With WrestleMania XXX just days aways I figured we should look at one more old Mania. Earlier this year I looked at the first one and I found the show had held up pretty well. A few weeks ago I looked at the eighth edition a show kind forgotten about and with good reason the show had some good moments but doesn't compare to many of the classic truly great WrestleManias over the years. Mania 13 is viewed as one of the worst shows ever. It does feature a classic match and a very important moment as Steve Austin and Bret Hart do a double turn and some view that as the true start of the Attitude Era. But the rest of the card people trash. Like WrestleMania VIII there were some changes to the card leading up to it. Of course there was the infamous "I lost my smile" HBK stuff we had Bret Hart win the WWF title for one night drop it to Sid the next. Triple H was in the middle of a feud with Goldust dropped the IC title to Rocky Mavia. Owen Hart and The British Bulldog were heel tag team champions and teasing a break up and they defend against Mankind and Vader who only started teaming because of Vader's feud with The Undertaker. Some of this is understandable since like in 92 it's a time of transition so sometimes a bad show just happen. But who knows maybe this is card that's gotten a bad rap from the old IWC.
We open with a video talking about the tradition of WrestleMania but this year the WWF is filled with Hate and highlight of various violent things that have gone one. Undertaker choking slamming a referee. Bret Hart snapping on Vince. I think I know what they were going for saying to the fans this is a new era for us things are about to get more intense. I also know the early 90 to mid 90's are stamped as just being goofy but it was still pro wrestling they did have big feuds and violent attacks. Vince McMahon welcomes us to Rosemont Horizon in Urban Chicago. Vince, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler are the announcers for this show.
4 Team Elimination Match for a shot at the WWF Tag Titles The Godwinns Henry and Phineas with Hillbilly Jim vs The Headbangers Mosh and Thrasher Doug Furnas and Phillip Lafon vs The New Blackjacks Blackjack Bradshaw and Blackjack Windham- Before get footage of the Original Blackjacks holding the WWWF tag titles Than we toss to pre recorder comments from the New Blackjacks. Bradshaw just says come get you some and thats it. Talk about a match we could only get in this era. The Godwinns were a joke team based on the fact there initials would spell Hog or Pig. Lafon and Furnas had teamed for years in All Japan Pro Wrestling. Bradshaw is the nephew of Blackjack Lanza and Windham of course is the son of Blackjack Mulligan. Just start as everyone start fighting at the start Finally things get down to Henry and Bradshaw. Big clothesline by Henry than a head lock. Henry tag Thrasher. Big boot by Bradshaw than a pump handle slam. Bradshaw tag in Phineas but takes a cheap shot at him. Back body Phineas who tags in Mosh. JR an Vince says under the rules the Headbangers have to wrestle each other. Slam dance by The Headbangers and than Thrasher tag in Lafon. Double team by the Head Bangers and double flapjack. Lafon with a snap suplex to Mosh and back kick. Mosh tag in Windham. LaFone with a Northern light suplex gets two. Tag to Furnas who hits a rana for two. He goes for it gain but Windham catches him and does a power slam. Tag to Bradshaw. Double clothesline by the Blackjacks. King wants to know what would happen if Lafone was tagged and he pinned Furnas. JR and King laugh it off but he does have a point as they said "Under the rules you must wrestler your partner if tagged in." Furnas ducks the clotheslines from hell and sends Bradshaw to the floor with a drop kick. Bradshaw to the apron and Windham nails Furnas allowing Bradshaw to suplex him to the floor. But punches by Windham Lafone runs over to aid his partner. Bradshaw shoves the referee down. The referee DQ's the Blackjack's while the one in the ring counts out Furnas. Well that was stupid. Why do this match as a Eliminated rules if you just gong to do two at once. Back in the ring Henry body slams Thrasher than he body slam Phineas onto Thrasher for two. Suplex by Phineas and Mosh makes the save. Tag to Henry and he gets rammed into the corner. Slam by Henry and a tag to Phineas who hits head buts. Each man spits on each other. Running clotheslines by Phineas tag to Henry who hits a body splash. Thrasher with punch a tag Mosh wait that is all it takes should it take more for that to do a hot tag. In comes Mosher. Clothesline by Henry and the both spill over the ropes. Mosh in first an the snaps Henry's neck on the rope. Mosh with a dive over the ropes and takes Henry off the apron. Rocket launcher by the Headbangers sends Thrasher flying onto Henry. Back in the ring Thrasher tags in and the headbangers hit a double clothesline. Sloppy moonsault by Thrasher misses tag to Phineas and to Mosh. Phineas is a House of Fire he sends thrasher to floor. Thrasher makes the save on the slop drop. Henry into the ring and Hillbilly Jim onto the apron. Bombs away form the top by Mosh for the win. Blah match to open i don't really get the stipulation and the need for it. Its really sad to see Barry Windham at this point as he was a shell of the once great talent he had been.
The Honky Tonk Man is in the ring. We see Lou Albano and Arnold Skaaland are sitting in the stands. Honky heads over to do commentary. Ross makes an in joke about King and Honky Tonk Man being cousins. Honky's whole gimmick was he looking for a protégée to make second greatest Intercontential Champion of all time. Eventually Billy Gunn got stuck with was renamed Rock A Billy and that lasted a while until he turned on Honky to form the New Age Outlaws. I think the long term plan was to feud who ever the protégée was with Rocky Mavia given Honky's claims and the fact was always trashing Rocky.
Intercontinental Championship Rocky Mavia © vs The Sultan with The Iron Sheik and Mr. Bob Backlund- The future Rock had just won the IC title on a special Thursday Raw. I'm sure most people know the story of Rocky Mavia it was a white meat face gimmick way to out of date to work in 97. Not helping was the face Rocky still had a long way to go in terms of his ring work he wasn't awful but he was green. The Sultan if the former Fatu and the future Rikishi between those two gimmicks the idea was he was some special talent so good it united long time rivals Backlund and Sheik. Sultan shoves Rocky. Rocky shoves him back and hits some right hands. Shoulder tackle by the Sultan Rocky kips up and hits the right hands again. Big clothesline and drop kicks by Rocky sends The Sultan to the floor. Sultan pulls Rocky to the floor. Sultan ducks a clothesline and Rocky goes into the post. Sultan throws Rocky back into the ring. Sultan pounds on Rocky and hits a clothesline. Another clothesline gets two. Sultan works on the neck. Rocky ducks the clotheslines but gets knee in the stomach. Backbreaker by the Sultan who than climbs to the top and hits a head butt. Sultan mocks the fans and waits on the cover so he only gets two. VInce speculate Sultan might think he can toy with the Rookie. Sunset flip by Rocky is block. Sultan pulls Rocky up the neck. Belly to Belly suplex by Sultan. Reverse chin lock by Sultan. King mocks Rocky for thanking his dad when he won a Slammy. The referee checks is Rocky is out and of course Rocky keeps the arm up and than fights free. Double clothesline and both men are down. JR says he thinks Rocky will win. Vince says Sultan has to much experience so he picks him. Sultan pounds on Rocky who no sells it. Punches by Rocky and he does one of his dad's old taunts than a drop-kick. Rocky with a belly to belly suplex gets two. Sultan goes to the eyes. Rocky ducks a cloth lines and hits a DDT. Rocky climbs the top and gets a cross body. Sheik distracts the referee so there is no count. Rocky goes after the Sheik. Rocky sees the Sultan coming and punches him. Superkick by the Sultan. Sultan pins and gets two. Piledriver by Sultan Vince with the one two he got him call meaning the move only got two. School boy by Rocky for the win. Ok match it was clear the plan was have the bigger more experienced wrestler control the match keep it simple for the rookie. I also assume given these two men are family Sultan wanted to make his cousin look good.
Post match JR interviews Rocky but the Sultan jumps him. Sultan hits Rocky with the IC belt. Honky gets really annoying her screaming. Sheik with weak looking stomps back in the ring. Sultan with a splash from the top rope onto Rocky. Sheik puts Rocky into the Camel Clutch as the Sultan slaps him. Rocky Johnson runs in the ring and attack Sultan Sheik breaks the hold. Sultan nails Rocky Johnson with the flag Sheik carries. The Rock is up and attacks Sultan and sends him to the floor. Rock with a slam on the Sheik than slam from Rocky Johnson. Double team punches by father and son. Rocky and Rocky embrace. Vince says no one had idea Rocky Johnson was there. And thus sums up why Rocky Mavia didn't work it was all about being Rocky Johnson's son and Peter Mavia's grandson. He had no identity of his own. Also why claim you had no idea Rocky Johnson was there wouldn't it make more sense to say Rocky was there cheering on his son.
Todd Pettengill interview Ken Shamrock who will referee the submission match between Hart and Austin. We get footage of Ken Shamrock putting Billy Gunn into a few holds. Ken explains what the holds are and says he wasn't trying to hurt anyone just showing them who he was. Todd asks about what if Austin or Hart come after him. Ken says he will not be intimidated.It's an ok interview Shamrock wasn't working a gimmick he was just supped to be Ken Shamrock at this stage. Doc Hendrick AKA interview Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Chyna. Doc asks what deal with Helmsley and Chyna. Helmsley says Hendrix doesn't need to know. Doc asks about the match with Goldust. Helmsley says he will beat Goldust and he warns Marlena to run with Chyna to run.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley with Chyna vs Goldust with Marlena- Back in December Helmsley had started making passes at Marlena starting a feud with Goldust. This was also back when Helmsley was supposed to be a rich snob from Greenwich Conn. They had yet exposed that Goldust was Dustin Rhodes (although a number of fans knew) or that he was married to Marlena but they were moving in that direction. Chyna had attacked Marlena several times. Vince speculates that Goldust may not have his mind on the match. JR confirms he is worried about her well being at ringside. Big clothe liens line by Goldust and he pounds on HHH. Knee drop to the punch by Goldust. Mounted punches by Goldust on Helmsley. Atomic drop by Goldust and he clotheslines Helmsley to the floor. Helmsley tired up in the ropes and a big right hand to face. Kick the face frees Helmsley. Face rammed to post than Helmsley is clotheslined back into the ring. Knee to the face by Hunter when Goldust sets to soon for a back body drop. Snap power slam by Goldust. Goldust to top Hunter cuts him off. Superplexed is blocked so Helmsley pushes him to the floor and he wear Goldust smack the apron. flying punch from the top by HHH.Smart move Helmsley unzips and pulls down the body suit of GOldust before he chops him. Helmsley stomps at Goldust. The commentators speculate that Helmsley may not care about a win he may just want hurt Goldust. Goldust whipped hard into the corner and than again followed by a neck breaker. Abdominal stretch by Helmsley. Hunter grabs the ropes the referee forces the break and that allows Goldust to get a hip toss. High knee by Helmsley gets two. Top wrist lock and chin lock by Helmsley. Series of presses by Helmsley but Goldust gets the legs up and than punches free. Suplex by Helmsley than the knee drop gets two. DDT by Helmsley. Backslide by Goldust gets two than small package gets two Clothesline by Helmsley. Goldust goes for a power slam by he collapse and its a press by HHH. Flying Cross body by Goldust gets two. Double shoulder tackle and both men are down. Helmsley to the top but Goldust with a flying hip attack cuts him off. Both men down again. Goldust moves as Triple H charges and he smacks the turnbuckle. Series of punches by Goldust than a back body drop. Bulldog by Goldust gets two. Chyna starts moving towards Marlena. Curtain call set up but he distracted by Chyna allowing Helmsley to counter into the pedigree. Goldust counters into cat a pult. Goldust pulls Marlena up to the apron and away from Chyna. Helmsley up knee to back sending Goldust Marlena who Chyna catches and locks in the bear hug. Pedigree for the win by Helmsley. Actually a pretty good match this was back when Triple H had good match he hadn't go insane trying to bulk up he didn't have the power to just burry guys. Defiantly one of the few good Triple H Mania matches
Post match we see a distraught Goldust cradling Marlena. Vince and JR speculate about the injures she may have suffered. Replay of the finish and we Marlena did a pretty good job of selling the move. Goldust carries Marlena to the back pretty good segment to heat for Triple H and sympathy for Marlena and Goldust. Backstage Shawn Michaels is doing a chat with AOL ironic WWF worked with AOL given what went down. The joke around that Shawn can't work a computer.
WWF World Tag Team Championship Owen Hart and The British Bulldog © vs Mankind and Vader with Paul Bearer- This match always confused me even as a kid. Both teams were heels although they were teasing a Bulldog face turn. Really I think they only paired Vader with Mankind and Bearer because The Executioner flopped and to set for the Bearer being the biggest threat to Taker's championship. Hart and Bulldog had won the tag title back in the fall and they seemed to always tease a break up with Owen remaining a heel and Bulldog becoming a face again. This seemed to go into overdrive when they introduced the European Championship and had Bulldog win the tournament beating Owen in the finals. Owen has his two Slammy's with him one he won in 1996 the other he stole during the 97 show. Vince makes a comment about Vader finally reaching his full potential so I wonder was he admitting they booked him poorly or was he blaming Vader. JR tries to get an interview with the champions. They pretty much blow him off. Owen Hart and Vader start us off. Vader powers Owen into the corner and unloads some punches than a head butt. For some reason King feels the need to go "Owe owe owe." Every time Vader hits Owen. Owen slide under the logs and hits a clothesline than a spinning heel kick to take Vader down. Vader catches a cross body and slams Owen down. Owen moves on a elbow. Owen goes for a Rana but Vader hits a power bomb. No cover and JR says "That was a mistake." Vader sets up for the Vader bomb. Bulldog with a shot to Vader's gut. Mankind in and he pulls Bulldog into the ring from the apron. Vader and Mankind double team Bulldog. Double clotheslines by Bulldog takes them down. Owen with a running drop kick does the same. Tag to Bulldog even though they are both in the ring and no the corner but the referee lets it stand. Mankind in no tag. Bulldog stomps on Mankind. Vertical Suplex by Bulldog Vader in no tag goes for a suplex but Bulldog over power him and hits the move. Bulldog with a chin lock on Mankind. Vader pulls the ropes down and Bulldog spills out of the ring. Mankind tries to hit Bulldog with urn but Bulldog with a trop toe hold. Vader to the outside and he nails Bulldog with the urn behind the referee's back. Back in the ring suplex by Vader gets two. Avalanche splash by Vader. Vader to the second rope and splashes onto Bulldog and gets two. Tag to Mankind. Punches but Mankind than a running knee into the corner. Leg drop by Mankind on the apron. Back drop by Mankind and a tag to Vader. Double team by Vader and Mankind. Back to the second rope by Vader. Bulldog is up and he slams Vader off the ropes. Tag to Owen who comes in with a missile dropkick. Owen goes for sunset flip. Vader blocks it but Hart moves on the splash. Owen to the top rope and a cross body for two. Owen runs into Vader and goes down. Vader mocks the Hulk Hogan pose. Tag to Mankind as Owen is tossed to the floor. Demolition on finisher off the apron by Vader and Mankind. Owen blocks the attempt to suplex him back into the ring finally Mankind snaps Owen's jaw on the ropes. Vader rams Owen into the guardrail right in front of Owen's parents. Chin lock on Owen but he fights free. Owen with the DDT on Mankind. Running splash by Owen but Mankind gets the legs up. Spin kick by Owen gets two. Tag to Vader and a double team. Punches by Vader knock Owen down. Owen escapes a suplex and takes Vader down a spin kick but he can't follow up. Elbow drop by Vader gets two. Tag to Mankind. Owen sent to the outside. Mankind charges and Owen and gets a belly to belly suplex. Back in the ring Enziquri by Owen. Tag to Bulldog and Vader charges in before he is tagged. Flurry of offense by Bulldog. Bulldog tosses Mankind into the corner a few times. Bulldog goes for the running power slam but get caught int he Mandible Claw. Vader cuts off Owen. Vader hits Owen but he falls into Mankind and Bulldog and they fall the floor breaking the hold. Mankind locks in the claw on the floor. Count out of a draw. Ok match I think in spite of the both teams being heels the settled in a grove I only with they had played up the mistrust or Owen's ego more to explain why he passed on chances to tag Bulldog.
Owen tries to save Bulldog but gets sent into the steps by Vader. Mankind still won't break the hold until Vader pulls him off. Mankind of Vader celebrated even though they didn't win the belt.s Owen checks on Bulldog and helps him to the back. Ok stuff but I don't get Vader and Mankind being happy. This was dropped pretty quick since both Mankind and Vader were off to challenge Undertaker and Owen and Bulldog kept teasing there break for a while until the Hart Foundation formed.
We get a video package on the history of Bret Hart and Steve Austin. They hype up how Bret walked away after Mania 12 and felt the WWF had screwed and how he blamed Austin. Highlight of how Austin had used Hart to a stepping to fame and his attacks on Hart since his comeback. We get Bret shoving Vince on his ass and how Hart has changed. They talk about how Bret must win to resume his legacy and ask "What if Steve Austin wins? What becomes of Bret Hart than?" It's a good package showing the history and I like they acknowledged the fact the fans were behind Austin. Hell I'll even say Todd Pettengill does a job on the voice over. Ken Shamrock is introduced as the referee.
Submission Match Bret Hart vs Steve Austin guest referee Ken Shamrock- Hart had left the WWF after WrestleMania XII to try acting. When he returned the started a long feud with Austin who had become Stone Cold while Hart was away. Austin had cost Hart the Royal Rumble and Hart had actually won every match they had to this point (I think) Vince acknowledges the positive response Austin got. Bret does actually get a pretty sizable pop and it's clear he still had his fans. And maybe I'm reading to much into it but to me Bret has this strange look on his face like he's wonder about turning heel. Austin tackles Bret before the bell. Hart reverse position and pond on Austin. To the floor and they exchange punches. Brawling around ringside. Austin sent into the ring post. Austin suplexs Bret Hart on to the guard rail. Clothesline sends Bret over it. Hart rammed into guard rails. Brawling up into the stands. Austin stomps on Bret and than drops him onto a board typically used for hockey stands. You can tell WWF wasn't used to shooting brawling in to the stand because they lose the guys a couple of time.s Bret fires back and hits a head butt.Austin goes for something but Hart with a back drop we can't see Austin land because of the camera shot.We do see Ken Shamrock trying to hold the fans back. Hart and Austin fight down the steps and back to the ring side. Austin sent over the guard rail. Bret with a fist drop from the guar rail. Austin reverses a whip and send Hart into the steps. Austin with a diving punch off the apron. Bret with a kick and he pounds at Austin's head. Austin send Bret headfirst into the post. Back into the ring. Swinging neck breaker by Hart than the elbow drop from the second rope. Hart rips at the ham strong and than cannonballs down onto Austin's knee with the brace. Jim Ross says Austin has been out of action with a leg injury. Elbow drops to the knee and than a kick by Hart. Shamrock asks Austin if he wants to quit. Austin flips him off. Another cannonball but Austin moves the leg. Stunner by Austin but pins don't' count. Hart recovers ways to fast after being hit with Austin's finisher and kick Austin's leg. Hart takes a stunner and is up within thirty seconds give me a break. Figure four around the post by Hart. Hart can't hold if for long and lets the hold go. Hart grabs the ring bell and a chair. Hart puts the chair on Austin's ankle and goes to stomp off the top rope a move Austin had done many times. Austin up and cracks Hart with the chair and than he smacks him in the back. Scoop slam by Austin and than a whip to the buckle. Suplex by Austin. Elbow drop from the second tope by Austin. Ross feels the need to take some shots at WCW we also get a shot of Bret Hart's daughter covering her face so she can't see her dad get beating up. Side rushing leg sweep by Austin than an Arm bar which makes no sense because Austin had worked over the back not the arm or shoulder. Austin must have realized that and lock in the boston crab. Shamrock asks Hart and he refuses. Hart gets the ropes. Shamrock yells at Austin to break. Austin pulls Bret to the center and goes for the sharp shooter. Hart rakes the face. Punches to the gut and head by Hart. Austin side steps a charge and tosses Bret to the floor. Hart reveres a whip and send Austin into the time keepers area and the guard rail. Two guys are ringside get knocked down. Austin has been busted open.
Hart rams Austin's face into the steps and than the post. Shamrock asks Austin if he wants to quit. Vince says Shamrock may have to stop this. Back in the ring Hart punches Austin in the head right at the cut. Back breaker by Hart than the elbow from the second ropes. Hart has the chair and drives it into the leg. Ross yells Hart is like an animal. Sharp shooter attempt but Austin rakes the face before its on. Low blow by Austin and both men are down. Austin whips Bret into the buckle. Stomps by Austin or as JR says "stomping a mud hole." But he did not walk it dry on this night. Austin sits Bret on the top rope for the superplex. We get a good shot how much Austin is bleeding. Austin tosses Bret to the apron. Austin grabs an extension cord and wraps it around Bret's neck. Bret grabs the ring bells and hits him with it to get free. Sharp Shooter locked in. Vince says no one would blame Austin if he quit. Shamrock asks if he wants to say the word. Austin starts to pass out and we again see the blood flowing. King say "its impossible." as Austin nearly powers free. Bret locks the sharp shooter back in. Shamrock asks again but stops it when Austin can't answers him. This is a very good match but honestly I think it's a little over rated. Again I'm not saying it's a bad match it's by far the best one on this card but at times it's a little relative and there are little things Hart taking the stunner and getting right up Austin going for a move on a body part he hand't been working. Also the WWF didn't do a good job setting up for the idea that Shamrock could stop the match. LIke I said it's a it s a good match nice and brutal and it's important as this was Austin face turn and Hart's heel turn. Austin was the never say die face from this day forward (Until 2001)
Post match Vince puts over how gutsy Austin is and how he's never seen anyone this tough. King screams for them to get doctors for Austin. Jr puts over Austin never gave up. Bret starts to attack Austin and goes for the sharp shooter. Shamrock with a waste lock takedown pulls Bret off. The fans start to boo as Bret walks out. How ever we than see Bret slapping hands with fans. Ok I know Bret didn't really want to turn, I know the line he did an us vs them story with USA vs Canada, I even get not wanting to let that little kid down but you just turned heel don't give fives to kids on camera Bret. In the ring Austin refuses help and gives the stunner to a referee. Austin limps to the back. Ross calls Austin a man's man. Vince puts over Austin not giving up and saying Austin still has his pride. King says no one else could even walk out. Good segment on Austin's part as this cemented him as the the guy in the WWF.
Backstage Todd Pettengill is with the Nation of Domination. Todd talks about all the weapons the Nation has. Faarooq says his boys are thugs and Ahmed Johnson and Road Warriors will get what' coming with them.
Chicago Street Fight The Nation of Domination Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega with the rest of the Nation vs Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom Road Warrior Animal and Road Warrior Hawk- Could you have picked a worse spot on this card for this match. Ignoring how you may have felt about the guys in the match or the gimmicks you have a street fight after a match that might as well have been called a street fight. Faarooq had jumped Ahmed during his WWF debut that resulted in a legit bruised kidney that kept Ahmed out of the ring during the end of 1996 and forced the WWF to vacate the IC title. During that time Faarooq (aka Ron Simmons) formed the Nation a gimmick inspired by the black panthers. Now we are in Chicago you have the LOD one of the greatest teams of all time yet they are in this match while the tag title match was heel vs heel. Yeah I know LOD came back real late to the WWF just before Mania but they had to know they returning hell why not have LOD beat Mankind and Vader to take there title shot? Ahmed comes out wearing LOD shoulder pads witch Animal claims he never returned. The Nation Johnson and LOD to start. D-Lo Brown, JC Ice and Wolfe D who are member of the nation inter fear but get taken out with power moves. Ahmed ducks the Nations lawyer Clearance mason. Haw rights up the ailed with Savio and crush. Faarooq hits Animal with a night stick. Crush and Johnson go over the guard rail. Animal with a trash can shot to Faarooq. Ahmed jumps over the guard rail to attack crush and than hits him with a trashcan. Hawk with a 2X4 but Savio ducks. Animal with a pile driver to Faarooq off the French announce table I think they slipped or Animal in a effort to protect Faarooq decided to land on the side. Savio hits Hawk with the 2X4. A fire extinguisher goes off offscreen we see the replay it was Animal blasting Faarooq. Crush sends Animal into the steeps. we miss Hawk doing something with Savio. Ahmed hits Faarooq with a trash can and than slam him through the french announce table. Savio with a superkick but Animal hits him with a trash can. Fire extinguisher off again and we miss it again. Savio has a noise and puts it over Ahmed's neck. D Lo and Clearance Mason pull at it. NOD work over Hawk but the hits a double clothesline. Animal is back in the ring and save Ahmed. Animal with a road sign shot to Faarooq. Savio sends Ahmed over the guard rail.Faarooq chokes Hawk with the noise we see the rest of the nation attack Ahmed. Crush attack Animal with a wretch. Hawk does something to free himself finally we get a replay and see Hawk pulled him off the turnbuckle. More brawling. Ahmed puts the noose around Faarooq's neck. The Nation frees there leader. Savio worker over Ahmed and chokes him. Hawk gets the fire extensor and blacks Crush. Ahmed with a spine buster on Faarooq and sets for the pearl river plunge. The Nation all jump in to save Faarooq. LOD with the doomsday device on Crush. Ahmed with and Hawk with a running 2X4 shot to win the match. What a freaking mess. Wild sloppy brawling no selling and even if you like a that kind of match we miss huge amounts of spots because the camera is out of place.
Post match the Nation attacks again but are fought off. Ahmed with the pearl river plunge on D-Low. Animal and and Ahmed each pick up a member of PG-13 (bad tag team out of memphis living off the fact one is the son of Bill Dundee) and Hawk hits a double dooms day deviance. Thank god this segment is over. Horrible use of LOD sadly the Ahmed vs NOD feud just kept dragging on and on and on and one. Than Ahmed Joined the Nation and they turned on him so the feud resumed and dragged on and on and on.
Shawn Michaels makes his entrance he will be a commentator for this match. Shawn is liming. Vince tells us Shawn giving up the title had to be the most difficult thing in Shawn's life. King rants that Shaw is a trouble maker. Shawn makes his way to the ring and even gets his usual pyro treatment with the pose. For an injured guy Shawn seems to be moving pretty well I think his limp even healed. Promo time for Sid. Sid says Mania comes once a year and tonight darkness will fall but he doesn't fear darkness or the Undertaker. Sid closes on his "I am the master I am ruler line." A short Sid is the second best Sid promo behind no promo at all. Undertaker makes his entrance wearing gear like he did back in his WWF debut. HBK says he thinks Undertaker wins it tonight. Sid makes his entrance the WWF championship around his waist. King accuses Shawn of being out there to do something to Sid who Shawn had been feuding with. Shawn denies it saying he is here because he's a fan. The bell rings but Bret Hart storms to the ring. Shawn takes some shots at Bret saying he is "stunned" Bret is resentful about not begin the fan. Bret calls out Shawn to find his smile. Bret rants at Taker for slamming a cage door on his head on Raw a few weeks back. Bret yells at Sid that the WWF belt belongs to him. Sid punches Bret and power bombs him. Ok the fuck? No promo by Undertaker but we get one from Bret. I assume with was meant to solidify his heel turn and set up for the finish of the main event but this was just dumb. Sid says "take his whining ass out of here."
WWF World Heavyweight Championship Sycho Sid © vs The Undertaker- Undertaker had been the runner up in the Final Four match that crowned the new champion after Shawn vacated the belt.Sid had won the WWF title beating Bret Hart the night after FInal Four. So you had Big man vs Big man in the main event. Why I'm not a big Sid fan I do understand why. Undertake has always been protected so in order to create drama you had to have a monster maybe the only normal guys that could been seen as that were Bret who had in the match with Austin and HBK who was "hurt." Taker jumper Sid as he rants a Bret. Punches by Undertaker. Sid runs into the big boot. Undertaker with body shots and a running splash. Power slam by Undertaker and gets two. Taker walks the ropes holding the arm and hits the shot to the back. Undertaker with another corner splash but Sid catches him with a bear hug. Its a sloppy bear hug as it's clear Sid isn't doing damage. Undertaker tries to power fee but Sid locks in the hold better. Sid breaks the bear hug to forearm the back than back to the bear hug before going back to the forearms than back to the bear hug. Undertaker gets free but runs into the big boot. Clothesline by Sid sends Taker to the floor. Undertaker tries to pulls Sid to the floor but Sid kicks him off and over the Spanish announcer table. Sid drops Undertaker across the guar rail twice. Vince claims he just got a note making this a no holds barred by order of WWF president Gorilla Monsoon. WHAT? Ok I have to assume this was to allow Sid and Taker more room to brawl and not follow the count but come on you don't add that once the match has started. Sid picks Undertaker up and slams him onto the table. Sid picks Undertaker up and runs him into the ring post back first. Back in the ring Sid covers and gets two. Sid with a camel clutch. Sid to the second rope and hits a double ax handle. Shawn says Sid doesn't have to be a technical genius he just has to get the job done. Punches by Undertaker and a head butt. Sid rammed into the buckle. Sloppy power slam by Sid get two. Sid keeps covering and gets two counts. Sid leg drop gets another two. Sid chokes Undertaker on the topes and goes for the eyes. Undertaker ducks the clothesline and hits the flying clothesline. Sid with a kick to the gut to retain control. Big punch to the face by Sid. Taker sends Sid though the ropes to the floor. Sid over the guard rail. Head butt by the Taker. Exchange of punches. Undertake brings Sid back over the guar rail and rams his head into the steps. In the ring Undertaker misses elbow drop. Sid with a chin lock. Undertaker with upper cuts to free himself. Undertaker with a power slam and gets two.
Taker with a nerve pinch. Sid fights free. Undertaker blocks a lazy a hell big boot it doesn't even look like Sid was trying and than hits a clothesline. Double big boot and both men are down. Sid covers and gets two. Double ax handle to the back by Sid. Sid to the second rope and waits for Taker to stand and hits the double ax. Sid back to the second rope and hits something I'm not sure if Sid wanted a clothesline or what Sid barely got an arm out. Sid back to the second rope again and goes for the ax but Taker with a punch. Slam by Sid and he goes to the top rope. Undertaker sits up and an uppercut cuts off Sid. Sid slammed off the top by Taker. Undertaker climbs to the top and hits a clothesline. Undertaker gets two off that move. Undertaker singles for the tombstone. Sid counters and hits a tombstone of his own. Sid covers putting the arms across the chest like Undertaker does and gets two. Sid dumps Undertaker to the floor. Punches by Sid but Taker blocks. Bret Hart comes back out and hits Sid in the back. We see officials come out and force Bret to the back. Taker with a bear hug and he rams Sid into the post. We keep cutting back to see Bret leaving. Back in the ring Undertaker hits the choke slam and covers to get two. Sid ducks the flying clothesline. Sid sets for the power bomb and Bret Hart is back. Hart with a jaw breaker on the ropes.Tombstone by the Undertaker for the win. Slow boring plodding match. I can't blame Taker as back than he was a great worker but this is another black mark on his resume. Sid was sloppy the whole match and the stuff with Hart got real annoying. I do like like putting the belt on Taker as in 97 he made a great champion. He was loyal to the company he was a damn good worker and the fans loved him. We close with Undertaker celebrating with the WWF championship. Vince puts over Taker is finally champion again. Shawn says a lot of guys haven't deserved that belt but Taker does. The lights dim and Taker strikes his pose holding the belt aloft. Vince thanks the fans and signs off.
Dear lord believe the hype this is one of the really bad WrestleManias. I won't call it the worse because there are much worse Mania out there but this one sucked. There are several bad matches that feel like they waste your time. There are a number of production gaffs during the show. Some of the booking is really confusing. This show is defiantly a product of it's time as we get this mash up of old school things like "blue chipper" Rocky Mavia vs foreign heel The Sultan while we have Steve Austin vs Bret Hart in a match that is more like a bar room brawl. The only match worth going out of your way to see is Hart vs Austin and that is on numerous best of sets or easy to find on You Tube. The only reason I could see trying to find this show would be if your are a total completest and truly want to watch every WrestleMania ever. I can't say this enough don't just skip this show punch anyone who tries to make you watch it.
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