World Wrestling Federation – WrestleMania 18 – 17th March 2002
I’m not quite sure how to introduce 2002’s contribution to the WrestleMania legacy. On the one hand, 18 may find it quite impossible to top the legendary extravaganza that was WrestleMania 17…but on the other, there is simply no way it can be any WORSE than last month’s appalling No Way Out pay-per-view. Certainly it isn’t remembered anywhere near as fondly as Mania 17, but in it’s own right this is quite the memorable show. A big part of the reason for this is the historic clash between The Rock and Hulk Hogan – icons of WWF’s past and present colliding in an absolute dream match on the scale we could only have dreamed of during the shambolic Invasion angle last year. In truth, much of what WWF tucked on the card around Rock/Hogan is pretty poor – but very few people remember that over a decade later. There are some enticing encounters on the rest of the show though. The ‘main event’ (in name only as it obviously wasn’t what people were buying the show for) sees Triple H complete his comeback from a career-threatening quad tear to challenge Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship. There’s also another hotly anticipated past vs present clash as Ric Flair and Undertaker meet in a grudge match. The rest of the card has such ‘gems’ as Maven vs Goldust for the Hardcore Title, DDP vs Christian for the European Title, a four team elimination match for the Tag Titles and more. Bit of a mixed bag, but it’s WrestleMania – there’s normally somebody who wants to step up from nowhere and produce a memorable performance. JR and The King are in Toronto, ONT.
We kick off with Saliva performing ‘Superstar’, which is a somewhat jarring change of pace from the usual ‘America, The Beautiful’ opening. The opening video package, with icons like Rock, Austin, Hogan, Flair, Undertaker, Jericho and HHH talking about what WrestleMania means to them is certainly a stirring piece too.
William Regal vs Rob Van Dam – WWF Intercontinental Title Match
Having spent the last few months grooming one potential up and coming main eventer in Edge, Regal was immediately moved into a feud with another. RVD’s enduring popularity meant WWF had to consider Van Dam someone with huge future potential, but at this stage had somewhat sidetracked his upwards momentum as he needed to ‘learn to work’. Getting to work with veterans like Goldust and Regal will be of significant importance to him. The look of complete happiness as he steps out, the first man into the arena for WrestleMania is a wonderful sight and a reminder of what it means to these guys to be on this stage. The man from the bingo halls in a sold-out Skydome is quite a Cinderella story. Will it have a happy ending by taking home his first Intercontinental Champion from the surly Brit?
Pumped for his first WrestleMania, RVD starts at breakneck speed: unloading strikes and a standing moonsault on the champion. Regal goes straight for his brass knucks, but gets them kicked out of his hand by Rob, who then cracks his jaw with a superkick for good measure. An early Five Star attempt misses though, and Regal absolutely destroys him with a running knee to the side of the head. He takes RVD to the ground where he has a pronounced advantage, then snaps him down with a NECK DROP REGAL CUTTER! The champ is the latest guy to get potatoed by Rob, and is bleeding heavily from the mouth as he blocks Rolling Thunder by getting his knees up. Tiger Driver blocked into a tumbling monkey flip…before Regal counters RVD’s step-over heel kick into a HEAD DROP HALF NELSON SUPLEX! That was crazy! Van Dam has to roll out of the ring to recover from that. Regal makes another grab for his knucks, but gets them kicked into his own face! FIVE STAR FROG SPLASH NAILED! RVD is the new Intercontinental Champion at 06:19
Rating - *** - Regal did such a great job opening with Chris Jericho at Mania 17, it was quite cool getting to see him do exactly the same thing for a second time running – this time with RVD. Of course they needed more time to produce something really special, and but in six minutes they both showcased their skills, produced a few really nasty spots, both got busted open the hardway, and got the crowd into the show. Regal got genuine heat from a near-70,000 crowd, and the pop for Rob’s victory was huge. Mission accomplished…
Christian renounces Toronto as his hometown as he loves living in Florida.
Dallas Page vs Christian – WWF European Title Match
Superficial though it may be, there is a legitimate storyline behind this one. Christian had been suffering a losing streak and throwing legendary post-match temper tantrums – so turned to self-help guru Diamond Dallas Page for guidance. DDP helped him get over his slump (literally) with a win over Billy Gunn on Raw…before Christian immediately turned on him. Now claiming to be over his losing ways, he’s ready to become European Champion again.
Fink makes sure to announce that Christian ‘now hails’ from Tampa, FL to ensure he gets minimal babyface support in his hometown. Just like RVD in the last match, the sheer delight on DDP’s face as he makes his WrestleMania debut is touching. It’s short-lived though because Christian attacks him during his entrance. He hits back quickly, nailing a gutwrench gutbuster then smashing his challenger right out of the ring with a Cactus clothesline. Christian is a resourceful competitor though and he seizes an opportunity to knock Page off the apron into the guardrails. He tries an abdominal stretch, then counters DDP’s discus clothesline into a reverse DDT backbreaker for 2. JUMPING press slam off the second rope scores for Page – right into the discs clothesline second time around. He hits a spiral bomb for a close nearfall before Christian knees his abdomen again and sets up for the Unprettier. DDP wants the Diamond Cutter…COUNTERED to the inverted DDT by Christian! Page does then hit the Diamond Cutter to retain at 06:09
Rating - ** - More of a mixed bag than Regal/RVD, so I dropped a star in my rating. There was some really good stuff in the midst of this one, but there was also plenty of slight miscommunications and sloppiness. The inverted DDT counter to the Cutter will be one of the best spots all night though…
Coach catches up with The Rock (who gets a mixed response from the live crowd). Rock looks seriously pumped and says he wants Hulkamania in all it’s glory tonight. There’s some comedy with him forcing The Coach to say his prayers in front of the whole Skydome too.
Maven vs Goldust – WWF Hardcore Title Match
There really isn’t much point to this one, beyond the WWF putting their own Tough Enough concept over by having it’s winner get a match on the biggest show of the year. Maven has actually been given a couple of decent opportunities since debuting. He eliminated Undertaker from the Royal Rumble earlier this year, and later went on to beat him for the Hardcore Title (with The Rock’s help). Goldust will relish being back at WrestleMania too, and probably deserves it having enjoyed a decent little run of form since his return in January.
Goldust’s gold weapons are a nice little touch. He doesn’t look particularly impressed by Maven though it has to be said. The poor champion is mashed into the guardrails then smacked around with a baking tray when he tries to get up. He’s enthusiastic though, and tries to dropkick one of Goldust’s golden garbage cans into his face (although he barely connects and is rather unfairly derided by the crowd). Dust stomps a golden shovel into his ribs and whips him into another golden trash can for 2. Golden trash can lid duel! It puts both men on the ground…and Spike Dudley runs in to win the title under the 24/7 rule at 03:17
Rating - DUD - I’m sure it was nice for Maven and Goldust to get on the show, and I’m not denying that the golden weaponry didn’t have some comic value, but ultimately this was a serious waste of time which would have been better spent giving other matches on the card more minutes.
Crash Holly had the same idea apparently, and he runs in to chase Spike through the crowd in an attempt to win it for himself. Goldust and Maven are in hot pursuit too…
‘That red hot group, Drowning Pool’ (JR’s introduction, not mine) sing ‘Tear Away’ as the back drop to a video highlight package of the HHH vs Stephanie…sorry, I meant Jericho…feud.
After our second Nu Metal interlude of the evening we’re launched into a backstage brawl for the Hardcore Title. Spike is fighting off the advances of Crash, and narrowly evades Al Snow driving at him like a maniac in a golf cart. Just when he thought he’d be leaving Toronto as a champion The Hurricane swings in like Tarzan to win the belt.
Kurt Angle vs Kane
Can anyone help me with a reminder as to what these guys were feuding over? These two are rather unfortunate in that they are certainly over and established as viable main event players, but there just aren’t any spots at the top of the card available for them at the moment…so they are rather inelegantly thrown together in this long-forgotten undercard encounter.
Kurt NAILS Kane with the bell as he runs through his usual pre-match pyro routine, apparently hoping to aggravate an existing concussion problem the Big Red Machine had been suffering with. Despite having his brains scrambled his sheer size ensures he is soon back in the fight with Angle diving to the ropes to avoid a Chokeslam. Showing amazing technique, Angle hits a beautiful belly to belly suplex and repeatedly knocks Kane to the ground forcing his head to bounce off the canvas. To that end a back suplex scores as well, drawing the first significant nearfall of the match. He tries a mounted front facelock but it’s clearly too early to stray from his ‘beat the head strategy, and so he is tossed across the ring then swept up into a sidewalk slam. ROLLING GERMAN SUPLEXES! More impact on the back of the monster’s head! Kurt steals one of Kane’s signature moves and goes upstairs for his diving clothesline. Unfortunately he then gets over-confident, tries it for a second time…and gets clocked out of the sky by his defiant masked opponent. A big powerslam scores for Kane, followed by the Chokeslam. He noticeably pauses before covering Angle though, and is disappointed when Kurt grabs the bottom rope to break the pin. Tombstone blocked as Angle claws at the mask, then he hits the Angle Slam for 2! Anklelock applied, but since he’s worked the head all match he hasn’t done enough damage to the leg to force the submission. Kane breaks it with an enziguri before heading up the ropes. ROPE RUN BELLY TO BELLY SUPERPLEX BY KURT! Angle Slam blocked…Chokeslam blocked…then Kurt (eventually) pins him with his feet on the ropes at 10:48
Rating - *** - This is the second successive year that Angle has stolen a victory in a competitive undercard WrestleMania match by cheating in a flash pin – he used the tights to beat Benoit last year. This was surprisingly good, largely on the back of an awesome showing from Kurt. By this point Angle was really starting to fire as one of the best wrestlers on the planet and was probably far too good to be wasted this far down a WrestleMania card. Kane was the beneficiary though, and he held up his end of the bargain as the base for Kurt to be awesome round. The finish was slightly botched though, which is a shame after they’d worked so hard to get to it.
The Hurricane is trying to hide in order to preserve his Hardcore Championship reign…and inadvertently conceals himself in the locker room of Godfather’s Ho’s. Cue some juvenile penis shadow puppetry as Godfather comes to their aid…
Undertaker vs Ric Flair – No DQ Match
I absolutely slaughtered the writing team last month, so it’s only fair that I praise them now because this was a really cool little feud. Undertaker had been defying and disrespecting Flair for some time – which lead to Flair involving himself in Taker’s match at No Way Out last month to prevent him from using a lead pipe on Rock. He wound up costing the Deadman that match, and Undertaker wanted payback. He challenged Naitch to a match at Mania…but Flair declined. Looking to force Ric into accepting his challenge, Taker proceeded to violently assault his friend Arn Anderson, then his son David Flair. It pushed Flair over the edge – he accepted the match, inadvertently struck a (planted) fan, had his control over WWF affairs temporarily revoked by the Board of Directors…but at that same board meeting he was unequivocally clear that he would use any means necessary to beat Taker (and end The Streak) in Toronto…
Flair legitimately sprints down half of the massive Skydome aisle, straight into battle with the Phenom – driving him back over the announce tables with a barrage of right hands. It takes a mistake from the Nature Boy (jumping off the apron) to bring Undertaker into the match as he catches the multi-time former World Champion and shunts his back into the ringpost. The Flair flip over the ropes gets a massive pop, but it’s quickly killed off as Taker puts a boot through his face to knock him to the floor. Flair looks to have cut Taker’s cheek with an errant right hand, but presumably won’t face the same kind of backstage fury that RVD got. Undertaker soon evens the score, driving repeated fists into Ric’s forehead as it starts to bleed. Flair, well past his peak of course, is really struggling to compete with the Deadman now, getting pasted all over the ring and leaving splatters of blood all over the canvas every time he drops. In fact, his blood has even splashed onto the camera lens. Undertaker hits a MASSIVE superplex, sending 50+ year old Flair miles into the sky before dropping him roughly to the mat. Ric is done and isn’t fighting back anymore, but Big Evil keeps dragging him up from the deck rather than pinning him. ‘What the hell is a Booger Red’ – King to JR. Undertaker stares maliciously out into the crowd and takes so long taunting them before attempting the Old School rope walk that Flair able to jerk him off the top rope. Naitch hits a couple of valiant chops…before getting squashed again with a sidewalk slam. He leaves the ring, initially to get some distance, but it works to his advantage as he pulls out the lead pipe from Taker’s motorcycle and blasts him in the head with it – busting him open in the process. Repeated shots with a steel sign rock Taker before Ric tries to put as many punches into the lacerated forehead of his opponent as he possibly can. Low blow blocks a Chokeslam attempt, dropping Taker to the ground in position for the FIGURE 4 LEGLOCK! Undertaker counters to a LEG SELLING CHOKESLAM! When Flair kicks out of that Undertaker vents his frustration by decking the ref (Charles ‘Little Naitch’ Robinson). ARN ANDERSON RUNS IN WITH A SPINEBUSTER! FOR 2! Awesome, amazing moment there…but it’s short-lived as Taker busts Arn open then chokes him out with a dragon sleeper. Flair swings a steel chair like a loon…and each shot is no sold so Undertaker can boot him in the face. Flair desperately tries to block the Last Ride…so eats a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER INSTEAD! Undertaker wins at 18:46
Rating - *** - This is probably the best match you’ll ever see where 90% of the match is two old guys standing in the ring punching each other. It’s WrestleMania, the one night a year where you’re guaranteed to get some serious workrate from Undertaker…and he seriously brought the goods for this one. These two told an INCREDIBLE story. Taker has been victimising and bullying Flair for weeks, and it continued through this match as he cruelly and mercilessly beat up the semi-retired veteran. Flair was absolutely fantastic drawing sympathy, and his comebacks were so perfectly timed and executed that you could tell you were watching two utter masters of their profession at work. The reason I’ve given Undertaker so much crap in my reviews for most of the last two years-worth of ppv’s is because I know he’s capable of matches like this. He’s capable of telling stories, busting his ass and working with an opponent to produce genuine moments of emotion and drama. After vindictively beating on Ric all match, the Figure 4 and Arn Anderson Spinebuster spots were two of the most spine-chilling babyface comeback spots you’re ever likely to see. As a match it wasn’t particularly pretty and, as I said, they do very little else other than punch and kick each other. As an example of professional wrestling as a medium for telling some wonderful stories, this was a stellar piece of business.
Booker T wears glasses (because he is smart, Sucka) and aced his SAT too if you can dig that? He wants to make Edge pay for stealing his Japanese shampoo endorsement…
Booker T vs Edge
These two really are feuding over a make-believe shampoo commercial. I know not every storyline is a winner, but at least give your audience a little credit. I really doubt there was a single WWF fan over the age of twelve who thought this was anything other than ridiculous. It was an appallingly slapdash feud to give these two popular talents something to do at WrestleMania, and I’m sure they’d both rather be feuding over shampoo on the main card than working dark matches or Heat so…
Unlike Christian, Edge gets a HUGE hometown pop. A fan holds up a ‘They are feuding over Shampoo????’ sign, much to my amusement. Booker hangs his popular opponent over the top rope and gets a nearfall with a heel kick. It’s a dominant start for the former WCW Champion in his Mania debut as he reduces the crowd to near silence with his aggressive approach. They make a big hash of a frankensteiner spot, with Edge sliding off Booker as he hits the move and both landing on top of each other on the canvas. Scissors Kick countered to the Edge-O-Matic for 2. The 2001 King Of The Ring scales the ropes again and has better luck this time, landing a super spinning heel kick. Spear leapfrogged though, allowing Book to hit a superkick then produce a WrestleMania Spinaroonie. Scissors Kick gets 2! Book End blocked with a judo throw and Edge rocks through Booker with the Spear. Edgecution wins it at 06:31
Rating - * - He got the popular victory in his hometown, but this was a massive waste of Edge at this WrestleMania. They’ve been slow-building him to superstardom since last summer, and giving him a serious feud, in a serious match, with a serious time allocation could have really elevated his career to the next level. He’d start a feud with Kurt Angle in the coming months – it’s such a shame they could have started sooner as they would have got crazy heat in Edge’s hometown on the WrestleMania stage. The match was the very definition of uninteresting filler. Edge and Booker were obviously happy to get their moment in the spotlight, but were also very obviously keenly aware that their feud was utter trash, nobody cared about it, and in six minutes they weren’t there to do anything of any real significance anyway. They hit their spots, botched one horribly, and went home. That’s all you can really say…
Hurricane is still Hardcore Champion, and has managed to make it out to the parking lot where Coach has caught him for an interview. He denies being a ‘Hurri-Perv’…and is then ambushed by Mighty Molly who cracks him in the head with a frying pan and steals his Hardcore Title. Funny segment…
Steve Austin vs Scott Hall
With his body giving out on him, Austin went into No Way Out against Chris Jericho and put everything he had into trying to become the Undisputed WWF Champion. Unfortunately for him he was screwed by the nWo, who looked to make an impression on their first night in the WWF at his expense. With Hogan facing The Rock and with Nash most likely having pulled a hamstring signing his contract, it left Scott Hall as the focus of Austin’s frustrations. Stone Cold plans to exact revenge on Hall and the New World Order tonight. Kevin Nash is in his buddy’s corner.
Austin isn’t remotely impressed by the presence of Nash at ringside, so gets the jump on Hall by laying into him as soon as he gets into the ring. It’s a relentless beating, so Scott bails out of the ring to recover, before sneaking back and getting the jump on his opponent. Unbeknownst to Stone Cold and the referee, Kevin Nash has removed one of the turnbuckle pads…and Hall whips Austin NECK FIRST into them. It’s an illegal but brilliant move and it has Steve grabbing at his banged up neck in an instant. It’s causing him more pain moments later after Scott sends him skittling across the canvas after a fallaway slam too. And every time Austin tries to drag himself up in the ropes he has to absorb a cheap shot from Nash on the floor. He hits a Stunner out of nowhere but the count barely gets to two before Nash pulls the referee out of the ring and assaults him. Hall aims a steel chair at Austin, who somehow blocks it and dishes out STUNNERS to both of them! Another ref runs in only to be destroyed by Big Daddy Cool, as Hall lines up the Razor’s Edge. It’s blocked with a back drop to the floor as every other referee in the back has come out to eject Nash from ringside. Hall gives Austin a Stunner for 2! ROLLING STUNNERS BY AUSTIN! He wins at 09:52
Rating - ** - I remembered this being terrible, but was actually somewhat fun in a ‘Hall and Nash are so appallingly washed up it’s entertaining’ kind of way. Obviously you can’t condone someone walking out on their commitments, but after destroying his body to carry the company amongst the sea of absolute sh*t that was the Invasion angle, you can see why Stone Cold walked out (for the first time) after this show. His body was teetering on the brink of catastrophic or even fatal injury – and they give him the option of wrestling Hall or Hogan (who he refused to work and didn’t want to put over) at WrestleMania, both of whom are so limited that the match would either stink (like this one) or rely on him breaking his back to make it good. He wasn’t happy with his choice of opponent, he wasn’t happy with the build, he wasn’t happy with getting less than ten minutes of ring-time, and he was already wrestling AGAINST the advice of doctors who were telling him to retire. No wonder he felt he needed a break and went home rather than to Raw the next day. This wasn’t actually as bad as I remembered, in that I liked the idea of Hall working the neck, and Austin’s rolling Stunner finish was awesome. It was still a rather sad and limp way for Austin to enter the final phase of his in-ring career though.
Time for more Nu Metal, with Saliva playing the Dudley Boyz to the ring. Josey Scott is the envy of every dude in the audience as he gropes Stacy Keibler as she dances on the stage with him.
Billy & Chuck vs Dudley Boyz vs Acolytes vs Hardy Boyz – WWF Tag Title Match
The APA are presumably furious that their victory in Tag Team Turmoil at No Way Out meant nothing and they now have to share their title shot with the Hardyz and the Dudleyz. Billy & Chuck also lost to Faarooq and Bradshaw in the Turmoil Match, but went on to oust Spike Dudley and Tazz in the build-up to the big show anyway. For the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz, they’ve failed to leave as Tag Champions at the last two WrestleMania’s and will be desperate to finally win the belts on the biggest stage possible here tonight.
The Acolytes, unsurprisingly, are the guys to get the fight started – making a beeline for the champs. Gunn hits a version of the One & Only to save Chuck from Bradshaw’s fallaway slam…so gets the manoeuvre himself. JBL then gives Palumbo a hefty back drop driver anyway. It’s continual beating by the APA who spend almost three minutes abusing Billy & Chuck before they manage to get a tag to D-Von Dudley. Even then Faarooq has Chuck outside for a SPINEBUSTER ON THE FLOOR! In the ring Bradshaw hits the Clothesline From Hell on Billy…then turns into the 3-D, with the Acolytes being the first team eliminated at 03:26. The Hardy Boyz spike the unfortunate Palumbo with a double DDT as the Dudleyz set up a table on the floor. Whisper In The Wind from Jeff to Bubba which brings Stacy onto the apron to distract him with her mesmerising butt. DUDLEYVILLE DEVICE by Bubba and Billy! Gunn’s reward for helping Bubba Ray is a bruising Bubba Bomb before getting tossed out of the ring. Jeff is isolated by the Dudleyz whilst the defending champions watch happily from the apron taking a rest. Matt isn’t quite such a happy spectator though, and he roars with approval as his younger brother snaps D-Von’s head into the mat with an inverted DDT before making the hot tag. Bubba misses a senton bomb and lands in perfect position for the point and scream like an idiot leg drop. Billy SHOVES D-VON THROUGH THE TABLE as the Dudz prepare for the Wassup Headbutt, and in the ring the Hardyz eliminate Bubba at 11:49 with the Twist Of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo. One & Only COUNTERED to the Side Effect by Matt who is then joined by his brother for Poetry In Motion. Twist Of Fate/Swanton combo on Palumbo…only this time Billy saves his partner with the FAME ASSER on Jeff for 2! He angrily whacks Jeff with one of the belts, handing his team the victory at 13:50
Rating - ** - By rights this was a bit of a thrown together mess, but they were at least given a half-decent time allocation and they made the most of it by piling in as many spots as possible. The APA, the most limited of the four teams, hit their spots then got ditched early. The Hardyz and the Dudleyz were the most over by a distance so carried a bulk of the workload, before Billy & Chuck (the new team who WWF want to get over) swoop at the end for a career-boosting victory over three massively more established duos. Hardly a classic but it was solid in it’s execution if nothing else.
Hall and Nash are backstage still upset at losing to Austin. They want to vent their frustration on The Rock – but are interrupted by Hulk Hogan who tells them to stay in the back because he wants to prove he can beat Rock by himself.
Mighty Molly is on the run with the Hardcore Title…until Christian F*CKS HER UP by slamming a door in her face. The crowd (watching in the arena on screens) gasp in shock at that, and jeer as Christian swoops to win the Hardcore Championship.
Hulk Hogan vs The Rock
Regardless of what is still to come on the card tonight, this is the main event and the big draw of the evening. The dream match of the ages, pitting two of the most popular and iconic wrestling superstars of all time against the other. There have been many big names in the industry, but the true superstars are those that can transcend it and infiltrate into every avenue of pop culture. You didn’t need to be a wrestling fan to have heard of ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan or The Rock – they were bona fide celebrities. When Hogan returned to the WWF as part of the nWo, few could have anticipated how the WWF fans would react. It’s not like he’d vanished off the face of the earth. He’d been on WCW television for years and had seen his drawing power well on the decline for half a decade by this point. But when he returned to the World Wrestling Federation the people hero-worshipped him – even at the expense of ‘the People’s Champion’. No matter how hard WWF tried to book him as a heel (he’d attacked Rock with a hammer, driven a truck into his ambulance etc) this was never going to be anything other than a face vs face, icon vs icon battle of the titans. In sheer business terms, the big ‘dream match’ for Hogan was probably Austin as two of the biggest drawing and era-defining professional wrestlers of all time. But Austin refused to work the Hulkster, and in many ways Rock is so much more of a natural fit. Both have larger than life personalities, both have achieved crazy amounts in wrestling considering their limited in-ring skillset, both have crossed over into the mainstream with successful films…now they meet in the ring. Will Rock cement his place amongst the greatest of legends with a victory over Hogan, or can the Hulkster prove himself to be the ‘Babe Ruth’ of the WWF?
The roof comes off the place for Hogan. It always gets played up as a ‘50/50 crowd’, but Rock gets tons more heat than Hulk during his entrance. Hollywood’s strength is played up from the bell, with him easily tossing Rock to the ground out of a lock-up…and telling Rock to ‘bring it’ as the Toronto fans lose their sh*t. They are seriously popping more for Hulk’s muscle poses than for 90% of the wrestling they’ve seen tonight. Hulkster abuses Rock as he beats on him against the ropes, and knocks him to the ground again with the Axe Bomber. SERIOUS HEAT for Rock when he hits back with a diving clothesline! He punches Hogan out of the ring, retrieves him and coils to unload an early Rock Bottom…which is blocked by more of Hulk’s clunky right hands. He rakes a boot across Rocky’s face, trying to remain a heel on the surface of things despite getting raucous support from the crowd. The Rock spears him into a volley of right hands…but gets SO distracted by the hostility he’s getting that he turns his back on Hollywood and is punished with a back suplex. Credit to Rock, who starts revelling in his role as the de facto heel – mocking Hogan’s poses and riling up the fans as he chops and kicks at his opponent in the corner. Hulk then explodes out of the corner with a choke takedown and tosses the Great One out of the ring. It seems like Hollywood wants to put Rock through an announce table, but settles with an Axe Bomber on the floor after Rocky tries to swing a chair in his direction. Referee Mike Chioda is bumped, so lies motionless on the deck as Rock makes Hulk tap to the Scorpion King Deathlock. When Rock goes to check on the ref, Hulk recovers and gets to his feet to hit a ROCK BOTTOM! FOR 2! Whilst Chioda still struggles to his feet he flogs Rocky with his weightlifting belt…until Rock DDT’s him into the ground and flogs him right back. ROCK BOTTOM! It barely gets a 2-count…and the place goes CRAZY! HOGAN HULKS UP! BIG BOOT! LEG DROP NAILED! ROCK KICKS OUT! BIG BOOT AGAIN! LEG DROP MISSES! ROCK BOTTOM! Rock drags Hulk up…ANOTHER ROCK BOTTOM! PEOPLE’S ELBOW! Rock wins at 16:23
Rating - **** - A truly legendary match in WrestleMania history. Let’s not pretend it was a technical classic, but I actually think some of the quality of their in-ring work is rather overlooked. Many talk about the amazing Toronto crowd, the renaissance of Hogan’s career, Rock’s career-defining victory and so forth…but when it comes down to it, some of the wrestling isn’t that bad. Hogan was never a particularly good worker, and at 49 years old with a massive back catalogue of injuries he obviously had real limitations but I think it was obvious how hard he was working on this night. He was moving around the ring pretty quickly, hitting moves like rolling elbow drops, countering cleverly and generally making the most of his limited skillset. Lawler brought up the young lion vs old lion metaphor on commentary and it was extremely apt. That was how they played the match out, with Rock’s youth and speed going up against the sheer power and experience of the grizzled veteran. In reality, as a match this was probably only around the 2*/3* mark. But as a ‘moment’ in professional wrestling history it was so good it’s hard to rate. The fans in the Skydome were the real stars, and elevated this into a timeless classic regardless of how good or bad the wrestling actually was. I rated it 4* as a compromise…but the reality is it’s a match which doesn’t need a rating and will be remembered and enjoyed forever.
Hogan (who apparently had a broken rib coming into the match) looks in a very real degree of pain now, but shakes Rock’s hand and ushers him to the turnbuckles so he can celebrate. The other members of the New World Order get into the ring unhappy at that…and jump Hogan. Rock returns to help, and probably ruptures Nash’s quad into a million pieces as he clotheslines him over the top rope. With those two gone, Rock demands Hogan do his signature poses for the Toronto fans, who go mental once again. Meanwhile in the back HHH and Chris Jericho quietly sob as they tape their wrists…
Jazz vs Lita vs Trish Stratus – WWF Women’s Title Match
These lucky ladies get to follow Rock/Hogan, so will presumably be competing in absolute silence, with large portions of the 68,237 crowd in line for the bathrooms, concessions and merch. Jazz debuted at Survivor Series and the former ECW competitor made an immediate impact with her intensity and physicality. She put an end to the popular reign of Women’s Champion Trish Stratus and enters WrestleMania as a dominant champion and firm favourite to retain – despite the skills of the two popular women standing across the ring from her.
Trish is decked out in Canadian colours, but barely gets to enjoy her hometown pop because she’s last out and inside the ring Jazz and Lita are already going at it. Jazz mauls Trish into a half crab, and releases it only to put the Bitch Clamp on Lita. To her credit, Lita survives that and hits back with a spinning back suplex for 2. I swear the WWF have actually turned loads of house lights on in the arena to help people go to the toilet by the way. Diving crossbody from Lita to Stratus gets another nearfall, only for Trish to retaliate with a bulldog. Warrior splash gets Jazz a 2-count as the three ladies wildly toss spots around hoping to get a response. Jazz’s fisherman buster seems to have incapacitated Trish, until she surprises the champ with an inverted DDT. Lita and Trish come to blows until Trish shoves her away into a Twist Of Fate on Jazz. SUPER CRAPPY body slam from Lita to Trish, who then scales the ropes to Moonsault into Trish’s knees. What fans there are watching this match are rather cruelly chanting for puppies. Stratusfaction blocked by crotching Trish against the turnbuckles…so Trish crotches Lita in return when she climbs for another Moonsault. AVALANCHE FISHERMAN BUSTER BY JAZZ! She pins Lita to retain at 06:15
Rating - * - They got the thankless task of going on after Rock/Hogan, so really were in a no win situation from the opening bell. They worked damn hard, but in truth probably tried to fit far too much into their six minutes of ring time…meaning they sold nothing and were incredibly sloppy. Lita, in particular, looked like an untrained backyarder at times – and she is far better than that. Personally I’m not sure why they couldn’t have kept the belt on Trish through to this show to give her the hometown pop she deserved. She was miles more over than either of her opponents.
Christian is getting into a cab ready to leave WrestleMania as Hardcore Champion…only for Maven to sneak up behind him and get the title back. After a night of 24/7 shenanigans, we’re right back where we started.
THIS SEASON ON TOUGH ENOUGH – Hardcore Holly is a dick to everyone. Including future ROH and TNA wrestler Kenny King.
I like Nu Metal, and even I am sick of it by this point. Drowning Pool are back to perform their version of ‘The Game’ for HHH’s entrance
Chris Jericho vs Triple H – WWF Undisputed Title Match
These two actually have a pretty lengthy backstory to play up as part of this feud. HHH memorably once lost the WWF Championship to Chris Jericho on Raw, only to bully Earl Hebner into reversing the decision. They had a hell of a Last Man Standing match at Fully Loaded 2000 and have generally never gotten along. Unfortunately that was mostly swept under the rug in favour of as many bullsh*t HHH/Stephanie feud skits as you can imagine. HHH and Stephanie’s dog probably looked about as credible an Undisputed Champion as Jericho did during this feud. And the most ridiculous part is he has Stephanie in his corner tonight. The woman he’s hated for years, the women who has made his life hell for years, and the woman who has stolen almost ALL of his spotlight heading into what should be the biggest match of his career is in his corner. Go figure.
HHH’s quad is heavily bandaged, although I’m unsure how much of that is legitimate injury and how much is kayfabe. His injury hasn’t stopped him hitting the tanning salon, that’s for sure, he looks ludicrously orange. Jericho goes after the leg immediately but is beaten back by the sheer power of his challenger. Hunter hits a jumping knee strike…and instantly collapses feeling his bad leg. Before Y2J can capitalise from the top, he starts listening to Stephanie – allowing HHH to PRESS SLAM HIM INTO THE GUARDRAILS! That spot deserved more than the complete non-response it got from the Toronto crowd, who were popping for Hogan’s clumsy ass punches earlier. Chris aggressively kicks at the quad, finally succeeding in working over that body part and putting himself into the ascendancy for the first time. Helmsley decides to take action and starts attacking Jericho’s leg in return and actually gets him hobbled and into a Figure 4…before Stephanie rakes his eyes to break it. Jericho inadvertently SPEARS Steph through the ropes off the apron! But as HHH tries to Pedigree his own wife Y2J comes off the top rope with a missile dropkick…then rams the busted up quad into the ringpost. The miraculously recovered Stephanie rears her head again to get some kicks to the leg in too. In fact, Stephanie gets almost as much offence in on Triple H as Jericho does in the next few minutes. It’s a shame because when he is allowed to showcase his skills, Jericho is doing a pretty killer job working over the Game’s leg – breaking out multiple classic submission holds to drive his advantage home. HHH lunges into his facebuster spot, but of course stays down clutching at his quad. His leg gives way again as he tries to hit a spinebuster on Y2J too, meaning it’s an ugly landing against the turnbuckles for the Undisputed Champion. They go to the outside, where Jericho looks to recreate the memorable moment from last year where he put HHH in a Walls Of Jericho on the announce table after he’d blown out his quad. Helmsley blocks that only to get BACK DROPPED THROUGH THE TABLE! Back in the ring Jericho gets 2 with a Lionsault, and he’s actually starting to get some crowd support from what few fans are actually chanting now. He blocks the Pedigree with shots to the leg, then converts it into the WALLS OF JERICHO! When Triple H doesn’t tap out there Stephanie once again appears on the apron, this time distracting the referee so Y2J can go for a chair. It comes back to bite him as Hunter gives him a DDT onto it for 2. For f*cks sake! Stephanie is in the ring now trying to attack her husband with a chair herself. LIMPING PEDIGREE ON STEPH! Her massive boobs almost explode out of her catsuit on that…and as Hebner pervs on them/removes her from the ring he misses Jericho blasting HHH in the head with the chair. He jumps off the second rope…into the PEDIGREE! It’s over, and we have a new Undisputed Champion at 18:41
Rating - *** - It’s a shame that this one is remembered more as a completely undeserving main event, rather than a solid wrestling match, which it actually is. The angle they worked with HHH’s leg was perfect, as it held the match together, gave fans a reason to care (not that they took the bait), and really allowed Jericho to showcase his skills as a wrestler rather than just the fortunate idiot who’d had the belt only through McMahon-family interference. When the match was good, it was because Chris looked great working the leg and HHH was doing a solid job selling for him. Unfortunately, as with the rest of this entire feud, most of the good work the two wrestlers were doing was massively overshadowed by Stephanie McMahon. She was FAR too involved in this. It’s the main event of WrestleMania, having her screechy presence hopping into the ring every few minutes really dragged it down…and was probably a fittingly sad, annoying blemish on the conclusion of Jericho’s monumentally, atrociously bad run as Undisputed Champion (through no fault of his own).
Tape Rating - ** - There’s a reason people only remember Rock vs Hogan from this show. The rest of it is almost entirely forgettable. Last year at WrestleMania 17 we were treated to the legendary conclusions to some of the greatest storylines of the Attitude Era. Steve Austin completed his journey from career-threatening neck injury to WWF Champion, and ended his epic feud with Vince McMahon in the process. The three TLC-era teams went to war one more time. And, of course, we saw the end of the Vince/Shane/Stephanie/Trish/Foley angle in that amazing Street Fight. WrestleMania is supposed to be the culmination of a year of World Wrestling Federation feuds and programming. They spectacularly failed on that front for WrestleMania 18. We had guys feuding over shampoo commercials, the first hour of the event was taken up by brief matches from thrown together combinations of wrestlers, constant breaks for Drowning Pool and Saliva to play even though the crowd were HATING them, and a main event feud completely ruined by Vince wanting to put his own children over his wrestlers. Rock/Hogan is rightly remembered as one of the greatest WrestleMania moments of all time. The two charismatic masters of their craft whipped a stadium crowd into an absolute frenzy and it remains a must-see spectacle. The reality is they saved the show, because although there were a number of solid matches, most of this line-up is almost disgracefully poor for a WrestleMania. As presumably every wrestling fan on the planet has seen Rock/Hogan by now, this is an easy recommendation to avoid (albeit Undertaker/Flair and Jericho/HHH were better than I remembered too).
Top 3 Matches
3) Chris Jericho vs Triple H (***)
2) Undertaker vs Ric Flair (***)
1) The Rock vs Hulk Hogan (****)