The granddaddy of ‘em all… or was that Starrcade?
Nothing much to talk about in the intro this month that hasn’t been obvious to everyone watching WWF TV. Only the top few matches have received anything in the way of the decent hype you’d expect for WrestleMania. The rest of the card has come off as a second rate, thrown together mishmash of illogical matches. This will become obvious in the actual preview, because I’ve got practically nothing to talk about some in the lower matches. That in mind, I’m starting at the top and working down…
Hollywood Hogan v The Rock
Well, it didn’t take long, did it?
I was one of the people who truly couldn’t believe that Hogan would agree to return to the WWF without some significant creative control of his storylines. People told me, “No way, McMahon wouldn’t allow that”, but as far as I see it, McMahon needed Hogan just as much as (if not more than) Hogan needed McMahon. After the truly horrific car crash that was the WCW Invasion booking, McMahon needed to reassure himself (and us) that he truly is the genius he claims to be. His answer was the nWo, but without Hogan to lead it, the McMahon version of the nWo could end up just as limp as the Russo version did. So Vinny Mac kowtowed to Hogan, as he has done countless times in the past, and hired the ‘Immortal’ one back with a nice fat guarantee and a relaxing schedule.
Hogan’s first order of business was getting himself into the WrestleMania main event, his ‘spiritual home’. With the exception of the LT’s match at WrestleMania XI, the only time a WWF Title match has not ended the biggest show of the year was WrestleMania VIII where Flair v Savage was shunted back into the middle of the card to make way for the Hulkster’s ego trip in one of his alleged ‘retirement’ matches. Oh yeah, Hogan is a smart cookie all right. His backstage manipulations put those of Triple H to shame. It’s also certainly no coincidence that Hogan’s choice to main event WrestleMania is one of the most giving and unselfish workers in the WWF.
For all Rock’s suspect ring work and psychology, you have to say that he’s not averse to inspecting the rafters on a regular basis. In fact, his WrestleMania record is absolutely lousy. Going into this show, Rock has a WrestleMania main event record of 0-3, each loss coming via pinfall. Hogan, in comparison enters this match with a WrestleMania Main Event record of 7-1. Surprisingly though, the WWF haven’t made any mention of the fact that the one time Hogan has lost in the final match of WrestleMania it was at the Toronto Skydome. Perhaps the WWF don’t want to awaken any memories of the Ultimate Warrior, but the underlying storyline of the Skydome being Hogan’s WrestleMania ‘bogey arena’ would add a nice historical perspective to the match.
So, who’s going to win? Tricky one. There is one thing for sure in this feud, and that is the fact that Hogan WILL get a pinfall win over Rocky in a singles match, so the question is rather whether Rock is allowed to get a win at this card in order to sell the later rematch. The reason why I know Hogan will get a pinfall win over The Rock is easy. In all Hogan’s career, he has always avenged those few and far between one on one defeats. He even went to the lengths of convincing Eric Bischoff to hire the Warrior to a WCW contract in 98 just so he could have his (8 year late) revenge win on PPV. I have no doubt that if Hogan could find some way to resurrect the late Rodney ‘Yokozuna’ Anoai, he’d do that too, just to avenge the events of King Of The Ring 93.
But the fact that Hogan handpicked The Rock to be his WrestleMania opponent would suggest to me that Hogan will pick up the win here. The alternative encounter against Steve Austin (which would’ve been a much bigger match, historically speaking) would’ve been much more difficult to book to both men’s liking. I imagine Hogan/Austin would awaken memories of the Michaels/Hart situation where neither man would agree to job to the other. In my opinion Rock will just bite his tongue and be the professional here (and you have to commend him on that) by doing the 1-2-3 Job.
The match quality will likely be poor, as Rock will be asked to carry Hogan’s end of the match and keep it up to the WWF pace. The intra match booking should be interesting too. I personally want to see whether Hogan will ‘hulk up’ out of a Rock Bottom or a People’s Elbow, or whether Rock will nip-up before Hogan lands the legdrop. This match is history, kids. Hogan has a lot to prove in this match (a lot more than Rock does, in my opinion) and I have a very strong feeling that this match will be planned out and run through a few times beforehand, much like Hogan-Warrior was twelve years ago. As long as you don’t watch it expecting Flair-Steamboat, I imagine the incredible crowd heat should make this one for the ages, and if the match quality actually turns out to be quite good, please remember to tip your hat to Pat Patterson who will no doubt be heavily involved in this match.
Undisputed WWF World Title
Chris Jericho (Champion) v Triple H
It became quite clear following December’s Vengeance PPV which direction the WWF were taking the Chris Jericho character. He was always supposed to be the perceived lame duck, the undeserving champion just waiting for someone to knock him off his pedestal. But, in the great tradition of the Honky Tonk Man, our boy Jericho has two PPV victories each over both Rock and Austin. The WWF are banking on the general public putting their money down to see Jericho eventually get his comeuppance and lose the title on this PPV against the mighty Triple H. But will he?
Triple H’s return coincided with the start of the Road To WrestleMania, and since he did the unselfish thing of stepping back last year to allow Rock and Austin to do their thing in the main event, he was practically guaranteed this year’s main event as payment. Admittedly this match looks like taking a back seat to the Hogan-Rock match in terms of the ‘final’ match on the card, but it’s still a perceived main event match. And so, that need to manoeuvre Triple H into the #1 contender spot meant that even though he was physically not ready to reassume his top position just yet (due to pretty significant ring rust), he had to win the Royal Rumble and be made to look as strong as possible during the next nine weeks to help sell this show.
So, now we’re here, the question is whether the WWF keeps the cash cow of Jericho for another few PPVs, so that when someone does beat him, it’ll be totally unexpected? I’d tend to imagine not. WrestleMania is the end of the season for the WWF, and it’s pretty much guaranteed to have a happy ending. Of course, the last two years, we’ve seen heels leave with the WWF title, so it’s not always the case. The WWF have always looked at the face/heel divide when deciding big title matches, and the question asked could be whether or not there are more potential PPV main events with a heel Jericho champion or a face Triple H. With the Triple H scenario, you’ve got potential title match PPV main events against Angle (who has a few wins over Trips in the last couple of months), Jericho in a rematch, any of the nWo members (but specifically Hogan) and even a face/face match with either Austin or Rock. Jericho’s potential after Mania as the champion stands at a nostalgia match against Ric Flair and maybe a potential Triple H rematch.
Everything points to a Triple H win, but there are a couple of flies in the ointment. Firstly, the WWF hate it when the fans are too convinced of the winner. Do they cut off their nose to spite their face and keep the belt on Jericho just for the shock factor (only to hot-shot the belt to Triple H on Raw)? Such a move would cheapen the WrestleMania aura, but it’s not something I’d totally rule out. The other sticking point as far as I am concerned is the potential Triple H/nWo storylines that are bound to play out pretty soon. Does Hunter need the belt if he’s feuding with Hogan, Nash & Hall? Jericho’s whole character is defined by the fact that he is the undisputed champion, while Triple H’s reputation and position is arguably above the title anyway.
Ah yes, Jericho’s character… I have really quite enjoyed his work over the last few months since the heel turn, but can the “Larger Than Life, Living Legend” really survive without gold around his waist? It’s doubtful; and unless the WWF intend having him regain the belt in a couple of months (say at King of the Ring, for example) I believe the gimmick is going to sink quickly and Jericho’s career and credibility could be practically finished. With that in mind, allow me to suggest the following booking plan for Mania, which might just save Jericho’s career…
It turns out that Triple H and Stephanie have been in it right from the start, and the whole marriage split was the ultimate example of Triple H’s ‘Cerebral Assassin’ character. With it, he was able to get his own wife into the Jericho camp as a double agent in order to spring the trap at WrestleMania. Jericho is double crossed by Stephanie and Pedigreed and pinned by Jericho. This booking establishes a truly dominant heel champion who could then headline PPV matches with Austin, Jericho and Rock over the next few months. In fact, in the ultimate betrayal to the fans, Triple H could rejoin his Clique buddies in the New World Order, giving the nWo control of the WWF Title! But, what of the defeated Champion Jericho? Well, after the WrestleMania double cross and Jim Ross has called Triple H a ‘bastard’ a few dozen times, Jericho should be able to get his heat back by attacking the devious Triple H from behind. This being Toronto, Jericho would (hopefully) get a magnificent face pop from his fellow Canadians, and with any luck be able to convert that into a main event babyface run. It means the death of the entertaining and fresh “Living Legend” heel character in preference to the babyface “Y2J” character (which was so stale), but hopefully his experiences in the main event bracket and the fact that he still can call himself a former WWF Champion will be enough to help Jericho’s credibility and push to continue.
At the end of the day though, you have to pick Triple H. It makes most sense.
Steve Austin v Scott Hall
When the projected WrestleMania cards came out after the last PPV, I was totally shocked to see this match being bandied about as a potential Mania matchup and have continued to be surprised as the WWF have actually followed it up over the weeks. Austin has never been one to agree to step out of a main event match without a fight, never mind working third from the top in a match against probably the least fearsome member of the nWo. Austin v Hogan has ‘WrestleMania’ stamped all over it, and even Austin v Nash could still provoke a decent crowd reaction and be billed as a match between multi-time former World Champions.
Hall may be the least decorated member of the Order, but there’s a fair chance at least that he’ll be able to put together a decent match against someone who is so regularly good as Stone Cold. Well, that would be the case, except for the fact that with Nash remaining matchless we can expect a lot of Nash-oriented overbooked claptrap and an overly contrived ending. Yes, I’m cynical. The honest fact of the matter is that I’d actually like to see a straight up Hall v Austin match, but the chances of that happening are next to nil. The Booker v Rock ‘interference fests’ of last summer proved that these kinds of matches do nothing for either man, especially in Booker’s case since it proved that he couldn’t even beat The Rock with help from about 4 other guys. If Austin wins, which I would imagine is the most likely outcome, it’s going to make Hall (and the whole nWo gimmick) look more like ineffectual fools rather than a fearsome ‘poison’ that could kill off the WWF.
If Hall does somehow win, it’s going to look bad for him anyway since it’ll have taken Nash’s help to do it (since there’s no way in hell Austin’s jobbing clean as a whistle). Hey, if they’re going to do an overbooked Hall win, I’d say look out for ex nWo member Nick Patrick to be involved with some shady officiating. Barring such a development, the smart money is still backing Austin to get the win.
No Disqualification Match
Ric Flair v The Undertaker
This match has received some super build-up. With Flair not in a position to be actively wrestling in the run up to the show, and thus not able to participate in the usual business of taking part in tag matches and each man interfering in the other’s match ups, they’ve taken a very innovative route of building this match solely via a series of skits and interviews.
Taker has been really excellent in his role as the bullying bad boy, especially in the segment at Trax where he bloodied David Flair (making a segment featuring David watchable for the first time ever). Ric showed a lot of his old (dare I say it) ‘flair’ in his Royal Rumble match against Vince, and the fact that this match has been turned into a no DQ match means that they’ll be allowed to take the necessary shortcuts to make the match last probably 15-20 minutes. Maybe it’s the old Flair mark coming out in me, but I actually have quite high hopes for this match. It’s not going to be a MOTY candidate, but I have enough faith in Flair to ensure that this should be at least entertaining.
Will Flair beat Taker’s undefeated Mania record? I don’t know. Everything would suggest that Flair gets his revenge after the assaults on his friends and family, but I also know better than to bet against the Undertaker at WrestleMania. Flair’s win would do nothing in either the short or long term, since he doesn’t wrestle regularly enough to capitalise on any win he might get. I’ll say Taker wins, but you know I’ll be marking for Flair!
WWF Intercontinental Title
William Regal (Champion) v Rob Van Dam
Where’s Edge? Oh, that’s right. The story goes that the WWF were so disappointed at the bad matches he’s been having with Regal over the Intercontinental title in the last four months that they pulled the plug on the planned feud blow-off where Edge would get his belt back in his hometown at the biggest show of the year. Well, here’s a newsflash for the WWF… it’s not Edge’s fault! William Regal is a superb technician in the ring. He knows how to employ psychology and intelligently work over a body part. He does the little things well, like the forearm across the face when pinning. He knows how to elicit a legitimate heel reaction from the crowd. He just can’t have a good match with anyone in the WWF. His style clashes so much with what can be termed as ‘WWF style’ that the normally smooth Regal can be made to look clumsy and slow. With the possible exception of a UK only PPV match with Chris Jericho last May, the closest Regal has come to having a good match in the WWF was the match against Edge in January.
But Edge is dropped for this match, and Mr Style Clash has been put in with a man whose style is truly ‘one of a kind’… Rob Van Dam. This match could be painful to watch, since RVD will be totally out of his league when it comes to the mat wrestling aspect, and Regal will never be able to keep up with Van Dam’s aerial tactics and sheer pace. Lance Storm really produced a fantastic demonstration job last week on Raw on how a ‘wrestler’ deals with Van Dam, and I can only hope Regal was paying close attention. Rob is by no means as limited as some smart marks would have you believe, and will sell perfectly well for Regal. What remains to be seen is how well they are able to integrate the highspots when they inevitably will come.
The Regal experiment needs to come to an end at this show. It’s been interesting to see how he’s been able to work in a relatively high position in the card, and as a fellow Brit I can’t deny it’s been fun to see one of our own being the Intercontinental Champion; but if the Edge feud proved anything, it showed that he can’t be counted on to produce the top ‘WWF style’ matches that the management want to see.
RVD crashed in a match to Angle on Smackdown thanks to Regal’s interference, so Van Dam gets his payback and title on the big show.
Edge v Booker T
Oh, here’s Edge… and what a comedown it’s been for him over the last month. Don’t get me wrong, I like Booker T, but I somehow don’t think a win over Booker is the WrestleMania homecoming Adam Copeland was expecting. For all the talk of how young Adam was ringside at the Skydome to see WrestleMania VI, I felt sure that there’d be a real story made of the ‘young boy’s dream comes true’ angle for this show. Instead, he’s feuding over nothing with Booker. Well, there might be a back-story of who got a Japanese shampoo commercial, but that ranks up there with the Kane-Jericho “cup of coffee” feud from 2000 for retarded feud booking, so we’ll gloss over that.
Is there any doubt that Edge will go over in his hometown, especially since he’s been denied his Intercontinental Title shot? Of course not. The real story will be how the WWF use Edge over the next few months. Could he work as a heel challenger for RVD’s newly won I-C belt? Will he get a higher spot in the card if the proposed roster split happens? I know the generally accepted ‘smart mark’ opinion is that Christian is the better worker of the ex tag team champions, but I still believe that Edge (rather than Christian) has all the tools to make it as a top line player. He’s in the same role that Triple H found himself stuck in during mid 1998, and just as HHH eventually found that one defining moment at SummerSlam 98 when the fans finally reacted to him (thus proving his main event potential) I believe Edge will have that opportunity during the rest of this calendar year. I, for one, wish him all the best.
Kane v Kurt Angle
Poor Kurt. When you talk about how pathetic Edge’s storyline is with Booker T and how he’s been wasted on this card, you have to remember that Kurt Angle is in an even worse position still. Kurt, more than anyone in the WWF, knows what it’s like to have to deal with ridiculous WWF booking. Kurt’s been on fire over the last few months, always delivering the goods in the ring and producing some exceptional promo work. His WrestleMania reward? Kane. Now, Angle and Kane have met a couple of times on free TV and I’ve yet to see a bad Angle-Kane match, so I have pretty high hopes for a respectable match here, but is this any way to treat a star performer on the biggest show of the year? This isn’t a blowoff PPV, you know.
Angle should’ve been put with Kevin Nash on this show. Nash has no one to work with, and with Kurt’s superior carrying ability, I dare say even the notoriously lazy “Big Sexy” could’ve been pulled up to something resembling decent. Of course, they’re both heels… but some intelligent booking could easily have produced a reason for the fans to get into the match. However, rather than help develop and book the actual wrestling talents into matches where they could draw a buyrate for the PPV, it was decided that there was much more money to be earned by spending countless segments on Stephanie’s search for her moisturising lotion, the perils of Triple H’s dog or the hilarity of a corvette being sliced in two. Oh well, I guess it’s the ability to use logic like that which makes Stephanie the head writer in the WWF.
Who will win the match though? I have to hope that Kurt wins, being that he’s practically slumming it by working this far down the card in the first place. Angle wins via an ankle lock submission
WWF Tag Team Titles
The Red Tights Party (Champions) v APA v Hardy Boyz v Dudley Boyz
Yes, the Red Tights Party are Chuck & Billy. Apparently this is the nickname that has been given to them by the fans in Japan, and I thought it was time to bring the name into more common usage in the Western World. Plus, the RTP is easier to type than Chuck & Billy.
What if they had a tag titles match and nobody cared? Well, you’re about to find out. For all the RTP’s entertaining backstage skits, they remain a black hole of talent in the ring. It says a lot for the Tag Division which once was the talk of the federation that the most over team are a tribute to the ‘West Hollywood Blonds’ team of Lodi & Lenny. The WWF shot themselves firmly in the foot after their decision to book the APA as the winners of the Tag Team Turmoil match last month when they suddenly realised that the Skydome’s concession stands couldn’t handle the rush that was likely to be caused by an APA v RTP tag match. Hence, the old standby… throw the Hardyz and the Dudleyz in there.
I still believe the Dudleyz are ripe for a few months stay at Ohio Valley so that when they eventually come back (in their face role) they’ll be fresh again. I also still believe that the Hardy split could be easily accomplished if one brother goes to each of the two rosters, belying the need for any ‘feud’. Because of that, I can’t honestly back either of them to win the gold. There’s also no need for the APA to win the titles unless the Outsiders are preparing to take the belts very soon. So, I might as well go for the RTP to have a successful defence.
WWF Women’s Title
Jazz v Lita v Trish Stratus
Woo hoo! Three ladies, three times the blown spots!
Seriously though, both Jazz and Trish have shown some real talent in the last couple of months (and I mean talent from a WWF ladies division standpoint, so no irate Joshi-loving emails please…) and have had a couple of heated matches. When Jazz took the belt from Trish a few weeks back, I imagined that the reason for the switch was so that Lita could take the belt at WrestleMania. That may still be the case, but with Trish thrown into the mix, the WWF could make up for their screw-up with Edge by giving Toronto gal Trish the belt for a guaranteed hometown pop.
At the end of the day though, it’s the WWF women’s title. Is there anyone who would really care if the belt was retired tomorrow? My prediction? I’ll go for Trish.
WWF European Title
Diamond Dallas Page (Champion) v Christian
A last minute addition to the card, and while it’s a by-product of some rushed booking, unlike several undercard WrestleMania matches there is actually a storyline to the match.
Christian inexplicably turned on his new mentor DDP after a win against Billy on Raw, and challenged him for the Euro belt that DDP actually took from Christian six weeks ago. That being said though, how many people remember that DDP actually holds the Euro belt in the first place? He hasn’t worn the belt on any of his Raw and Smackdown appearances for weeks. And from a storyline perspective, are we supposed to ‘buy’ Christian as a legitimate threat for the title considering that he was incapable of winning any matches before hooking up with Page?
When he’s not being jobbed out and asked to throw tantrums in his matches, Christian is a damn fine worker, and away from the no-selling of the Undertaker feud, I have no doubt that DDP can still produce a decent match given the opportunity. This is DDP’s first ever WrestleMania (unless you count driving the Honky Tonk Man’s limo at WrestleMania VI) and I believe that he will be going all out to produce something he can be proud of. There’s a fair chance that this match will be a surprise hit on the card, but I can’t believe they’ll be given any more than 6 or 7 minutes to work.
I say (although it goes against all the ‘loser’ booking he’s received) Christian gets the belt back. I wonder if he’ll get a face pop for doing it in Toronto?
Should I buy it?
Well, it’s WrestleMania… and as Scott Keith once wrote in his WrestleMania III review… “It's WrestleMania! Geez, what do you need my approval to see it or something?”
Put simply, it’s the one card of the year that everyone orders, regardless of the few potential clunkers on offer. The one thing that becomes evident in all these matches and that is the fact that there is nothing that is guaranteed to be great from an in-ring standpoint, but there are plenty of matches which could generate some tremendous crowd heat.
Watch it for the event and the history, folks…