Here’s Part 18 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania X-8 (2002)
Tagline: The One And Only
Sponsor: Skittles
Date: March 17, 2002
Venue: SkyDome Toronto, Ontario
Attendance: 68,237
The Undertaker’s Streak: 10-0 (Def. Ric Flair)

WrestleMania X8 was the eighteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by Sour Skittles and took place on March 17, 2002 at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario. The event marked the final WrestleMania event under the WWF name. The event was the second WrestleMania to take place in the Toronto metropolitan area (following WrestleMania VI in 1990). The record-breaking attendance for the SkyDome of 68,237 grossed approximately $6.1 million CAD ($3.9 million USD). WrestleMania weekend also included WWF Fan Axxess at the Canadian National Exhibition’s Automotive Building.

The main event was between Chris Jericho and Triple H for the WWF Undisputed Championship, which Triple H won after a Pedigree. The main matches on the undercard featured The Rock versus Hollywood Hulk Hogan in a match dubbed “Icon vs. Icon”, Steve Austin versus Scott Hall, and Ric Flair versus The Undertaker in a No Disqualification match.

A major feud for WrestleMania X8 was the rivalry between The Undertaker and the WWF co-owner, Ric Flair. The feud started over The Undertaker’s ambush on The Rock during the build up to No Way Out, with Undertaker giving The Rock a Chokeslam and a Tombstone Piledriver onto a car. Shortly afterwards, Ric Flair openly detested The Undertaker’s actions. At the No Way Out event, Flair interfered with Undertaker’s match against The Rock, finally hitting Undertaker with a lead pipe to aid The Rock in victory. Far from pleased over this result, The Undertaker challenged Flair to a match at WrestleMania. Flair refused, stating that he is an owner and no longer a wrestler. However, Undertaker tried to convince Flair by attacking select members of Flair’s friends and family. Following a match on the February 25 edition of Raw, Flair’s friend Arn Anderson was ambushed by The Undertaker during his road agent duties. The Undertaker followed this the following week by attacking Flair’s son David, threatening that the rest of Flair’s children would follow. Upon this attack, Flair accepted the match on the March 7 edition of SmackDown!. Later that night, the two ended up brawling into the audience, resulting in Flair punching out a fan by accident. As a result, Flair was arrested to Undertaker’s delight. On the March 11 episode of Raw, Flair’s rival co-owner Vince McMahon asked for an emergency board meeting with the WWF board of directors citing that Flair’s attack of a fan was unacceptable and that either he or Flair should have absolute authority and power over the company. With Flair still keen on taking on Undertaker at WrestleMania, CEO Linda McMahon had no choice but to give Vince total control over the company. Despite this, Linda also stated that the ownership situation will also be reviewed after WrestleMania with a final decision. To add further insult, Vince McMahon booked David Flair in a match against The Undertaker on the March 14 episode of SmackDown!. The Undertaker almost gave David a Last Ride, but was stopped by Ric Flair who saved his son with some steel chair shots.

At WrestleMania-X8 Ric Flair took on The Undertaker in a No Disqualification match. The match started with a brawl outside the ring with Flair’s back getting smashed into the ring post. Undertaker tried his Old School maneuver on Flair, but Flair retaliated by pulling him off the top turnbuckles. Later on in Arn Anderson dashed out into the ring and hit a Spinebuster on The Undertaker. Despite this, the move only gave Flair a two-count and soon after, Undertaker locked Anderson in a Dragon sleeper. Flair broke them up with a few chair shots on Undertaker’s back. The Undertaker retaliated with a big boot and failing a Last Ride attempt, Undertaker hit the Tombstone Piledriver on Flair and pinned him to increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 10–0.

The secondary feud built up in the lead to the event pitted The Rock and Steve Austin against the New World Order (Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall). The Rock’s involvement with the nWo started after his win over The Undertaker at No Way Out, when a photo request from Hogan for his son turned into a trade of insults. On the following episode of Raw, The Rock interrupted Hogan’s address to the crowd and challenged Hogan to a match at WrestleMania. When Hogan accepted and shook hands with his future opponent, The Rock kept the hold on and hit the Rock Bottom on Hogan. Before The Rock could leave the arena, Hall and Nash ambushed Rock and spray painted the nWo initials on The Rock’s back. With medics attending to The Rock and loading him into an ambulance van, the nWo furthered the attack by chaining up all possible exits and driving a truck through the van with The Rock trapped inside.

Steve Austin’s involvement also commenced at No Way Out, when after having their gift of beer refused, the nWo interfered with Austin’s Undisputed Championship match against Chris Jericho, helping Jericho to retain the title before spray painting the nWo initials on Austin’s back. Austin finally got his revenge on the February 21 edition of SmackDown! when he chased the nWo out of the ring with a tire iron. Austin manages to catch Hall and attack him with the tire iron but Hogan and Nash saved Hall from being run over by Austin’s pickup truck. After the nWo found their limousine spray painted “What?” by Austin, Stone Cold kidnapped Hall and closed the show by embarrassing him in the middle of the ring with “3:16” spray painted on his back. On the following episode of Raw, Hall challenged Austin to a match at WrestleMania which Austin accepted afterwards. The feud between Austin and the nWo continued back and forth for the next couple of weeks with Austin attacked by Hall twice with a cinder block and a wrench, while Austin fired a netgun at Nash before beating down Hall. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock made his return and immediately challenged Hogan for a fight. Nash and Hall held Hogan back, leaving Hall to challenge for a match instead. Rock’s match with Hall ended in a three-on-one attack by the nWo. The nWo’s attack was stopped by Stone Cold, however, who saved The Rock with the aid of a steel chair. On the March 11 edition of Raw, Rock and Austin took on the nWo in a Handicap match, resulting in Hogan pinning The Rock after a leg drop.

In the match between Steve Austin and Scott Hall, Kevin Nash came out in in Hall’s corner, Austin was left having to fend off both wrestlers. The nWo’s teamwork enabled Hall to give Austin an Irish whip into a turnbuckle Nash exposed. Austin hit a Stone Cold Stunner on Hall but as the referee counted, Nash pulled the referee out of the ring to break up the count and beat Austin down. Austin returned with a Stunner to both Nash and Hall but another pin attempt on Hall was prevented when Nash elbow dropped the second referee. Hall’s Razor’s Edge attempt was reversed by Austin into a back drop onto the outside of the ring. Eventually, Nash was forced to leave the stadium by a group of WWF officials. Hall then hit Austin with his own Stunner for a two-count, but Stone Cold retaliated with two quick Stunners of his own for the win.

In The match between The Rock and Hollywood Hulk Hogan was dubbed “Icon vs. Icon”, was next. Despite the portrayals by Rock and Hogan as the face and heel for the match respectively, the Canadian crowd cheered Hulk Hogan over The Rock instead. During the match, The Rock locked on the Sharpshooter, causing Hogan to tap out. However, the referee was down and unable to acknowledge the submission. The Rock let go of the hold and tried to revive the referee, but Hogan gave him a low blow followed by his own version of The Rock’s finisher, the Rock Bottom for a two-count. The two tried their respective finishers, the Rock Bottom and the leg drop but each kicked out. After two more Rock Bottoms and a People’s Elbow, The Rock pinned Hogan and won the match. After the match, the two shook hands in respect. As The Rock left the ring, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall came and attacked Hogan, therefore ending Hogan’s involvement in the nWo. The Rock returned and saved Hogan from further attack. As a sign of respect, The Rock stopped Hulk from leaving the ring and asked him to pose for the crowd, turning Hogan back into a face again.

The main feud leading into WrestleMania X8 involved Triple H against the Undisputed Champion Chris Jericho and Stephanie McMahon. At the Royal Rumble, Chris Jericho defeated The Rock to retain the Undisputed Championship on the same event where Triple H earned his opportunity to compete for the Undisputed Championship at WrestleMania by winning the 2002 Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Kurt Angle. The following night on Raw, Triple H interrupted Jericho and warned to prove him that he’s worthy enough to be in the main event. Meanwhile, some hostility between Triple H and his wife Stephanie was starting to show, with the face Triple H tired of Stephanie’s heel characteristics. In order to recover their relationship, Stephanie suggested on Raw that the two should renew their wedding vows on the following week. At first Triple H refused, but Stephanie revealed that she was pregnant, making him change his mind. To further prove it, the two met a doctor on the next episode of SmackDown! with ultrasound images.

On the February 11 episode of Raw just before the wedding, Triple H was met with a phone call by his mother-in-law Linda McMahon, who had sent him a video tape revealing that the doctor was in fact an actor and that Stephanie was not pregnant. At the wedding, Triple H turned on Stephanie and attacked her along with her father Vince McMahon, announcing that their marriage was now over. During these weeks, Kurt Angle was given a match with Triple H’s WrestleMania title shot on the line at No Way Out. In revenge for the ruined wedding, Vince granted Stephanie the chance to be the special guest referee for the match. At No Way Out with clear bias from Stephanie, Kurt Angle defeated Triple H for the title shot. The following night on Raw, WWF co-owner Ric Flair granted Triple H a rematch with Stephanie barred from the ring, enabling him to regain his title shot at Chris Jericho. On the February 21 episode of SmackDown!, Jericho met with Stephanie and put their differences in the past, ending with Stephanie accepting Jericho’s proposal to be his new business partner. To further the feud,

Jericho later speculated that he ended the marriage by causing Triple H’s quadriceps muscle to (legitimately) tear during their WWF Tag Team titles match on the May 21, 2001 edition of Raw Is War, thus diverting Triple H’s attention to his wife. In the divorce settlement for the two, it was announced that the assets would be split between them “fifty-fifty” to Stephanie’s disgust. Among the assets were Triple H’s first wrestling robe, Stephanie’s Corvette (which Triple H later gave to her with half of it cut off) and Triple H’s bulldog Lucy. Stephanie managed to win Lucy in the settlement and later on the March 11 episode of Raw sent Jericho to walk the dog. Displeased about this, Jericho tied Lucy to a limousine and ordered the unknowing driver to buy some air fresheners, running Lucy over into a critical condition by accident. Wanting retribution, Triple H stormed into the arena and tried to attack Stephanie but was met with two sledgehammer shots to his recovered leg by Jericho. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Stephanie noted that the sledgehammer shots had left Triple H’s quad in a condition that one false move in his WrestleMania match could reinjure his quadriceps once again. At the end of the show, Triple H and Jericho had a brawl in the ring that almost ended with a Pedigree on Stephanie. However, Jericho saved her and locked the Walls of Jericho on Triple H, leaving the show with the advantage.

The main event of the night was the Undisputed Championship match between Chris Jericho and Triple H. For his entrance, Triple H had Drowning Pool perform their version of his theme song, “The Game”, live. With Triple H’s leg bandaged, both Jericho and Stephanie McMahon gave numerous shots at the leg during the match. Triple H outsmarted the two by dodging Jericho’s attack, causing him to collide with Stephanie who was standing on the apron. Outside the ring, Triple H went for the Pedigree on Jericho through the announcers’ table. However, Jericho reversed it into a back drop, sending Triple H through the Spanish announcers’ table. Stephanie tried to hit Triple H with a steel chair but had it removed by referee Earl Hebner. Stephanie pushed Hebner aside but then, she was met by a Pedigree from Triple H. Jericho tried his own Pedigree on Triple H but ended up having it reversed into a catapult. Triple H then hit the Pedigree on Jericho and pinned him to become the new Undisputed Champion.

WrestleMania X-8 Results

Sunday Night Heat Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty, and Albert defeated Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and, Test Six-Man Tag Team match with Jacqueline as the Special Guest Referee
• Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal (c) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Diamond Dallas Page (c) defeated Christian Singles match for the WWF European Championship
• Maven (c) fought Goldust to a no contest Hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship
• Kurt Angle defeated Kane
• The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair No Holds Barred match
• Edge defeated Booker T
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall (with Kevin Nash)
• Billy and Chuck (c) defeated The APA (Faarooq and Bradshaw), The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (with Stacy Keibler) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff Hardy) Four Corners Elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan
• Jazz (c) defeated Trish Stratus and Lita Triple Threat match for the WWF Women’s Championship
• Triple H defeated Chris Jericho (c) (with Stephanie McMahon) Singles match for the Undisputed WWF Championship

Here’s Part 17 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania X-Seven (2001)
Tagline: Houston, We Have A Problem.
Sponsor: Snickers
Date: April 1, 2001
Venue: Reliant Astrodome, Houston, Texas
Attendance: 67,925
The Undertaker’s Streak: 9-0 (Def. Triple H)

WrestleMania X-Seven was the seventeenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and presented by Snickers Cruncher. It took place on April 1, 2001 at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas.

The main event was a No Disqualification match between Steve Austin and The Rock for the WWF Championship. The main matches on the undercard featured Triple H versus The Undertaker, the second Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship, and Vince McMahon versus Shane McMahon in a Street Fight. With WWE’s acquisition of long-time competitor WCW mere days prior and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin joining forces with storied rival Mr. McMahon.

A major feud that was built up in the lead to WrestleMania was the one involving Vince McMahon and his son Shane McMahon. The feud started with Vince’s disapproval of Mick Foley’s job as then-WWF commissioner as well as Foley’s decision of holding a six-man Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon 2000, taking into consideration about the well-being of the wrestlers involved in the match. Despite his attempts Foley was given full support by Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife and the WWF’s CEO. Not pleased with this result, Vince immediately demanded a divorce from Linda. Shortly after Armageddon, secretly to Vince’s delight, it was revealed Linda was rushed to hospital suffering with a nervous breakdown. With Linda hospitalized, the Board of Directors appointed Vince as the new CEO of the WWF, allowing him to fire Foley as commissioner. With Linda in a comatose-like state, Vince started to have a public affair with Trish Stratus. Vince’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, was at first far from pleased about the turn of events. At No Way Out, Stephanie and Trish squared off, with Stephanie scoring the victory after a run-in by William Regal. On the February 26th episode of Raw is War, however, during a match that placed Vince and Trish against Stephanie and William Regal, Stratus was turned on by the other participants in the match and had sewage dumped over her. In the following shows, Vince continued to demean Trish by having her do such actions as bark like a dog around the ring and stripping down to her lingerie.

Despite this, Trish remained loyal to Vince and begged for his forgiveness.On the March 12 episode of Raw is War, Shane McMahon made his return to the WWF. Angry with his father’s actions, Shane started to throw punches at Vince only to be stopped by William Regal.Shane explained his actions on the following episode of SmackDown! as a result of frustrations over the manipulation of his sister, his mother’s state and Vince’s treatment of Trish. On March 23, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. purchased their longtime rival promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW) from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. With it, the purchase brought in an extra twist to the storyline. On the March 26 episode of Raw is War, Vince McMahon made a live speech that was also simulcast on the series finale of WCW Monday Nitro. In the speech, Vince announced that the signing was not final and that he wanted Ted Turner to come to WrestleMania to hand-deliver the contract for signing. He then promised that with the purchase he was going to bury his rival forever. However, Shane, who was at the venue for Nitro, interrupted the speech and made an announcement:

The Street Fight between Vince McMahon and Shane McMahon was next. Shane dominated his father during the start of the match with attacks involving a Kendo stick and monitors from the Spanish announcers’ table. Lying Vince on the table, Shane climbed back into the ring and attempted to perform a diving elbow drop off the top rope. His sister Stephanie moved Vince off the table, however, leaving Shane to crash into it. Trish Stratus came towards the ring, pushing Linda McMahon out on a wheelchair. Vince tried to embrace Trish, but she slapped him. In retaliation, Stephanie got into a fight with Trish that led them out of the stadium. With Linda alone, Vince approached her to the detestment of guest referee Mick Foley but the owner replied with a few chair shots. Dragging Linda into the ring and placing her on a chair, Vince forced her to watch him beat his son down a couple of times with a trash can. As he went for a third shot with the can, however, Linda stood up and kicked Vince in the testicles. With Vince in the corner, Shane placed a garbage can in front of Vince’s face and hit a Coast-to-Coast dropkick through it, before pinning his father to win the match.

The eighth match, dubbed “TLC II”, was a Tag Team Championship match pitting the champions, the Dudley Boyz, against Edge and Christian and the Hardy Boyz in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match. The match contained many dangerous spots involving the weapons involved. Respective associates of each tag team, Spike Dudley on behalf of the Dudley Boyz, Rhyno on behalf of Edge and Christian and Lita on behalf of the Hardy Boyz, interfered during the match. With Spike and Rhyno both laying on two tables outside the ring, Jeff Hardy set up a huge ladder beside them and performed a Swanton Bomb onto them through the tables. Jeff tried to go for the belts but has his ladder pulled off his feet by Bubba Ray Dudley, leaving Jeff hanging onto the belts in the air. After climbing onto a bigger ladder, Edge jumped off it and spears Jeff onto the ground. Bubba Ray and Matt Hardy started to climb the same ladder but were met by Rhyno who pushed them off the ladder and through some more tables outside the ring. With a boost from Rhyno, Christian managed to unhook the belts, making him and Edge the new Tag Team Champions.

The ninth match was a gimmick battle royal, featuring nineteen WWF alumni famous for their outlandish gimmicks. To further increase the nostalgia, former announcers “Mean” Gene Okerlund and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan took over the commentary booth for the match. The match was a short one with the Iron Sheik throwing Hillbilly Jim out of the ring to win the match. In revenge for being eliminated, Sgt. Slaughter locked the cobra clutch hold on the Sheik.

The secondary feud leading into the event pitted the Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane) against Triple H and The Big Show. After defeating Steve
Austin in a Three Stages of Hell match at No Way Out, Triple H felt that he deserved to be in the WrestleMania main event having defeated everyone in the WWF, including The Rock and Austin.11] The Undertaker took exception to that and told him that Triple H had never defeated him. Before WrestleMania X-Seven, the two had never faced each other in a one-on-one match on a pay-per-view event. During his entrance for a Hardcore Championship match against The Big Show, Triple H ambushed Undertaker. Kane ran in and saved the Undertaker from a further attack but was met with his own ambush by The Big Show. On the following episode of SmackDown!, Undertaker tried to break into the limousine of Triple H and his wife, Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley, on arrival but ended up being arrested by the police. As a result, Kane requested a match against Triple H later that night but lost when The Big Show interfered on behalf of Triple H. In retaliation, Kane interfered in The Big Show’s Hardcore Championship match against Raven on Raw is War, helping Raven pin Big Show to become the new Hardcore Champion. Undertaker’s arrest led to a restraining order from Stephanie. To circumvent this, the Brothers of Destruction interfered in Triple H’s match against Test, with Kane ordered to run after Stephanie. With Stephanie held at ransom on a balcony in the arena, WWF commissioner William Regal gave Undertaker and Kane matches at WrestleMania against Triple H and The Big Show respectively. After being attacked during a Hardcore Championship title defense, Regal would later include Raven into Kane and Big Show’s match, making it a Triple Threat Hardcore match for the Hardcore Championship.

The second to last match was between The Undertaker and Triple H. For his entrance, Triple H had British heavy metal band Motörhead perform his theme song, “The Game”, live. The match started with the two fighting outside of the ring with Triple H ending being put through the replacement Spanish announcers’ table. Later on, the referee Mike Chioda ended up being attacked with first by accident through Undertaker’s Catapult and later on by The Undertaker’s dissatisfaction over a two-count. With Chioda knocked out, the two brawled outside the ring without any risk of a countout and into the technical area. Over there, Triple H gave Undertaker several shots in the head with a steel chair but was eventually reversed into a Chokeslam off the scaffolding followed by an diving elbow drop. Back in the ring as Chioda regained consciousness, Triple H tried to pin The Undertaker after preventing Undertaker’s Last Ride maneuver with a sledgehammer shot in the head but only gained a two-count. Continuing the match, Triple H sent The Undertaker’s towards the corner with shots to the head but Undertaker reversed them with the Last Ride, allowing him to pin Triple H and increase his WrestleMania winning streak to 9–0.

The main feud leading into WrestleMania X-Seven consisted of Steve Austin challenging The Rock for the WWF Championship. This event marked the second time that the WrestleMania main event featured The Rock and Steve Austin for the WWF Championship, the first one being WrestleMania XV. In April 1999 at Backlash, The Rock and Steve Austin fought in a WrestleMania XV rematch with Steve Austin retaining the Championship. The Backlash event was originally the last time the two men would wrestle for the WWF Championship until this event. Steve Austin earned his opportunity to compete for the WWF Championship in the main event at WrestleMania by winning the 2001 Royal Rumble match when he last eliminated Kane, while The Rock became the first ever six-time WWF Champion when he defeated Kurt Angle at No Way Out. During their feud, Austin’s wife Debra, who was trying to get back into managing, was ordered by WWF chairman, Vince McMahon, to be The Rock’s manager against her wishes as well as both Rock and Austin’s. As a result, Austin would hold The Rock and McMahon responsible if any harm came to her. On the March 12 episode of Raw is War, The Rock was placed in an overlong Ankle Lock hold during his rematch with Kurt Angle. When Debra went to check on The Rock, Angle also placed her into an Ankle Lock hold. Austin soon ran in to save her and knocked Angle out of the ring. Keeping to his word, he immediately gave The Rock a Stone Cold Stunner as punishment. The following week on Raw is War, during a handicap tag team match involving The Rock, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, and William Regal, Austin made his way down to the ring and ended up getting a Rock Bottom from The Rock as a result of the stunner the previous week. On the March 29 episode of SmackDown!, Debra was relieved from her managerial role by Mr. McMahon after failing to prevent a brawl between Rock and Austin.

The final match of the night was the WWF Championship match between The Rock and Steve Austin. Before the ring entrances for the main event, it was announced that the match would be a No Disqualification match. During the match, the two took the fight outside of the ring and into the crowd. When the wrestlers returned to the ring, blood was shed from both Austin and The Rock after both had hit each other with the ring bell. The Rock attempted to place Austin into a Sharpshooter hold, but Austin reversed it and placed The Rock into his own Sharpshooter. After releasing the hold following the referee’s request he held The Rock by use of the Million Dollar Dream, a submission hold best known from his former gimmick, The Ringmaster. Shortly after, The Rock used Austin’s own finishing maneuver on Austin by executing a Stunner. Vince McMahon then came to ringside to observe the match. When The Rock tried to pin Austin after the People’s Elbow, McMahon pulled The Rock away. After chasing McMahon around the ring, Austin responded by using The Rock’s signature move, the Rock Bottom. Later, after The Rock improbably kicked out of the Stunner after a two count, which he received after attacking McMahon in the ring, McMahon then handed Austin a steel chair to hit The Rock with at Austin’s request, revealing that Austin had sided with McMahon, a man he once considered his arch-nemesis. With this, Austin turned heel. Austin tried to end the match with the Stone Cold Stunner again, but after The Rock kicked out a furious Austin decided he’d had enough. The challenger then pummeled the champion with sixteen consecutive chair shots, enabling Austin to pin The Rock and become the new WWF Champion. The show ended with the chairman and the new champion shaking hands and sharing beers.

WrestleMania X-Seven Results

Heat X-Factor (Justin Credible and X-Pac) (with Albert) defeated Steve Blackman and Grand Master Sexay Tag team match
• Chris Jericho (c) defeated William Regal Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Tazz and The APA (Bradshaw and Faarooq) (with Jacqueline) defeated Right to Censor (The Goodfather, Val Venis and Bull Buchanan) (with Steven Richards) Six-man tag team match
• Kane defeated Raven (c) and The Big Show Triple Threat Hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship
• Eddie Guerrero (with Perry Saturn) defeated Test (c) Singles match for the WWF European Championship 0
• Kurt Angle defeated Chris Benoit

• Chyna defeated Ivory (c) Singles match For the WWF Women’s Championship
• Shane McMahon defeated Vince McMahon (with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) Street Fight with Mick Foley as the special guest referee
• Edge and Christian defeated The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray and D-Von) (c) and The Hardy Boyz (Matt and Jeff)
Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the WWF Tag Team Championship
• The Iron Sheik won by last eliminating Hillbilly Jim1 19-man Gimmick Battle Royal
• The Undertaker defeated Triple H
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) No Disqualification match for the WWF Championship

Here’s Part 15 of our WrestleMania Retrospective series, looking back at past WrestleMania events as we march towards WrestleMania 29 on April 7th

WrestleMania XV (1999)
Tagline: The Ragin’ Climax
Sponsor: M&Ms Crispy
Date: March 28, 1999
Venue: First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,276
America the Beautiful: Boyz II Men
The Undertaker’s Streak: 8-0 (Def The Big Boss Man)

WrestleMania XV featured a main event that contested the WWF Championship between the challenger Steve Austin and The Rock. Another major match at the 1999 event saw The Undertaker wrestle Big Boss Man inside the Hell in a Cell, a roofed cage that surrounds the ring. Lower on the card, six of the seven active championships were defended, including the first WrestleMania defense of the Hardcore Championship. Also on the undercard was a Brawl for All match, an unscripted type of shootfight between wrestler Bart Gunn and boxer/mixed martial artist Butterbean.

In the previous year, due to the suddenly enlarged roster, a shootfighting (unscripted) knockout tournament entitled WWF Brawl for All was organized on a voluntary basis with Bart Gunn winning the tournament on August 24 after defeating every opponent by knockout aside from his opening round opponent Bob Holly. When Holly rechristened himself Hardcore Holly on February 15, decrying the poor gimmicks and tag teampartners he had been given in the past, Gunn made his first appearance since winning the tournament, to remind Holly that not all his partners
were of a poor caliber. After a hardcore match between the two, which Gunn dominated until a masked assailant threw him off the stage, noted mixed martial artist and boxer Eric “Butterbean” Esch, who held a 43–1–1 record at the time, challenged him to a Brawl For All fight.

At WrestleMania XV, in The Brawl For All boxing match Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn in the first Wrestlemania’s boxing match since Wrestlemania 2. The match lasted a total of 34 seconds. This was followed with an appearance from the San Diego Chicken, who mocked special referee Vinny Pazienza and was punched to the floor for it.

Before Kane’s match with Triple H, Kane entered the ring only to be attacked while he was performing his signature entrance by the San Diego Chicken. Kane fought back and unmasked the chicken, revealing it be Pete Rose, trying to gain revenge for the previous year’s incident but receiving a Tombstone piledriver.

Prior to WrestleMania XV Chyna turned on Triple H, and allined herself with The McMahon Corporation. Durrning the match between Kane and Triple H, at WrestleMania XV, Triple H was distracted by Chyna coming to ringside. Triple H tried to Pedigree Kane as he stood up but failed while Chyna pushed the steel steps into the ring. Kane picked them up and ran into Triple H, who used the turnbuckle to swing his feet up and kicked them back into Kane causing Kane to stagger backwards and drop them before smashing his face into the steps from a drop toe-hold.

Triple H then clotheslined Kane out of the ring, following himself and attempting to Pedigree Kane on the steps but was backbody dropped. When they made it back into the ring Kane chokeslammed Triple H while Chyna entered the ring with a steel chair, telling Kane she wanted to attack Triple H but as Kane turned, Chyna hit him with the chair causing him to corner her but again was hit with the chair, this time by Triple H who followed it up with a Pedigree onto the chair. Chyna and Triple H celebrated the reunion of D-Generation X afterwards.

Having been buried alive in a Royal Rumble qualification match at Rock Bottom: In Your House, The Undertaker disappeared from television while The Acolytes, Faarooq (Ron Simmons) and Bradshaw (John Layfield), began to act strangely eventually abducting Dennis Knight and leaving him tied up in a darkened room. On January 11 The Undertaker returned in slightly new attire, taking a seat in a ceremonial throne on the Raw is War stage while Paul Bearer stood beside him and The Acolytes brought Knight out and tied him to a table. There Undertaker performed a ritualistic ceremony, rechristening him Mideon. Undertaker began delivering ambiguous apocalyptic messages, but after recruiting Mabel, now Viscera (Nelson Frazier, Jr.) and The Brood he began to be more direct, revealing his plan to attack Mr. McMahon and take over the World Wrestling Federation.
The security of Mr. McMahon’s Corporation, The Big Boss Man, challenged the Ministry to a six-man tag team match which ended in a no contest when the Ministry abducted Shane McMahon and took him to Undertaker, who threatened him while choking him then gave him a letter to give to his father.

McMahon replied the following week on February 22 by booking The Undertaker in an Inferno match with Kane on Raw is War, the first network television airing of that type of match. During the match McMahon provided commentary, nonchalantly revealing he had placed Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match against Big Boss Man for WrestleMania.

After defeating The Big Boss Man in The Hell in a Cell match, with a tombstone piledriver, The Undertaker stood up and looked to the heavens with his hands upwards, signaling The Brood to descend onto the roof of the cell. They cut open the roof of the cell and passed through a noose, securing the other end to the top of the cell. The Brood then ascended back into the rafters as Undertaker put the noose around Boss Man’s neck, with Paul Bearer causing the Cell to rise and take a hanging Boss Man with it. After the match a video package of the Rage Party was shown while Boss Man was taken down and carried off on a stretcher.

During the X-Pac Shane McMahon match, Triple H came to the ring seeming to help remove Corporation Member Test out of the ring. While this was happening X-Pac hit McMahon with an X Factor. Chyna then distracted the referee to allow Triple H to Pedigree X-Pac, turnning on him and DX, and cover him with Shane, allowing him to retain the title. The New Age Outlaws ran in the ring and brawled with Triple H and Test until the lights went out and Kane’s music began to play but by the time the lights came up The Corporation were clear of the ring and had fled.

In The 1999 Royal Rumble, Vince McMahon tried to prevent Austin winning back the WWF championship by ‘randomly’ drawing him as the first entrant. and drawing himself as the thirtieth. Having annoyed Commissioner Shawn Michaels McMahon was placed into the match as the second entrant. Despite a $100,000 bounty on his head, Austin survived almost all of the match, being the last person eliminated by Mr McMahon thanks to the distraction of The Rock, meaning that McMahon had earned a right to go to WrestleMania.

As a part-time wrestler and a fellow member of The Corporation, McMahon explained the following night that he would be relinquishing his place at WrestleMania, the first Royal Rumble winner to do so, only to be told by Commissioner Michaels that if the winner is unable or unwilling to fight then the place goes to the runner-up. With McMahon irate, Austin revealed that he was willing to put his place on the line and not headline WrestleMania if McMahon would give him the opportunity to fight him one-on-one with no interference from The Corporation, and if he could beat him Austin would not go to WrestleMania.

Their steel cage match at St. Valentine’s Day Massacre mostly consisted of McMahon running away but eventually the two fought with Austin winning the match under unusual circumstances when Big Show made his debut, coming from under the ring and throwing Austin into the cage with the walls of it coming open, meaning that Austin had inadvertently won the match.

Before the main event, Michael Cole announced Jim Ross returning to call the match. Mr McMahon then came to the ring as the special guest referee but once he was in the ring Shawn Michaels’ music began to play. Commissioner Michaels came to the ring and cut a promo joking that he had to buy a ticket to get in, then explaining that only the commissioner is entitled to appoint a referee for WrestleMania, ordering McMahon to the back and barring all members of The Corporation from ring side.

During the championship match, Mr McMahon came to the ring, distracting Austin while The Rock lowblowed him; the two men kicking away at Austin in the corner and punching Earl Hebner when he tried to stop them. As the two double teamed Austin, Mankind came running to the ring in his referee’s uniform, throwing McMahon straight out the ring and Austin tried a roll up pin. He followed with a Lou Thesz Press but Rock soon took the advantage with another Rock Bottom. With Austin in the middle of the ring, The Rock tried the Corporate Elbow but Austin moved out of the way at the last second. Rock caught Austin’s foot and spun him round, trying to Rock Bottom him again but Austin elbowed him away and delivered a stunner, finally securing a pin fall and winning the WWF Championship. This also marked the final appearance of Gorilla Monsoon before his death. Monsoon hadn’t been seen on WWF television since SummerSlam 1997.

Prior to this, Gorilla Monsoon had appeared in 12 of the last 15 WrestleMania events (from I to X, XII). In WrestleMania XI, he appeared only in the Coliseum Video release. Here, he would make his final appearance as a judge for the WWF Brawl for All match.

WrestleMania XV Results

Sunday Night Heat Jacqueline (with Terri Runnels) defeated Ivory (with D’Lo Brown)
Sunday Night Heat D’Lo Brown and Test won when Droz and The Godfather eliminated each other in a 21 Man Battle Royal to become the no. 1 contenders to the WWF Tag Team Championship
• Hardcore Holly defeated Billy Gunn (c) and Al Snow Triple threat hardcore match for the WWF Hardcore Championship
• Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett (c) (with Debra) defeated D’Lo Brown and Test (with Ivory) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 03:58
• Butterbean defeated Bart Gunn Brawl for All boxing match
• Mankind defeated “The Big Show” Paul Wight by disqualification. Singles match to become the special guest referee of the main event.
• Road Dogg (c) defeated Ken Shamrock, Goldust (with The Blue Meanie and Ryan Shamrock) and Val Venis Four corners elimination match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
• Kane (with Chyna) defeated Triple H by disqualification.
• Sable (c) defeated Tori Singles match for the WWF Women’s Championship
• Shane McMahon (c) (with Test) defeated X-Pac Singles match for the WWF European Championship
• The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated The Big Boss Man in a Hell in a Cell match
• Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated The Rock (c) No disqualification match for the WWF Championship