Wrestlemania™ 23
This Pay-Per-View was a Co-production between RAW™, SmackDown™ and ECW™.
Location: Ford Field
Location: Detroit, Michigan
by "Rockin" Robin Drodge
Event Date: April 1, 2007
Match number one - Money in the Bank Interpromotional Ladder match.
Edge vs. Randy Orton vs. C.M. Punk vs. Finlay vs. Matt Hardy vs. Jeff Hardy vs. King Booker (with Queen Sharmell in his corner) and Mr. Kennedy. The rule for this match was, the first Superstar to climb the ladder and grab the Money in the Bank briefcase, would win the match and receive a one-year contract that entitled them to wrestle for either the WWE™ or World Heavyweight Champion whenever they decide to cash in the contract. This match was very good. The ending came when Mr. Kennedy climbed the ladder and pulled down the briefcase to win the match.
Match number two - An Interpromotional Match.
The Great Khali (RAW™) vs. Kane (SmackDown™). This match was all right. The ending came when The Great Khali hit a double-handed choke slam on Kane to pick up the pin-fall victory.
Match number three - (SmackDown™) United States Championship:
United States Champion, Chris Benoit vs. Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP). This match was all right. The ending came when Chris Benoit hit a headbutt from off the top rope to pick up the pin-fall victory to retain his Championship.
Match number four - (SmackDown™) World Heavyweight Championship:
World Heavyweight Champion, Batista vs. The Undertaker. This match was very good. The ending came when The Undertaker hit the tombstone on Batista to pick up the pin-fall victory to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Match number five - (ECW™) Eight-Man Tag Team Match.
Rob Van Dam, Sabu, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman (The ECW Originals) vs. Elijah Burke, Kevin Thorne, Matt Striker and Marcus Cor Von (The New Breed). This match was all right. The ending came when Rob Van Dam hit the Five-Star Frog Splash from off the top rope on Matt Striker to pick up the pin-fall victory for his team.
Match number six - Battle of the Billionaires Interpromotional Match:
The Intercontinental Champion, Umaga (with Armando Estrada and Vince McMahon in his corners) RAW™ vs. The ECW™ World Champion, Bobby Lashley (with Donald Trump in his corner) ECW™. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin was the special referee for the match. There was a special stipulation to this match, in that, if Umaga lost the match, Vince McMahon would have to get his head shaved bald; however if Bobby Lashley lost the match, Donald Trump would get his head shaved bald. This was an all right match. The ending came when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin delivered a stone cold stunner to Umaga, which was then followed-up with a spear from Bobby Lashley to pick up the pin-fall victory. Vince McMahon tried to get out of getting his head shaved bald, however this did not happen. I believe both Bobby Lashley and Donald Trump shaved Vince’s hair completely bald.Match number seven - Interpromotional Lumberjill Match for the WWE™ Women’s Championship.
WWE™ Women’s Champion, Melina (RAW™) vs. Ashley (SmackDown). All the divas from RAW™, SmackDown™ and ECW™ came out around ringside prepared to throw either Melina or Ashley back into the ring if they got thrown out. The ending came when Ashley rolled up Melina, however Melina reversed it; therefore she picked up the pin-fall victory to retain her Championship.Match number eight - The Main Event - WWE™ Championship (RAW™)
WWE™ Champion, John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels. This match was pretty good. The ending came when John Cena applied the STF on Shawn Michaels for the second time to make him tap out to the move, resulting in John Cena retaining his Championship.
Some additional comments regarding Wrestlemania™ 23.
This Pay-Per-View was sold out with approximately 80,103 fans in attendance.
I was not happy that John Cena retained the WWE™ Championship. I don’t understand it because the fans, for the most part, don’t like him, and he gets booed a lot. In my opinion, he has held the WWE™ Championship a little too long. I am hoping soon there will be a new WWE™ Champion.
I am not sure what the purpose was of having all the divas from RAW, SmackDown and ECW in the Women’s Championship match, because they were not used. They shouldn’t have been in ringside if they were not going to be used in the so called Lumberjill match.
I thought maybe because of what was at stake for The Undertaker in his match with Batista that this would have been The Main Event and the last match of the night. Here was The World Heavyweight Championship against the undefeated WrestleMania™ streak of The Undertaker both on the line. It was no surprise to me that The Undertaker won the Match and the World Heavyweight Championship. I do expect before The Undertaker’s career is over, he will lose his WrestleMania™ streak but I am not sure when this will take place.
It was no surprise to me that Bobby Lashley would win his match against Umaga. I knew that Donald Trump would not agree to have his head shaved bald because his hair is one of his trademarks. I didn’t think that Donald Trump would agree to the WWE™ appearances, if this was the case. So, since Vince McMahon created Wrestlemania™, and since he will be appearing on WWE™ television in the near future, it only made sense that he would be the one to get his head shaved bald.
Starting at Backlash, from now on all WWE™ Pay-Per-Views will be co-production with all the Brands instead of having separate Brand Pay-Per-Views.
This has been the Wrestlemania™ 23 Report written by your author: "Rockin" Robin Drodge here at The Canadian Connection.
(This page was last updated on 2007-04-06 )
© 2004 Robin Drodge, All Rights Reserved
WWE™, WCW™, ECW™, Wrestlemania™, SmackDown™, SummerSlam™, Survivor Series™, the names of its events, superstars and finishing moves are all registered trade marks of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.
