This blogy-thingy will be mostly stuff that I think is awesome and occasionally the delusions of grandeur and realities of mediocrity that is my life.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
WRESTLEMANIA 26 was interesting in both good and negative ways.
I think it had a lot to live up to after the previous year’s show, both because they were trying to duplicate the best match from that card, and that a lot of the feuds from Wrestlemania 25 had a lot of heat.
It is hard to set yourself up to have to match or go beyond specific things (like the previous HBK/Taker match at Mania) and I don’t think it rose to the previous year’s level because of that. I also think that a handful of the matches could not live up to the outside of the ring hype once the bell rung and there needed to be an actual match. Ultimately I think is kind of a middle of the road Mania with a couple of big moments and a lot of clutter.
WRESTLEMANIA 25 is Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker.
No knock on the rest of the card, this is one of the few Mania’s I own on DVD and it is a great show. This match just stands apart. I don’t just think this match is just the best ever for Taker at Wrestlemania, I think it is his best period. I’m not sure I’d say the same thing about HBK, but there is no doubt it should be in the conversation. Ring General asked me earlier what my favorite Wrestlemania match was, and I said I wasn’t sure. But re-watching this one right now, it’d be really hard to rank anything above it.
WRESTLEMANIA 24 was supposed to be Ric Flair’s big send-off.
And when I look back at that weekend (Hall Of Fame, Mania & RAW) most of the memories are of Flair and they are all great. No matter how much longer he continues to work for other companies (even TNA) I’ll still look at the events of that Wrestlemania (and hopefully this weekend’s HOF ceremony) as the type of tributes and finales his career deserved.
What was WRESTLEMANIA 23?
It doesn’t seems super special or memorable to me but I don’t have a ton of negativity towards it either. I guess I kind of feel the same way about this show as i did about Wrestlemania 18.
Looking back on it WRESTLEMANIA 22 was easily one of my favorites as far as how much I enjoyed it while watching it live. It was the first 4 hour Mania, had a great crowd in Chicago, a pretty packed card and a lot of memorable moments. This is one I should probably watch again to see how I’d feel about it 6 years later.
WRESTLEMANIA 20…man did I love this show as it happened.
But the more time passes the less it becomes a favorite and the more it just seems like a good show and nothing more. An interesting link to this year’s show is that John Cena had his 1st Mania match at WM 20 on the same show that most people thought would be the Rock’s last Mania appearance.
WRESTLEMANIA 19 is a good show but it is also a strange show to look back on.
Here is a card that features Stone Cold, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and Triple H yet none of them are in the main event. In fact this was the final match-up in the incredible Rock/Austin rivalry and it didn’t get top billing. There are a lot of good moments and matches from this show and it probably ranks pretty highly quality wise in Mania history.
WRESTLEMANIA 14 came around and the WWF’s “Attitude Era” was now in full swing. This card is filled with the mainstays of a roster that would put them back on top of the wrestling and Monday night wars and take the business to levels we’d never seen before.
Austin, DX, The Rock, Triple H and Mick Foley all had major roles on this show and it was definitely a sign that the future was now for them and the WWF. Sadly this event also marked what seemed to be the end for Shawn Michaels due to health (and other issues). Thankfully both for HBK and the fans this turned out to not be a permanent vacation, but watching the event live back in 1998 it certainly felt that way.
Ah, WRESTLEMANIA 12…everybody say it with me. “the boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels!”
The main event for this show was special and it still stands out today. The Ironman match format is still a rare thing in WWF/WWE history especially on PPV. Having someone win their first WWE or World title is still not a common thing at Wrestlemania. And having a babyface vs babyface match especially the main event is not common for any card in McMahon-land much less Wrestlemania.
I also kind of look at this match as a tribute to an old-school main event wrestling style that those two performers both admired but that was soon going to be replaced by a new WWE “attitude” and new WWE styled main event match. And as an HBK fan, seeing him have the best match/performance in the last two Manias only to lose both times, it was nice to see him finally get his big win.
