Posted in: The Classroom The Classroom - History Of: WrestleMania Part 23
By Sean Taylor
Mar 29, 2009 - 11:55:21 PM
"Wouldn’t it be great if after a night of drinking, someone gave you pictures like the kind you get from a roller coaster? Ok this is you either dancing or playing Nintendo WII."
- Mark Nesseth, comedian
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another edition of The Classroom. It’s officially one week before WrestleMania 25 and it’s almost time’s up for this series. I’ve received a lot of good ideas for the next series of History Of but I know there’s still more out there. So don’t hesitate to send me your suggestions. I’d also like to thank my good friend Mark Nesseth for today’s opening quote. He’s a struggling comedian and very funny. I’m sure one day we’re going to see his name in lights but until then if you’re a comedy club owner in the Great Lakes region and need an opening act, Mark’s your man.
But let’s get to today’s lesson all about the events and happenings surrounding WrestleMania 23. As Paul Heyman would say, it was live from Dee-troit, Michigan and had some pretty big matches. How big? Well read on.
WrestleMania 23: All Grown Up
Date: April 1, 2007
Venue: Ford Field (Detroit, Michigan)
Commentators: Jim Ross (Raw), Jerry “The King” Lawler (Raw), Michael Cole (SD), JBL (SD), Tazz (ECW), Joey Styles (ECW)
Attendance: 80,103
Them Songs: “Ladies and Gentlemen” by Saliva, “The Memory Will Never Die” by Default
In 2006, the WWE seemed to turn a corner with their programming. With Rey Mysterio as champion, the WWE developed a huge following in the Latin American culture. At the Great American Bash, King Booker (Booker T) defeated Rey Mysterio to become the WWE’s first pure African-American World Champion. The return of popular entities ECW and DX added to the WWE’s increasing popularity. DX feuded with Vince and Shane McMahon for the majority of the year before turning their sights to Rated RKO – a tag team comprised of Edge and Randy Orton. ECW became the WWE’s third brand and even brought back the old school ECW World Championship.
When the tickets for WrestleMania 23 went on sale on November 11, it took less than an hour to sell all of them. The events and festivities during WrestleMania Weekend help bring in $25 million into the local economy while setting the record for being the highest grossing event in WWE history with $5.8 million just in ticket sales alone. WrestleMania 23 also set the record for garnering the most pay-per-views of any WWE event. The WrestleMania 23 set was the most elaborate of the company’s history as well. The set took three weeks to construct utilizing 414 LED video screens, a 100-foot tall stage design, and over 50,000 feet of cable just for pyrotechnical use. The 80,103 attendance number for WrestleMania 23 dwarfed the attendance for Super Bowl XL by nearly 20,000.
The promotion of WrestleMania 23 was based on the theme of “All Grown Up”. Commercials featured WWE superstars and children versions of themselves talking about how when they were young, they dreamed of competing in the ring. Then the image would change to their current selves while they talked about now that they had achieved their dream, they would prove themselves worthy of competing at WrestleMania.
The night before WrestleMania 23, the WWE held the 2007 Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Inductees included former AWA Champion Nickbockwinkel (inducted by Bobby Heenan), Afa and Sika The Wild Samoans (inducted by Samu and Matt Anoa’i), manager Mr. Fuji (inducted by Don Muraco), The Original Shiek Eddie Farhat (inducted by Rob Van Dam and Sabu, accepted by Joyce Farhat), commentator Jim Ross (inducted by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin), Jerry “The King” Lawler (inducted by William Shatner), “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig (inducted by Wade Boggs, accepted by Leonice Hennig and the Hennig family), and “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes (inducted by Dustin “Goldust” Runnels and Cody Rhodes).
Before the event went live on pay-per-view, the WWE broke from the tradition of a battle royal opting instead to feature an Interpromotional Tag Team Lumberjack Match. The match pitted Carlito and Ric Flair from Raw against SmackDown’s Chavo Guerrero and Gregory Helms. Every male superstar that was not otherwise booked on the actual WrestleMania card served as lumberjacks. Raw won the match when Carlito pinned Chavo after delivering his Backcracker finishing move.
Mooooooooneeeeeeeeey In The Bank . . . . . . Bank!
WrestleMania 23 opened with the third annual Money In The Bank Ladder Match. This year, the number of competitors was changed from six to eight featuring superstars representing all three brands. The combatants included Jeff Hardy, Finlay, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Matt Hardy, King Booker (with Queen Sharmell), Mr. Kennedy, and former Money In The Bank winner, Edge. Early in the match, Edge set a ladder up resting on the ring apron and the crowd barrier. Eventually, Edge would bring in the “big ladder” and after Matt Hardy put Edge on the first ladder, Jeff scaled the bigger one and leg dropped Edge. Both Jeff and Edge went through the ladder that had bent in half. Edge was taken by EMTs to the back for medical attention ending his in-ring for the night. In the end, Kennedy and Punk battled on top of a ladder until Punk knocked Kennedy off. Kennedy used second ladder to knock Punk off the ladder, retrieved the briefcase, and secured himself a title shot for sometime over the next twelve months.
He Doesn’t Do Tech Support
In April of 2006, former Indian power lifter Dalip Singh Rana debuted on SmackDown under the name The Great Khali. Khali stood seven-foot-one and after feuds with The Undertaker and ECW Original Tommy Dreamer, demanded better competition. On the February 19, 2007 edition of Raw, Khali easily defeated The Highlanders in a handicap match and then challenged “The Big Red Machine” Kane to a match at WrestleMania 23. Kane was fresh off the release of “See No Evil”. Even after using his chained hook (weapon from “See No Evil”) and being the first to bodyslam Khali (homage to Hogan slamming Andre the Giant), Kane fell victim to Khali’s chokeslam. Khali covered Kane with one foot and gained the pinfall victory.
Go Eugene! It’s Your Birthday!
Backstage, Cryme Tyme attempted to cheer up a depressed Eugene by throwing him a surprise dance party with the Extreme Expose dance trio from ECW. They were soon joined by The Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young, “The Doctor of Style” Slick, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, Sgt Slaughter, Jimmy Hart, IRS, Gene Okerlund, Ricky Steamboat, Howard Finkel, Pat Patterson, and Gerald Brisco. Ron Simmons interrupted and said his catchphrase, “DAMN!” and then the party continued.
Crippling The Most Valuable Player
On September 26th, SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long announced that he had signed Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) to an exclusive SmackDown contract. MVP was an arrogant, self-obsessed athlete who had claimed to be the most coveted free agent in wrestling until Long signed him to the “largest contract in SmackDown history”. After a long feud with Kane, MVP began his campaign for the United States Championship held by Chris Benoit. MVP brought out supposed champions from countries all over the world and defeated them in the ring. A match was signed for WrestleMania 23 between Chris Benoit and MVP for the US Title.
The match was the first actual wrestling match of the night. The match started with an athletic showcase of wrestling ability from both men. MVP gained and kept control of most of the match until Benoit reversed the action resulting in a triple German suplex combination. After hitting his signature Diving Headbutt, Benoit pinned MVP and retained the United States Championship. The two would continue to feud until MVP defeated Benoit for the title at Judgment Day in a Two Out Of Three Falls Match.
Streak vs Title
At the 2007 Royal Rumble, The Undertaker became the first man in WWE history to enter at number thirty and win the match. The Undertaker earned the right to challenge one of three champions at WrestleMania 23 – WWE Champion John Cena, World Heavyweight Champion Batista, and ECW Champion Bobby Lashley. On the February 5th episode of Raw, the three champions were called to the ring. The Undertaker then came out and looked each titleholder in the eyes. The Undertaker stepped in front of Batista and made his throat cutting motion indicating that “The Animal” was his choice. The two began competing in tag team matches but after several attacks by The Undertaker, Batista claimed to have lost all the respect he had had for the Deadman. Despite both men being babyfaces during the feud, the fans were clearly behind The Undertaker. Batista seemed to be getting treated like John Cena had the previous year.
At WrestleMania 23, Teddy Long introduced both men. Batista walked to the ring alone while The Undertaker was preceded by eighteen torch-carrying druids. The match itself was aggressive and very physical. In the end, it was a Tombstone Piledriver that allowed The Undertaker to pin Batista to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. The Undertaker made history by not only extending his undefeated streak to 15-0 but also becoming the first man to win the World Heavyweight Title and the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Eight months later, WWE fans voted this match as Match of the Year on WWE.com.
Extreme Division
When the WWE added ECW as their third brand, it quickly became apparent to fans that it wasn’t quite what they remembered from the original promotion. While familiar faces like Rob Van Dam and Tommy Dreamer appeared every week, Wrestlecrap-worthy characters like the Zombie and Nacho Libre proved that the new ECW wasn’t going to be anything like the original. Two distinct groups emerged out of the ECW brand – The ECW Originals and The New Breed. The ECW Originals consisted of former stars of the original ECW promotion and included Tommy Dreamer, Sabu, The Sandman, and Rob Van Dam. The New Breed consisted of younger talent brought in to fill the undercard of the ECW brand. The New Breed was led by Elijah Burke and featured Marcus Cor Von (aka Monty Brown in TNA), the former school teacher Matt Striker, and the vampire-like Kevin Thorn (with Ariel).
After Vince McMahon made an appearance on ECW saying that the ECW Originals sucked and the New Breed was the true face of the new ECW, Tommy Dreamer challenged the New Breed to an eight-man tag team match at WrestleMania 23. The match last only just over six minutes but was fast-paced and action packed. The match eventually broke down into an all-out brawl ending with Rob Van Dam landing a Five Star Frog Splash on Matt Striker for the pinfall victory.
Mr. McMahon Trumped
On January 8th, Vince McMahon hired look-a-likes to perform a “dream match” between Donald Trump and Rosie O’Donnell, who had been warring with words in the media. Three weeks later during McMahon’s “Fan Appreciation Night”, Donald Trump appeared on Raw badmouthing McMahon before dropping thousands of dollars on the live crowd. This led to McMahon and Trump agreeing to put their hair on the line at WrestleMania 23 in a match dubbed “The Battle of the Billionaires”. Both Trump and McMahon chose a WWE superstar to represent them in the ring for the match. McMahon chose the Intercontinental Champion Umaga while Trump selected ECW Champion Bobby Lashley. A month later, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was added to the match as the special guest referee.
After a long time set for individual entrances (including an entrance for the barber’s chair), the match finally got underway with Lashley and Umaga colliding the middle of the ring. Austin’s refereeing became physical as he forced rope breaks and various other rules when they needed enforcing. Midway through the match, Austin informed the timekeeper that the match would be a no-count out match. Soon after, Umaga hit Austin with his Samoan Spike allowing Shane McMahon to interfere beating down Lashley. Vince threw a trashcan into the ring setting Shane’s patented coast-to-coast dropkick. Shane took off his jacket to reveal a referee’s shirt but was quickly taken down by Austin. Having grown tired of McMahon’s antics, Trump attacked Vince on the outside as Umaga was hit by a Stone Cold Stunner and a Spear from Lashley.
McMahon attempted to escape without living up to the match stipulations but Lashley caught him and carried him back down the aisle to the ring. After a Stunner, McMahon was strapped into the barber’s chair while Trump, Lashley, and Austin took turns shaving his hair off. Before leaving the ring, Austin delivered one last Stunner – to Donald Trump.
I’m A Lumberjill And I’m Ok
The next match was the Women’s Championship match at once again, centered on a WWE Diva posing in Playboy. 2005 Raw Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro was chosen to pose in Playboy Magazine, which angered WWE Women’s Champion and “whore to the paparazzi” Melina. The majority of this feud took place on Melina’s blog on WWE.com where she continually claimed that Playboy cover models lacked the capability to wrestle inside in the ring. In the weeks leading to WrestleMania 23, Melina defeated former Playboy cover girls Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle. In the end, Melina vindicated herself by defeating Ashley at WrestleMania 23 and retaining her title.
Can You Trust A Showstopper?
When Triple H suffered a quadricep injury at New Year’s Revolution against WWE Tag Team Champions Team Rated-RKO (Edge/Randy Orton), the planned main event for WrestleMania 23 had to be changed. Triple H’s DX partner, Shawn Michaels vowed to finish their business with Team Rated-RKO. Michaels fulfilled his promise by defeating Edge and Orton in a Triple Threat match to determine who would face WWE Champion John Cena for the title at WrestleMania 23. Soon after, Michaels and Cena were booked into a WWE Tag Team Championship match against Team Rated-RKO on Raw. As part of their split tease, Edge and Orton got into a disagreement leading Edge to leave Orton to defend the titles alone. The odd pairing of Michaels and Cena overcame Orton and became the new WWE Tag Team Champions.
The feud between Cena and Michaels revolved around whether or not Cena could trust Michaels as a tag team partner. Orton showed Cena a video of how Michaels had turned on former tag team partners Marty Jannetty, Diesel, and Steve Austin. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania 23, Michaels had numerous opportunities to Superkick Cena but stopped himself. Michaels assured Cena that he had Cena’s back until their match. During the final Raw before WrestleMania, Cena and Michaels were involved in a No Way Out rematch against Undertaker and Batista. They worked as a well-oiled tag team even performing a dual Five Knuckle Shuffle. But as Cena stood, Michaels seized the opportunity and Superkicked the champion allowing Batista and cover him for the win.
The match at WrestleMania began with Michaels offering a handshake. Cena refused and Michaels slapped Cena across the face. Michaels had control for most of the first half of the match and similar to the previous year, the crowd booed Cena during every offensive attack. Later in the match, both men unsuccessfully attempted to execute their finishers. Cena finally caught Michaels in the STFU but Michaels reached the ropes. The referee had to pull Cena off Michaels to get him to release the hold. After getting admonished by the referee, Cena turned into a Superkick from Michaels. Michaels slowly crawled over to cover Cena but Cena kicked out. Both men very slowly used each other to get to their feet. Cena picked up Michaels for an FU but Michaels slid off Cena’s back. Cena then dropped to the mat and leg locked Michaels down and into a second STFU. Being in the very center of the ring, Michaels couldn’t do anything but tap out.
After retaining his WWE Championship, Cena offered a handshake to Michaels as he left the ring. Michaels just stared at Cena and walked off. Still wanting to pay his respects to a worthy adversary, Cena saluted the “Heartbreak Kid” as WrestleMania 23 went off the air.
The twenty-third edition of WrestleMania had been completed and was the biggest success the WWE had ever seen. For the twenty-fourth edition, The Undertaker would wrestle in the main event for the first time in eleven years. He would face a former stablemate, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, and the only superstar to be officially . . .
. . . Rated R.
Part 23 is officially done and in the books. If you have any comments or critiques, you can email me here or if you’re a member of the Columns Forum, post in the feedback forum here. Thank you to everyone for reading and keep close to Lords of Pain because Part 24 is right around the corner. And to Mike, no I haven’t broken out the golf clubs yet, but the afternoon of WrestleMania Sunday is guaranteed to be the debut.
Pop Quiz
Here are the answers to the last Pop Quiz:
1) Jillian Hall was JBL’s “image consultant” or “fixer”
2) WrestleMania 22 was the second WrestleMania to feature a 2-on-1 handicap match.
3) WrestleMania 22 was special for the Big Show because it featured his first win at WrestleMania.
Congratulations to Anthony P. and Anthony S. for achieving Star Pupil Status. I had a lot of people guess a pillow fight for number two referencing WrestleMania XIX. But that was a “Catfight”. Also while it was the second time the US title was defended at Mania, a title defense isn’t a “type” of match. Good guesses though. Here are my new questions: 1) Who appeared in a backstage segment with Donald Trump and former Miss USA Tara Conner?
2) Batista’s nickname was “The Animal”. Name two other WrestleMania alumni shared the same nickname?
3) Had Triple H appeared at WrestleMania he would have tied the record for most consecutive WrestleMania appearances with 12. Whose record would he have tied?
