By Wade Keller, PWTorch editor

WWF WRESTLEMANIA X-5
MARCH 28 2004
LIVE FROM PHILADELPHIA, PA.

Steve Austin regained the WWF Title from The Rock in the main event of what will likely be shown to be the most watched wrestling PPV main event ever. The undercard for WrestleMania saw several twists in the storyline of who would be the special referee. When Mankind was too injured to referee, Vince McMahon appointed himself special ref. Commissioner Shawn Michaels came out to a huge ovation before the match and instructed Vince to return to the back. Michaels said the authority to appoint a referee lied with him. He appointed a regular WWF ref. He also changed the match to no-DQ stipulations.

There was no "slow build" in the early minutes of the match. They got in each other's face before the bell and brawled to ringside within five seconds of the start of the match. They brawled in the crowd for a minute, then down the aisle to the entry area and threw each other onto various contraptions (a lighting grip, a crane). Seven minutes into the match Austin drove Rock through an announcing table with an elbowdrop. They returned to the ring for the first time at the 8:45 mark at which point Rock surprised Austin with a Rock Bottom for the first nearfall of the match.

At 9:30 Austin inadvertently KO'd the ref with a chair. Rock bashed Austin with a chair several times, then went into a chinlock at 11:10. Austin escaped, but Rock went back into another chinlock at 11:45. A full minute later Austin made a comeback, but Rock cut him off with a Samoan drop. When the ref got in Rock's face, Rock gave him a Rock Bottom. Austin got up and surprised Rock with a Stunner. Rock kicked out and Austin looked shocked.

McMahon came back to ringside. He distracted Austin, which gave Rock a chance to low-blow Austin. McMahon hit the ref and then joined Rock in stomping away on Austin. Mankind made his way to the ring and kicked McMahon out of the ring. Austin cradled the Rock. Mankind counted a near fall. At 16:00 Rock came back with another Rock Bottom. He made a big production out of his Corporate Elbow, but took so much time Austin moved out of his path. Austin then blocked a third Rock Bottom and hit the Stunner for the three count. The camera immediately showed McMahon's horrified reaction. Austin celebrated for several minutes, drinking beers and saluting the fans.

WM15 success to be judged two ways

By Wade Keller, editor

WrestleMania XV is a virtual lock to be the most successful and profitable PPV of all-time for the WWF. That was known going in. Very early estimates already indicate the number of buys to be at least between 800,000 and 1 million. The more solid figures that justify the WWF's confidence are the recent TV ratings.

The Mar. 29 Raw the day after WrestleMania set an all-time record for Raw, drawing a 6.5 rating and 4.9 million households. The record was set despite going head-to-head against Nitro and the NCAA basketball finals. The Heat pregame show right before WM drew a strong 4.7 rating equalling 3.5 million households. For WM to achieve one million buys, it would mean nearly 3 out of 10 households watching Heat actually ordered the PPV.

Last year, the Raw that aired six days before WrestleMania drew a 3.6 rating (versus Nitro's 4.5). This year's Raw rating six days before WrestleMania was 6.4. WrestleMania approached 700,000 buys last year for the Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels headlined event. This year, if you base buyrate expectations strictly on the ratings increase, WrestleMania XV should do in excess of 1.2 million buys. Not even the most optimistic predictions go that high.

Just as important to the WWF as the number of customers WM drew is whether the WWF can keep its momentum going. There were several key turns at WM that set up fresh matches and feuds. The WWF needs new feuds to keep their momentum going. The babyface turns of Paul Wight and Kane and the heel turn of Hunter Hearst Helmsley are the keys to the WWF having fresh match-ups in coming months, especially because Undertaker appears to be stale.

Having Hunter join the Corporation by turning on X-Pac sets up several potential feuds. The obvious feud is X-Pac vs. Hunter. Their first match on Raw the day after the PPV annihilated the Hulk Hogan vs. Dallas Page match in the ratings with a 6.5 to 2.8 head-to-head win. Hunter's other logical feud, now that he is aligned with Vince McMahon, would be to go after Austin's WWF Title. In the long-run, there will be tension between Hunter and Rock. If Hunter gets over as a heel, it could afford the WWF to turn Rock babyface, a move which could lead to a boost in Rock merchandise sales. Wight's turn sets up potential feuds with Rock and Hunter.

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