Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania part 14
By Sean Taylor
Feb 25, 2009 - 1:12:00 AM
"Timmy, this is the sixth grandmother to die this semester. Take the test already."
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to The Classroom.
Today’s lesson deals exclusively and inclusively with WrestleMania XIV. Ah, the Attitude Era. Good times. For those of you who were watching back then, you’ll surely remember this particular Mania with great memories. If you weren’t watching back then, hopefully you’ll go back and take a look. Some of the matches themselves don’t seem to be very important at first glance but what made it so good was the build up. Well, allow me to explain
WrestleMania XIV: dX raided
Date: March 29, 1998
Venue: Fleet Center (Boston, Massachusetts)
Commentators: Jim Ross & Jerry “The King” Lawler
Attendance:
1997 in the WWE saw a lot of changes. With WCW’s success with the nWo, it was only a matter of time before the WWE attempted their own gang warfare storylines. Crush and Savio split from the Nation of Domination and formed their own factions – Disciples of Apocalypse (DOA) and Los Boricquas respectively. Bret Hart formed the Hart Foundation with his brother Owen, The British Bulldog, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, and “The Loose Cannon” Brian Pillman. But probably the most important faction that was formed in 1997 was the collective of “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Chyna known as Degeneration X.
DX was formed officially in October of 1997 and started off as a group of immature, sophomoric wrestlers who made penis and fecal jokes. Despite being heels, DX quickly became popular. Part of the reason for that was that the kids who began watching wrestling in the 1980s were now becoming teenagers and the DX counter-culture nature appealed to those fans. The WWE had been losing the Monday night ratings war because the nWo appealed to the fans in the same way. In late 1997, Vince McMahon decided that forcing the fans to cheer for someone wasn’t working and that instead he would start listening to the fans. The fans loved DX but they loved “Stone Cold” Steve Austin more.
Austin, thanks to his summer long feud with the Hart Foundation, had cemented himself as the company’s biggest draws. Austin did want he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted to do it. He flipped off everyone, used language never before heard on wrestling programming, and Stunnered wrestlers, announcers, and officials alike. His take no guff, buck-the-system attitude was a huge part of the WWE’s success in the latter part of 1997 and into 1998.
But WCW was still ahead in the ratings. At Fall Brawl 1996, his WCW teammates fingered Sting as the newest member of the nWo. They were wrong and Sting felt betrayed. Sting began dressing in black with white face paint and watching WCW events from the rafters of the building. In late 1997, Sting returned to the ring and challenged WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan. It was the long awaited dream match and when WCW added former WWE Champion Bret Hart – who was fresh off the famous Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997 – as the special guest referee, it became a “can’t miss” match. WCW also had the cruiserweights, The Four Horsemen, and stars like The Giant and Diamond Dallas Page.
Overall, the wrestling business was getting hot. By the time WrestleMania XIV rolled around, both Raw and Nitro were almost neck-and-neck in the ratings. Wrestling had become so popular that fans weren’t “in the closet” anymore. WWE, WCW, and even ECW merchandise could be seen in public. The Attitude Era was in full force in the WWE and WrestleMania didn’t know what was about to hit her.
No dark match was held but before the pay-per-view went live Chris Warren, lead singer of the Chris Warren Band who recorded themes for DX, Vince McMahon (“No Chance In Hell”), and Triple H (“My Time”), sang “America The Beautiful”. Chris Warren and his band would perform the entrance music for DX later in the night as well.
Doomsday
WrestleMania XIV opened up right into its first match, the tag team battle royal. The winners were to receive a WWE Tag Team Championship match at the next pay-per-view. Participants included Nation of Domination (Faarooq/Kama Moustafa), Nation of Domination (D-Lo/Mark Henry), The Headbangers (Mosh/Thrasher), The Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau/Pierre Ouelette), Los Boricquas (Savio/Miguel), Los Boricquas (Jose/Jesus), The Rock N’ Roll Express (Gibson/Morton), Sniper & Recon (formerly of the Truth Commission), Blackjack Bradshaw & Chainz, D.O.A. (Skull/8 Ball), Godwinns (Henry/Phineas), Brian Christopher/Scott Taylor (later known as Too Cool), the New Midnight Express (Bodacious Bob/Bombastic Bart), Steve Blackman/Flash Funk and a mystery team. The mystery team was announced to be the Legion of Doom (now called LOD 2000) and were escorted to ringside by their new manager, the original WWE Diva, Sunny. After eliminating the New Midnight Express, LOD 2000 were declared the winners.
The Mat Is Made Of Lava!
In late 1997, the WWE highly publicized their signing of Japanese wrestling sensation Taka Michinoku. Taka was immediately pushed through to the finals of a tournament to determine the first WWE Lightheavyweight Champion. The Lightheavyweight Championship was the WWE’s version of the Cruiserweight Championship in WWE and had a weight limit of 215 pounds or less. After defeating Brian Christopher in the finals on December 12, Taka went on to successfully defend his title against a bevy of the WWE’s Lightheavyweight division wrestlers.
Prior to WrestleMania, the WWE signed Mexican sensation Agulia. Aguila received a similar kind of push that Taka had upon entering the company and many fans thought Aguila would be the one to dethrone the Lightheavyweight champion. The match was packed with high-flying and high risk moves but it was Taka who gained the pinfall after his finishing Michinoku Driver.
The Black Hart Gets X-ed
After Bret Hart was screwed at the 1997 Survivor Series, Owen Hart remained off television. The British Bulldog left the company and Neidhart wasn’t far behind but Owen was still under contract and couldn’t leave. Owen returned at the In Your House: Degeneration X pay-per-view in December to attack Shawn Michaels after his title defense against Ken Shamrock. Owen was quickly moved into a feud with Hunter Hearst Helmsley – now referred to as Triple H. Triple H was also in a side feud with WWE Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. After Triple H defeated Michaels for the “coveted” WWE European title in a sham of a match, Slaughter announced he would defend the title against Owen Hart the following week. Triple H continually put off the match because of a knee injury until January 26th where he had The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust dress up like him to wrestle Owen in his place. Owen defeated TAFKAG and Commissioner Slaughter declared that his costume was so convincing, the title would actually change hands. Two weeks later, Owen sat with the commentators after suffering an ankle injury (kayfabe) until Triple goaded him into an impromptu title defense. Chyna hit Owen in the injured ankle with a baseball bat allowing Triple H to win back the gold.
Commissioner Slaughter, as per the pre-announced stipulation, was handcuffed to Chyna for the WWE European Championship rematch. The match went back and forth. Owen locked Triple H into a Sharpshooter but Chyna pulled Slaughter to the ring and pushed the bottom rope into Triple H’s reach. Slaughter pulled Chyna back but Chyna pulled out a white powder and threw it into Slaughter’s eyes. With Slaughter incapacitated, Chyna dragged him to the ring and low-blowed Owen. Triple H took advantage and hit Owen with the Pedigree for the win.
Sable Busts Out
A part of the WWE’s new “Attitude” was its sexy women. Women used to be very limited in professional wrestling. The women wrestlers were treated like athletic competitors and were not usually complimented on their looks. If they were easy on the eyes, they were regulated to valet duty. But times were changing and sexy, scantily clad women were becoming big draws. At the time, there were two main female personalities that the fans loved to see. The first was Sunny who took over supermodel Cindy Margolis as the Internet’s Most Downloaded Woman. The second was the busty, long-legged Sable.
Since WrestleMania XII, Sable accompanied her real-life husband Marc Mero to the ring as her manager. But the fans didn’t care about Mero, only Sable. Mero soon got jealous of Sable’s spotlight-stealing and started trying to make her wear demeaning clothing but Sable found ways to get out of them showing off her body in less and less clothing. Finally, Mero sent Sable to the back and began coming out with The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust and his manager, Luna Vachon. The threesome worked well together and continued to badmouth Sable. Soon, Sable had enough and attacked Luna. The attack caused Goldust to challenge Mero and Sable to a mixed tag match at WrestleMania XIV.
At WrestleMania XIV, the fans were completely behind Sable and completely against the other three. Sable would eventually cover Goldust for the pin but the referee was knocked out. Luna leapt off the top rope aiming for Sable but Sable moved and Luna splashed Goldust. Sable and Luna fought until Sable hit Luna with Mero’s TKO finisher and got the pinfall. The next night, Luna challenged Sable to a one-on-one match at the next pay-per-view. It wouldn’t be a regular wrestling match. It would be the first ever Evening Gown Match.
Snapping On The People’s Champ
When his original gimmick didn’t get over with the fans, Rocky Miavia turned heel and joined Faarooq, D-Lo Brown, and Kama Mustafa as a member of the Nation of Domination. The Nation was now a pseudo-black supremist group made up of all African-American wrestlers. Miavia quickly changed his name to The Rock and started referring to himself in the third person. In the Nation, The Rock started quietly challenging Faarooq as leader of the group. The Rock added Mark Henry as a member without consulting Faarooq and the seeds of a feud were beginning to grow between them.
Coming out of his first feud with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, The Rock was the Intercontinental Champion and was facing the challenge of former UFC Champion, Ken Shamrock. The Rock cheated his way into retaining the Intercontinental title against Shamrock at the 1998 Royal Rumble. A rematch was scheduled for WrestleMania XIV.
The special guest ring announcer for the match was Gennifer Flowers, who had gained fame by claiming to have had a sexual relationship with then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. After an awkward combined promo with Flowers, Jeff Jarrett, and Jarrett’s manager Tennessee Lee (aka Col. Rob Parker), The Rock and Shamrock were introduced and the match was started. Ken Shamrock had The Rock locked in his ankle lock submission finisher and The Rock tapped out. Shamrock was announced as the new Intercontinental Champion but the referee could not get him to release the hold. D-Lo, Kama, and Henry entered the ring but Shamrock fought them all off. Shamrock reapplied the ankle lock hold and Faarooq ran down to the ring. Faarooq jumped onto the apron, stopped, flipped off The Rock, and called the rest of the Nation to the back leaving The Rock in the hold. WWE referees and officials ran down to the ring in an attempt to get Shamrock to release the hold but Shamrock refused. When Shamrock released the hold, he started suplexing the officials. While The Rock was being taken out on a stretcher, it was announced that the referee reversed his decision and disqualified Shamrock. Shamrock took off after The Rock and attacked him in front of the entrance.
Taking Out The Garbage
When Jeff Jarrett left the WWE for WCW in 1996, The Roadie (played by Brian Armstrong) was changed to “The Real Double J” Jesse James since he was the real vocalist on “With My Baby Tonight” – a song originally credited to Jarrett. James was a relative nobody in the WWE, usually losing to mid-card wrestlers or competing in six-man matches with the likes of Flash Funk and Bob Holly. Eventually, he got his break when he teamed up with former WWE Tag Team Champion Billy Gunn.
After breaking up with Bart Gunn and disbanding their Smoking Gunns tag team, Billy Gunn ventured into an unsuccessful singles career. Soon though, the Honky Tonk Man deemed Billy Gunn good enough to become his new protégé, dressed him in Honky Tonk Man-style clothing, and changed his name to Rock-A-Billy. In late 1997, James (now calling himself the Road Dogg) approached Rock-A-Billy and offered to be his tag team partner. Rock-A-Billy responded by hitting Honky Tonk Man over the head with his guitar and agreeing. Rock-A-Billy changed his name to “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and together they called themselves the New Age Outlaws.
The New Age Outlaws run roughshod over the tag team division. They went through the New Blackjacks, the Headbangers, and the Godwinns to get a shot at the champions, the Legion of Doom. The Outlaws cheated to win the tag belts and then brutally attacked LOD before shaving off Hawk’s unique double-mohawk. After the 1998 Royal Rumble, the Outlaws got into a feud with hardcore legend Mick Foley. Under his Cactus Jack persona, Foley called out for help and got a response from his old hardcore rival, Terry Funk. Funk arrived in the WWE in a wooden box cutting himself out with a chainsaw. He wore pantyhose on his head and called himself Chainsaw Charlie. Undeterred, the Outlaws attacked the hardcore legends and on an episode of Raw, put them into a dumpster and rolled them off the elevated stage. Cactus and Chainsaw came back to the arena later that night to get their revenge dressed in hospital gowns and carrying their own IVs. Soon, it was announced that the Outlaws would defend their tag team titles against Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie at WrestleMania XIV in a Dumpster Match.
According to the rules of the Dumpster Match, to win the match one team had to put both members of the opposing team into the dumpster and close the lid. Before the match, a dumpster was rolled to ringside. Both teams used any weapon they could find to attack each other. Soon the match moved to the backstage area. There, Cactus and Chainsaw used a forklift to put the Outlaws into a second dumpster and closed the lids making them the new WWE Tag Team Champions. The next night on Raw, the belts were vacated because Cactus and Chainsaw didn’t put the Outlaws into the official dumpster provided at ringside. A rematch was held as the main event inside a cage and the Outlaws won their titles back.
Brimstone Brothers
In the summer of 1997, Paul Bearer promised to reveal a secret that would devastate the Undertaker unless the Dead Man, then WWE Champion, agreed to fall under Bearer’s charge once again. The Undertaker feared that his secret would cause his “creatures of the night” to turn on him and begged their forgiveness as he agreed to join Bearer. But the agreement was short-lived as Bearer’s demanding ways took their toll on the Undertaker and he soon attacked Bearer breaking their truce. Outraged, Bearer told a story of how as a child, Undertaker was a problem child. While working as an apprentice to the Undertaker’s parents in their family funeral parlour, Bearer often saw Undertaker and his younger brother, Kane, sneaking off behind the chemical shed to smoke cigarettes. One day, Bearer left for his night school class, he saw Undertaker with the “look of the Devil in him”. When he returned the funeral home was engulfed in flames. The Undertaker had escaped to the bushes without harm but his parents and brother had died as a result of the fire. When the Undertaker was allowed to tell his side of the story, he claimed that it was Kane who started the fire. But Bearer continued to call the Undertaker a liar and a murderer until the Undertaker confronted him and demanded he stop. Bearer said he was telling the truth because . . .
Kane told him so.
Bearer claimed that not only was the Undertaker’s younger brother alive but he was also coming to the WWE seeking revenge on the Undertaker. For months, Bearer taunted the Undertaker saying that Kane was coming. But Undertaker’s focus was on the WWE Championship. After losing the belt to Bret Hart at SummerSlam, he finally would meet Shawn Michaels at Badd Blood in the first ever Hell in a Cell match for a title shot at Survivor Series. Just when the Undertaker signaled for his Tombstone finisher, the lights went out and fire shot up in front of the entrance. Red lights covered the arena as a large, seven-foot tall, masked man walked out from the back with Paul Bearer in tow. Vince McMahon exclaimed, “That’s gotta be Kane! That’s gotta be Kane!” as Kane ripped the locked door off of the cell and stood face-to-face with the Undertaker. Kane was taller and in better physical condition. Fans were hushed as Kane picked up the Undertaker and dropped him with his own Tombstone Piledriver – which was done faster and looked more impressive. Kane raised his arms and quickly dropped them causing fire to shoot out of the ring posts before leaving the ring area.
Over the following weeks, Kane would interrupt matches and Tombstone superstars at random leaving them beaten in the ring. Bearer vowed that this would continue to happen until the Undertaker agreed to face Kane one-on-one. But Undertaker refused saying that he would not dishonour his family by fighting his own flesh and blood. Undeterred, Kane and Bearer began interfering in Undertaker’s matches and assaulting the Phenom. The Undertaker still refused to fight back opting instead to take the beatings.
Starting in early 1998, Kane started helping the Undertaker in his matches. Bearer claimed that he could no longer talk to Kane and that Kane was ignoring him. Kane had seemingly sided with Undertaker during his feud with WWE Champion Shawn Michaels prior to the 1998 Royal Rumble. The week before the Rumble, DX announced that Kane was their newest member but the Undertaker came out instead. DX’s numbers were too much for the Undertaker. DX was beating down The Phenom when Kane came down to the ring and inexplicably saved his brother. As Raw went off the air, Kane and the Undertaker saluted each other as if all former sins were forgiven and forgotten.
But it was a ploy. Kane came out during the Casket Match and attacked the Undertaker, chokeslamming him into the casket allowing Michaels to close the lid and win the match. After the match, Kane locked the casket. rolled it to the entrance, and hacked open a hole in the hole with an axe. Kane then grabbed a can of gasoline and dumped it into and on the casket. Standing back, Kane threw a lit book of matches onto the casket and it erupted in flames. Two weeks later, Bearer and Kane forced the timekeeper to toll the bell ten times in memoriam of the Undertaker. Suddenly, Undertaker’s music played and the burnt casket was rolled onto the stage with Undertaker lying motionless on top of it. Lightning struck the Undertaker and he rose. Undertaker finally agreed to meet Kane in the ring at WrestleMania.
Before the match started, guest ring announcer Pete Rose taunted the Boston crowd poking fun at their World Series draught. Kane came out and Tombstoned Rose in what would become a running gag. Then the Undertaker walked to the ring with the aisle lined by druids. When the brother locked up Kane soon dominated the match. Fans were stunned because no man had ever taken control over the Undertaker like him before. But kicked out and hit Kane with three of his own Tombstones. As the ref counted three, Kane kicked out just a second too late. After the match, Kane Tombstoned the Undertaker onto a chair and left.
By Gawd!
The main event of the night was the WWE Championship Match pitting champion “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. For Austin it was the culmination of an eight-year career. The “Stone Cold” character had continued to push the envelope even further than it had been pushed before. In the fall of 1997, Austin stunnered Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross, Sgt. Slaughter, and finally Vince McMahon in sequential weeks. He was a hero to the working class fan who watched as he flipped off his boss, used foul language when telling his boss to “shut up”, and destroyed company property without caring about it. At the In Your House: De-Generation X pay-per-view, Austin faced The Rock for the Intercontinental title. The Rock had stolen Austin’s belt in the previous weeks and claimed to be the “real” champion. During the match, Austin drove his pick-up truck to the ring and attacked the Nation of Domination by throwing them into the truck. Austin won the match but the next night on Raw, Mr. Mahon (a newly formed character after the Montreal Screwjob incident) declared that since Austin “used his truck as a weapon”, he would face The Rock in a rematch or he would be stripped of the title. Austin refused to wrestle but left Raw with the belt. The following week, Austin appeared on the TitanTron standing on a bridge over the Cincinnati River. He said he didn’t care about The Rock or the WWE and threw the Intercontinental belt into the river.
Because of Austin’s “buck the system” attitude, Mr. McMahon didn’t want him representing his company as the WWE Champion. Backstage, the Nation of Domination and Los Boricquas searched the building looking to take Austin out before he could compete in the Rumble match. Austin overcame the odds and won the Royal Rumble, earning himself a title shot at WrestleMania XIV.
The champion going into WrestleMania XIV was the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. In October of 1997, Michaels had formed Degeneration X with Triple H and Chyna. DX was a heel faction that ran roughshod over the low-mid card wrestlers. They would cut promos in the ring and brag about their genital size and sexual abilities. They’d often carry phallic objects around and point to their crotches and yell “Suck it!” as an insult rather than as a catchphrase like they do it today. DX was a very exclusive club but going into WrestleMania XIV, they would add one more. Mike Tyson.
Mike Tyson was a former boxing champion who had gained notoriety for having a bad temper and poor sportsmanship. Most notably, Tyson bit off a part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a title fight. But Tyson’s private life was also making headline news. He was convicted of beating his wife and sent to prison. He was fined heavily for housing tigers in his Los Angeles home. Tyson was very controversial which is what drew McMahon to him.
Tyson was brought to the 1998 Royal Rumble as a guest of the McMahons and watched the event from a corporate box. Two weeks later, McMahon walked out to the ring on Raw for a special announcement. He brought out Tyson and his entourage and was about to make his announcement when he was interrupted by Austin. Austin stepped into the ring and spouted off on Tyson saying he could kick Tyson’s ass. A shoving match led to a huge brawl. It was later announced that Mike Tyson was going to be the special guest enforcer for the Michaels/Austin match at WrestleMania XIV. Fans were shocked when Michaels then challenged Tyson to a fight. Tyson accepted and the two squared off. Michaels grabbed Tyson’s shirt and ripped it off revealing a DX t-shirt underneath. Tyson had joined Degeneration X.
At WrestleMania XIV, Austin had the deck stacked against him. Even after Triple H and Chyna were ejected from ringside, Tyson still remained as a threat on the outside. Despite requiring major back surgery, Shawn Michaels still performed at the level that the fans expected him to. At the end of the match, Austin blocked a Superkick and hit the Stunner. With the referee was knocked out but when Austin covered Michaels, Tyson slid into the ring and made the three count. As Austin celebrated, he threw Tyson an “Austin 3:16” t-shirt. Michaels slowly came to and saw Tyson holding the Austin shirt and questioned him. The two made like they were going to fight. Michaels threw a right hand but Tyson blocked it and leveled Michaels with a right of his own. Austin and Tyson left the ring area together leaving Michaels lying in the ring. At the post-WrestleMania press conference, Tyson revealed that he and “Cold Stone” (as he called him) had been in cahoots from the very beginning.
The Austin Era had started and with Mr. McMahon breathing down Austin’s neck, fans knew that the WWE had finally turned the corner. But the following year, Austin would face more than a three-person faction . . .
. . . he’d have to face a Corporation.
Well that about wraps up Part 14. I apologize for the lateness of this column. As always, I appreciate feedback sent here. Before we get to the Pop Quiz and Gold Star Achievements, I found a couple of the video promos played during the WrestleMania XIV broadcast. They were passionate videos that really made you feel good to be a wrestling fan. The first dealt with the idea “wrestling is fake” and the second is an ode to the legends past. Check them out; I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as I did 11 years ago.
Think This Is Fake? Promo
Legends Promo
Pop Quiz
Congratulations to Diego Talavera and Josh Pigott. They knew that the Funkettes were named Nadine and Tracy and that Austin’s theme music was loosely based on “Killing in the Name” by Rage Against The Machine. Try your hand at this quiz. Can you past the test? 1) What two boxers were in attendance at WrestleMania XIV?
2) After Austin threw the Intercontinental belt into the Cincinnati River, a fan recovered it, called Vince McMahon, and held the belt for ransom. How much money did Vince have to pay to get the belt back?
