Irrelevant But Awesome

Joel:  This WrestleMania had several firsts for the show. This was the first WrestleMania after the company switched from WWF to WWE. (If you watch the show on the WWE Network, even though the WWF scratch logos have been unblurred, there are a few cases here where they remain blurred in footage of past WrestleManias.) But it’s also the first WrestleMania after the Brand Extension, which means that the show was presented as two separate rosters coming putting on one giant show. This leads to a somewhat clunky feeling as we bounce between the two rosters, but it’s not a huge issue. I think this may have also been the first time that Undertaker’s streak was mentioned by the show. It was little more than a throwaway line by the commentary saying that Undertaker was 10-0 but still, it’s going to be shaping up to be its own thing in the next couple of years. The match quality is impressive for the show as well. Chris Jericho has is best WrestleMania appearance to date and the same...

Joel:   Let me say up front that the title X-Seven for seventeen is dumb. It has that feel of doing it cause the kids will think it looks cool. It was strange back then, and it’s just as bad now a decade and a half later. Also, the intro video felt off. The past few video packages that started off WrestleMania have been about the history and the prestige of the event itself, and have made the show feel like a big deal. The “Celebration of Life” video package that goes with this WrestleMania feels strangely disconnected from the rest of the show. But other than those two, very small complaints, this WrestleMania is a pretty perfect example of what WrestleMania can be when it reaches its full potential.  This is a moment in wrestling history where the stars aligned just perfectly, and one of the greatest events of all time was pulled off. Rock and Stone Cold, two of the most successful men to ever wrestle were both at the top of their game. TLC had just been introduced ...

Joel:  I remember Vince McMahon and The Cooperation being a big deal during this time period, but I don’t think I realized just how central The Cooperation was to pretty much every storyline that was going on in this show. Of the ten matches on this card (nine if you don’t count the brawl for all match) five of them have were centered around a feud with a member of The Cooperation or The Cooperation itself. This included the last three matches of the show which were the most high profile matches on the card. While I get that it did a lot to elevate those storylines and feuds, for the handful of matches that had nothing to do with any Cooperation storyline, it made them feel that much more irrelevant and forgettable. Because of this it really takes a while to get to the matches that feel like they matter on the card. Even though it won’t be their best WrestleMania match, and even though I already knew the outcome of the match, I couldn’t help but get excited at the beginnin...

Joel:  There are plenty of disagreements as to when exactly the Attitude Era started. Some say it was before this WrestleMania. Some say it was at some point later down the line. Some get so precise as to say that specifically the match between Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold here was the kickoff moment for the Attitude Era. I’m not going to get as specific as all that, but i will say that this show very much feels like an Attitude Era WrestleMania. DX is in the main event. Undertaker is feuding with Kane. At the end of the night your champions are Stone Cold and The Rock. Everything on the show that was related to Sable in any way. This feels Attitude Era. And it’s a good show. The Battle Royale to kick off the show was messy, but at least it felt like a big deal kick off moment instead of just whatever happened to be the first match on the card the way openers of previous WrestleManias have felt. There were also more good matches than bad matches on the card, something tha...

Joel:  I forget sometimes, when it’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, just how good that Bret Hart and Stone Cold match really is. I think that the hype surrounding that match is making me remember it as a better match than it actually way. But then, when I watch it again, It blows me away every time. This match is near wrestling perfection. Everything about it just clicks into place. The double turn is something that should be close to impossible to effectively pull off, yet these two guys do it is a way that is so smooth and natural, the entire thing feels like a seamless part of the match and the storyline. This is, without a question the best WrestleMania match that we’ve seen so far in this series. Unfortunately, that match pretty much had to carry the entire rest of the card. No other match stands out in any positive way. At best we get moments like seeing Rocky Maivia and knowing that guys going to be a big star in a few years, but as far as his actual performance at W...

Joel and Chris are back this week with The Classy Ring Attire Podcast #166: "Our Way Too Early Predictions for Wrestlemania 32." Subscribe now on iTunes to have every episode delivered straight to you or head over to their site  and listen to all your favorite episodes.