Wrestlemania XX

It's hysteria. Dogs and Cats living together.

Vince McMahon, who is the personification of Style over Substance, has let Chris Benoit and Eddy Guerrero, each arguably the antithesis of the musclebound plodding superhero McMahon has long favored, walk out of the biggest wrestling show of the year, and the twentieth reiteration of that show, with the two biggest wrestling titles in the industry.

Up is Down, my friends.

I'm pleased with the outcome of the Wrestlemania show. To be honest, I'd kind of thought Guerrero (who is like, 5'9" and whom I could probably heave a good eight feet if I tried) would end up losing the Smackdown version of the World Title, and I felt like Benoit was probably third in line to win his triple-threat match behind Hunter Hearst "I'm a McMahon" Helmsley and Shawn "Vince Loves Me" Michaels.

But I was wrong. Kurt Angle didn't defeat Eddy. Chris Benoit won the title over Triple H and Shawn Michaels, with the defending Champ Triple H submitting to Benoit's Crippler Crossface.

It's interesting storytelling. And surprising, like I said. Neither Benoit nor Guerrero is that big a guy (I don't think either's much bigger than 5'9"), and neither is all that flashy with their ring personas. Guerrero's good on the microphone, and Benoit's decent, but neither of them has ridden their talking skills to the top of their game.

They did it with their in ring technical ability, for the most part. If they had to, each of them could get out there and put on a good show, wrestling almost anybody. There aren't many who can do what they do.

Props to Vince, who's admittedly a fan of the bigger, musclebound guys (Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, even Triple H). Props for letting somebody whose technical ability has carried them this far take the titles, rather than somebody who depends on persona and microphone skills than anything else.

The other thing that I noticed was the Brock Lesnar/Bill Goldberg match, and how the Madison Square Garden crowd turned on Brock based on the recent reports that he's looking to leave the WWE in favor of some other line of work (some reports say he wants to try out for the NFL--this I'll believe when I see it). Goldberg won. Special Ref Stone Cold Steve Austin gave each competitor a stunner for his troubles. The crowd didn't give either Lesnar or Goldberg much respect, as it's come to light recently how little either man wanted to make wrestling his top priority.

The MSG crowds know their stuff. I'm thinking any other arena in any other town (with the possible exception of a Philly crowd) would largely have bought ever second of the Lesnar/Goldberg match. But the New York crowd told the two what they thought of their efforts, letting loose with several "boring" chants. It was enough to make Jim Ross comment on the crowd's demeanor..

All in all, it looked like a good show. I feel a little goofy posting thoughts on a fake-fighting extravaganza I haven't even seen (That's an expensive show, $40 and $50 to watch fake fighting on TV? Screw all that). But it looked entertaining. I'll have to check it out, eventually.