Nothing says peak wrestling like two old out of shape dudes doing a tribute to the Battlarts/BJW feud at Wrestlemania. I liked this way more than I expected, the sloppiness made it feel really gritty like I like my pro wrestling to be. Ideally you'd want workers to know how to sell but the next best thing is for them to just get old enough where they're hurt for real and that's what we get here. I think my problem with a lot of WWE epics is that they try to be these super serious matches when they're actually super ridiculous but this match is such a trainwreck that the fact it's so preposterous and Michael Cole is trying to spout his usual bullshit somehow adds to it. It also features exactly zero nearfalls which is mindblowing for an Undertaker Wrestlemania match. Glad Undertaker was a UWF fanboy, those submission exchanges were a sight to behold and Shane managed to make The Rock's Scorpion Deathlock look like Choshu's. Shane's insane bump was great but it was maybe my fifth favourite thing about the match. Shane trying to cut the cell door and failing miserably was hilarious and so many offence in this match was just them slammig each other on the cage door, steel steps, hitting each other over the head with TV monitors etc. However insane it may sound I'm going with ***3/4 for this one. The finish couldn't have been more symbolic, Shane asks Taker to go at it some more and Taker's reaction is "fuck you it's not 1999 anymore we're going home".

Ideally you'd want workers to know how to sell but the next best thing is for them to just get old enough where they're hurt for real and that's what we get here.

 

This is legit funny. I thought the same thing as well haha.

I am sort of morbidly curious to watch this out of context. In context, after hours of relatively mediocre wrestling, it was something that we, as a community, banded together to survive.

I will say this for it, the casual fans I spoke to after Mania thought it was totally out of this world and awesome, raved about it. So it worked for them.

I watched what I did like three weeks after the show (which was a pretty great decision on my part) and still haven't gone through the entire thing. I just might have to do that as I'm not sure I can fit all my one liners in the one remaining match I haven't reviewed yet.

I've stumbled on sites (inhabited by fans who save their highest praise for matches that feature the most dangerous high spots) where this match is considered one of the greatest in the history of everything. Removed from context I guess it can't be as bad as it felt in real time, but dear sweet God I think this is easily one of the biggest pieces of steaming shit the WWE has ever produced

This was hell to watch. Hell. 30 minutes long. How on earth is Shane McMahon going 30 with The Undertaker and why? This was so bad. Awful offence from Shane McMahon which was borderline parody. Taker looks old as hell and it's embarrassing seeing him sell for Shane tbh. Awful pacing, awful spots aside from one. DUD