blue ring wrestlemania

APRIL 10, 2000 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER: WRESTLEMANIA 16 REVIEWED, NBC BUYS INTO THE XFL, MORE
BY OBSERVER STAFF | STAFF@WRESTLINGOBSERVER.COM | @WONF4W
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Wrestling Observer Newsletter

PO Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228 ISSN1083-9593 April 10, 2000

The biggest money wrestling extravaganza of all-time hardly lived up to the hype.

Wrestlemania XVI, the first Wrestlemania that seemed to take on almost Super Bowl or Final Four level proportions as an American institution, turned out like many Super Bowls, with a flat crowd, a been there, done that main event finish ending a disappointing match, and with the exception of a ladder match, which was an amazing stunt show, it was probably not as good as an average episode of Raw.

The show ended with Hunter Hearst Helmsley retaining the title when Vince McMahon, instead of Mick Foley, was the one to make the heel turn screwing The Rock at the end. The ending came off too reminiscent of a WCW NWO reprise ending a Nitro as opposed to a finish of the biggest show in the history of the industry. The finish had been built up all day, when, during the pre-game show, the attempt was made to focus the success and history of the WWF on the McMahon family as opposed to the wrestlers, as the old style version of fans' mythology would have believed it to be.

Even with the vaunted WWF production making it seem special, and great ideas such as the leer jet flying a lucky fan to ringside, the show delivered less than most ECW and WWF PPV events, and if you took the ladder match and the last three minutes of the main event off the show, it would be probably about at the level of a recent WCW event. It was made worse because the crowd of 18,034 (announced on TV as 19,776), which was 16,716 paid with a live gate of $1,347,800 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, CA, was dead for most of the show. The merchandise figure of $277,125 set what is believed to be an all-time U.S. record of $19.98 per head, breaking the $17.41 per head (based on paid attendance) record set at the Fleet Center in Boston for Wrestlemania XIV. The live gate was the fourth highest in the history of American wrestling, trailing only Wrestlemania III at the Pontiac Silverdome ($1,599,000), Wrestlemania V at Trump Plaza ($1,628,000) and Wrestlemania XV ($1,438,050) at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.

Part of the problem was timing. In order to make Wrestlemania "special" from the other shows, they lengthened it by one hour and added a live Heat show, meaning instead of a 2:45 live event, it was 4:15. Without any singles matches (the cat fight doesn't count), the monotony of gimmick matches made none of them seem special except the ladder match because the workers made it so memorable by risking their bodies. WWF should have learned, and did learn, from the one year when they did live Heat before PPV's and presented largely so-so cards because of lack of crowd reaction, and how the PPV's got far more enjoyable when the one hour Heat show was taped earlier and the live crowd didn't sit through it. When they went back to the old policy, the same dead crowd resulted. Lengthening the show caused them to add time by giving the guys more time in the ring. Unfortunately, even the ladder match would have been better if it was five minutes shorter, and the main event was a good 10-15 minutes too long.

The ladder match, which was more a collection of set up spots, some of which were spectacular and insane, and Jeff Hardy attempts to yet further raise the bar in an industry headed for some dangerous repercussions, was the show stealer. The main event dragged, particularly after Mick Foley was eliminated, and exposed the weaknesses of both HHH and Rock as workers as they were unable to carry a match which lasted 36:28. For the biggest match of the year, they couldn't even hold a candle to the previous two PPV title match main events, both of which HHH stood out in. Foley's appearance in retrospective on this show was sad in every way except for his personal financial rewards. He had made the greatest exit in the history of the business (well, with the exception of Terry Funk, who came back a million times afterwards, and Shohei Baba, who had to die to upstage everyone in history), the greatest retirement interview and the greatest farewell match, only to be brought back a few weeks later to negate both of them historically, and to do half-hearted reprises of a final match and final interview with virtually no emotional impact. If there was anything amazing by the show, it was just how little significance Foley's appearance truly played in it. The show was doing the same buy rate either way. He played no part in the finish. His appearance was strictly to, on one TV show, change the focus away from the obvious, and make people think there might be a different happy ending than the one they weren't getting, and maybe as an excuse for Linda McMahon to be programmed into the storylines. As it turned out, it was a comeback not at all for ego, but strictly for money, as no matter what the paycheck, his fond farewell memory will not be this match, or the half-hearted standing ovation he got leaving the Pond, but No Way Out, the last great performance his body had left in it, one month earlier. At least this time, in every interview, he made it clear that this will be his last match "for a while," and "maybe" ever, so at least these interviews leaves the door open for what everyone expects will be his comebacks. Hopefully they won't be for diminishing returns, as this comeback already had little significance emotionally, and he won't be like Verne Gagne or Funk, whose spectacular sendoffs are no longer memories for anyone.

1. Big Bossman (Ray Traylor) & Bull Buchanan (Barry Buchanan) beat Godfather (Charles Wright) & D-Lo Brown (Accie Connor) in 9:05. Ice T came out and delivered the new rap into for Godfather, which seemed like it was longer than the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels Wrestlemania match. Anyway, never have I been so impressed with the rap talent of Konnan than after that performance. Crowd was dead. Buchanan looked really good, but few probably noticed. At one point he jumped all the way to the top rope to come off with an elbow drive, which is impressive for a guy who is probably a legit 6-6. At one point a mistimed clothesline hit the ref, who made it worse by not selling it, since it wasn't supposed to happen. Brown did deliver a Frankensteiner off the top on Buchanan. Lots of mistimed spots as the match worse on. Finally Bossman delivered the Bossman slam on Brown, and Buchanan followed with a legdrop off the top rope. The fans did ooh for the finish because the agility of Buchanan on the move was impressive. 1/4*

2. Bob Holly (Robert Howard) wound up as holding the prestigious Hardcore title, that changed hands ten times in the 15:00 long 13-man free for all over Crash Holly (Erin O'Grady), Tazz (Peter Senercia), Viscera (Nelson Frazier), Rodney (Rodney Lionheart), Pete Gas, Joey Abs (Jason Ahrndt), Taka Michinoku (Takeo Yoshida), Sho Funaki, Head Bangers (Glen Ruth & Charles Warrington) and Acolytes (Ron Simmons & John Layfield). The match had little heat and you can only watch so much of broiler pan, road sign and garbage can lid shots, some of which were really stiff and resulted in some legitimate lumps on people's noggins later that day, and some of which looked like backyard play wrestling, without it being redundant, even with Crash and Gas doing major league blade jobs and the frequent falls. Tazz got the title first pinning Crash after a suplex in :26. Viscera then got the title pinning Tazz with a powerslam after smashing his back on the post in 1:00. Posse was delivering weak object spots on Viscera. O'Grady bladed big time. It was funny because the cameras for several minutes shied away from airing his face, when the whole idea is that this is a TV production. Gas bladed as well. The Acolytes slammed Viscera off the top and Faarooq hit him with some 2x4 shots, followed by Bradshaw doing a shoulderblock off the rope before both Taka & Funaki jumped on him at 7:51 for the pin. I figured they were watching WCW and thus both men would be hardcore champion for the next minute, but instead it was just Funaki, who ran backstage, I guess figuring, like Darva, he didn't really want to win. Rodney pinned him backstage in 8:11. Abs pinned Rodney after a side salto in 8:24. Mosh pinned Abs in 8:46. Gas got his second championship reign, and people say titles aren't important anymore, pinning Mosh after a fire extinguisher shot in 9:29. Tazz suplexed Gars on the floor and Bob Holly broke up the pin. I guess Bob wasn't supposed to because Tazz didn't sell the break up and the ref kept counting, so Tazz got the title in 10:17. Crash Holly got it back pinning Tazz in 14:20 after two broiler pan shots. Taz immediately got the choke on Crash and it looked as if they were going to do a finish where Crash would go out but keep the title on the time limit expiring. Just before that, Bob came in and hit Crash with a glass cookie jar and covered him. Ref Tim White counted to two, Crash may have rolled his shoulder but definitely didn't kick out, and the bell rang. The announcers acted as if Crash won because that would be the logical conclusion. It was then announced that somehow Bob actually pinned him. We don't have complete details as to what happened, other than Bob was supposed to win based on what we'd been told the day before, and that the finish didn't go down exactly as planned. On the finish, some of the glass got in Tazz's eye, although he sold it at the finish more than it really was. Most of the glass came out, and fortunately for him, none cut the eyeball. One small piece of the glass had to be taken out of his eye. 1/2*

3. Test (Andrew Martin) & Albert (Matt Bloom) beat Al Snow (Allan Sarven) & Steve Blackman in 7:05. No heat. This was so bad that even Jim Ross, about four minutes in, started with his code words about how the teams were having a style clash and even did the dreaded bowling shoe reference, which means he knows it's in the toilet. Snow & Blackman came out with a little guy in a cheese costume. At one point he chased after Trish Stratus. It's really clear Stratus needed to be sent to Memphis or Ohio Valley for a few months as she's not ready for Broadway. Test pinned Blackman with an elbow off the top rope. After the match, they brought the cheese guy in and Snow & Blackman beat him up, I guess to get their heat back, but in this case, there was no heat to get back. Actually this was an excuse to tell cutting cheese jokes, which got old, maybe on the first one, but certainly on the second. They took the cheese guy out on a stretcher, and Jerry Lawler made a reference that maybe he should be taken out as part of a cracker. -*1/4

4. Edge (Adam Copeland) & Christian (Jay Reso) won the WWF tag titles in a three-way ladder match over Matt & Jeff Hardy and the Dudleys (Mark Lomonica & Devon Hughes) in 22:29. Although this featured every bit of the effort of the previous C&E vs. Hardys ladder match, the spots seemed too set up and it came across as a tremendous stunt show and never had the intensity of a match. The crowd didn't want to see a match once they see the ladders and tables to begin with. Fans were chanting for the tables from the start, which were kept out of the match early since they were going so long. Jeff missed a firebird splash and crashed onto the ladder. Buh Buh came off the top rope with a senton onto the ladder which was on Jeff. Edge jumped off the top holding the ladder onto Matt. D-Von did a legdrop on the ladder onto Edge. Buh Buh put the ladder around his neck and twirled around knocking everyone down in the process. Christian did a plancha to the floor off the ladder. Edge speared Jeff coming off the top rope while Jeff was climbing the ladder in a spectacular spot. Matt used a B.T. bomb on Edge taking Edge off the ladder. Three ladders were set up. Buh Buh gave Christian a diamond cutter off nearly the top of a ladder. Hardys both did simultaneous leaps off the ladder onto Buh Buh. Edge & Christian did a double superplex on D-Von off nearly the top of the ladder. They did a big spot where everyone was on the ladder and they tipped the ladders. Jeff and Christian both went from mid-ring all the way to the floor on their bump while Edge and Matt both crotched themselves when their ladder tipped to the other side of the ring. The Dudleys gave Christian a sandwich lariat with ladders and gave Edge a 3-D. They brought out tables, putting one on the top of the ladder and one under the ladder basically setting up the final fireworks explosion of the match. When the Hardys made the comeback, and didn't take a bump into the ladder, the fans booed. For better or for worse, it showed the fans didn't care a lick about who won this match, even nearly 20:00 in, but were just into seeing explosions. D-Von splashed through a table when Jeff moved. Buh Buh bombed Matt through a table. Jeff ran across the barricade into a ladder shot by Christian. Buh Buh brought out a 13-foot ladder (the others looked to be around 8-feet) and put it in the entrance way area. It wound up with the spot of the show, where Jeff came from the top of the ladder with a swanton onto Buh Buh through a table. Christian and Matt climbed the ladder and brawled on the table. It wasn't sturdy and they were afraid to stand up, so the brawling with scared guys on their knees kind of took the edge of the finish. Edge climbed up and Matt took a bump through the last standing table and Edge & Christian grabbed the belts. You can't fault the effort which was tremendous from all six. At times, particularly toward the finish, the match dragged because of long set-up times for spots. It is what wrestling is becoming so by that standard it was an excellent match, even if it didn't get excellent heat or build much, but in a business that probably needs to tone down before things get worse, this being the example of an excellent match is only going to make things escalate. ****

5. Terri (Terri Boatright) beat Kat (Stacey Carter) in 2:25 in a match where the object was to throw the opponent out of the ring. It was a T&A spectacle that delivered Terri in a flesh colored g-string after the match. Moolah and Mae Young were at ringside and Val Venis was ref. Ross said ahead of time the match shouldn't be rated on the star system. It's one of those deals that if it worked, fine. But it didn't, as the crowd was quiet and actually booed the ending. Basically Terri was thrown out of the ring twice but Venis missed it. On the second time, Moolah threw Terri back in, as Mae was trying to sexually molest Venis, and Moolah threw Kat out and Venis signalled for the bell. Kat pants'd Terri after. -*

6. Too Cool (Brian Lawler & Scott Taylor) & Chyna (Joanie Lauer) beat Dean Malenko (Dean Simon) & Perry Saturn (Perry Satullo) & Eddy Guerrero in 9:38. It was a better than average match. The focus was put on Chyna and Guerrero. All the Radicals had to sell for some lame looking offense by Chyna. Chyna did an impressive handspring elbow into the corner on Malenko and another on Saturn, and a double low blow spot. While doing this, she ripped her pants on the side and they started falling. The poor woman was having to reverse a power bomb into a power bomb of her own while trying to keep her pants from falling down, so it wasn't a very smooth power bomb. They want right to the finish where Chyna went for a press-slam, although Guerrero didn't get himself high enough to make the move work, and a reverse DDT like move for the pin. **1/2

7. Chris Benoit ended up as IC champ and Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) as European champ in two three-way matches where double champ Kurt Angle lost both belts without getting pinned in 13:35. This was technically the best wrestling on the show, and didn't have much heat, but the wrestling from all three was well below the standard you'd expect from them. I don't know if it was nerves, or a reaction to the dead crowd and it was good, but you'd expect great in this setting. First fall saw Benoit pin Jericho after a diving head-butt in 7:54 to win the IC belt (the IC belt should have been the second fall, because the European title is traditionally considered a joke so the emotional climax had already taken place and they still had to go out there). Because the European belt doesn't mean much, when the match picked up, it just didn't seem important. They did some big moves, including Angle missing a Kenta Kobashi style moonsault and Jericho putting him in the walls but Benoit saved. Jericho did a double bomb on Angle, and Benoit followed with a rolling german suplex on Jericho and a dragon suplex. Tim White got bumped. Benoit used the crossface on Jericho, who was tapping like crazy, thereby signalling that he was going over. Jericho put the Walls on Benoit but Angle hit him with the belt but Benoit saved Jericho. Benoit then missed the diving head-butt on Jericho and Jericho hit the quebrada for the pin in 5:41. **3/4

8. Kane (Glen Jacobs) & Rikishi Phatu (Solofa Fatu Jr.) beat Road Dogg (Brian James) & X-Pac (Sean Waltman) in 4:16. This match was basically rushed, I guess so they could hurry up and do their Pete Rose joke. Pretty much before it built to anything, Rikishi rubbed his butt in Tori's face and Kane pinned X-Pac after a tombstone. After the match, a Chicken, the same gimmick Rose used last year (they spent the entire show building up the idea that Rose was returning for revenge on Kane) got in the ring and danced with Too Cool and Rikishi while Kane watched. Kane then went after the chicken, making sure he didn't interrupt the dance number, and was about to choke slam him when Rose showed up with a baseball bat. Rikishi stopped him and grabbed the bat while Kane choke slammed him. Rikishi then rubbed his butt nowhere near the approximate vicinity of Rose's face. *

9. Hunter Hearst Helmsley retained the WWF title in the four-way over Mick Foley, Rock (Dwayne Johnson) and Big Show (Paul Wight) in 36:28 of the match with a McMahon family member in every corner. Show dominated everyone early, a clear sign he was going out first. He was out by 4:41, when Foley hit Show with a chair and Rock pinned him after a rock bottom. Foley may have injured his shoulder as Show fell backwards on him with a splash. The match actually stopped for nearly 2:30 as they did histrionics based on Show being eliminated. Rock & Foley doubled on HHH until Rock accidentally hit Foley with the bell when HHH moved. HHH was beating on both until Foley came back with a 2x4 in barbed wire and then used a double arm DDT and Socko claw on HHH. Rock laid out HHH with the belt, but Foley set up the claw and put it on Rock. It was amazing to see how quickly the fans turned on Foley, which made it clear Rock had to be the face there at the end, which is clearly what the spot was designed to do. HHH used a double low blow. Fans did believe when Foley used a double arm DDT on Rock that Rock actually might lose. HHH put Rock on the spanish announcers table. Foley went for a plancha off the middle ropes onto the table on Rock, but landed short, and may have broken his ribs. The table was supposed to break, and HHH went into panic mode and kept trying to break the table, which finally collapsed but didn't break. HHH delivered a pedigree to Foley, who kicked out. HHH knocked down ref Earl Hebner and did a pedigree on a chair for the pin in 19:41. The fans gave Foley a half-hearted standing ovation as he left. It was an attempt to replay the same scene from last month it looked like a pale imitation. As the match continued, Rock hit HHH with barbed wire but he kicked out. They brawled to the back. Rock suplexed HHH on the floor by the entry way. Rock picked up the steps and HHH hit the steps with a chair, knocking Rock down and hitting the steps with more chairs. He piledrove Rock on the steps. Ross was overreacting with a "stop the match" scream after the move that the crowd didn't even pop for. Rock came back, flipping HHH over the top rope and put him through the English language table. Vince threw the killer punch on HHH. Shane jumped Vince and hit him with a TV monitor. Vince bladed. The crowd wasn't popping for any of this and the match was dragging. He came back with some really atrocious looking punches but Shane stopped him with a low blow and a chair shot. Vince bladed a second time because he didn't get much blood the first time. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco carried Vince out. Ross was exclaiming how Vince was losing blood by the quart, which made him look bad since Gas and Crash in the hardcore match bled five times as much, as Gas ended up needing 10 stitches. HHH hit Rock with a barbed wire board and set up the pedigree, but Rock catapulted him into Shane and hit the rock bottom. Vince came back and hit Shane with a low blow and a terrible punch that Shane sold like he was Derrick Dukes taking a dive for Mark Gastineau. Vince entered the ring with a chair, and turned on Rock. Rock kicked out of the first pin, but after a second chair shot, HHH got the pin. After the match, Vince (who guaranteed earlier in the show to "make things right" which is where a lot of people figured out the turn) hugged Stephanie. Rock made his comeback to end the show doing a rock bottom on Shane, Vince (who mistimed his jump and tried to overcompensate and may have hurt himself) and Stephanie (who in her first major pro bump, showed she was a better worker than Rikishi and both Harris twins) before laying out Stephanie with the people's elbow. ***