#1-Shawn Michaels v. The Undertaker WM 25
#2-The Rock v. Hollywood Hogan WM 18
#3-Diesel v. Shawn Michaels WM 11
#4-Steve Austin v. The Rock WM 19
#5-Ric Flair v. Macho Man Randy Savage WM 8
#1-Shawn Michaels v. The Undertaker WM 25
#2-The Rock v. Hollywood Hogan WM 18
#3-Diesel v. Shawn Michaels WM 11
#4-Steve Austin v. The Rock WM 19
#5-Ric Flair v. Macho Man Randy Savage WM 8
Interesting topic, will have to take a look.
I do think the right match did main event 19 though. The others I can't really disagree with.
i agree 100% with the Savage/Flair and HBK/Taker.. i think for the longest while Vince wanted World Title matches headlining...
Rock v. Hogan had a great story that the fans wanted to see, but the whole build was Rocky as face and Hogan heel, or at least both faces. Rocky understood how to read a crowd as did Hogan, so Rocky went heel, and they gave the crowd what they wanted. I am not sure if it would have worked as well - or if they would have made that change - if the crowd was already worn out and they were on last.
Keep in mind while discussing, this is obviously with the benefit of hindsight for some of these matches.
WM 19 for example I felt like had we known that was going to be Austin's last official match it should've gone on last. Just like with Rock/Hogan, had we known just how legendary that match was going to be it would've been a great closer.
Ultimately Vince has rarely put on non-title matches as the main event for Mania. They did it at WM 1 but since then we've only had a handful of non-title main event matches. Probably why I could only think of 3 non-title matches that could've gone on last over the World title(s).
I think the crowd was already drained due to Hogan/Rock going on 3rd to last. It wasn't a very long ppv, only 4 out of the 11 matches on the ppv went over 10 minutes and none of them were longer than 20.Originally Posted by 3puppies
Personally I wasn't a fan of Jericho v. Triple H. You knew who was going to win as soon as Triple H returned for the Rumble. Hogan-Rock was a coin toss, would Hogan job his first match back or was Rock finally going to get a W after losing most of his matches at Mania.
With 8 it could be argued. But with Hogan announcing it was his last match, plus warrior returning no way was Vince going to put title Match last.
I though 18, 19 and 25 had the right match.
I definitely think Diesel vs Michaels should have headlined 11.
I definitely think Flair should have headlined 8 too.
Just to add to the list Hbk vs Diesel should have went last as well.
Flair-Savage main eventing is a toss up but ultimately for me if I could change it I would put them on last. Simply because nothing came of Sid v. Hogan. There was all that shit that happened with Sid not selling the finish, then out comes Shango and the return of Warrior. So I get why it went on last it's just unfortunate not a damn thing positive came from it. It's crazy to think how much the landscape in the WWF changes every other year in the 90's. Especially between WM 8 and WM 10. The old guard is pretty much a non-factor by the time we get to Mania 10.
Only one I disagree with is WM19, it wasn’t advertised as a retirement match, it wasn’t a championship match and it didn’t steal the show. And it was better for Brock to get the big WM moment to solidify him as the future even though he left a year later.
In hindsight knowing what you know now, would you have put it on last? You make a great point about it being a big moment for Lesnar, solidifying his status.
That's kinda complicated, I didn't care for that match at all but maybe if I knew it was his last match or it had a career ending gimmick attached to it maybe it would of been a better to me. But based on it being the 3rd time for Rock/Austin and it not being particularly memorable to me I'd probably stick with Angle/Brock.
It was a good card, I could see people arguing for any match to main event, but I agree with you.
Any of the final 5 could have main evented 19. With the acception of booker vs hhh unless booker went over. But I do agree as soon as you do a part 3 at mania it loses it's main event appeal. Especially since rock was also busy with hurricane on raw at the time. Plus the formula at the time for the most part was you win the rumble, you are in the final match.
Also I could see savage vs flair not main eventing was only because I would not want to see mania ending with a promo of flair complaining about losing with a handful of tights.
But since the argument of rock vs stone cold is there, what about hbk vs flair going last for the same reason only difference was we knew it was his final.
Last edited by Bluegunn; June 2nd, 2021 at 12:55 AM.
I don't know if I could see Jericho v. HBK as the headliner of WM 19. Fast forward to short hair Jericho as World champion then you're taking my money easily.
Would we have seen that promo from Flair? I think it would've ended with Savage and Liz celebrating.
I think HBK v. Flair could've worked the same way HBK v. Taker at Mania 26 worked. Did we honestly think Shawn was going to end the Streak? Naw. If WCW were around this was Starrcade it would have been the main event and probably for the title lol. Mania 24 didn't have a ton of great top tier matches but those 2 World title matches were pretty strong as well.
HBK vs Taker did close the show though was my point.
To have Macho main event I think they might have to change the finish to a clean one. You don't want your main event ending in a roll up of death. Let alone with a hand full of tights.
I think Austin Rock was supposed to be last originally but they switched if after Austin was hospitalised the night before.
Well this is Vince we are talking about. The ideas switch constantly. Im sure he was considering having his match go last.
SD Jones vs King Kong Bundy WM 1
Shouldn’t it be that way?
Another reason for Hogan and Rock to go last at X-8 was that the build to HHH Vs Stephanie, sorry, Jericho, was utter garbage.
I think if pro wrestling was legit, yes. The fact it's scripted gives it leeway in that dept. Personally I think that there are only a handful of non-title matches that should've headlined Mania or any ppv.
I didn't want Rock/Hogan last, but I will say it looks really stupid that it wasn't last when the poster and the tagline are all about that match. It seems like it was the most heavily hyped up match for something that was not even the main event.
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