WrestleMania XIV

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WrestleMania XIV was the fourteenth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event from the World Wrestling Federation, which took place on March 29, 1998 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts. The event was commentated by Jim Ross and Jerry "The King" Lawler. The tagline for WrestleMania XIV was dX raided.

The pay-per-view event was mostly remembered for the start of the first World Wrestling Federation Championship reign for Stone Cold Steve Austin. His victory in the Main Event, against Shawn Michaels (who performed admirably despite severe injury), is often cited as the "official" beginning of the Attitude era.

Match results

• 15-Team Tag Team Battle Royal

The participants were: LOD 2000 (Hawk & Animal, w/Sunny), Savio Vega & Miguel Pérez, The Truth Commission (Recon & Sniper), Bradshaw & Chainz, Mark Henry & D-Lo Brown, The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre), Rock 'N Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson), Faarooq & Kama, Jose Estrada & Jesus Castillo, The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher), Too Much (Scott Taylor & Brian Christopher), Disciples of Apocalypse (Skull & 8-Ball), Steve Blackman & Flash Funk, The Godwinns (Phineas I. Godwinn & Henry O. Godwinn) and the New Midnight Express (Bob Holly & Bart Gunn).

The winners of the match get a shot at the WWF World Tag Team Championship at Unforgiven 1998. LOD 2000 won the battle royal, finally eliminating the New Midnight Express.

• For the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship: TAKA Michinoku (c) vs. Essa Rios

TAKA Michinoku pinned Rios after hitting the Michinoku Driver. Michinoku retained the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship.

• For the WWF European Championship: Triple H (w/Chyna) (c) vs. Owen Hart

During the match, Chyna was handcuffed to WWF Commissioner Sgt. Slaughter. Triple H pinned Owen after hitting the Pedigree, retaining the WWF European Championship.

• Marc Mero & Sable vs. Goldust & Luna

Marc Mero & Sable won the match by pinfall after Sable hit Luna with the TKO.

• For the WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Rock (c) vs. Ken Shamrock

Shamrock won the match by making Rock submit to an ankle lock. However, Shamrock snapped and kept the lock on Rock. After being forced to let go, Shamrock attacked the referee leading to the match decision being reversed. The Rock defeated Shamrock by disqualification and retained the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

• Dumpster Match for the WWF World Tag Team Championship: New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) (c) vs. Cactus Jack & Chainsaw Charlie

The match went backstage where Chainsaw Charlie drove a fork lift, making the New Age Outlaws get dumped into a dumpster for the win. Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie are the new WWF World Tag Team Champions.

• Before the next match, Pete Rose came out and insulted the crowd, mentioning the fact that the Boston Red Sox couldn't win a World Series. Kane came out and gave Rose a Tombstone Piledriver.

• The Undertaker vs. Kane (w/Paul Bearer)

The Undertaker came out to "O Fortuna" with druids surrounding him. Undertaker defeated Kane by pinfall after hitting three Tombstone Piledrivers. After the match, Paul Bearer and Kane beat down Undertaker which led to a revenge Tombstone from Kane on a steel chair.(13:33)

• For the WWF World Heavyweight Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Steve Austin (w/Mike Tyson as Special Guest Enforcer)

Shawn Michaels locked Stone Cold up in a sleeper hold but was reversed, sending Michaels and the referee to the corner. With the referee down, HBK and Austin reversed each other's Sweet Chin Music and Stone Cold Stunner attempts but Austin ultimately succeeded with a Stone Cold Stunner. With the referee down, Mike Tyson turned on Michaels by counting Austin's pin himself, giving Stone Cold the win. Stone Cold Steve Austin is the new WWF World Heavyweight Championship. After the match, Tyson knocked out HBK with a punch and accepted an Austin 3:16 t-shirt to drape it over Michaels. This turned out to be Michael's last match for 4 years because of a severe back injury which was sustained at the Royal Rumble, two months earlier.(21:42)

Celebrities

• The DX Band - performed a rendition of "America the Beautiful" as the show began and as well as D-Generation X's theme "Break It Down" during Shawn Michaels and Triple H's entrances.
• Mike Tyson - special enforcer for main event
• Gennifer Flowers - guest interviewer and guest ring announcer for The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock
• Pete Rose - guest ring announcer for Kane vs. Undertaker match (and was Tombstoned by Kane for no apparent reason other than Rose making undesirable comments about the Red Sox.
• Vinny Paz
• Marvin Hagler

Memorable quotes

• "Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold! Stone Cold!" - Jim Ross
• "The Austin era has begun!" - Jim Ross
• "If ya smell what The Rock is cookin'" - During The Rock's interview with Gennifer Flowers, WrestleMania XIV marked the first time that The Rock had ever used that particular catchphrase.
• "Folks, it don't get no bigger than this!" - Jim Ross
• ''"He's in agony out there!" - Jim Ross Commenting on Shawn Michaels' visible suffering due to his back injury.

Trivia

• WrestleMania XIV had triple the buyrate of WrestleMania 13.
• This event was the first of Pete Rose's three consecutive WrestleMania appearances. Rose has since been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame based on those appearances.
• The main event was Shawn Michaels' last match for over four years. He would return at SummerSlam 2002.
• This was the second time in WrestleMania history that the Main Event was headlined by former World Tag Team Champions. Austin and Michaels held the tag titles for a brief period over the summer of 1997. The first time was between Diesel and Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XI.
• WrestleMania XIV was Kane's first WrestleMania appearance
• This would also be Ken Shamrock's first WrestleMania as a wrestler
• Referee Earl Hebner had suffered an aneurysm shortly before the event and was hospitalized for weeks. Vince McMahon had ordered his hospital room wired so that he could watch WrestleMania XIV during his convalescence. Shawn Michaels also speaks directly to the camera shortly before heading out to the ring saying "This is for you, Earl!"
• For the second year in a row, The Rock went in and out of WrestleMania as the Intercontinental Champion.
• The Triple H vs. Owen Hart match was the first European Championship match in WrestleMania history.
• This was the only WrestleMania that featured a Dumpster Match.
• The TAKA Michinoku vs. Essa Rios match was also the first (and only) Light Heavyweight Championship match in WrestleMania history.
• WrestleMania XIV held the first match between The Undertaker and Kane in WWF history. They would have many more memorable matches, including their Inferno match at Unforgiven 1998 and their WrestleMania rematch at WrestleMania XX.
• By defeating Kane, The Undertaker extended his WrestleMania undefeated streak to 7-0.
• WrestleMania XIV would be the last WrestleMania appearance for the classic version of Legion of Doom.
• WrestleMania XIV was Terry Funk's second WrestleMania appearance, his first was at WrestleMania 2 in 1986.
• WrestleMania XIV was the first WWF show where The Rock said his now famous catchphrase "Smell what the Rock is cookin'?" during an interview with Gennifer Flowers. He looked at Gennifer and said "If you smell what I'm cooking" It would morph into his famous catch phrase from there.
• The referees that Ken Shamrock suplexed after his match were not real referees, but rather, local indy wrestlers in referee outfits. After SummerSlam 1997 (in which Shamrock did the same thing), it was decided not to put the real referees in danger like that again.
• WrestleMania XIV was both the last WrestleMania to use the classic WWF New Generation logo and the first WrestleMania to make use of the scratch WWF logo, which was used on the microphones and the officials' t-shirts (on the 2005 WrestleMania: The Complete Anthology DVD set, all the WWF scratch logos were been blurred or edited into the WWE logo).
• This is the ninth WrestleMania (and second in a row) to feature a title match ending in a count-out or disqualification. The Rock is the sixth Intercontinental champion to end a match under these circumstances, but is the first to have been declared the winner.
• Wrestlemania XIV was the first and only one that the Road Dogg & "Bad Ass" Billy Gunn would compete on the same team as The New Age Outlaws.
• This was the first WrestleMania to use red ring ropes, black mats on the outside of the ring, and black barricades.

References

• [Stone Cold champion at WM14]

External links

• [The Official Website of WrestleMania XIV]

 

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