411’s Countdown to WrestleMania 24: History (Almost) Repeating

Posted by Michael Melchor on 03.28.2008

Some of WrestleMania 24 looks rather familiar – but a little different at the same time.


Graphic by Meehan

The Showcase Of The Immortals is almost upon us. Forget all about the underdog Giants winning the Super Bowl or the 50th anniversary of NASCAR – for many, many people out there, this is the big "sporting" event on the calendar. (If you're reading this right now, you may want to check yourself in a mirror because, chances are, you may be one of them.) Millions of eyes drawn to both sports and entertainment will be fixed on Orlando, FL on March 30.

And make no mistake, this is it. The Big One. The Grandaddy – well, technically father, if you count Starrcade. Nonetheless, this is simply the biggest show of the year on the wrestling calendar. Period, stop, end of sentence. There are some that would like to see Slammiversay or Bound For Glory as the Big Show of the Year. Some of us grassroots, throwback-types even wouldn't mind seeing the __th Anniversary Show or maybe Final Battle as the annual standard. Nonetheless, WrestleMania is the be-all and end-all of the wrestling year and, as the pinnacle event in our periodic escape, we embrace it as such every year. Whether it is a cabaret for the ages (looking at such shows as X-Seven) or a spirited attempt to show us the industry is as strong as it ever was (think ten years prior to our last parenthetical example), we're glued with rapt attention to the proceedings. Indeed, we will be doing the same in a mere matter of days, if not hours.

Looking at past shows, though, there are many things about this one approaching that feel rather familiar. In some instances with some matches, it's rather blatant. Ray Charles could point out to us where he's seen some of this stuff before, and he's blind and dead. In others, though, there's only a grazing hint of the habitual; an odd sense of déjà vu – the purest form that you can't quite put your finger on and leaves you wondering for the rest of the day why it felt like it had happened once somewhere before.

WWE Title Match – Randy Orton vs. Triple H vs. John Cena

In one glaring instance, it almost happened before. Rather, history had happened before and almost repeated itself, but then took a sharp turn when we all thought we knew what was coming. Seven years ago, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin made the penultimate stop on his comeback trail to win the Royal Rumble. At the time, Kurt Angle – a brilliant but then-unproven talent – held the WWE Title with another nova, The Rock, hot on his heels. Recognizing a gold mine waiting to happen and deciding not to bet it all on the untested commodity, The Rock won the title at No Way Out of that year, setting up a marquee rematch between The Rock and Austin that blew the roof off of both the Astrodome and the box-office.

I could have bet the house, wife, farm, and kids that the same was about to happen this year. In fact, I almost did. Don't tell her, please. But I was 125% certain that the same would occur now. I was prepared for the Triple-H vs. John Cena rematch that...well, I don't know how many people were clamoring for. Certainly the mainstream fans were; Cena has become Hulk Hogan 2.0. Their most bankable star in the last four(-plus?) years. Seeing him against another legend-in-the-making, Triple-H – I would think it was a sure thing if the goal was to make some money off the deal.

Instead, WWE surprised me by entering the untested commodity into the mix, anyway. Rather than Cena beating Champion Randy Orton for the title at No Way Out, they left it on him. The main event is now under triple-threat rules featuring the marquee rematch plus the wild card. A great way to shirk predictability, sure – but we'll see how it plays out on the Main Stage where all eyes will be scrutinizing the match with a judge's scorecard in hand, for nowhere is performance level more important than this particular headlining spot.

World Title Match – Edge vs. The Undertaker

On the scarred side of the coin, we've seen the build for the World Title Match before. Just last year, as a matter of fact. Then, it was Batista, not Edge, who was defending his coveted 40-pounds-of-gold against the unbeaten undead.

The undefeated streak of the Undertaker isn't so much the factor of familiarity. On the grand stage that's become a constant, ranking up there with E=mc2 or ax + by = c. It's one of the perennial pieces of intrigue that surrounds the show each year – will someone knock the phenom off of that most lofty of perches, or will he retire having done what no one ever has or possibly ever will? Indeed, not even Hulk Hogan – who birthed one of the taglines for the show (the one that started this screed, as a matter of fact) – can lay claim to such a feat.

Again, though, we see that intrigue matched against the coveted title that so many others have fallen to protect from the inhuman competition. This year, the task falls on Edge, a veteran performer who's spot in the main event – probably even the Hall Of Fame – is set in stone. The dastardly villain who has plagued the Deadman for almost a full year now becomes the obstacle for the coveted streak. It seems that Edge has all the chance of an American bystander in Tikrit to make it out of there in one piece. Two years running, we have seen the same. It almost fits like an old glove – albeit one that's showing its wear.

Floyd Mayweather vs. The Big Show

Sadly enough, another foregone conclusion in the form of a victim seems to be the Big Show. Especially depressing because he looks to take a fall against an outsider. While his nickname may be up for serious debate in the wake of some excruciating promo pieces promoting this bout, Floyd "Money" Mayweather is looking to not only earn a lot of that for his cup of coffee, but to take an established player down along the way.

History has been just short of cruel to the WWE faithful when it comes to interlopers stepping into their ring and playing their game. Twice before we have seen it now. The first, while actually a decent match, was the most notorious – Lawrence Taylor, the bad boy who shattered Joe Montana's career, against an madly capable combatant in the form of the dearly-deceased Bam Bam Bigelow. Bam Bam made it look good, for it was his job to do so. Funny that we mention "job", because, against all logic and sense, that's exactly what Bigelow did.

Adding to the recurring theme is the fact that, lest we all forget (unless you were one of the ones that wisely chose that time to use the restroom and forage for food), the Big Show has already played the same role once before. No less than three years ago, it was grand Sumo champion Akebono that tried his luck against the Big (Side)Show on Show's own turf – and flattened the world's largest athlete like a soggy crepe. Once again, Show looks to be the fall guy for an invader into our past-time. If he's not careful, he could easily make a career out of this sort of thing, albeit one of highly dubious distinction.

Career Threatening Match - Ric Flair vs. Shawn Michaels

When it comes to making careers, though – although in the best way possible – Shawn Michaels has built his reputation of consummate skill in the biggest spotlight he could muster. Whether it be the first (recorded and "official") Iron Man match or giving it his all on his way out in making another star or putting on one show-stealing effort after another since his once-thought-impossible return, Michaels has commanded the playing field each time he steps in.

His skills will be tantamount in building the drama in a situation we haven't seen in seventeen long years. Only twice before has someone retired or been threatened with it at WrestleMania. Roddy Piper was the first; win, lose, or draw, he left the sport once he left number III. (Granted, we all know how long that lasted, but that's another discussion.) Four years later, both Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior stepped through the ropes with the understanding that whomever lost would not return ever again. A much quieter and much more significant episode was the unsung case of Steve Austin, who wrestled his last regular, competitive match five years ago. None of us knew at the time that we were witnessing his last hurrah, as it may have been the most ballyhooed occasion in the event's storied history.

Since number VII, however, no careers have been advertised as being on the line at WrestleMania. That changes this year, when Ric Flair faces Michaels with only Flair's distinguished but elongated career on the line. If history is any witness, though, even if Flair loses and walks away from the sport, it may be sooner than later that he returns one more time. Shed no tears for Flair – if he hangs it up and the boots stay hung, he's had a run that only a handful of other gladiators could even dream of matching. If he gets the duke, however, his time will roll on well into the sunset.

Playboy Bunnymania Match - Candice Michelle & Maria vs. Beth Phoenix & Melina

Another para-tradition that rolls on (much to my chagrin, although I will keep my personal agita out of the equation as best I can) is the involvement of Playboy magazine. The publication rears its head on what seems to be a yearly basis as far as the career-furthering efforts of WWE's Divas (please spare the "empowerment" talk – any cock-eyed sheep with a spare brain cell can see that's a smokescreen). Every so often, though, it also gets is name and trademarked image more exposure as a result of lending its name – as well as a couple of its bunnies who happen to be wrestlers – to an actual WrestleMania match.

It was at WrestleMania 2000 (why was that one never given its proper sequential number? The mind boggles) that this came up the first time. If you look in the documented results and records, you may see that, "Torrie Wilson and Sable defeated Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie in a Playboy Evening Gown Match". Of course, the former team was sports-entertainers-cum (heh)-Playboy-Playmates. The latter was there to take the fall for the more popular (because they dared to go bare, if for no other reason) team in a situation that made little sense. An "Evening Gown Match", by definition, is one where the losers are to be stripped of the title ring attire. If truth be told, would it really have mattered to Sable and Wilson that they be stripped since they'd shown it all already? Oh, and the match lasted all of 2:33.

I well and fully understand that this sort of thing is custom built for the "entertainment" portion of our program. Only an utter backwoods fool would expect to see the catch-as-catch-can suspension of disbelief we watch the rest of the show for rear its head in any form whatsoever in a match like this. At least with this go-round, it is billed as a regular rules match. Although, with the supreme pimp Snoop Dogg serving as MC, would it surprise anyone to see someone get stripped down, anyway?

But then, that's what it's all about, anyway. The glitz and glamour, the fun and excitement, the drama and pageantry. This is but one component of many forming the whole of why this event is so polarizing and important to a sizeable audience of us who want to attempt to suspend disbelief in watching the last honest bastion of performance art at its finest. Yes, we've seen some of it before. Some of it not too long ago, some of it many years back. And some of it was given a new twist altogether. However it comes presented, we will all be ready this weekend when the world as we know it stops for four hours to define what we will see and experience for the next twelve months until a new chapter of the Ultimate Spectacle is written next year.