Hello it’s me @callumowen98 aka The Wrestling Brain, and as it’s only a few days away from Wrestlemania, I’m going to do something different from my usual predictions articles, and give you my memories from the
It was from all the way back in 2007 as Wrestlemania 23 hit Detroit, we saw John Cena defend his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels in the main event, Royal Rumble winner Undertaker took on World Heavyweight Champion Batista, and a “Battle Of The Billionaires” match between Bobby Lashley managed by Donald Trump (I wondered what he’s doing now) against Umaga who had Vince McMahon in his corner.
I’d only recently got into WWE, as I have mentioned in some of my previous articles, my earliest memories of watching was from the 2007 Royal Rumble Match, and seeing Shawn Michaels and Undertaker as the final two and battling it out. I was more of a Raw brand fan at the time, and rarely watched Smackdown, although I do remember being a Brian Kendrick and Paul London supporter who were the WWE Tag Team Champions at the time, but weren’t on the Wrestlemania card.
This Mania kicked off with the Money In The Bank, which was won by Mr Kennedy… Kennedy, but my memory goes straight back to seeing Jeff Hardy’s entrance, and he instantly became one of my favourites, then when he hit a leg drop from the top of a ladder onto Edge, it is a Mania moment that I’ll always remember.
The undercard of this PPV is pretty
The first of the three marquee matches to take place was for the World Heavyweight Championship between Batista and Undertaker, as a 9-year-old, I didn’t really know what the undefeated streak of The Undertaker really was, and not really being as interested in the Smackdown brand, it’s not a match I remember, however, my brother is a huge Undertaker fan so we were both supporting him
Honestly, it’s one of the most underrated Wrestlemania matches, Batista was playing the heel role in the
In what was arguably the most hyped match of the night, Bobby Lashley with WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump in his corner, took on Umaga with Vince McMahon in a clash of the Battle Of The Billionaires. The losing billionaire would have his hair shaved, and to add even more intrigue Stone Cold Steve Austin would guest referee.
This match was everything great about WWE, it was pure sports entertainment, let’s face it though it didn’t establish either Lashley or Umaga’s careers. Lashley would leave WWE following injuries in late 2007 but would return in 2018. Sadly Umaga passed away in 2009. In his WWE
Lashley would be victorious and McMahon would be shaved bald, and then Stone Cold would proceed to Stunner the current president of USA.
The main event would see WWE Champion John Cena take on Shawn Michaels, this was the match I was most looking forward to, Cena and Michaels were my two favourites. When they won the World Tag Team Championships against Rated RKO on an episode of Raw before Wrestlemania, I remember rewatching it time and time again, as in those days when I watched Raw I would have to set the video to record manually every Monday night.
This Mania match was ultimately one of the first great John Cena matches and proved that he wasn’t just a ‘five moves of doom’ guy. Cena would retain by making Michaels submit to the STFU, however, their more memorable match would take place a few weeks later at a Raw in the UK, where the two would wrestle for close to an hour.
This was the first Mania I watched, and it’s one I’ll never forget. Sure, it may not have been the best one ever or had a match that’ll be remembered for ages, but it has a place in my heart, and ultimately if I hadn’t watched this PPV I may never have become a wrestling fan.
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