As it is Wrestlemania season, it is mandated by Rule 12b, section III, paragraph (d), subsection iv, that all people involved in the IWC write at least one column about Wrestlemania.
So, as per the regulations, here’s mine, and – surprise! – it’s a list column. Deal with it.
The 5 Wrestlemania matches that disappointed me the most.
These aren’t matches that were dull or bad, but matches that I went into hoping for something a lot more than I actually got.
5. Wrestlemania IV – WWF Title Tournament Round 1: Greg Valentine def Ricky Steamboat by pinfall. Okay, I get that it was a tournament, but for these two to have such a short match and then Steamboat to be done and the rematch between him and Savage to never happen. Very disappointing, maybe more in what could have been.
4. Wrestlemania XXV – World Title: HHH def Randy Orton. At the time they were both on a bit of a tear, but this match was a dull, overlong, plodding affair that closed the show and killed it dead. The hopes for this match being good were there, but what they delivered was not good at all.
3. Wrestlemania XI – Intercontinental Title: Razor Ramon def Jeff Jarrett by DQ. This meant Jarrett kept the title. This match just felt odd, which was strange because at the time I thought both men had a lot of momentum and were showing some of the goods in the ring. But the match just did not work, and the DQ ending with the Road Dogg and 1-2-3 Kid interfering felt like it was just setting up a tag match for later on, which is not what a Wrestlemania match should do.
2. Wrestlemania XIII – Tag Team Titles: Owen Hart & The British Bulldog v Mankind & Vader ended in a double count-out. I liked every single one of these wrestlers, and the thought of some good, old-fashioned tag team goodness was the one thing in this PPV I was looking forward to (the Hart-Austin match was a very pleasant surprise and made the PPV just watchable). But this was dull and plodding with a double DQ ending. What happened? Did they all undergo a talent lobotomy for a week?
1. Wrestlemania 2 – Don Muraco and Paul Orndorff went to a double count-out of the ring. I was looking forward to this match, the battle of the pile-drivers, two big, strong men trying to kill one another. And when I saw it was the opening match I knew they’d pull out all stops to get the crowd pumped. Instead, what we got was rest-hold city, dull kicking and punching and then a double count-out. Blah.
So, there you have it. Remember, these were matches that had promised to deliver something more than they did. I mean, no-one in their right mind expected Miz-Cena or Undertaker-Bundy to be classics, and, sure enough, they weren’t. No, these were matches that should have been so much better than they were.
Agree? Disagree? Sound off in the comments section!
