People may have snickered when the announcement came down that World Wrestling Entertainment would be officially closing the chapter on the self-proclaimed “Attitude” era and embarking on a more PG-style brand of sports entertainment. The desire to attract the pre-teen generation in greater numbers by abandoning the more risqué adult material for the less abrasive (i.e. changing the name of John Cena’s finishing maneuver from “FU” to “Attitude Adjustment”) may have lost the fair-weather adult fan, but in turn has bolstered WWE’s viewership. All that hard work and fine-tuning seemed to come to its zenith Sunday, April 5 at the Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, the site of the perennial extravaganza known as WrestleMania. But no matter how the WWE packages its brand, fans can’t deny the fact that the Super Bowl of professional wrestling is still edge-of-your-seat entertainment.
However, unlike the WrestleManias of the past few years, there was a different feeling in the air. There seemed to be less focus on over-the-top high-risk “spot-fests” and more ring psychology—Wrestling 101 if you will—like matches in the days of Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant; matches with a meaningful start, necessary crescendo, and logical (and clean) finish. Although fans are no strangers to these types of matches, it seemed like there was deliberate emphasis on the matches telling a story as opposed to serving a sadistic purpose of bloodlust. Make no mistake, spot-fests could definitely be found at this year’s event (Shelton Benjamin’s somersault dive off of a 20-foot ladder onto about 6 other Superstars is a major example), but even they served a sort of purpose other than to wow the crowd.
"Old School is Cool"
One match in particular that, while on paper, seemed like it had potential for disaster was the 3-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match between current Superstar Chris Jericho and WWE Hall of Famers Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat. But oh, what a treat this match was, especially with the clinic put on by Steamboat. Arm drag takedowns and top-rope splashes were reminiscent of the classic match at WrestleMania III when he and Randy “Macho Man” Savage battled for the Intercontinental Championship. With the false finishes and suicide dives Steamboat performed on this night, though, you would think he was channeling his counterpart from 22 years ago and never missed a step. Not bad for a 56-year-old.
This match also had significant crossover value with the appearance of actor Mickey Rourke at the event. Coming off his spectacular performance in the film The Wrestler, Rourke issued a challenge to Jericho for this year’s WrestleMania. Maybe a bit too hasty in hindsight, the actor backed out of the match but showed up to Houston to cheer on the old-school legends. Jericho taunted Rourke to step into the ring and apologize for calling him out. The former amateur boxer confronted Jericho and ended up landing a pretty sweet-looking combination on the wrestler, knocking him to the canvas; shades of WrestleMania 14, where guest enforcer Mike Tyson laid out Shawn Michaels with one punch the night he lost the WWE Championship to now Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Instant Classic
Speaking of which, the match of the night featured two Superstars certainly in the twilight of their careers, but still no less talented enough to put on a masterpiece. Shawn Michaels took on probably the most recognizable and respected wrestler in the world today, The Undertaker, in a one-on-one affair. Simply put, this match was a classic. From start to finish, these two icons of the sport used every trick in the book to gain the upper hand, used every move in their arsenals, and took over 30 minutes to declare a winner. Eventually The Undertaker emerged victorious, extending his WrestleMania undefeated streak to an unbelievable 17-0, but more importantly showed the fans, viewers, and even fellow wrestlers themselves how to tell a superb story in the ring. The match hit every emotional note possible to keep fans glued to the edge of their seats, and probably earned Match of the Year honors outright, just like the aforementioned Steamboat/Savage confrontation did over two decades ago. Current superstars like Edge, Santino Marella, John Morrison, as well as up-and-coming wrestlers could definitely learn a thing or two from TiVo-ing this match.
The unfortunate thing about a match of this caliber is every match that follows can’t live up to that excitement. That was certainly the mood of the room in Houston. Two championship matches followed the Undertaker/Michaels bout, so there was some significance to these contests. After watching an emotionally draining match like that, however, it took a while to tap into those emotions again.
Experiment or Trend?
All in all the title matches (Cena vs. Edge vs. The Big Show for the World Heavyweight Championship and Triple H vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship) played like it should, with the crowd favorites in Cena and Triple H coming out on top, but this is may be where the old-school mantra came back to haunt the WWE. Fans can probably stomach one classic confrontation in a night, but three in a row? Something lacked emotionally at the conclusion of the WWE Title match especially, as if all the buildup surrounding the encounter was too much to live up to. The ending seemed to shock everyone. No underhanded tactics from Orton's Legacy cronies, no sinister swerve to fool the audience-- nothing but a punt to the head, Pedigree, and pinfall by HHH. Which leads one to believe that this is merely the beginning of the feud between Orton and his former mentor. Maybe those old-school tactics worked well after all. Stay tuned.
So it's to be seen whether or not this new-found style of storytelling will last, at least until next year's WrestleMania. One thing is certain, though: there seems to be no shortage of worldwide interest.
Omar Bobb-Semple - Omar Bobb-Semple has made Los Angeles, CA his home for the last five years. This New York City native sought fame and fortune, but instead ...
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