WrestleMania 13

Legacy Review

WrestleMania 13

March 23, 1997 from the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Fans often debate when the Attitude Era formally started. It's been generally held that Wrestlemania 14 a year after this, when Austin won the WWF Title for the first time, was the start. That shortchanges 1997 though, a plenty Attitudeish year highlighted by the continued rise of Austin, the formation of DX, the DX vs Hart Foundation feud and the almost total erasure of real life/work lines in the Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels feud. The early groundwork for the Attitude Era was clearly being laid as early as late '96, with shows like Survivor Series '96 having a very Attitude feel. Also '97, to me, is the best year of the entire era, or at worst neck and neck with 2000. For all these reasons, I am planting my flag on the hill right now that this show right here, Wrestlemania 13, is the true start of the Attitude Era. I'll hold it with a couple of slingshots, a PEZ dispenser, and the Funniest Joke in the World if I have to.

 

Four Way Elimination Match for the #1 Contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headbangers def The Godwinns (w/Hillbilly Jim), The New Blackjacks and Doug Furnas & Phil LaFon in 10:39- The winners of this match get a title shot the next night on Raw, because during the Monday Night Wars weekly ratings pops were as good as PPV buys. It's team elimination rules, meaning if one member is eliminated the whole team is gone. The Headbangers, one of the quintessential teams of the Attitude Era, debuted earlier in the year and were an instant hit with the teenage audience. Their in-ring work left a lot to be desired, but they're hardly alone in that among stars of this era. The New Blackjacks are young Bradshaw (future JBL) and late career Barry Windham cosplaying as his dad. They even show footage of the original Blackjacks from the '70s before the match in a nice touch. The Blackjacks jump everyone during their entrance and it's on. Things settle in with Bradshaw and Henry Godwinn. Henry tags Thrasher, showing the rule that anyone can tag anyone. Bradshaw hits a pumphandle slam. Phineas gets a backdrop on Thrasher....then tags in Mosh! The Headbangers play around a bit before tagging in LaFon and going to work on him. LaFon gets a northern lights suplex on Windham for 2. Frankensteiner for 2. Windham catches LaFon leapfrogging and powerslams him for 2. Blackjacks double shoulderblock. LaFon ducks a clothesline from hell (don't think that's what it was yet but Bradshaw swung hard enough for it to be) and dropkicks Bradshaw to the floor. The Blackjacks work together to suplex LaFon over the top down to the floor. Furnas comes over and all four guys brawl on the floor. Bradshaw pushes Hebner down in the middle of it. It's either a double DQ or double countout, commentary is unclear on it, but regardless both teams are gone. The Godwinns work Mosh over. Er, Thrasher. They look so damn alike it's like they're twins. Even commentary isn't sure which is which. Henry runs into Thrasher hard in the corner, which looked either unplanned or maybe even a little stiff lesson for the kid. Thrasher no sells Phineas headbutts. They spit at each other and slug it out. Mosh tags in. Henry Cactus Clothesline! Mosh hits a springboard crossbody to the apron. Headbanger rocket launcher to the floor. Thrasher takes forever getting Henry in position then misses a moonsault. Hot tag to Phineas. The slop drop is broken up. DONNYBROOK! Mosh hits a butt splash off the top rope for the pin. That was a match that existed. *1/2

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: Rocky Maivia (c) def The Sultan (w/The Iron Sheik and Mr. Bob Backlund) in 9:47- The Honky Tonk Man comes out first and joins commentary. Sultan is the future Rikishi in a mask with an Abdullah the Butcher ripoff gimmick. He and Sheik are a logical pair, but why Backlund's there I have no idea. This is the Rock's first Wrestlemania, still in his "super rookie" push that the crowd was increasingly wanting nothing to do with. And tonight they're in Chicago. This matchup alone reeks of desperation trying to get the crowd to cheer Rocky. Staredown and shoving at the start. Sultan hits a shoulderblock and Rocky kips up. A clothesline and dropkicks send Sultan to the floor. It's a wonder Rocky hits anything the way he does his dropkicks. Okada he is not. Rocky teases a dive but doesn't do it while the "Rocky sucks" chants start up. Rocky goes to the floor and gets posted. HTM is shouting his head off on commentary. Some poor audio engineer is probably having a hell of a time keeping the levels straight. Back in Sultan does some generic heel beatdown stuff and hooks on a nerve pinch to more "Rocky sucks" chants. Headbutt off the top from Sultan and he plays to the crowd instead of covering. Finally he does an arrogant one hand cover for 2. Rocky gets a sunset flip. Sultan pulls him up by the throat. Belly to belly suplex for 2. To the chinlock! The crowd really starts shitting on the match. Rock fights out and they do a double clothesline. Slow Rocky cover for 2. He starts hulking up off Sultan punches and goes into comeback mode. He doesn't have much to offer but punches and another crappy dropkick. Rocky belly to belly for 2. He spins around into a DDT. Crossbody off the top. Sheik distracts the ref. Sultan superkick for 2. Piledriver for 2. Rock rolls Sultan up and that gets a 3 count. Terrible match, dumb ending. There's no reason in the world not to let the top rope crossbody be the finish and you could still do the angle after. 1/2*

Sultan beats Rocky down with the belt after the bell. Sheik locks in the camel clutch (with Rock helping him by putting one of his own arms in). Rocky's daddy Rocky Johnson comes in to save him but gets beat down too. Rocky junior finally chases the heels off. Old man Sheik takes a couple of slams. That didn't do a thing to help with Rock's crowd rejection problems. Fortunately they were starting to realize that and a course correction was on the horizon.

Triple H is backstage and tells us we don't need to know anything about the recently debuted Chyna. He's slowly morphing into Game/DX Trips.

 

Hunter Hearst Helmsely (w/Chyna) def Goldust (w/Marlena) in 14:29- Putting a bow on this long running feud. Goldust crouches down and is in no rush to start....until he springs up with a clothesline! Pillar to post beating on HHH. He gives Trips a huge inverted atomic drop and clotheslines him to the floor. HHH is in super selling mode already. He gets tied up in the ropes and Goldust works him over. A kick finally gets him free. Goldust gives him a post shot and clotheslines him back in from the apron. HHH counters a backdrop with a facebuster for some breathing room but runs into a Goldust powerslam. HHH sets Goldust up top but Goldust blocks a superplex. HHH drops him down to the floor! Ax handle off the top rope back in. HHH opens Goldust's body suit and chops his bare chest, then stomps him down in the corner. Hard buckle shots and HHH swinging neckbreaker for 2. Abdominal stretch. HHH tries for rope leverage but the ref instantly catches him. Speed run and HHH high knee for 2. HHH tries to muscle Goldust down for a leverage pin but ends up getting crotched on Goldust's knees. HHH suplex and kneedrop. Lawler keeps reaching for movie based jokes but like a poor marksman just KEEPS MISSING THE TARGET (bonus points to anyone that knows what movie that's from). Goldust gets his second wind and gives HHH a corner beatdown. HHH DDT. Goldust backslide and small package for 2. Crossbody for 2. Midring collision. Trips comes off the top rope but falls into Goldust's ass. That didn't come off so great. Goldust dodges and Trips runs into the corner. Trips flip! Bulldog! Cover for a long 2. Chyna, who'd been standing in place like a statue the whole match, starts moving toward Marlena. HHH flips out of the Curtain Call and sets up the Pedigree. Goldust counters and slingshots him into the ropes. He hooks in the Curtain Call again, but sees Chyna bothering Marlena. Goldust goes over and lifts Marlena onto the apron. HHH knee to the back! Marlena falls into Chyna's arms! Chyna swings her around in a bear hug like a doll! Pedigree! It's over. Solid enough. Both guys were trying hard. Triple H is starting to show signs of developing into a pretty good worker. **1/4

Shawn Michaels tries to use a laptop backstage, setting off a whole batch of memes in the future. Still can't find his smile, though.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith & The Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart (c) and Mankind & Vader (w/Paul Bearer) double countout in 16:08- Bulldog is also the inaugural European champion, having defeated Owen for it in a classic on Raw. Problems between the tag champs continue to be teased. Owen also has two Slammys now, back then the Slammys were held on WM weekend like the Hall of Fame is now. This match is heel vs heel so it's hard for the crowd to get into anything, though they want Bulldog to turn face as had been teased for a while. Lots of interesting histories with the participants too. Vader was with Owen and Bulldog in Jim Cornette's stable earlier in his WWF run, and Vader also had big main event level feuds with both Bulldog and Mankind (as Cactus Jack) in WCW. Owen and Vader start. Vader backs him straight into the corner and starts laying in the potato shots. Owen slides under Vader and hits a clothesline. After some dodges he also hits a spinning heel kick. Vader catches Owen on a crossbody and slams him. Owen dodges an elbow drop. He hops on Vader trying for a hurricanrana, but Vader grabs him and powerbombs him. He sets Owen up for an early Vader bomb. Bulldog cuts it off. Mankind comes in and we're donnybrooking early. Bulldog gives the heels a double clothesline. Owen hits them both with a shotgun dropkick. Bulldog delayed suplex on Mankind. Vader comes in and Bulldog suplexes him too. The crowd chants for Bulldog. Vader pulls the top rope down and Bulldog crashes to the floor. He dodges an urn shot from Mankind, but Vader comes from behind and pops him with it. Vader suplex back in for 2. More corner potatoes. Avalanche. Splash off the second rope for 2. Mankind hits the running corner knee. Vader tackle. Tag. Owen hits a missile dropkick and crossbody off the top for 2. Then runs right into a Vader tackle. The crowd, like usual with a smarter/smarkier crowd when he's on form like this, starts to get behind Vader a bit. The heels hit a Decapitation Device on the floor, with Mankind doing the Cactus Elbow. Owen and Mankind have an apron suplex standoff. Mankind snaps Owen's throat over the top rope instead. Vince mentions that the Hart parents are here, which is like freaking catnip for Lawler to go into his 20 pages of Stu and Helen Hart jokes. Owen's beat down on the floor in front of his parents. Well, they disowned him when he turned heel and feuded with Bret so how much do they really care? Back in Owen gets a DDT counter. He goes for a splash but Mankind gets his knees up. Owen Bret bump! He pops out with a spinning heel kick! The tag is cut off and Vader pummels Owen. Owen slips out of a suplex and hits another spinning kick on Vader. He can't follow up and Vader drops an elbow in his back. He gets tossed to the floor again. Owen snap belly to belly suplex on Mankind on the floor! They go back in and Mankind tries to stop the tag. Enzuguri! Tag! Bulldog runs wild. Vader's mask is off. Mankind gets run hard into the corners. Bulldog sets up the powerslam. Mandible Claw! Vader cuts Owen off, but Vader's tackle sends Owen into Bulldog and Mankind. They fall to the floor. Mankind gets the Claw on again! Bulldog goes out and they both get counted out. They were going pretty good before the non-finish. Supposedly the original plan was for Vader and Mankind to win the titles and for Bulldog to complete his face turn by turning on Owen. But, Bret asked Vince not to do it and to put Bulldog and Owen with him as part of the new, heel Hart Foundation stable after his own turn later in the night. In retrospect, Bret was right. **3/4

Recap of the long Austin/Bret feud, which in many ways was the initial catalyst for the Attitude Era. After losing the WWF Title to Sid on the Raw after the last In Your House Bret went off on a tirade on Vince, naming him the owner of WWF on WWF TV for the first time and dropping non-PG words all over the place. It was the start of the setup that would become the Mr. McMahon character, Austin's nemesis, as well as presaged the real life argument Bret and Vince would have following the next Survivor Series.

 

Submission Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart def "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in 22:05- UFC fighter turned budding pro wrestler Ken Shamrock is the guest ref for this match, and he does a fine job in it. Austin gets his iconic entrance where the glass "Austin 3:16" pane shatters in the entrance tunnel exit. Vince treats Austin like a face on his entrance while commenting on how much Bret has changed. The word "whiner" is used several times. Austin tackles Bret before the bell and it's on! They brawl on the mat and roll to the floor still fighting. Austin gets posted. Bret gets crotched on the rail. Austin clotheslines him off it into the crowd! They go up into the crowd! They stop and brawl at the end of the floor section. Austin tries to grab a drink tray but the arena worker won't cooperate. They keep going up the stands. Bret backdrops out of a piledriver on the steps! They head back down after that and Bret tosses Austin back over the rail, climbs the rail and drops a fist on him. That segment went so well that the "all arena crowd brawl" would become a mandatory spot in most every PPV main event match for the next few years. Bret gets whipped into the stairs. Double middle finger and Austin forearm off the apron. Austin lifts the stairs but Bret cuts him off. They finally get back in the ring. Bret gets a swinging neckbreaker. Elbow off the second rope to the back of Austin's head. He starts working on Austin's bum knee. Shamrock asks Austin if he gives up and Austin flips him off. Guess that's a no. Austin dodges one of Bret's knee shots. Stunner! Bret gets back up first and kicks Austin's leg out of his leg again. Figure four wraparound on the post! Bret gets the ring bell. And a chair. He puts the chair around Austin's leg. The term "Pillmanized" had just been invented thanks to Austin doing this to Brian Pillman. Austin takes the chair off, gets up and knocks Bret off the top rope with the chair! Another hard chairshot to Bret's back. Suplex. Austin with an elbow off the second rope. Gut stomp. Oh, he's going through Bret's moveset as an extra insult. Yup, there's a Russian leg sweep. He hooks on a Boston Crab. Bret gets to the ropes. Austin slowly, deliberately and with great amusement starts putting Bret in a Sharpshooter. Bret eye rakes before he can hook it on. Austin tosses Bret to the floor. Floor whip reversal and Austin crashes into the timekeeper's area! Officials are down like bowling pins! Austin hit his head on the guardrail and got busted open. He's bleeding all over the place. Bret gives him stair and post shots. Back in we get a close up of all the blood on Austin's face. They're not shying away from it now. It's a new era. Bret backbreaker/elbow off the second rope combo. He gets the chair and rams it into Austin's knee! He goes for the Sharpshooter. Austin takes his turn to eye poke out. Bret beats Austin down in the corner. Austin kicks him squire in the nuts! Bret bump! Austin lets him know about it and stomps a mudhole in him. Superplex! Austin gets a TV cord and wraps it around Bret's throat. Before he can do anything serious Bret grabs the bell, which had been laying in the ring this whole time, and whacks Austin with it! Sharpshooter! Austin fights it and refuses to quit. Blood is dripping down his face. He starts going out but gives it one last push....which pushes Bret down but doesn't fully break the hold. Bret pulls back again! Austin's still fighting. The blood is really pouring now, all the way into Austin's mouth. But he's out of options and slowly goes down and out. Shamrock asks him if he gives up, demands a response, and when he doesn't get one calls for the bell. Bret wins, but Austin passed out and never actually gave up. Bret is not satisfied but celebrates anyway while Austin is still out on the mat. Bret attacks Austin again! Shamrock grabs him and throws him! Shamrock wants to fight.....but Bret walks away and is quite literally booed out of the building. Turn complete. Meanwhile a ref makes the mistake of trying to help Austin up and gets Stunnered. Austin flops out of the ring and walks back under his own power to an arena full of "Austin" chants. Other turn complete. This was as perfect a piece of professional wrestling as you will ever see. It's a no brainer full monty match and remains one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches of all time. Mandatory viewing for any fan. *****

The blood stains on the ring mat stay for the rest of the show. No replacement mats back then. During a good chunk of the next match there's a towel in the ring that they used to try to clean the worst of it up. During the next match's intros Vince announces Wrestlemania 14 in Boston. Tickets are NOT on sale yet! Do not call trying to find them!

 

Chicago Street Fight: Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom def The Nation of Domination (w/more Nation) in 10:46- The LOD made their big WWF return right after the last In Your House and quickly joined Johnson in his gang warfare against the Nation. Being Chicago wrestling royalty they get their usual big hometown pop, but it still might not have been as big as Austin's. Vince comments that the Nation came in with everything but the kitchen sink. Then Hawk brings the kitchen sink. Fantastic. Too bad it's never actually used in the match. The whole match is pure street fighting chaos with stuff going on everywhere. The brawl starts before the bell even rings. The faces clear the ring. The Nation goons all try to get involved and get tossed around. Clarence Mason even gets taken out. "Mason's been debriefed! He needs a sidebar and a doctor!" is a great JR line. The fight goes to the floor. Faarooq takes trash can shots. Johnson dives over the rail both directions, which pretty much blows him up for the rest of the match. Hawk swings the 2x4 around in the ring. Animal tries to piledrive Faarooq on the French announce table but they lose their balance and fall off. Crush and Vega get the edge in the ring while Faarooq takes a fire extinguisher blast in the face on the floor. The giant stadium parking sign the Nation brought, which has to be a good six feet tall, gets set up in the ring and Hawk is run into it. Johnson slams Faarooq through the French table to make up for the lost spot earlier. Animal wails on Vega with a trash can. The Nation has a lynching noose and puts it on Johnson. Vega finds Marlena's chair under the ring. Animal hits Faarooq with the giant parking sign. Hawk gets the noose put on him. Crush has SHO's wrench. The Nation goons gang up on Johnson. Hawk uses the noose to pull Faarooq off the second rope down to the floor. They get the noose on Faarooq. The Nation saves him. LOD Doomsday Device on Crush! He gets run into the 2x4 and Hawk covers him for the pin. The fight continues after the bell. D'Lo Brown, one of the Nation goons at the time, takes Johnson's Pearl River Plunge. A couple of other goons get double Doomsday Deviced. Fun chaos and at the time this was a very unique style match that hadn't been seen much. ***

Shawn comes out to join commentary for the main event, taking forever with the crowd.

 

No DQ Match for the WWF Championship: The Undertaker def Sycho Sid (c) in 21:20- Taker's main eventing WM for the first time. He's wearing his classic gray gear from his early years tonight, a nice touch. They go nose to nose. Bret Hart is out and in the ring. He takes a mic. First he goes after Shawn and his "pussy injury", then tells Taker they're done after Taker slammed a cage door on him, and finally tells Sid that's his belt and everyone knows it. Sid punches and powerbombs him! Officials carry Bret out while Shawn laughs at him. Taker ambushes Sid from behind. He gets a boot up in the corner and pummels Sid. Avalanche. Old school. Sid catches another avalanche and puts Taker in a bear hug, then proceeds to spend the next 5 minutes killing the match stone dead. When Taker finally gets out he runs into a big boot and goes 360 to the floor. Sid pushes him into Spanish commentary! It's Wrestlemania, they have to take their bumps. Taker gets slammed on the Spanish table, which tips over instead of breaking. Taker gets a couple of shots back in and Sid looks like he has no interest in selling anything properly tonight. Sid hooks on a camel clutch. Double ax handle off the second rope. Taker fights back and Sid continues to be in Giant Gonzales selling mode. Sid powerslam for 2. Legdrop for 2. Taker flying clothesline. They go back to the floor and Sid gets tossed over the rail. Slugfest over the rail. Taker misses an elbow drop in the ring and Sid goes right to the inevitable chinlock. Taker hits rapid fire strikes to get out and a powerslam. Then he gets in the resthold game with a Nerve Pinch of Time Killing +1. Double big boot! OK, that was cool. More Sid coming off the second rope. Taker finally catches him but gets slammed again. Sid goes up top. Taker sits up, crotches him and slams him off the top. Silly people, thinking Sid might actually do a superplex. Please. Taker clothesline off the top for 2. He calls for the tombstone. Sid reverses it! Sid tombstone! Taker kicks out! They go out and brawl on the floor again. Bret's back. He whacks Sid in the back with a chair! Officials escort him out again. Taker posts Sid's back. Choke slam! Sid kicks out! On a speed run Sid ducks and Taker.....flips over him and falls. What the hell was that supposed to be? Sid sets up the powerbomb. And Bret's here yet again. Sid attacks him on the apron. Taker comes from behind, scoops him up, and hits the tombstone! Hebner does his super slow count. Taker gets the pin and the title! This was a very long awaited title win for Taker, his second and first since late 1991. Really you can call it Taker's first proper world title win, when he won it in '91 it was only as part of an elaborate series of moves to get the belt on Ric Flair without him wrestling Hulk Hogan directly for it. Now he's finally getting a chance to run with the ball. He also goes to 6-0 at WM. It's a great moment, but this is easily one of the worst WM main events ever that all the overbooking in the world couldn't save. Thanks, Sid. 3/4*

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Pretty much a one match show. Outside Bret/Austin this is down in WM 2, 9 and 11 territory among the worst ever, but that one match is an all time classic that everyone needs to see at least once in their lives. Undertaker's title win is also a really good and historic moment despite the awfulness of the match.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-