“Heat” is the subtitle of WWE WrestleMania 13. I miss when WrestleMania was a late March event and when the subtitles were ambiguous.
Also, WWE’s promotional posters and video covers correctly featured the wrestlers in the main event—unlike WCW Uncensored 1997 featuring high energy surfer Sting fighting with a Nasty Boy.
There wasn’t even a Nasty Boy on the show. Speaking of the main event, we have Sid defending the WWE Championship against The Undertaker in a no disqualification bout.
A quick aside, this WrestleMania featured my favorite WM show theme and entrance set. In the late 1990s, WWE’s pay-per-views were often less pronounced and epic-looking than WCW’s.
Hell, even the production of the television shows as far as entrance sets were stripped down. I always said that was more of an aesthetic choice for the Attitude Era.
WWE WrestleMania 13: The Best
Young Triple H and Goldust will always have a soft spot in my heart. They often put their best foot forward against each other—especially on pay-per-view.
The match was solid enough to not be a stinker. It’s definitely not their best work together from this period but it’s better than the opener and IC title bout.
Holding on to their WWE Tag Team titles and heading into a showdown with The Headbangers, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog had a solid, enjoyable match against Vader and Mankind.
What hurt it was the double count-out. It didn’t seem necessary. What was necessary was the Bret Hart showdown against Steve Austin in a “no-DQ submission match”.
To add that little extra to the match, we have Ken Shamrock as the guest referee. This match was fantastic. The wrestling was amazing while the drama and intensity were both over-the-top in the best way.
Without a doubt, this was the epic match every WrestleMania should have. It was a main event match and for the longest, the way WWE would promote this match years later made it seem like it was the main event of this WM.
I mean, this match was talked about and promoted more than the actual main event of WrestleMania 13! Watch it as soon as possible, folks.
Another good match was the semi-main event: a six-man Chicago street fight between the Nation of Domination and the Legion of Doom with Ahmed Johnson.
This whole NoD thing was actually Johnson’s fight but he teamed up with LoD for a damn fun brawl. For the first time in his WWE run, I felt as though Johnson finally “found his tribe”.
He looked like he should be closely associated with LoD while not being a member. The match had the perfect length, the perfect placing after the Bret-Austin bout, and it just worked.
The Rest
WrestleMania 13 opens with a four-way elimination contendership bout featuring The Godwinns, Furnas and LaFon, The New Blackjacks, and winners The Headbangers.
I’ll give WWE credit for a multi-team elimination match where they got did the thing and moved it along. I would say they could’ve used two or three extra minutes but watching it, it doesn’t feel meandering or anything.
Also, with the teams involved, ten or eleven minutes is fine. It’s enough. I would’ve loved to have seen Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon in a straight-up tag bout and I kind of dug The New Blackjacks on Shotgun Saturday Night.
As a matter of fact, these two teams had an enjoyable match on SSN the following month. I would’ve gone for that as the opening contendership bout.
The Sultan was an adequate sixth defense for Rocky Maivia and his Intercontinental title reign. Just give the kid a light meal. It wasn’t a good or adequate match, though.
This was boring but we get a palette cleanser right afterward as seen up above in “The Best” of WrestleMania 13. Then we have the main event with Sid defending the World title against The Undertaker. This was before the Streak hit truly mythical levels.
There was some solid build leading into the match but the match itself just wasn’t it, folks. Taker was fine in it but the commentary—featuring a special guest in Shawn Michaels—boosted the bout.
The crowd was into the battle but with those involved, it’s not surprising. It’s Sid and The Undertaker, after all. However, Sid did not bring his WrestleMania game here.
Undertaker, HBK, Jim Ross, Vince McMahon, and Jerry Lawler did an amazing job for this match because it went a longer than it had any right going and just wasn’t good at all.
WWE WrestleMania 13 Verdict: Bronze Medal (2.6/5)
This was a mixed show with more good than bad match-wise. I’d say the event was saved by back-to-back exciting matches starting with Triple H versus Goldust and ending with the Chicago Street Fight.
Basically, WrestleMania 13 is a sandwich with really good meat, cheeses, and veggies but moldy bread. I will say that I found the finishing three-match stretch of no-DQ and street fight matches interesting.
The match of the night was obviously Austin vs. Bret. Nothing more needs to be said about that.
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