Today is the 20th anniversary of Wrestlemania 14 folks. Austin/HBK, Taker/Kane I and Michinoku/Aguila. The card is cited as the beginning of the Attitude Era, but to me it’s simply the first wrestling show I’d ever watched. I mean I would have been seven years old, so my television time consisted of Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network, but all that would change on March 29, 1998.
The real hero in all of this is my brother, Justin, who decided to take his kid brother over to a buddy’s house to see Stone Cold Steve Austin open up a can of whoop ass all over Shawn Michaels, and possibly Mike Tyson. It’s funny looking back at the memories I have from that night and what stood out to me with nothing really to go off of. For instance, I thought LOD 2000 was the fucking coolest. If you would have brought up any other tag team or incarnation of LOD I would have shot that shit down so quick with “LOD 2000 over everything.”
My love for LOD 2000 would subside by the time Chainsaw Charlie and Cactus Jack won the famous Dumpster Match against the New Age Outlaws. This was my first “hardcore” match and I absolutely loved it. The idea that these guys were beating the shit out of each other with all of that plunder and it was totally legal rocked my little brain. Within months, my eyes would be opened to the insanity that was ECW and the rest is history.
Aside from LOD 2000 and the Dumpster Match, the memory that sticks with me the most is the Texas Rattlesnake, man. I mean, this guy would have an effect on my shit-talking ability and drinking game down the road. From that night on, any chance I had to smack two drinks of any kind together and stereo chug has been met with an emphatic “Hell Yeah.” Remember, I saw none of the buildup for this match prior to the pre-match hype video. Still, the first time I heard that glass shatter I popped just like my brother and his friends who had been living this story for weeks. By the time Austin hit the stunner and got the 1-2-3 it had been decided that when I grew up, I was going to raise hell…whatever that meant exactly.
Twenty years later I’m still a fan and have so much I owe to my love of wrestling. My senior project at ETSU was a wrestling podcast which led to me joining up with Resolute Wrestling after graduation. Through Resolute and other Tennessee promotions like SUP and NGW I’ve made some great friends and met a lot of really cool people.
So shoutout to Wrestlemania XIV on it’s 20th anniversary. The show may not be old enough to drink yet but I sure am. So, these two Bud Ices are about to get the Stone Cold treatment.
John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @CoupleOfJobbers
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