411's Countdown to WrestleMania 24: The 10th Anniversary of WrestleMania 14

Posted by Jerome Cusson on 03.18.2008

A Journey Culminated, A Journey Only Beginning...


Graphic by Meehan

Austin loaded up for the big. His kick was blocked. Michaels, with his last sap of energy being squeezed from a horribly injured back, tried his superkick, the move that puts them all down. Austin blocked it, gave him the double bird that been directed at so many this last year, and stunned his way to immorality. On the cover, the so-called baddest man on the planet slid in and counted to three. It signified not only a new champion, but a whole new era for the WWF. On commentary, Jim Ross' cracked and crawled as he talked about the eight year journey coming to an end. Ross, much like Shawn Michaels laying in the ring, seemed to be out of energy. Only so much history can happen before your voice flat gives out. Wrestlemania XIV saw "Stone Cold" Steve Austin win the WWF Championship. It also saw the last stand for a legendary tag team, a first (but not last by a long shot) time match between two fake brothers, an iconic ball of energy who deserves to be the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the woman who started the Diva craze changed the mixed tag match forever. It was Wrestlemania XIV…


A Journey Culminated, A Journey Only Beginning
The seeds for this Wrestlemania were put into place on February 11, 1990. It was on this night that James "Buster" Douglas threw the punch heard ‘round the world and who as a 100-1 shot, knocked Mike Tyson out to become the heavyweight champion of the boxing world. It was one of the most shocking upsets of all time, so shocking the WWF had to change their plans for a planned Saturday Night's Main Event.

Just four weeks Randy "Macho Man" Savage was supposed to wrestle World Wrestling Federation Champion Hulk Hogan on national television. Mike Tyson was the scheduled referee until that night in the Tokyo eggdome. His first WWF appearance was delayed. Little did everyone know how much both would change the ensuing eight years.

Tyson would have a few matches before being arrested and subsequently thrown in jail for rape. After getting out, he was tossed in the ring with the boxing equivalent of jobbers before finally getting his big chance to gain the world heavyweight title back and seal his legacy as one of the best boxers of his or any generation. In June of 1997, Tyson bit his way to disgrace... literally. His decision, for whatever reason, caused him to be banned from boxing for a year. So he needed the money and a fresh outlook on life.

The WWF cultivated a family friendly image for many years. They used their wrestling product to sell shirts, videos, and action figures. Thanks to the efforts of WCW and one Eric Bischoff, the best show in town was now making its' home in Atlanta, Georgia instead of Stamford, Connecticut. In early 1997, Vince Russo and Shane McMahon created a shift. No longer was it about saying your prayers and taking your vitamins. Wrestlers were swearing, bleeding, flipping people off, and not respecting authority anymore. There were two people in particular who embraced this shift more than anyone.

Shawn Michaels was already one of the best in ring performers. Then one night, in a seemingly randon pairing, he tag teamed with Triple H to combat another unusual team of The Undertaker and Mankind. Little did anyone know these two were actually friends and about to change the wrestling business simply by being themselves. It would begin with Bret Hart and The Hart Foundation. After all the controversy of the Survivor Series, Michaels appeared to be headed for Wrestlemania as the champion. But one more test lay ahead, a casket match with The Undertaker at the Royal Rumble.

Steve Austin, on the other hand, was the guy who was always missing something. Thanks to a shaved head, a goatee, a simple mantra about kicking ass and taking names, and the simplicity of black trunks, black boots, and a vest, Austin was the anti-Hulk. He didn't tell anyone to say or do anything. In fact, Austin could care less. His goal was to be the WWF champion no matter what it took. He would also get his chance at Royal Rumble '98 since he was one of 30 participants included in the modified battle royal itself.

Royal Rumble 1998
Steve Austin walked into this Rumble a marked man. It seemed like all 29 other men wanted their chance to eliminate Austin just as much as wanting to win and get their title shot at Wrestlemania. From start to finish, the Rumble was loaded with surprises. Mick Foley entered three different times as Mankind, Cactus Jack, and Dude Love. Five members of the Nation of Domination took their chances. Number 18 did not come out when his number was called. At first, everyone was concerned Steve Austin has been attacked. Too bad just a few spots later, Austin came through the crowd and immediately made his presence with quick eliminations. Even with his marked man status, Austin found his way in the winner's circle after eliminating The Rock, who himself had spent around 50 minutes in the ring after a touch Intercontinental title defense against Ken Shamrock.

Shawn Michaels' days as champion were seemingly ready to come to an end in the casket match. Not only was this The Undertaker's specialty match, but after a frustrating no contest followed by a Kane induced loss in the first ever Hell in a Cell match, the dead appeared ready to rise again. Kane and ‘Taker has even had a bonding moment on the RAW before this event. As the match progressed, ‘Taker was in control. An innocent looking bump then changed the course of WWF history as we know it.

Taker launched Michaels in the air, and Michaels back appeared to hit hard against the casket itself. He continued the match, but a four-and-a-half-year stay away from the ring would be in his immediate future. As The New Age Outlaws and Los Boriquas flew to the ring, ready to pull off something similar to Royal Rumble '94. Kane proved to be a knight in shining armor when he saved his brother. Shawn Michaels title reign would have been over except it was a diabolical plan by Kane's manager, Paul Bearer. Kane beat up his brother, laid him out in the casket, and even burned the casket. "Taker would make his comeback weeks later on RAW. The two main events were set. Now let's go to Wrestlemania.

Wrestlemania XIV, Boston MA
19,000 people piled into the Fleetcenter to see Steve Austin end his journey and watch ‘Taker gain revenge off his brother. This event was also being promoted dX raided. It was a whole new era. Gone were the celebrity likes of Regis Philbin and Bob Uecker. In were Pete Rose, who should be in the Hall of Fame, a disgraced former MLB player banned from the sport he loved for gambling. Jennifer Flowers barely qualifies as a celebrity. Her claim to fame was an affair with then Governor Bill Clinton. Then of course there was disgraced boxer Mike Tyson, an enforcer for the main event looking to help Shawn Michaels retain the belt as a member of D-Generation X.

L.O.D. 2000 (Hawk and Animal) (w/Sunny) won a 15 team Battle Royal. Also in the match were two teams representing Los Boricuas (Savio Vega and Miguel Pérez, Jr., and Jose Estrada, Jr. and Jesus Castillo), The Truth Commission (Recon and Sniper), Bradshaw and Chainz, two teams from the Nation of Domination (Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown, and Faarooq and Kama Mustafa), The Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau and Pierre Ouellet), The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson), The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher), Too Much (Scott Taylor and Brian Christopher), Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Ball and Skull), Steve Blackman and Flash Funk, The Godwinns (Phineas and Henry) and The New Midnight Express (Bombastic Bob and Bodacious Bart) (8:19)

There was something special right off the bat. Weeks earlier, the legendary Legion of Doom fought in the locker room and appeared ready to split. Now they were back together to participate in the 15 team Battle Royale, which would earn the winners a shot at the tag team titles at Unforgiven a month later. They were now L.O.D 2000 with different haircuts, clothing, theme music, Sunny as their manager and a new lease on life. Hawk and Animal dominated their way to a quick victory over their old nemesis team, The Midnight Express. Although this was a Wrestlemania that tried to buck tradition in every way, tradition always found a way to creep itself back into the picture.

TAKA Michinoku defeated Aguila to retain the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship (5:57)
This was a rare chance for the light heavyweight title to even be defended. The WWF/E has never been willing to give the cruiserweights a fair chance. Even with these two talented high flyers, the Boston crowd was either recovering from the big surprise earlier or saving itself for what was expected to be a huge celebration.

Triple H (w/Chyna) defeated Owen Hart to retain the WWF European Championship (11:29)
This was supposed to be Owen Hart's big revenge for his brother being screwed months earlier. Triple H had recently defeated Hart on an edition of RAW to regain his belt after Goldust had dressed up like Helmsey, only to lose the belt to Hart. If that sounds confusing, then you just don't understand the logic of one Vince Russo. Chyna being handcuffed to Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter should have evened the odds. But this authority figure had no chance against Chyna, who was cagey enough to interfere anyway and help her man stay the European champion. It wasn't going to be all bad for D-X at least. The following month would see this feud end once and for all as Owen would turn heel, join the N.O.D, and the two factions would then begin feuding.

Marc Mero and Sable defeated The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna (9:11)
There was no reason for this match to be any good. Marc Mero's knee injuries took away much of his zip. Dustin Rhodes was never the best of in ring performers. Luna had never really been in any quality matches before and Sable never wrestled before. Yet somehow, the person with the least experience in the ring carried this match. Her exchanges and the intensity she brought to this match made me forget the days of those wretched mixed tags with Savage and Sherri against Rhodes and Sapphire. Sable punched and kicked her way into a very watchable match. Too bad success went to her head as the following she would have one of the worst matches on the card with Tori for the WWF Women's Championship. Mero would be out of the company and divorced from Sable shortly after this. Luna and Sable would continue their rivalry next month where we'd get to see even more of Sable.

The Rock defeated Ken Shamrock by disqualification to retain the WWF Intercontinental Championship (4:49)
It finally appeared that Shamrock exorcised his demons after months of controversial decisions, bad finishes, and being hit point blank in the face with a chair by making The Rock tap out to win the title. Too bad Shamrock left the ankle lock on too long and attached a few officials along the way to cost him his chance to be I-C champ. Perhaps the real highlight of this bout is watching Rocky hold the belt up while being carried out on the stretcher. The lowlight was Jeff Jarrett making an appearance with Gennifer Flowers before the match.

Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie (Terry Funk) defeated the New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) in a Dumpster Match to win the WWF Tag Team Championship (10:01)
The Outlaws had taken a dumpster Charlie and Jack were in and thrown it over the side of the RAW set. At the time, it was pretty shocking stuff as all of a sudden RAW stopped being a show and became a "shoot." Although many, including myself, have grown tired of Vince Russo's schtick, there was a point when his writing contributed to major ratings, big buyrates, and powerful moments like when Foley and Funk were trapped in the dumpster. Unfortunately the styrophome peanuts kinda ruined the moment.

The match itself was quite bleh as far as hardcore matches go. Foley and Funk did win the match, but they were forced to give up the belts the next night because the champs were placed in the wrong dumpter. That crazy Russo and his technicalities. The next night, the Outlaws would go on to win the belts, but I'll talk more about this later in the conclusion.

Pete Rose came out next and instead of being the usual unenthusiastic ring announcer all these celebrities tend to be, Rose trashed the city of Boston, in particular the Red Sox. Boy, how things have changed in ten years. Since this speech, the Sawx have won not only one but two world championships. Kane, despite being the heel, tombstoned Rose to a big pop. Shades of grey! Shades of grey! Another trademark of the WWF Attitude Era. Kane's party wouldn't last too long as The Undertaker made another grandiose Wrestlemania entrance with druids and fire.

The Undertaker defeated Kane (w/Paul Bearer) (16:58)
Although these two have fought way more times than I care to count, this match wasn't as bad as some of the subsequent ones. The problem was mostly Kane slowing the match down and some overall plodding, especially in the middle portions. This match was notable since unlike Giant Gonzalez and Kamala, Kane would really never go away and has become one of the longest tenured WWF/E employees ever. These two would go on to have a big rematch the next month in the disappointing inferno match.

Steve Austin defeated Shawn Michaels (w/Mike Tyson as Special Outside Enforcer) to win the WWF Championship (20:02)
A lot can be said about Shawn Michaels and his attitude before discovering Jesus and turning his life toward religion. A lot of it wouldn't be very good. But when it comes to the in ring aspect, there is no better performer then Shawn Michaels. He put together one hell of a gutty performance. I don't know if this match is even in the vicinity of their King of the Ring '97 match, both men did the best they could with what they had. And when Austin pinned Michaels' shoulders to the mat 1-2-3, the WWF Attitude Era officially began. Gone were heroes and icons. In was a real person who represented regular people but never pandered to them. Steve Austin's journey to become the man was now over. The next step was showing he had the goods to carry the WWF into the next millennium.

Conclusion
It was truly a match that changed the balance of power. In a six month span, both Michaels and Bret Hart were ushered out and Austin was the undisputed number one star. Undertaker was the mainstay while The Rock and Triple would become superstars during the summer. The next night gave everyone a hint just how much things would change.

On his first night as the champion, Vince McMahon presented Austin with the belt and a chance to do things the easy way. Austin turned this chance down and stunned his boss yet again. His first full night as champion and he gets arrested. Triple H introduced a returning Sean Waltman, or X-Pac as he would now be called, to form a new D-Generation X. The new D-X would be completed when The New Age Outlaws regained the titles from Cactus and Charlie.

Wrestlemania XIV wasn't about great matches. Unfortunately, there is no Razor/Shawn ladder match or anything close to Steamboat/Savage. What makes this event special is the effort put forth by all these wrestlers. Whether it's L.O.D 2000 returning to the great effort out forth by the light heavyweights to the bump taken by Billy Gunn and Cactus Jack to Rocky holding his belt up to Shawn Michaels grimacing his way to one last shining moment. Wrestlemania XIV was the moment when the World Wrestling Federation truly found its' attitude.