From the Bowery: WrestleMania XII

From the Bowery: WrestleMania XII
-March 31, 1996
-Anaheim, CA

-This was the first WrestleMania to take place during the Monday Night Wars, and it also ushered in a new era for the WWF. Diesel’s babyface title run finally ended the previous November, as he dropped the strap to Bret Hart. After that match Diesel turned heel, and immediately became interesting again. It’s very simple: bad ass Diesel > smiling Diesel. Bret had a horrible 1994 were he was stuck in mid-card feuds with pirates, Japanese imports, and evil dentists before winning the title back. Shawn Michaels turned face immediately following WrestleMania XI and was given all the sympathy heat in the world with his concussion angle with Owen Hart. Shawn won the 1996 Rumble to the shock of nobody and we had the long awaited Shawn vs. Bret Mania Title Match. To make things interesting it was announced as an Iron Man Match.

-The opening video package is a lot better this year as the focus is on the WWF Title Match. Crazy concept I know.

Announce Team:Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

Vader, Owen Hart, & The British Bulldog (w/ Jim Cornette) vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts, Ahmed Johnson, & Yokozuna

-Owen and Bulldog were the Tag Champs at this point. The main feud is Vader vs. Yoko, and the stipulation is that Yoko gets 5 minutes alone with Cornette if his team wins. Vader is just one of the many former WCW stars that Vince had brought in during this era. Some panned out and others didn’t. Ahmed was seen as a possible franchise player, but injuries (those he experienced, and those he caused to others) killed that. Vader and Yoko immediately start brawling, and that gets all the others involved. The faces clear the ring, and Ahmed jumps over the top rope to the floor onto Vader. Things settle back in the ring where Yokozuna beats the piss out of former tag partner, Owen Hart. Bulldog saves Owen from getting splashed, and the tag is made to Vader. He takes a shot at Ahmed and Owen takes a shot at Yokozuna. Vader hammers away on Yoko in the corner and that drops the big man. Yoko comes back and actually busts out a Rock Bottom to drop Vader. Ahmed gets the tag and he runs right through the Bulldog. A sweet powerslam looks to finish, but Vader makes the save. Ahmed gets trapped in the heel corner as Vince calls them a pack of buffalo. What? Owen comes in off the top with a dropkick, and takes his turn working over Ahmed. The enziguiri follows, but only gets the back of the neck instead of the back of the head. Vader returns and he uses his girth to his advantage. Another quick tag and Owen has another go. He tries a clothesline, but doesn’t budge Ahmed. He tries again, but this time Ahmed hits his own clothesline. That gives him the chance to make the tag to Jake as the crowd starts a DDT chant. He hits a short arm clothesline, and calls for the DDT, but Owen grabs the top rope to block. The heels tag over and Jake is your alcoholic in peril. Bulldog locks in a front face lock (really, in a six man tag?). He drops that and opts to tag Vader. You can’t really fault that strategy. Jake gets squashed in the corner, and Owen drops an elbow from the top rope for a 2 count. Owen locks in a version of the stump puller, as again I question why all the non action for a six man tag. Bulldog gets the tag and hits his powerslam, but Jake is able to kick out at two. He is perplexed and does the smartest thing he can: tag Vader. He drops another splash, and brings back the Bulldog. He misses an elbow and Jake makes the hot tag to Yoko. He’s a fat man on fire as he beats down Vader in the corner to a thunderous pop. Face Yoko was very over for anyone who had doubts about his turn. A sweet Samoan drop kills the Bulldog dead, and for some reason Yoko tags out to Jake. He is able to eventually get the DDT on Owen, but the ref is to busy with the other 4 to count. Cornette tries to run interference, but Jake sets him up for the DDT. Vader makes the save and quickly finishes things with the Vader Bomb at 13:10.

Winners: Team Vader via pin @ 13:10
-This was pretty slow at times for a 6 man tag. The WWF has done a lot better job in recent years with matches like this as they have non-stop energy and usually end with finisher after finisher. The crowd was alive for the Yoko/Vader parts and that’s about all. It did do a good job over putting Vader over as a destructive force. **

-We get a video package for the Piper/Goldust feud. Bruce Pritchard admitted on the Piper DVD that there were talks to have Piper vs. OJ Simpson, but thankfully someone realize how horrible that would have been on all fronts. They decided the next best thing was for Piper to feud with the controversial Goldust (another WCW import).

Hollywood Back Lot Brawl: Roddy Piper vs. Goldust

-Piper is already waiting in the lot with a baseball bat in his hands. Goldust pulls up in a gold Cadillac. Piper pulls out a hose and wets down the area. He goes nuts with the bat and destroys the Cadillac. Goldust runs, but Piper catches him and hits him with a pretty good bat shot. They head to the catering table where various food items are tossed at the Golden One. Piper is probably regretting using the hose because both men are having trouble standing. Goldust gets sent head first into a nearby dumpster as he looks to have been split on his head with the bat shot. Piper grabs his hose and soaks down Goldust. Yeah! They fight on the hood of the car and Piper hits a sick punch that made a tremendous sound. Piper appears to have split his hand with that punch. Tremendous! Goldust takes over with a low blow and he decides to jump in the car. He does what he should have done when the “match” started and runs down Piper with the car. He speeds off from the lot, and Piper just happens to steal a nearby white Bronco to give chase. We’ll get more from these two later.

“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (w/ Ted Dibiase) vs. Savio Vega

-Austin (another WCW import) is the Million Dollar Champion at this point. This was setup when Ramon couldn’t be Savio’s tag partner in the quarterfinals of the WWF Tag Title Tournament. A random draw was done and Austin was picked as Razor’s replacement. The two didn’t get along, and Austin cost Savio the match against the Bodydonnas (who ended up winning the titles in Free 4 All before this show). These two had some damn fine chemistry and it produced the 2 best matches in Savio’s WWF run. Thankfully, they say to hell with this wrestling shit to start and just throw punches. They roll to the floor and continue beating the piss out of each other. I love when feuds start out like this. They head back to the ring, and more punches are exchanged. Austin posts Savio’s shoulder, and drops him with a double axe handle. Austin stomps away in the corner, but without JR we get no mention of mud holes, and nobody walks it dry. Savio flips out of a hammerlock, and drops Austin for a two count. Piper joins via cell phone, and vows that he will get hold of Goldust before the night is finished. Savio delivers a clothesline, but it hurts him more due to the earlier shot to the ring post. Nice! Austin immediately capitalizes and works on the injured shoulder. Piper rejoins us as we hear sirens in the background. Austin delivers a nasty hammer lock suplex. Sweet! It’s sad they are focusing on Piper instead of the match in the ring. Savio gets a cross body for two, but Austin gets a Thesz press for his own two count. They go crazy exchanging two counts, and we cut away to video of Piper in the white Bronco. Obviously, it was stock footage of the OJ Simpson ordeal. Austin heads to the top rope, but meets Savio’s boot on the way down. Austin at least tried to sell it as if he was dropping a forearm. They trade blows in the center of the ring and Austin loses that exchange. A backdrop and multiple clotheslines drops Austin. Savio goes for a spinwheel kick, but Austin ducks and the ref gets plastered instead. Dibiase hands Austin the title to Austin, and he clocks Savio. Once wasn’t enough though as he drapes Savio across the apron, and comes off the apron with another belt shot to the back of the head. Good sound there. Just for shits and giggles, Austin locks in the Million Dollar Dream and after Dibiase tosses some water on the ref, we are out at 10:09.

Winner: Steve Austin via submission @ 10:09
-Again, these two had great chemistry, and it produced a damn fine match here. The crowd was dead for the most part as both guys were relatively new to the WWF audience, and the Piper crap took the focus away from this match for a good portion. Still, strong Mania debut from Austin here. ***1/4

Hunter Heart Helmsley vs. The Ultimate Warrior

-HHH (another WCW import, though not on the level as the others) is being escorted to the ring by the debuting Sable. This was the Warrior’s big return after a nearly 4 year hiatus. Keep in mind this match took place before HHH got in trouble for the Curtain Call incident at MSG. For all those HHHaters they will always have this match. HHH’s music gets a good pop because the crowd knows this is the Warrior match. He does get a massive reaction, but than again, the Warrior always did. It was what happened when the bell rang and when the show was over that got Warrior in hot water. HHH jumps the Warrior from behind with some punches and he immediately hits the pedigree, but it gets no sold by the Warrior. HHH shits himself and the Warrior hits four clotheslines. A shoulder tackle sets up the gorilla press, and the big splash finishes at 1:38.

Winner: The Ultimate Warrior via pin @ 1:38
-Well, HHH did better than the Honky Tonk Man, I’ll give him that. Who knew some 13 years later HHH would be a 13 time World Champion, and the heir to the McMahon dynasty. Warrior would be gone from the WWF within months and Sid would actually take his place. As for the match it was about as competitive as the Uniontown/Connellsville football game last fall (sup, Falcons01). SQUASH

-Pettengill interviews the debuting “Wildman” Marc Mero (another WCW import). HHH interrupts by verbally abusing his valet, Sable. This leads to a pull-apart brawl between the two. Of course this led to Sable (Mero’s wife) joining him and she went on to become a bigger star in the WWF than he ever was. That’s a lesson: Leave the Women at Home!

-We get more video coverage of the White Bronco as they are heading to the Pond.

Diesel vs. The Undertaker

-It must be said again, Diesel from Nov 1995 up until his final PPV match against Shawn in April ’96 was tremendous. This is the Diesel that originally got over with the fans before he became a Hogan retread for Vince. I’m still amazed it took them as long as it did to pit these two against each other. Big brawl to start as Diesel doesn’t show an ounce of fear. He corners Taker and starts firing away with elbows. A charge eats nothing but boot, but Taker misses an elbow. A Diesel clothesline sends Taker to the floor, but he lands on his feet and pulls Diesel out with him. They brawl on the floor and Diesel gets introduced to the steps. Taker goes for the Tombstone, but Diesel slides out the back door. A crossbody gets a two count for Taker. He goes Old School, but it doesn’t knock Diesel of his feet. They brawl back on the floor and this time Diesel’s back gets rammed into the post. Taker tries to kill Diesel with a chair, but he is able to move out of the way. That gives Diesel the opening he was looking for and he sends Taker into the railing. Now he sends Taker back first into the post before rolling in the ring to break the count. Taker gets posted a second time and Diesel celebrates in the ring to a mix of boos and cheers (mostly boos). A running knee keeps Taker from getting back in the ring. Once he does get back in the ring Diesel kills him with a big boot and starts taunting Taker. A messy sidewalk slam gets a two count, and that’s followed by Snake Eyes. Diesel fires off more forearms in the corner, but a blind charge that misses gives life to Taker. In a unique spot at the time each man gives the other a big boot to leave them both down and out. Taker sits up to a pop, but Diesel is able to get to his feet first. Just about ten minutes in and we get out first rest hold as Diesel goes to the bearhug. Thankfully, it makes sense in the grand scheme of things because of the repeated post shots to the back. Taker breaks, so Diesel goes to a standing side headlock. That gives Taker a chance to hit a slow developing belly to back suplex. Taker heads to the top rope and hits a clothesline, but that only gets two. Taker sets too early for a backdrop and Diesel makes him pay by getting the jackknife to a huge pop from the crowd. Diesel kicks the carcass to make sure he is out, but Taker does the zombie sit up. Diesel figures another jackknife should do the trick and that’s what we get. Diesel’s “I’m so good, it’s scary” line is still pretty damn funny. No pin though as Taker still has life. He grabs Diesel by the throat, but a belly to back suplex sends Taker right back to the mat. He sits up once again, and for the first time Diesel backs off. That doesn’t last for long as he charges, but Taker wins that battle. The leaping clothesline floors Diesel, and a nice chokeslam keeps him down. Taker calls for the end and that’s what we get with the Tombstone at 16:45.

Winner: The Undertaker via pin @ 16:45
-This was much better than most expected. Diesel seemed motivated here, and what we got was a good power match between two giants. The rest spots were minimal and in the end Diesel did the clean job. ***

-Goldust pulls up to the arena in the gold Cadillac and Piper is hot on his heels with the Bronco. They head to the ring and the brawl continues much to the delight of the crowd. Goldust controls by working over the knee of Piper. A well placed knee hits Piper in the bagpipes. Piper gets his shirt torn off in a sign of things to come. Goldust heads to the tope, but Piper shakes the ropes to counter. Goldust kisses Piper and that is more than enough to send Piper into a rage. He goes absolutely insane and grabs Goldust with the testicular crawl. He abuses the grapes of Goldust even more and starts ripping off his clothes. We find out that Goldust likes to wear Women’s lingerie, and Piper sends him on his was with one last shot to the balls. Silly as all hell, but the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Goldust trying to cover himself was a nice character touch.

-We get the video packages for the Iron Man Match. We see each guy as they train for the match, and I have a new outlook on those videos after reading Bret’s book.

-Shawn does his famous entrance from the top of the building via the zip line. Shawn’s DVD showed footage of Vince doing the stunt first to make sure it was safe.

WWF Title: 60 Minute Iron Man Match: Bret Hart © vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Jose Lothario)

-In honor of the Penguins sending the Flyers home for a second straight season, we’ll break this down in 20 minute periods like a hockey game .

First 20 Minutes:
-Bret gives his sunglasses to his son, Blade before the match gets started. As expected a very slow start to the match as they are trying to pace themselves. Shawn controls early with some basic wrestling moves and that frustrates Hart. Bret reverses to a side headlock, and works that for a few minutes. Shawn tries to push off, but Bret holds on and rides Michaels to the mat. Our first two count of the match comes for Bret off the side headlock. Shawn tries to escape again, but Bret maintains the hold. Shawn gets his first two count when he rolls Bret back on his shoulders. A small flurry occurs with various counters much to the crowds delight, but it all ends with Bret regaining control with the side headlock. Shawn gets another two count before both men get to their feet. Michaels breaks with a back heel trip, but Bret switches to a front facelock. He switches that right back to the side headlock, but Shawn finally quickens the pace, and drops Bret with 2 arm drags. Shawn now works his hold of choice: an armbar. We are about eight minutes in, and Lawler starts breaking out the age jokes on Helen and Stu Hart. Shawn reverses Bret’s attempt at another side headlock into a hammerlock. The story so far is that Shawn has been able to match Bret on the mat, which nobody expected going into the match. Lawler has done a tremendous job of putting this fact over. Bret starts to go heel as he won’t break clean in the corner. He tosses Michaels, but he uses the top rope to counter with a head scissors that sends Bret to the floor. The move had little effect on Bret physically, but his reaction shows it frustrated him. Shawn gets sent over the top, but skins the cat, and rides Bret back to the mat with the armbar. Bret quickens the pace and buries a knee into midsection of Shawn. He drops a headbutt to the abs, and goes right back to the neck. Shawn breaks a chinlock with a jawbreaker, and grounds Bret with a cross armbreaker. Both men get to their feet, and things pick up as Shawn tries a leap frog. Bret catches him though and drops him with a spinebuster. Shawn gets clotheslined to the floor and Bret follows. In the chaos on the floor the poor timekeeper eats Sweet Chin Music. Perhaps that’s why he had no problem ringing the fucking bell some 18 months later. He was pissed at Bret for moving out of the way of the kick. The medics stretcher out the timekeeper as Bret controls things in the ring with another chinlock. Bret screams “ask him Earl, this isn’t a starring contest,” in a funny moment. Bret hits a sweet hooking clothesline that damn near killed Shawn, and we go right back to the chinlock. The crowd has hung with them so far and starts rallying behind Shawn. He responds with a dropkick and takes Bret right back to the mat with another armbar.

Middle 20 Minutes:
-Michaels continues the arm/shoulder work, and after Bret rolls to a facelock, Shawn casually counters to a hammerlock. They get to their feet, and head to the corner where Bret breaks with two pretty vicious back elbows. Shawn reverses a whip, and sends Bret shoulder first into the ring post. He wraps Bret’s shoulder around the post, and has time to curse at a cameraman who got a little too close. Classy! A sweet shoulder breaker continues the damage, and things get better with a nasty looking hammerlock slam. He sends Bret shoulder first into the turnbuckle this time. I think the post worked better, but still effective. This first twenty-five minutes has been all about Shawn. Bret starts to fire back, but sets to early on a backdrop and eats a single arm DDT to further damage the shoulder. He goes back to the cross armbreaker, but Bret escapes by raking his boot on Shawn’s face. A stungun on the middle rope finally gets Bret a chance to regroup. He slingshots Shawn into the post, and because of a delay he is only able to get a two count. Things pick up as Bret starts taking over on offense. He hits a nice bulldog, and heads to the top rope. That doesn’t go so well though as Shawn catches him. They fight there for a few seconds before Bret rides Shawn down into the ref. Shawn is able to snap off a powerslam for a two count. He attempts a backdrop, but he also sets early, and Bret hits a piledrive much to the delight of Lawler. Hart goes to the top rope again as Lawler questions his logic, and again it fails, as Michaels slams him to the mat. They seem to blow a spot as Bret hooks the ropes earlier than Shawn had thought. They repeat the spot after a backbreaker, and it ends with Bret bailing to the floor. He walks around the ring and Shawn greets him with a crossbody off the top rope. Bret stated in his book that he practically had to catch Shawn because he was heading for the railing. Shawn fires Bret back into the ring, and heads to the top rope. He hits another crossbody, but Bret rolls through for a hot near fall. That seriously should have been in a pin in any other Iron Man Match. Shawn actually has the balls to bust out a perfect-plex, but it only gets two. I guess that proves Shawn’s not perfect. He slows things down again with a sleeper. I always loved how this decided a fall in the Rock/HHH match, but not here. Shawn sends Bret across the ring with a mule kick. He charges at Bret, but in a crazy bump he gets back dropped over the post and to the floor. Shawn got some serious elevation on that one, and took a sweet bump as he hit the floor. Bret goes out to greet Shawn and rams him back first into the post. He fires Shawn back into the ring and goes to work on the damaged back. He heads to the middle rope and drops an elbow into the lower back. They seem to botch another spot, but they cover well enough as Bret hits a backbreaker.

Final 20 Minutes
-Shawn gets sent into the buckles and does a flip to end up sitting on the turnbuckle. That’s perfect for Bret as he brings him down from the top rope with a belly to back suplex. That easily could have been a fall as well. Bret locks in a camel clutch, but Shawn is able to break. He gets a fluke two count off a sunset flip, but has nothing to follow it up with. Shawn finds the strength to come off the middle rope, but Bret calmly buries a fist into the midsection. He nails a side Russian leg sweep, and sends Shawn into the buckles with such force that Shawn flips to the floor and lands on Jose. There were some big cheers from some in the crowd for that one. Bret follows to the floor and fires Shawn into the steps where he runs into Jose again. Bret has time to yell at Jose before getting back in the ring. The two men start trading blows in the center of the ring, but Bret cuts him off with a timely shot to the back. Bret attempts a suplex, but Shawn flips out and gets a roll-up. Bret kicks out at two and it sends Shawn to the floor. As Shawn gets to his feet he is met by Bret diving through the ropes. He looks to pick Shawn up, but changes his mind and decides to get a count-out. Shawn is able to get to apron, and Bret tries to suplex him back in the ring. Again, Shawn lands on his feet, and tries a suplex of his own, but Bret reverses and hits a sweet German suplex. Bret fires away, and Shawn tells him to bring it. That only pisses Bret off and he stiffs the shit out of Shawn with a boot. Awesome! We reach the 10:00 mark with Bret controlling with a modified camel clutch. Shawn is able to get to his knees to relieve the pressure on his back, but Bret is content to control from that position. The fans again rally Shaw, and he breaks the hold with some elbows. They do the double clothesline spot to leave them bout out with 7:30 remaining. They start trading blows again in the middle of the ring as they are doing a great job of selling their exhaustion. Bret is able to hook Shawn on the top rope and deliver a super-plex. He goes for the sharpshooter, but Shawn blocks. The Hitman keeps hold of the ankle, and goes for a figure four, but Shawn blocks that, so Bret settles for a single leg Boston crab. Shawn is too close to the ropes though, and is able to break things rather quickly. He continues the work on the back with another backbreaker. He heads to the middle rope, but all he finds is Shawn’s boot as he lands. A beautiful dropkick from Shawn hits Bret squarely in the face. Bret takes his sternum corner bump as Shawn starts to build steam. The flying forearm leads to the nip-up, and now Shawn is controlling things. He lands a flying back elbow, and gets a two count off a twisting double axe from the top rope. A snap suplex sets up the flying elbow (still not as good as Savage’s) and that gets another two count. At the two minute mark Shawn hits a gutwrench powerbomb for two. A moonsault press from the top rope gets yet another two count. Shawn is throwing all he has to Hart to get the much needed pin fall, and it’s not working. He heads to the top rope for a final time, but Bret catches him and locks in the sharpshooter with 35 seconds to go. The fans erupt as half are begging Shawn to hold on, while the other half are hoping he squeals like a pig. The match ends 0-0 and Bret receives the title from Hebnar. Gorilla gets in the ring, and lets the ref know that there must be a winner. Finkle lets everyone know we are headed to sudden death OT much to the chagrin of Bret. I got to side with Bret on this one.

Overtime:
-This was all set up when Piper announced that there had to be a winner one way or another. The bell rings and the OT starts with Bret pounding on the injured back. A backdrop kills Shawn, and a side suplex doesn’t help the bad back. Shawn floats over Bret in the corner and gets Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere. Bret actually beats Shawn to his feet, but he walks right into a second Sweet Chin Music and that finishes things at 61:53.

-Hebnar goes to give Shawn the belt, but he won’t take it. He tells Hebnar to get Bret out of the fucking ring because this is his moment. Bret storms out pissed, and at the time I thought he was legitimately pissed. In his book he stated this was done as a way to set up future matches between the two. I’m sure it was part of the story, but that “get out of the fucking ring” comment probably rubbed Bret the wrong way so he didn’t have to try too hard to be pissed. In a funny moment the camera pans to Bret’s son and they catch him singing “Sexy Boy.” Tremendous!

Winner and New WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels: 1-0 @ 61:53
-This is a fascinating match to watch after reading Bret’s book. He claims Shawn took some cheap shots and worked stiff at times. He responded in kind and it ended up being a potato fest in Bret’s words. I personally think the 0-0 storyline hurt the match. I prefer the Rock/HHH match because you had one having to play catch up. You never got that here, and it was obvious they were heading for 0-0 once we got towards the end of the match. Still, this was a tremendous match where both men deserve credit. The match may not be for everyone’s tastes due to the slow start, but you can’t fault the work. It loses a bit due to neither man wanting to do a job, a few botched moments, and the needless ref bump. I still don’t see why that belonged in this match. ****1/2

1) IC Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat *****
2) Career vs Career: Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior *****
3) IC Title: Ladder Match: Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels *****
4) WWF Title: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage ****3/4
5) WWF Title: Iron Man Match: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels ****1/2

The 411: There were only 5 matches on this card (not counting the Brawl) and 3 of the 5 were *** or better. That easily makes this a perfectly acceptable WrestleMania. The Main Event made alone made the show, but solid efforts from Austin/Savio and Taker/Diesel make this a good show. Even the Piper/Goldust brawl and HHH/Warrior match were entertaining on various levels.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]