Diamonddust

You know... Stallone has already done another Rocky and Rambo... he needs to pull the trifecta and do another "Over the Top".

Just wait until Maria's Playboy issue hits... he's only going to be giving us A+ stuff at that point.

Don't know, rumours of Shane/Vince vs Hornswaggle and Finlay at Mania. Yeah, I figured as much but for a second I could see Finlay forcing Hornswaggle to do it. I'm glad they're keeping Finlay as the lovable Irish bastard, though.

Well, I was hoping for a shillelagh shot, but I guess that will do.

This should be good! (Wouldn't be shocked if Finlay turned heel right here)

J.R. dropped a line saying he isn't there due to a family emergency.

Agreed, although everyone knew Taz was losing that match... just not when he was going to lose that match.

This should be good...

I seriously doubt Luger gets in any time soon. If they put in anyone from the Florida territory this year, I'm guessing it will be Barry Windham, Mike Rotunda, Gordon Solie, or possibly even Eddie Graham. Rick Rude would be a nice addition as well, and I'm guessing Brody will get in sometime.

My guess - -Flair is going to be the "headline" name -Someone like Steamboat, DiBiase, or even Barry Windham (It will be in Florida afterall, which reminds me...) getting the 2nd spot on the broadcast. -I wouldn't be shocked if they put Gordon Solie in the Hall of Fame since it's happening in Florida. It would be along the lines of them inducting The Sheik in Detroit. -There is a rumor that Rocky Johnson and Peter Maivia were going to be inducted by The Rock at one point. -I would hope they induct a great tag-team, like they did with The Samoans. The Road Warriors should be high on the list as would the Freebirds. You'll also get some secondary names to round out the event (What about Hacksaw, or Kamala, or someone like that?, but honestly, this is one of my favorite things about Wrestlemania.

If they put a stipulation on Edge/Taker, I hope it's a Last Man Standing match.

Austin, Texas sure loves Cena...

You honestly think Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, a feud that sent the WWE into the stratosphere, shouldn't have been on PPV? Granted, some of his other matches maybe, but that is one instance of the "boss being in the main event" that I could buy hook, line, and sinker.

I think it was more so that Sting went the distance with Flair, and that alone turned him into a major player.

All in all, a very entertaining evening. I didn't think Brock was going to win tonight due to his inexperience, and when the guy sitting at the table next to me heard me say that, he was like "Man, Brock's going to destroy Mir." I was glad to be on the right side of a call for a change. Still, the way Brock opened the match had me worried. The takedown was fast and furious, and it looked to be over as quickly as it started. Being an 80's metal fan, I got a kick out of Brock's entrance music as well. I wasn't really sold on Brock before hand, but with a little more experience... he'll probably be a wrecking machine in the heavyweight division. I also thought Minotaur was toast in the opening round of the main event. I can't believe Sylvia couldn't drop him, even though I was pulling for Nogeuria. My favorite match of the night had to be Heath vs. Boetsch. Everyone in the restaurant I was watching it at couldn't believe how many knee strikes Heath allowed Boetsch to get, and the place erupted for the wicked takedown Boetsch got. Almeida looked impressive, but you could tell a quick victory was coming a mile away.

Hell, WrestleMania I through VIII seemed to do that. But most of the matches were somewhat short so I don't have too much against them. Off the top of my head I can think of; WrestleMania I Tito Santana Vs The Executioner David Sammartino Vs Brutus Beefcake WrestleMania II The Fabulous Moolah Vs Velvet McIntyire Uncle Elmer Vs Adrian Adonis WrestleMania III Butch Reed Vs Koko B.Ware WrestleMania IV Hmmm...even though this is the worst out of the "old school" era Wrestlemanias, every match seemed to serve some kind of a purpose even if the purpose was "Let's just throw every guy who doesn't have a feud into a battle royal" WrestleMania V The aforementioned Hacksaw Vs Bad News Brown match Brutus Beefcake Vs Ted DiBiase WrestleMania VI Koko Vs Rick Martel WrestleMania VII Kerry Von Erich Vs Dino Bravo Tenyru and uh...the other guy Vs Demolition WrestleMania VIII Owen Hart Vs Skinner It was the company making sure as many people as possible were able to get a Wrestlemania pay-day, which was typically the biggest one of the year.

I could totally buy into that. After Flair keeps beating everyone, Vince finally snaps, looks at Michaels, and says, "If you don't beat him, by God, you're the one who is going to retire!" McMahon forcing Michaels into the match would be a very nice touch. With Flair taking on Kennedy, I can see Michaels helping him win the match, and McMahon punishing him for doing so.

Austin/HHH vs. Benoit/Jericho could have easily main evented a PPV.

Same here. Cena already has one win over HHH at Wrestlemania.

Yeah... the last "boom" was dependent on the fierce competition between WCW/WWE. Without a steady second promotion that can actually threaten the WWE, we won't see another "boom" period like the late 90's for a long time.

I was in attendance for that match (Raw from Birmingham, Alabama). It was the first World Title change I ever got to see. As one can tell from this list, the Monday Night Wars were littered with PPV quality matches on free television. The Steve Austin/Kane rematch the night after KOTR '98 could have been held to the July PPV, but again, it made for great television that night.

I've always been partial to the Battle Royale at Wrestlemania 2 and Undertaker's wicked entrance at IX.

That sucks. Why are they going to waste a spot like that on someone who will get no rub from it? I'd rather see it go to someone who it will really help, like a Matt Hardy or someone like that. Someone mentioned Umaga and Estrada...Umaga is an example of someone who absolutely have a manager/mouthpiece, as far as the type of character he plays. Estrada also has no place being a "GM" on ECW. Agreed on Umaga and Estrada. When Umaga debuted, I actually liked the character because he had the mouthpiece manager, and Estrada played the role so well. It looked as if they were actually putting an emphasis on managers, but then someone must have realized that would have made too much sense.

Agreed 100% You can't script things down to the letter because it allows no wiggle room if the angle/promo/whatever isn't getting over from the start. The past two golden eras came on the backs of guys that became mega-stars: Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin. It'll take some time for a star of that caliber to come along again, but I'm guessing they are out there somewhere. The development, though, has to come naturally.

Agreed. He can still say "He's never been pinned or submitted" at Wrestlemania as well.