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By Wade Keller, Torch editor

KELLER'S WWF WRESTLEMANIA X-5 REPORT
MARCH 28, 1999
LIVE FROM PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Howard Finkle opened the show by introducing Boys to Men who sang the National Anthem. A feature aired, narrated by Freddie Blassie, previewing the event in a low-key, classy fashion. Fireworks then shot off near the big WrestleMania logo in the entryway. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler introduced the program as the camera panned the sellout crowd.

(1) Bob Holly pinned Al Snow (w/Head) at 7:10 to capture the WWF Hardcore Title in a three-way match with "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn. As Gunn began his mic work, Snow attacked him from behind. Holly helped Gunn take Snow down, but then Holly attacked Gunn. Gunn took a Michaels/Hennig '80s style exaggerated flip bump off of a Holly clothesline. At ringside Snow rammed Holly head-first into the ringside table. Snow reverse-whipped Gunn at ringside and Gunn took a flip bump over the stairs. Holly threw Snow into the railing at ringside, then suplexed him on the mat at ringside at 1:50. The body of the match saw Snow use broom sticks and hockey sticks as weapons against Holly and Gunn. At 5:30 Snow KO'd Holly and Gunn with Head. Gunn KO'd Holy with a stiff chairshot at 6:30. Gunn then threw Snow into a table propped in the corner. The table broke in half. Gunn played to the crowd. Gunn then gave Snow the Famouser (RockerDropper) on a chair. When Gunn covered Snow, Holly nailed Gunn with a chair to the back. Holly then covered Snow and got the three count. There was nothing wrong with the match, but also nothing special given how commonplace "hardcore" style brawls have become. (*3/4)

(2) Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) beat Test & D-Lo Brown (w/Ivory) when Jarrett pinned D-Lo at 3:57 to retain the WWF Tag Team Titles. Cole pointed out this was Owen's tenth Wrestlemania appearance. He said that Owen considers Jarrett the best tag partner he's ever had (i.e. better than Bret Hart and British Bulldog). D-Lo appears to have gained some weight which may be why he looked a step slower than just a few months ago. D-Lo hit the Lo-Down on Jarrett at 3:30. Owen stopped the pin attempt. Debra then got on the ring apron to distract D-Lo. Ivory yanked Debra to the floor. PMS then came to ringside. D-Lo set Jarrett up for a piledriver, but Owen surprised D-Lo with a dropkick off the top rope. Jarrett flipped over D-Lo and scored the pin. Nice finish. D-Lo yelled at Test after the match for being distracted by the women and not being there to save him. Okay match, but not long enough to develop into anything substantial. (*1/2)

They showed Isaac Hayes at ringside. The Greenwich Posse were then shown sitting in front of him wearing their pastel sweater vests.

A feature aired before the Brawl for All match including predictions by some boxing names. Former boxer Rocky Fratto predicted Bart in two rounds. Larry Scott, Bart's training partner, predicted a second round stoppage in favor of Bart. Ray Rinaldi, Gunn's trainer, said Bart would catch Butterbean in the first or second round. They replayed Bart's "Brawl for All" wins. Vinny Pazienza was introduced as special referee. Kevin Rooney, Chuck Wepner, and Gorilla Monsoon were introduced as judges. It was Monsoon's first TV appearance since losing a lot of weight during his health problems. He got a nice ovation from the crowd.

(3) Butterbean knocked out Bart Gunn at 0:35 of the first round in a "Brawl for All" match. As Bart came to the ring, Cole reminded viewers he knocked out Bradshaw, Godfather, and Steve Williams. Cole talked up Bart's "deadly left hand." The match rules would have allowed Bart to try to take Butterbean down, but instead Bart chose to begin by exchanging punches. Butterbean missed with a big right roundhouse punch in the first second of the match, but popped Bart in the chin with a left. Bart spun around, more surprised than hurt. Bart went for a left, but Butterbean easily ducked it and punched Bart in the stomach, then missed with a left. Bart missed with a left, but Butterbean hit him with two punches to the stomach. Butterbean nailed Bart with another right to the ribs, sending Bart backward a couple of feet. Bart dropped his left hand to protect his body, then threw a left jab. Butterbean threw a right roundhouse that knocked Bart backward into the ropes. He then nailed Bart with a hard roundhouse to the chin that sent Bart to the ground. Bart immediately sat up, but didn't stand until a few seconds later. Bart told the ref he could still fight. Bart didn't look confident. He stepped toward Butterbean, threw a left jab without much authority. Butterbean stepped away from it and threw a devastating right punch that knocked Bart completely out and prompted a gasp from the crowd. He fell to the mat on his back as Butterbean celebrated. Within 20 seconds Bart was conscious, sitting up in his corner. Monsoon joined the trainers in checking on his condition. A minute later Bart was on his feet, but he didn't seem to be aware of where he was or what happened given his facial expression. Then again, he might have just been disappointed in his showing or shocked at how easily he lost.

The "World Famous Chicken" (former San Diego Chicken) came to the ring and mocked ref Vinny Pazienza. Pazienza punched out the Chicken.

(4) Mankind beat Paul Wight via DQ at 6:50. Fans chanted "Foley, Foley" as he threw an early barrage of punches at Wight. They fought at ringside where Wight threw Mankind into the stairs. Mankind bumped backward and landed awkwardly on the back of his neck. Wight continued on offense until he missed a punch and his momentum flipped him over the top rope. Mankind pulled Socko out of the front of his sweat pants (sweat being the key word). As Wight returned to the ring, Mankind went for the Mandible Claw. Wight escaped the first two attempts, but Mankind got it locked on the third time thanks in part to a low kick at 3:30. At 4:25 Wight escaped the claw by rising to his feet and then leaping backward, crushing Mankind between him and the mat. It actually rivaled the bumps off the top of the cage in terms of how painful it looked. There was no way to break the fall and you don't know until you try it if it will break ribs. The gasp from the crowd was on the same level as the Butterbean KO. The camera got close to Mankind who sounded like he was choking or coughing up a lung. Wight kicked Mankind to the floor and nailed him with a stiff chairshot to the back. He threw Wight back into the ring, then set up two chairs. He chokeslammed Mankind onto the chairs (actually, Mankind barely grazed them because they were set too far apart). The ref called for the bell. It didn't make sense that the ref didn't allow that, but did allow the ringside chairshot. Wight hit Mankind with a few more chairshots. The match was structured well given Wight's limitations. (**)

Vince McMahon walked to the ring. He told Wight to stay in the ring because he had something to say to him. Cole said the master plan had just fallen apart. After brow-beating Wight, Vince said, "I'm Vince McMahon and you're a nobody." Wight picked up Vince for a chokeslam, but thought better of it and set him down. Vince looked scared and relieved. Vince told him not to be so hot-tempered and told him again he is a nobody. He slapped him. Wight quickly punched Vince who fell to the mat like Bart Gunn. Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco quickly checked on McMahon, who wasn't moving. A minute later they helped McMahon walk to the back. McMahon was humiliated he was "just knocked on his ass" at Wrestlemania. Mankind, meanwhile, was stretchered to the back. Backstage, Vince told the Stooges to get him a cell phone so he could call the police and have Wight arrested for assault.

(5) Road Dogg pinned Val Venis at 9:47 in a four-way match with Goldust (w/Blue Meanie, Ryan Shamrock) and Ken Shamrock to capture the Intercontinental Title. The elimination match rules allowed only two men in the ring at a time, but anyone could tag anyone at any time. Ryan yapped at brother Ken at ringside. Val slidekicked Ken and brawled to the back for a double countout at 8:25. That left Goldust and Road Dogg to fight. Shamrock, though, didn't like the call and gave them two suplexes before leaving the ring. Ryan accidentally tripped Goldust after Road Dogg reversed a Goldust whip into the ropes. Road Dogg turned a powerslam attempt by Goldust into a DDT-type move and pinned Goldust. Nice finishing move. There was non-stop action and a number of crowd pleasing spots, but not much of a storyline developed because of the frequent tags. (**)

They showed Wight being arrested and taken away by police. There were about a dozen officers, an apparent spoof of the number of officers who were called to the hotel when Wight was accused of harassing a woman last year.

Before the match, as Kane made his way to the ring, the Famous Chicken attacked Kane. Kane took off the mascot's head and revealed Pete Rose underneath. Kane tombstoned him in the ring, the second year in a row Rose took that bump. Funny cameo.

(6) Hunter Hearst Helmsley pinned Kane at 11:30. Hunter entered the ring from the opposite side of the entryway, attacking Kane from behind. They brawled at ringside and both took some good bumps. Better action than you'd expect, but expectations were low. Kane hit a chokeslam. Chyna entered the ring and hit Kane with a chair. Hunter then gave a staggering and stunned Kane a Pedigree on a chair and scored the pin. Chyna jumped into Hunter's arms. (**)

Kevin Kelly interviewed Vince regarding who would replace the hospitalized Mankind as special guest ref. Vince said he would. His delivery was way over the top.

(7) Sable pinned Tori at 5:05 to retain the WWF Women's Title. Before the match Sable did her hip gyration routine just like Rick Rude. Tori wore an airbrushed bodysuit just like Rick Rude. At 3:40 Tori bodyblocked the ref when Sable moved out of the way. Tori set up a piledriver at which point Nicole Bass entered the ring. She press-dropped Tori. Sable thanked Nicole for her help, swivelled her hips again, then hit the Sablebomb and scored the pin. Ter-ri-ble. Sable's heel persona is as annoying as Sunny's. (neg. **)

(8) Shane McMahon pinned X-Pac at 8:39 to retain the European Title when Hunter turned on X-Pac. Before the match Kelly interviewed DX. Hunter said Chyna has come home and DX is together again. The Stooges attacked X-Pac before the match, but he easily fended them off. Shane taunted X-Pac from ringside. When he finally entered the ring, he mockingly did the crane kick from the Karate Kid movie. When X-Pac moved toward him, he bailed out of the ring. In the first exchange, Shane did a leapfrog, but as he gloated, X-Pac hit him with a wheelkick. He chased Shane down the aisle and dragged him back to the ring. Test attacked X-Pac and rammed him crotch-first into the post. At 2:10 X-Pac returned to the ring. Shane threw some knees and then whipped him with a belt. X-Pac backdropped Shane over the top rope and Shane took a nice bump to the floor. X-Pac hit a plancha on Shane at ringside and sent him into the Greenwich Posse in the front row. Test then hit X-Pac from behind. When Shane climbed to the top rope, X-Pac dropkicked him so Shane straddled the top turnbuckle. X-Pac hit a superplex, fended off Test again, then hit a series of kicks in the corner followed by the Bronco Buster for a huge pop. Test KO'd X-Pac with the title belt while the ref was tending to Shane. A groggy Shane draped his arm over X-Pac for a two count. X-Pac made a comeback, but Test interfered again. That brought Hunter to the ring. X-Pac hit the X-Factor and was ready to score the pin, but Hunter entered the ring and gave X-Pac the Pedigree, turning heel. Bad Ass and Road Dog made the save, but not before Shane covered X-Pac for the win. The lights went out and Kane came to the ring. Hunter, Test, Chyna, and Shane fled. Good match. Shane held up his end well and everything X-Pac did had credibility despite his green opponent. (**3/4)

(9) Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) pinned Big Bossman at 9:45 in a Hell in a Cell. They exchanged punches and powermoves in the ring for two minutes, then whipped each other into the cage at ringside. Bossman handcuffed Undertaker to the cage. He then nailed Undertaker with his night stick. When Undertaker fell to the ground, the handcuffs broke. He also visually bladed. He made a comeback and rammed Bossman into the cage. Bossman bladed. Undertaker walked the top rope, but Bossman yanked him off. A minute later Bossman escaped one tombstone, but not a second attempt. Clean pin, but ordinary match. After the match, The Brood came down from the ceiling on ropes and landed on top of the cage. They dropped a noose into the cage. Undertaker then hung Bossman from the roof of the cage. Intense imagery, but too far-fetched even for a wrestling angle. (*1/2)

(10) Steve Austin pinned The Rock at 16:51 to capture the WWF Title after a Stone Cold Stunner. (See cover for match details.) Before the match Michael Cole introduced Jim Ross as the announcer for the main event. He tipped his hat to Cole as he walked to ringside. The match was not a "match of the year candidate," but it had great energy, the timing and chemistry was solid, the storyline surrounding the match played out effectively, and the crowd was into everything. (****)

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