WrestleMania X-8 - March 2002
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Chris Jericho is the Undisputed WWE World Champion, Maven is the Hardcore Champion, Diamond Dallas Page is the European Champion, William Regal is the Intercontinental Champion, and Jazz is the Womens' Champion. Billy and Chuck are the WWE Tag Team Champions while Tajiri holds the Cruiserweight Championship.
COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
A long hype video plays next, promoting the history and importance of WrestleMania.
The Intercontinental Championship is on the line in our first match with Rob Van Dam challenging the champion, William Regal. After a bumpy start, the match finds its way and the competitors start trading stiff shots. Regal gets some "color," which adds some suspense, even if there are some hiccups during a few of the sequences. Regal's trademark brass knucks make an appearance or two, but the crowd gets what they want in the end after a decent-but-not-great opener. (2.5/5)
Next, we get a clip to help set the context for Christian's match against Diamond Dallas Page for DDP's European Championship. Christian's promo ends with him doing a ridiculous face which made me wonder if that was part of his gimmick at the time. Anyway, their match is next and it's pretty darn good. After trading punches, DDP connects with an excellent powerbomb-into-a-gutbuster thing and, after some brawling on the outside, Christian transitions with a clever reversal in the corner. Both men bring a lot of energy and character into the match, mixing big spots with time-filling chokes and meaningful selling. The crowd reacts big for DDP's Diamond Cutter attempts and bites hard at the first false finish. While the actual ending is a bit sloppy, the post-match gives this one an extra half-point in the entertainment department. (3/5)
We get a funny Rock promo before our next match. It's not important enough to rate, but it provides a decent breather.
Maven defends his Hardcore Championship against Goldust next. Goldust tries his best to carry the Tough Enough winner to some passable minutes, but this is nothing special. A run-in from Spike Dudley leads to a brand new Hardcore Champion. Pure filler. (1.5/5)
Here comes another minus point - Drowning Pool performs to crickets, "telling the story" of the Jericho/HHH feud. (-1)
More Hardcore Championship shenanigans. The Hurricane captures the title.
We get a funny Rock promo before our next match. It's not important enough to rate, but it provides a decent breather.
Maven defends his Hardcore Championship against Goldust next. Goldust tries his best to carry the Tough Enough winner to some passable minutes, but this is nothing special. A run-in from Spike Dudley leads to a brand new Hardcore Champion. Pure filler. (1.5/5)
Here comes another minus point - Drowning Pool performs to crickets, "telling the story" of the Jericho/HHH feud. (-1)
More Hardcore Championship shenanigans. The Hurricane captures the title.
Kurt Angle vs. Kane is next. Angle's intensity is incredible here, throwing himself into every single step and move. It's rare to see Kane get dominated for lengthy segments, but Angle somehow manages to stay on top with suplexes and stiff clotheslines. When Kane does get the upper hand, the crowd is engaged in a way that doesn't happen much for the Big Red Machine in 2015. His kick out from the Angle Slam gets a great reaction, as does his enziguri reversal to the Ankle Lock. The finish is a little bit sloppy, but its hard to be too nit-picky about what had to be the most athletically remarkable Kane match ever. This one exceeded my expectations considerably and didn't overstay its welcome in the process. (3/5)
Hardcore Championship nonsense with The Godfather and his hoes, who I'd wager might have actually been prostitutes based on their appearance, clothing, and acting abilities.
A video package leads us to our next match - The Undertaker vs. Ric Flair. Jim Ross mentions that Undertaker is 9-and-0 at WrestleMania, which kind of seems paltry in hindsight. I was pretty underwhelmed by Taker's match with The Rock at No Way Out, but this match came together with considerably more fanfare and a much more intriguing story. This one starts off with lots of brawling, Flair going after Undertaker without any hesitation. Flair botches his first attempt at his trademark corner bump, but gets it right the second time. At this point, Naitch gets busted open, which would be a nice throwback to the last time Flair wrestled at a WrestleMania (in 1992) if "getting color" didn't happen to him in most of his matches from this era. From here, Taker is dominant and the beating Flair takes is remarkable. The Deadman connects on a picture-perfect superplex, following it up with a variety of strikes and a devastating guillotine legdrop on the apron. At some point, Taker ends up cut open (on his cheek first and head later), which adds to the drama and helps explain why Taker refuses to end the match despite having clear opportunities to do so. JR is excellent on commentary, playing up the Phenom's callous attitude and Vince McMahon's role in Flair's decimation. Miraculously, the Dirtiest Player in the Game is able to get a bit of a comeback in (thanks to a lead pipe), but this is essentially a one-sided contest. Flair gets a huge ovation for his figure four, but no one expects it to be the finish. Unfortunately, the logic behind the match falls apart a little here - Taker attacks the ref out of frustration and then grabs the pipe, which leads to Arn Anderson sneaking into the match and hitting him with a spine buster, none of this necessitating a distracted/knocked out referee or any sort of sneakiness considering the match is being fought under No Disqualification rules. This all leads to a a botched Last Ride and a Tombstone, with Undertaker punctuating his win by knocking out Charles Robinson. More entertaining than anything, this one takes Match of the Night honors so far, but more by default (and Flair's respectable effort) than by being truly great. (3.5/5)
After a funny promo from a glasses-sporting Booker T, we see him take on Toronto's own Edge. This rivalry was based on Edge "stealing" a Japanese shampoo endorsement deal from Booker T, which is absurd but original. The match they put on, aside from a noticeable hurricanrana botch, is fast-paced and features some surprising, well-executed momentum shifts. The crowd is huge into this one, popping big for the Spinnerooni and audibly gasping when Edge eats the turnbuckle on a failed spear attempt. Prior to watching this one I had no idea that Booker and Edge had such good chemistry - which is what I said about the Undertaker/Booker T match from 2001 too. For the minutes they were given, both guys came out of this looking strong. More-than-solid match. (3/5)
Backstage, Molly Holly sneak attacks her partner-in-crime stopping, Hurricane Helms, to capture the WWE Hardcore Championship.
Scott Hall vs. Steve Austin is next. Austin gets a big reception upon his arrival, but its hard not to view his card placement as something like a demotion. Scott Hall comes out second, but he's not alone - Kevin Nash shows up as well, dressed in his ring gear. Austin dominates at the start, but things turn around a bit after Nash exposes the turnbuckle and Hall sends the Rattlesnake back-first into it. Despite periodic "What" chants, the crowd is pretty dead for this - Nash's cheap shots draw no reaction until the final minutes when Austin's reawakened the crowd with one of his Stunners. Providing further proof that Vince and his staff had no idea how to book the nWo, Nash is eventually escorted to the back by a group of referees (because the nWo were known to listen to authorities?), which allows Austin to finally get an even playing field and put away his opponent. While not a bad match, it's not a very good one - a great example of a match and rivalry that is funner to talk about in historical terms than it is to rematch. (2.5/5)
The WWE Tag Team Championships are on the line next in a 4-way match pitting The Dudley Boys vs. The Hardys vs. The APA vs. Billy and Chuck. Saliva plays Team 3D down the aisle because, hey, they're around and this is WrestleMania and I hate my life right now. Some minutes later the match gets started and APA get to work on beating down the champs. JBL hits an awesome clothesline on Billy that pops the crowd, but eats a Dudley Death Drop for his efforts and gets his team eliminated. The Hardys get some ring time next, going after Palumbo and connecting on a double DDT while the Dudleys bust out a table on the outside of the ring. Jeff Hardy plays the face-in-peril for a stretch, his strong suit at this point in his career. The crowd grows a bit restless over the next several minutes as there's just not a ton of action to speak of aside from Jeff Hardy getting hit with clotheslines and shoulder blocks. Matt Hardy's "hot tag" gets a mild response because of it while Billy and Chuck are essentially background actors for the whole stretch. The crowd awakens for the table spot and soon after we're down to two teams. After some signature spots, we get a good false finish followed quickly with an actual less-definitive conclusion. Not great, but not horrid. I'm going to deduct a half-point for Saliva even being there. (2/5)
Backstage, Hulk Hogan asks Hall and Nash not to interfere in his match against the Rock tonight.
The Hardcore Champion, Molly Holly, gets a door closed in her face by…Christian, who then pins her to become the new champ.
Here we go - Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock in one of the biggest matches of all time. How did the WWE think this shouldn't have gone on last? It's really incredible in hindsight. After some back and forth, the crowd is fully behind the Hulkster once he takes control of the match, booing the Rock's offensive flurries at points. The in-ring action isn't awe-inspiring - Hogan moves slow and sticks to some basic offense (though he does throw a back suplex in there at one point and even connects on a decent chokeslam) and the Rock sells everything big and sticks to Hogan's pace (limiting his own comebacks to his signature spots), but the crowd pops huge for even the mundane. For example, Hogan draws a bigger reaction for a back rake than any of the 8 performers in the previous match did for their finisher. The referee bump is perfectly executed, as is the Sharpshooter sequence, which masterfully plays on the crowd's reaction by giving the Hogan supporters a real reason to root for the guy. Unfortunately, Hogan doesn't sell any damage to his knees or lower back, the kind of thing that would've made that only obsessive detail-oriented super fans will likely notice amid the false finishes and tremendous crowd reactions that erupt over the next few minutes. To some degree, this match set the template for the "finisher-spamming" main events of today, but in the context of this show, it works well because none of the prior matches, even Taker/Flair and Austin/Hall (the other two "marquee" matches on the show), relied on as many finisher thefts and signature spots. The post-match is a classic moment and one that the audience needed, Hogan humbled by The Rock and actually showing it with his facial expressions and body language, followed by Hall and Nash getting tossed out of the ring by two of the most electric performers in the history of the sport. I remember watching this match for the first time and loving every second, but on various rewatches over the years, this one's always comes off a little bit less epic each time. Still, it's hard not to love this match and get caught up in the emotion. Even without the Toronto crowd, this one would be above average based on the size of the personalities and Hogan's respectable effort - it is obvious he wanted to prove he could still "go" here and did all he could - but when you add in the intangible of the audience, this one earns at least one extra point. Dave Meltzer gave it 3 stars, by the way. (4/5)
Jazz vs. Trish Stratus vs. Lita for Jazz's Women's Championship is next. As Trish makes her way to the ring to a huge response, Lita attacks Jazz, which shows a good amount of psychology. From here, the action is kept brisk and we get a fair number of actual wrestling moves and reversals, including a tilt-a-whirl sidewalk slam from Lita, a bevy of suplexes from Jazz, and a decent bulldog from Trish. There's a sloppy back body drop at one point, but for the most part, the women hit their spots with gusto. Unfortunately, the crowd is somewhat indifferent until Trish misses the Stratusfaction in a spot that looks absolutely nasty. With a solid and definitive ending, the girls over-performed here, exceeding my expectations by delivering a fast-paced, action-packed move that had a clear story and good execution. (3/5)
Maven regains the Hardcore Championship in the last backstage bit of the night.
Main event time - the Undisputed WWE World Championship on the line with Triple H (played to the ring by Drowning Pool) challenging the reigning champion, Chris Jericho. The WWE went "all out" by having so many live performances, but unless you're a fan of the bands performing, these will be the longest 4 minutes of your life. Stephanie accompanies Y2J sporting a ridiculously whorish outfit. Over the years, this one has taken on a bit of a reputation as being a bad match. While the crowd was significantly liver for Rock/Hogan, this is easily the second "hottest" match of the night and, in terms of action and intensity, trumps Rock/Hogan within the first 10 or so minutes. Both Triple H and Jericho take some big bumps, but Stephanie also sacrifices her body a bit, taking a hard spear off the apron and, before the match is over, a pedigree in the center of the ring. What hurts this match most, though, is that it lacks any real curveballs. Stephanie accompanying Jericho at the start makes storyline sense, but wouldn't her involvement been more dramatic if she came down the aisle in the last third of the bout? Similarly, with both guys getting in their signature spots, there is only a short stretch in which Triple H is in anything resembling an underdog position. Chris Jericho could be any heel in the world, never once exhibiting the smug cockiness that should've been a bigger part of his in-ring persona by this point. Technically, this match is near flawless. Both guys execute every big spot without error. Neither appears winded, nobody's caught "calling spots," and the strikes and holds look snug. But the story is too straightforward, too predictable, too "on the nose" for its own good. Did anyone not think Steph would end up pedigreed? If you've seen any Triple H/Jericho singles match, you've seen this one…even if you haven't seen this one. (3/5)
Whoo…at nearly 4 hours, WrestleMania XVIII is a marathon of mediocrity. With an average match/segment rating of 2.81-out-of-5, this show should be resting comfortably in that "Watch It…With Remote in Hand" territory. But then you factor in the atrocious musical performances and that average score dips to a 2.63-out-of-5. While not as a score as 2001's Vengeance or Unforgiven shows, what really disappoints about this show is that there are moments that are as good as anything at the previous year's excellent WrestleMania XVII. Edge/Booker, Kane/Angle, and Christian/DDP are great midcard matches, smartly worked and lean. The same can said for the Womens' Championship match. Unfortunately, HHH/Jericho is lackluster, the Hardcore Championship match (and subsequent backstage shenanigans) are an unfunny night-long joke, and RVD/Regal is too sloppy to recommend. Rock/Hogan is a success and worth seeing at least once if you're any sort of wrestling fan. Taker/Flair is considerably more physical and less of a "dream match," but its brutality makes it one of the better entries in the Deadman's streak.
FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver
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