411’s Countdown to WrestleMania 23: The WrestleMania XVIII Roundtable Review
Posted by Larry Csonka on 03.28.2007
ICON vs. ICON! Oh yeah, and The Rock battles Hulk Hogan too.
Introduction~!
WrestleMania XVII was a huge show, possibly the best WrestleMania ever. The company would have to work hard to follow up that show if they wanted the same kind of results. The Undertaker would do battle with Ric Flair, The Rock would have a match with Hulk Hogan, a match most thought would never happen, the n W o would be a part of the event for the first time ever and HHH would challenge for the Undisputed title after almost one-year off due to a torn quad. And who could forget the epic Japanese Shampoo feud between Edge and Booker T? This show also features the last defense of the IC Title at a WrestleMania. Let's meet the staff and break down the show!
Our analysts today are…
Iron Man Stuart Carapola!
Extremist Mike Bauer!
For helping out he is in my personal Top 10, Julian Williams!
Stuart Carapola: William Regal got to play transitional champion for a few weeks as he had recently beaten Edge (thanks to a set of knucks, which was his big gimmick then), and then dropped the title to Van Dam here. They got a little stiff, but the match was otherwise not remarkable, and pretty much everyone expected Van Dam to win. This was the first of several IC Title runs for Van Dam.
Mike Bauer: Outside of Bret vs Owen, this may have been one of the best openers ever at Wrestlemania. Regal had just won the title from Edge (yes, I did say that) and almost as quickly lose the title to Rob van Dam, who came over from ECW after the Invasion angle ended. RVD won he first IC Championship here and would go on to have some amazing matches during the next little while as champ.
Julian Williams: This was the second year in a row where Regal opened up Wrestlemania fighting over the IC title. This match wasn't as good as the Jericho/Regal match a year before at WM17, but this was still a damn fine match with RVD taking some nasty suplexes from Regal. The match ended with a 5* frog splash from Van Dam to pick up his first Intercontinental title. Good opening match that got the crowd into things.
Match Rating: B-
Dan Wilcox: The would be the last time the Intercontinental Championship would be defended at Mania to date, including, it would seem, this years. Van Dam was already massively over and should probably have been higher up the card than this, but life's a bitch sometimes. Regal was coming off of a three month program with Edge that I think polarizes some people, while I personally enjoyed it, others didn't. Whether you did or not is irrelevant, because you really cannot deny how good Regal was from his debut to around the end of 2002. Van Dam's last program was with Goldust and as it turned out this match was basically thrown together and had a very under whelming build to it. As it happened, the match itself was very decent as Van Dam and Regal had good chemistry an put on a good opener that the 68,000 fans were really into, but only got 6 minutes or so, starting a pattern for the rest of the night. With more time, I think they could've had a really great match here, but I don't think these two have ever really had many matches together and therefore haven't been able to prove what they can do together, which I could say for Regal and a number of other guys actually. Van Dam won with a Five Star Frog Splash.
Stuart Carapola: DDP had beaten Christian for the European Title some time before this, and following the loss of the title Christian went on a losing streak. After each loss, he'd throw a temper tantrum and do the baby act. DDP, in the meantime, had just started doing his motivational speaker thing, complete with one of the greatest catchphrases of all time: "That's not a bad thing, it's...a good thing!" and then he'd do this stupid grin that still cracks me up. So now that Page was a motivational speaker, he took it upon himself to help Christian straighten out his head and get back on the winning track. Christian turned things around, but now thinking that he had worked out his problems, he turned on his mentor and wanted his title back. In an interesting footnote, this was DDP's first wrestling appearance at Wrestlemania, but he had appeared once before: as the driver of the Honky Tonk Man's car at Wrestlemania 6, in the very same venue. Page won and...you guessed it, Christian flipped out and threw a tantrum!
Mike Bauer: This was actually a bit of a fun angle here as Christian became the baby of the WWE for a little while. During his losing streak, Christian would throw a temper tantrum the likes I wish I could duplicate and make it worse. Well, enter motivational speaker Diamond Dallas Page saying that Christian's streak was a "Not a bad thing, but a good thing." It came complete with a cheesy smile and was funny to watch. So once Christian won a match, he turned on DDP and wanted his title back. Of course Page won and Christian… well, you can guess that.
Julian Williams: Holy crap, remember the European title? That belt was just pretty much fodder for wrestlers the ‘E didn't have enough faith in to put the IC title on, but wanted to make them see sort of important. Hence these two are in the match. A lot of people crapped on this match saying that it was too short and felt like a TV match and while it was indeed too short, it was pretty damn entertaining and I liked it. Definitely not a classic by any means, but a fun little match. The match ended when DDP did a couple counter sequences with Christian until he hit the Diamond Cutter for the three count. He then points out that he's proud of how Christian kept his composure after losing in front of 60,000+ people, which of course causes Christian to throw a temper tantrum. What a sore winner DDP is.
Match Rating: C+
Dan Wilcox: The story behind this match was that Christian was on a losing streak which Page helped him get out of, only for Christian to turn on him 6 days before WrestleMania and thus we got this match. The match itself was another decent 6 minute contest that Diamond Dallas won with the Diamond Cutter, and Christian had one of his temper-tantrums after the match. And that's not a bad thing, that's a good thing! I think the wrong guy went over here; Christian had just broken his losing streak with help from Page, then fails to win on his own, making him look like an even bigger joke than he already was. Page wouldn't be with the company much longer anyway, and coincidentally, neither would the European Championship
Hardcore Title: Spike won the title from Maven, then Hurricane beat Spike, Molly Holly beat Hurricane, Christian beat Molly and then finally Maven won the title back from him
Stuart Carapola: As if the Hardcore Battle Royal wasn't enough to devalue the title, this just went further to show that the whole concept had turned into a joke. It started out with Maven defending against Goldust, but Spike Dudley ended up running in and stealing the fall, which was legal because of the retarded 24/7 rule. Spike ran, but throughout the night we were treated to more fighting over the Hardcore Title, which was won in succession by Hurricane, Molly Holly, Christian, and finally Maven again. So not only had one of the biggest failures in WWE history walked out with one of the most meaningless titles in WWE history, but he did it by beating a man who is now a two-time NWA World Champion.
Mike Bauer: Okay, the Hardcore Title was a joke by this point as event Terri had made a pinfall and become Hardcore Champion for five seconds. At least this saw the end of Mighty Molly as she turned on Gregory "Hurricane" Helms. Holy Nightmare Helms, Christian, a two time NWA Champion, actually lost the title to Maven at the end of it all! It was crazy to watch, but in the end proved the title was meaningless, unlike when Mankind was handed the title.
Julian Williams: Holy crap, remember the Hardcore title. It was kind of cool until the whole 24/7 thing took over and then it just kind of became a gimmicky belt. Anywho, Maven did some nice selling at the beginning of this match, getting his ass thoroughly kicked by Goldust until Spike Dudley comes in to steal a pin (under 24/7 rules). Spike then gets chased to the back where he gets pinned by The Hurricane, who gets pinned by Mighty Molly, who gets pinned by Christian, who gets pinned by Maven. So basically after all that, we were right back to where we began. Greeeeeat.
Match Rating: C
Dan Wilcox: Tough Enough winner Maven had managed to get himself over as a face by eliminating The Undertaker from the Royal Rumble in that unforgettable moment. Goldust had returned to the WWF in that same match and had impressed in a short but enjoyable program with Rob Van Dam. Several weapons including trash cans and a shovel of all things. Maven missed a few spots early on but it's a hardcore match, so it's okay. The finish came when they knocked each other out with dueling trash can lid shots and Spike Dudley ran in and covered for the 3. Spike ran out through the crowd, as Crash Holly chased him out, followed by Goldust and Maven. But that would not be the end of the Hardcore action for the night, as we were treated to several backstage segments throughout the night which saw several title changes including Hurricane Helms pinning Spike, Mighty Molly pinning Helms, Christian knocking Molly out with a door to get the title, and finally Maven rolling up Christian in the car park before leaving with the gold. We also got to see Al Snow and Teddy Long riding around in a golf cart, so all is good. Every WrestleMania needs some light comic relief, and this stuff was basically it.
Kurt Angle defeated Kane @ 10:44 via pin
Stuart Carapola: After the run he had in 2001, seeing Angle in there with Kane was a big letdown, and even with as much respect as I have for Kurt, I didn't expect him to get much out of Kane. I definitely think I was underselling Kane at the time, and the match didn't turn out to be half bad. They totally botched the finish, though. Angle was supposed to roll up Kane and put his feet on the ropes for the win, but he was too far away and Kane had to lay there for like ten seconds while Angle struggled to stay on top of both Kane and the ropes for the win. It's Angle though, and that was the only serious botch I ever remember him being involved in, so I can let it go.
Mike Bauer: Kurt Angle had an amazing first two years in the WWE and then had to face Kane in a non title match at Wrestlemania. This was a good case of how the might can fall but rise back up pretty quickly. He got a pretty good match out of Kane, despite one of the worst botched endings I can remember.
Julian Williams: I don't even remember what these guys were fighting over. Kurt probably made fun of his mask or his gay fire tights. This match was damn good, but what else would you expect from any Kurt Angle match circa 2002. Kane got completely carried in this match as Kurt just brought all kinds of awesomeness including the first time (I think) he did the running up the ropes superplex. The ending of the match dragged it down a bit as Kurt was suppose to roll up Kane and hold onto the ropes, but the result was an awkward looking attempt at a rollup. Despite the flawed ending, this was still a highly entertaining contest.
Match Rating: B-
Dan Wilcox: Apparently Angle inflicted "head trauma" on Kane a few weeks before Mania leading to this match. They try to play up that injury and Angle works the head of Kane for most of the match, but unfortunately it's mostly kicks to the head of Kane and rest holds until Kane mounts his comeback. To my memory, this is the first time these two met one-on-one and they showed good chemistry. Angle was coming off a feud with Triple H that at one point saw him in the main event of Mania instead of The Game but instead got stuck in this program. Thankfully, Kane would be taking some time off after Mania and Angle would be moving on to have 2002's Feud of the Year with Edge so Angle went over here to keep him strong. The finished looked really weak as Angle and Kane seemed to manage to botch a roll-up and it probably hurt the match a little. The match picked up later on and turned into a fun little 10 minute bout.
No DQ: The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair @ 18:47 via pin
Stuart Carapola: I considered this match to be downright tragic. Flair was totally overmatched here and I never gave him a chance at winning. Ric was a storyline co-owner of the WWF at the time, and I think this sprung from Undertaker being unhappy with some decision he had made, and it got physical. Undertaker was a real bastard leading up to this, too. He attacked both Arn Anderson and Flair's son David and left them laying, letting Flair know that he was going to do the same thing to him. He did, too. Flair was totally ineffective against the Undertaker, and even with interference from Arn Anderson (which got a BIG pop from the crowd), Undertaker fought them both off and gave Flair the Tombstone for the win. Flair was also noticeably getting older, and it was really disheartening to watch. Definitely not one of my favorite moments of Undertaker's streak.
Mike Bauer: Yes, Ric Flair is on the Undertaker's list of people he has beaten at Wrestlemania. But Flair wasn't a wrestler at the time, he was half owner of the WWE and he had made the mistake of pissing off the Undertaker, which I somehow have to believe had Vince McMahon written on it as the other half owner. The match was decent, but Flair could do nothing against the Undertaker and the streak was set to continue.
Julian Williams: This was a great feud, in my opinion, as The Undertaker was pissed off at Flair for costing him a title shot so he wanted a match with him at Wrestlemania, but Flair refused being that he was still the GM of Raw at the time. So ‘Taker took matters into his own hands by beating down Flair's longtime friend, Arn Anderson, and Flair's son, David. That was enough to convince Flair to accept the match and what we got was a damn entertaining match that saw both men beat the holy hell out of each other and featured a SUPER mark out moment for myself and many others when Arn Anderson came out of nowhere to give ‘Taker an OLD SCHOOL spinebuster. Of course ‘Taker won, which brought him to 10-0 at ‘Mania at the time. This was a very enjoyable match that surprised the hell out of me in terms of sheer quality.
Match Rating: B
Dan Wilcox: The story here was that Taker wanted a match with Flair after he cost him a match with The Rock at No Way Out, but Flair, then co-owner of the WWF refused to wrestle him. So The Deadman took it upon himself to force Flair into a match by attacking his best friend Arn Anderson, and then his son David Flair while he was training at some wrestling academy. Taker also had Flair arrested after he missed a right hand to Taker and punched out a fan who was actually a guy you may have heard of, Paul London? Anyway, this all lead to the Board of Directors handing 100% control of the company over to Mr. McMahon until after WrestleMania. Vince, who obviously held a grudge against Flair made it a No Holds Barred match. Much like Taker's match with Triple H at the previous year's WrestleMania, it was mostly just a big brawl around ringside and through the fans. There were a few points in the match where Ii thought that the Nature Boy would actually be able to pull off an upset, but the American Badass would not be beaten on this night. Even interference from Arn Anderson and one of the prettiest spinebusters you will ever see, Flair could put Taker away, and eventually he picked up the win with a Tombstone. It was surprisingly decent when you think it was essentially 18 minutes of punches and random chair shots, I guess there's just something about WrestleMania that makes everything that bit more special. By the way, this was the first match of the night that felt important at all. The match was great fun to watch and towards then end picked up a lot and had a great sense of drama, but Taker had just become 10-0 and WrestleMania.
Edge defeated Booker T @ 6:35 via pin
Stuart Carapola: Hey, you know Edge and King Booker, those two guys who were both World Champion last year? Well, back in 2002 they were fighting one another not for a title, but because Booker T was pissed that Edge got a gig doing a Japanese shampoo commercial and he didn't. The storyline was as enthralling as it sounds. Edge was getting his first serious singles push at the time and went over as expected, although he dropped a rematch shortly afterward. Booker T, in the meantime, turned face and spent 2002 reenacting the Odd Couple with Goldust.
Mike Bauer: Booker T was a five time, five time, five time, five time, five time WCW World Champion and he was pissed at Edge for being held in higher regard than himself. Edge got a commercial in Japan or something and it pissed off Booker T. Edge was getting a serious push here and made a good showing of it. Booker T ended up going backwards I think, as he ended up teaming up with Goldust. Yes, that was a real team, sad to say.
Julian Williams: Ahh yes, the famous feud over shampoo. Granted, the angle leading up this match was pretty crappy (even though it was great to see Booker trying to act), but I think that people unfairly overlook this match due to the fact it was over shampoo. This was a really good match with both men busting their ass to provide something entertaining. Edge won the match after nailing Booker with the Edgecution (why doesn't Edge use that anymore) and I still feel that this is a damn good match. Next time you watch the match, just forget the stupid angle attached to it and I think you'll appreciate just how good a match it is.
Match Rating: C+
Dan Wilcox: For those fortunate enough not to remember, they were fighting over a Japanese shampoo endorsement. You read that right. Watching this show back and seeing this go 6 minutes again really pisses me off. The biggest show of the year and they can't even be bothered to give anything decent time, and this was another of those thrown together at the last minute deals. This match didn't need to be on the card but neither man had anything to do so they just made up this really lame angle. I guess it's because we were in Toronto and Edge would get a nice hometown pop, which he did, but I cannot believe they couldn't come up with something better than this. As for the match itself, it was OK, just OK. Much like RVD/Regal and Page/Christian (I was tempted to right Cage) it felt like it was just a normal free TV match, and even then not a particularly good one.
Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall @ 9:52 via pin
Stuart Carapola: This match was more interesting for the political reasons surrounding it than for the match itself. On Hall's side, he had only been rehired by the WWF about a month or two before this, and he had Kevin Nash in his corner here. Why was Nash in Hall's corner and not wrestling at Wrestlemania himself? Well, the main reason I had heard was that, due to Hall's infamous problems in the past, the WWF didn't know if Hall was going to make it to Wrestlemania without falling apart again, and they were holding Nash out in case Hall imploded and they needed to sub him in. Turns out Hall made it to Wrestlemania, but was gone about a month later anyway. Austin, in the meantime, was really upset for two reasons. Number one, Rock got the match with Hogan and he didn't, and the second reason was that he was working fifth from the top after main eventing the last three WrestleManias he was a part of. To make matters worse, Hall was originally booked to go over here, but Austin threw a fit over it and had the finish changed. So Austin went over, but his dissatisfaction with the way things were going came to a head a few months after this when he had his infamous walkout after they asked him to do a job to Brock Lesnar on free TV.
Mike Bauer: So it's history time here. After the Royal Rumble and Ric Flair beating Vince McMahon, Vince said it was time to inject some poison into his creation and it came in the form of Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Hulk Hogan… the New World Order. Steve Austin was the main target of the NWO, but Hogan got himself sidetracked with The Rock. Nash was in Hall's corner and I doubt that even I expected him to make it Wrestlemania. Not only did he make it, but he should have gone over Austin. Hall was out a month later, being replaced with Shawn Michaels. Kevin Nash got injured again two months later and the NWO was gone. Austin ended up not wanting to job to Brock Lesnar on television and also left two months later. It's amazing. For as much as we complain about Hogan not putting people over, Austin was so much worse.
Julian Williams: You know, I forgot just how much offense Scott Hall got in this match until I watched it again recently. I always remembered this match as being a squash for Austin, but that's only in the last few minutes when Austin takes over. The beginning of the match was all Hall, who took advantage of the fact that Kevin Nash was at ringside to distract Austin. Once Austin was able to comeback, there was no stopping him despite numerous ref bumps and Kevin Nash trying everything in his power to stop him. I still love Scott Hall's super exaggerated sell of the stunner, it literally made it seem like he got stunned out of his boots.
Match Rating: C
Dan Wilcox: Yeah, so the nWo was back and nobody cared about Hall or Nash, it was all about Hogan. Shock horror. At this point, neither Hall nor Nash should have been in a wrestling ring because they were both past it. I suppose Hall is the lesser of two evils hear and it's a good job that Nash was just used in the enforcer role here. But Austin was pissed off at the company anyway for shuffling him down the card after he practically carried the company from late 2000 to early 2002. And we all know what happens when the Texas Rattlesnake gets upset, he takes his ball and goes home. Yup. The match was all about the interference from Nash and it took about 10 referees to finally get him to the back. The whole was far too sloppy from start to finish and nothing looked coherent. Austin picked up the win after about 12 Stone Cold Stunners at roughly 10 minutes, so yeah, this match was 10 minutes too long. This match basically killed off the return of the nWo in minutes, and they would soon be pushed down the card, include no Hogan but instead get X-Pac. Fair trade. I believe nWo's next rivalry was the APA. ‘Nuff said
Stuart Carapola: I was really let down by this match. The Dudleyz and Hardyz were in blow away matches against each other for the two previous WrestleManias, and the APA was also a top team that didn't fit into the TLC mold, but were a badass pair anyway. Billy & Chuck, on the other hand, were two guys they didn't have a direction for, so they paired them up together, made them gay, and had them get gay married at the end of the year...almost. But neither of them were great workers, and dragged down what could otherwise have been a great match, a)by being there and b)by going over and continuing one of the worst Tag Team Title reigns in recent memory. Maybe some kind of other gimmick besides TLC would have helped, but as it was there was no saving this match.
Mike Bauer: Billy and Chuck were simply one of the most unusual gimmicks I have ever seen for a tag team, but unlike many before them, they made it work for a lot longer than it should have. With Edge and Christian dissolved, you still had the Dudleyz and The Hardys flying around and the APA as well in the fray. Billy and Chuck won here and continued a fun year while the greatest team ever, the Dudleys, were forced to break apart after the draft a week later. That right there was for sure the most heartbreaking moment in Raw history.
Julian Williams: Sweet Jesus, it's Billy & Chuck. That music is still kick ass, I don't care what any of you say. This match was pretty generic, nothing really special about it. The only notable things in this match is Billy Gunn selling the clothesline from hell like it was death itself and D-Von getting pushed off the top rope and landing face first through a table. Billy & Chuck pulled out the victory (as they seemingly always did) and this was a fairly unforgettable match.
Match Rating: C-
Dan Wilcox: This was elimination rules and that was quite frankly a mistake. The match got 14 minutes and considering how poor this was, is a shame when you think potentially great matches like Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal only got 6. Billy and Chuck had recently beat Spike and Tazz for the tag titles and were in the early stages of their queer ass gimmick which sucked almost as much as Kip James does now. The match was a bit of a shambles from start to finish with the APA getting eliminated first, followed by the Dudleyz after D-Von was sent crashing through his own table and a distracted Bubba took the pin. And yet the fans did not care, they were disinterested in this match – I think they were anticipating Rock/Hogan but it looked as if these 4 teams just gave up. In fairness, it did pick up in both match quality and crowd heat (the girls popped for the Hardyz, did I just right that?) but still not worthy of so much time in comparison to other stuff on the card
The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan @ 16:33 via pin
Stuart Carapola: Triple H and Jericho closed Wrestlemania, but this was the match that sold the show. In a true passing the torch moment, Hogan suffered only his second clean loss in the WWF since he won his first title in 1984, and it was twelve years after the first and in the same venue. What really caught me off guard was how overwhelmingly pro-Hogan the crowd was. It was surprising because Hogan had become one of the most hated men in the business during the years he was in WCW, and now here he is being cheered against one of the top two WWF stars of the Attitude Era, and not only that, but they were actually booing the Rock, as well. It was probably one of the most surreal things I've ever seen in wrestling. As I said, Rock went over, but Hogan turned face after the match, first by shaking rock's hand, then by being turned on by Hall and Nash. It's so funny how they thought they were bringing in a top heel, but instead wound up with one of the biggest baby faces of the year.
Mike Bauer: So Hogan got sidetracked from Austin to take on the Rock. Looking back, I think this was the right choice, given Austin's injury history and the fact that The Rock hadn't gone Hollywood yet. The match was used as a passing of the torch as to who would be the man in wrestling for the next while. I don't think Austin could have carried the torch any better than The Rock would have in Hollywood hadn't called. The Rock did beat Hogan clean, which is something that never happens. But even more amazing was the crowd reaction. The crowd was behind Hogan, despite becoming the most hated man in wrestling during the past five years. The crowd even booed the Rock, who was honestly the most over face in the WWE, even more than Austin or the returning HHH. It was totally unreal and Hogan did become a fan favorite again after being shoved to the curb by Hall and Nash. But still, those two face to face in the middle of a ring was a picture that you could not forget
Julian Williams: Ohh hell yea, this right here was a GREAT match. How great? One of my friends, who had sworn off wrestling since he was 8 years old and said it was the stupidest thing on the face of the earth, actually sat down and watched WM18 with me just for this match. And he was marking out like crazy for Hogan. And to this day since this match happened, he hasn't watched another wrestling match since. The electricity in the Skydome for this match was unbelievable and every time I watch this match, I get Goosebumps. This was in no means a mat classic, but the environment made it feel like it was the greatest match ever. Seeing Hogan hulk up in the WWE again after 9 years was absolutely unbelievable and the crowd reaction to it just intensified it. This was an unforgettable match that is a must see for any wrestling fan. He crowd alone makes it unforgettable and the match wasn't half bad, either.
Match Rating: B+
Dan Wilcox: This one is all about crowd reactions. The crowd turns on the biggest babyface in the industry and boos Rock out of the building while the heel Hogan gets a HUGE ovation for all his offence. The crowd makes the match something special. It didn't matter what the Hulkster did, Toronto was just not going to boo the guy on this night. In the build up, Hulk Hogan drove a semi-truck into an ambulance containing The Rock after he had already had his head caved in with a hammer. But they still loved this guy and I can't think for the life of me why. I thought Toronto was supposed to be smarky. I've heard people calls this match a classic but I have to disagree with that. It was basically spot, finisher, ref bump, finisher, finisher, finisher, finisher and I can honestly say I was overwhelmed by the crowd heat, because it was off the chart, but that doesn't make it a great match. I wouldn't say it was a bad, but not good either. And yet it's still one of Hogan's best. The first 10 minutes were just about painful to watch but the drama in the end was good stuff. Of course after the match we get Hogan turning face after the match and Rocky saves Hogan from a beat down at the hands of Hall and Nash, yet they still boo The Rock! Classic. I hate the hypocrisy of the way JR damns Hogan for trying to kill The Rock, then goes off on how awesome he is at the end. It's just bullshit and this stuff was way overrated. Sorry. The worst thing about all this was that these fan reactions eventually led to them deciding to end Triple H's run to put the title on Hogan leading to some of the worst pay-per-view main events I can remember. I hate Hulk Hogan, you might've guessed.
WWF Women's Title: Jazz defeated Lita and Trish Stratus @ 6:19 via pin
Stuart Carapola: As great of a worker as Trish developed into as time went on, she was still developing here and needed Jazz and Lita in there to carry her. She did bust her ass as always, though, and got over with her hometown crowd by coming out in a cute little outfit with the Canadian maple leaf on it, but unfortunately, this wouldn't be her night: Jazz got the win and walked out with the title in what was probably the biggest moment in her own career.
Mike Bauer: This was Toronto, Trish's hometown, so you had to figure she was coming out on top. But with her still being developed and her opponents having all the tools already, they made the right choice in having her wait a year. I still would have preferred Lita winning the title here, but it was Jazz's night and the biggest win in her career perhaps.
Julian Williams: This was actually a very good women's match, but the ladies weren't going to get any kind of love following Rock/Hogan. It seemed a foregone conclusion that Trish was going to win the title here seeing that it was in her hometown and it was Wrestlemania, where dreams are suppose to come true, but alas it wasn't to be and Jazz pulled out the victory to play spoiler to the hometown crowd.
Match Rating: C+
Dan Wilcox: This was in the death spot between the two marquee matches. Even Trish didn't get much of a reaction from her hometown despite looking so hot in a Maple Leaf outfit. I thought this would have been a great opportunity to put the title back on Trish but it was not to be as Jazz retained by pinning Lita. And it seems that tonight 6 is the magic number as that's the amount of time this match got as well. Considering we actually had decent Women's wrestlers back then, this is nothing spectacular but still pretty fun, even if the crowd were dead for the entire thing. I'm actually not going to complain about the time on this one because for a Women's match, even at Mania, 6 minutes wasn't anything out of the ordinary.
Undisputed World Title: HHH defeated Chris Jericho to become the NEW Undisputed Champion @ 18:45 via pin
Stuart Carapola: The thing most people seem to remember about this match is that Chris Jericho was being played as subservient to Stephanie McMahon and was cleaning up dog poop. Listen, everyone and their mother knew Triple H was getting the title here, but people forget that Jericho had one hell of a run leading up to Wrestlemania. He had turned heel the previous fall, nearly costing the WWF the Winner Take All match at Survivor Series. He put on an amazing performance by beating The Rock and Steve Austin in separate singles matches in one night, which had never been done before, to win both the WWF and WCW Title in the same night, which had certainly never been done before, and became the first Unified World Champion since the days of Lou Thesz. He followed that up with singles PPV victories over both Rock and Austin. He did pretty good, so don't shed tears for Jericho. Triple H, in the meantime, was fresh off his first quad injury that kept him out for eight months, and he was noticeably bulkier, but they still managed to put together a good match, which of course ended with Jericho taking a pedigree for the three count, giving HHH his first World Title in almost two years.
Mike Bauer: HHH had a storybook here that was Wrestlemania was all about, being a year in the making. After Wrestlemania 17, HHH tore his quad in a tag team match where he was teamed with Stone Cold Steve Austin as the biggest heel team in the company. He came back before the rumble and was immediately the one of the biggest faces in the company. He went on to win the Royal Rumble, by throwing out Kurt Angle in another storyline all together to face Chris Jericho. Now Jericho was the Undisputed Champion after beating Stone Cold and The Rock in the same night. He then beat The Rock to close that story at The Royal Rumble and then Austin at No Way Out. Jericho's heel turn was 100% perfect and he even enlisted the help of Stephanie to prepare for HHH. In the end, The Game won predictably, but started the chain of the title changing hands four times by the end of Summerslam, going to Hogan, the Undertaker, The Rock, and Brock Lesnar. HHH would be awarded The World Heavyweight Title in September and he strangle hold on the title would begin.
Julian Williams: This match often gets crapped on, with some people even having the audacity to call it one of the worst Wrestlemania matches EVER which is absolutely ludicrous because this was a really good match. It just shouldn't have gone last because there was no way they were going to be able to top Rock/Hogan in terms of anticipation. The story behind this was that Jericho was the chicken shit heel who was endorsed by Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, who was trying to get revenge on her ex-husband for dumping her. HHH was trying to regain the championship after missing 7 months due to a quad injury. The match was a great back and forth contest, with Jericho even looking like he might pull off the win at times. But of course since this is Wrestlemania, HHH's dream had to come true and it did after he Pedigreed Stephanie and then Jericho to claim another WWE Championship. Again, this was a very good match that unfairly gets overlooked.
Match Rating: B
Dan Wilcox: The build for this was extremely bad in my opinion, as it was far too focused on Triple H and Stephanie's break-up and them in general, while Jericho was made to look like Steph's lap dog, which didn't make sense either due to Y2J and McMahon's history of loathing each other. It's regularly disputed whether this should be the main event, or whether Rock/Hogan should have taken center stage. Before the show, I would have said "no" but in hindsight, I don't think it would have been a bad idea as the fans weren't as into this as they should have been, and I think it probably hurt the match a little. The match itself was good, borderline great, but it didn't have that Mania Main Event feel to it, probably partially because of Rock/Hogan. At least the fans came to life in the end of the match when Stephanie got the Pedigree and The Game won the title. Jericho looked good for the majority of the match, working Trips' leg, which we should all know Trips' history with leg injuries. Unfortunately, The Game didn't even bother to sell the injury when he made his comeback towards the end and that hurt the overall feel of the title change as well. Not a bad match, not memorable, not entirely their fault.
The Conclusion:
Stuart Carapola: I think that after Wrestlemania X-7, any show they would have put on would have been a letdown. However, the undercard here was really nothing to get excited about, and unlike the entire card being important top to bottom like the year before, the only matches here that meant anything were Rock-Hogan and HHH-Jericho, and the outcome of neither was in any serious doubt. People complained at the time, but little did they know how much they'd have to complain about in the future.
Mike Bauer: After Wrestlemania 17, it would be almost impossible to put on as good of a show. Still, that was a great attempt at it and it was an overall pretty good Wrestlemania. The only problem was that too much was predictable, from Ric Flair's destruction to Austin's win, to HHH's win. Other than that, this is one of the better WrestleManias that we have seen the past few years.
Julian Williams: Wrestlemania was a highly entertaining show so it always baffles me when people talk about it being a disappointment. You had an unforgettable match with Hogan/Rock, some quality matches with Kurt/Kane, Flair/Taker, and Jericho/HHH and everything else was good enough that it didn't drag down the show. This is a fun way to spend three hours, definitely check it out if you haven't yet.
Overall Show Rating: B
Dan Wilcox: Easily the worst WrestleMania in recent times. There was nothing particularly great about the wrestling on the show, and the only thing that seemed to have any real importance was Rock/Hogan and I didn't really enjoy that either. Blame Hogan. Not a Mania that I enjoyed going back and watching again.
