WWE WAR ZONE - The Tombstone


Wrestlemania XIV in 1998 emanated from Boston and was the first Wrestlemania of the “Attitude” era. Wrestlemania XIV remains one of my favorite Wrestlemanias of all time, and let’s take a look at some of the reasons why...

First thing out of the shoot at Wrestlemania XIV was a tag team battle royal to determine the number one contenders for the WWF Tag Team Titles. The Legion of Doom had broken up and it had been quite the story in the weeks leading into Wrestlemania. They hadn’t been seen in a few weeks, and right as Wrestlemania XIV went on the air “OHHHHH WHAT A RUSH” was heard, and out came the Legion of Doom with their new “LOD 2000” look and their new manager, Sunny. I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before, but Sunny helped me get through puberty, and damn she had some nice outfits while managing the LOD. LOD of course won the battle royal, and damn Sunny looked hot.

Wrestlemania XIV also played host to two matches that I think get overlooked a bit when talking about this event, that being Triple H vs. Owen Hart and The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock. Both matches I really enjoyed and I felt like those matches helped Triple H and the Rock to take their respective next steps towards being what they would become.

Cactus Jack and Terry Funk also had a good match with the New Age Outlaws and won the tag team titles in what I believe is Terry Funk’s only WWF title reign, even if it only lasted a day.

The moment of the night for me was all about Kane vs. the Undertaker, but as it would turn out the moment wouldn’t come from the actual match, but from the events before the match got started, before Undertaker even made it to the ring. Pete Rose was to be the guest ring announcer for this match, and after making some belittling comments to the Boston crowd, he was interrupted by Kane’s entrance. After Kane entered the ring, he proceeded to grab Pete Rose, lift him upside down, and in possibly my most favorite Wrestlemania moment ever, Kane drilled Pete Rose with a Tombstone Piledriver, and a good looking one at that. Undertaker then made his way down and they had a really solid match that I have watched back many times, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again at Wrestlemania 20.

The main event of the evening saw Shawn Michaels lose the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin in a changing of the guard really. Mike Tyson served as the special guest ring enforcer for this match, which made the air of unpredictability all that much more. Austin won the title and officially ushered in the “Attitude” era of the WWF, and it proved to be Michaels’ last match for over four years.

Stay tuned for Wrestlemania XV…

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