Philadelphiahosts wrestling extravaganza

by Nick Luchko staff writer

4 "Do You Smell What the Rock is Cook' ing?"

Everyone who was at the First Union Center on March 28 did, as the World Wrestling Federation ·s main event, "Wrestlemania," came to Philadelphia.

This year was the first time Philadelphia held this magnitude of a fight, and the WWF w~s sure to make a lasting impression. /~

Over 20,000 fans, i~ packed the seats, awaiting the arrival of their favorite stars and the entertainment of the V./WF.

The show began with Philadelphia's own Boyz II Men singing the national anthem, which got a huge roar from the crowd.

The opening match featured the Hardcore Championship. The competitors included Al Snow, Hardcore Holly and "Badd Ass" Billy Gunn, the champion.

There were many objects used throughout thi~ match, including a hockey stick and a chair. that had the fans feeling the pain of the athletes. The match was capped off with Gunn throwing Snow through a table and nailing his finishing move, a "Rocket Dropper." However, Holly nailed Gunn with a chair and rolled him over to become the new Hardcore Champion.

The next contest pitted D-Lo Brown, accompanied by Ivory, and Test versus Owen Hart and Jeff Jarrett for the Tag Team Championship. Debra, Hart and Jarrett's valet, looked spectacular in her bikini and heard huge applause from the Philly crowd. Owen drop-kicked D-Lo for the 1-2-3 to retain the title.

Up next was the special "Brawl for All" boxing matchup that placed Butterbean against Bart Gunn. This did not last long. Butterbean, from the opening bell, destroyed Gunn. His huge side jab that was applied to Gunn's face had the whole crowd "oohing" and "aahing" as it replayed over and over again.

A special match was next as "The Big Show" Paul Wight took on Mankind to see who would referee the championship match later in the night.

The match was awesome. Wight began the contest by using the steel steps as weapons. He threw Mankind into each barrier, with the crowd feeling his anguish.

Mankind felt the effect of the steps, but fought back by applying the mandible claw. Wight fought his way out and chokeslammed Mankind through two chairs, which lead to a disqualification. Mankind was seriously hurt and the word around the crowd was that he was not able to referee the main event later.

Mr. McMahon was very upset that Wight lost the match and began a verbal assault on him. Thi!>lead to a slap in a face for Wight and a knuckle sandwich for McMahon. Wight left the Fin;t Union Center to a number of cheers.

Up next was a special "four corners" matchup for the Intercontinental Championship. Road Dogg Jesse James, the champion, came out to large applause and did his legendary introduction that everybody was into. Val Venis, Goldust and Ken Shamrock were the three other opponents.

The match was very entertaining, with the competitors showing their trademark moves on each other and the crowd having much to cheer about. Venis and Shamrock battled outside and were counted out. This led Goldust and the Road Dogg to decide the fate of the title.

Goldust was in control and seemed to have the match in hand when his valet, Ryan Shamrock, pulled his leg by accident and allowed the Road Dogg to retain the title.

A brawl was set on the card next as the leader of Degeneration X, Triple H, took on the always-dangerous Kane.

Before the match, a masked bird came down and attacked Kane. However, the bird could not foil Kane, as he plucked the bird and revealed it was baseball legend Pete Rose. Looking for revenge from last year's assault, Rose was given a tombstone piledriver once again and felt the wrath of Kane.

The Women's Championship was next as the champion, Sable, took on the challenger, Tori. This was a short match, with Sable finishing off Tori with a power bomb after outside interference from women's body building star Nicole Bass. All the guys were going nuts for Sable, especially my section.

What happened next shocked and saddened many Degeneration X fans. During the Shane McMahon versus X-Pac for the European championship match, Test came out and started to beat up X-Pac. Triple H then came out with Chyna and the entire Philly crowd was thinking a DX win. However, the cheers turned to jeers as he turned his backed on X-Pac and DX and joined the Corporation. The crowd was stunned and shocked at what had happened. The main event, Austin and The Rock, started with Mr. McMahon coming down the aisle to proclaim himself as the referee when, low and behold, music began to play and out came Shawn Michaels. The crowd went absolutely ballistic and chants of "HBK" could be heard all over. The Rock came out to a huge applause and Austin to an even bigger one. The match was without a doubt one of the best matches I have ever witnessed in person or on television.

It went on for about 15 minutes, which is very long for wrestling standards. The beginning of the match spewed into the crowd and the fans loved it.

The Rock missed a Corporate Elbow and a second Rock Bottom as Austin recovered and put another Stone Cold Stunner on The Rock to become the new WWF Champion. Austin celebrated his championship win by packing a few cold ones and giving Mr. McMahon a beer bath.

Overall, the pay-per-view was well worth the money paid and the excitement of this event will live on forever in my mind. Wrestlemania easily proved why WWF is the leader in the sports entertainment business.

The Rock lost the heavyweight championship belt to Stone Cold Steve Austin during the main event at Wrestlemania, which took place at the First Union Center in Philadelphia.

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