At WrestleMania 25, two of WWE‘s greatest performers Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker brought the house down with what has been considered the greatest WrestleMania match of all time.
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Shawn and Taker would go at it again the following year, which led to Michaels’ subsequent retirement, but it was that first match which captured pure wrestling magic. But given the circumstances with the involvement of such legends, you’d think it was planned that way all along.
Well, not quite.
Former WWE referee Marty Elias, who officiated the match, was a guest on the Two-Man Power Trip podcast and he had some interesting facts about the match including its original placement and the time limit.
“That match was actually only supposed to be 15 minutes and they were originally supposed to be third on the card for that show,” Elias said. “I remember being told that and us sitting in there. It was me, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Pat Patterson and Michael Hayes and when Michael Hayes told Shawn and Taker that we were third and we only had 15 minutes, it was something that needed to be changed.”
Of course, eventually, it was.
“We didn’t get the main event,” Elias continued, “but it was something that we just kind of looked at each other. Shawn and Taker looked at each other and gave these puzzled looks and I still remember that…it should have been the main event.”
Now it’s fair to point out that HBK and Undertaker did get the top slot at the following WrestleMania with both matches going twice as long averaging about 30 minutes each. While both men are purely capable of telling the necessary story in any time allowed, giving both matches room to elevate and breathe was one of the better moves done by management, wouldn’t you agree?
(h/t: Reddit/SquaredCircle)
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