that is Wrestlemania 27. When Snooki hit the splash to start her undefeated streak...guys I am kidding. Of course, I am talking about Wrestlemania X-Seven. This Wrestlemania I did not watch until I was 14 mainly because up to that point I was only concentrating on the weekly shows and monthly PPV's at that current time as I took a hiatus from watching wrestling from 11 to 14. As soon as I watched this Wrestlemania, I was very disappointed. I was very disappointed in myself for taking a break from wrestling and for not watching this Wrestlemania sooner. I was simply blown away by it, the spectacle. the emotion, it's what drives us wrestling fans. This show had Angle vs Benoit, William Regal vs Chris Jericho, an insane Hardcore Championship match, The Undertaker vs Triple H, the famous TLC 2 and the main event pitting the two biggest stars in the world and most probably of all time, The Rock and Stone Cold for the WWF Championship.

Let's get into it...

Chris Jericho vs William Regal -  WWF Intercontinental Championship

Paul Heyman and Jim Ross on commentary which makes things that much better in any match. This is the perfect Wrestlemania opener between two men who are at the top of their craft in front of a sell out crowd in Texas. Jericho is playing the face role brilliantly in the early stages, working up the crowd but that leads to Regal getting the upper hand as he targets the injured left shoulder of Y2J. The match itself was slow at some parts but very good technical wrestling from both men, Regal doing some limb targeting when it came to the left shoulder was absolutely fantastic pulling off the simple element of "well if my opponent has a weakness, I am going to exploit it". There was a spot where Regal hit Y2J with a double underhook suplex off the top rope which was hit magnificently.

The closing spot was Jericho using the exposed turnbuckle which Regal unhooked to his advantage, as he hits Regal with a suplex and a lionsault for the win to retain the title. Overall it was a fun match, the story of the match was Jericho's injured shoulder which Regal tried to take advantage of. Slow in parts but it picked up the pace towards the finish. Speaking of which it did feel as though it just ended abruptly, however fun match to kick us off. 

Rating: ** 3/4

Right to Censor vs APA and Tazz

Looking back it was quite ironic how Val Venis ended up in Right to Censor, mainly because three years prior to this he was having a storyline affair with Yamaguchi San's wife and in retaliation, they tried to chop off Val Venis's dick. Not only that, Val was doing skits with well-known pornstar Jenna Jameson. Now that all forms of innocence have gone, let's get back to the match.

Right to Censor had 4 men with them but elected to choose The Goodfather, Val Venis, and Bull Buchanan to take on Tazz and The APA.  This match you could tell was thrown in there to either makeup time or just to get people on the card. Tazz took the punishment which led to the hot tag to The APA and in particular Bradshaw who hit the clothesline from hell on The Goodfather for the pinfall.

Rating:  *

Raven vs Kane vs The Big Show - WWF Hardcore Championship

Up next is the Hardcore Championship triple threat which was just absolute carnage. As with Hardcore Title matches back in the day, the action was outside of the ring for most of the match. So if you're looking for a technical classic, this match certainly isn't for you. There were cool and hilarious spots, like when Big Show thought he had Raven trapped only for Kane to open the door with ease. Speaking of Raven, he was busted open when he went through the glass window and he almost inadvertently cut the feed to the show, when he was driving in the golf cart (thank you WhatCulture for that fact). You had Kane and Big Show breaking walls, brawling through the crowd, it was just carnage and sometimes carnage is good when the match calls for carnage.

The finish was that Big Show had Raven in a gorilla press position, Kane kicked Big Show which caused Show and Raven to fall through the staging and Kane delivered a flying elbow drop onto Show for the win. Good little 10 minutes of carnage which highlights what the Hardcore Championship should be all about. Exactly what it needed to be.

Rating: **1/2

Eddie Guerrero vs Test - WWF European Championship

This match was very well laid out despite the obvious time constraint on the match. The pace was quick early on as Test went for the pin early on, after a huge powerbomb on Guerrero. Perry Saturn played his role perfectly as Eddie's backup on the outside, landing offence on Test whenever the big man was outside and Guerrero had the referee distracted. The story early on resembled the story somewhat in the first match with Guerrero targeting the right leg of Test in order to gain the advantage as a conniving technical heel, as was Regal in the Intercontinental title match. Guerrero remained on the offence throughout the middle body of the match but a tilt-a-whirl slam by Test, set up the babyface comeback.

Eddie missed with a frog splash and Test almost got the three with a pump handle powerslam but was distracted momentarily by Saturn once again at ringside. Test hits a wicked big boot only for Dean Malenko to pull him away from covering Eddie and as the referee is dealing with Malenko, Saturn passes Eddie the title and Eddie hits the big man and covers him for the win.

A fun little match which could have gone on longer but for what they managed to cram in for eight minutes was well thought out and it told the simple story of the heel using cheap tactics to score the victory over the babyface.

Rating: ** 3/4

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit

What do you get when you put Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit in the ring together?

Magic

One notable thing before the match starts is that Kurt says that people who wear cowboy hats are stupid and yet a few months later he gave us such a great moment when he wore a cowboy hat next to Austin and McMahon.

This match is a technical wrestling masterclass right from the outset as both men are using amateur wrestling techniques, not for the sake of using it but to actually gain an advantage over their opponent which is wonderful to see. Despite in storyline both men having a disdain for each other, you could see when both of them would stare off after neither could get an advantage that there was more than mutual respect between the two. I did notice that the crowd got distracted during the match and my guess would be is that they spotted the WCW guys who would be later shown in attendance for the Shane vs Vince match. Benoit kept going for the crossface early but Angle was so desperate to avoid it.

Angle started to hit these belly to belly suplexes on Benoit flawlessly as he started to take control, as Jr compares Angle to Jack Brisco. Benoit lands a hard-hitting super-plex on Angle and then proceeds to try and land three German suplexes on the Olympian. Angle reversed and tries the ankle lock on Benoit but Benoit reverses into the crossface. The next few moments are Angle and Benoit trying to one-up each other and Benoit forces Angle to tap only for the referee to be knocked down. Benoit gets hit with an Olympic slam but Angle could only get a two count.

Angle missed with a moonsault and Benoit landed his trademark diving headbutt but only gets a two as the crowd is really enjoying this match and so am I. Angle nails Benoit with a low blow and a roll-up while grabbing the tights for the win.

This was a great match between two guys who just wanted to be the best at their craft. Nothing more, nothing less. 

Rating: **** 1/4

China vs Ivory- WWF Women's Championship

This match only went 2.39 and if you look at how Women's wrestling is today, a title match for that length of time would simply not work out and for good reasons. The evolution of Women's wrestling is truly wonderful to see, however, we should not forget the impact these two Women had in the business. Chyna broke boundaries due to her sheer size and athleticism and breaking the mold somewhat inside the ring and Ivory is often regarded as one of the most underrated women inside the squared circle and has been awarded a Hall of Fame induction this year.

This match though was essentially a showcase for Chyna to display her strength to beat Ivory comfortably. The finish was Chyna hitting a gorilla press slam on Ivory for the win.

Rating: *1/4

Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon - Street Fight (Mick Foley Special Referee)

Ah yes, the McMahon family street fight between Vince and his son Shane. The story leading up to this involved Shane buying WCW, a drugged up Linda McMahon (who is Vince's real wife), Linda having to watch Trish Stratus and Vince play tongue Tennis, Trish barking like a dog in the middle of the ring and Vince telling his own son that he doesn't forgive Linda for giving birth to Shane. Before the match starts Vince asks whether Linda is on double of her dosage of drugs......Wrestling ladies and gentlemen.

Before the match also, Shane promotes the WCW guys in attendance. Fun fact on that is that they were supposed to be involved in the match but Shawn Stasiak revealed the plan to a media outlet and the plan was scrapped by Vince. (Again thank you WhatCulture). The crowd is into the match right from the get-go, as we Shane's unique striking ability which seemed to have not aged 17 years later in 2018. Stephanie interjects in the match concerned for her father by delivering a huge slap to Shane.

Giving Shane and Vince the Street Fight stipulation was great as it allowed them to move at their own pace using weapon spots to really sell the match. Stephanie is incredibly annoying at ringside but did add an element to the match. You had Shane choking Vince with a cable in the early goings and then Shane went for his trademark elbow through the table spot which had the fans up on their feet but Steph pulled her father out of the way.

Trish wheels Linda down to the ring who honestly looks like she is sleeping at this point and then Trish turns on Vince and Stephanie gets involved so those two start brawling up the ramp. Vince brings his heavily sedated wife into the ring and is about to hit Shane with the trashcan but Linda rises up as the Texas crowd and gives Vince a low blow. Foley attacks Vince in the corner which sets Shane up for the spot this match is famous for.

Shane lines up the trash can on Vince, Shane goes to the opposite corner and hits, in my opinion, the best coast to coast he has done in his career. He connected so sweetly with the trash can as he kicked it in Vince's face.  Shane picks up the victory.

This was just fun to watch, a McMahon family feud culminating in a drugged up Linda rising from her chair and Shane dropkicking a trash can into his father. Professional Wrestling summed up in one crazy storyline and The McMahon family taking centre stage.

Rating: ***1/4


The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz vs Edge and Christian (TLC)- WWF Tag Team Championship

Ah TLC 2. There is a reason why no TLC match past, present and most probably future will ever compare to this match. You had the three best tag teams of that era and quite possibly the three best tag teams of all time competing just to see who was the best. That's all it was, no complicated storyline, just who was the best. The six men in this match cemented their legacy at such a young stage in their careers, many of them would go on to become world champions but their defining moment and the match they will be remembered for is TLC 2 in Houston Texas on April 1st, 2001. 

In all seriousness, this is and forever will be my favourite match of all time and do you know why? 

Because it was just perfect in every single way

The Hardy Boyz had the ladders, The Dudley Boyz had the tables and Edge and Christian had the chairs. Three combustible elements mixed with three elite tag teams and you get art in its finest form.

In the early stages of the match, each team was trying to eliminate each other, in order to get a clear shot at climbing the ladder and retrieving the titles which are the usual thing you usually see at the start of most ladder/TLC matches. Hardyz hit poetry in motion early on as well their splash/leg drop combo on Edge from the opposing ladders set up. The Dudleyz entered the fray with Bubba hitting a powerbomb on Jeff Hardy driving him through  Edge who was set up on a table. All three of the tag teams were then wiped out when they knocked each other a ladder. 

You had Spike Dudley enter the fray and hit running bulldogs on Edge and Christian in particular who crashed through a table on the outside. Rhyno made his impact next by hitting a gore on Matt Hardy through a table set up in the corner. Lita was involved as well, as she delivered a Hurricanrana and a wicked chair shot to Spike before getting hit with a 3-D as the match is getting so damn good at this point. Jeff Hardy pulls out a huge ladder at ringside as he set up Rhyno and Spike on two tables and I don't know he manages to keep this balance on this ladder but he hits a Swanton Bomb and actually misses Rhyno on the first table but the spot itself is just wonderful to see. 

And then we get the spear...oh sweet Jesus the spear. Jeff climbs up a ladder and Bubba Ray pulls him to the side with the ladder as Jeff is dangling from titles, as Jeff's feet finally get untangled from the ladder what Bubba is pulling. Edge is positioned on a 20ft ladder and a moment of silence from the commentary as Edge spears Jeff Hardy 20ft in the air. Sensational. 

Jr absolutely sells it for what it's worth delivering the line "OH MY GOD. EDGE WITH A SPEAR ON JEFF HARDY. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD". For the love of God indeed as the crowd is going absolutely crazy for this and to this day it is still one of the most spectacular spots in Wrestlemania history.

Rhyno comes back also to help Edge and Christian, as Matt Hardy and Bubba Ray Dudley are climbing a ladder, Rhyno pushes the ladder so both of them go crashing through two sets of tables near the entrance ramp. Earlier we saw a table spot which didn't exactly go to plan but with this one, Matt and Bubba crash so cleanly through, shattering all four tables to pieces. The crowd at this point start chanting "Holy Shit" and I could not agree more with that statement.

Edge and Christian capture the titles bringing this spectacle to an end. If for some reason you have still not watched TLC 2, I plead with you to go and watch this match. It was great from bell to bell and the story was three tag teams trying to prove they were the best. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rating: ***** (Yes I have given this match 5 stars)

The Gimmick Battle Royal

The Gimmick Battle Royal was essentially done for nostalgia, feel-good purposes, so it was nice to see some past WWF guys return with their popular gimmicks At ringside you had "Mean" Gene Okerlund and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as guest analysts. The competitors included the likes of Hillbilly Jim, The Bushwhackers, The Iron Sheik (before he found Twitter), Jim Cornette, Kamala, Doink The Clown, Michael P.S Hayes, One Man Gang, Sgt Slaughter and most importantly Brother Love. The man who put in the performance of the night at RAW 25.

The Iron Sheik picks up the win, lastly eliminating Hillbilly Jim

Rating: 3/4 *


The Undertaker vs Triple H

This is somewhat the forgotten match in the Undertaker vs HHH Wrestlemania trilogy and that is due to the fact that their next two matches were so much greater from an in-ring standpoint and those matches really emphasised the implication of Undertaker's Wrestlemania undefeated streak. Triple H had legendary rock band Motorhead play his theme song as part of his entrance whereas Undertaker did his usual biker entrance.

The match didn't start straight away as Taker started beating on HHH on the outside and HHH catches a right hand which sends him falling through the Spanish announce table, which at that time was just a normal table you see under the ring with some monitors on it. Taker shows us why he is one of, if not the best pure striker in wrestling history with his clubbing shots on Triple H in the corner which is followed up by a power slam. HHH gets control of the match when he reversed an attempted old school by Taker.

The middle body of the match is technically well put together, you have Triple H working that slow methodical pace as he went to work on Taker. Taker countered though when The Game was distracted by the referee as those two started arguing over whether HHH got a three-count against The Deadman. Hunter goes to grab his signature sledgehammer but Mike Chioda the referee stopped him and then he was taken out of the match momentarily when Taker catapulted HHH onto him. Taker got a two count after a chokeslam and then out of frustration completely took Chioda out of proceedings.

Both guys started brawling out into the crowd as Chioda was down and they ended up near the technical area and they ended up on the camera tower. HHH then went on to deliver these brutal chair shots to The Undertaker and before he was able to deal the final blow, Taker countered as chokeslammed HHH off the tower. The visual image you see is HHH disappearing off the face of the Earth while Jr says "he has chokeslammed him to hell" which I thought was a very good touch to the spot. After Taker hits an elbow drop from the tower, they make their way back to the ring.

The closing stages of the match included HHH going for a tombstone but Taker reversing it and hitting one of his own. Taker going for the last ride and HHH nailing him with the sledgehammer as he was up in the air. Taker finally hits the last ride for the win.

I enjoyed that match in all honesty. It was a very good match from start to finish and for me, it was the fourth best match on the card that night. The next two matches these two would have Wrestlemaniania were far better but this was a very good outing in the first of their Wrestlemania trilogy.

Rating: ***1/2

The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin- WWF Championship

I am going to go on record to say that I firmly believe this is the biggest and best Wrestlemania Main Event of all time. You had two of the biggest stars in the history of WWE, going toe to toe for the biggest prize in all of professional wrestling/sports entertainment. In one corner you had The Rock, the WWF Champion at that time, a man who has wrestling deep in his blood and was about to break into Hollywood and in later years would become arguably the biggest movie star in the world. In the other corner, you had Stone Cold Steve Austin. The man who was the poster boy for The Attitude Era and has been labeled by Vince McMahon himself as the biggest star in the history of the company, even surpassing Hulk Hogan in the terms of popularity. The build-up to this match itself is fantastic, it tells the tale of Austin desperate to win the gold after coming back from neck surgery. Austin won the Royal Rumble to earn his spot and throughout the story, Austin's wife Debra was made The Rock's manager and Austin vowed that if Debra got hurt The Rock will have hell to pay and that he did. The video package for this match is heralded as one of the best video packages for a match WWE has ever done, with Limp Bizkit's My Way providing the cover track.

The match started off at a very fast pace as Austin went after Rock straight away, delivering a Lou Thezz press on The Great One. Austin at this point is trying to get the win early as he goes for the Stone Cold Stunner but Rock reverses it into a swinging neck-breaker and then Austin reverses Rock's attempt at The Rock Bottom in this great early back and forth match up. The action spills out onto the outside as Austin is hammering away on Rock near Jr and Heyman on commentary.

Both men end up brawling in the crowd as the event staff is trying their hardest to keep the rabid Texas crowd at bay as they are emotionally invested in this match. They make their way back to commentary and eventually back into the ring where Austin hits a Leapfrog Body Guillotine for a two count. After a Super-plex by Austin, Rock starts getting momentum in his stride, landing with consecutive right hands before delivering an overhead Belly to belly which only scores a two count. 

The action spills on to the outside once again as Rock starts bouncing Austin's head off the announcer's table and the timekeeper's area. Rock gets momentarily distracted by referee Earl Hebner and this allows Austin to grab the ring bell and hit Rock with it over his head which busts The Rock open. Rock stumbles onto the announcer's table and inadvertently breaks it to which Austin sends him back into the ring. Austin at this point tries to open the cut up on Rock's head by pummelling The Rock while Rock is on the ground. Rock counters the offence only for Austin to hit a neck-breaker to the roar of the Texas crowd.

Blood is pouring out from The Rock's head at this point but then he gets his first sustained period of offence in. Hammering away at Austin in the corner, Rock whips him into the exposed turnbuckle on the other side and Austin falls right down to the mat. Rock gets a measure of revenge by hitting Austin over the head with the ring bell and busting him open as well. The commentary team is adding to the spectacle with both Jr and in particular, Heyman selling this match brilliantly.

Rock starts laying right hands on Austin and Austin sells it like he is on his last breath in a world title Boxing fight and once again the brawling spills to the outside where Austin gets the better of The Rock, dropping him on the barricade. Austin proceeds to then catapult Rock, face first into the ring post on the outside. Austin then hits Rock with a TV monitor and throws back into the ring and goes to line The Rock up for a Stunner but Rock reverses it into a Sharpshooter. Here we see, shades of Wrestlemania 13 when Bret Hart locked Austin in a Sharpshooter while Austin was busted open.

Austin reaches the ropes and The Rock goes for another Sharpshooter but Austin has an answer and counters into a Sharpshooter of his own, as we now get the image of blood pouring down The Rock's face. The Rock reaches the ropes and Austin lets him back up onto his feet so he can apply The Million Dollar Dream which was a great tribute to his former gimmick The Ringmaster. Rock counters this to roll-up Austin for the near fall.

Shortly after, The Rock manages to hit Austin with the Stone Cold Stunner in front of Austin's home state of Texas, to a mix of cheers and then boos but it showed The Rock was willing to pull out anything in order to get the win, which was the story of the match. Vince McMahon makes his way down to the ring as we approach the end of the match and the inevitable heel turn which follows. The Rock then hits a Spinebuster followed by The People's Elbow and before Earl Hebner could count to three, Vince pulls Rock off of Austin. Rock is understandably furious and chases McMahon but falls into a trap as Austin catches Rock and delivers a Rock Bottom for the near fall. The crowd is raucous at this point, adding pure emotion into what is already a fantastic match.

Austin signals McMahon to bring a chair into the ring after referee Earl Hebner gets knocked out of the ring. McMahon delivers a brutal chair shot to the head of The Rock but could only get a two count. As Rock is slowly getting up, he quickly lands a Rock Bottom on Austin but McMahon had Hebner distracted, so The Rock proceeds to beat on McMahon but that distracted allowed Austin to the Stone Cold Stunner on Rock for yet another near fall. Out of pure frustration, Austin starts to brutally attack The Rock with multiple chair shots and finally picks up the win.

Austin and Vince shake hands at the end as Jim Ross screams "Austin is shaking hands with Satan himself"

That was fantastic. Truly fantastic. I stick by my statement at the beginning of this match that is this the best Wrestlemania Main Event of all time. The simple story of two men at the top of their game fighting over the biggest prize in Professional Wrestling, along with Stone Cold Steve Austin desperate to become WWF Champion and willing to sacrifice anything to do so. 

If you want the definition of the Main Event, you have it right here.

Rating: *****

Author's notes

I sincerely hope you enjoyed my review of this show and I am sorry that I am not the best when it comes to grammar as well but I will get better I promise. Thank you for taking the time to read this review (if you do) it really means a lot to me


Nathan Best