Al Snow vs. Billy Gunn vs. Hardcore Holly

[4.0] "Good match for a Hardcore title (and 24/7 rule) but lacking of feeling for a WrestleMania opener, good use of weapons for just 7 minutes but of course it's not perfect. 4/10 [**1/2]"

[7.0] "this is a very fun, harshly rated match, you cant really go wrong with a chaotic triple threat to open mania off, i really dont understand why this hasnt been rated higher, i love it personally its a great match"

[4.0] "An okay match. It's so unusual seeing Billy Gunn as Hardcore Champion and I think at the time, he was Intercontinental Champion, but he and Road Dogg switched belts for some reason. Anyway, it's a decent opener to the show."

[5.0] "Rating is a bit harsh. Nothing goes wrong, and there's a few cool spots. Finish is maybe a bit abrupt though."

[7.0] "Bit of a fuster cluck at times, however it's got chairs and weapons and enough spots to make it an entertaining match, maybe one for the random wrestlemania pub quiz, and hardcore holly getting his baby belt back"

[2.0] "I'm firm on the fact that I don't really like most of the 90s/early 00s era hardcore brawling style and this match did nothing to change my mind. Why was Billy Gunn even the Hardcore Champion, that isn't even the best use of his skillset. This was nonsense. Not truly atrocious, but I just didn't like it at all."

[5.0] "Even 25 years later, I'm still scratching my head over Road Dogg and Billy Gunn switching matches and storylines two weeks before the event. Billy Gunn didn't belong here. Road Dogg had been wrestling in the hardcore division leading up to this, but because Vince Russo has the attention span of a gnat, he decided to alter hi own plan. This match was ok, but didn't last in my memory banks very well."

[2.0] "This brawl between all three men involved just wasn't anything that special with most of the action and spots being dull and generic and there wasn't that much chemistry between anyone here."

[4.0] "Completely acceptable hardcore match. Nothing special, but also nothing bad at all. (4/10) Just a fun little seven minutes. Would have arguably worked better somewhere in the middle of the card instead of being the opener."

[3.0] "Really poor opener. Hardcore No DQ triple threat full of sloppy work and a flat finish. Felt meaningless and would have been better served hidden in the middle of the show."

"All three guys took a lot of damage but lacked much story or chemistry between each other. Holly going over was the wrong call."

[5.0] "It wasn't a terrible match, but it's just forgettable compared to other Hardcore title matches of this era and Road Dogg was a much better Hardcore Champ than Billy Gunn and he just clicked a lot better in these kind of matches. You still get some dumb fun weapon spots, but it surprisingly takes a while and roughly the first half of the match just looked like an average triple threat match."

[3.0] "[*1/2] This match is a bit of a dull mess and a really odd choice for an opener to WrestleMania. While it has a few entertaining moments, nothing significant seems to happen, and the constant use of weapons seems to be there without much reason other than the fact that it's a hardcore match. Overall, it's extremely forgettable."

[6.0] "Fun little brawl actually. I wouldn't say this was a classic or anything, but it did what it set out to do and had some cool spots - Al Snow dropkicking Billy Gunn while he was in the corner and he was jumping off a steel chair is certainly not something I see often even in modern plunder matches. Light on the actual wrestling, heavy on the weapons, but it was an alright hardcore match. Remember, you're not getting FMW here. It's okay to just find a short opener like this fun, and that it was. ***"

[4.0] "Pretty forgettable opening match but the crowd was hot for Al Snow and Billy Gunn so it was surprising to see Hardcore Holly end up going over here. Not the most violent match considering this is for the Hardcore Title in Philadelphia. Nothing special here, 2.5 stars at most."

[3.0] "Is an opener and is full of dumb fun but even then it is kinda garbage quality wise, but you can watch it without thinking about it and you will enjoy some of the moments."

[3.0] "Ugh, not only it's a garbage No DQ Match but also a Triple Threat. There's no flow to this, everybody just takes weapons at random and hit each other with it, the only pinfall is the winning one and there's absolutely no story. Billy is the only guy over and at least he's capable of getting the crowd going a little bit, but it's still horrible to watch, even though it's only 7 minutes."

[4.0] "An opening match of this caliber is a sign of the general quality of this particular Mania. Honestly, its not bad. Its not even very boring, its quite entertaining at times but theres still some big detractions here. For one, this match wouldve felt infinitely more comfortable in the middle of a card of a RAW showing or even a B level PPV, definitely not WRESTLEMANIA. Compare this to say, the Hardcore Triple Threat at Mania 17 only 2 years later and youll see an oceans worth of difference in match quality and creativity. The New Age Outlaws title swapping also messes up the storylines going into both this match and the Intercontinental Fatal 4 Way later in the card. And plus, by far the least over wrestler in the match walks away with the win."

[5.0] "while it was definitely on the dull side for a hardcore match, i thought it was still enjoyable enough and got the crowd into it quite well. the stuff with head is always enjoyable too."

[3.0] "Al Snow probably thinks this is the greatest opening match in Mania history. This was a dull hardcore match as most in WWF were. A few nice unprotected chair shots to the head if that is your bag."

[4.0] "Weeks prior, Billy Gunn and Dogg had been feuding for the IC and Hardcore titles. Vince Russo, in his infinite wisdom, decided to flip things and have Gunn go for the hardcore belt and James became IC champ. Of course it was a terrible idea as Gunn looked more the IC champ contender and Dogg the hardcore title contender, but logic be damned! The first triple threat match in Mania history. Standard hardcore match, all three guys attacking each other, Holly spins Billy inside out with a clothesline now it's going outside. Snow starts smacking Holly with a hockey stick. Fans get a Flyer chant going. Billy gets the hockey stick and breaks it on Holly's back. Snow breaks a broom handle on Holly, and starts twirling it looking like he's David Lee Roth. Snow starts wailing on Billy with the broom stick. Snow goes outside and finds a table, and sets it up in the corner. Holly attacks Snow and Billy cracks Holly in the head with a chair. Billy tosses Snow into the table, crowd goes nuts. Billy goes to pin Snow but Holly cracks the chair across his back and pins Billy at 7:07 to regain his hardcore title that he lost to Billy weeks earlier. I guess I will go with 2 stars."

[3.0] "WWF just couldn't book a hardcore match, they wouldn't go all out, they wouldn't lean fully into the comedy, and just ended up with a dull mess. It's not helped that the finsh, while fairly new at the time, has become a tired trope these days."

[3.0] "This match was not WrestleMania worthy, and does not accomplish much of anything. Would have maybe been more appropriate in the middle of the card, but certainly not as an opener."

[4.0] "We've finally entered the age of the Hardcore title, with plenty of mindless weapon spots to boot. This was the first time that we see random stuff getting pulled out of the ring to be used as weapons, despite there being no logical reason for that item being there. They start wailing at each other with a hockey stick to pop the NHL-loving crowd. Snow takes a Fame-Asser on a chair, and Holly sneaks the win by laying out Gunn with a chair shot and stealing the win. Although there was a severe lack of workrate here, this was an entertaining way to open the PPV if you don't take it too seriously."

[6.0] "I thought this was a satisfying match. Nothing too extreme happened just three wrestlers having a match with some weapons."

[3.0] "It really wasn't that great of a hardcore match. Nothing interesting happened, and it was over pretty quick."

[3.0] "This was a bad opener. All three guys took some good punishment, but the match lacked any sort of psychology. The finish could have been done better too although that "steal the pin" finish was fairly new at this point in WWE history. *1/2"