Wrestlemania Thread Number 1: Greatest Wrestlemania Undercard?

[Blade]

Well, as the Road to Wrestlemania starts on tonight's Raw with the first matches and participants for the Royal Rumble being announced. Based on the spoilers, Wrestlemania 26 could be awesome. So, to get everyone in the mood, I'll be posting 1 Wrestlemania-based thread a week. Hope you enjoy.

This week I'll be looking at the greatest Undercard in the history of Wrestlemania. Undercards are the matches on a card that aren't main event matches, I.E. world title matches. Alot of great wrestlemania's have lost some of it's overall quality due to the lackluster main events. Wrestlemania X, for example had a good undercard, with two absolutely classic matches there. But the main event wasn't great, so the entire PPV wasn't as good overall. To use a more recent example, Wrestlemania 25 had 3 good matches in the undercard, and one absolute clasic. Yet Orton vs Triple H left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.

Alternatively, sometimes Wrestlemania is saved by the main event matches. Wrestlemania 23 had a weak undercard, with even the Chris Benoit match not being as good as his usual standard. But then Shawn Michaels and John Cena but on a great performance and, perhaps surprisingly, so did Undertaker and Batista.

But right now, I want to look at the greatest Wrestlemania undercard of all time. If you took the World Title matches out of the equation,what would be the greatest Wrestlemania of all time?

Looking at the Wrestlemanias, I'm torn between two of them.

Wrestlemania X8 had a superb undercard without pretty much a single bad match there. Two solid first matches opened the show. Kane vs Angle and Booker T vs Edge both seemed like filler matches but turned out to be very good little matches. Flair vs Undertaker was surprisingly good, as was Hall vs Austin. The tag team match was fun as was the Hardcord title match(es) that took place. The women's match was better than anything we see today, with 3 very solid wrestlers there. And, the main event of the undercard, Hogan vs Rock was a great match with the crowd on fire throughout.

Wrestlemania 21 is a wrestlemania whose lackluster world title matches took away from the overall quality. But if you ignore the sumo match, it has a great undercard. Mysterio vs Guerrero was the opener and managed to set the MOTN bar very high. The Money in the Bank ladder match made it's first appearance and blew everyone away. There was Taker vs Orton, which was one of Undertaker's best matches at a Mania, easily top 5. A not too shabby divas match which was kept short. And match of the night, and main event of the undercard, in Kurt Angle vs Shawn Michaels who put on half an hour of brilliance.

I think I have to go with 21 on this one. While Mania X8 pretty much had no bad match, the quality of Wrestlemania 21's undercard was just superb.

What's your favourite Wrestlemania undercard?

 

[Ferbian]

hmm thats actually a tough one.. a part of me would say wrestlemania 19 because it had such great matches as chris jericho vs shawn michaels, and stone cold vs the rock which was just awesome matches..

a part of me would also like to say wrestlemania 2000 because of the triangle ladder match, the two out of three falls..

so basicly i would have to go with a tie on this one between wrestlemania 2000 (16th wrestlemania just for reassuring) and wrestlemania 19

 

[flyguy1609]

to me it was chris jericho vs shawn michaels or chris jericho vs Christain .sp. i loved both of those matches, i thought for each card they were the motn (i loved the y2j N Christain combo tho)

 

[Mr_Ab_Fab]

WrestleMania 9 absoloutley smashes it best mania ever!! michaels tatanka quality match, hulk n beefcake bs money inc superb, steiner bros vs head shrinkers excellent, the narcissist lex luger vs mr perfect brilliant, undertaker giant gonzales pitted taker against his first undefeatable opponent. and i know we arnt including main event but bret yoko the yoko hogan was most memorable wm ending ever!!

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Why dont we just make a "general suck WM 17's cock thread" since thats what this is gonna turn into. Incorrectly, I might add.

It comes down to WM 8 and WM 19 for me. WM 8 had some all time memorable matches, in Bret Hart Vs Roddy Piper for the IC title, and Randy Savage Vs Ric Flair for the world title. One a beautifully worked match that had everything, the other, a wild brawl with a deep personal storyline. This undercard also had Undertakers first WM appearance as a face, and a fine opener between Tito Santana and a freshly singles wrestler by the name of Shawn Micheals.

WM 19 wins out though, in my opinion. You are talking some all time great, titanic battles here. The Rock and Stone Cold having the best match they have ever had together. Vince and Hulkster going crazy on each other in the street fight. HBK and Jericho put on an all time classic. Any of those matches could (one DID) Main Event any other WM, and they were all in the undercard in this one. WM 19 had the best undercard ever

 

[tigerlancajr]

My favorite card overall was probably the most unique Wrestlemania of all. Wrestlemania 4. I loved the Tournament for the Title. Macho Man had to wrestle 4 times that night to win the title. Great story!

 

[StevieJ]

One of the best is Wrestlemania 2000. I loved the Hardcore Battle Royal and also the Triple threat match between Kurt Angle , Benoit, and Jericho for bot hthe IC and European titles.

The BEST one though? In my opinion it has to be WM 14!

Cactus Jack/Chainsaw Charlie winning the Dumpster match against my all time favorite tag team of the New Age Outlaws? Classic.

The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock? Classic

Triple H beats Owen Hart? Another classic

 

[tsull2121]

I can BARELY remember last years wrestlemania since it really wasnt anything worthwhile. and before you say "it was the 25th anniversary of wrestlemania". crack open a book.. the 25th ANNIVERSARY would be at wm26.. 25 years AFTER the first wm. wm25 was the 25th ANNUAL wrestlemania.. two entirely different things.

going back thru the wrestlemanias, there arent many that stick out in my mind. wrestlemania 10 does, cause i was there.. wrestlemania 9 cause i remember luna's debut and almost every match from that show, wrestlemania 4 was intense, and the original wrestlemania.

so wrestlemania's 1, 4, 9, and 10 i remember almost to a "T" (tho i dont remember the razor ramon ladder match at wm10 at all)

the wwe needs to make it EXCITING again, and i think the way to do that is lose the "every other month ppv" schedule they have. when it went royal rumble to wrestlemania to summer slam to survivor series there was PLENTY of time to build and push wrestlers and get them over and make the matches SEEM important... now with a ppv every friggin month its like drinking a glass of soda after the ice cubes have melted. it almost looks the same and youre all excited to drink it, but when you do, youre left with an underwhelming sense of satisfaction.

 

[rjdonuts]

I have to agree with WM 14. In my opinion, it is the greatest WM of all time. The undercard, from HHH/Owen, Rock, Shamrock, Dumpster match, and of course Taker/Kane, which, in my opinion, was the best match ever between two "big men" (such athleticism, a great story and 3 tombstones to put Kane away), was top to bottom outstanding. There was not a match wasted. All had their storylines (save maybe taka/aguila), and had been given sufficient build, as in months.

All this means is that I actually cared about ALL the matches that night, which I can't say for any other WM.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

It comes down to WM 8 and WM 19 for me. WM 8 had some all time memorable matches, in Bret Hart Vs Roddy Piper for the IC title, and Randy Savage Vs Ric Flair for the world title. One a beautifully worked match that had everything, the other, a wild brawl with a deep personal storyline. This undercard also had Undertakers first WM appearance as a face, and a fine opener between Tito Santana and a freshly singles wrestler by the name of Shawn Micheals.

Had anyone else stolen my WM8 thunder besides NorCal, I might be pissed. He knows it's probably my all time fave PPV along with Vengeance 2000 when Jericho won the Undisputed Title. But the Undercard of WM8 was rather brilliant.

Michaels vs Santana

A few reasons. For starters, Michaels had a white leather jacket on that said "I'm too sexy for this crowd." Little shit like that makes a mid-card heel great. Second, Gorilla Monsoon makes a mention during the match that Michaels has "already challenged the winner of the big Intercontinental Title match" which I will get too shortly. You have a former IC champ in Santana and a future IC legend in Michaels, and both men did their best in this match. Few stars at this time jerked the curtain like HBK. The win put Michaels over and didn't cost Santana anything.

Undertaker vs Roberts

Again, I go back to the commentary. When 'Taker is walking to the ring, Bobby Heenan exclaims "I NEVER thought I'd hear people cheering for this man!" It really solidified the face turn that would define Undertaker for years to come. Jake hits 2 DDT's on 'Taker, prompting Heenan to state "I've never seen anyone get up from TWO DDT's." Gorilla responds "I've never seen anyone get up from one..." Well, as Jake foolishly goes after Bearer and the urn, 'Taker does get up, and attacks Jake on the outside, delivering a feindish looking tombstone onto the concrete floor. Ouch. 2-0 for the dead man. If only we knew then...

Hart vs Piper, IC Title

Still one of the greatest psychological IC Title matches in history. Hart had beated Perfect, but lost to The Mountie. Piper beat Mountie at the Rumble, and Hart gets his rematch tonight. Two faces, both friends. The promo that Piper cut prior to the match was amazing, and reminds us why he's been one of the best in history. They go out and have a barn-burner, which sees Hart keep his cool and pick his spots, while Piper loses his cool. Hart is busted open, and the ref takes a bump, which was rare at the time. Harkening back to his heel days, Piper goes to get the ring bell to whallop a prone Hitman with the ref down. Credit the fans here - they saw the hesitation in Piper, and implored him not to cheat. Roddy's face was terrific - you really felt honest conflict. Heenan yells out "What the hell? Use the bell!" Eventually, Piper tosses the bell aside and locks in the sleeper hold - which is the move that won him the IC Title. The ref is slowly coming to, just in time to see Hart kick off the corner turnbuckle and roll onto Roddy for the pinfall. They embraced at the end, at that match replaced Hart vs Perfect for the greatest IC Title Match since Savage vs Steamboat. It would be replaced 3 months later by Hart / Bulldog.

8-Man Tag

So we have 8 wrestlers with nothing to do, but we want to get them on the show. What to do? Virgil, Bossman, Slaughter, and Duggan vs Mountie, Repo Man, and the Nasty Boys. YES I AM POSTING THIS ALL FROM MEMORY. The best part of the match is Ray Combs running down the heels in a funny family feud spoof. He calls the Nasty Boys "2 men sharing one brain." He said it was the survey that said that. Loads of funny spots here. Match ends with Virgil - nose guard and all - getting the pinfall, and prompting him to raise the price of his autographs from $15 to $20. Sangano.

Tatanka vs Martel

You really felt that this match also had IC Title implications, as Tatanka was an undefeated newcomer and Martel was the standby star with a terrific new heel gimmick. The match itself was solid if unspectacular, but the two men would have a few more months in their feud, which saw Martel steal Tatanka's eagle feathers.

Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.

This match ended up being a blip on the radar in a multi-month feud between these teams. A lot of talent in the ring as Earthquake - a former top heel - "anchored" a team with Typhoon - once Tugboat. On the other end was an awesome team of DiBiase and IRS. The match itself was fine, but ended in Money Inc. escaping and losing via count out. Bummer.

Skinner vs Owen Hart

Let the post Blue Blazer era begin!

The match lasted next to no time. Skinner spat dipspit in Owen's eye, hit the his finisher (the alligator neckbreaker) and inexplicably tossed Owen out of the ring. Owen skinned the cat and rolled up Skinner for the pin. Clearly the Flair / Savage match had gone on longer and they had to cut this match short. It signified the arrival of Owen Hart, though.

Wrestlemania 8 didn't have a bad match anywhere on the card.

 

[rko57]

WM 17 easily. That has to be the greatest WM of all time. TLC II was classic and really set the bar for TLC. The 3 way for the hardcore title was very entertaining (Kane/Big Show/Ravn), along with even the opener of Y2J/Regal for the IC title. And of course, there is the classic between Angle/Beniot, Vince/Shane, and Undertaker/HHH. I think its WM 17 easily.

And to Mighty NorCal, why the negative attitude on WM 17? Was it or was it not a very entertaining WM from basically start to finish? The 6 man tag, womens title match, and gimick battle royal were all basically fillers for this WM, but they had 6 very good matches in the undercard, and then the classic Austin/Rock for the Title. So what is wrong with WM 17?

 

[Golden badger]

Ive got to admit i absolutely loved Wrestlemania 17. Your right, from start to finish, it was incredible. I mean you say there were a few fillers, but in my opinion were still alot better than some other wrestlemania matches.
I also loved wrestlemania 14, another example of every match being incredible, and of course, Austin vs HBK was brilliant, despite HBK's back problems. Plus Undertaker vs Kane was fantastic, and these are two matches that really defined alot of the next 10 years in the WWE. Those two huge main events as well as HHH & Owen Hart, Rock vs Shamrock, Cactus jack & chainsaw charlie vs New age outlaws in a dumpster match, made wrestlemania 14 one of the best ive ever seen.
Theyre really the only two i can think of that are perfectly flawless. But soem other manias have had a few great matches on the card, that have just bumped it straight up to being incredible. For example, i have to admit, i watched wrestlmania 20 live at home, and i really didnt enjoy it, right up until the triple threat main event with Benoit, HHH & HBK. I really didnt think that one even felt like a wrestlemania, until that main event came on.
I know nobodys asking, but heres a list of my favourite wrestlemanias for anyone else replying to compare against:
1. Wrestlemania 14
2. Wrestlemania 17
3. Wrestlemania 19
4. Wrestlemania 12
5. Wrestlemania 22
6. Wrestlemania 25
7.Wrestlemania 6
8. Wrestlemania 24
9. Wrestlemania 21
10. Wrestlemania 16

 

[DaBeeZy]

just a quick post ....prolly the most important undercard match was at wrestlemania 13.....hart/austin....just for the simple fact that it could be noted that it really gave rise to austins popularity and all the implications and twist and turns that took place after.....

 

[mister_b1LL]

As a Seattleite, I gotta say WMXIX had the best undercard. Rock/Austin, Vince/Hogan, Michaels/Jericho, and even Hardy/Rey entertained me. There is no other WrestleMania that I can remember more than WMXIX. Yes it was in my hometown, but all the matches looked good on paper and in real life, and that's more than what I could ask for in my perfect WrestleMania.