I remember WWE WrestleMania XIV being the first wrestling pay-per-view that I caught live. It stood out more for a magical main event bout as Steve Austin made a challenge for Shawn Michaels’ WWE Championship. Did WrestleMania XIV get better with age 24 years later or did some stuff just not work?
Let’s find out!
The Best
Let’s start with what should’ve been the show opener as Taka Michinoku took on rival Mr. Aguilar in a Light Heavyweight title defense. While it was incredibly brief, it was had some sizzle to it.
Into the Vault: WWE WrestleMania XIV
If you’ve been a young Taka take on a young, future Essa Rios then you know you’re getting a by-the-numbers match that is still really fun. There were a few botches—expected from very young high flyers of the 90s and early 00s—but they went all out in six minutes.
Honestly, these two would’ve been better utilized in WCW’s cruiserweight division. This match was given so little time that it could’ve been on the pre-show or in the dark matches.
Triple H defended his European title against Owen Hart in a match that I felt was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it was an Owen Hart carry at all. This match had the benefit of not being a Young Triple H bout that was lengthy for no reason.
Once it gets into that territory, the future Cerebral Assassin’s matches had this increased chance of simply dragging on. At 11-and-a-half minutes, WWE happened upon the perfect length for Hunter.
The dumpster match between Tag Team champions The New Age Outlaws and the team of Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie is one of my absolute favorite matches from WrestleMania XIV. There was nothing technical or flashy about this one, it was just a wild brawl that was punctuated by both Cactus and Chainsaw winning via some veteran craftiness from the duo.
I covered The Undertaker vs. Kane match as the first of our “Best of the Streak” series. To sum it up: this was the monster mash or bruiser battle you should have on a WrestleMania show. Not only that but it was a good bruiser battle.
Rounding out “The Best” of WM 14 is the main event between a retiring Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin, the soon-to-be crowned face of the Attitude Era. I remember going absolutely wild over this match when I first watch it. This had all the makings of a really big fight—special enforcer Mike Tyson, the threat of DeGeneration X interference, a working-class hero, and star who was the straw that stirred the drink.
Austin vs. HBK was the match for this WrestleMania and it delivered. It was just a really good bout with a story that was kind of on speed run mode as HBK was about to bounce on in-ring action for a few years. Even though they are both from the same generation in wrestling, this was a definite torch-passing main event for WWE.
The Rest
WrestleMania XIV kicked off with a tag team battle royal that wasn’t really necessary on the one hand. On the other hand, if WWE just needed a tag team battle, I’m glad it was put first. I totally expect the first match to be exciting to get the crowd and viewers stoked for a PPV. This match didn’t do that for me at all in rewatching the show.
Actually, this could’ve been on a pre-show and the almost 9-minutes on the show could’ve been tossed to the match that followed.
As a 13-year-old watching Goldust and Luna take on Sable and Marc Mero I remember thinking “I don’t really want this.” At 37, I thought “This isn’t awful at all.” If anything, it was very entertaining and there were some surprises—mainly in Sable not stinking up the match.
Goldust and Mero were going to deliver while Luna knows exactly what to do but ehh…not many bangers out of her during the 90s. Sable was the wildcard but it was pretty safe with some skilled and experienced hands. The match had this odd thing where the storyline wasn’t interesting at all but the crowd was either into the match or just high on WrestleMania.
We have the rubber match between The Rock and Ken Shamrock over the Intercontinental title should’ve had more going for it at WrestleMania XIV. However, WWE was building to something with this feud—which is one of my favorites from the Attitude Era.
The match does continue the chickensh** heel approach of The Rock with him winning by DQ over a very dangerous Shamrock, so no one was hurt by this match. One truly awesome thing about this match is an iconic part of the match in both men’s WWE careers with The Rock bleeding from his mouth and Shamrock having him locked in the Ankle Lock.
WWE WrestleMania XIV Verdict: Silver Medal (2.9/5)
Overall, this was a pretty good WrestleMania! It wasn’t as good as when I watched it back in 1998 but it was definitely eventful and only had a few matches I could’ve done without.
The match of the show goes to the main event between Stone Cold and HBK, hands down. Our runner-up is the Tag Team title dumpster match. I really want to give this show bonus points for having my favorite WM theme of all time.
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