PPV REVIEW: WWF Wrestlemania 15

March 28, 1999, 
First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Originally, Retro Pro Wrestling began simply as a place for me to review a couple of WWE DVDs that I owned before I got rid of them. 

Then, I got it into my head that it might be a fun idea to review not only those DVDs but in fact every single WWF Pay Per View between Wrestlemania 1 and Wrestlemania 30.

As regular readers will know, it's since turned into a lot more than that. On RetroProWrestling.com we've been reviewing WWF shows, every WCW PPV from Bash at the Beach 1996 onwards (and a few from before that time), pro wrestling movies, games, albums and much more.

Why do I mention this now?

Because despite all those extra things we've looked at, the goal is still to review all the PPVs from the first 'Mania to the thirtieth one and that means that today, as we sit down to look at Wrestlemania 15, we're exactly halfway there.

How's that for exciting?

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Ladies and gentlemen, let's celebrate hitting the half-way mark by heading to Philly for The Grandaddy of Them All: Wrestlemania 15 - The Ragin' Climax.

Welcome to Wrestlemania: The Showcase of the Immortals

Philadelphia's own Boyz II Men kicked things off tonight with a gentle rendition of America The Beautiful. This was followed by a poignant and compelling opening video package narrated by an ageing Classie Freddie Blassie.

Blassie likened the heroes of the World Wrestling Federation to Greek gods and warriors who would stir our emotions and ensure we never, ever forgot them.

It was a particularly captivating opening video that perfectly set the scene for tonight's show, a show Blassie called The Showcase of the Immortals.

With the video over, we got the usual opening crowd shot and pyro, followed by Michael Cole and Jerry 'The King' Lawler welcoming us to Wrestlemania 15.

World Wrestling Federation Hardcore Championship Three-Way Match
WWF Hardcore Champion Bad Ass Billy Gunn vs. Al Snow vs. Hardcore Holly

And so we kicked things off not only with the Wrestlemania debut of Al Snow, but also the first time the WWF Hardcore Championship was defended on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

As opening matches go, this one was certainly nothing special. For the most part, it consisted of little more than Snow going around and hitting both Hardcore Holly and defending champion Bad Ass Billy Gunn with a broom handle.

Though not exactly boring, it was hardly the high level of excitement you'd expect to kick off the biggest show of the year.

Still, despite Snow's best efforts, this wasn't to be his night. At one point, he got hurled through a table by Billy Gunn and then hit with the Fame Asser onto a steel chair.

Sadly for Gunn, it wasn't to be his night either.

Making the post-FameAsser cover, Bad Ass Billy was hit with a chair by Hardcore Holly who won the hardcore title for the second time in as many PPVs.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Hardcore Champion: Hardcore Holly

Up next, we were reminded that D'Lo Brown and Test were the last two men standing in a battle royal which took place earlier on Sunday Night Heat.

That afforded them a shot at the tag team titles that was about to take place.

World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart (w/ Debra) vs. D'Lo Brown & Test (w/ Ivory)

Wearing a glistening, silver bikini and coattails, Debra looked insatiable as she cheered on her men, Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart in a short but fairly entertaining contest.

D'Lo took most of the punishment for his team while on the outside, Test got caught up in an argument between Debra and Ivory.

This led to Terri Runnels and Jacqueline coming down. The two had been feuding with Ivory. Earlier, on Heat, Jacqui had pinned the former GLOW star in a brief match before Terri had stabbed her in the face with a lit cigar.

Now, the two just kind of looked at Ivory as she and Debra argued and Test just hung around. This distracted the referee long enough for Jarrett and Owen to double team D'Lo.

The referee turned around and Jarrett got the pinfall.
Your Winners and still WWF Tag Team Champions: Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart.

Post-match, D'Lo and Test took out their frustrations on each other in the laziest, most half-assed brawl imaginable.

Speaking of brawling...

Time to shoot

At D-Generation-X: In Your House 19, Butterbean had competed in his one and only WWF contest, a worked boxing match against Marvelous Marc Mero.

Tonight, the Toughman fighter was returning to the World Wrestling Federation to take on Bart Gunn.

Gunn had recently won the ill-fated Brawl For All Contest that had put so many WWF superstars on the shelf and -apparently- derailed the main event push of Dr Death Steve Williams.

Prior to their legitimate shoot fight, we saw clips of both Gunn and Butterbean in action, with the former WWF Tag Team Champion promising to hold his own against the  IBA Super Heavyweight Champion.

We also saw those associated with Gunn predicting how long he'd manage to go with Butterbean.

Not one of them got it right.

Introducing the officials

As the ring was being set up for this contest, we went into the crowd where we first saw Isaac Hayes, who had performed the previous night at the company's Rage Party, a sort of pre-Mania fan-get together similar to today's Axxess events.

We then saw Rodney and Pete Gas of the Mean Street Posse sitting in the crowd, although earlier, on Sunday Night Heat, we'd actually seen all five members of the Posse sat in the crowd.

Don't worry, I'd completely forgotten that the Mean Street Posse started out with five people in it as well.

Howard Finkle then introduced us to referee Vinny Pazienza, and to the outside officials. These included Mike Tyson's trainer Kevin Rooney, Chuck Wepner, who had both boxed against Muhammed Ali and wrestled Andre The Giant, and finally, Hall of Famer Gorilla Monsoon.

Looking very thin and very old, Monsoon was barely recognisable as the man who had been the WWF President only a year or two beforehand.

Sadly, this was to be his last on-screen appearance, and I won't lie that it brought a little tear to my eye to know that we'd never get to see the legendary Gorilla at his best ever again.

Brawl for All Shoot fight
Butterbean vs. Bart 'The Hammer' Gunn

And so, after all that hype, after all that hoopla, after bringing out the big names to officiate, you'd expect something big here, right?

An epic brawl for the ages, right?

A long, drawn-out fight in which two legitimately tough men waged war on each other, right?

Wrong.

Adopting the nickname 'The Hammer' for one night only, Bart Gunn was punched about six times and then knocked out.

The bell rung, and the whole thing was over in 34 seconds.

Honestly, it took longer for the two combatants to make their way to the ring than it did for this fight to be over.

Talk about anti-climactic.
Your winner: Butterbean

Afterwards, as Butterbean was leaving the ring, a man in a chicken costume ran out.

Michael Cole told us that this was -and I quote- "The World Famous Chicken."

I question how true this was because, in this part of the world (England), this man in a chicken costume certainly isn't (or wasn't) famous.

Regardless as to how well known he may or may not have been, The World Famous Chicken tormented Vinny Pazienza and got punched out for his troubles.

Pazienza knocking out the chicken lasted about as long as the previous Butterbean/Gunn match.

Try and have a nice day

Up next, Mankind would take on The Big Show Paul Wight to determine who would be the referee in tonight's main event between The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Wight, who had debuted a month earlier at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, was part of Vince McMahon's Corporation and had a serious grudge against Stone Cold.

Earlier, on Heat, Big Show had been waiting for Austin to arrive at the building when Mankind attacked him, giving Austin the chance to saunter into the building.

Now, we were shown a clip of that before being taken backstage, where Kevin Kelly was standing by with Mankind himself.

The former WWF Champion said that he'd done everything that had been asked of him in order to get his chance to referee the main event of Wrestlemania, and was prepared to go through Big Show too.

Finally, Mankind promised to punish the man once known as The Giant and urged his opponent to try and have a nice day.

The Big Show Paul Wight vs. Mankind

No doubt this will be one of the few reviews we ever do in which we get to use Big Show's real name.

I mention this because it was more interesting than just about anything that happened in the match itself.

After some relative non-descript back-and-forth action, Paul Wight set up two chairs in the middle of the ring and chokeslammed Mankind through them, leading to the DQ.
Your Winner via Disqualification: Mankind

By losing all control and letting his anger get the better of him, Wight had, of course, given the right to referee the main event straight to his opponent.

This pissed off Vince McMahon, who had been counting on Wight being the official to help him keep the title around The Rock's waist.

Post-match, McMahon came to the ring and admonished Big Show, even going so far as to tell the former WCW star that he was nothing.

Understandably annoyed by such words, Show wrapped his fingers around McMahon's throat and threatened to chokeslam him, only to think twice about it.

McMahon then yelled at Show some more and even slapped him, prompting Mr Wight to finally knock the boss out with a big old punch.

Following several replays of this, we finally went backstage where Mr McMahon demanded a phone so that he could call the cops so that he could, and I quote, "have that big son of a bitch arrested."

All of that was more entertaining than anything that happened in the actual match.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship Four-Corners Elimination match
WWF Intercontinental Champion Road Dogg Jesse James vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Val Venis vs. Goldust (w/ Blue Meanie & Ryan Shamrock)

Though not a highlight of the show by any stretch, this one was at least surprisingly better than you might have expected.

Fast paced and hard hitting, all four men put up a decent amount of effort to deliver a very enjoyable contest.

After a lengthy battle, Ken Shamrock and Val Venis both got themselves counted out, prompting Shamrock to throw one of his usual tantrums and attack both Goldust and Road Dogg.

The two remaining combatants then fought on for a minute or two more, after which Goldust went to whip Road Dogg into the ropes were Ryan Shamrock would trip up the champion.

Of course, Road Dogg reversed the irish whip and tripped up her man Goldust, allowing Road Dogg to get the cover, the count, and the fall.
Your Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Road Dogg

Post-match, Goldust berated Ryan Shamrock and sent her backstage in a flood of tears.

Bye-Bye Big Show

Outside the arena, Paul Wight was accosted by what looked like every police officer in the state of Philadelphia.

The 500-strong police force ushered Wight into the back of a car. Big Show was clearly unphased by his arrest.

Kane vs. Triple H

Prior to this one getting underway, The World Famous Chicken ran back out. Kane lifted the head of the chicken costume off to reveal Pete Rose, who had taken a beating by The Big Red Machine back at Wrestlemania 14.

Going 2-0 against the legendary baseball star, Kane picked Rose up again and tombstoned him into oblivion.

Unfortunately, the Corporation member wouldn't fare as well as arch-rival, Triple H.

The two fought a long, hard-hitting contest which, though hardly spectacular, was certainly decent and for the most part enjoyable.

At one point, Chyna made her way out to the ring. Her recent association with Kane led everyone to believe that she was out there to help him win the match, but instead, she hit him over the back with a chair and reunited with Triple H.

Though not the best match on the card, this one was certainly a good effort.
Your Winner via Disqualification: Kane

Out in the back, Kevin Kelly told us that Big Show had been arrested and Mick Foley had been taken away to a medical facility, meaning neither man would get to referee the main event.

Vince McMahon then showed up and told us that he just so happened to have a referee's shirt in his bag, so he'd do the honours.

World Wrestling Federation Women's Championship
WWF Women's Champion Sable vs. Tori

Sable was doing this whole thing where she was letting the success of her recent Playboy issue go to her head. She had an arrogance about her, she said things like "this is for all the women who want to be me and then men who came to see me," and she took every opportunity she could to grind her hips around.

To be fair to the women's champion, she and challenger Tori were ambitious in what they were trying to do here. If they'd been able to pull it off, it would have been a short, fun match.

Sadly, however, neither woman had the skill set required to match their ambition,  meaning this instead turned into about five minutes of sloppy-arse moves that would have been enough to fill an entire episode of Botchamania.

Towards the finish, Tori accidentally took out referee Jimmy Korderas. At this point, Nicole Bass made her WWF debut by attacking Tori.

Sable hit the Sable Bomb, and this one was -thankfully- over.
Your Winner and Still WWF Women's Champion: Sable

Backstage, Kevin Kelly caught up with the D-Generation-X, who were now once again reunited with Chyna in the fold.

Kelly asked X-Pac about his upcoming match with Shane McMahon, but Triple H answered instead, telling us all about how DX were stronger than ever.

Finally, Pac did get to tell Shane that he was about to bring the pain.

World Wrestling Federation European Championship
WWF European Champion Shane McMahon (w/ Test) vs. X-Pac

Though far from a technical classic, this fast-paced match was a great deal of fun to watch.

The inexperienced McMahon proved that what he lacked in finesse and finely-tuned skills, he was more than prepared to make up for by bumping like his life depended on it and being thrown around with gusto.

Indeed, for the most part, it looked as though X-Pac would truly get the better of his rival, even with Test running interference.

Then, however, it all broke down.

Triple H and Chyna came to the ring, teasing that they were there to help Pac even the score.

Instead, Chyna distracted the official while Hunter did the unthinkable - hitting X-Pac with a pedigree.

Trips positioned Shane on top of Pac, Chyna released the referee, and three seconds later, this one was over.
Your Winner and Still WWF European Champion: Shane McMahon

Post-match, The New Age Outlaws ran down to try and help X-Pac, but they too were beaten up by HHH, Chyna and Test.

Finally, Kane came looking for revenge from earlier and chased the heels off. The remaining three members of DX regrouped by the ropes, with Road Dogg promising us that "that big-nosed son of a bitch is finished."

Ladies and gentlemen, we had just witnessed the start of the main event push for The Game.

Hell in a Cell Match
Big Boss Man vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)

The Undertaker really had a 90s of two halves. There was the first half of the decade when he had a lot of dull, boring matches with dull, boring workers, and then there was the second half, when he was finally allowed to tear it up with the likes of Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and Shawn Michaels.

Although we were well into the second half of the 1990s here, tonight's Hell in a Cell match against The Big Boss Man more closely resembled one of his earlier matches.

It was slow, it was dull, and nothing much happened.

In fact, the two men could have simply stood still in the middle of the ring for ten minutes and it would have been about as exciting as this.

After several minutes of absolute nothingness, The Undertaker hit the tombstone to go 8-0.
Your Winner: The Undertaker

Afterwards, Ministry of Darkness members Edge, Christian, and Gangrel descended from the rafters like something out of The Lost Boys.

They lowered a noose into the ring which 'Taker used to hang Boss Man as The Brood were pulled back up into the rafters.

It was unsettling, especially as Ray Traylor is no longer with us, and especially as the whole "descending from the ceiling" thing would have tragic consequences just two months from this show.

The Sherrif's in Town

After a quick clip of the previous night's Wrestlemania Rage Party, Vince McMahon was introduced as the special guest referee for tonight's main event.

However, before the action could get underway, Commissioner Shawn Michaels rode into town to tell Vince that, according to the WWF rulebook, only one man could appoint a special guest referee, and that one man was The Heartbreak Kid.

Michaels then sent McMahon packing, though not before banning The Corporation from ringside and warning Vince that if any of his goons showed up, HBK would fight McMahon backstage.

World Wrestling Federation Championship No Disqualification Match
WWF Champion The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

I should also point out here that Jim Ross replaced Michael Cole on commentary for the main event. Jerry Lawler seemed genuinely delighted to have Ross back. It was actually very sweet.

What wasn't "sweet" was this match. It was fast paced, it was violent, and it was, to put it bluntly, nothing short of incredible.

Both champ and challenger waged an absolute war on one another in what was one of the best Wrestlemania main events in years, if not ever.

The No DQ stipulation really helped too. It gave them the freedom to really go all out in creating an epic battle for the ages, destroying each other, and three separate referees, in the process.

The original referee, Mike Chioda, got took out with a chair. His replacement, Tim White, took a rock bottom, and his replacement, Earl Hebner, got beat up by Vince McMahon.

This prompted Mankind to reappear and deck McMahon. He then referred the rest of the match, with ended with Stone Cold hitting a stunner and capturing the WWF title in the main event of Wrestlemania for the second year in a row.
Your Winner and NEW WWF Champion: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Afterwards, Austin celebrated his big victory by clocking McMahon and having the longest celebration in history, sharing several bears with a clearly ecstatic Earl Hebner.

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And so, another Wrestlemania was in the history books and Retro Pro Wrestling is officially halfway to completing the goal of reviewing every WWE PPV between Wrestlemania 1 and Wrestlemania 30. 

As we hit this half-way part, it occurs to me that while Wrestlemania 15 was often lacklustre from an in-ring standpoint, the reliance on overbooking and storytelling actually made it one of the more entertaining Manias of the past couple of years. 

Sure, only the main event was really worth watching, though the Intercontinental title match and even X-Pac/Shane were relatively enjoyable. 

All in all, a fun show from an Attitude Era/entertainment standpoint, but if you're looking for classic wrestling, maybe skip everything else and just go straight to Austin/Rock.  

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Other 1999 pro wrestling reviews:

• WCW Souled Out 1999
• WWF Royal Rumble 1999
• WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre - In Your House 27
• WCW Superbrawl IX
• WCW Uncensored 1999

More Wrestlemania Reviews: 

1. Wrestlemania I
2. Wrestlemania II
3. Wrestlemania III
4. Wrestlemania IV
5. Wrestlemania V
6. Wrestlemania VI
7. Wrestlemania VII
8. Wrestlemania VIII
9. Wrestlemania IX
10. Wrestlemania X
11. Wrestlemania XI
12. Wrestlemania XII
13. Wrestlemania XIII
14. Wrestlemania XIV

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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PPV REVIEW: TNA Slammiversary 2005

June 19, 2005 
TNA Impact! Zone, Orlando, Florida

Three years after they sprang into existence and set about looking to fill the void in the pro wrestling landscape left behind by WCW's demise, TNA presented their first Slammiversary pay per view. 

Designed as a celebration of the company's short-lived past, it's exciting present, and what they were surely hoping was a prosperous future, the first Slammiversary would become the start of a TNA/Impact Wrestling tradition, one which would last for the next 16 years.

Yes, despite countless rumours that they too would eventually go the way of WCW, the company are still alive and kicking today, and to celebrate that fact, they uploaded the first Slammiversary to their YouTube in its entirety.

Does that make it worth your time?

Let's click the play button and find out together.

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Remember when...

After a quick signature which told us that TNA was "the new face of pro wrestling," we got a nostalgic look back at the first ever TNA show from 2002, weirdly interspersed with clips of children running through fields and playing in parks.

We also got clips of some of the biggest stars to come through TNA over the past few years, including Randy Savage, Kevin Nash, Sting, and Raven.

We also took a look at one time Jeff Jarrett did an angle with Hulk Hogan, years before Hogan would actually join the company properly, followed by highlights of the X-Division and a welcome to the company's third anniversary.

Out in the arena, pyro exploded around the entrance as Mike Tenay welcomed us to the show.

Jeff Jarrett Has Been Arrested

Together with co-announcer Don West, Tenay told us that Jeff Jarrett had been arrested and taken out of the Impact Zone for attacking a "fan."

That meant he would be out of tonight's 'King of the Mountain' match and would be replaced by his arch-rival, Raven.

With that out of the way, it was onto our first match.

Six-Way X-Division Match
Zack Gowan vs. Delirious vs. Jerelle Clark vs. Amazing Red vs. Prime Time Elix Skipper vs. Shark Boy

This one started with the set up of two men in the ring with everyone else needing to tag in before quickly -perhaps inevitably- descending into a six-way free-for-all with bodies flying everywhere.

Though there were some entertaining spots (a nice Infrared by Amazing Red onto the outside for one), the whole thing felt very rushed. It just wasn't given enough time for anything to mean anything, so you just got one spot after another with very little rhyme or reason.

What made this worse was the commentary from Tenay and West.

I've always loved Mike Tenay's commentary and never thought I'd have reason to criticise him, but here, he and West oversold everything. At one point, we had the usual "everyone takes turns diving to the outside" spot, and the announcers sold it like we'd just seen Undertaker throw Mankind from the top of Hell in a Cell.

It kind of took you out of the moment and made you think - if they're getting this excited over some -admittedly cool- X-Division spots, how are we supposed to take them seriously if something really huge happens like a world title change?

It's as if every spot was treated as the most amazing thing ever which, in a sense, made nothing the most amazing thing ever.

Anyway, after a short and disappointing match, Shark Boy hit Delirious with a Deep Sea Drop to pick up the three count.
Your Winner: Shark Boy 

Out in the back, Abyss hung around in the dark with some big steel chains, getting himself more and angrier and eventually punching his hand through a mirror while Tenay told us that The Monster would be in tonight's main event.

Alex Shelley Confronts The Shocker

Out in the back, Shane Douglas was happy to have found gainful employment as TNA's backstage correspondent. Here, he interviewed The Shocker, who in terribly bad English, told us that he was the best cruiserweight in the world.

His opponent for tonight, Alex Shelley, strongly disputed this. Shelley arrived on the scene to interrupt the promo and tell Shocker that he wasn't the only hybrid wrestler in the company.

"I can do your lucha libre, your catch-as-catch-can, your American pro wrestling, your Japanese strong-style, even MMA" said Shelley, after which he stormed off, leaving Shocker to rant at him in Spanish.

The whole thing was cringe-worthily awful. Shocker lacked the confidence to cut a compelling promo in English, and, even though he didn't have a language barrier to deal with, Shelley wasn't much better.

Alex Shelley vs. Shocker 

Thankfully, both men were better wrestlers than they were talkers, which I suppose is all that really matters.

Given plenty of time to play with, the two put on a good match that may have been better if they'd manage to get more than four guys on the front row interested in what they were doing.

Despite the lack of crowd reaction, the two worked very well together, blending lucha libre with European submission style to create something that was enjoyable from start to finish.

Despite dominating for a bulk of the match, Shelley fell prey to a roll-up and lost the match to his Mexican opponent.
Your Winner: Shocker 

Next, Tenay took us to a look at the fifth most memorable moment in TNA's short, three-year history, as voted for by the fans on the company's website.

That moment happened to be the time AJ Styles beat Jeff Jarett to win his first NWA World Championship.

Trouble with the 3 Live Kru

Out in the back, Shane Douglas asked 3 Live Kru about their recent issues.

BG James took the mic and told Ron Killings and Konnan that despite whatever issues they might have had, he was 3 Live Kru through and through and could absolutely be trusted.

Though K-Dog and Truth were sceptical, they eventually agreed to bump fists with the former Road Dogg.

Confusingly, it was only after this promo that we were shown what the issue actually was:

The Outlaw (Billy Gunn) had come into the promotion and James' current partners suspected that his loyalties lay more with his former New Age Outlaws teammate than with them.

I know I'm nitpicking, but it would have made much more sense to tell us what the issue was before going to the promo.

The Outlaw vs.  Ron 'The Truth' Killings

Looking to settle things once and for all, Ron Killings represented his team in a fairly average match against the Outlaw which could have been better had Killings been given more time to show off his offence.

While most of us today think of R-Truth as little more than WWE's resident comedian, there were times in this match when he showed us that he's more than capable of doing some really impressive stuff between the ropes.

Not that it was any of that offence which actually won him the match. After taking a beating at the hands of his opponent, Killing's reversed Outlaw's finisher (cobra clutch slam) and got a roll-up for the win.
Your Winner: Ron Killings

Post-match, Outlaw continued to beat down on Killings until BG James ran out and took the chair from him. Outlaw offered his former partner a free shot, but James was hesitant to strike.

Eventually, Konnan ran in and saw off Outlaw, arguing with James as he and Truth left the ring.

TNA's Greatest Moment Number 4

Continuing our fan-voted look at the company's best bits, we went to January 2003 and the debut of Raven.

Team Canada are Pumped Up

Backstage, Shane Douglas interviewed Team Canada about their ongoing rivalry with Lance Hoyt and The Naturals. Bobby Roode was particularly impressive on the microphone, as was Scott D'Moore, at first.

Indeed, the whole thing was shaping up to be the best segment on the show so far (including matches) until D'Moore likened himself to Hitler and Mussolini and tried to make it sound like a good thing.

This led us to a video package highlighting Team Canada and their rivalry with The Naturals.

Again, it probably would have been better to show us all of this *before* getting the wrestlers' comments on it.

NWA World Tag Team Championship
NWA World Tag Team Champions The Naturals (Chase Stevens & Andy Douglas) vs. Team Canada (Eric Young & Petey Williams w/ Scott D'Moore and Alistair 'A-1' Ralphs)

By far the best match on the card so far, this one saw all four men deliver a compelling performance way beyond their relatively limited experience.

This one had it all: Exciting action in the early going leading to the drama and agony of seeing Chase Stevens isolated from his partner and outnumbered by Team Canada and, of course, a dramatic finish.

Throughout this whole tag-team title section of the show, the announcers had been speculating on a mystery mentor and "spiritual advisor" that The Naturals had mentioned.

At the culmination of this brilliant match, that mentor revealed himself to be none other than Jimmy Hart, who tossed Andy Douglas his famous mega phone to use as the match-winning weapon.
Your Winners and still NWA tag team champions: The Naturals. 

man, that was fun.

Up next, we were told that the fans had voted for that 2005's Lock Down cage match as the third greatest moment in TNA history.

Sean Waltman is Ready for the Main Event

Drug addiction isn't funny, so I'm just going to pretend that Sean Waltman had just woken up from a nap as that's about the best way to describe his dopey manner and appearance in this backstage segment.

Interviewed by Shane Douglas, Waltman sort of drowsily fumbled his way through a bland promo in which he said that despite being a good backstage politician, the real reason he was in the title match tonight was that he deserved it.

I'm a big fan of Waltman's, but he did not look good here.

Sonjay Dutt vs. Samoa Joe 

Making his TNA debut, it would have been easy for Samoa Joe to simply toss Sonjay Dutt around like a ragdoll and be done with him.

It would have made sense too. Joe was built by the announcers as a really, really big deal, so having him simply squash his opponent wouldn't have been out of place.

Instead, while The Samoan Submission Machine certainly dominated, this was more of a competitive match than an outright squash, with Dutt looking pretty impressive in his own right.

Still, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

After a couple of minutes full of enjoyable action, Joe hit the Muscle Buster, applied a Rear Naked Choke and made Sonjay tap.
Your Winner: Samoa Joe

Cutting to the announce table, Tenay and West told us about some of TNA's upcoming PPVs, including the big Bound For Glory in October which West likened to the Super Bowl.

Quote the Raven, NWA-TNA Champion...

Somewhere in the bowels of the building, Raven cut a mesmerising promo in which he described himself as a "human cancer" and declared that he'd rather hug a suicide bomber than be in his opponents' shoes tonight.

Why? Because tonight, said Raven, he was going to fulfil his destiny of becoming the NWA Kingpin. Quote the raven...NWA-TNA Champion...Never More

Bobby Roode (w/ Scott D'More) vs. Lance Hoyt 

I'm a big fan of Bobby Roode and honestly think he could be used better in WWE, but even I have to admit that this wasn't his finest moment.

Though there was nothing particularly terrible about his short match with Lance Hoyt, there was something off about it which made it almost a chore to watch.

Towards the finish, Hoyt looked to have things under control and set up Roode for a big boot. However, the two spent so long in the set-up that it was blatantly obvious the move wouldn't pay off. Predictably, D'More grabbed Hoyt's foot, Roode attacked and got the three count.
Your Winner: Bobby Roode

Afterwards, Roode continued to attack while D'More cheered him on, yet when D'More took his shirt off and went for a top-rope moonsault, Hoyt moved out of the way and mounted a comeback, hitting D'More with a moonsault of his own.

Team Canada ran out along with some EMTs who stretchered D'More to the back while the crowd sang 'na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye."

The whole post-match stuff was more interesting than anything in the actual match.

TNA's Greatest Moments: Number 2 

The TNA debut of Jeff Hardy in 2004.

America's Most Wanted Can't Get Along

Up next, we were shown a video package which highlighted the ongoing arguments between America's Most Wanted partners Cowboy James Storm and Wildcat Chris Harris. The two had been squabbling among themselves while simultaneously feuding with 3 Live Kru who also couldn't get along because of the whole Outlaw/BG James stuff.

America's Most Wanted (Wildcat Chris Harris & Cowboy James Storm) vs. 3 Live Kru (Konnan & BG James)

Despite some early miscues, Harris and Storm were able to get on the same page as they took the fight to their more experienced opponents in a decent, though unremarkable, match.

After a fairly average back-and-forth between both teams, The Outlaw ran in and immediately got into it with Konnan. That left James at the mercy of AMW, who quickly put him away for the pin.
Your Winners: America's Most Wanted

Afterwards, BG refused to accept Konnan's apology for leaving him high and dry, and simply stormed off through the crowd.

TNA's Greatest Moment Ever

As voted for by the fans, TNA's greatest moment was shown to be the time Elix Skipper walked across the top of the cage back in 2004. Deservedly so too, that was insane.

This quick clip was followed by a look at the rivalry between X-Division Champion Christopher Daniels, Michael Shane, and Chris Sabin. The three would meet next.

X-Division Championship
TNA X-Division 'The Fallen Angel' Champion Christopher Daniels vs. Michael Shane (w/ Traci Brooks) vs. Chris Sabin (w/ Trinity) 

Fought under elimination rules, this triple threat match was every bit as good as you might expect it to be.

Though not exactly a classic for the ages, it was certainly a very, very good X-Division match.

Towards the half-way point, Shelley had the choice to either finish off Michael Shane or rescue Trinity from the evil clutches of Christopher Daniels. He chose to eliminate Shane from the competition, prompting Daniels to hit Trinity with Angels Wings.

Poor Trinity was then helped backstage and that was the last we'd see of her on tonight's show which was a shame because, well, she looked smoking hot.

Anyway, that left it down to just Sabin and Daniels, both of whom gave us a very solid effort before The Fallen Angel picked up the three count.
Your Winner and Still X-Division Champion: Christopher Daniels 

Out in the back, Shane Douglas interviewed The Alpha Male Monty Brown about his participation in the upcoming King of the Mountain match.

Weirdly charismatic, Monty called all of his opponents 'Omega males' and promised to demolish them in our main event.

Speaking of which...

NWA World Heavyweight Championship King of the Moutain Match
NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles vs. Abyss vs. The Alpha Male Monty Brown vs. Raven vs. Sean Waltman 

If you've never seen a King of the Mountain match before, it's essentially a reverse-ladder match in that, instead of using the ladder to retrieve the title belt, you use it to go hang the belt up.

Oh, but in order to be eligible to hang the belt, you first have to pin somebody or make them submit, and the person you pin or submit then has to go spend two minutes in a "penalty  box."

Though it sounds like a silly idea that is way more complicated than it needs to be, this actually turned into a very fun main event.

A wild, out of control brawl in the best possible sense of the word, this one just had all five men destroying each other.

Highlights included Waltman hitting the X-Factor on Style from atop the ladder, and Styles himself hitting a top-rope Spiral Tap to Abyss, who was lying prone on a table outside of the ring.

Still, despite such big-time offence, this wasn't to be the champion's night.

Battered and bloodied, Raven eventually scaled the ladder, hung the title, and became our new champion.
Your Winner and NEW NWA Champion: Raven

Post-match, Raven basically meandered around the ringside area with his new title belt, looking genuinely moved to have won.

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And so that was that. 

While TNA Slammiversary 2005 wasn't the worse show ever, it was far from the best either. 

If you're a fan of the company's X-Division style then you'll find a lot to like here. Between the X-Division title match, the tag team title match and the Shelley/Shocker outing, TNA gave us lots of quality action. 

Not that the main event was a letdown. Despite being more of a hardcore-style match (at one point, Waltman went around stapling people's balls) than a cruiserweight or technical wrestling classic, it was a fun match and the perfect way to end the show. 

For as long as TNA have this on YouTube it's worth watching, just don't expect the greatest show of all time or anything. 

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PPV REVIEW: WCW Uncensored 1999

March 14, 1999
Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky

If ever there was an annual event which so perfectly encapsulated all the worst aspects of World Championship Wrestling, it was Uncensored. 

It was at Uncensored 1996 that the company gave us the Doomsday Cage Match, an event which is still talked about today as the ultimate embodiment of all things Wrestlecrap.

1997 fared a little better, but still gave us a horribly convoluted Three Team Elimination match between Team Piper, Team WCW and Team nWo, whilst in 1998 we had the awful Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan cage match.

Still, as we discussed in that 1998 Uncensored review, things had been starting to look better thanks to a very solid undercard.

So, if nothing else, there was hope that this year's event might just be the one to break the Uncensored curse and finally give fans a good show from top to bottom.

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Did it manage it?

Or was this yet to be another example of all that was terrible about World Championship Wrestling?

Let's head to Louisville, Kentucky, to find out.

The Most Mindboggling Pay Per View of the Year

We began tonight's show with an ominous opening video which reminded that tonight's main event would be a First Blood Barbed Wire Cage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship between reigning champion Hollywood Hogan and WCW President Nature Boy Ric Flair.

And you thought using blood and OTT gimmicks to disguise the fact that they could no longer go was something Flair and Hogan only did during their TNA run.

Anyway, from there, we got the usual welcome from Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay and Bobby 'The Brain' Heenan.

Schiavone told us that this was "the most unpredictable, the most dangerous, the most mindboggling pay per view of the year" and that several of the matches would have "bizarre" stipulations.

I'm not sure if anybody told Tony, but "mindboggling" isn't exactly a good thing.

In true WCW fashion, we next went to Mean Gene Okerlund, who reminded us that because of these "bizarre" stipulations, all of tonight's matches were unsanctioned. Apparently, WCW didn't want anything to do with the actual matches, but were still willing to pay for the arena, the staff, and the marketing, and were willing to have their name all over things.

After Gene shilled 1-900 909 9900, we got a quick video hyping the upcoming Kevin Nash vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. match before finally, almost six minutes into the broadcast, we got down to ringside.

World Championship Wrestling Cruiserweight Championship
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman vs. Mikey Whipreck

Known and beloved as a staple of Extreme Championship Wrestling, Mikey Whipwreck was making his WCW on tonight's show, challenging Billy Kidman for the cruiserweight title.

Whipwreck was so new that he didn't even get entrance music.

He was also booed loudly by the Kentucky faithful, though I honestly couldn't tell you whether that was because they hated the fact that he was from ECW or simply loved his opponent way more.

Either way, heel challenger vs. babyface champion worked incredibly well here.

Harking back to a time when WCW would kick off its PPVs with what would often prove to be one of the best matches on the show, this was a solid, fast-paced, high impact cruiserweight match that delivered on every count.

After some terrific back-and-forth action, Kidman landed the shooting star press to retain the gold.
Your Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman

Up next, we were about to get a match for control of nWo Black and White. If you needed any indication as to how little that stable actually mattered, the match was between Stevie Ray and Vincent.

A brief video showed us that Hollywood Hogan had been stirring trouble by telling both men separately that they were the nWo Black and White leader and that they should beat the other guy up.

The video also showed us clips of Stevie Ray calling Vincent a "roody poo fruit booty" and Vincent responding by telling us he was about to beat Stevie Ray from project to project.

Harlem Street Fight for Control of nWo Black and White
Stevie Ray vs. Vincent

Second only to his big match against Ted Dibiase at Summerslam 1991, this may well have been the best match Vincent ever had in his entire career.

That's not to say it was a classic or anything, but it was good, at least by Virgil standards.

Using the no-holds-barred stipulation to its full effect, both Vince and Stevie went brawling through the crowds and crashing into chairs before returning to the ring for some bog standard offence.

Towards the end, Horace Hogan ran in and threw a Slap Jack into the ring before turning to the camera and telling us that he didn't care which one of the two combatants used it because, in actual fact, it was he, Horace, who was the real leader of the nWo.

Vincent tried to use Slap Jack the weapon, but Stevie countered with Slap Jack the move (a pedigree) to win the match.

Again, I'm not saying this was great, just great by Vincent vs. Stevie Ray standards.
Your Winner: Stevie Ray

Out in the Internet Location, Chris Jericho told Mark Madden and That Other Guy Who Looked a Bit Like a Fat Jonathan Coachman that he was ready for Perry Saturn.

For some reason, Madden was sucking up to Jericho big time.

Kevin Nash (w/ Lex Luger & Miss Elizabeth) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr

Back at Superbrawl IX, Rey Mysterio Jr. had lost a Mask vs. Miss Elizabeth's hair match to Kevin Nash.

Though nobody had wanted to see Mysterio lose, the actual match had been pretty fun.

The novelty of seeing Nash throw his smaller opponent around like a ragdoll was certainly entertaining, as was the sight of Mysterio using his quickness to take Big Sexy off his feet.

One month later, however, and the novelty had worn off.

Since Superbrawl, Mysterio had been on a winning streak, toppling men twice his size such as Bam Bam Bigelow and even Nash himself, in a return match on Nitro.

Tonight, his luck would run out in a disappointing match against the Wolfpac leader.

Rey took charge in the early going, but their timing was so off that Nash's selling looked fake as hell and really made suspension of disbelief impossible.

Later, Big Sexy gained the upper hand and decimated his opponent, but it was no longer as fun as it had been back at Superbrawl.

Towards the finish, Rey attempted a comeback, but Lex Luger tripped him up.

Nash planted Rey into the mat, and this one was -thankfully- over.
Your Winner: Kevin Nash

Coming up, we'd have an ECW reunion with Raven meeting Hardcore Hak (Sandman) and Bam Bam Bigelow in a three-way dance.

Next, we got a video package splicing clips of the three men attacking each other with promos in which they each promised just to prove that they were more hardcore and extreme than the other two.

At no point did any man claim that they were going to win. Apparently, that wasn't important here.

The video -and the announcers- made you believe that said match was next, but it wasn't.

What was next involved Mr Personality, Jerry Flynn.

Handicap match
Jerry Flynn vs. Ernest 'The Cat' Miller & w/ Sonny Onoo

This was billed as a handicap match but was, as you might imagine, basically Ernest Miller vs. Jerry Flynn with Sonny Onoo occasionally providing comedy spots in his role as the cowardly heel manager.

The Cat spent almost the entirety of the match beating up on Flynn. You'd assume this was to try and get some crowd sympathy for ol' Lightning Foot so that they could cheer him on towards his inevitable comeback.

The problem was that not a single member of the audience seemed to care a lot about Flynn, so the whole thing fell flat.

In the end, Jerry reversed an Irish whip, sent The Cat crashing into Sonny Onoo then pinned Onoo and got the win.

Even then, nobody cared.
Your Winner: Jerry Flynn

Later, we'd be having a match in which Curt Hennig and Barry Windham would be defending the WCW tag team titles against rivals Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko.

Following the result of their last meeting at Superbrawl, in which Windham had choked Malenko with his belt, this match would have something to do with whipping each other with belts, but the rules weren't exactly made clear here.

What was made clear, thanks to two promo clips from the competitors, was that neither team liked the other one very much and that somebody was going to get whipped with a belt.

"Raven's Rules" Hardcore Triangle match
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hardcore Hak vs. Raven (w/ Chastity)

If you happen to watch this on the WWE Network and wonder why Hak's theme sounds familiar, it's because it used to belong to Retro Pro Wrestling favourite Steve 'Mongo' McMichael.

Having made it to the ring, the ECW icon went to war with Bam Bam and Raven in an enjoyable weapons match which, aside from the occasional table spot, basically featured all three men attacking each other with trash cans and assorted plunder for the better part of fifteen minutes.

Though garbage matches aren't really this writer's usual cup of tea, this actually came as a welcome change of pace from the typical WCW fare and was a lot of fun to watch.

After a good bit of ECW-inspired, weapon-based entertainment, Chastity turned on her "brother" Raven by blasting him in the face with a fire extinguisher and headbutting him in the nuts.

Hak made the cover and, three seconds later, walked out as the victor with Chastity on his arm.
Your Winner: Hardcore Hak

As the ring crew cleaned up the ring of all the weapons, we spent some time with Tenay, Schiavone, and Heenan.

As Tenay and Tony talked, Bobby turned around to look at the audience and was admonished by Schiavone for it.

That only seemed to piss off The Brain, who completely turned his back to the camera and spent most of the rest of the segment like that.

"You're paid to be an announcer not to pout," said Schiavone.
"I am announcing. I don't get paid to be talked to like that," replied The Brain.

This was 100% unscripted and 100% awkward.

World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship Lumberjack Match
WCW Tag Team Champions Barry Windham & Curt Hennig vs. Dean Malenko & Chris Benoit

So, we finally got the thing with the belts cleared up:

Prior to the match, the likes of Prince Iuakea, Meng, Kenny Kaos, Gentleman Chris Adams, Kendal Windham and Hugh Morrus (among others) came out to serve as lumberjacks.

They were all brandishing leather belts that they could use to whip the combatants if they strayed outside of the ring.

The lumberjacks were all topless and wearing jeans too as if they needed some kind of uniform to stand around the ring.

At one point, Tenay acknowledged that Kendal and Barry Windham were brothers and that this might play a role in the match. It did, but it was so subtle and ultimately underplayed that it didn't seem to matter.

As for the match itself, it was far better than their laborious Superbrawl outing and by far one of the best matches on this card by a million miles.

All four men worked their asses off. Combined with the lumberjack stipulation, it made for a terrific match that was a joy to watch.

The finish came about thanks to Benoit & Malenko's Four Horsemen mentor, Arn Anderson. At the start of the match, Arn Anderson came to the ring and convinced Chris Adams to give up his place as lumberjack so that he (Anderson) could take it.

At the finish, Anderson blasted Curt Hennig with his trusty tire iron. Benoit then did the Flying Headbutt of Doom and brought the titles home to the Horsemen.
Your Winners and NEW WCW Tag Team Champions: Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko

From one gimmick match to another...

Dog Collar Match
Perry Saturn vs. Chris Jericho

Since losing a Loser Must Wear a Dress match to Chris Jericho back at Souled Out 1999, Saturn had been doing just that, embracing the role of a cross-dressing pro wrestler with aplomb and showing that he wasn't afraid to run around in a dress.

Tonight, however, he wore not a dress but some kind of gothic, PVC skirt, black lipstick and yellow contact lenses.

Meanwhile, Jericho tried to get Ralphus to wear the dog collar instead. When he refused, Jericho slapped him and sent him packing.

When the two combatants did finally lock up, the resultant match was...Well, it was kind of meh.

I'm not sure there's ever technically been any such thing as a bad Chris Jericho match, but this was about as close as you'll probably ever get to such a thing existing.

Having been so worked up for the earlier tag title match, the crowd were spent and lifeless, and nothing Jericho and Saturn seemed to do could revive them.

Sure, there were some fun spots here and there, but there was also a lot of dead time where both men just seemed like they were figuring out how to best use the dog collar.

Eventually, Saturn hit the DVD to end this disappointment of a match.
Your Winner: Perry Saturn

Out in the Internet Location, Mikey Whipreck told Mark Madden that, despite his loss to Billy Kidman earlier, he was happy with his performance.

Whipreck said some other stuff too, but the sound quality was so poor that it was hard to tell exactly what it was he said.

World Championship Wrestling World Television Championship
WCW Television Champion Scott Steiner (w/ Buff Bagwell) vs. Booker T

Scott Steiner was doing a gimmick where he basically had roid rage all the time and everyone except for Booker T and his ally, Buff Bagwell, were scared of him.

He was on form here, yelling at everyone in sight in between putting on a solid match for the TV title.

Though not exactly match of the night, this was one of the better bouts on the card - a true seesaw battle between two main-eventers-in-the-making that saw Booker T eventually recapture the TV title.
Your Winner and NEW WCW Television Champion: Booker T

Finally, after another typically cheesy WCW promo that showed us the steel cage being built for tonight's main event, it was on to said main event.

First Blood Barbed Wire Cage Match for the World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan vs. Nature Boy Ric Flair

If Ric Flair wins, he becomes our new champion and remains WCW President for life. If, however, he loses, then he's banned from WCW for life. Sorry to spoil the ending for you.
If you thought all the stipulations were a lot to contend with, just wait until we get down to the match itself which was, in a word, dumb.

After making his entrance, Flair told referee Charles Robinson that he shouldn't stop the match for a small cut here or there, but rather to use his discretion. The idea was that the referee should only cut the match if one man deliberately busted the other open, not if they accidentally got cut in the course of the match.

Robinson, however, used "his discretion" a little too liberally.

Flair got busted open by Hogan in the first five minutes of the match.

Robison ignored it.

Hogan then cut Flair open with some barbed wire then raked his head across the cage like he was grating cheese.

Robinson ignored both of those things too.

With blood literally dripping from his forehead, Flair eventually -blatantly- bust Hogan open, but Robinson ignored that too.

Later, Hogan began to be cheered loudly and fell back into the babyface role with ease. He kept trying to pin Flair, only for Charles Robinson to remind him that this was a first blood match...This despite the fact that both men were clearly bleeding heavily.

David Flair and Tori Wilson put in a cameo, though David was beaten up by Arn Anderson, who then slipped Flair a tire iron. Flair used it, slapped Hogan in the figure four, and Charles Robison counted to three.

It was literally the most ridiculous way to end a pro wrestling event since Starrcade 1997.
Your Winner and NEW 14 Time WCW Champion: Nature Boy Ric Flair

And that was basically that. Flair celebrated to end the show.

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Right up until the main event, I was prepared to give Uncensored 1999 a decent grade. Sure, some matches fell short, but the opening cruiserweight match, the tag team championship and even the TV championship all made for an entertaining show.

Then the main event happened, and it was just stupid. Both men were clearly, visibly bleeding, but that wasn't enough to stop a first blood match? 

OK then. 

Seriously, this was Tower of Doom cage match kinds of terrible, which is a shame really, because if it had just been a normal cage match then the actual interactions between Hogan and Flair would have made for a reasonably entertaining main event. 

Still, at least we only have one more Uncensored show left to review, right? 

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Other WCW Uncensored reviews:

• WCW Uncensored 1996
• WCW Uncensored 1997
• WCW Uncensored 1998

Other 1999 pro wrestling reviews:

• WCW Souled Out 1999
• WWF Royal Rumble 1999
• WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre - In Your House 27
• WCW Superbrawl IX

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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