The Goodness 04.04.07: WrestleMania 23's Showstopper
Posted by on 04.04.2007
It wasn't Money in the Bank. It wasn't Cena/Michaels. It was Batista vs. the Undertaker that stole WrestleMania and became the show's defining moment.
Before I get to my column, I have to say that I thought WrestleMania would have been about 20 times more enjoyable if they had just added a couple of matches. Obviously, there were four big matches: Money in the Bank, Battle of the Billionaires and the two World title matches. That's fine. But you're telling me the WWE couldn't have put another two or three matches on the card? Why do I have to sit through all that filler when I'm paying $50 to watch something? I don't mind filler on Raw. I don't mind filler when it's some cameos of old wrestlers in a dance party or respect to Hall of Famers. But it just felt like there was so much time between matches, I was getting restless and bored. The solution was simple, too, either add more matches or give the signed matches some time. What's the point of building to a women's title match and giving it three minutes? Why have this ECW Originals/New Breed feud and let eight guys wrestle for five minutes? If there was about 20 more minutes of wrestling, just decent wrestling, the show would have been a lot easier to watch. As it is, I still marked out bigtime…
The Goodness 04.04.07: WrestleMania 23's Showstopper
When I started writing for 411mania.com way back in the summer of 2004, my unique brand of goodness was aimed at each week's Raw and SmackDown. Yes, I had the luxury of free time and nights without work, so I got to watch four hours of wrestling a week and rant and rave about it. I don't have that much time now but that's not the point. As I watched all the wrestling I could in the summer and fall of 2004, there was one guy who became my guy. I can't really explain it except to say that I wanted him to win every match as decisively as possible and destroy everything in his path. By the time work intervened and I went on hiatus from 411 in 2005, I was a complete, total and full-fledged mark for Batista.
In the past two years, since Batista arrived at WrestleMania 21, the opinions on the man and his abilities have been far ranging and divergent. Some people think he stinks. Some people think he's lost the talent he had in 2004, partially because of injuries. Others just think he's another Vince McMahon project, a hoss with lots of muscles and little to back it up with. All of this came to a head Sunday night as, in a scene reminiscent of last year's John Cena/Triple H main event, the crowd turned on Batista. Of course, Batista had acted like a heel so I'm not sure it should have been that much a surprise. Still, Batista was a heel for the first time since he was a member of Evolution.
That's not why his match with the Undertaker stole the show but it helped. One problem with the dome shows is that it takes a tremendous amount of noise to have it become audible to the people watching at home and, while no doubt the crowd made noise elsewhere, it was during the Batista/Undertaker match that the people came alive. Some at the show have credited the Undertaker's insane entrance that just had to be seen to be believed, apparently. Regardless of the reason, when the Undertaker stepped through those ropes, the electricity in the crowd doubled and it was on.
What set this match apart, almost from the outset, was how Batista just ran across and leveled the Undertaker. No staredown. No forcing of tension. These were two guys who have waited to get it on for months and Batista was pissed off about how he had been treated. From the second the match started, the story was already being told. Batista was, to put it politely, not going to take Undertaker's shit anymore and he was going to do something about it. As a wrestling fan, the suspension of belief kicked in immediately. As soon as Batista hit ‘Taker with force as the bell rang, I was enraptured. Thoughts of backstage shenanigans, politics and how the match would be booked were erased and replaced with those ten-year old markish thoughts of "I hope to hell Batista wins!"
That, in my opinion, is the essence of pro wrestling and that's what Undertaker and Batista did on Sunday night. They went out and put the crowd into the palms of their hand. Their match had legitimate, old school professional wrestling heat. The fans got lost into the moment, like they should. I know because I did too. I watched the match less like a wrestling match and more like a honest-to-goodness sporting event. I wanted Batista win. When the Undertaker did his supersweet plancha from the ring to floor, I wasn't thinking about workrate or how many stars the match would get. I was thinking that Batista was in a bad way.
The opinions on the match, judging from the Internet reactions, has varied greatly. I saw someone over at the Pro Wrestling Torch give it ****1/2 while our own J.D. Dunn gave it less than ***. In my opinion, this is a match that deserves four stars but, in actuality, it doesn't matter. What the match did Sunday was entertain. That's the point of pro wrestling. That was the point of all those "All Grown Up" promos the WWE ran for months. Wrestling is a form of entertainment that brings us back to our youth. That's how we all became fans.
On Sunday night, that's what the Undertaker and Batista did. They took the 80,000 fans in attendance back to their youth. They got adults to stand and cheer and scream about a fixed match like their lives depended on the result. That's what pro wrestling is about. Yes, the match featured highspots and tables breaking and multiple finishers. It was a technically sound and, in my opinion, fantastic match. I'm glad I was there to watch it. More importantly, I'm glad it got me so excited. I'm glad that I cheered at the television like my beloved New York Jets were scoring a touchdown. That's a good wrestling match. It was a match that far exceeded expectations.
When I look back at WrestleMania 23 a year from now or 10 years from now, the first thing I'll remember is the Batista/Undertaker match. Yeah, Cena/HBK was a stellar match but it produced an ending we've seen two years in a row now, though it lacked the intensity of last year's main event, and took nearly 15 minutes to get started. The Battle of the Billionaires provided some good moments but, despite my high praise two weeks ago, Bobby Lashley is not ready for primetime. He proved it again Monday night that he's just not there yet. And the Money in the Bank featured truly sickening and awe-inspiring spots, some innovative offense and a finish I could get behind.
It doesn't matter. There was only one match at WrestleMania 23 that had me yelling at the television. There was only one match that reminded me of my markish youth. There was only one match I wanted to watch again as soon as it ended. To Batista and the Undertaker, well done. You two provided the Showstopper of WrestleMania 23. You stole the show and, heck, you damn near stopped it because nothing could top it.
Here's the video proof and I hope like heck it's not taken down of YouTube. Everything I just wrote? It's all right there.
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