Jump to content
DVDVR Message Board

Dolfan Watches Every Wrestlemania On Lockdown


Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, For Great Justice said:

I’d say that loving Sid is one of the four most common things that led users here from elsewhere on the wrestling internet, in particular  in the 2000-2005-ish timeframe:

-Sid being awesome 

-Mark Henry matches being awesome

-Vanilla terrible storyless chain wrestling by Johnny Kickpads dudes sucking 

-Bunkhouse Buck

Truly the Mount Rushmore of DVDVR getting it right.

 

I am one of those dudes who miss the chain wrestling shit from the early to mid 2000's and view it as a giant improvement over what the fuck ever passes as normal now a days. That said I never liked Alex Shelley in that era, or Chris Hero, who felt like they would transition to and back from moves for no rhyme or reason what so ever. Henry and Sid do rule though. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Especially when you consider that he never took a chair to the head himself. Every time he was supposed to get hit with a chair, he took it on the arms, which (while very sensible) was very much not the way things were done in the 90s. I think there was a bit of a 'Rock is a pussy' movement going on on some boards back then.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, so let's go on and discuss the Dumpster Match for the Tag Team championship.  Mick Foley had switched gimmicks to Cactus Jack and brought in some guy named Chainsaw Charlie who I don't recognize.  The New Age Outlaws are just really beginning the build to their own legendary status.  Even Road Dogg's "TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WOOOOOORLD" intro is still in its Beta release.  You can tell that because only like 1000 people are doing the "Oh you didn't know..." chant.  Dogg clears up any confusion for anyone by blatantly saying "Terry Funk", to which JR & King both sound a little annoyed they have to cover for.  

When the match actually begins, Jack and Funk attack instantly.  There are some nice spots, like Foley kneeing James' head into the dumpster.  Followed by some not so nice spots, like Foley waiting around an eternity to set up a spot where the Outlaws dodge his senton into the dumpster.  Funk is already an old man at this point, but he is holding up his side of the bargain quite well, doing most of his spots with Gunn.    They eventually fight to the back where the champs end up in deep trouble, as Foley with any kind of weapon is... a problem. 

The end comes when the 4 guys find another dumpster rather than the one in the arena, the challengers knock both guys out on a wooden pallet and use a forklift to dump them into the other dumpster.  They shut the lid and are announced as the new Tag Team Champions.  Foley's first (?) WWF championship of any kind.

The question mark is there because I forget if this is actually counted as a title change since the Outlaws won the titles the next night after they complained they were put into the wrong dumpster.  

Though this was perfectly acceptable garbage (pun!), a couple of points didn't click, and as I recall the Dumpster match on Raw was much, much better.  But that viewing is for another time. 

End of Day 41. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wasn’t even like a Midnight Rider thing with Chainsaw Charlie. Funk would lift the stocking up and wink at the crowd and cut at least one promo leading up to this as himself. 

Honestly, reading about this I don’t feel like this is a two match show. The build to a lot of these programs was good. People wanted to see Shamrock get his hands on Rock. Ditto for Owen/Hunter. The dumpster spot on Raw setting up the title match felt like a big deal, even if you could see the packing peanuts fly out when it went off the stage. 

I’m very biased because this was the first Wrestlemania I watched live on PPV, (despite my mom’s concerns that it was literally referred to as X-rated in the promo right before we ordered it) but I still think this is a good show. It doesn’t have an all-time great match like 13 and the company in general is hotter the next 3-4 years, but it still feels special. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

DAY 42

Taker's up now and he's taking on the (Mania) debuting Kane.  So it took them 14 WrestleMania's but they *FINALLY* get a promo video right. This match got an epic 8 month build, starting with Paul Bearer coming back and telling Taker his brother was alive to the debut at Hell in a Cell where Kane ripped the door off its hinges, to Kane's turn, AND turn back.  It's a deep and decently complex story that they actually tell very well.  Whichever video producer made that definitely deserved a raise. 

So here comes the ring announcer, "Future Hall of Famer" Pete Rose.  For the record, I absolutely believe Pete Rose deserves the punishment he got. Betting on a game you're actively participating in is absolutely a bannable offense.  That being said, he 100% deserves to be in the Hall of Fame for his playing career. I believe baseball will never honor him while he's alive.  So whenever he passes away, that's when he gets in.  (And I'm guessing Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens will get the same treatment.)   Pete of course runs down Boston sports, back when we could... *sigh*   Kane enters, and is apparently a Red Sox fan, and bashes Rose's head in with a Tombstone, leaving us with no ring announcer.   

Taker of course makes an absolutely epic debut with 12 torch bearing druids... one of whom looks a *LOT* like Kurt Angle.  I mean the timing is right, so it wouldn't completely surprise me. 

The match itself has actually been run down a lot from the reviews I've seen recently.  Which kind of surprises me, because I thought this was a pretty good match.  Taker is outmatched in power, speed, AND size for the first time in his career, and is legitimately fighting from behind the majority of this match. In 2020, we've seen this match a hundred times, but it was a novel concept seeing Kane - who has such a similar moveset to Taker, with the previously mentioned advantages.  Taker is mostly grounded except for a few big chances he takes.  Most notably when Taker rolls a damned tope suicidia directly onto the Spanish announcers table.

Side thought I had while riding, someone out there who's better at video stuff than I am, absolutely needs to make a Best of the Spanish Announce Table spots, from the Spanish broadcasters POV.  How does this not exist?  

So, I mentioned how I thought that I thought, half-jokingly, Giant Gonzalez should have gone over at Mania 9.  Well, looking back on this match, there is zero reason that Taker won this match. Kane was  a new and terrifying threat to him, Taker should have busted out *EVERYTHING* he had, and still not been able to solve the problem. That way you build to a rematch at SummerSlam, or even next year's Mania, and build both guys and make lots and lots of money along the way.  BUT...  three tombstones put down Kane (just barely), and Taker is 7-0. 

Paul Bearer's thoughts:  "Damn you to hell Undertaker!"  

That ending sucked, but the match itself was quite good.  Yeah, the wrong guy went over.  Damn you to hell Undertaker.

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

HBK is now up defending the WWF Championship against Stone Cold Steve Austin.  Mike Tyson is the special guest enforcer.  The deal was Austin was rocketing to the top at this point, nothing on earth was going to stop him from winning the title here.  The original plan was for him to get the win back from Bret Hart but...  *RINGTHEFUCKINGBELL*  Soooo....  the title is on HBK.  Michaels is now running with HHH & Chyna, his real life friends, as D-Generation X.  Vince wanted "insurance" that people would buy this show DX's antics wouldn't interfere in his main event, so he brought in Mike Tyson.  Steve Austin immediately made friends with Tyson, and Tyson turned and joined DX.  The proxy feud with Tyson was basically the only important thing here as the video makes ABUNDANTLY clear.  So, let's get started.

Tyson comes in with an AWESOME version of the DX theme.  (Also, I'm sorry, but if you ever see me type dX, that's the math nerd in me looking for the derivative of X, don't mind me.)  Austin comes out and Boston treats him as the incoming hero he is at this point.  And here's Connecticut Yankee, playing HHH, Chyna, and the champ to the ring.  You can already tell something's up, because HBK is not moving as quick as he normally does and has a grimace on his face, just in the walk out to the ring.  This could be seen as an "I'm jobbing" face, but I definitely buy Shawn's story that he basically took a year's worth of painkillers to push himself through the next 20 minutes.  

And now, we begin in earnest as Austin flips off Michaels.  Steve clearly knows what Shawn's limitations are and you can definitely see the differences from the year before.  Last year, Bret was doing an incredible job of selling everything Austin threw as getting hit by a truck.   This year, Austin is clearly leading the dance, noticeably pulling up on some of his shots and taking a lot more care of his opponent.  Being the heel Shawn has to take control at some point, and about halfway through the match he does. 

Shawn is running at about 1/2 speed, but he is visibly in excruciating pain throughout the match.  Even so, he's doing everything masterfully, and this is an absolute indication of what Shawn thought of himself professionally.  This was supposed to be his retirement match, and Shawn Michaels would be damned if he'd done anything but the absolute best of what he was capable of.  This match was very much, until his mid '00s comeback, his legacy.  The coronation of Steve Austin.

That coronation came after 20 minutes or so, with a series of finisher reversals, leading to Austin stunnering the fuck out of Shawn Michaels.  He had driven the sword into the heart of the "New Generation" and now the "Attitude" era was here to stay.   Tyson had one thing to do, and that was count Michaels down and betray DX.  He was fine for that.  (I do not want to imagine what 20+ years later, he's going to do with Jericho.  I'm guessing it will be... messy.)

The match is nowhere near as great as it could have been because of Michaels' limitations and the crowd basically knowing Austin was going to win. So that was points off.  This Mania itself was sorta just there.  Aside from Austin's win, there was no resolution type moment, which is what I've always felt Mania should be.  It felt like there was a lot of angles continuing, but few got resolved.   

Oh, before I forget, an absolute AMAZING piece of selling a friend pointed out. After Shawn realizes Tyson's betrayed him, he gets in Iron Mike's face, and gets KTFO'ed for it.  Now the good part was when Shawn was on the mat, you can see him rolling his tongue under his lips, just to make sure he still has all of his teeth.  Iol

Alright, that's it for XIV.  And I've got a bit of time left...  Yeah screw it, let's go on to Philly and XV. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, as much shit as HBK (deservedly) gets for being a colossal dickhead during his first run, he absolutely deserves praise for nutting up and doing business with Austin despite being in obvious and tremendous pain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, odessasteps said:

Was this the Mania where Taker was backstage taping up his fists and telling Shawn to do things the right way? 

That's how the story has always been told.

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For all the goofy shit the WWF/E gets wrong, Kane's debut ruled. That shit, and the build up to Wrestlemania was quite good at making Kane seem like an actual threat to a character whose whole gimmick was being invincible. I'm not really sure there ever was a Kane/Taker match that lived up to the hype for me but it's still a good memory.

I still own Wrestlemania XV on VHS because I never throw anything away. It's... a show that exists. Oh well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, odessasteps said:

Was this the Mania where Taker was backstage taping up his fists and telling Shawn to do things the right way? 

I do remember hearing that HBK was livid that Tyson draped the Austin 3:16 shirt on him while he was KO'ed and was going to interrupt the post-event press conference.  Supposedly Shane(?) talked him down.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Austin was also pissed about Tyson’s fast count.

Even for people that mostly hated Shawn’s comeback run, the fact that it happened is still a small miracle. He could have easily ended up like Jake or Hall (or worse.) 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

WRESTLEMANIA XV

Well, serendipity being what it is, we get Wrestlemania in the deepest darkest moments of the Attitude era in Philadelphia.  Where you're taught to throw a battery at least 40 yards as part of your elementary school education.   And speaking of people who should have batteries thrown at them, this is Vince Russo at the height of his powers. (He'd basically talk himself out of a job in 6 months.) Generally though this was considered a needed thing, as WWF was seen as cartoonish against WCW and a rapidly growing company in Philly, ECW.  There was no way WWF was going to out-crazy ECW, but there was a lot of room for a lot of craziness that would put them back in front in the Monday Night Wars and make them the #1 brand in wrestling again.   

Not that it led to much good product in the ring...  but you definitely remember a lot of moments.  Strap in girls, boys, and non-conformers, we're in for a ride. 

And we start out with the WrestleMania debut of "Voice of the WWE" Michael Cole.  Joy.

Okay, let's dive in.  The WWF makes a statement on where they are right now, since they're opening the show with the WWF Hardcore Championship.  The current champion is Bad Ass Billy Gunn.  This was a Russo Special as Gunn was building for months toward the IC championship, and Road Dogg was headed to Hardcore town... but SWERVE, a couple of weeks before, they both won the other title.  So alright, Mr. Ass is the champ, and he's being challenged by Hardcore Holly and Al Snow. This is Snow's Wrestlemania debut and he's quite over with the Philly crowd.  

Well, just a couple things about this match, because it's a hardcore match and the most notable use of a weapon is a hockey stick used by Snow that starts a loud "Let's Go Flyers" chant. You think with this being the 90's, they'd be a little more sensitive about guys getting concussions.  Well, actually, it's 1999, so I don't remember if this is when Philly hated Lindros or not.   

The other important thing is, the marked improvement from last year on the camerawork.  The blocking is much better than the dumpster match, and the spots are set up well.  I mean, the thing is still directed by a coked up mutant, so we miss some shots, but you take what you can get.   Hardcore Holly steals the win for his second Hardcore championship.

I'm rapidly tiring, but the final Owen WrestleMania match is now on.  He and Jeff Jarrett are tag team champs at this point, and they're taking on D-Lo Brown and Test(??).   The deal was D-Lo & Mark Henry were supposed to get this shot, but Mark got hurt, so they needed someone.  Test is the perfect definition of "Someone."  

Basically faster than I can gather any kind of thoughts about this match, it's over as Test is being a dick for no reason and D-Lo gets fucked over.  My only other thought is, the one person in this match that won a World Title?   It's D-Lo's manager, Ivory.  Okay, I'm done...  That's enough Mania XV for now.   

End of Day 42.

(EDIT -- Oh, and aside from Owen, Ivory was the most talented worker I saw so far on Mania 15.)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, odessasteps said:

Was this the Mania where Taker was backstage taping up his fists and telling Shawn to do things the right way? 

that's the way Cornette tells it, anyway:
 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The best PPV with Russo's paws all over it was Survivor Series '98: Deadly Game. From there, it was all downhill until he went to WCW and killed that promotion. 

(In his defense, though, SurSer '98 is one of the greatest PPVs of all-time, and largely because of the running storylines throughout the night, so that show was a hell of a way to peak.)

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Dolfan in NYC said:

 Well, actually, it's 1999, so I don't remember if this is when Philly hated Lindros or not.   

Wrestlemania XV is almost exactly a week before Bobby Clarke famously ripped Lindros and basically called him soft and a quitter, then it turned out Eric had a collapsed lung and actually nearly died. It's a real messy piece of Philly sports history.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/29/2020 at 3:24 PM, Dolfan in NYC said:

My only other thought is, the one person in this match that won a World Title?   It's D-Lo's manager, Ivory.  Okay, I'm done...  That's enough Mania XV for now.   

 

Even if you don't count TNA or WWA, Jarrett won the WCW World Title 4 times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/29/2020 at 6:53 PM, Smelly McUgly said:

The best PPV with Russo's paws all over it was Survivor Series '98: Deadly Game. From there, it was all downhill until he went to WCW and killed that promotion. 

(In his defense, though, SurSer '98 is one of the greatest PPVs of all-time, and largely because of the running storylines throughout the night, so that show was a hell of a way to peak.)

And that theme song is still a banger.

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...