Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
March 17th
On this day in history in ....
1981 - The Moondogs (Rex & King) defeat Tony Garea & Rick Martel
for the WWF World Tag Team Title in Allentown, Pennsylvania.? This would end
Garea & Martel's first tag title reign.? Two months later, when King was
unable to enter the country from Canada due to legal problems, Moondog Spot took
him place in the championship team.
1982 - Bob Roop defeats Ted DiBiase for the Mid-South North American
Heavyweight Title in Shreveport, Louisiana, ending DiBiase's third run with the
belt.
1993 - Big Van Vader defeats Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Title in
Dublin, Ireland.? Vader had lost the title to Sting six days earlier in London,
England. This would mark the beginning of Vader's third WCW title reign, and the
end of Sting's second (third if you count the NWA World Title).
1999 - Johnny Spade defeats Jason Lee for the Ohio Valley Light
Heavyweight Title.
2000 - Beyond The Mat, a documentary on professional wrestling put
together by Hollywood screenwriter Barry W. Blaustein, opens in theaters.? The
film focuses on Jake Roberts, Terry Funk, and Mick Foley, and also includes
sections on Vince McMahon, Droz, New Jack, Koko B. Ware, and ECW's first
Pay-per-view, Barely Legal.
2002 - Wrestlemania X8 takes place. Mike Johnson penned the
following recap of the event.
Wrestlemania X8
March 17, 2002
Location: Toronto, Ontario Canada
Arena: Skydome
Announced Attendance: 68,237
*Rob Van Dam pinned William Regal with the five star frog splash to win the WWF
Intercontinental championship.
*WWF European Champ Diamond Dallas Page pinned Christian. This was Page's only
Wrestlemania appearance before he retired.
*In his Wrestlemania debut, WWF Hardcore Champ Maven fought Goldust, which ended
with several others running in and Spike Dudley pinning Maven to win the title.
The Hurricane later pinned Spike to win the belt and spent the rest of the PPV
running around in the back in a series of vignettes trying not to be pinned,
only to be attacked and pinned by his sidekick Molly Holly. Holly was then hit
by a door as she was walking through it and pinned by Christian. Christian
attempted to flee the building but was rolled up and pinned by Maven, who then
stole Christian's taxi to boot, exiting as Hardcore champion. Maven would also
be the first Tough Enough winner to make it to Mania.
*Kurt Angle pinned Kane
*The Undertaker pinned Ric Flair in a great street fight with a tombstone. Flair
used a steel bar from the Undertaker's motorcycle on him. Arn Anderson hit the
ring and hit Taker with a spinebuster at one point as well.
*In a grudge match over a fictional shampoo commercial in Japan, Edge pinned
Booker T.
*Steve Austin pinned Scott Hall (with Kevin Nash) with several stone cold
stunners. This would be the first and only appearance of the New World Order
gimmick in the WWE, which quickly stalled and died out. Austin would walk out of
the company the next day over unhappiness with the promotion and his own health
issues, which began the build to his retirement the next year.
*WWF Tag Champs Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo beat The Acolytes, The Hardy Boyz,
and The Dudley Boys in a Four-Way Elimination bout which saw D-Von pin Bradhsaw,
Jeff Hardy pin Bubba Dudley, and Billy Gunn pin Jeff. It was Jeff Hardy's last
Wrestlemania appearance to date.
*The Rock pinned Hulk Hogan with a rock bottom in a tremendously heated match
that saw the Toronto crowd just go wild for Hogan. This is really entertaining
to watch on video just for the crowd reactions as just like last year, the crowd
turned on Rocky for his opponent. Hall and Nash turned on Hogan after the bout
with Rocky making the save. Rock and Hogan posed to end the segment. Much like
the Hogan vs. Warrior match at Wrestlemania VI, Hogan was supposed to pass the
torch but made himself so sympathetic, he was more over walking out. This would
set up his babyface run here.
*WWF Women's Champ Jazz beat Trish Stratus and Lita in a Triple Threat Match
when she pinned Lita. OK match that saw them in the death slot after the Hogan
match.
*Triple H pinned Chris Jericho (with Stephanie McMahon) to win the Undisputed
WWF championship with the Pedigree.
Celebrities: Bands Drowning Pool and Saliva were brought in to play live during
the PPV, including "telling the story" of Jericho vs. HHH which was
more based around Stephanie and HHH.
Notes: The attendance was another Skydome record....The promotion did another
round of AXXESS events, although the first one was marred by a fan pulling a
fire alarm and having to end the session early?. Rikishi, Scotty Too Hotty,
& Albert beat Mr. Perfect, Test, & Lance Storm (3:06) when Rikishi
pinned Perfect during Sunday Night Heat. It would be the final Wrestlemania
appearance for Curt Hennig prior to his passing.
Buck Woodward: Ahhh, what a controversial Mania this was. ... I recall that
there was a lot of wrestlers upset over being overlooked for the card, resulting
in the six-man tag on Heat. ... Rob Van Dam and William Regal was somewhat of a
style clash. ... I was so glad to see Diamond Dallas Page get a win at
Wrestlemania. From driving Honky Tonk Man at Wrestlemania VI, in the same
building), he saw his final career highlight and dream realized by winning a
match at the biggest show there is. ... I'm glad the Hardcore Title silliness is
over. ... Kurt Angle took Kane to a better match than I ever thought possible.
... Undertaker vs. Ric Flair, much like Triple H the year before, planted the
seed of doubt as to whether Undertaker could maintain his perfect Mania record.
I absolutely popped for Arn Anderson's spinebuster. ... I remember thinking Edge
vs. Booker T needed five more minutes to really heat up. ... Steve Austin
wrestling on a PPV with four matches left on the show just seems bizarre. Of
course, the real bizarre stuff happened the next day when Austin just went home,
rather than go to Raw. ... After two years of amazing tag title matches at
Wrestlemania, the streak ended here. ... If you ever want to know how to work a
"big money match" just watch The Rock and Hulk Hogan. They played the
crowd perfectly, and gave them exactly what they wanted to see. There was a lot
of talk that this match should have closed the show, and Triple H used the
"World Title matches should always be the main event" excuse to get
the top spot over this. ... The women's match was good, but obviously was a
bumper to let the crowd recover from Rock-Hogan before the main event. ...
Triple H vs. Chris Jericho was good, but Jericho had been so poorly booked as
champion (dog crap, anyone?) that the outcome was never in question. ... I also
liked this show because there were two bands performing, and since I could care
less about either of them, I got to take two food breaks!
Jess McGrath: Another one-match show, Hogan vs. Rock. I remember the buildup to
this match not exactly being the best. They did that stupid angle where Rock was
trapped in an ambulance and they ran a tractor trailer into it, or some such
stupidity. Hogan vs. Rock was enough to stand on its own, it didn't need the
theatrics or the peripheral involvement of the NWO. But when it came match time,
they pulled off some great magic. I suspect, watching this match a second time
(which I haven't done), it would be a lot like Hogan vs. Warrior, ironically
from the same building, the Skydome. But live that night, it was great stuff.
Aside from that match, and Flair-Undertaker, there wasn't much of note. The
finale with HHH and Jericho was anticlimactic after Hogan-Rock, and it didn't
help that the match was no better than some of their previous free TV matches.
Mike Johnson: I attended this Wrestlemania live and after the previous year, I
felt let down once I walked into the building. There was no "feel"
that this was something special except for when Hulk Hogan was out there and at
that point it was all fans who wanted to relive Wrestlemania VI. I remember the
ultra lame build to this show with horrid vivid memories: Undisputed champion
Chris Jericho walking Stephanie's dog? Booker T and Edge over a shampoo
commercial? DDP vs. Christian? Ugh. This is a show that was a throwback to the
older shows as the hype involved was greater than any of the work, and that's a
real shame seeing how strong the roster was. Flair vs. Undertaker was the only
real saving grace on the card, especially the appearance of Arn Anderson out of
nowhere. While I loved my visit to the city of Toronto, this show is an
afterthought at best to me.
Dave Scherer: This was the "We are not in Kansas anymore Toto" version
of Mania. By this time, Chris Kreski was long gone and Stephanie McMahon had
taken over creative, and it showed. The changes had become obvious and this show
was a huge letdown from the previous year. The match of the night was Hogan vs.
Rock. They blew me away.
2003 - During an edition of Raw from St. Louis, Missouri, Steve Austin
defeated Eric Bischoff in a No DQ match after hitting Stunners on Bischoff,
Chief Morley (Val Venis) and The Rock.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
