WWE WrestleMania 23, Detroit, MI
A request! This is the WrestleMania that was “All Grown Up,” back in Detroit 20 years after Hogan vs Andre, which was actually in Pontiac but both were at the homes of the Detroit Lions, so cut them some slack.
This was the first year on the current and active “stadiums only” streak of WrestleMania, which has lasted a long time and likely won’t ever end. If we get to a point where WrestleMania has to be held at the Rosemont Horizon or whatever again, I think there just won’t be WrestleMania anymore. They’re just so far from that now as a powerful brand, as is WrestleMania itself. I mean, there’d be going back to one day in a stadium instead of two before an arena was even considered.
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Batista holds the world heavyweight championship and is defending against the Royal Rumble-winning Undertaker, such a huge star that their match is going on fifth out of nine.
82 percent of text voters believe Undertaker will win. He’s 14-0 at WrestleMania to this point so it’s a strong bet. They could have lied to make it seem more interesting but they went with the reality that Taker is the clear favorite.
Batista is out first because this company hates tradition. Not sure why but the streaming version of Batista’s entrance starts with obvious overdubbing of over-loud crowd noise, no commentary, Band an MP3 of his theme song before transitioning back to stadium sound. Maybe Mike Cole and JBL were talking about Chris Benoit the whole time.
Batista no longer respects the Undertaker like he used to because “The Dead Man” has used Questionable Tactics. Undertaker’s entrance is the big Mania spectacle. Dave giving it the “now what in tarnation is all this?” serious look. For some reason Teddy Long is doing the introductions for this match, maybe so it could be worse than normal.
The cowboy zombie approaches in his UFC stance but gets double legged immediately. Don’t worry, though, he’s The Best Pure Striker in the History of the Game. Did you know that Batista has also recently engaged in questionable tactics? True story, and that along with the respect the WWE fans have for Undertaker, is seeing some people booing Batista!
Batista dominating early, including flying off the top and connecting. Michael Cole SWEARS TO GOD he’s never seen that before. Not even once! But this is all Batista. Every Taker attempt at a comeback is cut off fast, at least until Pure Striker lands his great punches to the gut and then an uppercut to get up off the mat.
Detroit is overwhelmingly pro-Taker, and the way this is being worked is really taking advantage of that, putting Undertaker underneath early, but also giving everything he does land and every little roll he gets on the feeling of a big, meaningful rally.
Old School connects. GOOZLE. Batista standing firm, though, he’s not going up. Undertaker goes for his jumping clothesline but the timing between the two is off and he basically attacks Batista’s head with his thigh or groin.
This is a crazy pace for these two big lads. Taker lands a legdrop on the apron, then his big ass gigantor dive to the floor. Batista able to come back reversing a whip into the timekeeper’s table. Undertaker gets powerslammed from the Raw commentary desk through the ECW commentary desk.
Undertaker got real big on the “punch drunk boxing man” selling in this period. Really dorky, but then everything about him has always been dorky. He was a dorky zombie. He was a dorky redneck. He was a dorky cowboy. He was a dorky combination zombie-redneck-cowboy-MMA fighter.
Michael Cole has credited Batista’s training to several people so far. HHH, Ric Flair, Afa. Bradshaw is trying really hard with his rehearsed lines. I don’t know why he and Mauro Ranallo didn’t get along better, they’re the same guy.
Taker hits Last Ride in the ring but it only gets two. His redneck finisher is not good enough for his current incarnation. Chokeslam moments later also gets two. Batista Bomb gets two the other way. And not long after that, the Tombstone hits, Undertaker is 15-0 at WrestleMania, and he’s won the second-biggest title in the company again.
It’s really wild how different the WWE audience was in 2007 compared to now. That was hardly the peak, we’re not talking about the Sammartino days or the Hogan boom or the Attitude Era, this wasn’t some incredibly memorable time unless you were a little kid then. But they really cared about the match the whole way through. And it’s a match designed to work that way, the big fellas start fast and barely slow down at all for about 16 minutes, going long enough to get everything you’d want to see at WrestleMania in, but short enough to be able to do it as a bombs-away showdown of titans.
In short, the match kicks ass.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 