Collision
Date: March 22, 2026
Location: Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Nigel McGuinness

It’s the second half of the Slam Dunk show as Collision is split up for a pair of shows this weekend. In this case we have the Trios Titles on the line as the new champions are defending against…eh it’s hard to guess as the titles can be kind of all over the place. The wrestling is going to need to carry things again here and that can work rather well at times so let’s get to it.

Here are last night’s results if you need a recap.

Orange Cassidy/Roderick Strong vs. Lee Johnson/Jay Lethal

Blake Christian is here with the villains. Lethal struts around to start but can’t spin out of Strong’s early wristlock. Strong sends Lethal into the corner and throws Cassidy at him, with Cassidy coming in to pose a bit. Johnson comes in for a big boot/Russian legsweep combination but has to escape a Beach Break attempt.

Back up and Cassidy puts his hands in his pockets to start rolling around. A dropkick connects so Lethal comes in, only to have his Figure Four attempt kicked away. Johnson drops Cassidy with a suplex for two and we take a break. We come back with Cassidy still in trouble in the Tree Of Woe and Christian sneaking in for a quick 619.

Cassidy fights out of the corner and avoids Johnson’s charge, allowing him to kick Lethal away for the tag to Strong. House is quickly cleaned, with an Angle Slam dropping Johnson for two. Everything breaks down again and Lethal’s Hail To The Chief connects, with Strong having to make the save. The Stundog Millionaire hits Lethal and an Orange Punch drops Christian off the apron. End Of Heartache hits Johnson and Cassidy gets the pin at 10:47.

Rating: B-. Nice opener, as Strong and Cassidy get to show that they can work together, which is a good sign for their future. Granted that might have made more sense before they had their big match with the Dogs. Either way, it’s nice to see them win, as the Lethal Twists get to continue their status as the top heels in ROH and losers in AEW.

Post match Strong announces that he’s officially part of the Conglomeration. The Dogs pop up for a challenge for a match next week.

We look at Lena Kross/Megan Bayne winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Revolution. The Babes Of Wrath want a rematch.

Megan Bayne/Lena Kross vs. Alex Gracia/Vipress

Non-title. Bayne shoulders Gracia down to start and takes her into the corner for some running shots to the face. It’s back to Bayne for a German suplex and the monsters hit stereo clotheslines. A double chokeslams finishes Gracia at 1:43. Total domination.

Lio Rush vs. Tommaso Ciampa

So Rush is basically Gollum now and Ciampa looks more confused than anything else. Rush, with his eyes bugging out, does his regular running dodges and sends Ciampa outside. There’s the suicide dive, with Ciampa dropping him onto the announcers’ table. Back in and Rush is sent to the apron and then into the post, with Ciampa hitting a running knee to the floor. We take a break and come back with Rush escaping a Fairy Tale Ending and kicking Ciampa in the head.

The springboard Stunner is kicked out of the air and a second attempt is blocked as well. The third works a bit better though as Ciampa is stunned. Rush goes up with Ciampa rolling outside, only to get picked up for back to back Stunners. Ciampa gets up again and they slug it out, followed by the two of them biting the others’ finisher. They strike it out with Rush hitting a spinning kick to the head. Back up and Ciampa sends him into the corner, followed by Project Ciampa for a rather near fall. The running knee finishes Rush at 11:04.

Rating: C+. Yeah I’m not feeling the new Rush thing. It’s weird based on the idea that he looks strange without his hair. The fact that this is somehow a downgrade from Cru isn’t a good sign, but at least Ciampa won here. Hopefully Rush isn’t featured very often or is at last tweaked, because this wasn’t the strongest fit.

Video on Kenny Omega vs. Swerve Strickland and Hangman Page vs. MJF from Revolution.

Trios Titles: Jet Speed/Mistico vs. Don Callis Family

El Clon/Josh Alexander/Konosuke Takeshita are challenging for the Family. Mistico and Clon start things off but the rest of the Family run in to jump Mistico from behind. Everything breaks down and Mistico gets double teamed. Bailey comes in and gets reversed suplexed but Mistico is back up with a headscissors to Clon. Mistico takes all three villains down without much trouble and Knight adds a dive as we take a break.

We come back with Clon working on Bailey’s leg to send Bailey over to the rope. Bailey manages a kick to the head and it’s back to Knight to clean house. Takeshita comes back in with a Blue Thunder Bomb for two but Knight avoids the running knee. Raging Fire is countered as well and Knight plants him down, allowing the tag back to Mistico.

Clon immediately gives him a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two but a springboard is cut off with a kick to the head. Everything breaks down again and Mistico hits a big dive to the floor but the UFO Splash misses back inside. Clon’s step up moonsault gets two but Knight manages the spring board clothesline to Takeshita. That leaves Mistico to grab La Mistica to make Clon tap at 13:12.

Rating: B-. For a token title match on a show that probably isn’t going to get much in the way of viewership, I’ve seen far worse. They had a nice back and forth match with the new champions getting to beat something of a regular team (or at least a regular stable) to start off their reign. Mistico and Jet Speed still aren’t exactly fascinating champions, but it’s better than one of them going after the World Title at the same time.

Schiavone runs down upcoming cards in an Excalibur imitation to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Much like last night, the show was fine, albeit completely inconsequential viewing. It’s not something that had much in the way of important wrestling but the action you did get was fine. That’s about all you could get out of this kind of a show as there was no reason to do anything else and it worked out well enough. There’s nothing worth going out of your way of seeing, but it’s a fine watch all things considered.

Results
Orange Cassidy/Roderick Strong b. Lee Johnson/Jay Lethal – End Of Heartache to Johnson
Megan Bayne/Lena Kross b. Alex Gracia/Vipress – Double chokeslam to Gracia
Tommaso Ciampa b. Lio Rush – Running knee
Mistico/Jet Speed b. Don Callis Family – La Mistica to Clon

 

 

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Wrestlemania XV
Date: March 28, 1999
Location: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,276
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

Outside of the main event, we have the stable war (a Russo staple) between McMahon’s Corporation and the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness. The big match in the feud here is a Hell in a Cell match between Undertaker and Big Boss Man which is going to be even worse than it sounds. Let’s get to it.

The pre-show will be replaced by Sunday Night Heat, the regular Sunday night show, for the next several years.

Sunday Night Heat: Ivory vs. Jacqueline

Ivory is a manager who could wrestle as well and Jacqueline is a member of the Pretty Mean Sisters. There’s no subtlety here: Ivory is wrestling in a bikini. Fellow PMS member Terri Runnels (formerly known as Marlena) sits in on commentary to rip on Ivory’s attire. Jacqueline jumps her to start but Ivory knocks her into the corner, only to have Jacqueline complain of a thumb to the eye. A belly to back suplex gives Jacqueline the pin out of nowhere at 1:24. That sounds like an injury stoppage.

Terri puts her cigar out in Ivory’s face post match.

Sunday Night Heat: Battle Royal

Bradshaw, Faarooq, Droz, Godfather, Steve Blackman, Brian Christopher, Scott Taylor, Test, Hawk, Animal, 8-Ball, Skull, Gillberg, D’Lo Brown, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Mideon, Tiger Ali Singh, Viscera, Rocco Rock, Johnny Grunge

Most of the names you might not recognize here aren’t important enough to identify. The idea here is that the final two men in the match will receive a Tag Team Title shot during the pay per view. That’s how bad the division is at this point: they can’t even have a regular team challenge for the belts, even when there are multiple regular teams in this match. Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett sit in on commentary.

Everyone goes after Rock and Grunge (a famous ECW tag team known as Public Enemy and therefore the crowd favorites) and put them out in about five seconds. A group of people get rid of Viscera (the giant formerly known as Mabel) but he pulls Gillberg out to make himself feel better. Animal, Skull and 8-Ball are put out and Hawk (with a full head of hair) goes out as well. Taylor is eliminated as Owen and Jarrett actually play some favorites for a change.

Singh eliminates Faarooq in a big upset, only to be thrown out a few seconds later. Both Hardys (they don’t mean much yet) follow him out and Mideon (formerly Phineas Godwinn, now part of the Ministry) is out a few seconds later. There goes Christopher and there’s nothing going on between these eliminations. Blackman and Bradshaw go out together, leaving us with Godfather, Droz, Test and Brown. Droz and Godfather go out together as well, leaving Test and Brown as the winners at 4:16.

Rating: F. A twenty one man battle royal that doesn’t even make four and a half minutes? Normally I would be thrilled but this was so fast paced that it was barely even a match. Test and Brown winning shows the booking style of Russo very well as they have no connection to each other and now they’re the #1 contenders to the Tag Team Titles on the biggest show of the year.

Boyz II Men sing America the Beautiful.

The opening video is narrated by the legendary Freddie Blassie and talks about how these men will be legends like the gods of ancient Greece and cause a variety of emotions but they’ll never let us forget them. Tonight is their night. Welcome to Wrestlemania: the showcase of the immortals. Outstanding.

The set is unique this year as it’s the Wrestlemania logo (the word Wrestle over the word Mania with XV behind it) and nothing else.

Hardcore Title: Al Snow vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Billy Gunn

So here’s another brilliant Russo idea. For weeks leading up to this, Gunn’s partner Road Dogg had been in a three way feud for the Hardcore Title with Snow (a crazy man who happens to be a great technical wrestler) and Holly (formerly Bob). At the same time, Gunn was in a four way feud for the Intercontinental Title which we’ll get to later.

Then the decision was made to swap Dogg into the Intercontinental Title feud and Gunn into the Hardcore Title feud (with Gunn winning the title and defending here), thereby giving the champions no reason to feud with their challengers and taking away the logical payoffs. Welcome to Wrestlemania XV and it’s downhill from here.

It’s a brawl to start (as it should be in this match) and they all head to the floor. Snow sends Gunn knees first into the steps for a great flipping crash, leaving the real hardcore guys to fight up the aisle. Gunn is back up to stomp both guys down but Snow comes back with a hockey stick (fans: “LET’S GO FLYERS!”). They head inside again and Snow starts channeling Steve Blackman’s martial arts demonstrations by swinging around a piece of a broken broom.

Snow uses a chair as a launch pad to slam into Gunn, drawing an ECW chant in the process. Now it’s time for Snow to clean house with Head (a mannequin head that talked to him. Just go with it and move along.) and here’s a table in the corner. The champ gets back up and throws Al through the table (wrestling law #3: if you set up a table, you’re going through it.). The Fameasser takes Snow down again but Holly hits Billy in the back with a chair and steals the pin and the title at 7:07.

Rating: D. Just as I said: there’s no reason for this match to be happening and Gunn was out of his element. Dogg, Holly and Snow had built up a fun feud over the Hardcore Title with creative spots and weapons, but Gunn was just a guy hitting people with stuff and then doing his regular moves. It took away the logical payoff for the sake of surprise and that’s rarely a good thing with this match as an example.

Merchandise plug.

Tag Team Titles: D’Lo Brown/Test vs. Owen Hart/Jeff Jarrett

Brown (with Ivory, sporting a bandage from the cigar attack on Heat) and Test (part of the Corporation) are challenging of course. Debra has Lawler and Cole drooling in a bikini and sport coat. It’s a mess to start until Brown runs Jeff over a few times. Test and Owen are quickly in with Brown having to break up the Sharpshooter attempt.

That ticks Test off for some reason so D’Lo comes in, only to eat a spinwheel kick from Owen. Test: “OPEN YOUR EYES!” Brown comes back with a double clothesline and a short powerbomb (not quite the Low Down) for two on Jeff. Everything breaks down and the girls start fighting, allowing Owen to sneak in with a missile dropkick to pin Brown at 3:58.

Rating: C-. This actually wasn’t bad but again: what was the point? This is Wrestlemania, not some house show that no one is going to see. Brown and Test never had any major interactions after this, making this even more worthless. Owen and Jarrett were a decent enough team but they desperately needed opponents. Like say Mideon/Viscera, the Acolytes, the Hardy Boyz, Too Cool etc. As in the other teams in the battle royal but why do that when you can have a random team that makes no sense?

We recap Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn in a Brawl For All match. So back in 1998, the WWF lost its mind and decided to have a shoot toughman competition which was designed to be won by Dr. Death Steve Williams, a legitimate brawler and the Brock Lesnar of the 1980s. However, Bart Gunn shocked the world (or no one who knew his background as a toughman fighter but why pay attention to something like that) and won the thing.

That’s not what the company wanted though, so they put him on the shelf for a few months and gave us this as a payoff. Keep in mind that several competitors were injured during the tournament and missed significant time, including some people who never appeared for the company again. Butterbean is a legitimate professional boxer who weighs about 400lbs and this is a shoot fight. It’s billed as a Brawl For All which had an overly complicated points system but I don’t think it’s going to matter.

Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn

Professional boxer Vinny Pazienza is guest referee. Boxing trainer Kevin Rooney, former boxer Chuck Wepner (the inspiration for Rocky Balboa) and Gorilla Monsoon (very sick here and a few months away from death) are the guest judges. Butterbean caves Bart’s face in before Lawler can make his prediction but Bart gets up….only to take one of the best looking right hands to the face that you’ll ever see. Bart is out before he crashes onto the ropes and then the mat to end this at 37 seconds. Again: shoot match against a professional, making this the biggest waste of a potential payoff.

Since this took about two minutes all together, the San Diego Chicken (sports mascot) shows up to annoy Pazienza, who knocks him out with one punch.

Mankind and “The Big Show” Paul Wight brawled on Heat earlier tonight.

Mankind promises to beat up Big Show again.

Paul Wight vs. Mankind

The winner is guest referee in the main event and Mankind comes out in a white shirt with referee stripes spray painted on. There’s actually a backstory here as Show, a Corporation member, chokeslammed Mankind to cost him the WWF World Title last month. Mankind goes right after him to start and is quickly sent to the floor. That’s fine with Mankind though as he sends Big Show head first into the steps, only to be rammed into them a few seconds later.

Back in and it’s time for the giant to slowly hammer away but the Mandible Claw (with Mr. Socko) puts him in trouble. A low blow puts Show on his knees but the Claw can’t get him down. He even stands up and falls backwards onto Mankind, crushing his ribs in a sick looking landing. Show grabs some chairs to drive into Mankind’s ribs before setting them up in the middle of the ring. A big chokeslam puts Mankind through both chairs and that’s a DQ (FINALLY) at 6:48.

Rating: D. Again this felt like a lame Raw main event instead of what should have been a big Wrestlemania match. Also, you might expect a match with a former World Champion and a monster who had been involved in the World Title scene just a few weeks ago might break eight minutes but it really didn’t get close. Only in 1999, because no one else would think this was a smart idea.

Mankind is now guest referee so Vince comes out, for some reason on a very quiet wireless microphone. He yells at Show for screwing up the plan and almost gets chokeslammed. Always one to push his luck, Vince slaps him in the face and gets punched in the jaw. Again, this really does feel like a Raw segment. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco (Vince’s goons) come out to carry Vince to the back as Mankind is stretchered out. Will he be able to referee tonight? STAY TUNED TO FIND OUT, because they’re doing an angle that will be paid off in less than two hours.

Once in the back, Vince wants Show arrested for assault in ANOTHER angle on this show.

Intercontinental Title: Road Dogg vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Goldust vs. Val Venis

Here’s the other half of the midcard title swap. So Shamrock has a good looking sister named Ryan, who Billy Gunn hit on. That ticked Ken off so he beat Gunn up and feuded with him over Shamrock’s Intercontinental Title. Venis then won both Ryan and the title with Gunn acting as guest referee (another Russo trope) and counting the pin.

Then Venis dumped Ryan so she hooked up with Goldust. Road Dogg won the Intercontinental Title from Venis and took Billy’s place in the announced four way elimination title match at Wrestlemania. So Shamrock wants to beat up Venis and Goldust for going after his sister, Goldust wants the title, Venis has been fighting all of them and wants his title back and Road Dogg is defending. Oh and Goldust’s other lackey the Blue Meanie (comedy goof) is jealous of Goldust for giving Ryan so much attention. Got all that?

Shamrock whips Dogg around the ring to start but the champ dropkicks him in the face and tags in Goldust, who gets to face Venis. The announcers talk about the fake tournament for the first Intercontinental Title as Venis flips out of the Curtain Call (Goldust needs to find a new finisher already), only to get dropped again. Meanie yells at Ryan as Venis gets two off a top rope bulldog and a fisherman’s suplex.

Venis falls head first into a low blow but Dogg comes in with a DDT to Val for no apparent reason. It’s off to Dogg legally for the Shake Rattle and Roll (some dancing punches, not the neckbreaker) to Val. He celebrates a bit too much though and gets suplexed down for two. That earns Venis an ankle lock from Shamrock but Val holds on for a LONG time and eventually sends Shamrock outside.

Ryan yells at her brother until Venis goes outside for a brawl and a double countout. Ken comes back in and suplexes Dogg and Goldust to leave both guys laying. This gives me a chance to point out how stupid this is considering they have no issues, making this yet another bad decision. Back up and Ryan trips Goldust by mistake (allegedly, as Dogg was nowhere near Goldust), allowing Dogg to roll through a powerslam attempt for the pin to retain at 9:54.

Rating: D+. The match was ok enough but the stories are such a mess/non-existent that I spent most of the time trying to figure out if I liked this or not. The match wouldn’t have been much better if they hadn’t swapped the Outlaws but at least it would have made sense. Oh and to make it better: Goldust beat Dogg for the title the next night on Raw because that show is more important than this one.

Goldust rips into Ryan post match.

Big Show is arrested.

We recap HHH vs. Kane. Chyna had turned on the now good DX to hook up with Kane but Kane accidentally hit her with a fireball. HHH stood up for Chyna by dressing up like Goldust and using a freaking flamethrower to burn Kane, causing flashbacks to the fire that burned Kane as a child. You might think they’re overdoing it here, but this is tame compared to what’s coming.

HHH vs. Kane

Before the match, the San Diego Chicken attacks Kane. This goes badly, because it’s PETE ROSE again, who takes his second Tombstone in two years. HHH is smart enough to sneak in through the crowd to low blow Kane and we start fast. They did a good job of covering it up too as HHH’s pyro equipment was in the ring. That’s a nice little touch that you wouldn’t get today.

They head outside and Kane clotheslines the post by mistake, followed by a whip into the steps. Back in and Kane boots HHH in the face before throwing him out to the floor. Cole: “Like a sack of potatoes.” Lawler: “I don’t think you can throw a sack of potatoes that far.” So HHH is easier to throw than a sack of potatoes?

HHH’s back is rammed into the post a few times and Kane slows things down to his normal pace. A legdrop (called a foot across the sternum by Cole) looks to set up the top rope clothesline but HHH pulls him down out of desperation. The jumping knee to the face drops Kane (he’s softened up a lot in the last year) and here’s Chyna.

The Pedigree is countered and both guys are down so Chyna slides the stairs into the ring. Kane picks them up but HHH kicks them into his face and drop toeholds Kane face first into the steel. HHH can’t hit the Pedigree onto the steps and Kane plants him with the chokeslam. Chyna gets on the apron with a chair though….and hits Kane for the DQ to rejoin HHH at 11:33.

Rating: C. Not a bad match here and probably the best the two of them have ever had, which isn’t the biggest bar to reach. It’s really weird to see Kane fall this far in just a year but at least the HHH and Chyna reunion was a cool moment. You would have expected some fire to be involved here but it’s very refreshing to just have a match instead.

HHH lays Kane out with the chair and a Pedigree post match before officially reuniting with Chyna to a big pop.

Vince says he’ll referee the main event.

Women’s Title: Sable vs. Tori

Sable, now a heel after basically having gone Hollywood, is defending. Tori (not Torrie Wilson) was a crazed fan who wound up getting a title shot because this division was weaker than the tag teams. For reasons that aren’t clear, Tori is in a Giant Gonzalez style body suit, minus the fur at least. Sable won’t let her get in to start so Tori pulls her to the floor and sends the champ into the apron.

A cross body off the apron mostly misses as Lawler wants to see Sable’s grind dance. He gets his wish but Tori clotheslines her down and hits some of the worst forearms I’ve seen in years. Tori only mostly screws up a sunset flip out of the corner for two. The referee gets bumped which is probably much better than trying to have a regular match here. Cue a monster named Nicole Bass to lay out Tori with a gorilla press, followed by the Sable Bomb to retain the title at 5:01.

Rating: F. There’s no way around this one as neither of them had any business being in there and it showed badly. Sable turning heel was a horrible idea as she fell down the card and was gone in just a few months due to a lot of backstage issues. Tori found her calling as a valet who thankfully almost never wrestled and after this disaster I couldn’t be more thankful. Bass never did anything other than lame comedy.

Video on Shane McMahon with the Mean Street Posse (Shane’s goofy friends) talking about how tough Shane was growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut. This was actually funny.

DX says they’re reunited and X-Pac (formerly the 1-2-3 Kid) is getting the European Title back. Shane McMahon (Vince’s incredibly athletic son) started going after X-Pac and eventually stole the title from him in a tag match. This is the one on one rematch.

European Title: X-Pac vs. Shane McMahon

Shane is defending and has Test in his corner. Patterson and Brisco fail at attacking X-Pac during the entrances so Shane has to run. He celebrates over a leapfrog, earning him a kick to the face. Test saves Shane from the Bronco Buster and crotches X-Pac against the post as the Mean Street Posse watch from the front row. Back in and Shane hammers away but misses a Corporate Elbow.

Instead he whips X-Pac with a belt until a backdrop puts the champ on the floor. The Posse saves Shane but he gets crotched on the top rope, setting up a superplex for two. Shane distracts the referee in the corner so Test can take X-Pac’s head off with the European Title for a very close near fall. Now it’s Shane missing a Bronco Buster, drawing in Test for another save. Cue HHH and Chyna to even things up….before turning on X-Pac with a Pedigree, allowing Shane to retain at 8:43.

Rating: C-. This is a bit higher as Shane isn’t a wrestler. He’s still a very glorified rookie at this point and his athleticism was very impressive considering he was only wrestling on occasion. That being said, the story was just so stupid as Chyna turned face just half an hour ago, making the whole thing a total mess entirely designed around shock value instead of anything that made sense. On top of that Shane keeps the title, which he would vacate a week later. Therefore, X-Pac loses twice, doesn’t get his revenge, and gets laid out while a non-wrestler gets away with everything after everyone is confused by all the turns. Again: Russo.

Post match the Outlaws make the save until Kane comes out to chase HHH off. The Outlaws shout to Lawler that HHH is done. He would be done with the midcard at least as he would win his first WWF World Title in August.

We recap the Big Boss Man vs. Undertaker, which is just a side story of Undertaker vs. Vince McMahon. Undertaker has gone insane and has been stalking Vince’s family, even stealing a bear from Vince’s house (later revealed to belong to his daughter Stephanie, who hadn’t debuted yet) and lighting it on fire. This was part of a MUCH bigger conspiracy that involved secret deals, hidden alliances, Vince being an even bigger psycho than anyone ever knew, and so many plot holes that it was even harder to keep track of than anything else on this show. As for tonight though, Vince is throwing in the Boss Man to take care of Undertaker.

Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man

Hell in a Cell. To give you an idea of where Undertaker is right now, here are some of the spoken words during his theme song: “Accept the lord of darkness as your savior. Allow the purity of evil to guide you.” Boss Man pounds away in the corner to start but Undertaker does the same to take over. Various shots put Undertaker down but he keeps sitting up. A double leg trip (in the Cell mind you) puts Boss Man on the floor and Undertaker rams him into the Cell a few times.

Boss Man pulls out some handcuffs to attach Undertaker to the Cell wall. Some nightstick shots break the cuffs though, making the whole thing a waste of time, like so many other things on this show. Undertaker is busted open but comes right back with chair shots to take over, busting Boss Man open in the process. Back in and Undertaker keeps up the offense as we’re waiting on the inevitable. Old School is broken up and Boss Man gets in a few shots, only to walk into the Tombstone for the pin at 9:49.

Rating: F. The sign of a bad gimmick match is when you could do the exact same match without the gimmick being involved. There’s no reason for this to be the Cell as it could have easily been done in a regular cage match instead. It didn’t help that the ending was obvious from the second the match was announced. In addition to the Boss Man being little more than a workout for Undertaker, they had already made it clear that this story was nowhere near being over, which isn’t the spot for a Cell match. Finally, a Cell match that doesn’t break ten minutes? That’s not acceptable.

Post match the Brood (Edge, Christian and Gangrel, a mini stable in the Undertaker’s Ministry of Darkness) drops from the ceiling onto the roof of the Cell so they can slip the Undertaker a noose. Undertaker wraps it around Boss Man’s neck and the Cell raises up to hang Boss Man in the middle of the arena.

As Undertaker’s music is playing: Cole: “It’s been a heck of a week in Philadelphia for Wrestlemania!”, and we go to a package on the Wrestlemania Rage Party. A MAN WAS JUST HUNG IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RING AND IS STILL ON THE VERGE OF DYING. WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT A WRESTLEMANIA PARTY???

Jim Ross makes his return from a bout of Bell’s Palsy to announce the main event. Ross tips his hat to Cole in a nice gesture.

Vince is guest referee, but Commissioner Shawn Michaels makes a surprise appearance with referee Mike Chioda. After complaining that he had to buy a ticket to get in, Shawn tells Vince that he has to pay attention to the rulebook. The rules clearly state that only one person can appoint a referee at Wrestlemania, and I think you can guess who that is. On top of that, the Corporation is barred from ringside and if Shawn sees any of them out here, he and Vince can have a fight of their own out back. This is another angle made and written off in less than two hours.

There’s no recap for Austin vs. Rock but it’s a simple story. Rock won the WWF World Title at Survivor Series 1998 by reaffirming his heel status (he had started turning good after Summerslam but never fully switched) as he was revealed as Vince’s corporate champion. Vince won the 1999 Royal Rumble but Austin wound up with the title shot when Vince forfeited the chance. As mentioned, this is really just the latest man that Vince is throwing at Austin as part of the real feud.

That’s what gave Vince vs. Austin such longevity: Austin could keep fighting fresh opponents because they were always Vince’s latest handpicked man. Instead of fighting one man, Austin was fighting a movement. This gave it the chance to go on far longer than a one on one feud and that’s exactly what Austin vs. Vince did.

WWF World Title: The Rock vs. Steve Austin

No DQ, Rock is defending and Austin comes out in a shirt due to forgetting his vest at home. This is also the Wrestlemania debut of the WWF World Title belt that debuted the night after Wrestlemania XIV. They immediately brawl to the floor to start and go into the crowd for the main event style brawl. No one can get an advantage so they fight up the aisle with Rock backdropping him knee first onto an electric light, only to be sent into the big Wrestlemania logo, making it sway in a bit of a scary moment.

The champ takes over again and spits water in Austin’s face, only to have Austin put him on the Spanish announcers’ table for an elbow. The table doesn’t break so Austin does it again to get the job done. That’s just the kind of guy he is. Now it’s Austin spitting water in Rock’s face and whipping him into the steps before they go inside for the first time in nearly ten minutes. A Rock Bottom out of nowhere gets two so it’s time for a chair.

As you might expect, the referee takes the hit instead, because this match has been entirely by the book until now. Rock uses the chair to stay on Austin’s knee and a big shot to the head gets two from a second referee. We hit the chinlock and see a replay showing Rock pulling the referee in front of the chair shot earlier on. Rock gets frustrated by a near fall so he Rock Bottoms the referee, only to walk into a Stunner for two from the third referee.

This brings out Vince for a distraction so Rock can hit a low blow. Vince punches out the referee and helps double team Austin until Mick Foley hobbles to the ring to be the fourth referee. The Thesz press takes Rock down but there’s another Rock Bottom. Rock misses the Corporate Elbow and the Stunner gives Austin the title back at 16:52. Vince looking like he’s about to cry is great.

Rating: B. It may not be the highest quality and it was more overbooked than it needed to be but it was certainly entertaining and the right kind of brawl these two needed to have. Austin winning is obvious (sign in the crowd for a lot of the match: “I bet Austin wins.”) and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s still good stuff and a very appropriate style brawl for this era. This would be forgotten later though due to their future Wrestlemania epics but this is quite good on its own.

A lot of beer is consumed, including some by Earl Hebner. JR: “He’s toasting a man who works for a living.” Vince swears at Austin and gets punched in the jaw. One more Stunner ends the show. It wouldn’t have felt right without it.

Highlight package takes us out.

Overall Rating: D. Oh this does not hold up well. Aside from the good main event, there is just WAY too much going on here with the show feeling more like Raw than a pay per view. They were booking angles that started and ended later in the show, despite the people having already paid for the show in the first place. This is definitely a show that worked better live with all the twists and turns but those really don’t hold up when you have time to look at them.

The biggest problem though is that aside from the main event, nothing feels important. You have the Tag Team Titles thrown together, the non-wrestler retaining the European Title, the midcard title merry go round and Chyna turning twice in half an hour. That’s certainly a lot of stuff happening, but how much of it is stuff that I actually want to see?

Above all else, the show moves too fast. Of the ten matches, only the main event and HHH vs. Kane break ten minutes. Nothing has a chance to sink in and that takes away a lot of the impact these matches and segments could have. Consider HHH reuniting with Chyna. Yeah it was a cool moment when it happened (albeit two months after they split in the first place) but they both turned half an hour later. How can I let either of them sink in when they happen so close together? If nothing else, it makes me wonder what they’re going to do next instead of thinking it’s over and the big finale for them on that night.

Overall, the problem here is one we’ve encountered before: it doesn’t feel like a Wrestlemania. Other than the main event, nothing feels important. Almost all of this stuff could have happened on any given episode of Raw and that’s just not right. It’s not a good Wrestlemania but there are worse ones out there. Not many of them of course but they do exist. Slow it down and give us some more important matches and the show improves a lot, but that’s a standard criticism of this era.

Ratings Comparison

Hardcore Holly vs. Billy Gunn vs. Al Snow

Original: D+

2013 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: D

D’Lo Brown/Test vs. Owen Hart/Jeff Jarrett

Original: F+

2013 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: C-

Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn

Original: F

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

Mankind vs. Big Show

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D

Ken Shamrock vs. Road Dogg vs. Goldust vs. Val Venis

Original: D

2013 Redo: C

2015 Redo: D+

Kane vs. HHH

Original: D+

2013 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: C

Tori vs. Sable

Original: F

2013 Redo: F

2015 Redo: F

X-Pac vs. Shane McMahon

Original: C+

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: C-

Undertaker vs. Big Boss Man

Original: H (For holy goodness why was this a Cell match?)

2013 Redo: F

2015 Redo: F

Steve Austin vs. The Rock

Original: B+

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: D

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D

Individual ratings aside, it still sucks.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/22/history-of-wrestlemania-with-kb-wrestlemania-15-this-is-the-best-they-can-do/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/03/24/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xv-russo-at-his-best/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the WWE Grab Bag (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/03/23/new-paperback-kbs-grab-bag/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Wrestlemania XIV
Date: March 29, 1998
Location: Fleetcenter, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 19,028
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross
America the Beautiful: Chris Warren

This is the first of the annual redos and it’s a show that is incredibly historic but doesn’t get the most attention. As you might remember, the main event is Steve Austin getting his shot against Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title, along with Kane vs. Undertaker for the first time ever. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the history of Wrestlemania and how tradition has been taken hostage by a new generation. These people are here to be the top stars and fight for the same title held by Andre, Hogan and Bruno. This year is destined to become a part of the history and somewhere, the father of Wrestlemania will revel in it as well.

Tag Team Battle Royal

Faarooq/Kama Mustafa, Savio Vega/Miguel Perez Jr., Jose Estrada Jr./Jesus Castillo, Truth Commission, Bradshaw/Chainz, New Midnight Express, Mark Henry/D’Lo Brown, Quebecers, LOD 2000, Rock N Roll Express, Headbangers, Too Much, Disciples Of Apocalypse, Steve Blackman/Flash Funk, Godwinns

For a future Tag Team Title shot and LOD 2000, with Sunny, are surprise entrants. If one member is eliminated, the entire team is gone. It’s a huge brawl to start (as it has to be) as JR tries to keep track of everyone involved. Vega is out, with Perez having to be helped to the back. Jim Cornette and Sunny argue on the floor as Kurrgan comes out to help eliminate the Truth Commission.

Cue Barry Windham (not in the match) to toss Chainz out and sure we’ll count that. Brown is eliminated and the Quebecers follow as the ring is clearing out a good bit. The Rock N Roll Express are out and Estrada/Castillo follow. The Headbangers are tossed as well, with JR wondering why Mark Henry is still in there despite his partner being tossed. Henry gets the message and leaves as Animal gets rid of Too Much.

We’re down to the Midnights, the LOD, the Disciples and the Godwinns as they didn’t waste time here. Things slow down a bit with Hawk shoulders Henry but Phineas is back up to get rid of the Disciples. Hold on though as the Disciples come back in to throw the Godwinns out, leaving us with two. Then the Godwinns get back in again and hit the LOD with their buckets. Animal is sent outside through the ropes but comes back in to make the save. Hawk hits a clothesline to get rid of Holly for the win at 8:21.

Rating: C-. This was nothing but a way for the LOD to come in with their new look and Sunny then run through some people for a win. There was almost no drama to this one and the stuff with the Godwinns seemed to be setting up something for the LOD going forward. Having the LOD come out for the return pop worked but a thirty man battle royal which took awhile to get through didn’t help.

We look at various media events to promote the show, including the DX public workout which almost went very badly due to Shawn Michaels being in quite the bad place.

Light Heavyweight Title: Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila

Michinoku is defending and Aguila would go on to be better known as Essa Rios. Aguila snaps off a headscissors and a spinwheel kick to send Taka outside. That means a baseball slide into a top rope moonsault (which JR calls an Asai moonsault) to take Taka out again. Back in and Taka dropkicks him to the floor for a change, setting up the always great looking top rope dive to the floor.

Back in again and Aguila sends him outside again, only to have Taka go up top. That’s fine with Aguila, who runs the corner and hits a top rope armdrag. A springboard armdrag and a very spinning wristdrag have Taka on the floor again, setting up the big corkscrew dive. JR is trying to keep up with this while Lawler has more or less given up.

Taka misses a moonsault back inside and gets planted for two before being sat up top. Aguila gets knocked down but Taka’s splash hits knees, allowing Aguila to hit a middle rope hurricanrana. A missile dropkick gets Taka out of trouble though and the sit out powerbomb plants Aguila again. Taka misses a middle rope moonsault, only to dropkick him out of the air. The Michinoku Driver retains the title at 5:59.

Rating: B-. It was a total popcorn match as they were all over the place with the high spots and as a result, it was rather entertaining. That being said, this felt like someone saw the cruiserweights in WCW and decided to do their own lower level version. That’s more or less exactly what this was, which is one of the reasons the division didn’t stick. Fun match, but it could have been on any given edition on Raw.

Gennifer Flowers interviewed the Rock earlier today, and asked how he would handle the homeless situation if he was leader. Rock prefers ruler, but the reality is that if those people stay off his lawn and in their boxes, he’s happy. As for the judicial system, as long as you realize he’s the judge and jury, everything is fine. Just remember that he would be a hung jury. Finally, he’s fine with running the White House as long as the interns underneath him do their, ahem, jobs. This was basically a celebrity serving Rock up some batting practice.

European Title: HHH vs. Owen Hart

HHH, with Chyna, is defending in one of the last bits of fallout from Montreal. Hart has a bad ankle coming in and Chyna is handcuffed to Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Hart slugs away to start and snaps off a hurricanrana for two, only to get elbowed in the jaw for his efforts. With Hart out on the floor, Chyna tries a right hand but gets pulled back by Slaughter, meaning HHH’s cheap shot doesn’t work either.

It’s way too early for a Sharpshooter back inside and HHH grabs the facebuster to take over. The jumping knee gets two and Lawler is literally screaming at HHH to go after the ankle. A DDT gets two before it’s FINALLY time to go after the ankle. HHH goes old school (yes even back then) with the spinning toehold, followed by an elbow onto the leg. More cranking on the leg in the corner has Owen in trouble but he’s able to come back with a belly to belly.

A spinwheel kick gives Hart two and he hits the enziguri, only to hurt the bad ankle again. The hurricanrana is countered with a hard powerbomb to give HHH two more as things slow down a bit. HHH puts him up top but gets shoved away, setting up a high crossbody for two. Owen falls head first into a low blow ala Sting (always works), sending Lawler into hysterics over the referee not calling a DQ. The Sharpshooter goes on but HHH makes the ropes. With the referee distracted, Chyna throws powder in Slaughter’s eyes and hits Hart low. That and the Pedigree are enough to retain the title at 11:28.

Rating: C+. This was good enough, though it’s far from the HHH that he would later become. The ending didn’t exactly keep Owen looking strong and that was pretty much the point of the match. Slaughter was barely a factor here, but that is the summation of his time as Commissioner: a grand total of nothing and it was nice to see him go away.

Post match Chyna beats up Slaughter.

We recap Sable/Marc Mero vs. Luna Vachon/The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust. In short, Sable is a star, Mero doesn’t like it, Luna and Goldust tried to do something about it and Mero came to her defense. Or the more realistic version: Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable, Sable and Sable. Er wait, putting “and” in front of her might suggest that Sable isn’t important and we can’t have that.

Marc Mero/Sable vs. Luna Vachon/The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust

Goldust takes Mero into the corner to start but gets caught with a running headscissors. The women come in but Luna immediately tags back out, leaving Sable to superkick (ok not so super) Goldust. Mero comes back in and is quickly clotheslined down as Lawler wants to know why Luna won’t fight Sable.

The villains take over on Mero, who manages a boot in the corner to put Goldust down. Luna gets the tag and so does Sable, which seems rather unnecessary due to the rules. Sable cleans house in the traditional catfighting style but does throw in some kicks in the corner. A clothesline puts Luna on the floor and it’s back to Goldust, who gets sent into the steps. Back in and the TKO is countered into a DDT to give Goldust two as things slow down again.

Mero knee lifts his way to freedom and a springboard moonsault press (which BARELY rotates enough) gives him two. This time it’s Goldust going up top but getting crotched right back down. A super hurricanrana sets up the TKO for two, with Luna making the save. Sable tags herself in and covers Goldust (as the rules are all over the place here) but has to avoid Luna’s top rope splash. Sable powerbombs Luna for two before avoiding a charge against the ropes. The TKO gives Sable the pin at 9:08.

Rating: C-. I know it’s been said to death, but simply put, Sable just wasn’t very good. She was there because of how she looked in gear and she knew how to sell a shirt, but those are the high points of her talent. The other three were trying, but this was all about Sable and everyone could tell from the second the match was announced.

Tennessee Lee (better known as Robert Fuller/Colonel Robert Parker) brings out Jeff Jarrett with Gennifer Flowers, the latter of whom is guest ring announcer for the next match.

Intercontinental Title: The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

The Rock, with the Nation of Domination, is defending. Shamrock has been wanting the title and Rock gave him one heck of a scary chair shot to the face. Rock also accidentally hit Nation leader Faarooq, which seems to bode badly for him. They start fast as JR says this is for the European Title. Shamrock kicks him in the chest to start and they go to the floor, with Rock staggering near the technical equipment.

Back in and Shamrock strikes him down again before bouncing Rock’s head against the mat. They go back outside with Rock managing a whip into the steps for a much needed breather. That sets up the not quite People’s Elbow for two but Shamrock sends him outside again. The chair is loaded up but the referee grabs it, earning him a shove from Shamrock. Rock grabs said chair for a shot to the head for a near fall as the referee is back up. Shamrock unloads on Rock and belly to belly suplexes him into the ankle lock for the tap/the title at 4:49.

Rating: C. They kept this one moving as it wasn’t even five minutes long, with Rock only getting in a few shots here and there. Shamrock ore or less mauled him, with that chair shot barely doing any damage. This almost felt like a TV match instead of some big pay per view (let alone Wrestlemania) title match, but it also made Shamrock look like a monster by running through the champ that fast.

Post match Shamrock stays on the Rock so here are the Nation and some referees. That doesn’t work at all as Shamrock beats everyone up, which is enough for the referee to reverse the decision, meaning Rock retains. Shamrock blows off some more steam by beating up Rock on the stretcher. This really doesn’t feel like a Wrestlemania title match, but it was a rather different time. Again though: Shamrock looked like a killer and that worked well.

We get the still awesome “we are real athletes” promo, with wrestlers talking about their backgrounds and the injuries they had to deal with over their careers.

We recap the New Age Outlaws defending the Tag Team Titles against Chainsaw Charlie/Cactus Jack. The Outlaws don’t like old guys and put the two of them in a dumpster for a ride off the stage. Now it’s time for the appropriate choice of a dumpster match.

Tag Team Titles: Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie vs. New Age Outlaws

The Outlaws are defending in a dumpster match (same rules as a casket match). It’s a brawl to start with Cactus trying to put Dogg in the dumpster early. That’s broken up and a metal sheet to the head slows Cactus down. Cactus’ flip dive off the apron only hits dumpster (you knew that was coming) and Gunn backdrops Charlie (or Funk as JR calls him) into the dumpster.

The Outlaws slam the dumpster lids onto Cactus and Charlie’s heads as JR thinks the old guys like this a bit. Cactus blocks the slamming of the lid though and it’s time to bring out some more weapons to crank up the violence. An elbow off the apron with a cookie sheet hits Gunn and of course it’s time for the ladder. Cactus and Gunn go up, only to be sent crashing into the dumpster for the big spot.

With Cactus getting out, Charlie gets powerbombed into the dumpster, leaving the Outlaws to take Cactus up to the entrance, which doesn’t feel overly logical. They go to the back so we look at some highlights, which would feel so bizarre these days. Cactus is sent into various catering things, including big Surge and Powerade displays. Gunn gets double armed DDT’ed onto a forklift and here is Charlie to pick both Outlaws up and drop them into a dumpster. Cactus closes the lid for the win and the titles at 10:17.

Rating: C+. This wasn’t exactly your traditional match but what mattered the most was Cactus and Charlie getting their revenge after taking a huge beating. The fans wanted to see them win the titles and that is what they got. Granted it was on the Titantron, but that is better than not getting the belts at all. It makes sense to not put the Outlaws in a more traditional match as that was never really their thing, so thankfully this was a case of playing to their strengths.

We recap Kane vs. Undertaker and…yeah this is a deep one. So Paul Bearer turned on Undertaker, who wanted revenge. Eventually Bearer revealed that Undertaker had a brother named Kane, who was believed to be killed in a fire as a child. In reality, Kane was still alive and had apparently been kept hidden by Bearer for years. Then Kane appeared and wanted revenge on Undertaker, attacking every wrestler he could until Undertaker agreed to fight.

Undertaker never would, so eventually Kane put Undertaker in a casket and burned him alive (after teasing joining Undertaker in a pretty cool moment). That violates one of the most important rules in wrestling, which says “don’t tick off a giant monster who may or may not have evil powers”. This included Undertaker appearing on top of the Titantron and lighting a casket on fire, revealing a burning Kane inside for one of the most amazing things I had ever seen at 10 years old. Now it’s time for their first fight and this is huge.

Here is Pete Rose as a special guest and he is all over the Boston Red Sox fans, instantly getting every single thing about being a heel in wrestling. Rose halfway introduces Kane, who makes his full entrance….and promptly annihilates Rose with a Tombstone. This makes Kane the most popular man in Boston for at least a good thirty seconds.

Undertaker vs. Kane

Kane has Paul Bearer with him but Undertaker comes out with the tunnel made of torch carrying druids for one of the all time awesome entrances. They go nose to nose for an awesome visual before Undertaker starts striking away (I believe the first time he has ever attacked Kane). That’s enough to knock Kane into the corner, where he launches Undertaker in instead. Kane strikes away and puts him in the Tree of Woe to continue said striking.

Undertaker is sent outside for a second before the beating continues back inside. For some reason Undertaker tries to jump onto Kane’s shoulders, earning him a quick crash back down. Kane hits him with the steps and even Bearer gets in some cheap shots from behind. Back in and Undertaker starts running the ropes rather hard (that always looks cool), only to charge into a chokeslam, with Kane pulling him up at two.

We hit the chinlock, which is where the match grinds to a halt. Kane is a monster who has basically become a horror movie villain, but he knows how to grab a chinlock and lay on the mat for a bit? There is something that completely misses there and it kills the match dead. That’s broken up and Kane drops an elbow before grabbing another chinlock. Undertaker finally powers his way out and sends Kane outside, where the Taker Dive is sent crashing through the announcers’ table in a great visual.

Back in and the top rope clothesline gives Kane two but Undertaker is back with a Tombstone…which is reversed into one from Kane for two. That wakes the fans way back up and Undertaker starts striking away as Kane is starting to stagger. A running clothesline puts Kane down and there’s the chokeslam into a Tombstone for two on Kane. Another Tombstone gets another two, with Kane kind of twitching his shoulder for the kickout. The top rope clothesline into a third Tombstone (with a regular cover instead of the hands over the chest) finish Kane off at 16:59, though Kane kicks at about 3.1.

Rating: B-. This is a match that started and ended well, but there is a long stretch in the middle and it really hurt things. That chinlock segment and a bunch of the basic wrestling they did felt like it was out of a completely different match, which dragged things way down. This really needed to have about five minutes cut out, because the opening staredown and brawl worked, along with the last portion. Instead, it’s a rather long match that didn’t work as well as it should have.

At the same time, Undertaker winning didn’t exactly feel right, as Kane had been built up as this monster who should have been a different kind of opponent. In this situation, it would have made sense for him to win and beat Undertaker to set up some big, and much more violent, rematch. What we got was ok, but it should have been that much better.

Post match Bearer comes in to stomp on Undertaker, who fights up and hits Bearer in the face. Kane is back up and wrecks Undertaker with the chair, setting up a Tombstone onto it to leave Undertaker laying. Kane and Bearer leave, with Undertaker getting up and kind of falling out to the floor.

We get a vignette featuring various legends, who talk about how they had their day but can never do this kind of thing today. Now, they cheer for these new people. This is an all timer from the company and shows how everything has changed. Awesome indeed.

We recap Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title. Austin is on an all time roll and is ready to claim his destiny, but he has to deal with not only Shawn, but the rest of DX, including Mike Tyson, who has joined the team and is a special referee. To call this huge would be an understatement as even Eric Bischoff said “oooh, that’s pretty good.”

WWF Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Steve Austin

Michaels, with HHH and Chyna, is defending and Mike Tyson is guest enforcer referee. We get the long tracking shots from the back, which are still some of the best things WWF ever did and make things feel that much bigger. The DX Band plays Shawn to the ring for something that should be cool but they don’t quite have that epic feeling.

Austin flips him off to start and gets punched in the face, which does not sit well. The chase is on outside, followed by Austin hitting him in the head on the way back in. Shawn’s attempt to escape results in his tights being pulled down before Austin backdrops him onto HHH. That doesn’t work for HHH, who whips Austin into the barricade. HHH and Chyna are ejected and things are a lot more even.

Never one to lose a chance to beat someone up, Austin sends HHH into the DX Band set, earning himself a cymbal to the head from Shawn. Back in and Austin hammers away before flipping Shawn over in the corner. An atomic drop of all things gets two and the Stun Gun gets the same. Austin knocks him off the apron and into the announcers’ table, followed by the chinlock back inside.

Shawn fights up but gets sent hard into the post. The fight heads back to the floor, where Austin is sent over the barricade and Shawn clocks him with the ring bell. Back in and Shawn slowly hammers away until Austin fights up with right hands. Shawn is sent over the top for the crash but he’s fine enough to wrap Austin’s knee around the post. They get back inside again with Shawn slowly starting in on the leg but Austin fights back up.

That’s enough for Tyson to offer a distraction though, with Shawn getting in a chop block. The Figure Four has Austin in more trouble be fore finally breaks it up. Austin fights up again and makes another comeback, with the referee getting bumped, leaving Shawn to hit a not so great forearm. There’s the nip up into into the top rope elbow and Shawn loads up the superkick. That doesn’t work as Austin ducks and grabs the Stunner, with Tyson coming in to count the pin for the title at 20:06.

Rating: B. This is one of those matches that has so many details that make things all the more interesting. While it is Austin’s big crowning moment and the start of a new era, there was only so much that could have been done because of Michaels’ injuries. It would have been interesting to see what they could have done at full strength, but the match did the one thing that it needed: Austin hitting the Stunner to win the WWF Title for the first time.

Post match the celebration is on, with JR getting in the all time line of “the Austin Era has begun.” Austin throws Tyson an Austin shirt but Shawn gets up and isn’t happy. He takes the shirt away and tries a right hand, with Tyson easily blocking it and dropping Shawn with a right hand of his own. Tyson and Austin celebrate, confetti falls and the highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B. This show is rather weird in a lot of ways, as it might not be the best show in the way of quality, but it was one of the most important shows the company has ever had. First of course there is Austin, whose win took the company into an entirely new era. It’s the definition of a Wrestlemania Moment and it is still played in highlight reels decades later for a reason.

At the same time you have the focus on a much more in your face style, with stuff like the dumpster match and Kane vs. Undertaker being a weird sci-fi soap opera. The last three matches (and the Intercontinental Title to a lesser extent) felt big and that is what they were supposed to do. The first half of the show is only so good, but once this show kicks in, it kicks in hard and the company was off to the races soon after.

Ratings Comparison

Tag Team Battle Royal

Original: D-
2013 Redo: D
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: C-

Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila

Original: D+
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B-
2024 Redo: B-

HHH vs. Owen Hart

Original: B-
2013 Redo: D+
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: C+

Marc Mero/Sable vs. The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust/Luna Vachon

Original: C
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C
2024 Redo: C-

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C-
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: C

New Age Outlaws vs. Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie

Original: C+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: C+

Kane vs. Undertaker

Original: D+
2013 Redo: C-
2015 Redo: D+
2024 Redo: B-

Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B+
2015 Redo: A-
2024 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B+
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B
2024 Redo: B

The match ratings are all over the place compared to the previous editions and the overall rating is the same. Yep that’s one of my reviews.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Collision
Date: March 21, 2026
Location: Save Mart Arena, Fresno, California
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tony Schiavone

This weekend is a bit weird as Collision has been split into two shows due to coverage of the NCAA Tournament. Therefore, this week’s show is only an hour long, with the second half airing tomorrow night. The show even has the theme name of Slam Dunk Saturday, which could lead to some shenanigans. Let’s get to it.

Here is Dynamite if you need a recap.

TNT Title: Kyle Fletcher vs. Robbie Eagles

Eagles is challenging and he had a hand in training Fletcher to make this a bit more personal. Fletcher sends him face first into the mat to start and then takes him into the corner for a clean break. An abdominal stretch is blocked so Fletcher pulls the hair and slams him down. Back up and Eagles snaps off a headscissors before kicking away at the leg. Fletcher is able to plant him hard with a backbreaker and we take a break.

We come back with Eagles posing a lot before kicking away at the chest. A running kick to the chest sets up a some running knees in the corner but Fletcher blocks another attempt. Fletcher tries to pick him up, only to be reversed into Sliced Bread for two. Eagles misses his 450 though and a Michinoku Driver gives Fletcher two. Back up and Eagles kicks at the leg, including a missile dropkick to the leg.

Some kind of a leglock sends Fletcher to the ropes and out to the floor, with Eagles hitting a dive. Back in and Fletcher tries a superplex but the knee gives out, allowing Eagles to suplex him into the corner. A 450 onto the leg takes Fletcher down again and he gets planted with a poisonrana. Fletcher is right back up with the lawn dart into a running kick in the corner, followed by a brainbuster to retain the title at 12:12.

Rating: B. That ending was a bit questionable as Fletcher’s knee was really banged up and then he just does a bunch of stuff that needs a healthy leg. That being said, the rest of the match was quite good, as I’ve liked almost everything I’ve ever seen from Eagles. Fletcher is one of the few all but guaranteed good matches in AEW and that was the case again here with a very fun opener.

Jon Moxley warns Will Ospreay for wanting to break his neck. Pac wasn’t even here when Ospreay got hurt but he’s more than willing to fight Ospreay anytime.

La Faccion Ingobernable vs. Dom Kubrick/Lucas Riley/Alpha Zo

Dralistico takes Riley down to start and chops him into the corner. Rush comes in and hammers Riley into the corner before pulling Kubrick in sans tag. Kubrick is sent outside and taken out with a Dralistico dive. The Bull’s Horns set up Mortos’ corkscrew moonsault to give Rush the pin at 2:13.

Thekla laughs at the idea of Toni Storm being hurt and says she had everything to do with it. Storm saw what Thekla was doing and staged the attack to avoid having to fight her. Anyone else who is coming after her should stage their own death, because the real thing is so much worse. I don’t know what Thekla did to make these promos so much fun lately, but it should be repeated.

Brawling Birds vs. Sisters Of Sin

Hayter backs Hart up against the ropes to start and backbreakers her way out of an octopus attempt. The Sisters are sent into the corner for some chops before Blue and Windsor chop it out. Hart gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and Blue decks Hayter off the apron as we take a break. We come back with Hayterade missing and Hart hitting an Eat Defeat. Everything breaks down and all four are dropped for a double breather. Hart flip dives onto Hayter on the floor and Blue’s running knee gets two on Windsor. Blue powerbombs Windsor out of the corner, with Hayter having to make a save. Back up and Two Birds One Stone finishes Hart at 9:23.

Rating: B-. The Birds are starting to get somewhere and it’s kind of fascinating that they’re already pretty much at the top of the list of contenders. They’re a simple team who beats people up and are playing into the British brawler stereotype. It’s something that will work every time and it is working again here. On the other hand, it feels like the Sisters have been losing a lot lately and that needs to stop, at least for a bit.

Brody King thanks Kenny Omega for the save at Revolution but he’s ready for more of Swerve Strickland. For now though, he wants gold.

Video on Hangman Page vs. MJF at Revolution.

Komander/Mascara Dorada vs. Death Riders

It’s Claudio Castagnoli/Daniel Garcia for the Riders (with Marina Shafir) here. Garcia shoves Komander down to start and kicks at his head but makes the mistake of going after the mask. Komander scores with a dropkick and it’s off to Castagnoli, who gets kicked in the head a few times. Dorada’s slingshot dive to the floor is cut off and he gets dropped onto the announcers’ table. Garcia adds a running knee and we take a break.

We come back with Komander getting pummeled in the corner but Castagnoli misses a charge. Komander facebusters him and dives over for the tag to Dorada, who gets to take Garcia down. Dorada and Komander both walk the ropes at the same time, setting up stereo moonsaults to the floor. Back in and an electric chair faceplant into a standing moonsault gets two, with Castagnoli making a save. Komander’s very springboardy hurricanrana (complete with a pause so Dorada can dive onto Garcia) gets two on Castagnoli, who is right back with the Swing. The Neutralizer finishes Komander at 12:50.

Rating: B-. Komander and Dorada work well together as the random luchador team so it was nice to see them getting a chance here. At the same time, this felt like one of the more random Death Riders combinations, as it isn’t like Castagnoli and Garcia team together very often. Nice enough main event though, especially for a show that didn’t feel important.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, it was a good show bu tit was absolutely not a show that you needed to see. Pretty much nothing was advanced here, but at the same time, it was airing around midnight on a Saturday night so why bother wasting big moments? It’s just an hour long and had good action, which is a nice enough way to see this show, though I can’t imagine many people did.

Results
Kyle Fletcher b. Robbie Eagles – Brainbuster
La Faccion Ingobernable b. Dom Kubrick/Alpha Zo/Lucas Riley – Corkscrew moonsault to Riley
Brawling Birds b. Sisters Of Sin – Two Birds One Stone to Hart
Death Riders b. Mascara Dorada/Komander – Neutralizer to Komander

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Rey de Reyes 2026 Night Two
Date: March 21, 2026
Location: Auditorio GNP Seguros, Puebla, Mexico
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Rey Mysterio, Corey Graves

We’re back to another part of this show and this time it’s about some gold rather than a really big sword. The Tag Team Titles are on the line as Psycho Clown and Pagano are defending against the War Raiders. Other than that, we have a mixed six person tag, which should be a lot of fun. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

The opening video talks about iron sharpening iron and the iron will you need in this ring. We also look back at last week and look forward to this week.

Money Machine/La Hiedra vs. Lola Vice/Mr. Iguana/Rey Fenix

Fenix and Oro start things off with a run of the ropes, as Fenix keeps leapfrogging him. Oro gets sent back into his corner so Vice is in to hit Hiedra in the head. Iguana comes in to take over on Money Machine but the stuffed iguana is intercepted. A backbreaker/spinning top rope splash combination hits Iguana and they stop to beat up the stuffed version.

It’s off to Vice to send Hiedra into the corner for the running hip attack as everything breaks down. Hiedra is back up with a Stunner into a hip attack of her own, followed by a Downward Spiral. She makes the mistake of going to yell at Iguana though and gets caught in a double swinging faceplant. It’s back to Fenix to clean house with the rapid fire kicks, plus a super inverted Spanish Fly for two on Oro. Vice dives onto Hiedra and Iguana hits a big dive off the top to the floor. The Fenix Driver finishes Oro at 9:41.

Rating: B-. This was the fun opener that I was expecting as Vice and Iguana are a blast together, with the others more than pulling their weight. Fenix was in there as well to add all of the high flying stuff and that’s always worth a look. Good stuff here, with the fans digging what they were getting.

Post match Chelsea Green pops up to say she never lost her Mixed Tag Team Title, so acknowledge her as your champion. Anything involving more Green is a good thing.

We recap the Tag Team Title match, with the War Raiders showing up but Pagano and Psycho Clown not being ready to roll over for them.

Tag Team Titles: War Raiders vs. Pagano/Psycho Clown

The Raiders are challenging. It’s a brawl to start with the Raiders taking Clown out. Pagano manages to fight back and gets an Air Raid Crash to Erik but gets knocked off the top. Ivar crushes Pagano against the steps and hammers away back inside. Erik’s big knee gets two and Erik slams Ivar onto Pagano for two more. Pagano kicks his way out of the corner though and it’s back to Clown, who is healthy enough to start fighting back.

Everything breaks down and Clown hits a running dive to take out Erik on the floor. Back in and Clown gets knocked into the wrong corner, with Ivar being driven into his face. Pagano comes in again to make the save and it’s a missile dropkick into an Emerald Flosion for two on Erik. Pagano and Erik strike it out until Ivar is back in with a spinning kick to the face.

The Doomsault connects, with Clown having to dive off the top for the save. Everyone pulls themselves up and Clown pulls off his mask to reveal a red version. The champs win a slugout and Pagano hits a top rope legdrop for two. Back up and Pagano accidentally elbows Clown, only to have them go after the Raiders instead of each other. The double brawl is on and the referee is shoved down, which is a double DQ at 13:29.

Rating: B. This was exactly the kind of fight you would have expected from these teams and that was great to see. It’s a good example of not trying to overthink things, as this was about two big power teams beating the daylights out of each other. I like the ending as well, as that could set up a big physical rematch down the line.

Post match the brawl is on again and they grab chairs and kendo sticks to make it better. Security breaks it up.

El Ojo is trying to regroup after last week, with Dorian Roldan on the phone with his mom. After getting her out of the way, Roldan has to convince El Hijo del Vikingo that he should focus on winning the Intercontinental Title.

It’s time for the presentation of the sword to El Grande Americano. With the Roldans in the ring, 2010 winner Chessman, 2015 winner Texano Jr., and 1999 winner Cibernetico come out with their big swords. Now it’s time for this year’s winner, El Grande Americano, with JBL hating him all the way to the ring.

Americano greets everyone and thanks the fans for everything before praising the three previous winners. He talks about the respect he has for lucha libre and thanks Marisela Pena, as well as the fans. It’s about carrying the pride of Mexico and it isn’t about where you were born, because the pride of Mexico is about the culture.

Cue Dominik Mysterio (JBL approves) to actually shake hands and suggest that they have the title match right now. Americano chases Mysterio off but here is the Original El Grande Americano to jump Americano from behind. The beating is on with Americano being sent into various things and Original ripping at the mask. Los Americanos run in for the save but Original steals the sword to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a heck of a show with two good matches and a big angle to wrap it up. As has been the case since it started airing weekly, AAA is an easy show to watch and the English commentary has helped it a lot. This was a rather good show and it flew by, which is always nice to see. Heck of a show here and I want to see what happens next week.

Results
Rey Fenix/Mr. Iguana/Lola Vice b. Money Machine/La Hiedra – Fenix Driver to Oro
War Raiders vs. Pagano/Psycho Clown went to a double DQ when both teams shoved the referee

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Wrestlemania XIII
Date: March 23, 1997
Location: Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois
Attendance: 18,197
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon

The advertised main event this year is the Undertaker challenging Sid for the WWF World Title. This isn’t the biggest match in the world but then again this isn’t the biggest Wrestlemania in the world. That’s the underlying problem with this show: it feels like any other show instead of the biggest night of the year. This was a strange period where Wrestlemania wasn’t being treated as the company’s grand showcase but that would change soon enough. Let’s get to it.

Free For All: Billy Gunn vs. Flash Funk

Funk is better known as 2 Cold Scorpio and is a very skilled high flier. Billy is on his own now and isn’t all that interesting as a solo cowboy. Gunn starts fast but Funk flips out of a backdrop and scores with a superkick. A bad looking belly to back superplex drops Funk again and a clothesline gets a very sloppy two.

The announcers ignore the match to talk about Austin vs. Hart and we hit the chinlock. That goes nowhere so Gunn misses a top rope legdrop, allowing Funk to hit a spinwheel kick for two. Funk gets the same off a top rope victory roll but his moonsault hits knees. Billy comes back with a tornado DDT for the pin at 7:05.

Rating: D+. This just wasn’t very good. Gunn was such a lame character on his own and it would only get worse soon after this as he would become Rockabilly for several months. Funk was at least entertaining with his high flying even though his career in the WWF never went anywhere. Boring match.

The opening video focuses on the history of Wrestlemania but this isn’t quite the same thing. That’s very true as this one wasn’t even a sellout. We hear about the spirit of rebellion in the air and Austin vs. Bret is discussed after the main event.

Godwinns vs. New Blackjacks vs. Doug Furnas/Phillip LaFon vs. Headbangers

This is a four team elimination match with the winners getting a Tag Team Title shot the next night on Monday Night Raw. The Blackjacks are Bradshaw and Barry Windham, Furnas and LaFon are a Canadian team who aren’t the most interesting guys in the world and the Headbangers are….different. They wear skirts and slam into each other in what is considered dancing. Before the match the Blackjacks say they’re riding again (the original team hadn’t been around for about twenty years. Of note, Windham is the son of Blackjack Mulligan and Bradshaw is the nephew of Blackjack Lanza) in a quick interview.

It’s a huge brawl to start as you would expect until it’s Henry vs. Bradshaw. The Godwinn get the better of it but Thrasher is quickly in, only to get planted with a pumphandle slam. Phineas comes in to beat on Thrasher even more before he tags out to Mosh, giving us Headbanger vs. Headbanger.

That goes nowhere so it’s off to Windham vs. Furnas (an incredible powerhouse) with the latter pulling off a hurricanrana, only to get caught in a powerslam for no cover. Bradshaw comes in and falls to the floor with Furnas but Bradshaw shoves the referee down for the DQ and an elimination. Furnas and LaFon are counted out as well, meaning it’s down to the Godwinns vs. the Headbangers.

Phineas works over throws Thrasher around and gets two off a delayed vertical suplex. It’s back to Henry who is sent into the buckle, followed by an awkward exchange where Thrasher seemed to forget to raise his boot in the corner. Phineas comes in to spit in Thrasher’s face (which Vince says Phineas does to farm animals, much to Lawler’s confusion) but it’s quickly off to Mosh vs. Henry with the big man scoring with a Cactus Clothesline.

Mosh dives off the apron to take Henry down and this just keeps going. Commenting on the Headbangers’ attire, Lawler asks if Vince has any White Zombie CDs. Vince: “White……Zombie?” Back in and Thrasher misses a moonsault, allowing the tag to Phineas for some house cleaning. Thrasher breaks up the Slop Drop and Mosh hits the Stage Dive (top rope seated senton) for the pin and the title shot at 10:39.

Rating: D. The wrestling was sloppy, the teams had no issues coming in and the double elimination felt really cheap. This was one of the worst possible ideas for an opening match as it started bad and never got any better. Just not a very good match as it went longer than it needed to and didn’t change the fact that this division is still lacking.

In Your House XIV ad.

Brian Pillman and Sunny tell us to CALL THE HOTLINE!

Intercontinental Title: The Sultan vs. Rocky Maivia

Honky Tonk Man is out on commentary in his quest for a new protege. Rocky is defending (after beating Hunter Hearst Helmsley to win the title a little over a month ago in a big upset) and Sultan is just a Middle Eastern monster played by the future Rikishi and managed by Bob Backlund and the Iron Sheik. Rocky starts fast with some right hands and a dropkick to send Sultan out to the floor.

Sultan throws him into the post to take over as the crowd is noticeably not interested. Back in and a hard clothesline gets two on the champ and we’re in the nerve hold. Oh sweet goodness not this again. Honky Tonk says he’d have already won with the Shake Rattle and Roll and be in the back combing his hair. Sultan’s top rope headbutt gets two and it’s time for a chinlock.

The fans are rightfully bored and restless as this hold continues. Rocky makes his comeback with some open handed punches and a belly to belly for two as the fans still don’t seem interested. The high cross body (Rocky’s finisher) connects but Sheik has the referee. A great looking superkick (he always had a good one) takes the champ down and a piledriver gets two. Rocky comes right back with a rollup for the pin to retain at 9:43.

Rating: D-. This one was less bad and much more dull with the chinlock in the middle killing anything they could have gotten out of it. Rocky would of course get way better but he didn’t have a character or anywhere near the charisma that he would have in the future. That leaves you with a dull match against a one note challenger which isn’t something you want to do after a lame opener.

Post match Sultan, Sheik and Backlund destroy Rocky but his dad Rocky Johnson comes in for the save and house is cleaned.

Ken Shamrock, the former UFC Champion and the guest referee for the submission match, promises to not be intimidated.

Dok Hendrix (better known as Michael P.S. Hayes and with a very loud echo for some reason) asks Helmsley about his relationship with newcomer Chyna. Helmsley says Hendrix doesn’t need to know about it and tonight he’s taking Goldust out straight up. Marlena better be watching out too.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust

Helmsley has taken a major step up in the last year as he’s a lot more serious though still far away from what he would become. This started a few months ago when Helmsley made a pass at Marlena. Goldust went after Helmsley but Chyna debuted and attacked Marlena to continue the feud. Goldust is now good but still a bit out there as he crouches down and stares at Hunter before exploding with right hands. He makes sure to spit down at Chyna who as usual doesn’t flinch.

Helmsley gets clotheslined out to the floor as Lawler accuses Vince of wearing a toupee. More right hands are followed by a ram into the post and this is one sided so far. Hunter’s facebuster only gives him a temporary reprieve as Goldust scores with a nice powerslam. With all the momentum, Goldust goes up top but gets thrown down onto the floor in a huge crash to completely change momentum. Things slow way down as they should when the villain is in control and Goldust’s clothes are partially removed for the second year in a row.

Hunter puts on an abdominal stretch to slow things down even more as Marlena puffs on a cigar. Off to a chinlock with Helmsley’s arm not actually making contact with Goldust’s throat. A suplex gets two on Goldust and a DDT gets the same. Back up and Goldust’s comeback is stopped as they ram heads to make the match drag again. Goldust loads up the Curtain Call (reverse suplex slam) but Chyna goes after Marlena, allowing the Pedigree to put Goldust away at 13:17.

Rating: D+. I’ve never liked this match or feud but I guess it’s an improvement as they had a longer and worse match at the Royal Rumble. These two fought each other for the first half of 1997 and it never took off. Helmsley just wasn’t entertaining at this point as he had such a slow paced offense and Goldust wasn’t really the kind of person who was going to be able to help him to a new level here. It’s not a horrible match but it’s really boring, especially after an awful first hour.

Marc Mero and Sable pitch Wrestlemania shirts. Well ok it’s mainly Sable but Mero is there too.

Shawn Michaels can’t figure out AOL.

Tag Team Titles: Mankind/Vader vs. Owen Hart/British Bulldog

All villains here. Hart and Bulldog are defending and Mankind and Vader have Paul Bearer in their corner after Bearer turned on Undertaker at Summerslam 1996. The champs have been having issues for months and Owen recently said he was smarter than Bulldog, who is also European Champion, having beaten Owen in a tournament final to become the inaugural champion.

Vader powers Owen into the corner to start and pummels him with right hands. A splash misses but Owen tries a hurricanrana and is easily powerbombed down. Heaven help this team if he’s the smarter one. Everything breaks down and Bulldog throws the challenger around before staying in to headbutt Mankind. Bulldog suplexes both of them in an awesome power display (he was always great at those) and we hit the chinlock on Mankind.

They head outside with Vader nailing Bulldog in the back of the head with the urn to take over. Now it’s Vader’s turn for a middle rope splash, followed by a running knee to the head from Mankind. Vader dives into a powerslam (a very common spot for him) and the tag brings in Owen, who the fans don’t cheer because he’s a heel. Hart avoids a sitdown splash and cross bodies Vader, only to run into a heavy clothesline to give the challengers control again. Owen gets beaten down in front of his parents in the front row and Lawler has a ball with his jokes.

Mankind blocks a splash with his knees as the announcers discuss the history of the WWF in this building, including a Wrestling Classic reference. A nice spinwheel kick puts Vader down to no response but he breaks up Owen’s tag attempt. Mankind follows Owen to the floor but charges into a belly to belly. The hot tag finally brings in Bulldog to clean house, even knocking Vader’s mask off. The powerslam is countered by the Mandible Claw though and they fall outside for the double countout at 16:04.

Rating: C-. That’s the best match of the night by far and it’s really more long than good. Mankind and Vader probably should have taken the titles here, even if it was just for a quick title reign before Owen and Bulldog got them back. They had held the titles for months now and it was time to freshen the division up a bit.

Mankind won’t let go of the hold for a bit but the challengers eventually leave, far too happy about a double countout draw.

We get a long recap of Hart vs. Austin. This is all about Austin having no respect for anything Bret Hart has done in the WWF and letting his venom flow through the company. Austin has been winning the mental game too as Bret has started completely snapping, going on hateful tirades about how everyone has screwed him over and how it’s everyone else that has changed. Bret’s entire legacy rides on him being able to defeat Steve Austin and regain the fans’ respect in this one match.

This is one of the greatest stories ever told in wrestling as the details (costing Bret the title, the Royal Rumble etc) are all secondary to the underlying theme: Bret being unable to hold on to the past and not accepting this new reality. Austin embodied the rebellious nature and it made for a perfect dynamic with the traditionalist Bret. As great as the stories were, the matches were even better and made the feud one of the best ever.

Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart

Submission match with Ken Shamrock refereeing. Austin has a famous entrance as a wall of glass saying AUSTIN 3:16 breaks and he walks through the broken pieces. The fans are split here but it seems to be more pro-Bret coming in. They slug it out to start and are on the floor very quickly. Austin is sent face first into the post but he crotches Bret across the barricade and clotheslines him into the crowd.

Bret gets whipped into some hockey boards but he fights back and they head deeper into the fans. A backdrop gets Bret out of a piledriver as you can barely see anything at the moment. Back to ringside with Bret in control and the fans completely into something for the first time all night. Austin reverses a whip to send Bret into the steps but Hart grabs a swinging neckbreaker to get a breather back inside.

Vince is already treating Bret like the heel on commentary, wondering what kind of excuse Bret will have if he loses. It’s time to work on Austin’s eternally damaged knee with a leg snap and some cannonballs off the ropes. He misses another cannonball though and Austin grabs the Stunner out of nowhere. No covers though so Bret gets up and kicks the knee out again.

The Figure Four around the post has Austin screaming but he doesn’t give up. Lawler: “Bret can twist that leg until it looks like the Chicago White Sox’s Robin Ventura but Austin won’t submit.” Bret grabs a chair but can’t Pillmanize the leg, allowing Austin to get in a great chair shot to knock Hart off the top. The fans are losing it for Austin here and you can see the future right in front of your eyes.

Austin’s middle rope elbow, complete with two middle fingers, has Bret in even more trouble. JR is on fire here as he talks about how this is all about respect and emotion instead of covering a bald spot (shot at Hogan) or your reputation. Unfortunately Vince is there to bring it back down to dull, unemotional commentary that sounds like a high school chemistry teacher trying to be funny.

Austin goes for a submission by laying on his back, wrapping his leg around Bret’s head and pulling back on his arm (it’s hard to put into words) before going for a standard Boston crab, only to have Hart make it to the ropes. Austin can’t get a Sharpshooter on Bret (Lawler: “Wouldn’t that be great? Seeing Bret submit to the Sharpshooter?” Vince: “Hey, it could happen.”) so he sends him outside instead. A hard whip sends Austin into the barricade, wiping out a bunch of commentators and busting him open.

Bret sends him into other metal objects and sweet goodness Austin is spewing blood. Hart pounds away on the cut and it’s time for the Five Moves of Doom. That’s enough wrestling though and Bret starts driving the chair into Austin’s bad knee. JR again goes into his full on excitement mode before Bret hammers away in the corner. Austin isn’t interested in wrestling either and kicks Bret low. The fans are right back into this and Austin is fired up. He stomps one heck of a mudhole in the corner, flips Bret off, and stomps him again.

A nice superplex plants Bret again and Austin chokes him with an electrical cord, only to have Bret grab the bell to knock Austin out. That’s a very nice callback to Wrestlemania VIII where Piper wouldn’t give into the demons but Bret easily did. The Sharpshooter goes on and the blood is flowing out of Austin’s head in one of the most famous shots in wrestling (As Austin would later say on his podcast: “That’s an image that sold a lot of t-shirts.”). A loud Austin chant starts up and he powers out of the hold as the blood drips down between his teeth but Bret gets it back on and Austin passes out to end the match at 22:03.

Rating: A+. Good grief this match is amazing. This is the match that turned Austin into the biggest star of all time and the moment where the WWF had the Monday Night Wars won. It would take time, but Austin was clearly going to be the hottest thing ever and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

That’s the key to the whole match and a great piece of symbolism: Bret could not stop Austin and only slowed him down. No matter what Bret did, he couldn’t make Austin quit, even after he gave in to the dark side. This is on the short list for the greatest match of all time and certainly one of the best Wrestlemania matches ever. In case you somehow haven’t seen this, go out of your way to watch it at some point because it’s one of the best and most important matches of all time.

Bret is still livid and stomps away even more until Shamrock (who wasn’t a factor in the match) breaks it up and offers to fight. Hart leaves and is booed out of the building as Austin has pulled himself to the corner. Austin pulls his way up and Stuns the referee for trying to help him. He very slowly limps to the back with no help, receiving thunderous cheers from the crowd. A star has been born and everyone knows it. Even the announcers put him over as the toughest man they’ve ever seen.

The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, Savio Vega and Crush plus an army of unnamed men, many of whom were actors there to make the Nation look even bigger. That’s actually a very smart idea and not something I’ve seen since.) promises that it’s going to be a fight against the Legion of Doom and Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed had feuded with the Nation for months now and this is one of their many showdowns.

Nation of Domination vs. Legion of Doom/Ahmed Johnson

This is a Chicago Street Fight and the Nation has brought out a bunch of weapons to use. Ahmed has a 2×4 and Hawk brings a kitchen sink for the sake of completeness. The LOD seems even more fired up than usual to be in their hometown. It’s a brawl to start of course and thankfully there are no tags required here. The good guys clean house to start and the yet to be named D’Lo Brown, JC Ice and Wolfie D. (the rappers who perform the Nation’s theme song) are slammed down to the floor.

Ahmed dives over the barricade to take Crush out as this is rapidly turning into a match that is impossible to call. Hawk swings a 2×4 at Savio but hits the ropes, sending the board into the air, only to have Hawk make a nice catch to send Savio running again. Animal tries to piledrive Faarooq through the French announcers’ table but they fall to the side instead. Instead Animal sprays him with a fire extinguisher and things slow down a bit until Ahmed slams Faarooq through the French table.

Animal beats the fire out of Savio with a trashcan but the fire extinguisher goes off again to blind everyone. The Nation puts a noose around Ahmed’s throat to hang him over the ropes but Hawk comes back with a double clothesline. Faarooq tries to choke Hawk with the noose until he gets pulled off the top rope for a big crash. The brawling continues until Crush gets caught in a quick Doomsday Device, followed by a 2×4 shot to give Animal the pin at 10:43.

Rating: B. It’s the definition of a garbage brawl but these guys beat the fire out of each other the entire time and gave us one heck of an entertaining brawl, especially in the death slot after the submission match. This was really fun and that’s all it needed to be with the fans going nuts over seeing the LOD dominant and violent one more time.

JC Ice and Wolfie D. take a double Doomsday Device after the match.

In Your House XIV ad.

There’s no recap for the main event but there isn’t much of a story to tell. Sid took the title from Bret when Austin interfered and Undertaker has been in the title hunt for a long time now. This was originally going to be Bret taking the title from Shawn to get his win back from last year but Shawn lost his smile just in time for the match to not take place. That’s very convenient no?

Shawn Michaels comes out for commentary, taking his sweet time to soak in all the cheers.

Sid says he isn’t scared of the darkness.

WWF World Title: Sycho Sid vs. Undertaker

Sid is defending and gets the very cool name in lights fireworks display. The bell rings and here’s Bret Hart (Shawn: “Imagine that: Bret being resentful about not being in the main event.”) to insult Shawn for faking an injury, tell Undertaker that they’re no longer friends, and tell Sid that he’s a fraud as champion. Sid just smiles and powerbombs Bret before telling the crybaby to hop along. There’s a second bell and we’re ready to go.

Undertaker pounds away to start and hits an early Old School, only to get caught in a bearhug. The hold stays on for nearly two minutes as Lawler and Michaels bicker for a bit. Shawn asks if you can actually squeeze the life out of Undertaker. Sid boots Undertaker in the face and kicks him over the announcers’ table as this is dragging along.

A slam turns the table over but Undertaker is right back to his feet and they go inside with Vince mentioning that this was turned into a No DQ match earlier today. Not that it really matters but that’s three straight No DQ matches to end the show. Sid pulls back on a camel clutch as Shawn gets in a perfect analysis by saying Sid doesn’t deviate from the power because it takes him everywhere he needs to go. That’s such a perfect lesson that so many people don’t understand.

Sid gets two off a powerslam and the frustration is setting in. Shawn: “Better pound on him some more.” They go outside again with Sid being knocked over the barricade so Undertaker can punch him in the face. Back in and we hit a bad chinlock (read as Undertaker is laying on his back with Sid’s hands on his face) until Undertaker fights up with a powerslam for two.

Now it’s Undertaker with a nerve hold as the crowd is getting restless again. Back up and it’s a double big boot to put both of them down. A middle rope clothesline (more like a fist) gets two for the champ but Undertaker punches him out of the air on the next attempt. Now it’s Undertaker going up top for a clothesline for two of his own. Sid reverses the Tombstone into one of his own but even the arm fold cover gets two.

They go outside for the third time and here’s Bret again to blast Sid in the back with a chair. Back in and a chokeslam gets two for Undertaker but he misses a running clothesline. Sid sets for the powerbomb until Bret comes down AGAIN (Shawn: “Doesn’t he get tired of getting beat up?”) and snaps Sid across the top rope, setting up the Tombstone to give Undertake the title at 23:54.

Rating: D-. WAY too long here and the match was a disaster most of the time. Sid isn’t made to go this long and it made for one heck of a bad match. The Bret stuff got annoying in a hurry but at least he was more interesting than either guy out there. Undertaker winning is definitely the right call as Sid was pretty much gone after this and Undertaker could at least do some entertaining things with the right opponent. That’s not the case here though and the match was a disaster.

Undertaker poses to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. Yeah this was bad. There’s a really good stretch of about forty five minutes in there that was on fire but this isn’t a forty five minute show. So much of this was spent on matches that didn’t feel important or didn’t give me a reason to care. What changed here other than the World Title? Rocky retains in a lame match, the Tag Team Titles go to a double countout and we need to watch tomorrow to find out what happens with the Headbangers?

Much like Wrestlemania IX, this didn’t feel like a Wrestlemania. If this was any other show during the year, the results would have been much better. Unfortunately, as has been the case multiple times, this was the biggest show of the year and the card didn’t live up to the standard. This isn’t a good show but that’s a very common problem around this time, which is why business was in such a bad place here.

Ratings Comparison

Headbangers vs. Godwinns vs. Doug Furnas/Phillip LaFaon vs. New Blackjacks

Original: D+

2013 Redo: C

2015 Redo: D

Rocky Maivia vs. The Sultan

Original: D

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D-

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Goldust

Original: D

2013 Redo: C-

2015 Redo: D+

Owen Hart/British Bulldog vs. Vader/Mankind

Original: D+

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: C-

Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A+

2015 Redo: A+

Legion of Doom/Ahmed Johnson vs. Nation of Domination

Original: B+

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B

Undertaker vs. Sycho Sid

Original: D

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: D-

Overall Rating

Original: D

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

The street fight is good but it’s not THAT good.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/03/20/history-of-wrestlemania-with-kb-wrestlemania-13-hitman-and-austin-thats-it/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/03/22/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xiii-austins-ascension/

Remember to check out my new forum at steelcageforums.com, follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the 2018 Updated Version of the History of the WWE Championship in e-book or paperback. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/01/26/new-book-kbs-history-of-the-wwe-championship-2018-updated-version/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Wrestlemania XII
Date: March 31, 1996
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Attendance: 18,853
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Vince McMahon

It’s interesting to see Wrestlemania as a one match show and that is basically the case here. While there are other things on the card, such as Diesel vs. Undertaker, which should be a heck of a fight, this is ALL about Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in a one hour Iron Man match. What else could you need? Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Iron Man match and nothing more. At least they’re not hiding what they’re doing here.

Commentary at least acknowledges some of the other matches.

Vader/Owen Hart/British Bulldog vs. Jake Roberts/Ahmed Johnson/Yokozuna

If the latter team wins, Yokozuna gets five minutes with Jim Cornette, which is by far the biggest story here, with the other four just kind of there. Vader and Yokozuna slug it out to start and the other four come in, with the good guys cleaning house. Vader gets knocked to the floor and Yokozuna helps launch Johnson over the top and onto him for a huge crash. Back in and Yokozuna wins another slugout with Vader but drives him into the wrong corner.

Hart tags himself in and dropkicks Yokozuna for some reason, earning a hard elbow to the face. Bulldog pulls Yokozuna out of the way of a charge though and the villains take turns stomping away. Vader just unloads on Yokozuna to knock him down in the corner, only to walk into what would become the Rock Bottom. It’s off to Johnson, who is quickly knocked down in the corner as the villains are right back in control.

Hart kicks him down and then hits the jumping kick to the shoulder, only to get planted down rather hard. Cue Mr. Fuji to wave the American flag as Johnson makes the tag off to Roberts. The snap jabs have Hart in trouble but he gets a knee up in the corner to cut off the charge. Bulldog’s front facelock doesn’t last long as Roberts gets up but Vader is back in to pummel away (in a preview of their Boy Meets World showdown). Hart’s good looking top rope elbow gets two and Vader crushes him for the same.

Bulldog comes back in but misses a legdrop, allowing Yokozuna to come in. The huge right hands have Vader down in the corner and a splash crushes him as well, with Vader waving Hart in as he collapses. Yokozuna’s Samoan drop puts Bulldog down and it’s back to Roberts but Bulldog saves Hart from the DDT. Everything breaks down and the DDT hits Hart, which draws in Cornette with the racket. Roberts cuts him off but Vader runs in for the save (with Roberts looking over his shoulder until Vader comes in) and the Vader Bomb finishes at 13:09.

Rating: C+. This was all about Yokozuna vs. Vader, with the other two just happening to be there. That didn’t make for the best match as Yokozuna could only do so much, though those big right hands looked devastating. It’s also beyond weird to set up the “five minutes with the manager” deal and then not have it but Vader looked like enough of a monster to make up for it…I guess.

We recap Goldust vs. Roddy Piper, which is all about Goldust being obsessed/possibly in lust with Piper, who wants to “make a man” out of Goldust. To say this is uncomfortable in a lot of ways is an understatement.

Marlena, with champagne on ice, is in the back.

Goldust vs. Roddy Piper

This is the Hollywood Back Lot Brawl, meaning they’re fighting in a lot outside. Goldust comes up in his gold Cadillac so Piper sprays it with a fire hose and beats on the car with a baseball bat. Goldust is sent into a catering table and smashed with a garbage can (complete with garbage for once), followed by a ram into a dumpster.

Piper rams him into various things and hits some VERY stiff sounding shots to the face, only to get hit low. Goldust jumps back in the Cadillac and hits a Piper shaped stunt man, who hangs onto the hood and crashes onto the ground. With Goldust gone, Piper jumps into a white Bronco (which Goldust hit on his way out) and the chase is on. It was certainly intense, but the Bronco aspect isn’t a good sign.

Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega

Austin is still Million Dollar Champion and has Ted DiBiase with him, but he is Stone Cold. After a fired up Vega says he’s ready for anything, they slug it out to start and brawl on the mat. That’s not enough so they go outside, with Vega firing off some chops to take over. Back in and Austin drops some elbows before cranking away on the arms. Vega gets back up and kicks Austin in the face as Roddy Piper calls in to rant about chasing Goldust.

Austin goes back to the arm and sends it into the post but a reverse chinlock is quickly broken up. The armbar goes on again as Piper calls in again to promise to beat up Goldust again. Vega is back with a crossbody but Austin Thesz presses him for two (that’s so weird to see) and they go into a pinfall reversal sequence for two each. We go split screen to some footage of the OJ Simpson car chase, which is apparent Piper going after Goldust.

As for the Wrestlemania match going on at the moment, Vega kicks him in the face and hits a crossbody but Austin knocks him down again. Austin goes to the top (HUH?) but dives into a raised boot to leave them both down. Vega clotheslines away and tries a spinwheel kick, which hits the referee by mistake. DiBiase throws in the belt and Austin tries a Million Dollar Dream, only to get kicked in the face. DiBiase offers another distraction though and there’s a pair of belt shots to the head. Vega is out as Austin puts on the Million Dollar Dream for the win at 10:20.

Rating: C+. The match was fine, but the focus was on Piper’s car chase because that’s the “interesting” part. I get that it’s a bigger angle, but this is the kind of thing that belongs on Raw, not Wrestlemania. Austin was still figuring his stuff out here, as he was nothing compared to what he would wind up being, which was a rather necessary change.

Post match Austin won’t let go of the hold until a referee talks him out of it. As he and DiBiase leave, we get another shot of the OJ Simpson driving footage, which Vince says looks familiar. I’m already sick of this and the winking at the joke isn’t helping.

Diesel says he doesn’t sweat the big things or the little things either. He’s coming for Shawn Michaels next.

More car footage, with Lawler now saying it feels like deja vu.

Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Here’s an infamous one. Helmsley has a certain blonde with him, with commentary being rather impressed. Apparently her name is Sable. Lawler’s story of Warrior being 400lbs and bald is proven wrong as Warrior looks mostly like his old self. Helmsley jumps him to start fast and hits the Pedigree in less than forty seconds, with Warrior popping up. Warrior Warriors up, hits some clotheslines, and finishes with the gorilla press and splash at 1:39. And Helmsley has yet to live it down for the rest of his career.

We meet the debuting Wildman Mark Mero, who is ready to face the best around here. Helmsley comes in and bumps into Mero before yelling at Sable. Helmsley shoves Mero and the brawl is on to give Mero his first feud.

Piper and Goldust are still driving.

Diesel vs. Undertaker

Paul Bearer is here with Undertaker and they’re fighting after both of them cost the other the WWF Title. Also of note: you can see the clock for the Iron Man match over the Titantron during Undertaker’s entrance, which is quite the gaffe for a promotion that usually does well with production. They slug it out to start with Diesel knocking him into the corner for some elbows to the face.

Undertaker knocks him back down but misses the big elbow. Instead they go outside and Diesel is sent face first into the steps before they go back back inside. It’s way too early for the Tombstone so Undertaker actually goes aerial with a crossbody. The big running clothesline misses though and Undertaker rolls to the apron, where he’s fine enough to snap off a Stunner.

Back in and Undertaker punches him out to the floor, where a big chair shot only hits the post. Diesel is back with a ram into the post, which he does again because it’s Wrestlemania. A running knee cuts off Undertaker from getting back inside so Diesel tosses him back in, which seems a bit contradictory. Back in and a big boot puts Undertaker down again, followed by the side slam for two.

Snake Eyes sets up the running crotch attack in the ropes and Diesel if looking rather cocky. Undertaker tries to fight back and they hit stereo big boots to put them both down again. Diesel is fine enough to grab a bearhug, which stays on until Undertaker manages a belly to back suplex. Undertaker’s top rope rope clothesline gets two but Diesel gets in a shot to the back.

A quick Jackknife connects (as audio messes up, with quite the feedback) but Diesel spends too much time trash talking, allowing Undertaker to sit up. Another Jackknife connects, with Diesel mocking Bearer this time. That earns Diesel a grab around the throat so he punches Undertaker back down. Undertaker gets up again and grabs him by the throat, only to get suplexed. That doesn’t work either, as Undertaker gets up, hits a chokeslam and Tombstones Diesel for the win at 16:46.

Rating: B-. This was a different kind of Wrestlemania match for Undertaker, as he was finally facing someone who was giving him a realistic threat (give me a break on Giant Gonzalez being someone who could beat him). Diesel was not that far removed from around a year long reign as WWF Champion and was still the top heel in the company. They had a good enough power match, with Undertaker surviving Diesel’s best stuff and winning in the end, which is quite the boost to the Streak.

The zoom out shot of Diesel out cold on the Wrestlemania logo is still awesome.

Rhodes and Piper return, with Piper’s Bronco hitting Goldust’s Cadillac on the way in. Goldust tries to escape, with Marlena consoling him, but Piper chases them off (with the camera catching Diesel just chilling) and they come into the arena. They get inside with Goldust getting in a cheap shot and rubbing his (own) chest. Goldust picks him up for a rub of the back of Piper’s jeans, which has Piper fighting back until a low blow cuts him down again.

Piper gets his shirt torn off and Goldust uses it to choke, but the threat of a kiss has Piper fighting back. Goldust goes up and gets crotched, but manages to kiss Piper anyway. That’s too far for Piper, who goes off on Goldust and rips his gear off, revealing Goldust’s bizarre lingerie. Piper hits him low and Goldust runs, covering his chest on the way out. This was every bit of the stupid mess you would expect, though the fans seemed to love Piper, as usual.

We recap Bret Hart defending the WWF Title against Shawn Michaels in the one hour Iron Man match. They’ve followed similar paths to get here and Michaels apparently has a boyhood dream of being the WWF Champion (ignore that he wouldn’t have been watching the WWF as a boy who didn’t grow up in the northeast). Hart is basically billed as the perfect wrestler while Michaels is just talented enough to give him a threat. They’re going for an hour, most falls win.

Gorilla Monsoon is officially the President of the WW, which was kind of a perfect spot for him at this point.

WWF Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Hart is defending in a one hour Iron Man match. Michaels’ manager Jose Lothario comes out with no Michaels, but he points to the rafters. That gives us one of the most iconic entrances of all time, as Michaels ziplines down from the top of the arena and lands in the crowd before coming to the ring. Yeah it still works. Hart comes out as well and we get a long explanation of the rules to really make this feel more important.

Hart goes for an early takedown but Michaels wrestles him right back down and they stand off again. A headlock works a big better for Hart and it’s time to start burning some clock. Michaels fights up and gets taken back down as we’re over six minutes in. Michaels is back up with some armdrags into an armbar, with Hart’s escape just landing him in a hammerlock. Back up and a headscissors out of the corner sends Hart outside at about the ten minute mark for the first big spot.

Hart gets back in and sends Michaels over the ropes for some cat skinning, earning Michaels a knee to the ribs. The chinlock goes on again but Michaels is back up, only to pull him into a Fujiwara armbar. Hart fights up again and takes Michaels down, followed by a clothesline to the floor. Michaels whips him into the timekeeper’s area and tries the superkick, which kills the timekeeper dead at the fifteen minute mark.

Back in and Hart grabs a chinlock as commentary tries to get some help for the out cold timekeeper. After a few minutes, Michaels gets up and armdrags him down, only to get clotheslined into another chinlock. This one doesn’t last as long as Michaels is up with a dropkick into another armbar. Michaels pulls him down to cut off a comeback as this is just the two of them laying around in holds to burn time.

Back up and Hart gets taken down with a shoulderbreaker, followed by some whips into the corner. Hart fights up with some right hands but gets dropped with a DDT on the arm. Michaels cranks on the arm some more but gets catapulted into the post for a rather delayed two. Well at least they did something different. Michaels fights back but Hart goes up for a driving knee to the back of the head. Back up and Hart grabs a piledriver for two (Lawler: “How’d he kick out of a piledriver???”) as we’re over halfway done.

Michaels gets up for a hurricanrana and hammers away but it’s too early for the superkick. A backbreaker gives Michaels two and Hart has to bail to the floor before the superkick can launch. That means Michaels gets in a great looking dive to put them both down on the floor. Back in and Hart rolls through a high crossbody for two but Michaels rolls him up for the same.

Michaels grabs a sleeper and Lawler asks the logical question of what happens if Hart goes out: does he get counted out over and over or can you get a bunch of consecutive covers? Naturally McMahon has no idea, even though it’s a rather valid question. Hart flips out but gets elbowed and kicked in the face to knock him back down. Michaels charges into a backdrop over the top and wipes out a cameraman for one heck of a great shot.

For some reason Hart brings him back inside (Lawler can’t believe the stupidity) and starts in on the back, including a middle rope elbow. A Banzai Drop to the back lets Hart whip him into the corner, with Michaels flipping up into position for a belly to back superplex. We’re off to the reverse chinlock for a bit until Michaels reverses into a rollup for two. Hart stays calm and goes to the back again before knocking Michaels out of the air.

Back up and Michaels is thrown over the top, where he lands on Lothario, little to Hart’s chagrin. Hart takes him back inside for a belly to belly suplex and another near fall. The O’Connor roll gives Michaels two and the kickout sends him outside. That means Hart can hit a suicide dive, followed by a German suplex for two back inside. Hart slowly hammers away and we’re back to the reverse chinlock with ten minutes left. The hold eats up over two minutes until Michaels fights out for a double clothesline.

Michaels goes up so Hart superplexes him down for the big crash and they’re both down with six minutes left. A half crab sends Michaels to the rope so Hart gives him another backbreaker. Hart goes up and dives into some raised boots so they can breathe again. Michaels sends him hard into the corner and comes back with the forearm into the nipup, leaving Lawler stunned at the comeback. A spinning top rope ax handle gives Michaels two as we have three minutes to go.

The top rope elbow gives Michaels two and a nice gutwrench powerbomb gets the same with two minutes to go. Michaels’ top rope moonsault press gets another near fall as the fans are getting into this again. The middle rope hurricanrana gives Michaels two and he goes up again, only to dive into the Sharpshooter with thirty four seconds to go. Michaels screams a lot but manages to hang on as time expires at 1:00:00.

Hold on though as Monsoon says we’re not done, because THERE MUST BE A WINNER. Hart is not happy at all, which is fair as he survived the hour at a tie, which should go to the champion. Either way we’re going to sudden death overtime. The ticked off Hart hammers away on the back and hits a backdrop as it’s time to blow off some steam. Michaels gets sent into the corner and jumps over Hart, finally hitting the superkick (the first time as a fan that I actually jumped out of my chair watching wrestling). Hart gets up first but Michaels is right there for another superkick for the pin and the title at 1:01:50.

Michaels – 1
Hart – 0

Rating: C. There are very few matches in WWE history as debated as this one and I can see why. On one hand, it’s impressive that they went a whole hour and Michaels did get the big win, with the last few minutes and overtime being rather good. The problem here boils down to everything else, as it just wasn’t that interesting. Rather than having a good match that lasted an entire hour, it felt like they were trying to do whatever they could to get through an hour.

That made for a lot of laying around in holds, which might have made sense but it didn’t make for an entertaining match. This would have been far better as a one fall match that happened to go for about forty five minutes, as it adds more drama and doesn’t spend so much time burning clock. It’s far from some kind of a disaster, but it’s not that interesting and there are LONG stretches that didn’t keep me interested whatsoever.

Post match Hart is livid as Michaels is awarded the title and glares at him on the way up the aisle. Michaels gets all emotional and then celebrates a lot to end the show.

We get the long highlight package to wrap it up, set to the still outstanding Pump It Up Wrestlemania theme.

Overall Rating: C. This show was the definition of a one match card, with Undertaker vs. Diesel being a very distant second. The Michaels stuff (from the entrance to the win) is very memorable, but it needed something else to make the whole thing work. It’s far from a bad Wrestlemania, but it’s not remembered very fondly. I get the different lines of thinking on the main event, though it wasn’t enough to carry the show. Not awful, but definitely in the bottom half of Wrestlemanias.

Ratings Comparison

Camp Cornette vs. Yokozuna/Jake Roberts/Ahmed Johnson

Original: D+
2013 Redo: C
2015 Redo: C-
2026 Redo: C+

Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega

Original: B-
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: C
2026 Redo: C+

Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: N/A
2026 Redo: N/A

Undertaker vs. Diesel

Original: B
2013 Redo: B-
2015 Redo: B
2026 Redo: B-

Roddy Piper vs. Goldust

Original: N/A
2013 Redo: N/A
2015 Redo: N/A
2026 Redo: N/A

Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Original: B
2013 Redo: B
2015 Redo: B
2026 Redo: C

Overall Rating

Original: C-
2013 Redo: C+
2015 Redo: B-
2025 Redo: C

Well that’s a big drop for the Iron Man match and…yeah despite the consistent B’s beforehand, I really do not see it being that high. Maybe I’m just getting cranky over the years.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

When a lot of big stuff starts but it’s still really good.

 

https://411mania.com/wrestling/halls-wwe-summerslam-1997-review/ 

Smackdown
Date: March 20, 2026
Location: Lenovo Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
Commentators; Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

We’re less than a month away from Wrestlemania and the big story around here is Randy Orton snapping on Cody Rhodes last week and leaving him a bloody mess. That’s the kind of thing that could make for a heck of a Wrestlemania showdown, though we have a few weeks to get there first. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a look back at Orton attacking Rhodes last week.

Various people arrive but referees and Nick Aldis run to the parking lot, where Drew McIntyre pulls Jacob Fatu through a windshield of a car that has been t-boned by another car. McIntyre hammers him with right hands and Fatu is left bleeding.

Here is McIntyre in the arena to ask what you thought would happen. He wanted to go to the main event of Wrestlemania and you took it from him. Cue Aldis and security, with Aldis saying that the only thing McIntyre is heading towards is unemployment. McIntyre brings up Aldis’ son and how horrible of a father Aldis is, but here is Fatu to start the brawl all over again. Fatu gets the better of things and splashes him through the announcers’ table.

Post break we look back at what we just saw.

Tag Team Titles: Damian Priest/R-Truth vs. MFT’s

The MFT’s are defending. Priest grabs the lifting Downward Spiral to start fast on Mateo and takes Tonga down as well. Talla Tonga takes R-Truth off the apron and we take an early break. We come back with Mateo’s standing moonsault hitting Priest for two but Priest kicks him in the face.

There’s the Tag off to R-Truth as everything breaks down. Priest gets knocked outside and R-Truth hits a Stunner of all things into an STF. That’s broken up and Talla chokeslams R-Truth onto the apron. Cue the Wyatt Sicks to go after the non-involved MFT’s, leaving R-Truth to hit an AA for the pin and the titles at 8:44.

Rating: C+. In theory this clears the Wyatts and MFT’s for a match about the lantern, which could be a heck of a wild brawl. Other than that, I cannot imagine that R-Truth and Priest hold titles for very long, but it’s certainly a twist in the title picture. If nothing else, this could bring some of the other teams into the fold, which is long overdue.

Priest’s stunned look (Priest: “WHAT??? WHAT???”) is great and he’ll take it.

The Bella Twins are ready for the Irresistible Forces and the Women’s Tag Team Titles. Charlotte and Alexa Bliss (with ice cream) come up to mock them for being selfish and jumping the line. Brie takes Bliss’ spoon.

Candice LeRae doesn’t know how to fix Johnny Gargano but Danhausen pops in. Danhausen thinks something is wrong and Candice asks if he can fix it. He asks if she has $20 million so she reaches into Gargano’s pocket and pulls out some cash. Danhausen takes it, examines it, and leaves. The Motor City Machine Guns come up, with Chris Sabin telling Alex Shelley to keep walking because they have a match.

We look at fan reactions to Randy Orton attacking Cody Rhodes.

Sami Zayn can’t stop thinking about Rhodes, who always tries and goes the extra mile. Now look at what happened to him. Maybe that ends with Randy Orton winning the title so maybe Zayn’s worldview is wrong. Trick Williams comes in to mock him so Zayn is ready to fight but Williams will have to check his PalmPilot and get back to him.

Fraxiom vs. Motor City Machine Guns

Fraser grabs a headlock on Shelley to start with Sabin coming in to knock Axiom off the apron. Fraxiom get back up to clear the ring and we take a break. We come back with Fraser hitting a running flip dive to take out both Guns on the floor. Back in and Chasing The Dragon gets two on Sabin but he breaks up a super hurricanrana attempt.

The tag brings in Shelley to keep up the comeback as Candice LeRae is here to watch. Everything breaks down again and Fraxiom knocks them outside for the pair of dives. Back in and Sabin kicks out of a rollup, allowing LeRae to cheap shot Fraser, giving Sabin the rollup pin at 8:03.

Rating: C+. That ending is a bit curious but I’ll take something that has the Guns both back in the ring and winning. I’m not sure where the LeRae/Gargano stuff is going and that’s a nice feeling to have. What matters the most is that the tag division is starting to do something outside of just fighting over the belts, which is nice to see for a change. Just keep it going.

We look at the McIntyre/Fatu brawls from earlier.

We look at Roman Reigns and CM Punk’s interaction on Raw.

Here is Randy Orton for a chat as he has a seat in a chair. Orton talks about how much love he had received from the fans since he came back. Yeah he signs autographs and tells kids happy birthday and all that, but it’s such an empty feeling. He wants his legacy to be about World Titles and he was ready to get another one against Drew McIntyre. Then Cody Rhodes took the title and Orton wasn’t sure if he could win.

Rhodes helped him out though by telling him to be the best version of Orton that he could be, because he started listening to the voices. He doesn’t always stay in control when that happens, but this time they are telling him that he’s going to win the title at Wrestlemania when he beats Rhodes with the RKO. The fans seem to be way behind Orton here.

Video on the Bella Twins’ return.

Post break Randy Orton is in the back when he runs into Matt Cardona, who doesn’t know how Orton could do that to Cody Rhodes. Orton calls him a “mark a** stooge” and lays him out with a shot to the head.

Aleister Black vs. Sami Zayn

Zelina is here with Black and Trick Williams comes out to sit on the announcers’ deck. Black strikes away to start fast but Zayn pounds him into the corner to fight back. We take a break and come back with Black striking away. Zayn fights back but gets elbowed in the face as Williams has a drink from somewhere. Black’s leglock is broken up but the Helluva Kick misses, allowing Black to hit a middle rope Meteora.

Zayn manages to get up and knocks him outside for some rams into the barricade. Back in and Black rolls to the floor again to avoid a Helluva Kick. Zayn follows and knocks Williams’ feet off the ropes so Williams throws the drink at him. That’s enough for Zayn to unload on Williams, only to walk into Black Mass (with Black shrugging as if to say “you asked for this”) and the pin at 9:31.

Rating: B-. Zayn vs. Williams is an interesting way to go, if nothing else as it shows how hot of a start Williams is on as part of the main roster. That could open up more than a few doors and I’m curious to see where it goes for Wrestlemania, where they would likely be facing off. It’s nice to see Black getting a win and hopefully this gives him a bit of momentum.

Matt Cardona wants Randy Orton tonight but Nick Aldis says no. Carmelo Hayes comes up to ask about the US Open Challenge but someone has already taken him up on the title shot tonight. Ilja Dragunov pops up and seems ready for the match, with Hayes approving.

The Irresistible Forces aren’t worried about losing to the Bella Twins. They’re not worried about any of the other teams either.

Here is Jade Cargill for a chat and she wastes no time in calling out Rhea Ripley. Cue Ripley as they’re not wasting time here. Ripley doesn’t want to talk to Cargill anymore and hopes she’s out here for a fight. Cargill says this is about what Ripley needs, because Cargill doesn’t need anything, including the fans. Ripley says she needs this because she lives for this. She’s been doing this since she was sixteen and it’s what matters the most to her.

Cargill says Ripley is just Iyo Sky’s b**** but Ripley says that title needs her so she’ll be taking it. Welcome to the big leagues b****! She offers Cargill the first shot but “on my time”. Cue Michin and B-Fab…who surround Ripley and the big beatdown is on. Maybe they’ll be better lackeys than pitiful challengers.

Kit Wilson isn’t sure what to think of what is going on and Miz talks about having a horrible week. His family vacation was ruined because of bad weather in Hawaii and he has a horrible sunburn on his back. Cue Danhausen to slap both of them on the back but Miz still won’t mentor him. Then a ladder falls down behind them as Miz tells Wilson to go do this on his own. Then another ladder falls on Miz.

Solo Sikoa yells at the MFT’s and doesn’t want to hear about the Wyatt Sicks. Tama Tonga says Sikoa is starting to sound like Roman Reigns. That’s broken up as Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre pop up for another fight, with McIntyre going for the eyes.

Dennis Rodman is going into the Hall Of Fame.

US Title: Ilja Dragunov vs. Carmelo Hayes

Dragunov is challenging. They fight over a rather aggressive lockup to start until Hayes hits him in the face. Dragunov hits himself in the face and powers him across the ring, followed by a Constantine Special. We take a break and come back with Dragunov kicking away at the downed Hayes. That doesn’t last long as Hayes is back up with La Mistica, followed by a running clothesline to the floor. The running flip dive connects, with Hayes crashing into the announcers’ table.

Back in and a frog splash gives Hayes two but bangs up his own ribs in the process. Dragunov gets in a German suplex into a top rope backsplash for two, meaning it’s time for the Coast To Coast. Hayes is back up to First 48 him out of the air, with Dragunov managing an H Bomb on the way down. Hayes gets a foot on the ropes for the break and Dragunov can’t believe it.

We take another break and come back again with Dragunov hitting a Death Valley Driver onto the apron. Back in and Dragunov takes him up top but the superplex is reversed into a cutter for two. They strike it out with Hayes hitting an enziguri but Dragunov stomps him for two. Torpedo Moscow is countered into the First 48 for two and Hayes is stunned. That’s enough to set up Nothing But Net, only for Dragunov to come back with a Torpedo Moscow but doesn’t cover. Instead Dragunov loads up a powerbomb, which is countered into a sunset flip to give Hayes the pin at 15:57.

Rating: B+. This was a match that has been built up for a long time now, though it felt like they were going to build Dragunov back up a bit before we got to the title match. The good thing is that Hayes won clean here and can move on to someone else. I’m not sure who that is, but hopefully it’s a big name at Wrestlemania, as it would be nice to see the title treated that way.

Jelly Roll praises Damian Priest and R-Truth on their win. Roll goes up to Randy Orton, who apologizes for last week. Roll understands it and hopes that Orton realizes what he means to these people. Orton has worked so hard to get here and doesn’t know why he would want to be the old version. Roll even offers to help him get back to the good version and Orton seems interested.

We look at Oba Femi beating up Brock Lesnar on Raw.

Here is Kit Wilson to call out Jelly Roll. He wants to settle this like men so Roll needs to get out here right now. Cue Roll, with Wilson rolling straight to the floor. Roll wants a referee out here to have a match but Wilson says he fights with his words. Roll: “Do what?” He thinks Wilson brought him all the way here for a rap battle, but this is SLAM POETRY. The lights go down a bit and Wilson pulls out his book.

Roll: “YOU GOT A BOOK??? YOU BROUGHT A BOOK???” Wilson starts reading about Roll’s criminal past as Roll’s jaw is hanging open. He also gets in an Ozempic line but Roll comes back with various jokes about sleeping with Wilson’s mother. Wilson jumps him from behind and drops a top rope elbow. Roll was hilarious here as he really sold Wilson’s absurdity.

Giulia isn’t happy with Kiana James for losing and James doesn’t want to hear it. Alba Fyre rolls Chelsea Green in so Green can offer to team up against Tiffany Stratton but Giulia doesn’t want any help.

Jelly Roll wants Kit Wilson and Nick Aldis gives him the match next week.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Bella Twins vs. Irresistible Forces

The Bellas are challenging and dropkick the champs’ knees out to start. Jax and Nikki start things off with Nikki working on the arm. Brie comes in to do the same and a double bulldog connects. Cue Charlotte and Alexa Bliss for a distraction, allowing Legend to clean house. We take a break and come back with the Brie Mode knee hitting Jax. Brie fires off the YES Kick but Jax hits a headbutt.

The champs head outside for a breather so Nikki dives onto the two of them. Back in and a super Samoan drop into a middle rope splash has Nikki in trouble but Brie makes the save. Nikki gets the Fearless Lock on Legend so Jax grabs a belt, only for Charlotte to cut her off and brawl for the DQ at 8:00.

Rating: C. The Bellas are going to be around for the time being and it wouldn’t surprise me if they won the titles at Wrestlemania for their big special moment. I’m still not sure how interesting that is going to be but the Bellas are stars and that means we are going to see them for the coming weeks. The match was rather generic and could have been a lot worse, but I just cannot bring myself to care about the Bellas.

Post match the Bellas go after Charlotte and Bliss, but the Forces take out both of them and wreck everyone.

Randy Orton is on the phone with someone, who needs to watch him go back out to the ring.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

Here is Randy Orton with his chair for a chat, though he does shake hands with a kid on the way to the ring. He takes his time doing his full entrance before saying he has an apology to make to Matt Cardona, so if Cardona could please come out here. Cue Cardona, with Orton immediately apologizing. They hug and of course Orton kicks him low for the RKO. Orton takes him outside and loads up the steps but agents run out for the save (as the fans chant for RANDY). Orton throws Cardona back inside and pounds on him before Pillmanizing his arm. Fans: “ONE MORE TIME!” That’s going to be an issue, especially at Wrestlemania.

Nick Aldis comes out to yell at Orton but has to run to the back as we see Jacob Fatu and Drew McIntyre brawling outside. They climb onto a tower as Aldis and company run to the back. The two of them go over a rail and crash down onto….whatever is behind the fence holding Aldis and company back as the show ends. Their upcoming street fight or Last Man Standing or whatever match at Wrestlemania should be fun.

Overall Rating: B. I liked this show more than most recent Smackdowns, as they covered quite a few things, with some steps being taken towards Wrestlemania. Zayn vs. Williams has me interested, and I’m also curious to see what WWE does get the fans to boo Orton. I want to see where some of these stories go and that is a nice feeling. Throw in some good action and this was a rather good show, especially for Smackdown.

Results
R-Truth/Damian Priest b. MFT’s – AA to Mateo
Motor City Machine Guns b. Fraxiom – Rollup to Fraser
Aleister Black b. Sami Zayn – Helluva Kick
Carmelo Hayes b. Ilja Dragunov – Sunset flip
Irresistible Forces b. Bella Twins via DQ when Charlotte interfered

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Impact Wrestling
Date: March 19, 2026
Location: Gateway Center Arena At College Park, College Park, Georgia
Commentators: Tom Hannifan, Matthew Rehwoldt

We’re closing in on Sacrifice and the main event of Mike Santana defending the World Title against Steve Maclin is officially set. Other than that, there is still a good deal that needs to be announced but at least the top of the card is looking solid. The two of them are in the building this week so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening recap, focusing on Steve Maclin vs. Mike Santana.

Opening sequence.

Frankie Kazarian vs. Home Town Man

Man backdrops him to start and hammers away in the ropes as the fans certainly approve. A running hip attack connects in the corner but Kazarian goes for the mask. Cue AJ Francis as Kazarian hits a cool running Russian legsweep for two. Kazarian’s slingshot backbreaker gets two more and he rips off the Atlanta Hawks jersey.

That’s enough to start the comeback, including the Home Town Elbow. A TKO gives Man two but Kazarian is back with a Backstabber. The springboard legdrop gets two but Fade To Black is cut off. Man goes up but opts to dive onto a distracting Francis instead. Back up and Kazarian misses an apron legdrop, allowing Man to grab a small package for the big upset at 6:15.

Rating: C. This is the kind of win that is going to cause Francis and Kazarian to want to go after the mask and probably lead to a bunch of ranting and raving, which should be funny. Man isn’t going to rise up the card in any meaningful way but he can still be a fun act, which is all he’s supposed to be. This was a nice surprise and it made for a good opening.

Post match Francis goes after Man but Elijah runs in with the guitar shot for the save.

The Angel Warriors are ready to beat Dani Luna, who has to cheat to win, and Arianna Grace, who stole Li’s title.

Daria Rae comes in to see Santino Marella and talks about the Knockouts Title picture. Marella suggests a triple threat for the title with Arianna Grace defending against Lei Ying Li and Dani Luna. Rae agrees but leaves in annoyance anyway. Every week, I find myself more impressed at how pathetic “shut up, I’m talking” is as a signature line.

Mr. Elegance vs. Mike Jackson

The Elegance Brand is here with Elegance. Jackson low bridges him to the floor to start and hits a suicide dive. They go back inside with Jackson working on the arm, followed by Old School. Elegance kicks him in the ribs and hits a slam, setting up a fireman’s carry slam for the pin (as he sits on Jackson’s raised legs) at 4:17.

Rating: C-. This didn’t work so well, as a good chunk of it was about making sure Jackson got in his “oh wow a 76 year old can do this stuff!” offense. Elegance didn’t do much and while that’s kind of the point, it still wasn’t an entertaining debut. I’m still not sure what the appeal of Elegance is supposed to be, but it’s not quite working thus far.

Post match the Brand load up some cups of…something but ODB makes the save. ODB and Jackson pour the cups onto Elegance.

The System are ready to coming for some titles and Brian Myers is ready to take Moose out tonight.

Dani Luna/Arianna Grace vs. Angel Warriors

Stacks is here with Grace and Luna. Brookside gets thrown down to start and Luna loads up a suplex, only for Li to come in and grab a double suplex. The Warriors clear the ring and we take a break. We come back with Luna hammering on Li and Grace hitting a suplex of her own.

The reverse chinlock doesn’t last long so it’s back to Luna, who gets in an argument with Grace. That lets Li get over for the tag to Brookside, who Samoan drops Grace for two. A Codebreaker gives Li two as everything breaks down. Li takes Stacks but Brookside dives into the Lunar Landing for the pin at 11:37.

Rating: C+. This was a good way to make Luna look like a killer, as she smashed through Brookside and won in the end. Grace continues to look like she’s in over her head, which is the entire point. If nothing else, it was nice to see Brookside take the pin here rather than Li, as she’s in the upcoming title match. Little details like that can make a difference.

Here is Leon Slater for a chat. Two weeks ago, Eric Young gave him a piledriver and for the first time, Slater doubted if he was going to be able to get up. But the big bald b**** didn’t do enough because Slater is going to be ready for him at Sacrifice. Slater was showing some fire here and you don’t see that from him very often.

We look back at Moose beating Cedric Alexander in a street fight last week.

Moose vs. Brian Myers

Alisha Edwards is here with Moose and the rest of the System is here with Myers. Hold on though as here is Santino Marella to throw the System out, just in case. Marella says ring the bell and Moose hits the spear for the pin at 12 seconds. That’s efficient.

ENVY! Rosemary meets up with the Allie, who hates the regular clothes she’s wearing. Rosemary gives her something different and they go to see Raven, who mocks Tommy Dreamer. Raven gives Rosemary some of Dreamer’s blood from 1995 (“chock full of cholesterol and obesity”). I have no idea where these things are going but Raven (on a throne) is worth hearing.

The System tries to calm Brian Myers down and remind him that they still have a Tag Team Title shot. Bear Bronson is ready to hurt Moose.

Elayna Black vs. Jada Stone

Mara Sade is on commentary. They fight over standing switches to start and Stone takes her down. The standing moonsault gives Stone two but she gets sent throat first into the ropes. Black stomps away and it’s off to the chinlock. Stone fights up but here is Tasha Steelz to offer a distraction, allowing Black to hit the Blackout for the pin at 4:05.

Rating: C. There wasn’t much to this one as Black continues to just kind of be here. She was the big acquisition on the AMC debut and then hasn’t really done anything important. She has a bit of star power to her but it doesn’t matter if nothing happens from it. At the same time, Stone and Steelz should be in for a match at Sacrifice, possibly with someone else and part of Order 4 involved.

Post match Sade and Black have to be separated. Cue Order 4 to surround Stone but Trey Miguel runs in for the save.

Tessa Blanchard and company laugh at the Knockouts Title picture but Jody Threat, Harley Hudson and Myla Grace come in. Threat doesn’t think much of Blanchard and her cheap glasses so a match is set for next week.

Nemeths vs. Righteous

Vincent and Nic start things off with Vincent taking him down, sending Nic over to…well no one actually. Instead Nic is sent into the wrong corner so Dutch can come in for a splash. Dutch drops Vincent onto Nic for two and we take a break. We come back with Nic saving Ryan and grabbing a sleeper on Vincent.

That’s broken up and a tornado DDT plants Nic, allowing Dutch to come back in. House is quickly cleaned and it’s right back to Vincent for a high crossbody and a spinning DDT for two on Ryan. Dutch misses a charge into the steps though and Nic gets in a cheap shot on Vincent. The jumping Downward Spiral finishes Vincent at 11:40.

Rating: C+. The Nemeths are still a nice idea, as Nic is doing everything because Ryan is mostly useless. It could lead to the two of them splitting down the line, just for the sake of Nic getting sick of his brother being so worthless. The Righteous are still in a weird place, but ultimately it seems like they’ll be turning on the Hardys and setting up their big match. Uh, their next big match.

Mike Santana and Steve Maclin sit down in the back for a face to face confrontation. They stare at each other until Santana talks about how Maclin was the person who believed in him when he returned to TNA. Maclin was the one guy who would have his back but them Maclin’s pride and ego…and Maclin cuts him off. Maclin says Santana is the one with the ego and tells a story about volunteering to sweep for mines in Afghanistan.

Some drinks are sat out before them with Maclin having his, but Santana talks about fighting a war within himself. He’s made his past his superpower while Maclin has made his past his excuse. Everything Maclin has done better be worth it at Sacrifice because they’ll be ready to fight. When Santana wins, everything Maclin has done is for nothing. Santana even pays for the drinks and says Maclin is welcome for his job. This is still by far the best thing going in TNA and I want to see these two fight.

Overall Rating: C. I really wasn’t feeling this one so much, as most of the stories didn’t do much for me. The ending segment was good, but at the same time it only lasted a few minutes. Sacrifice should be a good show, but it needs something else to boost up the interest. The card is looking ok, though I could go for a second big match to come up. Not their best show here, but it did move us closer to Sacrifice.

Results
Home Town Man b. Frankie Kazarian – Small package
Mr. Elegance b. Mike Jackson – Fireman’s carry slam
Dani Luna/Arianna Grace b. Angel Warriors – Lunar Landing to Brookside
Moose b. Brian Myers – Spear
Elayna Black b. Jada Stone – Blackout
Nemeths b. Righteous – Jumping Downward Spiral to Vincent

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6