Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania Part 15
By Sean Taylor
Mar 2, 2009 - 5:38:15 PM
"I’m just waiting for Barrack Obama to wipe off the make up to reveal Robert Downey Jr."
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to The Classroom. It’s been a few days thanks to the CSI Tournament but we’re finally back and ready to restart our classes. This place is beginning to feel like a second home and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every second of writing these columns and hearing back from you the readers. It sounds cliché but without you stopping by and checking out these columns, I wouldn’t have a creative outlet to relieve the everyday stress in my life. I’ve gotten a lot of emails saying that people appreciate the work I put into these columns. Trust me, I appreciate every read and email even more.
Ok, enough of the sappy stuff, let’s get on to WrestleMania XV.
WrestleMania XV: The Ragin’ Climax
Date: March 28, 1999
Venue: First Union Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Jim Ross (main event only)
Attendance: 20,276
1998 was a great year for the WWE. In April, they finally snapped WCW 80 plus week winning streak in the Monday night ratings. They would put the pressure back on WCW soon after, with higher ratings week after week. With “Stone Cold” Steve Austin as the WWE Champion and the evil boss, Mr. McMahon gunning for him, the WWE had a winning recipe. Everyone wants to flip off their boss and they could live those fantasies through Austin. Each week on Raw, Austin would find a new way to upend Mr. McMahon. Whether it was a zamboni machine or a cement truck, Austin had always something in store for his boss. Whenever McMahon would push Austin too far, Austin pushed back and fans couldn’t get enough. Austin merchandise flew off the shelves and WWEShopzone.com was always on backorder. Austin vs McMahon was a dream feud that couldn’t be ignored.
But there was much more than just Austin vs McMahon. The night after WrestleMania XIV, Triple H and Chyna went to the ring and Triple H chastised Shawn Michaels for trusting Tyson. Michaels had retired from wrestling due to a serious back injury that he painfully worked through the night before. Triple H announced that he was going to form a DX Army that would “take care of business that should have been care of right from the start”. He then introduced X-Pac (aka Sean Waltman) who had jumped from WCW. Later that night, the New Age Outlaws defeated Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie for the WWE Tag Team Championships in a cage match. After the match, with Jack and Charlie handcuffed to the cage, The Outlaws revealed that they too were members of the DX Army.
The new DX was a complete opposite from the original formation. They had gone from being a trio of immature, heel troublemakers to a group of fun-loving babyfaces spouting off catchphrases and cracking jokes. DX’s declaration of war on WCW, their parody of the Nation, and their tour of New York City to promote SummerSlam all remain classic Raw moments to this day.
The third big emergence in 1998 was a man known as The Rock. The night after WrestleMania XIV, The Rock ousted Faarooq as the leader of the Nation and continued as the Intercontinental Champion. Before too long though, The Rock left the Nation and teased a face turn. He began to allow the crowd to chant along with his catchphrases and even started making fun of his opponents by cracking jokes. The crowd was starting to love The Rock and he was starting to show love back.
Even the under card of the WWE had gotten an Attitude facelift. The Divas got sexier, storylines got edgier, foul language became more common, and with the addition of the Hardcore title in November of 1998, matches became more violent. People were tuning into Raw in record numbers and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Wrestling was reaching new heights in popularity between the WWE, WCW, and ECW. WWE fans were ready for WrestleMania XV, but they didn’t know what to expect.
Pre-Show Warm Up
WrestleMania XV featured the Rage Party the night before where fans and wrestlers partied at a Philadelphia nightclub. The Free For All had been replaced by a weekly show called Sunday Night Heat. Most weeks, Heat was a pre-taped show but on Sundays where there was a pay-per-view, Heat aired live. Prior to WrestleMania XV, two matches were featured. The first saw Pretty Mean Sisters (PMS) member Jacqueline defeat Ivory and after the match, Jacqueline’s PMS partner Terri Runnels (formerly Marlena) burned Ivory’s cheek with her cigar. The second match was a 21-man battle royal in which the last two remaining would get a WWE Tag Team Championship match on the pay-per-view. D-Lo Brown and newcomer Test came out victorious and would fight Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett later in the night.
Hardcore Opener
R&B group Boyz II Men opened the event by singing “America the Beautiful” before the opening video package. After that, the show kicked off with a triple threat match for the WWE Hardcore Championship. In 1998, Mankind tried to suck up to Mr. McMahon and his Corporation stable. To reward Mankind for his helpful service, McMahon presented him with the brand new WWE Hardcore Championship as a gift. The belt was a smashed up “Winged Belt” with wrist tape across the front with “HARDCORE” written in black marker on it. It was rumoured the belt was the same belt used on a 1989 episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event when Mr. Perfect destroyed Hulk Hogan’s WWE Championship belt. In reality, that belt was kept by referee/booker Mel Phillips. Another “Winged Belt” was destroyed in the same manner to create the Hardcore Championship. The Hardcore title was always defended under the rules of no disqualification, no count out, and falls count anywhere. At WrestleMania XV, champion “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn put the belt on the line against Hardcore Holly and ECW import Al Snow. Holly hit Gunn with a chair and pinned Snow himself to steal the win and the title
Reluctant Partners
WWE Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart (with their manager Debra) came out next to defend their belts against D-Lo Brown (with Ivory) and Test who had won the battle royal earlier in the night. The main problem between the challengers was that D-Lo was in the middle of a babyface push while Test was a part of the heel Corporation stable. Later on in the match, Debra got up on the apron and distracted the referee. Ivory came around the ring and pulled her off. PMS (Jacqueline/Terri) came down and all four women got into a ringside fight. Test and the referee attempted to break up the fight allowing Jarrett and Hart to double D-Lo. When the referee turned back to the match, Jarrett had D-Lo pinned and with tights pulled, the match was over. D-Lo and Test argued as they walked to the back.
So, You Think You’re Tough?
In the summer of 1998, the WWE’s roster had ballooned. In order to utilize the bulk of their roster, the WWE announced a new concept called the Brawl For All Tournament. Wrestlers were signed up on a voluntary basis and booked into tournament brackets. The contests were a combination of boxing and wrestling with competitors scoring points for most punches in a round, takedowns, and knockdowns. The matches weren’t scripted and that led to some surprises throughout the tournament. The biggest surprise was “Dr. Death” Steve Williams. Williams was touted as the heavily favourite going into the tournament but was knocked out by jobber Bart Gunn in the second round. Gunn would also defeat Bob Holly (soon after renamed Hardcore Holly), The Godfather (formerly Kama Moustafa), and Bradshaw (formerly Blackjack Bradshaw) to win the tournament.
Gunn was then booked into a match at WrestleMania XV against Toughman champion Butterbean in a Brawl For All special attraction. When the opening bell rang, the two met in the ring and traded punches. For a second or two, Gunn looked like he was going to keep up with the 43-1-1 Butterbean. But soon, Butterbean gained the upper hand and worked Gunn into the corner and knocked him down. Gunn took advantage of the standing eight-count before standing back up. Butterbean threw an immediate right hand punch that knocked Gunn down for the knockout victory. The official time of the match was thirty-seven seconds.
After the match, famous San Diego Chicken climbed into the ring and started mocking special guest referee Vinny Pazienza (boxing champion). Pazienza hit the Chicken with a straight right hand and knocked out the mascot cold.
Fight For The Striped Shirt
Heading into WrestleMania XV, Mr. McMahon wanted to guarantee that “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did not walk away as the WWE Champion. McMahon set up recent WCW defector Paul Wight (aka The Giant) as the special guest referee. But Wight and The Rock had a clash of personalities. The Rock considered himself the greatest wrestler in the world. Wight scoffed knowing that just with his sheer size and power, he could take The Rock out anytime he wanted. Seeing this crack in the Corporation led to Mankind’s proposition of him being a second referee. Mr. McMahon didn’t want two referees so he booked a match between “The Big Show” Paul Wight and Mankind to determine the special referee would be for the main event.
During the match, the two battled until Wight tossed Mankind to the outside. Wight hit Mankind with a chair and then rolled him into the ring. Wight brought two chairs into the ring and set them up before chokeslamming Mankind through them. Finally, the referee called for the bell and disqualified Wight. An angry Mr. McMahon walked to the ring and chastised Wight for ruining his plans for the main event. Wight tried to leave but McMahon spun him back around. Wight got angry and picked McMahon in a chokeslam but then put him down. McMahon continued his verbal assault and slapped Wight across the face. Wight immediately punched McMahon knocking him out. Both McMahon and Mankind were helped to the back. Once in the back, McMahon was told that Mankind was seriously injured and might not be able to referee the main event. But McMahon wanted the cops called to have Wight arrested for assault.
Two Suitors, A Brother, and An Intercontinental Champion
The next match was a Four Corners Elimination Match for the Intercontinental Championship. On January 11th, Ken Shamrock’s kayfabe sister, Ryan (played by valet Alicia Webb), appeared at ringside during Raw. She flirted with both “Bad Ass” Billy Gunn and Val Venis. Val Venis was a former adult film star (kayfabe) turned wrestler who always bragged about his “Big Valbowski” to the ladies in the audience. Venis soon started a relationship with Ryan having her appear in one of his movies. Angered Ken who put his Intercontinental title on the line against Venis at In Your House: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre with Gunn as the special guest referee. Ryan interfered and helped Venis win the Intercontinental title. Soon after, Venis dumped Ryan and she began a relationship with Goldust, which caused jealousy in the eyes of Goldust’s adopted son, The Blue Meanie. Just two weeks before WrestleMania, “Road Dogg” Jesse James defeated Venis for the Intercontinental title and found himself entangled in the Ryan Shamrock love story.
Val Venis started the match focused on Ken Shamrock. Eventually the two fell to the outside and battled up the aisle. When Ken noticed the referee’s count, he tried to run back to the ring but was too late. He and Venis had been counted out. Ken snapped and attacked Goldust and Road Dogg before leaving to an unexpected chorus of boos from the live crowd. Later, Ryan mistakenly tripped Goldust from the outside allowing Road Dogg to pin him and retain his belt. After the match, Goldust dumped Ryan and reestablished his bizarre relationship with The Blue Meanie.
Play With Fire . . .
Since his feud with The Undertaker, Kane would team with his brother only to have Undertaker rejoin Paul Bearer (who had been revealed to be Kane’s father) and turn on him. In early 1999, Kane joined Mr. McMahon’s Corporation in fear of being kept locked inside an insane asylum. The day after the 1999 Royal Rumble, Triple H had WWE Champion The Rock set up to take a Pedigree through the announce table during a WWE Championship “I Quit” Match. Suddenly, Kane walked onto the entrance stage with Triple H’s manager/girlfriend Chyna as a hostage. Triple H said “I Quit” to save Chyna but Chyna then low blowed Triple H revealing that she had joined The Corporation.
On the March 8th episode of Raw, Chyna challenged Triple H to match after Triple H had caused her to lose a match to X-Pac. Kane came down to ringside and Chyna grabbed Triple H and held him open for an attack. Kane raised his arm and shot a fireball at Triple H. Triple H ducked however and the fireball hit Chyna in the face. Kane picked up Chyna and carried her out of the arena showing that the monster Kane did indeed have a heart. The following week, Kane was scheduled to face Goldust. When Goldust entered the ring, he pulled a giant metal cylinder out off his gown and shot a giant flame into Kane’s face. Goldust took off his ring gear and revealed that it was Triple H in Goldust’s costume.
At WrestleMania XV, Kane walked to the ring but was attacked from behind by the San Diego Chicken. Kane retaliated and pulled off the mask to reveal Pete Rose in the costume. Then, for the second year in a row, Pete Rose got tombstoned by Kane in the middle of the ring. As Kane watched Rose being taken, Triple H came out of the crowd behind him and attacked Kane. Part way through the match, Chyna walked to ringside. Kane chokeslammed Triple H and Chyna jumped to the apron with a steel chair in her hand. She told Kane she wanted to hit Triple H for him. Kane nodded, turned, and Chyna entered the ring. Chyna swung the chair and hit Kane in the back. The referee called for the bell as Kane turned around ready to attack. When Kane realized that his only friend had double-crossed him, he lowered his head and accepted the beat down that Triple H and Chyna proceeded to give him. The crowd celebrated as Chyna had returned home to DX.
Who Will Be The Referee?
After the Kane/Triple H match, interviewer Kevin Kelly was backstage and announced that since Paul Wight was arrested and Mankind was taken to the hospital, there was no referee for the main event that night. Kelly was interrupted by Mr. McMahon who announced that he had a referee’s shirt in his bag and that he would be the special guest referee for the main event.
Didn’t I See You On Howard Stern?
Starting in September of 1998, an obsessed fan started appearing in the audience during Sable’s matches. After helping Sable retain the WWE Women’s Championship against Luna Vachon at the 1999 Royal Rumble, Sable called the fan – named Tori – into the ring. Sable proceeded to chastise and humiliate Tori in front of the entire audience. When Sable signed on to be the first WWE Diva to pose in Playboy magazine, she adopted a new attitude. She claimed that all women wanted to be her and all men wanted to be with her. Tori took exception to Sable’s new persona and attacked her during her Playboy cover revelation promo, which led to a match being made at WrestleMania XV.
When Sable and Tori met for the Women’s Championship, the match went back and forth. Soon the referee was knocked down by a missed running attack from Sable. As Tori attempted her own version of a Sablebomb, a large, muscular woman entered the ring and attacked Tori. The woman was quickly identified as Nicole Bass who had gained a bit of fame on the Howard Stern radio/television show when Stern accused her of actually being a man in drag. Bass dropped Tori with a gorilla press slam and told Sable to pin her. Sable hit Tori with her Sablebomb and when the referee came to, he counted the pinfall.
X-Pac Punk’d
Before X-Pac challenged Shane McMahon for Shane’s European Championship, Degeneration X stood backstage and announced that with Chyna back in their group, DX was whole again. Out in the arena, Shane McMahon was introduced and walked to the ring accompanied by The Corporation’s bodyguard, Test. X-Pac came out alone and was sneaked attacked by The Stooges (Pat Patterson/Gerald Brisco) but X-Pac quickly dispatched of them. Throughout the match, Test and the Mean Street Posse (Shane’s real life friends Rodney and Pete Gas) so fans cheered when Triple H and Chyna walked to the ring thinking that the sides would now be even.
X-Pac hit Shane with his X-Factor finishing move and covered for the pin but Chyna had jumped onto the ring apron and distracted the referee. Triple H slid into the ring, hit X-Pac with a Pedigree, and pulled Shane on top of X-Pac. Chyna jumped down and the referee turned to see the cover. He counted three and Shane had retained the European title celebrating with his new Corporation members. Triple H and Test continued to beat down X-Pac until the New Age Outlaws ran to the ring to make the save. But the effort failed as Triple H and Test beat down the Outlaws as well. Suddenly, the lights went out and Kane’s music played. When the lights came back up, Kane hit the ring as Triple H, Chyna, Shane, and Test ran to the back.
After This One, I’m Going To Just Hang Around
In late 1998, the Undertaker turned on his brother Kane and rejoined forces with his former manager Paul Bearer. The Undertaker announced that he was planning to form a Ministry of Darkness that would help him take over the WWE. In early January, The Acolytes were told by an unnamed leader to abduct Dennis Knight (formerly Phinneas Godwinn). The next week, The Undertaker “sacrificed” Knight changing his name to Mideon and making him another follower. The night after the 1999 Royal Rumble, The Ministry “sacrificed” the five hundred pound Mabel, making him Viscera. The gothic/vampiric faction known as The Brood (Gangrel/Edge/Christian) also joined the Ministry in the following weeks.
Mr. McMahon publicly claimed that Mark Calloway (Undertaker’s real name) was taking his gimmick too far and that he believed that he was the second coming of the Lord of Darkness. Undertaker turned his attention to McMahon and McMahon booked Undertaker into an Inferno Match against Kane on Raw. During the Inferno Match, McMahon provided commentary and announced that he had booked the Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match against the Big Boss Man at WrestleMania XV. After the Undertaker defeated Kane, he pulled a teddy bear out of a box Paul Bearer was holding. McMahon fell to his knees as the Undertaker lit the bear on fire. It was later revealed that the bear belonged to McMahon’s daughter Stephanie. On the March 8th Raw, the Undertaker sent the Ministry to find and capture Boss Man. They found him and later “crucified” him on an Undertaker symbol. The next week, Undertaker taunted McMahon with videos of the Ministry outside McMahon’s home burning the crucifix-like Undertaker symbol. McMahon went to the ring to beg Kane for his help but Kane took off his mask to reveal the Undertaker. The Undertaker grabbed McMahon’s throat, the lights went out, and when the lights came on again, McMahon was laid out and the Undertaker was gone.
The match at WrestleMania XV had a hard time living up to the standard that Undertaker and Mankind set at the 1998 King of the Ring. Neither man left the Cell and the fans in the live audience turned on the match soon into it. The Undertaker won the match after a Tombstone and then looked up with arms outstretched. The Brood started descending down from the rafters and landed on top of the cell. They tore a hole in the ceiling and threw down a rope with a noose at the end. Undertaker put the noose around Boss Man’s neck and Paul Bearer raised the Cell. Boss Man was effectively hung above the ring. The lights went out as Undertaker posed in the ring.
Austin/Rock Trilogy Part 1
The main event of WrestleMania XV was the culmination of a year-long series of events for two of the WWE’s biggest superstars and surrounding the WWE Championship. When “Stone Cold” Steve Austin won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania XIV, Mr. McMahon did everything he could to get the title away from him. Except for a brief 24-hour period at King of the Ring 1998 when Kane won the title in a First Blood match, McMahon was unsuccessful in dethroning the Rattlesnake. McMahon announced that at In Your House: Breakdown in September, Austin would defend the WWE title against the Undertaker and Kane in a triple threat match where the Brothers of Destruction couldn’t pin each other to win the match. In the end, Undertaker and Kane pinned Austin at the same time forcing McMahon to vacate the title.
The title was held up in a match between Undertaker and Kane with Austin as the special guest referee at In Your House: Judgment Day the following month. McMahon promised that if Austin didn’t declare either man the new champion, he would be fired on the spot. Undertaker hit Kane with a chair and Austin Stunnered Undertaker before counting both men down. Austin announced himself as the winner, which prompted Mr. McMahon to come out and publicly fire Austin.
Meanwhile, The Rock had disbanded the Nation and had embraced the fans. The Rock’s catchphrases were getting over with the crowds and The Rock played a tweener role on television. The Rock had also begun to feud with Mr. McMahon who claimed that he had “a problem with the people”. The Rock called himself “The People’s Champion” and quickly became a fan favourite. When Mr. McMahon announced a fourteen-man tournament at Survivor Series: Deadly Games, The Rock joined Mankind was heavy favourites to win the vacant WWE Championship.
Although he was fired (kayfabe), Austin continued to show up at Raw and cause havoc backstage. He filled McMahon’s Ferrari with cement and even “hunted” McMahon ultimately making the boss pee his pants on live television. Shane McMahon, Vince’s son, would later re-sign Austin to a WWE contract that guaranteed Austin one WWE Championship title shot. Austin cashed in that shot by entering the Deadly Games tournament. Upset that his son re-signed Austin, Mr. McMahon demoted him to being a “lowly referee”. Shane, using his referee status, continually helped Austin win his matches leading to the pay-per-view. At Survivor Series, Austin and Mankind met in the semi-final round. The referee was knocked out and Shane ran in to count Austin’s pinfall on Mankind. But Shane stopped at two and turned on Austin eliminating him from the tournament.
This left The Rock and Mankind in the finals of the tournament. Mankind had been a “friend” to Mr. McMahon so when Vince and Shane walked to ringside during the match, fans thought it was to give Mankind an advantage. But the fans were shocked when The Rock put Mankind into a Sharpshooter submission and Vince McMahon called for the bell to ring. This was a throwback to the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series a year before. The Rock joined forces with the McMahons and became the first member of the Corporation. The Rock and Mankind would trade the title back and forth until mid-February while Austin waited for the Royal Rumble to get another title shot.
Mr. McMahon did everything he could to try to keep Austin from winning the Rumble. He “randomly” drew Austin’s entrant number as number one and entered himself at number thirty. WWE Commissioner Shawn Michaels was annoyed by this and changed McMahon’s number from thirty to two. McMahon also placed a $100,000 bounty on Austin’s head, agreeing to pay the price to the superstar who eliminated him. Austin and McMahon battled to the outside of the ring and around the backstage area while the Rumble happened. Getting back to the ring, they lasted until the end being the last two in the ring. Thanks to interference from The Rock, Mr. McMahon eliminated Austin and became the number one contender to the WWE title. The next night on Raw, McMahon announced that he was only a “part-time” wrestler and wouldn’t face his fellow Corporation member and gave up his title shot at WrestleMania XV. Commissioner Michaels then appeared on the TitanTron with Austin and said that since McMahon gave up his title shot, it would go to the last man eliminated – Austin. Austin then challenged McMahon to a cage match at In Your House: St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. During the cage match, McMahon’s newest Corporation member Paul Wight debuted by coming up through the ring and throwing Austin into the cage wall. The wall broke and swung open allowing Austin to just drop to the floor and win the match. Now the stage was set. It was The Rock defending the WWE Championship against “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania XV in a No Disqualification match.
Before the match, Michael Cole announced that Jim Ross would call the play-by-play for the main event. Ross had recently played a heel role on Raw setting up his own broadcast table with Steve Williams as a bodyguard but the angle was a failure and starting with WrestleMania XV’s main event, he returned to his regular role as lead commentator. Mr. McMahon then came out to referee the match but Commissioner Michaels made a surprise appearance. Michaels said that McMahon didn’t have the authority to name a referee for the match and replaced him with Jim Korderas. Michaels then banned all members of the Corporation from ringside.
When the match started Rock and Austin battled to the outside, into the crowd, around the entrance area, and back up the aisle to the ring. Austin put The Rock on the Spanish announce table and dropped an elbow sending them both through it. When they finally got back into the ring, Austin inadvertently hit the referee with a chair knocking him out. Referee came out to replace him but was too late to count Austin’s cover. Soon, he got taken out by a Rock Bottom from The Rock. Referee Earl Hebnar came out to replace White. But soon Mr. McMahon walked to the ring and took out Hebnar. The Rock and McMahon began to beat down Austin when Mankind made a surprise reappearance and took out McMahon. The Rock hit Austin with a Rock Bottom and took his time setting up The Corporate Elbow. Austin went for the Stunner but The Rock blocked his kick and spun Austin into a Rock Bottom. Austin elbowed Rock to break the Rock Bottom and finally hit Rock with the Stunner and picked up the win. Austin celebrated with Earl Hebnar drinking beers and posing to the crowd. As Austin went to leave, he passed McMahon who began to yell at the new champion. Austin punched him and rolled him into the ring where a final Stunner was waiting.
Austin was back on top of the WWE and the fans were clamoring at the bit for more. The WWE had reached heights that they had never reached before. It seemed like nothing could go wrong and wrong did. For the next year’s Granddaddy, there would have to be something WrestleMania had never seen before in her main event. Four men in every ring . . .
. . . and a McMahon in every corner.
That about wraps up Part 15. Hope you all enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, let me know how much you enjoyed it or didn’t by emailing me here. Part 16 is just around the corner so keep your eyes peeled.
Pop Quiz
While no one correctly answered both questions from the last quiz, I’m awarding Star Pupil Status to Diego Talavera who did get the first one right. Vinny Pazienza and Marvin Hagler were the two boxers in attendance. Question 2 was kind of a trick question. When the fan held the Intercontinental title up for ransom, Vince McMahon didn’t pay him anything for it. He told the fan to just keep the belt because he could have a new belt made for a lot less than the $25,000 the fan was asking for. Here are your new questions. 1) What WWE Hall of Famer made an appearance as a judge in the Brawl For All match?
2) During the initial broadcast, Michael Cole announced a spoiler for the main event saying that the new WWE Champion “Stone Cold” Steve Austin would appear on what television show following WrestleMania XV?
