User Reviews

1. Vader/The British Bulldog/Owen Hart Vs. Yokozuna/Ahmed Johnson/Jake Roberts - High quality tag team action from the very start. Vader pinned Roberts. 7.5/10

2. Stone Cold Steve Austin Vs. Savio Vega - Weird match with freaky ending. Austin won, thanks God. 6/10

3. Hunter Hearst Helmsley Vs. The Ultimate Warrior - Warrior won with 4 clotheslines, one Gorilla Press Slam and splash. WOHOU!! Worst match on the card. 3/10

4. Diesel Vs. The Undertaker - Finally some great feud for Taker at WM. Not Gonzales, not "Taker 2", Diesel was decent opponent. For clean victory over Big D. I give 7/10

5. (Oh no) Pajpa Vs. Goldust - Goldust in nylons Vs. The most old school guy after Hogan. Thx very much, I don't care. 4.5/10

6. WWF World Heavywight Title Iron Man match: Shawn Michaels Vs. Champ-Bret Hart - Slow start, but great ending of legal 60:00 time limit. Hate that continue part, Shawn deserve the belt and should win over Bret, but not in that match. 7/10

(03.31.96)

Live from Anaheim CA

Attendance: 18,853

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

Vader, Owen Hart & The British Bulldog (W/Jim Cornette) Vs Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson & Jake "The Snake" Roberts (W/Mr. Fuji)

Vader's team wins after Vader pins Roberts with a Vader bomb from the second rope. This was a perfect way to start the show. It was exciting and the crowd was into it, even if it was obvious from the outset that Roberts was the one who was going to be pinned. One thing I was surprised about was the positive reception for Yokozuna. The crowd ate up everything he did against Vader.

***

Backlot Brawl

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper Vs Goldust

Piper is standing in the backlot with a bat in his hands. Goldust shows up in a gold Cadillac. Piper smashes the windows of the car with the baseball bat and brawls with Goldust. Piper absolutely DESTROYS Goldust in very stiff fashion to the point where Goldust is busted open the hard way. Goldust comes back with a low-blow, then he runs over Piper with a car. Piper luckily avoided any major damage and a vehicle chase ensues with Piper following Goldust in his ford.

Thoughts: This is very good stuff. The brawl was very intense and Piper looked like a man possessed. Goldust was on such a roll as a heel here, you were begging to see Piper kick his ass.

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin (W/Ted Dibiase) Vs Savio Vega

Stone Cold makes Vega submit with The Million Dollar Dream after drilling Vega twice with the Million Dollar belt while the referee was knocked out. I commend both on their effort here. This match was virtually unannounced with no hype. They showed good chemistry out there. This is Stone Cold's Wrestlemania debut. Next year would be huge for him.

**1/2

Hunter Hearst Helmsley (W/Sable) Vs The Ultimate Warrior

This is Warrior's first match with the WWF in over three years. Warrior gets a good, yet unspectacular pop. Warrior wins in 1 minute and 39 seconds with a gorilla press slam and a big splash. Normally, I would be very annoyed if a solid wrestler got treated like Hunter did. Considering how many people Hunter has buried over the years, I don't feel sorry for him what so ever. As I said, the crowd was kinda lukewarm towards Warrior.

DUD

Marc Mero debuts in the WWF with a backstage interview. Helmsley interrupts, then he and Mero get into a backstage brawl.

Thoughts: Mero had some fame in WCW as Johnny B Badd. There are worse ways you can have a superstar debut. Helmsley attacking out of frustration makes sense.

Diesel Vs The Undertaker (W/Paul Bearer)

The Undertaker wins with a tombstone. This is one of the best big man matches you'll ever see. It's not very often that two behemoths can put on a match that's over 3 stars. The Undertaker is one of the best big men to ever lace their boots, and Kevin Nash is talented when he's motivated. I rank this is as one of the most underrated matches.

***1/2

Roddy Piper and Goldust arrive to the arena in their vehicles. Piper and Goldust take the fight all the way inside the ring. Goldust kicks Piper's ass for a while until Goldust kisses Piper, which makes Piper snap. Disgustingly, Piper disrobed Goldust, who is wearing lingerie. Piper stands tall to end the fight.

Thoughts: The Backlot brawl was both good and bad. It started off as a very intense brawl, but slowly lost steam and petered out after a while. It would have been better if they had an actual street fight or something. Goldust wearing lingerie is something I try to put out of my mind as quickly as possible when I watch Wrestlemania 12.

WWF Championship (Iron Man Match)

Bret Hart (C) Vs Shawn Michaels (W/Jose Lothario)

For those that don't know, an Iron Man Match is where two wrestlers wrestle for 60 minutes. Whoever has the most pinfalls or submissions during the 60 minutes is the winner. Shawn's entrance is absolutely spectacular! He uses a zipline of over 100 feet in the air to come down into the crowd. After 60 minutes pass, it's still tied 0-0. Bret is leaving with the WWF title, but Gorilla Monsoon orders sudden death between Bret and Shawn. Shawn drills Bret with Sweet Chin Music in the opening minutes of sudden death and wins the WWF title.

Thoughts: This is undoubtedly a fantastic match, I'm not denying that. It told a wonderful story of the perseverance of Shawn Michaels, and the tenacity of Bret Hart. It's not the classic that many people make it out to be, though. I understand that they had to pace themselves in a 60 minute match, but there were far too many rest holds in this match. There is plenty of action and a ton of excitement, but it's also bogged down by the rest holds. I also felt the sudden death cheapened the impact a little bit. The 60 minutes felt real, the sudden death felt tacked on. As I said, this is definitely a wonderful match that ranks highly in my favorites, I just don't consider it to be the 5 star match many claim it is. I say it falls just short of 5 stars.

****3/4

I'll give this an 8/10. It's a very entertaining PPV and one of the most underrated Wrestlemania's. Even though fans overrate the iron man match, it's still an unforgettable match.

WrestleMania XII was the 12th annual WrestleMania Event that took place on March 31, 1998 in Anihiem, California. Main Event featured The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Micheals against the Hitman Bret Hart in the first ever 1 hour Iron Man match for the WWE Championship. Notable last WrestleMania appearances were Jake Roberts, Deisal and Yokozuna but a few notable debuts like Triple H and Stone Cold came in. In spite WWE in rough time period with Ratings to the Rival WCW, they worked hard on the build up to this Wrestlemania.

The Good - The Main Event was great. Definitely got surpassed by dozens of future Iron Matches in comparison but it was still great. Shawn Micheals sold every move properly and Bret Hart really carried the match. I thought the Opening was good too. I thought all 6 competitors were gave it there all.

The Meh - Diesal vs. Undertaker was okay. I saw people saying it was good but I found it decent. I for a long time during the show didn't know Goldust vs. Rowdy Piper was a match that started. But it okay as well. The first half for HBK and Bret Hart was also kinda slow and the crowd was dead for a lot of the show including the first half of the match.

The Bad - Well Ultimate Warrior vs. HHH was a waste and I thought Austin vs. Vega was boring. But hey people only saw the beginning of what was going to be a rising star. Austin as a the millionaire was a laughable knowing what he really got inside. If not for the main event this show would have probably been crap.

Overall - Decent show. It's not one of the most memorable Wrestlemanias but it wasn't a Disaster. Recommend watching 3/6 of these matches if optional.

0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the best of all time:

1. Ahmed Johnson, Yokozuna, and Jake Roberts vs. Owen Hart, Vader, and British Bulldog - 3.5/5

2. Savio Vega vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - 1.5/5

3. Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hurst Helmsley - 0/5

4. Undertaker vs. Diesel - 2.5/5

5. Roddy Piper vs. Goldust - 2/5

6. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels: WWE Championship (Iron Man) - 4/5

Best Match - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Worst Match - Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hurst Helmsley

Most Memorable Moment - Shawn Micheals entrance

Top 5 Performers

1. Bret Hart

2. Shawn Micheals

3. Diesal

4. Undertaker

5. All 6 Tag Team Competitors

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent.

Well, hello and welcome to Wrestlemania 12. The big story going in was the first one on one meeting since Survivor Series 1992 between fan favourites Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. From somewhere Vince got the idea that Shawn Michaels was going to be the next megastar of wrestling, right up there with Hogan. Sadly he was wrong, and Micheals, despite being an excellent worker would join the long list of failed champions since Hogans glory days in the WWE effectively ended at Wrestlemania 6.

It was decided that the match between Hart and Michaels would be no ordinary wrestling match, but a 60 minute iron man match with whoever collected the most falls in that period would be declared the winner and WWE Champion. Given how the match went, the stipulation could just as easily have been left out completely and would have stopped no end of whining from HBK marks years later, annoyed that there are still many fans who rate Hart higher than the "The Show Stopper." Whatever.

This PPV would also mark the in ring return of former WWE Champion The ULtimate Warrior, making his first PPV appearance since Summerslam 1992 and taking on Hunter Hearst Helmsley.

The other big match on the card was the long awaited showdown between Diesel and the Undertaker, who had cost each other title matches in recent PPVs.

The night started off with Owen Hart, Vader and the British Bulldog defeating Yokozuna, Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson in a forgettable opener. Yokozuna had recently turned on long time manager Jim Cornette. THis was Roberts first Wrestlemania appearance for some time and a rather disappointing final wrestlemania match for him. He never really had a "Wrestlemania moment." Next up we had Steve Austin making his Wrestlemania debut with Million Dollar Man Ted DiBIase at his side and defeating Savio Vega in a passable match. There wasn't really much more to it than that.

Next up, in the only match I have ever given six stars the Ultimate Warrior took on Triple H. Triple H dominated the early part of the match and looked to have it won when he hit the pedigree, but Warrior no sold the pedigree (yes, you read that right, no sold the pedigree) called down the powers, hit a gorilla press slam and a splash for the pin, all in under two minutes. Wow, what a match! Now its was time for the big match between The Undertaker and Diesel, won by the Undertaker after surviving three jack knife power bombs. This was not a technical masterpiece but it was nice little match telling a fun story which both guys sold well. Easily the best thing on the card so far.

It wouldn't get much competition from the next match, a backlot brawl won by Roddy Piper against Goldust. The match parodied the OJ Simpson car chase for a brief period. Really awful and pretty late too I would have thought.

Finally comes our main event, with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels putting on a clinic. The only problem was the match made a nonsense of the stipulation by having Hart and Michaels battle to a sixty minute draw, which would have been a heck of a lot more exciting without the time clock down the bottom basically advertising that nothing in the way of a pin or submission was going to happen in the next sixty minutes. Anyway, time expired with Michaels in the Sharpshooter with no hope of escape and Hart released the hold and, thinking the match had been drawn and he had retained his title began to walk away, but he was informed by Gorilla Monsoon that the match was going to continue under sudden death rules. Michaels eventually won about 5 minutes later with Sweet Chin Music to win his first WWE Championship. Hart looked very angry as he left for the back. In the storyline he had every reason to be annoyed. Had he known about the sudden death rule he never would have released the sharpshooter and thus would have won the match by submission. In real life he had a pretty good reason too. Michaels had told him to "Get the F-ck out of the ring," after the match had finished.

There you have it, an average Wrestlemania lifted by a superb title match.