Post by hbkjason on Jun 29, 2020 5:27:20 GMT -5
Wrestling Memories: WrestleMania XX and the Silver Vision Collectors Edition!
Where it all begins again was the tag line for WrestleMania XX in 2004 and you knew that it was going to be a special event. It was the return of WrestleMania to Madison Square Garden and it was an event that while it was celebrating 20 years, did not feel like it was focusing on the past, but instead was looking to the future.
These days the WWE loves to look to the past and embrace the legends that paved the way for what we have now. Back in 2004, especially early 2004 things were a little different. The WWE was more about looking to the future than the past. You could make the argument that if it was not for the success of the WWE Classic Superstars figures and the various DVDs based on legends like Bret Hart that the WWE may not have fully embraced their past the way they do now.
Anyway, as you have guessed today, I want to talk about WrestleMania XX. Not just the event, but also the really cool collector’s edition DVD that Silver Vision here in the UK put out. I find talking about this event kind of hard due to the main event, I enjoyed Chris Benoit’s work as a wrestler and the main event here of him vs Shawn Michaels vs Triple H is one of the best main event matches in WrestleMania history, even if I did want HBK to win. I just have a hard time talking about it or celebrating it due to the involvement of Chris Benoit. Some people can look past what he did and appreciate that, but I just cannot do it.
Apart from the possibility of Shawn Michaels winning the World Heavyweight Championship. There were two other things that I was excited to see at WrestleMania XX. First of all, was John Cena having the chance to win the US Title. I did a piece on John Cena at this time before and I was a huge fan of his back then (I still am now) and WrestleMania XX was really his start to becoming the main event superstar that he would become. I am not a Big Show fan at all, but this match was certainly passable, and seeing him hoist that giant SOB on his shoulders was really cool.
The other match I was very, very excited for was…. Kane vs Undertaker. Admit it, you thought I was going to say Eddie vs Angle! I loved the American Bad Ass, but I was very eager to see just what kind of Undertaker we would get at WrestleMania. The promos leading up to it were great and very underrated in my opinion. They made you want the Undertaker even more! The image of him standing at the top of the ramp with the camera looking through all the druids is awesome and I am not sure the Undertaker has ever looked any more badass than he did there. The actual match may not be a five-star classic, but just seeing the deadman back like this was great.
Speaking of his entrance, I loved the stage for this show. I will admit that I do prefer when they use the smaller entrance at Madison Square Garden, but this stage with the floor titantron (not sure what the technical name is) was cool. When Kane made his entrance and they had the New York skyline on fire it was a cool effect. This Kane vs Undertaker match along with their match at WrestleMania XIV really does capture the pageantry of pro wrestling very well.
Ok, so I skipped it just before, but Eddie vs Angle is an awesome match. If I had to do a top 20 pro wrestlers of all time list, these two would for sure feature on it. I have always been entertained by most of what these guys did and this match was no different. The match was very fast-paced and I thought that the way Eddie creatively “cheated” to win was just pure Eddie at his finest.
I cannot talk about WrestleMania XX without talking about Brock vs Goldberg. Wow! I do not think I had ever seen a crowd hijack a match like this one before, it was insane to watch live, and looking back now I get a chuckle out of how Austin was cracking up and just having fun with it. If it was not for the addition of Stone Cold Stone Austin I would hate to think what an even bigger train wreck this match would have been. Seeing Austin get one more mania moment at the end of it all was more than worth the snooze fest that the actual match was. To be fair, back then I am not even sure that Brock Lesner could have dragged a decent match out of Goldberg.
While the actual event is not one of my top 10 WrestleManias, the DVD box set that Silver Vision released is one of my favorite DVD releases. This was a numbered limited edition (not that I would say 6000 is actually all that limited) and it came with some cool stuff. First of all, you got the WrestleMania XX program which is great and full of great little pieces. It also comes with these very high quality prints that my camera does a terrible job of capturing. It also came with a film cell (which is hanging on the wall), pin badge, lanyard, and ticket. This set also came with WrestleMania The Movie which is an awesome documentary about WrestleMania XIX. This is the most Silver Vision ever went all out for a WWE DVD release. In all, it is a really cool piece and one I recommend that you track down if collect WWE stuff.
What are your thoughts on WrestleMania XX and do any of you guys have this Silver Vision box set in your collections?
