PWI Wrestlemania XX Highlights
PWI Highlights from Flair/Batista/Orton vs. Foley/Rock at WM XX
[original text reprinted from PWI magazine 2004. transcribe credit to WWE Fervor ]
THE MATCH: Randy Orton, Batista, and Ric Flair vs. Mick Foley in a handicap match
THE ACTION: As Foley made his way to the ring, there was something different about him. HE wasn’t the congenial, jovial, and thoughtful man we had gotten to know since his in-ring retirement four years earlier. His eyes looked more wild, as if the man behind them walked with felonious intent. As he waited for The Rock to join him at ringside, as he stared down the three members of Evolution who awaited him in the ring, we suddenly remember who Mick Foley was before we knew him as Mick Foley.
Cactus Jack had come to play. The match’s opening moments were a wild scramble, but the referee eventually restored some semblance of order as Rock squared off against Flair. Flair lured Rock to the outside, where he poked him in the eye, but Rock recovered quickly and gave Flair a back bodydrop. Foley follwed up with an elbowdrop off the ring apron, then saluted the crowd with Cactus Jack’s trademark, "Bang! Bang!"
The match seesawed back and forth between the two teams until the 8:15 mark, when Orton threw Foley into and over the ring steps while the two brawled outside. Orton rolled Foley into the ring and tried to steal a pinfall, but he only secured a two-count. At 9:16 after Fleoy had been on the receiving end of another full minute of abuse, Flair tagged in and leveled him with a simple chop to the chest.
Finally, at 12:15, Foley tagged in the fresh Rock, who immediately began cleaning house. Flying forearm on Flair, DDT on Orton. Batista brought into the ring the hard way–over the top rope. Rock was laying the smack down as only he can–until he lost track of his opponents. Batista surprised him with a jarring spinebuster.
Then came perhaps the silliest moment of the entire evening. With Rock laying flat on his back in the middle of the ring, Flair took over. He kicked both of Rock’s shoulders in. He waved his arms back and forth. He even pretended to take off an imaginary elbow pad–and then he pretended to throw it into the crowd! But when he went to boucne off the ropes to deliver the final sequence of the people’s elbow, Rock kipped up and leveled him with numerous blows to the head. Then he delivered an honest-to-goodness people’s elbow for a two-count.
The match turned at 15:30. With the referee on the outside trying to prevent Flair from wielding a chair, Batista stormed into the ring and nearly broke Rock in half with a vicious sitout power bomb. Rock kicked out of the subsequent pin attempt and made a desperate tag to Foley, who attacked Orton with a double-armed DDT an then pulled out Mr. Socko to finish the match once and for all. But as Foley wound up, Orton struck with an RKO out of nowhwere to earn the stunning one-two-three.
ACTION: B
SIGNIFICANCE: B+
THE WINNERS: Orton, Batista, and Flair when Orton pinned Foley at 16:58
THE REAL WINNERS: Orton and Batista, who showed now signs of being intimidated by Rock and Foley, two legendary wrestlers. They back away occasionally, but only when it wasn’t prudent from them to rush in like headstrong rookies. They wrestled smartly and wrestled well, which is why Evolution walked away from the match with the duke. Orton truly looked like a star.
THE REAL LOSER: Flair, who looked more ridiculous than anyone else wrestling on the card. His showboating–or, as he likes to call it, his stylin’ and profilin’–was comical instead of effective, and it landed him in more precarious situations than he’d care to admit. Plus his attempt at a people’s elbow was truly the most ludicrous moment of the evening. Funny, but ridiculous.
TWO MORE WINNERS: Foley hadn’t wrestled in four years, and The Rock hadn’t wrestled since the previous year’s Backlash, but neither man showed ring rust of any kind whatsoever. They hung in there with younger, hungrier opponents and outclassed the cagiest veteran of them all. Yeah, they lost the match, but it sure wasn’t for lack of trying.
ANOTHER WINNER: Triple H, who retired Foley and then got to sit in the back and watch as his protegè, Orton, put the hardcore legend away.
ANOTHER LOSER: The Rock. For the first tiem since his departure for Hollywood, his appearance at this year’s WrestleMania felt like he was coming in not because he loves the sport and missed the adulation of the crowd, but because he felt obligated to be there, and maybe because it would provide him with a nice paycheck. Maybe that’s being a bit harsh, but for Rock to come in only for a matter of two weeks and take a WrestleMania paycheck–while other WWE regulars didn’t make the card at all–doesn’t seem fair.
