Post by mikey1974 on Mar 16, 2014 13:41:30 GMT -5
"Now get your whining ass out of here!"
1997...what a year! you had the onslaught of WCW and the red-hot nWo, you had the rise to national prominence of ECW, and you had the WWF beginning the full=fledged steps down the road to the Attitude Era. and WrestleMania also emraced this newfound,anything goes,rebellious attitude. this was also one of the most changed Mania's of all time,as the card kept fluctuating as 2 of the expected to be prominent stars - Shawn Michaels and Marc Mero - were injured,and the sudden return of the LOD required some last minute fine-tuning to shoehorn them in.all told,it actually was an exciting Mania,and one I particularly enjoy. the main event was sadly a letdown,as a slow,plodding affair know more for the Undertaker FINALLY getting another Championship reign rather than the caliber of the match. the undercard was quite good,though. featured lots of hard=hitting action, the emergence of Chyna as a force, the Mania debut of the future "Great One", an exciting and hardcore (for the time) Chicago Street Fight,and a little match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin that is only considered as one of the best in Mania history!it was also the first time,to the best of my knowledge,that a "double switch" between 2 wrestlers was done simultaneously during a match. however the Tag title match was a bit of a mess,and the main event,as I said before, was subpar.plus it also featured the New Blackjacks...."shudder"... but 1997 was a watershed year for the WWF. Vince and the company would finally find direction,and a year later would never look back again!
as a side note,this was another Mania with no celebrity involvement.
The Card:
"Free For All" Match - Billy Gunn vs Flash Funk, with the Funkettes
#1 Contender's Match - The Godwinn's vs The New Blackjacks vs The Headbangers vs Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon
Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia vs The Sultan, w/ Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik
Hunter Hearst Helmsley, w/ Chyna vs Goldust, w/ Marlena
WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and The British Bulldog vs Vader and Mankind, w/ Paul Bearer
Submission Match - Bret "Hitman" Hart vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - with Special Referee Ken Shamrock
Chicago Street Fight - Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom vs The Nation of Domination
WWF Champion Sycho Sid vs The Undertaker
1997...what a year! you had the onslaught of WCW and the red-hot nWo, you had the rise to national prominence of ECW, and you had the WWF beginning the full=fledged steps down the road to the Attitude Era. and WrestleMania also emraced this newfound,anything goes,rebellious attitude. this was also one of the most changed Mania's of all time,as the card kept fluctuating as 2 of the expected to be prominent stars - Shawn Michaels and Marc Mero - were injured,and the sudden return of the LOD required some last minute fine-tuning to shoehorn them in.all told,it actually was an exciting Mania,and one I particularly enjoy. the main event was sadly a letdown,as a slow,plodding affair know more for the Undertaker FINALLY getting another Championship reign rather than the caliber of the match. the undercard was quite good,though. featured lots of hard=hitting action, the emergence of Chyna as a force, the Mania debut of the future "Great One", an exciting and hardcore (for the time) Chicago Street Fight,and a little match between Bret Hart and Steve Austin that is only considered as one of the best in Mania history!it was also the first time,to the best of my knowledge,that a "double switch" between 2 wrestlers was done simultaneously during a match. however the Tag title match was a bit of a mess,and the main event,as I said before, was subpar.plus it also featured the New Blackjacks...."shudder"... but 1997 was a watershed year for the WWF. Vince and the company would finally find direction,and a year later would never look back again!
as a side note,this was another Mania with no celebrity involvement.
The Card:
"Free For All" Match - Billy Gunn vs Flash Funk, with the Funkettes
#1 Contender's Match - The Godwinn's vs The New Blackjacks vs The Headbangers vs Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon
Intercontinental Champion Rocky Maivia vs The Sultan, w/ Bob Backlund and The Iron Sheik
Hunter Hearst Helmsley, w/ Chyna vs Goldust, w/ Marlena
WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and The British Bulldog vs Vader and Mankind, w/ Paul Bearer
Submission Match - Bret "Hitman" Hart vs "Stone Cold" Steve Austin - with Special Referee Ken Shamrock
Chicago Street Fight - Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom vs The Nation of Domination
WWF Champion Sycho Sid vs The Undertaker
