WrestleMania X8, also known as WrestleMania 18, was a 2002 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the American promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the 18th annual WrestleMania and took place on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the second WrestleMania at that venue after WrestleMania VI in 1990.
The event marked the last WrestleMania under the WWF name before the company was renamed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in May, and the last one held before the introduction of the brand extension just a week after the event. This is the last WrestleMania to be held outside the United States until 2027 when it is to be hosted in Saudi Arabia. The SkyDome, renamed to Rogers Centre in 2005, would not host another WWE event until 2025 when Elimination Chamber took place.
Twelve matches were contested at the event including one match that was broadcast on the Sunday Night Heat pre-show on MTV. The Rock defeated Hollywood Hulk Hogan in the main attraction dubbed "Icon vs. Icon", in what was Hogan's first WrestleMania since WrestleMania IX in 1993. In the final match, Triple H defeated Chris Jericho to win the Undisputed WWF Championship. In other prominent matches on the undercard, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin defeated Scott Hall, The Undertaker defeated Ric Flair in a no disqualification match, and Rob Van Dam defeated William Regal to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.
The record-breaking attendance for the SkyDome of 68,237 grossed approximately $6.1 million CAD ($3.9 million USD). WrestleMania weekend also included WWF Fan Axxess at the Canadian National Exhibition's Automotive Building.
Contents
Production
Background
WrestleMania is considered the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) flagship professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, having first been held in 1985. It has become the longest-running professional wrestling event in history and is held annually between mid-March to mid-April. It was the first of the WWF's original four pay-per-views, which includes Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four", and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs with the addition of King of the Ring in 1993. WrestleMania 18, stylized as WrestleMania X8, was scheduled to be held on St Patrick’s Day on March 17, 2002, at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, marking the second WrestleMania at that venue after WrestleMania VI in April 1990.
Storylines
The event included eleven matches that each resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by writers of the World Wrestling Federation, while storylines were produced on WWF's weekly television shows, Raw and SmackDown! along with its supplementary programs, Sunday Night Heat and Jakked/Metal.
The main feud built up in the lead to the event pitted The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against the New World Order (Hollywood Hogan, Kevin Nash and Scott Hall) with the main attraction being promoted as The Rock vs. Hollywood Hulk Hogan, billed as an Icon vs. Icon, face of the company generational match.
The Rock's involvement with the nWo started after his win over The Undertaker at No Way Out, when a photo request from Hogan for his son turned into a trade of insults. On the following episode of Raw, The Rock interrupted Hogan's address to the crowd and challenged Hogan to a match at WrestleMania. When Hogan accepted and shook hands with his future opponent, The Rock kept the hold on and hit the Rock Bottom on Hogan. Before The Rock could leave the arena, however, Hall and Nash ambushed The Rock. Hogan, Nash, and Hall then attacked The Rock with a belt, a hammer, and all three of their finishers, concluding the assault by spray painting the nWo initials on The Rock's back. With medics attending to The Rock and loading him into an ambulance van, the nWo furthered the attack by forcing the medics to retreat, chaining up all possible exits of the van, and driving a semi-truck into the van with The Rock trapped inside. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's involvement also commenced at No Way Out, when after having their gift of beer refused, the nWo interfered with Austin's WWF Undisputed Championship match against Chris Jericho, helping Jericho to retain the title before spray painting the nWo initials on Austin's back. Austin finally got his revenge on the February 21 episode of SmackDown! when, after the nWo had given a half hearted apology for their attack on The Rock, Austin chased the nWo out of the ring with a tire iron. Austin managed to catch Hall and attack him with the tire iron, but Hogan and Nash saved Hall from being run over by Austin's pickup truck. After the nWo found their limousine spray-painted "What?" by Austin, the latter kidnapped Hall and closed the show by embarrassing him in the middle of the ring with "3:16" spray-painted on his back. On the following episode of Raw, Hall challenged Austin to a match at WrestleMania, which Austin accepted afterward. The feud between Austin and the nWo continued back and forth for the next couple of weeks with Austin attacked by Hall twice with a cinder block and a wrench, while Austin fired a netgun at Nash before beating down Hall. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown!, The Rock made his return and immediately challenged Hogan for a fight. Nash and Hall held Hogan back, leaving Hall to challenge for a match instead. The Rock's match with Hall ended in a three-on-one attack by the nWo. The nWo's attack was stopped by Austin, however, who saved The Rock with the aid of a steel chair. On the March 11 episode of Raw, Rock and Austin took on the nWo in a handicap match, resulting in Hogan pinning The Rock after a leg drop.
Event
Before the pay-per-view event aired began, Mr. Perfect, Lance Storm and Test faced Rikishi, Scotty 2 Hotty and Albert in six-man tag team match on Sunday Night Heat. Rikishi won the match for his team after pinning Mr. Perfect following a Banzai Drop.
The actual pay-per-view started with a live performance of "Superstar" by rock band Saliva (Josey Scott, Wayne Swinny, Chris D'Abaldo, Dave Novotny and Paul Crosby). The first match of the night saw William Regal defend his WWF Intercontinental Championship against Rob Van Dam. Twice in the match, Regal tried to use brass knuckles to set up the Power of the Punch on Van Dam. But on both occasions, Van Dam kicked them away. Van Dam won the match after a Five-Star Frog Splash to win his first Intercontinental Championship.
The WWF European Championship match between the champion Diamond Dallas Page and Christian followed. Christian executed a neckbreaker on Page and Page performed a roll-up on Christian, but neither man scored a pinfall. Page won the match after executing a Diamond Cutter on Christian.
The WWF Hardcore Champion Maven defended his title against Goldust next in a Hardcore match. The match ended when both Goldust and Maven knocked each other out with trashcan lids. Spike Dudley then came out and pinned Maven for a three count. Under the title's 24/7 rules, Spike became the new champion. His celebration was short-lived, as Crash Holly chased Spike through the crowd with Maven and Goldust following suit. In a promotion for the show's main event, rock band Drowning Pool (Dave Williams, C. J. Pierce, Stevie Benton and Mike Luce) made a live performance of "Tear Away" with a video package playing in the background. After the performance, the show cut to backstage, where Crash Holly and Spike Dudley continued to fight. Al Snow tried to interfere by driving a golf cart (along with referee Theodore Long) towards the two, but ended up crashing into some boxes. Spike successfully fought off Holly by throwing him into a steel door, but ended up getting kicked by The Hurricane who swung off a rope. The Hurricane then pinned Spike to become the new Hardcore Champion.
Next, Kurt Angle fought Kane. During the match, Angle executed Kane's signature flying clothesline. Confidently, Angle tried another, but Kane countered with a clothesline of his own. Later on, Kane attempted a Tombstone Piledriver, but Angle grabbed Kane's mask, distracting him long enough for Angle to execute an Angle Slam. Angle then applied the ankle lock on Kane, which was stopped when Kane reached the ropes. With Angle still holding the foot, Kane used the other foot to perform an enzuigiri. A top rope attack by Kane was prevented when Angle rushed to the corner and executed a belly to belly suplex on him. Kane tried a chokeslam, but Angle reversed it into a roll-up using the ropes to win the match.
Reception
WrestleMania X8 was met with a generally positive critical reception. Writing for SLAM! Wrestling, John Powell gave the overall event 7 out of 10 stars, which was a lower rating than the previous year's event. The main event between Chris Jericho and Triple H for the Undisputed WWF Championship received the highest rating out of all the matches on the card of 8 out of 10 stars, the match between The Rock and Hollywood Hogan received a rating of 7 out of 10 stars, the match between "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Scott Hall received a rating of 6 out of 10 stars, the no disqualification match between The Undertaker and Ric Flair was rated 7.5 out of 10 stars and the four corners elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship between Billy and Chuck, The APA, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz being rated 5 out of 10 stars.
According to Chris Jericho, he tried to not be the last match of the card despite being the Undisputed WWF Champion. According to him, the true main event was Rock vs. Hogan and Triple H and he could not follow that match. The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan match would go on to be well praised over the years as one of the most iconic wrestling matches ever, as well as being named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's match of the year 2002. Mike Chioda expressed his thoughts on the match, stating, "Did I know it was gonna be so legendary back then? Hell no, I didn’t know. I didn’t know a few years later. We thought something was gonna at some point top that, and I don’t think at some point since 2002, since Rock and Hogan, has really topped that." John Cena, Cody Rhodes, The Miz and Rusev consider it the greatest match ever.
Aftermath
After WrestleMania, the WWF board of directors made their final decision over the control of the company. Due to the personal conflicts between Mr. McMahon and Ric Flair resulting in bad business for the company, Linda McMahon proposed a brand extension, essentially splitting the entire WWF roster into two separate entities, named after their two major television shows, Raw and SmackDown!. Vince took control of the SmackDown! brand, while Flair controlled the Raw brand. A draft was held where each owner would get a total of thirty picks between the wrestlers. The draft was held on the March 25 episode of Raw, while the brand extension officially began on April 1.
Triple H's feud with Stephanie McMahon would conclude on the March 25 episode of Raw, when he defeated her and Chris Jericho in a triple threat match for the Undisputed WWF Championship. By pinning her, Stephanie was forced to leave the WWF in accordance with the match stipulations. Triple H's feud with Jericho would continue, with both Jericho and The Undertaker interfering with Triple H's championship match at Backlash against Hollywood Hulk Hogan and costing him the Undisputed WWF Championship. Triple H would finish his feud with Jericho in a Hell in a Cell match at Judgment Day, and later challenged The Undertaker for the WWE Undisputed Championship at King of the Ring, but lost after interference from the returning Rock.
After the reaction during his return match, Hollywood Hulk Hogan was quickly turned face. Until the brand extension separated both parties, The Rock and Hogan feuded with Kevin Nash and Scott Hall, with Nash and Hall having had expelled Hogan from the nWo. On the final SmackDown! before the brand extension, the team of The Rock, Hogan and Kane defeated Nash, Hall and returning nWo member X-Pac in a six-man tag match. The Rock left shortly after the WWF draft for three months to go on a media tour to promote his movie, The Scorpion King.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin no-showed the following two weeks after WrestleMania, claiming to be burned out. When he returned on the April 1 episode of Raw, the show was centered on which brand he would choose. Both McMahon and Flair would attempt to win his signature, with Austin eventually choosing the Raw brand. After being drafted to Raw, Austin would get himself involved in the feud between The Undertaker and Ric Flair, fighting The Undertaker at Backlash for a shot at the WWF Undisputed Championship, which he would lose. The storyline itself evolved into a feud between Austin and Flair, with the nWo's involvement on Flair's behalf.