Taka Michinoku vs. Aguila - Light Heavyweight title match - Wrestlemania XIV (1998)
How about some flippy stuff...
In the first and only Light Heavyweight Championship match, Taka Michinoku defends the gold against Aguila, a young masked wrestler from Mexico (who later wrestled unmasked as Essa Rios). These two had previously faced each other in the Light Heavyweight title tournament which Taka would later end up winning to be the inaugural Light heavyweight Champion in WWF. At the time of this match, Aguila was only 19 years old making him the youngest person to ever compete at Wrestlemania!
Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus - Women's Title match - Wrestlemania 22 (2006)
Some pre-Total Divas women's action featuring the obsessive fan turned deranged lunatic, Mickie James challenging the Women's champ, Trish Stratus. Not as violent as the last female wrestling match I posted but still pretty heated for WWE standards... so, not very violent at all.
This match however does include this spot by Mickie James which is super not PG (or safe for work) and has since been cut out from the match if you watch it on The Network from what I've been told.
Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus - World Heavyweight title match - Wrestlemania XXVIII (2012)
I can't say I expected this World Heavyweight title match featuring the indy sensation, Daniel Bryan and the Celtic Warrior, Sheamus to be as shocking as it was. For such a prestigious title to be shoved so far down the card as this was, Bryan and Sheamus made the best of it with their amazingly athletic abilities, honor for the title, as well as their wonderful showmanship. No one expected Sheamus to go all PWG, three shooting star presses in a row, no-selling a piledriver on the apron, and perform a Johnny Saint Special, but the big guy from Dublin, Ireland really impressed the crowd, everyone watching at home, and even myself that night.
The Undertaker vs. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - Wrestlemania VII (1991)
Only a few months after the fresh (yet dead) new competitor known as The Undertaker made his debut at Survivor Series, he was thrown into a match at the biggest WWF PPV of the year against Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. While challenging Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka is never a walk in the park, you can see here that this was boot-era Jimmy Snuka and therefore lacked the "Superfly" powers that he once possessed.
'Taker would go on to win 20 more of these WM matches, and is looking for his 22nd win this Sunday against "The Beast Incarnate" Brock Lesnar. Many people on the internet say that the only wrestler that can really put an end to the streak is Kane - who has failed two times already. I, on the other hand, believe that it takes someone who can tie the whole streak back together, and since Jimmy Snuka is well passed his glory days to return, it looks like it's up to another Snuka; it looks like it's up to Tamina "The daughter of Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka" Snuka to put an end to the streak!
Wrestlemania is a mere 6 days away which can only mean one thing - it's Wrestlemania week! The grandest wrestling event this side of the world is turning 30 next Sunday and with that comes 29 years of great material to watch and honor this week.
I highly recommend watching these Wrestlemania moments on the WWE Network for best picture quality. If you are not from America or broke like me, the youtube/dailymotion/weird Japanese video players I will be embedding will have to do as usual...
Cruiserweight Open featuring: Ultimo Dragon, Jamie Noble, Shannon Moore, Rey Mysterio, Funaki, Nunzio, Chavo Guerrero, Billy Kidman, Tajiri, and Akio* - Cruiserweight title match - Wrestlemania XX (2004)
Before introducing the WrestleMania match mentioned above, I would first like to introduce Ultimo Dragon to anyone who may not now of him.
This is Ultimo Dragon:
Yep, that's him, and yes, that's ten titles. Do I need to say more?
So, when WWE picked up Ultimo Dragon in 2003, it seemed like a no-brainer that Dragon would make a huge impact on the Smackdown! brand and have great success in their cruiserweight division, a division that Ultimo Dragon revolutionized in the 90's (those ten titles above are all middleweight/lightweight/cruiserweight championships). It also makes sense that Ultimo Dragon would get his chance to shine at pro-wrestling's version of the Super Bowl, WrestleMania!
So, WWE booked Ultimo Dragon in a match for the Cruiserweight title at Wrestlemania XX, right? Ehh, sort of. Rather than just having Ultimo Dragon take on the Cruiserweight champion of that time - which wasn't Rey Mysterio for some reason - we were given a ten man elimination-type match featuring the who's-who of the undercard.
Unfortunately for Ultimo Dragon, it just gets worse from there.
Take a look:
Yep, that's the same guy from above holding ten titles, eight from winning the prodigious J-Crown tournament, the NWA Middlewight title and the WCW World Cruiserwight title, Sin Cara-botching his WrestleMania debut.
Ultimo Dragon trips on his way out to the ring and then slips on the ropes as he poses to the crowd at Madison Square Garden, all before the match starts.
The Match:
As it seems that Ultimo Dragon's (who has to start the open) luck is turned around after defeating Shannon Moore with the Asai DDT, Ultimo Dragon takes on Jamie Noble (a former dragon himself) only to get choked out and sent to the back, ending Dragon's chances at becoming champion at 'Mania, just like that.
Other "highlights": Rey Mysterio dressed as Flash, Funaki gets pinned in record time if this was a real match, Nunzio gets counted out, Billy Kidman's cringe-worthy springboard shooting star press, *Akio gets Tajiri mist sprayed in his face so he never actually wrestled in this match, Chavo Classic catches Rey Rey before splatting on the floor via senton over the top rope, and, after eleven minutes of plugging all the cruiserweights Smackdown! had for this match, Chavo Guerrero retains his title.
All in all, if it wasn't for Ultimo Dragon's failed WrestleMania debut, this match would be forgotten forever. Thank you based dragon!
X-Pac vs. Shane McMahon - European title match - WrestleMania XV (1999)
As a much younger, full time mark, I had a special best of WrestleMania DVD (one of the first DVDs I ever owned) that chronicled some of the best matches and events at the grandest stage of them all from WMI to WMXV. Whether it was the fact that my attention spend gave out right before the end of the video and I was getting antsy or that this particular WrestleMania was just the most exciting to my young brain, I remember always getting really amped up when this match was being recapped!
And then there's the swerve: As X-Pac laid out Shane McMahon via the X-Factor and was about to cover him for the won, Triple H and Chyna come down to ringside and pulled Test out of the ring. Then Chyna distracted the ref while Triple H climbed into the ring and does the unthinkable. Triple H pedigrees X-Pac and drapes Shane-O-Mac over his unconscious friend, signifying that Triple H and Chyna had turned on their own team/stable and gone to the dark side: The Corporation.
Just one year before this, Triple H introduced the returning X-Pac as the new member of D-Generation X on Raw the night after WMXIV!
Here's another great gimmick match from 90's era WrestleMania:
Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie vs. The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) - first ever Dumpster match for the WWF tag team championship - WrestleMania XIV (1998)
Oh yes, the dumpster match!
After Chainsaw Charlie AKA 53 year old Terry Funk and his tag team partner, Cactus Jack were sent for a ride in a dumpster courtesy of the New Age Outlaws on Raw, the hardcore legends were certainly looking for revenge. So, what better way to get their revenge than by taking on the two young punks, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg, in a special match featuring the very same type of trash container that Foley and Funk almost had their careers come to a crashing end in when they were pushed off the ramp on Raw 2 months prier. Despite the titles being on the line in this match, this wasn't about winning the gold for the hardcore legends. No, it was all about punishing Gunn and Road Dogg and then taking out the trash...
The result: Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack do end up taking out the trash big time with the help of the trusty forklift! But because they used a dumpster in the backstage area rather than the designated one for the match, the New Age Outlaws lobbied for the titles to be dropped. So, the next night on Raw the titles were contested in a cage match with the two teams from the dumpster match facing off one last time. The match ended with the New Age Outlaws getting their titles back thanks to the help of their new brotherhood: D-Generation X!
And yes, Mick Foley does take a huge bump, this time in the form of a ladder spot into the dumpster. There was no need for the ladder in this match other than for Foley to take a nasty bump from a high place once again.
"We always do it better in the dark" - Jake Roberts
Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. "The Model" Rick Martel - Blindfold match - WrestleMania VII (1991)
Many consider this little gimmick match at the All-American/Undertaker streak debut WrestleMania to be a pretty crappy match. Yes, it does feature two athletes who could wrestle the hell out of each other with bags over their heads, but that's looking at the whole scheme of things out of context. Without the knowledge of the feud these two had between each other in 1991 and the back story, a back story literally built months in advance, one should not assume this match was picked from a raw roulette wheel in the back featuring two guys Vinny Mac forgot to put on the card that year.
Okay then... the back story:
Some time after "The Model" Rick Martel introduced his very own line of cologne - properly named: "Arrogance", which was kept in a large atomizer, Martel began using it arrogantly on his opponents by spraying it into their eyes. One night during The Brother Love show with special guest, Jake Roberts, Martel sneaked up behind Roberts while he was dropping a stunning promo about love or something and sprayed his pet snake, Damien with the perfume. Before Roberts could retaliate he was sprayed directly into his eyes, blinding him! Eventually Roberts appeared to be healed, but only to reveal that he had snake eyes! Dun dun dun. Roberts and Martel would feud with one another all throughout 1991, including facing off at Survivor Series with their own respective teams (Robert's team was called The Vapors and Martel's team was called The Visionaries, a rib on Roberts and his blindness). Eventually, the two would settle their differences once and for all at the WM in a match right up Roberts alley. Seeing as Roberts now had an extra sense because he was some sort of blind snake metaphor, it was only fitting that he challenge Martel in a blindfold match where The Model would have to experience the darkness that Roberts was living in for months.
Now don't get me wrong, this is a silly match for WrestleMania. If you look at the events leading up to this match, however, it really does make sense. Hell, I think it would have been even more interesting if the whole arena was pitch black so everyone could see what it was like to be blind. Image that: a blindfold lights out match. Genius!
Tito Santana vs. The Executioner - WrestleMania I (1985)
What better way to open WrassleMania week than with the match that started it all. I'm not talking that Hulk Hogan and Mr. T/Rowdy Roddy piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff match - uh uh -I'm talking Chico Santana versus The Executioner! The first ever WrestleMania match!
Any smart mark will tell you that this bout between the masked and very unknown Executioner (not to be confused with Terry Gordy's Executioner) and Tito Santana was really what started "the Grandest Stage of Them All", making it more than just "the Okay Stage for Some".
In honor of WrestleMania week/weekend, this weeks "theme" will be WrestleMania matches. Pretty self explanatory...
This week each year will now be reserved for WrestleMania matches and WrestleMania matches only. No other week will feature WrestleMania matches anymore, I promise.
Raven vs. Kane vs. Big Show - Hardcore Tile match - WWF Wrestlemania X-Seven (2001)
In one of the most memorable hardcore Wrestlemania, the hardcore champion, Raven must battle the two biggest wrestlers WWF had in 2001, Kane and the Big Show.
This hardcore match lasts about a minute in the ring before making its way to the backstage area where many memorable spots are performed including: Raven getting thrown through a glass window, Raven slipping and almost getting run over by the cart, and Kane and the Big Show going through a door then through a wall. The match ends at the entrance way when the Big Show and Raven both fall off the side of the entrance ramp into a cloud of smoke giving Kane the chance to perform what looks like a blind flying leg drop into the carnage to the side of the ramp. Kane ends up landing on the Big Show and gets the pinfall to become the new hardcore champion at the seventeenth annual Wrestlemania.
Overall a very enjoyable worked match!
During this match we also learn that Paul Heyman's favorite type of snapple is diet peach.
