Nickrj’s rant for Wrestlemania XIV
The WWF was on a roll having recently surpassed WCW in the ratings. And the timing couldn’t be better for their biggest show of the year. Let’s go!
Live from the Fleetcenter in Boston Massachusetts on March 29th 1998
Your hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler
The winners gets a shot at the Tag Team champs on the next PPV. The participants are: Skull and 8-Ball, Sniper and Recon, Farooq and Kama Mustafa, D-Lo Brown and Mark Henry, The Godwinns, The New Midnight Express, Savio Vega and Miguel Perez Jr., Jose Estrada and Jesus Castillo, Chainz and Bradshaw, Flash Funk and Steve Blackman, The Quebecers, The Headbangers, Too Much, The Rock N Roll Express and LOD 2000 (making their return with Sunny.) When one man is eliminated his partner must go back as well. Half the teams were just thrown together showing how weak the Tag Team division is at this point. Onto the match.
All 30 men get in the ring and start battering each other, usual for a battle royal. Savio and Miguel are the first team to go. Kurrigan illegally comes in the ring and eliminates the Truth (or Dare) Commission. Barry Windham comes out illegally as well as Hawk dumps Flash Funk. Barry throws out Chainz meaning Bradshaw has to go as well. What’s with these run ins? The Quebecers and D-Lo are gone but Mark Henry stays in the ring. The R&R Express is gone. Farooq/Kama and Jesus/Jose are gone as well as the Godwinns pound on Hawk. Brian Christopher is press slammed by Henry as Bob Holly clotheslines Mosh out eliminating the Headbangers. Henry Godwinn finally dumps Mark Henry out. Scott Taylor is backdropped out by Bart Gunn eliminating Too Much. Down to four teams, The DOA, The LOD, The Godwinns and the ME. Hawk hits a terrible clothesline on Henry. The DOA are eliminated by The Godwinns but the come back in and eliminate Phineas. But the Godwinns come back in and nail the LOD with their buckets. Thank god these farmers were gone after this. The ME go to work on Hawk and hit a double elbow. They try to get Hawk out but he fights back. Animal comes back in (he was thrown underneath the bottom rope). Animal hits a powerslam on Bart. Hawk clotheslines Bart out as Animal clotheslines Bob out to win it for the LOD at 8:22. Bad opener but it helped to get the crowd going 1/4*
They show highlights of the DX Public Workout as Shawn Michaels and Mike Tyson kiss Steve Austin. On Regis and Kathy Lee, Austin is a guest and he gets his head rubbed by Regis. At Kid’s Company some kid is with Flash Funk and at Champion’s Bar a Banquet was held with several WWF Superstars.
Man I love Taka’s music. Taka gets a shuolderblock but Ag gets an armdrag and a spinning head scissors and a heel kick followed by a baseball slide. Aguila hits an Asai moonsault on the outside. Aguila suplexes Taka back in but he gets a dropkick and hits a flying bodypress on the outside. Taka hits a fist in the corner and a dropkick on the apron. Snapmare followed by a dropkick to the face for 2. Aguila backdrops Taka to the outside and he hits a top rope armdrag. Another armdrag and he hits a springboard wristlock takedown followed by a spinning plancha on the outside. Taka misses a spinning moonsault but Aguila hits a moonsault for 2. Taka goes to the top and is caught but he pushes Ag off and falls onto a knee. Aguila with a top rope spinning head scissors but Taka gets a kick in the corner and a missle dropkick. Ag comes out of a slam but is power bombed. Taka misses a moonsault and Ag gets a cradle for 2. Ag goes to the top but is dropkicked in midair by Taka and Taka hits the Driver for the pin at 5:58. Good Light title bout ***1/4
Gennifer Flowers interviews the Rock who likes to be called Ruler instead of leader.
Chyna will be handcuffed to Sgt. Slaughter throughout this match. Triple H won the title from Owen on March 16th on Raw Is War after Chyna injures Owen’s injured ankle with a bat that makes the ref stop the match after Triple H hooks the ankle lock. Owen pounds on Triple H at the start and hits a backdrop and a clothesline. He hits another one in the corner and does the 10 punch count. Owen hits a hurricurana for 2. Triple H hits an elbow. Chyna almost nails Owen outside but is pulled by Slaughter and Triple H falls into the railing. Back in Owen almost hooks the Sharpshooter but is eye poked. Triple H hits a face smasher and a clothesline. Triple H hits some chops in the corner and some kicks. High knee for 2. He hits a suplex and a knee drop. Owen starts fighting back but runs into a foot. Triple H hits a DDT for 2 ½. He starts going on the injured ankle of Owen. He works a step over toe hold as Owen is cut legit on his nose. Triple H kicks on the ankle in the corner. Owen starts fighting back he ducks a foot and rams Triple H into the post. He hits a missle dropkick for 2. Owen hits a belly to belly for 2 followed by a spinning heel kick for another 2. Enzuguri but Owen hurts his ankle for 2 ½. Triple H counters a hurrcurana into a power bomb for 2. Triple H is clothesline on the top rope and Owen hits a flying bodypress for 2. They both counter finishing moves until Owen hits a low headbutt for 2. Triple H is backdropped on the pedigree as Owen hooks the Sharpshooter and Chyna helps Triple H to the ropes and she throws powder in the eyes of Slaughter. She low blows Owen and Triple H hits the pedigree for the pin at 11:28. Good title match ***1/2
We get a look at the feud between Sable VS Marc Mero, Goldust and Luna. Marc Mero was injured in early 1997 as he drops his Wildman gimmick to a Boxer one late in the year. However Sable kept her wildman image and got the cheers of the crowd. Mero is jealous of not getting any crowd approval so he starts insulting Sable to get attention. Sable eventually lost her temper and starts fighting back. Matters got worse as Luna just hates Sable and they brawl pretty much every week. Goldust orders a mixed tag match at Wrestlemania. I kinda liked this feud and angle believe it or not.
Mero and Goldust start it off. Mero hits a hurricurana and a clothesline. Luna is tagged and she want Mero but she can’t face him. Sable starts chasing Luna outside and Luna goes back in and tags Goldie. Goldust takes a backdrop. Sable comes in and kicks Goldust. Luna doesn’t want to fight Sable. Mero is tagged back in and runs into a foot and a clothesline. Goldust hits a stungun. Mero comes back with a crossbody for 2. Double KO spot occurs. Luna and Sable are tagged in and Sable starts hammering on Luna and hits some kicks. She hits Goldust and clotheslines Luna to the outside. Goldust is tagged back in and is nailed by Sable again. Mero gets the tag and he throws Goldie into the stairs. Back inside Mero is caught by the knees of Goldust. But he hits a low blow and Goldust counters a TKO into a DDT for 2. Goldust sets up the Curtain Call but Mero comes out and hits a kneelift. Mero goes to the top and hits a springboard moonsault for 2! Goldust hits an elbow and Mero brings him off the top rope. Mero hits a top rope hurricurana for 2. Man were seeing the Wildman Marc Mero here and not the Boxer. Goldust falls into Luna and is rolled up for 2. Mero hits the TKO but Luna makes the save and is on the back of Mero. Sable gets the blind tag and she covers Goldust and Luna splashes her own man. Sable hits a powerbomb for 2. Luna starts choking her on the 2nd rope. She misses a 2nd butt splash though but continues to work. Sable however nails the TKO on Luna for the pin at 9:11. Surprisingly pretty good match **3/4
IC Title Match: The Rock (with D-Lo Brown, Mark Henry and Kama Mustafa) VS Ken Shamrock
Gennifer Flowers is the guest ring announcer who comes out with Jeff Jarrett and is introduced by Tennessee Lee. Shamrock comes in the ring and hammers on the Rock to start and he clotheslines him to the outside. Rock tries to leave but nothing doin. Back inside Shamrock hits some clotheslines and a high kick. He’s sent to the outside however and is thrown into the steps. Rock slams Shamrock and hits the People’s elbow for 2. Shamrock sends the Rock to the outside and Shamrock follows him. Shamrock grabs a chair and and he throws the ref down. Rock takes advantage by nailing Shamrock with the chair for 2. Shamrock fights back and hits an elbow and a dropkick followed by a powerslam for 2. Shamrock hits the belly to belly into the Anklelock for the submission at 4:48. He fends off the nation and goes back to the Anklelock on the Rock. Farooq comes out and jumps on the apron but he decides not to help the Rock and leaves. That led to Farooq’s firing of the nation the next night. Shamrock finally lets go of the Anklelock and he Belly to Belly suplexes 4 officials. The ref reverses the decision and DQ’s Shamrock. Hey it’s his own fault folks! *1/4 Rock is stretchered out and Shamrock continues to attack the Rock in the aisleway.
Tag Team Title Dumpster Match: The New Age Outlaws VS Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie
This is for what happened on Feburary 2nd as the Outlaws nearly killed Cactus and Charlie by pushing them off the stage in a dumpster. Whoever dumps both the guys of one team in the dumpster and shuts the lid will be the winner. The heel Outlaws were starting to get fans of their own at this point. Both teams brawl on the outside. Road Dogg is rammed into the dumpster as Billy Gunn hits a stun gun on Terry Funk. Jack tries to get Road Dogg but is hammered with a baking pan. Jack misses something and hits the dumpster. Funk is thrown into the rail and backdropped into the dumpster. Jack is rammed into the dumpster twice. The Outlaws slam the lids on the Hardcores. Gunn takes off Funks shirt and chops him. They almost slam the lids down but Jack gets out and hooks the Manible Claw on both Outlaws. Gunn nails Jack with a baking pan and Funk does the same on Gunn. Jack hits a neckbreaker on Dogg and Funk hits a Rude Awakning. Jack drops the pan on Gunn. Funk gets a DDT on Dogg on the pan as Jack brings out a ladder from underneath the ring. He sets it up and he climbs the ladder but Gunn climbs the other side Dogg nails Funk into the ladder and both Gunn and Jack are dropped into the dumpster! The Outlaws then powerbomb Funk into the dumpster. They go after Jack in the aisleway and take him backstage. They continue to pound on Jack backstage. Jack is rammed into a bunch of plastic dottles. He nails both Outlaws with a chair and he places both Outlaws on a forklift as Terry Funk is back there to operate it. He places both outlaws into another dumpster and Jack shuts it at 9:59 and Jack and Charlie are the new tag team champs although they shouldn’t have won it right there. This was a good match with some nasty bumps! *** The Outlaws would win the titles back the next night in a steel cage match and join DX in process.
We look at the feud between the Undertaker and Kane. It started on June 30th 1997 when Paul Bearer accused UT of murdering his family. Later that night UT confronts Bearer only to find out that Kane told him about it. 3 months later on Badd Blood Kane makes his debut by costing UT the HIAC match with Shawn Michaels. Kane then goes on a path of destruction through the WWF but UT doesn’t want to face his own brother. In January it looks like there’s a reunion between the two but at Royal Rumble Kane turns on UT and burns him in a Casket! UT comes back in March and he will walk through hell to face Kane.
Pete Rose is the guest ring announcer and here’s what he says and remember we’re in Boston here.
Rose: Yeeeaaah! Last time I was here we kicked your ass! (Crowd Boos) You can’t
win a World Series! My buddy Bucky Dent says hello! You know, I left tickets
for Bill Buckner but he couldn’t bend over to pick it up. Well they call it the
curse of the Bambino right here. The city of losers! How about it. And now
introducing…
The lights come out and the fire explodes as Kane comes out. He comes in the ring and tombstones Pete Rose to a huge pop and stretchers him out.
They staredown in the ring and UT gets some right hands. Kane comes back with an elbow and he powers UT in the corner but UT reverses and continues to pound on Kane and hits a boot. Kane hits a clothesline but UT sits up. Kane sets up UT upside down in the corner. He throws UT hard into the corners. Kane sets UT on the ropes he goes to the top and hits a flying fistdrop. He hammers UT in the corner. UT climbs on the shoulder but is dropped down. They go outside and UT is dropped on the railing. He is thrown into the steps. Kane takes the steps and hits UT with it. He does it again. Kane suplexes UT back in. UT starts to fight back but Kane hits a chokeslam for 2 and picks him up. Kane goes to the chinlock now. UT starts to hammer away at Kane but takes a clothesline. Kane hits an elbow and goes back to the chinlock. UT gets up and takes Kane to the outside and kicks him off the apron but he hits a flying plancha on the Spanish announce table breaking it! Kane goes up to the top rope inside and hits a flying clothesline for 2. Kane continues to pound on his brother and a slugfest develops. UT sets up the Tombstone but Kane reverses it and nails the Tombstone for 2! The ref falls down over Kane afterwards. Kane pounds on UT in the corner and UT fights back with a clothesline. He hits a chokeslam. He hits the Tombstone but only gets 2! Wow what’s it gonna take? UT hits a legdrop and another Tombstone but still Kane kicks out! UT climbs on the top and hits a flying clothesline and UT hits a third Tombstone to finally pin Kane at 16:57. I thought this match was pretty similar to UT/Diesel two years ago. **. Kane gets the last laugh though as he Tombstones UT on a steel chair.
Iron Mike Tyson who joined DX earlier in the month is the special enforcer referee and he is literally booed! Remember Shawn has an injured back. They circle around for a moment before Shawn gets a couple of jabs. They go to the outside and Austin catches Shawn and hammers him and pulls his tights down showing his ass. Shawn is backdropped outside the ring onto Triple H. Triple H rams Austin into the railing as a result and the ref sends Triple H and Chyna out of the ring area. Shawn works on Austin outside and grabs some water. They go in the aisleway and Shawn nails Austin with a cymbal. Austin is thrown into the dumpster. They go back into the ring and Shawn goes to the top and is caught by Austin on the way down. Austin sends Michaels upside down and over. Austin hits an inverted atomic drop for 2. You can tell Shawn is hurting now because of his bad back. Austin hits a stungun for 2. He almost hits the stunner and he sends Shawn face first into the English announce table. He rams Shawn into the steps. Back in Austin hits 2 elbows for 2 and he goes to the chinlock. Shawn counters with a jawjacker. He sets Austin’s legs on the post but Shawn in rammed into the post himself. They go over by the rail but Austin is backdropped into the audience and Shawn hits him with the bell. Shawn is in pain now. Back inside Shawn groans and hits some rights and his back is in real pain now. Shawn hammers Ausitn in the corner while holding his back. He hits a low kick and mocks Austin with the double bird. Austin comes back and pounds on Shawn. He throws Shawn to the outside. Shawn rams Austin’s bad leg into the post and does it again. Shawn continues to work on the leg. He tries a figure four but is pushed into the post and rolled up for 2. Shawn goes back to the leg. Austin goes to the outside right by Tyson. Shawn baseball slides him on top of the table. Tyson throws Steve back in. Shawn gets a chopblock on the bad knee. He hooks the Figure Four and uses the ropes for leverage. Austin reverses the hold but it is broken. Steve hammers on Shawn and slingshots him to the post. Shawn hooks the sleeper. They go in the corner and sandwich the ref. Shawn is dropped on the post again. Austin does the kicking part on Shawn. He hits a backdrop (ouch!) Shawn comes back with a forearm and both men are down. Shawn nips up and he goes to the top and drives a flying elbow. I say he does it better than Savage. Shawn starts warming up his foot for the superkick. Austin ducks it and hits the stunner and Tyson counts the pin at 20:02 and Austin is the new WWF champ! Well if both men were healthy we could have a ***** classic on our hands but as it is it’s ***3/4. Austin celebrates and Tyson knocks down Michaels with a right hand.
Summary: This was a very good show. Only one match
actively sucked and the rest was decent to very good. One of the big shows back
in the day! RECOMMENDED