Date: 1st April, 2001
Venue: Reliant Astrodome
City: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 67,925
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Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs William Regal
This was a decent match to start out the event. Not a lot to comment on really, just a good match between two solid wrestlers. Jericho picked up the with a bulldog followed by the Lionsault.
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho (7:08)
Via Pinfall (Lionsault)
**3/4
Right to Censor vs The APA & Tazz
This is probably the match that the least amount of people cared about but it's short and gets what it needs to do out of the way. Was just non-stop action for just under 4 minutes before Bradshaw destroyed the Goodfather with a clothesline to get the win. The crowd seemed pretty pumped for it and so it's not hurting anyone by being here.
Winners: The APA & Tazz (3:53)
Bradshaw pinned Goodfather (Clothesline From Hell)
*1/2
Hardcore Championship - Triple Threat match
Raven (c) vs Kane vs The Big Show
This was a great match, what could have been a standard hardcore brawl got taken up to the next level and there were some fantastic spots in this match. Highlights include Raven going through a window, Kane giving the referee a ride in a golf cart, Raven being slammed into a fruit table and the big ending. Big Show went to chokeslam Raven off the stage, but Kane booted them both off before doing a flying leg drop to pick up the win. Not the most technical match ever but it was really enjoyable and these guys put in a lot of effort.
Winner and NEW Hardcore Champion: Kane (9:17)
Kane pinned Big Show (Leg Drop off the stage)
***
European Championship
Eddie Guerrero (c) vs Test
Quite an un-noteworthy match here for a fairly un-noteworthy championship belt. The highlight of the match was probably Perry Saturn's big hat. Guerrero eventually got the win after the Radicals distracted the referee and Guerrero took out Test with the title belt.
Winner and STILL European Champion: Eddie Guerrero (8:06)
Via Pinfall (Title belt shot)
**1/2
Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit
This was the first time these two had met in singles competition on a big stage and even though it wasn't quite up to the standard of some of their later matches it still highlighted both their technical wrestling skills brilliantly. The first 5 or so minutes consisted of amateur holds and reversals before the match began to kick in and the two began exchanging signature moves. Angle sneaked the win by countering a series of submission holds into a roll-up, and winning thanks to a handful of tights.
Winner: Kurt Angle (14:02)
Via Pinfall (Roll-up Pin)
****
Women's Championship
Ivory (c) vs Chyna
The shortest match on the card but in a way this was a good thing. Everyone knew Chyna was going to win, everyone wanted Chyna to win, and so it was best to get it out of the way. Chyna dominated Ivory for a couple of minutes before winning thanks to a Gorilla Press Slam.
Winner and NEW Women's Champion: Chyna (2:37)
Via Pinfall (Press Slam)
1/2*
Street Fight
Shane McMahon vs Vince McMahon
Probably the dark horse on the card. I don't think anybody could predict these two having such a great match before they had seen this. It was overbooked, ridiculous, and quite cheesey at times, but it was fantastic! They really beat on each other at times and having the whole family involved helped increase the drama. I don't think anybody can forget Linda rising out of her chair to kick Vince right in the grapefruits, and then the incredible ending with Shane managing to springboard himself all the way across the ring into a trashcan wedged against his father's head. Fantastic watching.
Winner: Shane McMahon (14:12)
Via Pinfall (Coast to Coast)
***3/4
World Tag Team Championships - TLC match
The Dudley Boyz (c) vs The Hardy Boyz vs Edge & Christian
Wow. That is the only word I can think of to describe this match. The things these 6 men went through in this match is just out of the world and the amount of action they managed to fit in just 15 minutes is spectacular. It didn't even feel like a series of spots either, everything seemed to flow together brilliantly and there were times were you just become breathless. On any other PPV, this would be undoubtedly the match of the night, but the best was still to come here..
Winners and NEW Tag Team Champions: Edge & Christian (15:41)
Via belt retrieval
*****
Gimmick Battle Royal
I'm not counting this as a match as it was really just a chance for a lot of old names to come out and get some praise. For what it was, it was quite enjoyable, especially with Heenan and Okerlund on the commentary.
Winner: The Iron Sheik (3:04)
Sheik last eliminated Hillbilly Jim
N/A
Triple H vs The Undertaker
Often a match that gets overlooked because of the strength of the rest of the card, but make no mistakes this is another great match. The only thing I can criticise is that the ref was knocked for nearly 10 minutes, but then again this allowed the two to have a great brawl through the crowd. The ending sequence in the ring was also golden, and back in 2001 it wasn't a given that Undertaker would win every WM and that made it all the more exciting.
Winner: The Undertaker (18:17)
Via Pinfall (Last Ride)
****
WWF Championship - No DQ match
The Rock (c) vs Steve Austin
The biggest event of all time, the two biggest names of the time, competing for the biggest prize in the game. There was no way this match was going to disappoint. The rivalry and build up for this match was incredible and it was the crowd reaction that helped carry this match to such great heights. I was tempted to deduct a quarter of a star for the ending but it would be too harsh to deduct any points from the first 25 minutes, which are among the most exciting and passionate minutes in any wrestling match ever.
Winner and NEW WWF Champion: Steve Austin (28:06)
Via Pinfall (Multiple chair shots)
*****
Overall Thoughts:
If you didn't realise before you read this review, this is widely regarded as not only the greatest WrestleMania of all time, but the greatest wrestling PPV of all time as well, and it's not hard to see why. If two five star matches wasn't good enough, there was also the McMahon street fight, Angle/Benoit and HHH/Taker, which all go down as memorable matches. Also the other half of the card was by no means bad, the hardcore match and IC and European title matches were entertaining enough as well. The crap was kept to a minimum and really only consisted of the women's title squash and the gimmick battle royal (which by the way was still fairly entertaining).
Basically, if you haven't seen this event, then do so as soon as you can. If you have seen it before, hell, go and see it again. It is that damn good!
10.0 / 10.0
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