Jasper
4-02-06, 10:05 PM
Wrestlemania match-by-match coverage
by Dave Meltzer
Dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Welcome to our live coverage of Wrestlemania. We're looking for your thoughts on tonight's show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
We're opening with Kane & Big Show vs. Carlito & Chris Masters.
Masters came off the top and accidentally gave Carlito a double sledge. Kane pinned Carlito after a choke slam. Masters & Carlito argued after the match. There were chants for Carlito early. Decent match.
Shawn Michaels vowed violence and said he would not have a five-star match this year. Thanks for the heads-up.
Money in the bank is up now. A crazy collection of high spots from start-to-finish, ending with two ladders up. RVD knocked Benjamin and Hardy off their ladder over the top to the floor and grabbed the briefcase to win. Pretty much has to be RVD using it to challenge on the ECW PPV on 6/12. Excellent match. Benjamin in particular did a few unreal spots including a springboard off the ropes onto high on the ladder.
Mean Gene was doing an interview. Randy Orton confronted him. Orton was cutting a promo. Batista showed up. Certainly teasing Batista vs. Orton but we've had the fake teases before.
They just did the Hall of Fame wave. Howard Finkel nicely said that Bret Hart was uncomfortable about being there. The crowd went crazy for Eddie Guerrero. They brought out Chavo & Vickie Guerrero to make the wave. It really was a great scene.
Chris Benoit vs. JBL is up now. JBL won a match that was too short for a Benoit Wrestlemania match. Benoit had the crossface, but JBL turned Benoit over and held the ropes. Nothing wrong with the action but they should have given them more time. It appears JBL will now claim to be the greatest technical wrestler of all-time because he won titles from both Guerrero and Benoit.
Edge vs. Mick Foley is up next. They are moving through these matches fast. This was the sick match of the night. Foley took so many sick bumps early. Then they used the barbed wire bat to bloody each other up. Foley used the Mr. Socko claw on Lita and Edge. Edge took a back suplex into thumb tacks. Finish saw a table lit on fire on the floor and Lita hit Foley with a barbed wire bat to the knee. Edge then speared Foley into the table on fire. Both went into the table and Edge pinned him. Fans gave Foley a standing ovation when it was over. Match totally exceeded what anyone had a right to expect from it, in both the good and bad ways.
Booker & Sharmell were backstage for a freak show. They found Paul Burchill practicing being a pirate. Ted DiBiase doing a retro Million Dollar Man and kicking the basketball from Eugene bouncing it 100 times. They also had Snitsky sucking Mae Young's toes. Goldust was there as well wearing a dress. No sign of Boogeyman.
Booker & Sharmell vs. Boogeyman is up now. Boogeyman ate a giant handful of worms, then kissed Sharmell who had worm drool all over her face. She left. Boogeyman pinned Booker clean with a tree slam. With Boogeyman injured, this was worse than you'd think. Major horrible match.
Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James is up. This was the weird match of the night. James won the title which was the only possible finish. But the story was the crowd not caring for a few minutes, then there were light "Let's go Mickie" chants. Then the crowd turned on Stratus huge. JR & Lawler tried to explain the crowd was being defiant, and actually turned on the crowd by the end. The match got pretty hot down the stretch, but then ended with a horribly botched finish. I think James was supposed to do a Stratusfaction, but it was impossible to know what the plan was as they just collapsed. James then did a weak chick kick for the pin. Crowd would have turned on the finish except they were so happy James won they let it go.
Vince has a horrible sunburn from his latest tanning bed escapade. Vince did a funny prayer to God. He told God he was going to send his favorite wrestler to hell.
Undertaker vs. Mark Henry is next. Uneventful match except for Undertaker doing a running dive over the top where he had to clear the casket. I couldn't believe he did it and he was limping after the match. He did a tombstone, and that takes some trust when you're as big as Henry to allow someone to do that move to you. He rolled Henry into the casket. Henry didn't do a thing.
Vince vs. Shawn is up next. Shawn Michaels did an incredible job. The match had, by far, the most heat on the show. Vince did very little on offense, none of which looked good. They used Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon for decoys early. Michaels ran the Spirit Squad off early. He handcuffed Shane to the ropes and destroyed him with a cane. He destroyed Vince, including coming off 4/5 of the way up a 15 foot ladder (soon to be called a 30 foot drop in legend) with an elbow drop on Vince. Michaels pinned him after a superkick. Michaels' facials did a great job of storytelling.
The three-way for the Smackdown belts is up now. Very good match but they only gave them 9:00. Angle made both Mysterio and Orton tap, but both time ref Charles Robinson didn't see it. Rey pinned Orton clean with a springboard huracanrana. Fans didn't pop as big for the win as you'd expect. Crowd was booing Mysterio during the match and only cheered Angle, but when Rey won, they did cheer him. But if there's any doubt if this is a vanity promotion or not, Cena vs. HHH and Vince vs. Shawn look to be the two matches given time. Rey broke down and cried and celebrated with Chavo & Vickie Guerrero.
Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle is next. At this point in the show, they have no time to give them, not that they would in the first place. They both had their dresses ripped off and Wilson won with a schoolgirl. They gave them more time than they could have afforded given what they cut the prior match to.
Cena vs. HHH is the main event. Cena won with the STFU. That was quite a surprise. Cena kicked out of a sledge hammer shot. HHH kicked out of the FU. They had a very good match. Crowd was clearly pro-HHH and there was no hint of a Cena turn. It was clearly positioned as much bigger than anything on the show and crowd was very hot, because of the pro and anti-Cena dynamic.
by Dave Meltzer
Dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Welcome to our live coverage of Wrestlemania. We're looking for your thoughts on tonight's show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
We're opening with Kane & Big Show vs. Carlito & Chris Masters.
Masters came off the top and accidentally gave Carlito a double sledge. Kane pinned Carlito after a choke slam. Masters & Carlito argued after the match. There were chants for Carlito early. Decent match.
Shawn Michaels vowed violence and said he would not have a five-star match this year. Thanks for the heads-up.
Money in the bank is up now. A crazy collection of high spots from start-to-finish, ending with two ladders up. RVD knocked Benjamin and Hardy off their ladder over the top to the floor and grabbed the briefcase to win. Pretty much has to be RVD using it to challenge on the ECW PPV on 6/12. Excellent match. Benjamin in particular did a few unreal spots including a springboard off the ropes onto high on the ladder.
Mean Gene was doing an interview. Randy Orton confronted him. Orton was cutting a promo. Batista showed up. Certainly teasing Batista vs. Orton but we've had the fake teases before.
They just did the Hall of Fame wave. Howard Finkel nicely said that Bret Hart was uncomfortable about being there. The crowd went crazy for Eddie Guerrero. They brought out Chavo & Vickie Guerrero to make the wave. It really was a great scene.
Chris Benoit vs. JBL is up now. JBL won a match that was too short for a Benoit Wrestlemania match. Benoit had the crossface, but JBL turned Benoit over and held the ropes. Nothing wrong with the action but they should have given them more time. It appears JBL will now claim to be the greatest technical wrestler of all-time because he won titles from both Guerrero and Benoit.
Edge vs. Mick Foley is up next. They are moving through these matches fast. This was the sick match of the night. Foley took so many sick bumps early. Then they used the barbed wire bat to bloody each other up. Foley used the Mr. Socko claw on Lita and Edge. Edge took a back suplex into thumb tacks. Finish saw a table lit on fire on the floor and Lita hit Foley with a barbed wire bat to the knee. Edge then speared Foley into the table on fire. Both went into the table and Edge pinned him. Fans gave Foley a standing ovation when it was over. Match totally exceeded what anyone had a right to expect from it, in both the good and bad ways.
Booker & Sharmell were backstage for a freak show. They found Paul Burchill practicing being a pirate. Ted DiBiase doing a retro Million Dollar Man and kicking the basketball from Eugene bouncing it 100 times. They also had Snitsky sucking Mae Young's toes. Goldust was there as well wearing a dress. No sign of Boogeyman.
Booker & Sharmell vs. Boogeyman is up now. Boogeyman ate a giant handful of worms, then kissed Sharmell who had worm drool all over her face. She left. Boogeyman pinned Booker clean with a tree slam. With Boogeyman injured, this was worse than you'd think. Major horrible match.
Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James is up. This was the weird match of the night. James won the title which was the only possible finish. But the story was the crowd not caring for a few minutes, then there were light "Let's go Mickie" chants. Then the crowd turned on Stratus huge. JR & Lawler tried to explain the crowd was being defiant, and actually turned on the crowd by the end. The match got pretty hot down the stretch, but then ended with a horribly botched finish. I think James was supposed to do a Stratusfaction, but it was impossible to know what the plan was as they just collapsed. James then did a weak chick kick for the pin. Crowd would have turned on the finish except they were so happy James won they let it go.
Vince has a horrible sunburn from his latest tanning bed escapade. Vince did a funny prayer to God. He told God he was going to send his favorite wrestler to hell.
Undertaker vs. Mark Henry is next. Uneventful match except for Undertaker doing a running dive over the top where he had to clear the casket. I couldn't believe he did it and he was limping after the match. He did a tombstone, and that takes some trust when you're as big as Henry to allow someone to do that move to you. He rolled Henry into the casket. Henry didn't do a thing.
Vince vs. Shawn is up next. Shawn Michaels did an incredible job. The match had, by far, the most heat on the show. Vince did very little on offense, none of which looked good. They used Spirit Squad and Shane McMahon for decoys early. Michaels ran the Spirit Squad off early. He handcuffed Shane to the ropes and destroyed him with a cane. He destroyed Vince, including coming off 4/5 of the way up a 15 foot ladder (soon to be called a 30 foot drop in legend) with an elbow drop on Vince. Michaels pinned him after a superkick. Michaels' facials did a great job of storytelling.
The three-way for the Smackdown belts is up now. Very good match but they only gave them 9:00. Angle made both Mysterio and Orton tap, but both time ref Charles Robinson didn't see it. Rey pinned Orton clean with a springboard huracanrana. Fans didn't pop as big for the win as you'd expect. Crowd was booing Mysterio during the match and only cheered Angle, but when Rey won, they did cheer him. But if there's any doubt if this is a vanity promotion or not, Cena vs. HHH and Vince vs. Shawn look to be the two matches given time. Rey broke down and cried and celebrated with Chavo & Vickie Guerrero.
Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle is next. At this point in the show, they have no time to give them, not that they would in the first place. They both had their dresses ripped off and Wilson won with a schoolgirl. They gave them more time than they could have afforded given what they cut the prior match to.
Cena vs. HHH is the main event. Cena won with the STFU. That was quite a surprise. Cena kicked out of a sledge hammer shot. HHH kicked out of the FU. They had a very good match. Crowd was clearly pro-HHH and there was no hint of a Cena turn. It was clearly positioned as much bigger than anything on the show and crowd was very hot, because of the pro and anti-Cena dynamic.