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WWE WRESTLEMANIA 23: ALL GROWN UP DISH NETWORK PREVIEW SHOW REPORT

WWE Wrestlemania: All Grown Up Free Dish Network Free Access Report

I noticed no one has done a report on the free view program that is airing on Dish Network channel # 456, which is a Wrestlemania retrospective. So here we go…

We start off with the modern day WWE opening video that they show for all their TV shows. We then go to the original ‘All Grown Up’ Wrestlemania preview video that first aired back in January (I think), but it has the Dish Network information at the end, instead of the Contact York Local PPV/Cable.

We then go to the opening video of Wrestlemania XX (‘Twenty Years Ago, One Man had a Vision’), with a couple minor changes, and at the point of the video were to switch from the history to the build for Mania XX, we instead get the Wrestlemania 23 logo on the screen and the Ladies and Gentlemen theme song, followed by Todd Grisham standing at the old WWE Confidential set. Probably one of the best openings WWE has ever done, definitely a great retrospective.

Grisham says “you are probably asking, Todd what is Wrestlemania?” Grisham says Mania is the biggest extravaganza in sports and entertainment history, and this year over 70,000 fans will pack Ford Field in Detroit. Grisham can’t believe this is the 23rd year, as it kicked back in 1985 at MSG at Wrestlemania 1, so that is where we should start off.

We go to a highlight package, starting with Mr. T and Rowdy Piper standing nose to nose in the ring and slapping each other. Our commentators are Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura. A lot of cutting of the video, to make this match actually look unbelievable. Pat Paterson was the ref, with Mohamed Ali the special guest enforcer. Eventually the match broke down, with Superfly Snuka and Cowboy Bob Orton getting into the match and Orton hitting Mr. Wonderful with his cast, to give Hogan the pin. We see Hogan celebrating, and an over voice of a Hogan promo earlier to the build saying that they were going to win.

Now to a Wrestlemania recall, Wrestlemania XII, the Iron Man match, “We are in overtime, McMahon” says The King. Michaels gets up, hits Bret Hart with the Super kick, and the boyhood dream for Shawn Michaels finally came true.

Grisham says that was a great match, with HBK outlasting Bret Hart. He says Shawn definitely doesn’t forget it, and no one ever forgets their chance to main event Wrestlemania. He parleys the boyhood dream phrase, into saying someone else’s boyhood dream was trying to come true at Wrestlemania XX, as Chris Benoit challenged Shawn Michaels and Triple H for the (RAW) World Heavyweight Championship.

We go to Wrestlemania XX in New York City, with Jim Ross and The King announcing the final 5 minutes or so of the matchup. Benoit has HHH in the Sharpshooter and HHH can’t get out. HBK comes out of nowhere with the Super kick on Benoit but can only get a 2 count on him. This is the unedited version of the final few minutes of the match, and eventually, after throwing HBK to the outside of the ring, and getting out of a Pedigree attempt, Benoit gets Triple H in the Crippler Cross face and after what seems like forever, HHH submits. The crowd was very hot for the final 5 minutes of this match, into every move. Jim Ross’s voice erupts saying that Benoit has done it and is the new Heavyweight Champion. We see Benoit crying in the ring, finally getting the Heavyweight Title he deserves. He goes up on the turnbuckle to acknowledge the fans and comes down to WWE Champion Eddie Guerrero standing in the middle of the ring, as the two embrace. A very memorable Wrestlemania moment.

Grisham cuts in and says what a moment that was for Chris Benoit, to share with his late friend Eddie Guerrero. Grisham says not to miss out on emotional moments like this, and pitches Wrestlemania (with the Dish Network information).

Now, another Wrestlemania Recall. Wrestlemania 14, Austin goes for a Stunner, Shawn pushes him off, goes for the Super kick, but he stops it, hits the Stunner and Mike Tyson counts 3. “The Stone Cold Era has begun!”

Another great Wrestlemania moment, says Grisham, as the Austin era had begun. Talking about someone trying to live out their dream, let’s go to Wrestlemania XXI, and the first ever Money in the Bank match.

We cut to Shelton Benjamin in the middle of the ring, and Kane tries to choke slam him to the floor but Benjamin gets caught in the rope. Tyson Tomko nails Kane and tries to help Christian up the ladder but Kane nails Tomko and (sloppily) close lines Tomko over the top rope. Evidently, WWE didn’t take the time to edit those two spots to make them look good on this piece. It’s the final 5 minutes again of this matchup. Kane is the center piece of the final 5 minutes here, as he not only sends Chris Jericho off a ladder and over the top rope to the outside, but he also takes a headbutt from Chris Benoit (who bleeds hard way) off the top of a ladder. Anyways, Benoit goes to retrieve the Money in the Bank case, after head butting Kane off the ladder that they both tried to climb, and The King says to Jim Ross that Benoit deserves to win the Money in the Bank Match, but then Edge comes in to the ring, hits Benoit with a chair shot to his already dislocated shoulder, climbs the ladder and wins the first Money in the Bank match. The King then says if anyone deserves it, it is Edge, as Edge celebrates at the top of the stage. Benoit lies in the ring, in pain and all bloody as Edge holds on to the Money in the Bank suitcase as hard as he can.

We again get the original ‘All Grown Up’ promo again that we got at the top of the program.

Now, a Wrestlemania recall. It’s Wrestlemania IX at Caesars Palace. We hear Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon talking about Caesars Palace being transformed, how this is Jim Ross’s first Wrestlemania (and one of his first WWF Appearances), as we see clips of the introduction of that year for Bobby Heanen on the back of an elephant, The Undertaker with a crow, and Bret Hart with the WWF title.

What a Wrestlemania that was, says Grisham. He can’t believe he missed wearing a toga. Grisham says he stills wears a toga, but that is a topic for another time. He wants to talk about the attendance for Wrestlemania.

A WWE Confidential piece is shown from Wrestlemania III, with Gene Okerland in the middle of the ring announcing the attendance for that show, with Jesse Ventura talking about Wrestlemania III at the Pontiac Silver dome, claiming that they had out drawn The Pope and the Rolling Stones and how Wrestlemania from that year is still the all time greatest in his eyes. Bruce Prichard says he was proud to be part of WWF that day, and we see highlights of the Hogan vs. Andre the Giant match, where Prichard says the best moment of the match was when Andre got the 2 and three quarters count. Chris Jericho says that you knew Hogan was going to beat Andre, but you didn’t really know. Eventually, we get to see the slam heard around the world, and Hogan hitting the leg drop, getting the cover. Gerald Brisco says that night was just bone chilling, and HBK says that night made Wrestlemania not just bigger than the other PPVs, but just ‘a lot bigger, I have no other way to describe it.’ Prichard says Wrestlemania III was the stamp, and we see Hogan getting driven out of the arena on one of the mini-WWF rings as he poses and the fans chant Hogan’s name.

Grisham says that Wrestlemania III had over 90,000 people and this year over 70,000 will fill Ford Field (boy does that sound like a big drop or what? Could have done without that comparison.)

We then go to the piece that WWE did on Raw after the event sold out in less than a minute, with fans commenting that they got their tickets for Wrestlemania, camped out all night and skipped work and could get fired for missing his meeting (I wonder if that guy still has his job?).

Grisham says all available tickets for Wrestlemania are gone, and the only way to be part of the event is to order now, again giving us the Dish Network ordering information.

We then get a hard cut, and go to a highlight video of Wrestlemania X8, focusing on The Rock vs. Hollywood Hogan matchup. We hear The King say we will never see Tyson vs. Ali or Ruth vs. Bonds, but we are going to get Hogan and The Rock. It shows a lot of the highlights from the match, heavily edited with a lot of the mixed crowd noise from the match added, including the Toronto crowd turing on The Rock in the middle of the match. About a 5 minute piece, including a big build to the point in the match where Hogan ‘hulked up’ after taking Rocks offensive and a Rock bottom, and had his comeback, but just fell short and Rock hit 3 Rock Bottoms, nipped up and hit the People’s Elbow for the 3 count. The crowd erupts and we skip the part after the nWo (Hall and Nash) attacked Hogan and Rock made the save, instead skipping ahead to where Rock and Hogan shook hands and posed down together. WWE played with the master audio on this tape (change where commentary was) and it was very effective, and the Toronto fans that night were just wild.

Now we go to another Wrestlemania Recall, back to Wrestlemania XII where Shawn Michaels came down from the rafters for his iron man match. “He is over 100 feet in the air” says Vince McMahon.

We go back to Grisham, who says what an introduction by the showstopper. Talking about the showstopper, Royal Rumble from this past year, where Shawn wanted to beat 29 other men for the grand prize, the main event in Wrestlemania.

It’s the 2007 Royal Rumble, and we skip to the end where Undertaker and Shawn Michaels just started to brawl after eliminating Rated RKO. It’s the unedited final 5 or 6 minutes of the matchup, and JBL has the line of the match, as when Shawn went to hit the Sweet Chin Music on The Undertaker to try to eliminate HBK, JBL says “This is how Shawn eliminated Diesel!” and “I can’t tell you how proud I was to sit here and call this Royal Rumble.” The segment ends with HBK walking to the back and The Undertaker posing in the ring on one knee, looking up at the Wrestlemania 23 logo, and the fireworks go off.

We hear Grisham do an over voice, saying that The Undertaker is going to be in the main event at Wrestlemania, and talking about main events at Wrestlemania, let’s go back to the main event from last year’s Wrestlemania.

We are in Chicago for Wrestlemania XXII, and the main event for the WWE Title is Champion John Cena against challenger Triple H. We come in with HHH and Cena brawling, as the crowd cheers for every punch HHH throws and boos at everyone Cena throws. Cena gets the upper hand and goes for the 5 knuckle shuffle with the crowd booing Cena out of the arena, but HHH gets up and hits the spine buster. It’s the unedited version of last year’s Wrestlemania, will full commentary. We get the last 7 minutes or so of the matchup, including the part where HHH mocks the ‘You can’t see me’ and follows that up with the DX crotch chop “A little DX action there, second time we have seen that tonight” says Jim Ross. HHH hits a low blow on Cena and the ref at the same time, sledgehammer time but HHH gets a 2 count. Cena gets out of a Pedigree and hits an FU but HHH gets out. Eventually, Cena hits the STFU for the submission victory.

We go back to Grisham, saying that this is a little sampling of what is to come at Wrestlemania 23, over 4 hours of unbelievable WWE action, live on PPV from Ford Field. Only way to be apart is to order, and Grisham suggests we do it now by using our remote, calling 1-877-DISH-PPV or on the Dish Network website, so we don’t wait for the biggest day of the year, of all time, of the history of sports entertainment. Grisham says he did his part, and he hopes to see you at Wrestlemania 23.

He signs off, but we now get the original ‘All Grown Up’ Wrestlemania video that aired a few times previously.

In the end, this was a really good 30-40 minute recap of the history of Wrestlemania, but if you were tuning in to get a preview of the angles for this year, outside of Undertaker winning the Royal Rumble, you were left out in the cold. Still a good program worth checking out for the nostalgia aspect.

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