WWE WAR ZONE - The Tombstone

Wrestlemania X-8 in 2002 had one of the better looking lineups on paper, in my opinion. The nWo had just arrived to the WWF and was going to be the first Wrestlemania for all of those men in years. Hulk Hogan was making his first Wrestlemania appearance in nine years, while Hall was making his first in seven and Nash had been gone for six years. The matchups looked great on paper. We had Scott Hall vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin, we had the Rock vs. Hulk Hogan, we had Triple H vs. Chris Jericho for the Undisputed WWF Championship, we had Kane vs. Kurt Angle, and there were to be special musical performances by Saliva and Drowning Pool. It looked to be a huge night.

However, I felt like Wrestlemania X-8 left a bit of a “what happened?” impression after it was over. While it was by no means a bad event, I did not think it lived up to what it could have been considering the returns of three of the biggest names in wrestling history, not to mention the large talent pool the WWF had at the time anyway after the “WCW/ECW Invasion”.

Kevin Nash didn’t even have a match. Booker T was feuding with Edge over shampoo. Scott Hall and Hulk Hogan both lost their return matches, despite the fact that the nWo was supposed to be this huge “poison” that would overthrow the WWF. The Triple H vs. Jericho match was a given outcome considering Triple H had just returned from his quad injury, but the match itself seemed a bit too predictable too. Kane and Angle had a couple of botched moves as well. I just felt like the whole evening didn’t seem to be going like it should have.

It did make for a good Wrestlemania moment however. Hulk Hogan was cheered even though he was playing the part of the villain and the Rock was supposed to be the most popular guy around. It of course led to the resurgence of Hulkamania and Hogan’s return to the red and yellow. It was a good moment for the Wrestlemania highlight reels.

Wrestlemania X-8 was a watchable show, it just didn’t follow up on the hype that was created for it.

Stay tuned for Wrestlemania XIX….

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