Wrestlemania approaches... 29/03/2010

Wrestlemania approaches...

So, Wrestlemania 26 has been and passed and it got me thinking about previous Wrestlemanias.

My first memories of Wrestlemania were back in 1991 at Wrestlemania 7. This was mainly due to my childhood hero, Bret 'Hitman' Hart. On that night Bret, along with his tag team partner Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart (The Hart Foundation) lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to the Nasty Boys. I was heart-broken. But I was soon happy as Bret went onto have a very successful singles career.

The following year at Wrestlemania 8, Bret challenged Rowdy Roddy Piper for the Intercontinental Championship. The Hitman came out on top in this one. Also on the card was a WWE Championship match between Macho Man Randy Savage and Ric Flair, along with a mediocre Hulk Hogan match that signaled the end of his career – until he decided to come back and steal the spotlight the following year.

Which brings me to that Wrestlemania (9). This was huge for me – Bret Hart defended the WWE Championship against the seemingly undefeatable 500 pound Yokozuna. I was worried but felt that my hero would do the impossible. As it seemed like Bret was going to get the hard fought victory, Yoko's manager – the legendary Mr Fuji – threw powder in the champ's eyes allowing an easy roll up for Yoko. Looking back, this was the part that I could handle. What happened next ended my love affair with wrestling for a long time...

So, after Yokozuna had taken the WWE title away from Bret, Hogan enters and accepted the challenge laid in front of him by Fuji, going onto beat the undefeated monster in about 20 seconds, making a mockery of the show that had just made history, and also showing that Hogan was the only saviour that Vince (McMahon) could turn to yet again.

Six years later, in 1999, I was offered the chance to watch the latest installment of Wrestlemania (15). I gave it a go after hearing repeatedly about Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. It took a little while for my friend to explain who was who and who hated who, but with fairly limited information I got through it... and loved it. This was mainly thanks to the Austin vs Rock match. Other matches on the card stood out also; X-Pac vs Shane McMahon (with a run in by a heel-turning Triple H), a Hell in a Cell match between the then evil Undertaker and Corporate Big Boss Man, and even a fun Hardcore Championship match between Bob 'Hardcore' Holly, Al Snow and Badd Ass Billy Gunn (when the WWE understood what 'Hardcore' was).

I have to admit though that this Wrestlemania was the last great one for me. Nothing has compared since. Each year there's been a great build up, with all the best matches on offer but with a disappointing pay off each time. There have only been a handful of matches that have almost brought the 'feeling' back to Wrestlemania – the Austin/Rock matches from Wrestlemanias 17 & 19, along with the Undertaker/HBK match from last year are the only ones that stand out.

I could be wrong; maybe as I've gotten older I've actually grown up and the magic has gone. Or maybe, just maybe, when the WWE's competition 'died' in 2000 – WCW – so did the pressure for WWE to stay on their toes. My feeling is that Austin vs Rock was really that damn good!

And so onto this years Wrestlemania (26). After watching this show I was pleasantly surprised at times. The start of the show didn't really impress, with an average showing from Morrison/R-Truth vs Big Show/Miz. Money in the Bank was crammed with 10 superstars – before the show I didn't expect too much here; too many talented guys and not enough time to showcase them all – it seemed that this was a really rushed way of getting everyone on the card.

Other highlights included my hero Bret Hart getting retribution over the boss after waiting 12 and a half years. There was also a disappointing World Heavyweight title match between Chris Jericho and Edge – this could've been marketed so much better had it not been for the other, seemingly larger main events later in the show. It had real potential but just seemed like another match to fill the card up before the double main event.

As always, the divas got far too high up the card – god bless them for trying?!

So, would the last two matches 'dazzle' me? Well, Batista vs John Cena was a lot better than I thought it would be – quite possibly the two biggest money makers that Vince has at the moment put on a decent show that almost got me thinking it could compete with Austin/Rock. Almost.

The main event excited me more though – Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels, The Streak vs The Career. Something about that stipulation said to me that this was going to be special and that nothing would be held back; the steaks were so much higher this year.

The two biggest legends still active today stole the show for a second year running. I think the thing that I loved about this match was that it actually mattered who won and lost, and I actually cared, too – these guys have been around for as long as I've been watching, and to see them show the younger guys 'how it's done' shows just how great and talented they still are.

Who knows – with the emergence of TNA as a genuine threat (well, not just yet), maybe the WWE will feel the need to up their game and give the absolute best that they can offer. Here's hoping because I wait for the day that Austin/Rock is beaten as the number one Wrestlemania rivalry.