WrestleMania 22: Midgets Ain't Just From Oz Anymore!

**Xero** · 04-12-2006, 04:45 PM

Note: This was originally posted at my blog, but since I'm sure no one has read it, I'm reposting it here. If this gets a good response I may start a regular column.

I know it's about two weeks late, but who gives a shit, right?

So last (the Sunday before last) Sunday was WrestleMania 22. The Granddaddy of them all. The baby grandson of the Granddaddy of the Granddaddy of them all (WrestleMania 1, of course)! It was the first Pay Per View I paid to see on TV. Well, webcast, and the picture wasn't too shabby. I had been to many Pay Per Views in the past, live and in person. My list includes some of the "Who's Who" (or is that "What's What"?) of WWF events since 1997:

SummerSlam 1997 - Mick Foley doing the leap off the cage! Bret Hart's 5th and final WWF Championship Win!

SummerSlam 1998 - The Highway to Hell! Rock vs. Triple H in a ladder match! Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker in the main event!

Royal Rumble 2000 - The Legendary Triple H vs. Cactus Jack Street Fight! The ROYAL FREAKIN' RUMBLE with the Double Elimination! The first ever WWF(E) Tables Match!

King of the Ring 2001 - The Kurt Angle/Shane McMahon Street Fight! Edge winning the King of the Ring!

SummerSlam 2002 - HBK vs. Triple H in Shawn's return match, the street fight! BROCK FUCKING LESNAR winning his first WWE championship from The Rock!

Survivor Series 2002 - The first ever ELIMINATION CHAMBER! (Chamber! Chamber! chamber! chamber....)

WrestleMania XX - Benoit/Hunter/HBK! Benoit's first (second) WWE title win! Eddie/Angle! The Goldberg/Lesnar Crowd Fest!

And that list doesn't even include the house shows, RAWs and SmackDown!s I've been to.

Anyway, WrestleMania 22 was pretty great. Here's a short rundown and my thoughts. (Not everything is included.)

Rob Van Dam winning the Money in the Bank Ladder match, which he is rumored to use at ECW One Night Stand. Mr. Money In the Bank Rob Van Dam will be the WWE Champion come this June, mark my words.

Mick Foley vs. Edge is WWE's most brutal match to date. Forget the Cell, forget the Chamber. When you have flaming tables at a WWE event and someone goes through it, it's a special occasion.

Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus in what may have been the best WWE Women's match not only at WrestleMania, but in a VERY, VERY long time. Even though they botched the finish, it came out really well.

Triple H vs. John Cena was just fucking amazing, in more than one way. First we start of with the challenger, Triple H. The Game. The KING OF KINGS. And he comes out how? To a live Motorhead preformence? No. To some new music? Well, yeah, but right now it's only being used for his promos (yeah, the man gets a different theme for his promos). No no, the big thing was that he came out dressed as... THE KING OF KINGS!

Yes, Hunter came out dressed as the King of Kings, who is apparently Conan the Barbarian with a Nazi cross belt (which, by the way, shall forever be know as the Triple H belt). Don't you just love how he has the water bottle in all of the dress-up-itude?

Then there was John Cena, who came out dressed as the ORIGINAL GANGSTA, BOI-EEE! The real kicker, though, was before he came out he actually had one of those old 30s-like cars with some "gangsters" (one of them being OVW's CM Punk) who had Tommy Guns. And before that, they played a video about... THE GREAT DEPRESSION!

The match itself was really great too, but as we all expected, it wasn't because of the match itself (which was WAY above expectations) but because of the crowd! Much like Goldberg/Lesnar, the crowd ripped and shat on them. Man, I loved the minority of the crowd going "Let's go Cena!" and then the majority going "FUCK YOU CENA!".

Then there was the The Triple Threat (before the Cena/Hunter match, but I wanted to save this one for last) match in which we saw the midget, Rey Mysterio Jr. win the World's Heavyweight Championship. Now I've said this once, and I'll say it again. Rey deserved the championship. There is no doubt in my mind that Rey was going to be the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion one day. But not like this.

For those who don't know, Rey's best friend Eddie Gurerro died last year. Ever since then, Rey has been pushed to them moon. The entire story of Rey's WHC win was that he did it for Eddie. The problem is that it's not only clear to those of us who know about the "inside" of the business, but also to the more casual fans that Rey's only the champion because of Eddie. In my eyes, and a lot of other fan's eyes, Rey has sold out to become the WHC champion.

Again, there was no doubt in my mind that Rey was going to be the world champion one day, but I expected it to be for his accomplishments, his own destiny, not for being best friends of one of the greatest passed workers in the sport. Rey Mysterio should have said no the second he heard about the whole thing with he and Orton.

Overall, it was a great WrestleMania and I am not upset that I spent $50 to watch it live and that I'll spend another $20-$25 on the DVD, which will include the WWE Hall of Fame 2006 ceremony with Bret "The Hitman" Hart going in.

Comments can be made in this thread and or at this blog post.

04-12-2006, 04:45 PM	#1
Xero He's Here Posts: 60,735	WrestleMania 22: Midgets Ain't Just From Oz Anymore! Note: This was originally posted at my blog, but since I'm sure no one has read it, I'm reposting it here. If this gets a good response I may start a regular column. I know it's about two weeks late, but who gives a shit, right? So last (the Sunday before last) Sunday was WrestleMania 22. The Granddaddy of them all. The baby grandson of the Granddaddy of the Granddaddy of them all (WrestleMania 1, of course)! It was the first Pay Per View I paid to see on TV. Well, webcast, and the picture wasn't too shabby. I had been to many Pay Per Views in the past, live and in person. My list includes some of the "Who's Who" (or is that "What's What"?) of WWF events since 1997: SummerSlam 1997 - Mick Foley doing the leap off the cage! Bret Hart's 5th and final WWF Championship Win! SummerSlam 1998 - The Highway to Hell! Rock vs. Triple H in a ladder match! Stone Cold vs. The Undertaker in the main event! Royal Rumble 2000 - The Legendary Triple H vs. Cactus Jack Street Fight! The ROYAL FREAKIN' RUMBLE with the Double Elimination! The first ever WWF(E) Tables Match! King of the Ring 2001 - The Kurt Angle/Shane McMahon Street Fight! Edge winning the King of the Ring! SummerSlam 2002 - HBK vs. Triple H in Shawn's return match, the street fight! BROCK FUCKING LESNAR winning his first WWE championship from The Rock! Survivor Series 2002 - The first ever ELIMINATION CHAMBER! (Chamber! Chamber! chamber! chamber....) WrestleMania XX - Benoit/Hunter/HBK! Benoit's first (second) WWE title win! Eddie/Angle! The Goldberg/Lesnar Crowd Fest! And that list doesn't even include the house shows, RAWs and SmackDown!s I've been to. Anyway, WrestleMania 22 was pretty great. Here's a short rundown and my thoughts. (Not everything is included.) Rob Van Dam winning the Money in the Bank Ladder match, which he is rumored to use at ECW One Night Stand. Mr. Money In the Bank Rob Van Dam will be the WWE Champion come this June, mark my words. Mick Foley vs. Edge is WWE's most brutal match to date. Forget the Cell, forget the Chamber. When you have flaming tables at a WWE event and someone goes through it, it's a special occasion. Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus in what may have been the best WWE Women's match not only at WrestleMania, but in a VERY, VERY long time. Even though they botched the finish, it came out really well. Triple H vs. John Cena was just fucking amazing, in more than one way. First we start of with the challenger, Triple H. The Game. The KING OF KINGS. And he comes out how? To a live Motorhead preformence? No. To some new music? Well, yeah, but right now it's only being used for his promos (yeah, the man gets a different theme for his promos). No no, the big thing was that he came out dressed as... THE KING OF KINGS! Yes, Hunter came out dressed as the King of Kings, who is apparently Conan the Barbarian with a Nazi cross belt (which, by the way, shall forever be know as the Triple H belt). Don't you just love how he has the water bottle in all of the dress-up-itude? Then there was John Cena, who came out dressed as the ORIGINAL GANGSTA, BOI-EEE! The real kicker, though, was before he came out he actually had one of those old 30s-like cars with some "gangsters" (one of them being OVW's CM Punk) who had Tommy Guns. And before that, they played a video about... THE GREAT DEPRESSION! The match itself was really great too, but as we all expected, it wasn't because of the match itself (which was WAY above expectations) but because of the crowd! Much like Goldberg/Lesnar, the crowd ripped and shat on them. Man, I loved the minority of the crowd going "Let's go Cena!" and then the majority going "FUCK YOU CENA!". Then there was the The Triple Threat (before the Cena/Hunter match, but I wanted to save this one for last) match in which we saw the midget, Rey Mysterio Jr. win the World's Heavyweight Championship. Now I've said this once, and I'll say it again. Rey deserved the championship. There is no doubt in my mind that Rey was going to be the WWE or World Heavyweight Champion one day. But not like this. For those who don't know, Rey's best friend Eddie Gurerro died last year. Ever since then, Rey has been pushed to them moon. The entire story of Rey's WHC win was that he did it for Eddie. The problem is that it's not only clear to those of us who know about the "inside" of the business, but also to the more casual fans that Rey's only the champion because of Eddie. In my eyes, and a lot of other fan's eyes, Rey has sold out to become the WHC champion. Again, there was no doubt in my mind that Rey was going to be the world champion one day, but I expected it to be for his accomplishments, his own destiny, not for being best friends of one of the greatest passed workers in the sport. Rey Mysterio should have said no the second he heard about the whole thing with he and Orton. Overall, it was a great WrestleMania and I am not upset that I spent $50 to watch it live and that I'll spend another $20-$25 on the DVD, which will include the WWE Hall of Fame 2006 ceremony with Bret "The Hitman" Hart going in. Comments can be made in this thread and or at this blog post. Last edited by Xero; 04-12-2006 at 09:12 PM.