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411 Ranks The WrestleManias: #12 – WrestleMania 18

March 16, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

WrestleMania XVII was a huge show, possibly the best WrestleMania ever. The company would have to work hard to follow up that show if they wanted the same kind of results. The Undertaker would do battle with Ric Flair, The Rock would have a match with Hulk Hogan in a match most thought would never happen, the n W o would be a part of the event for the first time ever and HHH would challenge for the Undisputed title after almost one-year off due to a torn quad. And who could forget the epic Japanese Shampoo feud between Edge and Booker T? Lets break down the card…

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* WWF IC Title: RVD © defeated William Regal @ 6:19 via pin
* WWF European Title: DDP © defeated Christian @ 6:11 via pin
* Hardcore Title: Spike won the title from Maven, then Hurricane beat Spike, Molly Holly beat Hurricane, Christian beat Molly and then finally Maven won the title back from him @ throughout the course of the evening
* Kurt Angle defeated Kane @ 10:44 via pin
* No DQ: The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair @ 18:47 via pin
* Edge defeated Booker T @ 6:35 via pin
* Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall @ 9:52 via pin
* WWF Tag Titles: Billy & Chuck © defeated The Dudley Boyz, The Hardy Boyz and The APA @ 13:51 via pin
* The Rock defeated Hulk Hogan @ 16:33 via pin
* WWF Women’s Title: Jazz defeated Lita and Trish Stratus @ 6:19 via pin
* Undisputed World Title: HHH defeated Chris Jericho to become the NEW Undisputed Champion @ 18:45 via pin

Sean Garmer
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan: [****] – I re-watched this match a few days ago and I still get goosebumps because this was a “Dream Match.” I grew up as a little child idolizing the Hulkster (I was four when he first stepped into Skydome for Wrestlemania VI, I probably clearly remember him after WM 7 or 8 towards the end of his run.) Regardless, Hogan brought wrestling to the masses, much like The Rock and Stone Cold did during the attitude era. I liked that they still tried to build a story around this epic match, but we all knew once it got to March 17, 2002, no one would care about it. I think most people knew The Rock would win, and it was another one of these passing the torch moments that have happened so often at Wrestlemania in years past. Sure, it wound up being another notch on the belt for Rocky as he left WWE not too long after to begin his long movie career. At the time, we didn’t know until after the next few weeks that Hogan was going to get a long run in WWE again. Quite frankly, I thought he might be gone after Backlash, but this match solidified how great performers these two are. Hogan may be limited in the ring but he controls a crowd like few ever have and The Rock is one of those classic WWE guys that has it all when it comes to pro-wrestling. He helped make this a memorable match and made the event stand out. These two didn’t tear the house down by putting on a five star clinic, but they did make us remember what it feels like to suspend disbelief and love professional wrestling once again. This is a match that even your Father or Grandfather could watch and it would make them remember the old days of sports-entertainment.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Maven vs. Goldust [DUD] – This match existed only to further the Hardcore title 24/7 gimmick and it was a nothing match really. I loved the 24/7 Hardcore title thing, so I have no complaints on having the match. I just think they could have made this some impromptu 30-second title change that happened backstage instead. I know a lot of people hated this whole thing, but at least they made the backstage stuff seem meaningful, instead of two people just bantering back and forth or another lame interview segment.

Show MVP And Why: The Rock – I do think Triple H and Jericho should be commended for going on as the Championship main event after the Rock vs. Hogan match and still trying to give us a good match. The crowd was just so dead that it seemed they were fighting an uphill battle the entire way. They still tried and I wanted to give them a shout on here. The Rock knew the crowd had seen Hogan at WM VI there at SkyDome. He knew the fans were going to be cheering the holy crap out of Hogan and instead of fighting against them, he worked the match as a heel. Hogan got to be the face and did all his power stuff, Rock antagonized the crowd and really drove home that he had to put out the flame of Hollywood Hogan before he was going to win this thing. Rock did everything to make sure Hogan looked good and strong in the match and to his credit, Hogan looked in shape and ready as well. Rock handled everything with class and as a veteran he never looked overwhelmed or out of his element because the crowd turned on him. You could see the old experience as heel Rock come into play and it made the match even better because he understood what needed to be done, and just played his part.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Hogan vs. Rock is without a doubt the spectacle of this entire show. However, I think Ric Flair and Undertaker had a damn good build to their match, and the match itself was pretty good as well. To me, it gets passed over a lot because people think of WM X8 as the Rock vs. Hogan show and hardly nothing else. Jericho and Triple H put on a valiant effort against a defeated crowd, and Austin vs. Scott Hall wasn’t too bad. The problem with Wrestlemania 18 is that the rest of the matches were kind of just there, I think EDGE vs. Booker T might have been the only other match that had some semblance of a multi-PPV or multi-show build (remember the stupid shampoo fight.) There were way too many singles matches that meant virtually nothing to the overall impact of the show or the IC, European, and Hardcore titles. At least the Women’s match had three very good divas in it and probably surprised many with its final result. Hogan vs. Rock gets about 2.5 out of that rating with Taker vs. Flair grabbing another .5 in there. WM X8’s momentum was killed when Rock vs. Hogan didn’t go on last, even though it was billed as the main event everywhere.

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Chad Nevett
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan: [****] Talk about the crowd making the match. The match itself, from a work rate perspective, wasn’t anything special and fit the rest of the night: serviceable and not memorable in any way. But, the crowd was so hot and the storytelling by the Rock and Hogan so strong that who cares about work rate? This was pure spectacle at its finest! Two of the greatest wrestlers in WWE history squaring off in a dream match. A genuine dream match happening at WrestleMania! Both men played it over the top and the crowd sided with Hogan (though never entirely). The match was a basic run through of each man’s routine of moves with a ref bump thrown in and that was all that was needed. The big moments for each guy were there — and they each aped something from the other guy’s moveset. The post-match stuff solidified the mutual respect each man gained and gave people what they wanted: the Rock and Hogan fighting back to back. Not a great match per se, just a great WrestleMania match.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Four Corners Elimination Tag Match for the WWF Tag Team Championship: Billy & Chuck vs. the Hardy Boyz vs. the Dudley Boyz vs. the APA: [*3/4] This match never quite figured out what it was doing. It began as a chaotic clusterfuck, turned into a meandering bore, and ended as a chaotic clusterfuck. After the ladder match at WrestleMania 2000 and the TLC match at WrestleMania X-Seven, I can understanding wanting to keep up the pattern of multiple teams and lots of energy and chaos. This just didn’t work. There was no flow to the match, it started and stopped in fits. That a big part of the match was the Dudleys vs. the Hardys didn’t help. It was something we’d seen a thousand times before and this match really could have been helped by trying to break free of the Edge & Christian/Hardys/Dudleys dynamic.

Show MVP And Why: The Crowd: The best match of the night was the best because of the crowd. You could see how much the Toronto crowd’s reaction energized Hogan and the Rock. It was a great crowd that elevated more than just that match. Going into this ‘Mania, I’d heard a lot of crap talked about the main event and the crowd even helped it. When Triple H gave Jericho the Pedigree and won, the crowd popped big time and gave the sense that the show wasn’t ending as poorly as it could have.

Your Thoughts on The Show: Overall, it was a pretty mediocre show. Only a couple of matches stood out as better than average and only a couple fell below. There wasn’t a lot to love and not a lot to hate. I honestly wish I had a stronger opinion, but most of the matches were ‘fine’ and nothing more.

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Jack Stevenson
The Best Thing on the Show And Why: Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock- Hollywood Hogan and the Rock’s epic battle at Wrestlemania proves that, from time to time, pro wrestling can be simply magical. Considering it was a first ever one on one meeting between two of the best the industry has ever seen; it was in danger of being a complete disaster. The build-up to the match had been unnecessarily over the top, and an angle in which Hogan drove a truck through an ambulance which contained the Rock fell as flat as a pancake (although in America you have quite thick pancakes I’m told.) Consider as well that Hogan was past his peak physically, had not had a worthwhile WWF match in over a decade, and had never really worked with the Rock before, and there was every chance this could have been a depressing failure. But sometimes, the stars just align. The crowd forgot all about the horrid build-up and invested fully in the battle at hand, providing a molten hot atmosphere for two of the best to go out and entertain. And that’s what this was. Not a five star classic, but wonderfully entertaining from start to finish. While it might not be the best wrestling match of all time, it’s certainly one of the best sports entertainment matches of all time; the two men went through all their best spots, the right man won, and with Hogan dispatching his former cohorts in the N.W.O, all was right with the world. Terrific.

The Worst Thing on the Show And Why: Chris Jericho vs. Triple H- On the flipside, Triple H and Chris Jericho shows that even two of the best in the business can be thwarted in what should have been the biggest match of the year. I have a mountain of respect for Triple H and Chris Jericho, but they had so many factors working against them in this match. First, they were coming in off the back of a ludicrous storyline that placed more emphasis on Stephanie McMahon than it did the reigning world champion. I’m all in favor of a good soap opera tale from time to time, but this was a massive misjudgment by all involved in creating it… as was the placement of the match after Hollywood Hogan and the Rock tore the Skydome down. I can understand, even appreciate the thinking that the WWF Championship match should main event, but in this case it just made the task facing Hunter and Jericho even more difficult. Thirdly, the match itself, standing on it’s own merits was disappointing. It didn’t feel special at all; as the main event of a B-PPV it would have been acceptable, but not so much as the main event of the biggest show of the year. I feel bad for both guys, especially as this was Jericho’s first Mania main event and Hunter’s second, but this really was a total flop. Let’s all just insist Hogan-Rock went on last instead.

Show MVP And Why: The Toronto Crowd- I couldn’t pick between Hogan and the Rock, so I went with the cop-out option, but there is truth in this answer; without the enthusiasm of the Toronto fans, the match between Hogan and the Rock would have been nothing more than decent at best. The crowd rallied together and provided a ton of energy and excitement for two of the all time greats to work into an all time great professional wrestling moment.

Your Thoughts on The Show: The majority of Wrestlemania X8 was decidedly muted, but a bloody war between the Undertaker-Ric Flair, and lightning in a bottle with Hogan and Rock, ensures this is still worth investing some time in.

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The List So Far…
30. WrestleMania 9
29. WrestleMania 2
28. WrestleMania 11
27. WrestleMania 4
26. WrestleMania 15
25. WrestleMania 27
24. WrestleMania 29
23. WrestleMania 25
22. WrestleMania 5
21. WrestleMania 13
20. WrestleMania
19. WrestleMania 6
18. WrestleMania 16
17. WrestleMania 7
16. WrestleMania 12
15. WrestleMania 8
14. WrestleMania 22
13. WrestleMania 28
12. WrestleMania 18

REMINDER, each 411 writer had the opportunity to rank the WrestleMania events (based on overall quality, historical significance and personal preference), those rankings went into creating the final list.