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Madison Square Garden: New York City, New York Announcer: Howard Finkel Referees: Earl Hebner Commentators: Jim Ross, Jesse Ventura, Bobby Heenan, and Gorilla Monsoon 2 The Rock vs. 1 Shawn Michaels Gorilla: Hello and welcome, everyone, to the greatest sports entertainment extravaganza of all-time, live from Madison Square Garden in New York City…The Road to Wrestlemania Championship. I’m Gorilla Monsoon alongside Jesse “The Body” Ventura, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and “Good ‘Ol JR” Jim Ross. JR, set the stage for us, if you will… JR: Thanks, Gorilla. Well, when this all started, it was the dream of a lifetime and quite a concept. Take sixty-four wrestlers that had headlined each of the first twenty-six Wrestlemanias, rank them according to their star power and ability to steal the show – how many Manias they headlined and things of that nature. Then, put them all together for a three month tournament, the excitement of which is typically reserved for that of March Madness in college basketball. Gentlemen, it’s been a wild ride, but now we’re down to the final two. And it don’t get no bigger than this. Shawn Michaels is arguably the greatest big match performer of all-time. He’s Mr. Wrestlemania because the top 10-15 matches in the history of our sport’s greatest live event is about half HBK and half everyone else. Yet, The Rock is what many would call the co-leader of the most profitable era in WWE history. He’s a leading man in Hollywood and has unparalleled charisma that lead many to call him the most charismatic WWE Superstar ever… Brain: You know, I grew up in Chicago. I always wanted to be a part of this business. I carried bags and sold refreshments at the events. Never in my life did I think I would one day sit here and be able to call a match of this magnitude. This is a once in a lifetime occasion, humanoids. ENJOY IT! Ventura: I spoke with Vince McMahon this morning. I asked him who he favored in this match and you know what he said? He nearly broke down into tears when he spoke about his relationships with both of these men. The Rock and HBK are guys that bleed passion for the wrestling business and are two of the greatest performers that Vince has ever had in his employ. They share McMahon’s desire to be number one. Make no mistake about it…this is one of the biggest matches of all-time! Gorilla: Madison Square Garden is going strictly bananas right now. Neither wrestler has even been introduced, but the crowd is buzzing after that video preview we just witnessed. Let’s go to our ring announcer, Howard Finkel! Fink: It is now time for the ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA CHAMP-EON CHIP! The following contest is scheduled for ONE FALL and it has a ONE HOUR time limit. Fink: Introducing first from San Antonio, Texas….The HEARTBREAK KIIIID, SHAAAAWN MICHAELS!!! Brain: What does he say when he gets down on his hands and knees like that? JR: He’s praying, Brain… Brain: About WHAT? Gorilla: Maybe to win the match? Maybe for safety? Brain: But this isn’t church! JR: It is to Shawn Michaels. For a long time, the ring was his sanctuary and the only place in the world where he felt at peace. Brain: I bet he wouldn’t wear THAT to church. I think he stole that get-up from the place across from the airport last night! Gorilla: WILL YOU STOP!? Fink: And from Miami, Florida….THHHHHHHHHHHE ROCK! Ventura: I’m going to tell you something, Gorilla, and it will not be a popular opinion. I think that The Rock has to prove something to me tonight. I think he’s OVERRATED! JR: How can you possibly think that THE ROCK is overrated? He’s a seven-time WWE champion and one of the biggest icons in our business… Ventura: Hey, I’m being honest. If it offends some people – like you – then there’s nothing I can do about it…but I’m going to be honest. The man spent a whopping seven years in wrestling. Sure, he headlined some big events, but the guy doesn't have the resume of a guy like Michaels. JR: Referee Earl Hebner has been assigned to this match. He’s no stranger to either man, having been involved in many of both Rock and HBK’s classic Wrestlemania matches. Hebner rings the bell and this match is officially under way. Rock goes to lock up with Michaels, but the Heartbreak Kid shows his speed and strategy and avoids it. And there’s the first of what likely will be many knife edge chops from Michaels! Brain: Listen to all these Ric Flair fanatics in the Garden! Say it with me, Monsoon! WOOOO!!! Gorilla: Woo. Brain: Not bad! JR: Michaels clearly has the advantage in quickness and he knows he’s not as strong as the People’s Champion, so this is smart on his part to make this a game of cat and mouse much like he did with the Undertaker in the round of eight. And HBK catches Rock by surprise with a roll-up! One…Two…No! Good Lord that was close…especially so early on this match! Ventura: Rock has to be careful, here. I don’t know what he expected, but he needs to regroup and get it together. Michaels is a master in that ring, but Rock should know better than this. Gorilla: And now Michaels grabs a headlock! Rock quickly shoves him into the ropes and ducks his head down perhaps looking for a back drop. Michaels jumps over him and goes for a sunset flip! The Rock grabs him by the throat and pulls him up to his feet! What an impressive show of strength from the Great One! Rock swings for the fences, but Michaels ducks it…there’s another quick roll-up! One…Two…Rock kicked out, but boy that was another close call! Ventura: Two early near falls in this match…Michaels appears to have a game plan, while Rock has his head stuck in the mud! JR: What do you have against The Rock, Jesse? Is that he was more successful in Hollywood than you? You seem to have an undeniable bias against The Rock… Ventura: I have no such bias, Ross! I have high expectations for a guy with Rock’s reputation and I just want him to show me why he has it! Gorilla: This does seem awkwardly similar to the things you once said about Hulk Hogan. You were always jealous of Hogan, Jess. Ventura: Are you kidding!? JR: Well, I do agree that Rock has to find a way to get something going. Michaels is a master of frustrating larger athletes into making mistakes. Then, he capitalizes on those mistakes. Rock has already made two mistakes. Gorilla: Rock and Michaels are now face-to-face in the center of the ring. HBK is saying something to Rock. Rock is jawing right back to him. Brain: Michaels is talking about the club next to the airport! Gorilla: I submit that he’s probably talking about this match and what he might do to the Rock. WOAH! Simultaneous slaps! JR: Michaels went to slap Rock and Rock went to slap Michaels and they ended up slapping each other! HBK has used that as a mind game to annoy his opponents in the past, but The Rock is not backing down. The Rock swings and misses! He swings and misses again! You can see the frustration growing on Rock’s face each time he catches nothing but air! Michaels is laughing at him! It’s usually Rock who has the mental advantage, but not right now…not in this match! Ventura: Why is Michaels laughing? Doesn’t he think this is serious!? Everything is on the line! Brain: He’s having fun! What did you do for fun when you were a kid, collect stamps? Gorilla: What’s wrong with collecting stamps, Brain? Brain: Nothing. Know what you do, you find out somebody that has stamps, make friends with them, then when they aren't looking, steal them and sell them. Great fun! JR: The Rock has begun arguing with a fan at ringside. He’s off his game right now, folks. HBK sees an opportunity and closes in fast, but Rock catches him with a quick boot right to the gut. I think he was drawing him in on purpose! Yep, that’s exactly what he was doing! Ventura: Look at him pointing to his brain like he’s so smart. If he were so smart, he wouldn’t be getting outfoxed so often! JR: Well, it looked like a pretty effective and intelligent move to me. Rock has control of this match now, hammering away on HBK in the corner. He spits into his open palm and punches Michaels so hard that he flies up to the top turnbuckle. He nearly fell to the mat, but Rock grabbed his tights and prevented it. Rock is headed up after him. SUPERPLEX! The Rock sits right up. And there’s that focus that we grew so accustomed to seeing during the Attitude Era. When Rock gets that focused, you better watch out, folks! Gorilla: Rock is heading out near us. What’s he doing? He’s grabbing HBK’s ring jacket! Ventura: You don’t steal another man’s jacket! Brain: He wants to return that to its rightful owner. The Rock is a close personal friend of that lovely young exotic dancer that Michaels stole that from! He wants her to have it back! Let it be known that The Rock cares about people! Gorilla: You really are too much, you know that… JR: Well, it certainly has a few more frills than Rock is accustomed to seeing on the ring jackets he’s borrowed in the past. He puts it on and he’s definitely not a fan of the outfit, but he gets in the ring with it on nonetheless. He wants Michaels to see this mockery…and look at him dance like HBK… Gorilla: Rock is takes off the garment and throws it right in Shawn Michaels’s face! JR: HBK isn’t laughing anymore. He’s deathly serious now. I think this was a brilliant strategy by The Rock. If you look back at history…when HBK is upset, he is more prone to making mistakes. Look at his matches with Undertaker – he got so emotionally invested that it ultimately cost him his active career. Any talk of Rock not having a strategy should be over at this point… Ventura: I think he got lucky. It’s far from over! JR: Granted, but this is an effective strategy…and look at The Rock! Michaels tried for a Lou Thesz press to regain momentum, but Rock caught him and threw him half way across the ring with a belly-to-belly suplex. The Rock is stomping a mud hole in Michaels and walking it dry! Gorilla: The Rock is laying in with the heavy artillery! A boot right to the external occipital protuberance! JR: And now The Rock is stalking Michaels. I don’t think the Rock wants to waste any more time…he wants to be crowned the Wrestlemania Champion. Gorilla: Perhaps the Rock Bottom coming up… JR: The Rock has Michaels in position, but he’s not looking to execute right away. He wants to embarrass Michaels and give a little extra something. He’s talking trash in Michaels’s ear. But here it comes now…Rock Bottom! NO!? Michaels countered into the Crossface! Rock rolls through! They’re both back on their feet! DDT from The Rock! DDT from THE ROCK! Gorilla: He goes for the cover! One………TWO…..and….NO! He kicked out! Ventura: I’ll give credit where credit is due…that was a helluva counter by The Rock! Brain: Michaels will probably need an x-ray of his cervial devial bones, right Monsoon? JR: The Rock’s going for the Sharpshooter! Michaels is struggling to get away from him! The Rock vs. Michaels – Wrestlemania Championship on the line and Rock is going for the Sharpshooter! Ventura: Interesting that The Rock goes for a move that has a lot of personal history for Shawn Michaels. It was 1997 that Michaels ended Bret Hart’s WWE career in horror when he and Earl Hebner – the referee for tonight – teamed up to screw Bret out of the title with that very move. Gorilla: Michaels uses the strength in his legs to push Rock out of the ring! Ventura: Remember, though, that it was 1998 – just one year later – that The Rock won the WWE Championship for the first time while mimicking that infamous moment at Survivor Series. Brain: So neither man has any problem sticking a knife in his opponent’s back if it would serve him well…should we keep an eye on Hebner?! Cahoots! JR: Rock gets back in the ring and Michaels catches him by surprise with a chop block. Michaels took out the left knee and now he appears to be seeking to apply the Figure Four leg lock! Wait…it’s a modified – almost a reverse – Figure Four. It’s synched in tight and Rock is screaming in agony. Just moments after chop blocking the knee, Michaels locks on a deadly submission hold. Gorilla: The Rock is in serious pain, here, unable at this point to reach the ropes or break the hold. He’s gotta break this one or it could be all over! JR: Look at the strength of The Rock. He’s dragging Michaels toward the ropes! He’s reached the ropes, but he’s not just stopping there…he’s using them as leverage to climb back to his feet, but Michaels has yet to release the hold! I don’t know why Hebner hasn’t broken that hold, but Rock is almost to his feet while still locked in the Figure Four! Michaels is forced to break the hold! Rock goes for the Sharpshooter! And he’s completely reversed the momentum! He’s got it locked on! Ventura: Look how far Michaels will have to crawl across the ring to make it to the ropes. That’s a long way to go, especially when you’re outweighed by sixty pounds! Brain: Where’s Shawn’s wife!? Where is she?! Wherever she is, it’s time to do another rain dance or something. Get the spirits to help your man escape! JR: For the last time, Shawn’s wife is not an Indian! Gorilla: Indian or not, she’s watching her husband really struggle right now. It could be all over for the Heartbreak Kid…and he’s showing some life, inching one moment to the opposite side of the ring and twisting and contorting his body the next. Ventura: Rock’s adding insult to injury, doing Bret Hart’s patented hand gesture with his free hand. JR: Michaels turns over onto his back and pushes Rock as hard as he can into the turnbuckle. Rock is a little bit dazed and still favoring his own injured limb and Michaels is struggling to his feet! The People’s Champion heads back in Michaels’s direction just as HBK reaches his feet. Gorilla: Michaels tries for the super kick! Rock side steps it! He goes for the Rock Bottom, but Michaels spins free, jumps in the air, and drops Rocky face first to the mat! JR: ROCKER DROPPER! I haven’t seen that move in years! It was made famous way back during HBK’s run with Marty Jannetty! Brain: He can’t make the cover, though! Gorilla: Michaels certainly has had a lot taken out of him. But he’s trying back on his feet, favoring that injured leg and holding the small of his back with his right hand, perhaps indicating that the Sharpshooter did damage to that always talked about surgically repaired back. JR: Well The Rock despite taking the desperation drop from Shawn Michaels is actually the first to his standing base. He’s gonna try to capitalize…No! HBK with an inverted atomic drop! And now a clothesline! And another inverted atomic drop! And another clothesline! Michaels follows with a body slam…and he’s heading up to the top rope. Rock is down and out and Michaels is turning up it a notch! Here it commmmmes…FLYING ELBOW DROP! Gorilla: Michaels gets right back to his feet and he’s fired up! He heads right for that corner and he’s tuning up the band! Ventura: The Heartbreak Kid is gonna put it away right here with the super kick. Brain: Coming up next on your television screen is Sweet Chin Music! JR: The Rock is to his feet….Michaels goes for the kick! The Rock counters! Michaels is up on Rock’s shoulders! Electric Chair drop! Rock just countered Sweet Chin Music with an Electric Chair drop! Both men are down! Gorilla: The atmosphere in this building is electric! The people are literally hanging from the rafters! Brain: Literally? JR: Both men are lying on their backs in the middle of the ring. The Rock kips up! HBK kips up! Simultaneous kip ups! But The Rock just took HBK’s head off with a diving clothesline! Rock is unloading on Michaels with strong right hands. HBK goes for a clothesline in counter, but Rock catches him on his shoulders and connects with a Samoan Drop! Rock gets right up and begins to stalk Michaels, waiting for him to get back up so he can deliver the Rock Bottom or People’s Elbow and end this match… Brain: Man, am I impressed with Rock’s resilience. This guy isn’t a prima donna from Hollywood…this is a man who wants to WIN! Gorilla: The Rock goes for the Rock Bottom for the second time tonight minus the jaw jacking this time, but Michaels elbows out of it again! Rock turns around….SWEET CHIN MUSIC! The super kick connects! He makes the cover…. (Hebner counts ONE….TWO…………….NO!) Ventura: Alright, I’ll admit that he’s earned my respect. Not many men can claim to have kicked out of that move… Gorilla: Just when it seemed like Rock had everything in control, Michaels counters and connects with the super kick! Just like that, both men are both down on the mat! JR: The Rock is rolling out of the ring to try and regroup. He splashes some water on his face to try and wake himself up. Michaels catches him with a baseball slide! It may have re-injured his leg, though. He’s shaking it off quickly and going out to the apron. Oh I don’t if this is such a good idea…this is quite a risk, but just the kind of one that can make or break the end to HBK’s matches. It has worked for him in the past, but sometimes it hasn’t. Michaels checks his position. Rock is right in front of our announce table. HBK……SPRINGBOA…OH GOD (You hear a jostling of papers and the stumbling of the announce team moving quickly to avoid HBK and Rock) Gorilla: I think JR temporarily lost his headset. Michaels with a big moonsault onto Rock that sends the both of them careening across our announce table and onto the floor right beneath our feet! Ventura: It takes a special kind of superstar to bring that sort of big move to top of the mountain. There’s been a lot of smaller guys in this business…most of them had no desire to grab the brass ring all the way at the top. Michaels did…and he’s one of the greatest of all-time! JR: Alright, my apologies for that, folks. Michaels is the first back to his feet and he looks like he’s got loads of energy left! I don’t know he has does it. HBK once told me that he thought he was “Superman” when in that ring and it’s moments like what we just saw that shows you that he may have been right! Michaels throws Rock back into the ring and goes for a cover…ONE………TWO…………NO! Gorilla: Rock kicks out and Michaels immediately goes back into the corner and begins tuning up the band again! Brain: If he hits this move, then it’s definitely over. Rock is a fighter – he’s proven that – but two superkicks? No way…not even Rock… JR: Well, we’re about to find out just how much Rock has left. Michaels goes for the kick! Rock catches his foot! He spins him around….ROCK BOTTOM! ROCK BOTTOM! ROCK BOTTOM! MY GOD! ROCK BOTTOM! It’s GONNA BE OVER! (The referee counts ONE…………………………..TWO………………………) Gorilla: …….AND a KICK OUT! JR: HBK kicked out! HBK kicked out! HBK kicked out! Ventura: This is a gear that Michaels has but few others do. After everything that has happened in the last thirty minutes and counting, you’d think the Rock Bottom would put it away…but Michaels finds a way! Gorilla: Well, Rock is back to his feet and he’s going to try it again. If it won’t work the first time, then just do it a second time! Michaels is still down and out. Rock picks him up off the mat. He puts him in position for the Rock Bottom. Here we go…… JR: Counter! Counter! Victory Roll by Michaels! ONE…..TWO………NO! Rock kicked out! Good God Almighty! Brain: Neither of these men want to give it up! Both of them WANT IT so badly! What’s gonna happen NEXT!? Ventura: This is a fitting final match in this tournament, Gorilla. Gorilla: Michaels connects with a hard clothesline. Now, he’s heading back to the top rope, perhaps looking for that flying elbow again! JR: Shawn Michaels with an elbow droppppp…..NO! Rock moved out of the way and Michaels went crashing and burning onto his back! Rock kips up! He gives us the People’s Eyebrow and HBK is perhaps soon to be the recipient of the People’s ELBOW! The Rock gets Michaels in position and THERE…GOES….THE…ELBOW PAD! He throws it into the crowd! He hits the ropes once…and he hits the ropes twice….People’s Elbowwwww….NO! Michaels moved! And now he kips up! Brain: WOW! Gorilla: Rock’s back to his feet… JR: SWEET CHIN MUSIC! SWEET! CHIN! MUSIC! And here’s the cover! (The referee counts ONE……………..TWO……………………………….THREE!) Brain: Shawn Michaels did it! He’s truly Mister Wrestlemania now…no one can dispute it! Ventura: Unbelievable, Gorilla… Gorilla: In one of the most memorable matches of what has been a thrilling tournament, Shawn Michaels connected with Sweet Chin Music for a second time and came out of there with the victory! What a win for the Heartbreak Kid, but a courageous effort from The Rock! I think both men earned our respect tonight! JR: Oh without a doubt. In what was one of the most hellacious slobberknockers of all-time, HBK went one-on-one with the Great One and managed to come out victorious. He’s had a lot of great wins in his career and I’m darn sure that this was one to add to his impressive list. For Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura, and Bobby Heenan, I’m Jim Ross and we thank you for being with us these last three months! ------------------------------------- CMV1: Ladies and gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure. I appreciate the feedback, reads, and support throughout this fantasy showcase. There’s been a lot of work involved! 63 matches written! I hope you’ve enjoyed it. A special thanks to the contributing writers who did “guest commentary.” That was very much appreciated. And, finally, we’ve come to the prediction contest participants. That was an added touch that I thought we add to the comparison to the NCAA tournament and I think it did. Two people picked the final match correctly, but only one picked the entire final four correctly. MAVSMAN and I share a mutual admiration for Shawn Michaels, if I’m not mistaken, and it was apparently that admiration that led him to picking the same final four and final two and champion that I had intended when the idea for tournament came about. Mavs – congratulations! Email me your contact info and I’ll get your copy of the Mania DVD in the mail as soon as it comes out.
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