WrestleMania XII

There were great WrestleMania's way before XII and would be great WrestleMania's after it. But for its time, WM XII represents an enormous and long-await step forward in quality for the WWE.

This is the first time in nearly 2-3 years of WWE PPVs that I can say I legitimately was entertained almost all the way through. After the opening-card tag matches (which admittedly are kind of "blah"), here are some of the highlights...

-Piper and Goldust's "Backlot Brawl", which was just dumb/silly enough to work I think. -A perfectly pedestrian match between Steve Austin & Savio Vega, yet important in establishing Austin's WWE presence. -Ultimate Warrior vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley was a fun little moment, albeit one that (via hindsight) would never take root. -Undertaker vs. Diesel being a legitimately fun "big men" match. Those two knew how to put on a good show and it bears out here.

Then, of course, there is the Michaels/Hart "Iron Man Match" finale for which this event will always be remembered. Surprisingly, upon a recent re-watch, the first half of the match teeters on being boring, but the latter half more than makes up for it. This is truly one of the best "WM finale" moments in the history of the event, with two of the WWE's Hall of Famers giving it all they had.

It really feels like the WWE turned a bit of a corner with WM XII. They managed to create a fun card almost from top to bottom, and each match added at least some sort of entertainment to the mix. I'd say the last time a WM did that previous to this was WM VIII four years previous. I can't remember if WWE was able to sustain this momentum going forward, but for just this event it was a refreshing step up in quality.

Experimental -mania new ideas 60 minutes match street fights and an improving locker room. Looking back at 12 you could see the beginnings of better days ahead for the federation.

This Wrestlemania was amazing. The Iron Man match was great, without question the best match ever. The Diesel vs. Taker match was an awesome clash between two 7 ft. giants. The Backlot Brawl was interesting (for the most part) with a very enjoyable ending. The six man tag match was a great opening match. The return of Ultimate Warrior was amazing, it was the best 30-second long match I have seen (and probably the only 30-second match I will see). The match between Savio Vega and Steve Austin was entertaining and it was good to see Steve Austin win his very first 'mania match. All in all, it was the best Wrestlemania ever and the only one that comes close is Wrestlemania XIV.

WrestleMania XII was a terrific event with some great matches.

In the main event Bret Hart battled Shawn Michaels in a 60 minute Iron Man Match. This match was sensational. Bret and Shawn had 60 minutes to showcase their talents and they did a brilliant job.

This event also saw the return of one of my favourites-The Ultimate Warrior who squashed future champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley in minutes. I really cheered during this match but to my disappointment the Warrior was gone from the WWF 3 months after this event took place.

Roddy Piper and the truly bizarre Goldust had an entertaining match and it was great to see Goldust get his butt kicked. This was Roddy Piper's last WrestleMania and he didn't disappoint.

There were two other great matches as well-The Undertaker battled Diesel in a match where both men performed above their usual standard. And there was an awesome six man match pitting Vader, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith VS Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Ahmed Johnson and Yokosuna.

Terrific card with terrific matches!

HBK vs. Bret Hart in the 60 minute Iron Man match in my opinion was the best match ever put together. Vince McMahon is a genius, thinking of this is what makes McMahon the man he is today. I just wish he didn't become such an a-hole in the show.