PWP’s continues its coverage of the grandest stage with Dan Marren’s review of WrestleMania 23.
On March 29, 1987 the WWE descended upon Michigan for WrestleMania III which saw one of the most iconic moments in pro wrestling history, Hulk Hogan body slamming Andre the Giant in front of 93,173 people. Twenty years the WWE returned to Michigan all grown up for WrestleMania 23 at Ford Field in front of 80,103 people.
The opening match saw a hellacious Money In The Bank ladder match that featured Edge, Randy Orton, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Mr. Kennedy, King Booker, CM Punk, Finlay all vying for the coveted briefcase. From Jeff Hardy leaping from a ladder on to Edge who was laying on another ladder that straddle the barricade and ring to Randy Orton hitting an RKO on CM Punk from near the top of a ladder there were high risk spots everywhere you looked in this match. Mr. Kennedy would end up winning the coveted briefcase but unfortunately was never able to capitalize with the briefcase like his fellow Money in the Bank winners.
Next up was Kane facing off against The Great Khali in a match that helped the Detroit crowd gather itself after the epic Money in the Bank match. WWE tipped their cap to their own history when Kane slammed Khali, which like when Hogan slammed Andre was never seen before. In what was a slow match Khali won after a Chokeslam to Kane.
Following that we saw MVP challenge Chris Benoit for the WWE United States Championship in what would be a great back and forth match. The match started with an exchange of takeovers, attempted submissions and suplexes which helped show that the up and comer MVP could go with the best of them. Benoit would go on to win and retain his US Title after a diving headbutt from the top rope.
Our first main event of the evening saw Royal Rumble winner The Undertaker challenge Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match started fast and furious as Batista speared Undertaker as soon as the bell rang which set the tone for the match.
We saw Batista slam Undertaker through the Spanish announcers table, Undertaker flying over the top rope to take out Batista outside the ring. The Undertaker hit the Tombstone Piledriver to defeat Batista for the his first World Heavyweight Championship and keep his then undefeated streak in tact.
Following the World Title match, WrestleMania went extreme as The New Breed took on The ECW Originals in a eight man tag for dominance in the new ECW. The match also marked the first time a ECW exclusive match took place at WrestleMania, a good match that saw The New Breed dominate the Originals for most of the match was won by The ECW Originals after RVD hit Matt Striker with the Five Star Frog Splash.
Next up was the highly anticipated Battle of the Billionaires match as ECW World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley went to bat for Donald Trump against Intercontinental Champion Umaga who was representing Vince McMahon, with Stone Cold Steve Austin for even more drama in the match.
The match as expected broke down and we saw Shane McMahon hit Lashley with a coast to coast and Trump tackle Vince at ringside. Lashley defeated Umaga with some help from Austin which led to Vince’s infamous hair cut in the middle of the ring.
Next up was Ashley taking on Melina for the WWE Women’s Championship in a lumberjill match. A match that was bred from Melina despising Ashley for posing for Playboy magazine. A short, uneventful match that saw Melina retain the Women’s title with a bridge pin.
The main event came next as the World Tag Team Champions collided for the WWE Championship as Shawn Michaels challenged John Cena.
A high octane match that saw everything from Cena missing Michaels moonsault to the outside that resulted in Michaels going through the announcer table to Shawn piledriving Cena into the steps while the referee was unconscious. The match lasted nearly 30 minutes and ended when John Cena had Shawn Michaels locked in the STFU in the middle of the ring forcing Shawn to tap out to solidify his spot at the top of WWE.
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