The Hardcore Title triple threat match that opened WrestleMania XV offered the first problem with Vince Russo's scattergun booking taking over the biggest pay-per-view of the year.
The contest itself was a little on the silly side thanks to the some of the cartoonish weapon shots, but was dead before it came to life thanks to Billy Gunn's late insertion in place of his New Age Outlaws partner Road Dogg.
This will come up later too, but the Outlaw Hardcore/Intercontinental switch before the 'Show Of Shows' destroyed the chemistry (and storyline reason to be) of two separate matches on the card. Billy Gunn had been feuding over both the Intercontinental Championship and Ryan Shamrock's heart in the weeks leading up to the show - this served only as a destination for 'Mr Ass' to lose a title he didn't even want.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
