WWF Wrestlemania X

WWF Wrestlemania X
Venue: New York City, New York
Date: 20/03/94
Attendance: 18,065
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Jerry Lawler

The World Wrestling Federation returned to Madison Square Garden to celebrate the 10th annual Wrestlemania and Vince McMahon pulled in the celebrities for the occasion. Little Richard (badly) mimed "America The Beautiful", Rhonda Shear (TV personality) and Jennie Garth (actress) were guest time keepers, while Donnie Wahlberg (singer, actor) and the biggest coup of all Burt Reynolds (actor) were guest ring announcers. There was also a Bill Clinton lookalike that fooled nobody. It had been decided that Royal Rumble co-winners Lex Luger and Bret Hart would both receive championship matches on the night. Luger would face Yokozuna first (decided by coin toss on Raw) and Hart would take on the winner later in the evening. Hart would also be in the opening match after finally agreeing to battle his brother Owen after the younger Hart went full heel at the Royal Rumble. There was also a certain Intercontinental Title Ladder Match on the card which you may have heard about. Jerry Lawler made his return to TV as colour commentator and did an excellent job.

Review

Owen Hart scored a big upset win over older brother Bret in a fantastic opening bout. Owen had to cut some of his more high flying manoeuvres out of his arsenal to suit his new heel stance but that did not detract from this technically superb contest. Owen was of course the aggressor as the younger hot-headed sibling but he didn't overdo the heel shortcuts. Bret was excellent in his role as babyface older brother and the match told a great story. Both men survived each other's version of the Sharpshooter. Bret attempted to perform a victory roll but Owen countered it for a shockingly clean three count. Lawler sold the significance of Owen's victory fantastically.


Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon defeated Doink and Dink in an acceptable mixed tag team match that was always going to feel flat after the Hart classic. It was what it was, a bit of fun. Bigelow scored a decisive win for his team when he pinned Doink following his top rope head butt.


After being built for around five months, Randy Savage and Crush finally collided in a "Falls Count Anywhere" grudge match. The rules were amended so that falls had to take place outside of the ring and the beaten wrestler would get one minute to return to the ring or lose the match. It was not a change for the better. Crush beat Savage in less than a minute after dropping him onto the guard rail in the aisle. Savage survived and pinned Crush after the big elbow off the top rope. He then had to roll Crush outside to pin him but Crush just made it back inside in time with the help of Mr Fuji. The finish came when Savage threw Crush into a few doors and attempted to hang him upside down after pinning him. Crush did not make it back and Savage was declared the winner of a fairly good brawl.

Women's Champion Alundra Blayze beat Leilani Kai in a short match which nobody really cared about. Kai's appearance was a nice nod to the original Wrestlemania but this did nothing for Blayze or the women's division.


Men on a Mission scored a weak count out win over tag team champions The Quebecers. The match wasn't very good but at the same time not as bad as expected.


Lex Luger was unsuccessful in his quest to become WWF Champion after he was screwed by guest referee Mr Perfect in his match with Yokozuna. Going nearly 15 minutes and filled with rest holds, the match was offensively boring. Towards the end Luger finally made his comeback by body slamming Yoko and KO-ing him with the formerly illegal elbow. He then nailed Jim Cornette and Mr Fuji before covering the champion but Perfect refused to count. Luger lightly shoved Perfect urging him to count but instead Perfect disqualified Luger. The crowd chanted "bulls**t" in response to the screwy finish. Apparently McMahon changed his mind about Luger very late in the day and effectively killed him as a top babyface. His feud with Perfect went nowhere as Curt Hennig would soon leave the company once again.


Harvey Whippleman made fun of Howard Finkel's new hairpiece and bullied him until "The Fink" shoved him down. Adam Bomb came out and grabbed Finkel but Earthquake made the save and squashed Bomb in about 30 seconds. Pointless. Who did this benefit?

Then came the match to determine the undisputed Intercontinental Champion in the first ever WWF ladder match on pay-per-view. There had been ladder matches before, even in the WWF but this one was a game changer. Featuring an incredible performance by Shawn Michaels who bumped like a man possessed, this match remains the ladder match that all others are judged by. Michaels claimed to be Intercontinental Champion despite being stripped of the title in September and still carried the belt when he returned from suspension. Meanwhile a new champion had been crowned in Razor Ramon who defeated Rick Martel to lift the vacant title so the two men were on a collision course the moment Michaels returned. The difference between this ladder match and the previous one in the WWF between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels in 1992 was the ladder was now being used as a weapon as well as a way of getting the title belt. Ramon and Michaels thought up many innovative ways to do this including baseball sliding the ladder, jumping off the ladder, performing moves off the ladder and just plain old beating your opponent with it. Watching this match when it first took place you knew you were watching something special. Ramon won the match after shoving Michaels off the ladder causing his leg to be tied up in the ropes meaning Ramon could retrieve the title belts to be confirmed as the undisputed champion. There was lots of talk of Michaels being WCW-bound at this time but although he took an extended break from in-ring action he remained with the WWF.

The main event was always going to feel a bit of an anticlimax after Ramon/Michaels but the introduction of Roddy Piper as guest referee helped as he came out to a great reception. You could argue that as entertaining as Piper was, he overshadowed the match itself. Yokozuna and Bret Hart had an okay title bout but it wasn't was good as the one they had in Las Vegas. However the finish was equally lame. Yokozuna inexplicably just fell backwards off the middle rope as he prepared to hit the Banzai Drop. Hart then pinned him for a complete fluke victory. That being said the crowd did pop huge for the three count. After the match wrestlers and celebrities filled the ring to celebrate with Bret. Owen Hart then appeared in the aisle to stare at his brother which was important because Owen now had a legitimate claim to be the number one contender.


Overall
Wrestlemania X is remembered as a great WWF show on the strength of two phenomenal matches. Without them the card is just average but that's how strong they were. The ladder match was the one that really pushed Shawn Michaels to the next level while at the same time casting the die for all future ladder matches. Owen Hart was also well and truly put on the map after his world class match with Bret. The brothers were set to collide for the title at Summerslam and would remain on opposite sides of the fence for the next three years. Wrestlemania X drew 390,000 buys for a Wrestlemania low buy rate of 1.68. Considering how business had been going this was still a satisfactory number.


Results
1 Owen Hart pinned Bret Hart (20:26) *****
2 Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon def Doink & Dink by pinfall (6:09) *1/2
3 Randy Savage def Crush in a "Falls Count Anywhere Match" (9:43) **1/2
4 Alundra Blayze (c) pinned Leilani Kai to retain the WWF Women's Title (3:23) *
5 Men On A Mission def The Quebecers (c) by count out. Quebecers retained the WWF Tag Team Title (7:45) *1/4
6 Yokozuna (c) def Lex Luger by disqualification to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (14:40) 1/2
7 Earthquake pinned Adam Bomb (0:35) SQ
8 Razor Ramon (c) def Shawn Michaels in a "Ladder Match" to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (18:47) *****
9 Bret Hart pinned Yokozuna (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (10:36) **1/4


Rating
19/45 = 42.22%

WWF PPV RATINGS LIST

Every match on each PPV is given a star rating and the show as a whole is given a score based on these ratings. Every match can score a maximum of 5 and a minimum of 0 so the show gets an overall average score which is shown as a percentage.


The rankings of the shows reviewed so far based on match quality.


1.   Survivor Series 1987      67.50%
2.   Survivor Series 1988      61.25%
3.   Royal Rumble 1991       55.00%
4.   This Tuesday In Texas   54.00%
5.   Royal Rumble 1993       49.00%
6.   Summerslam 1991         48.75%
7.   Survivor Series 1989      47.00%
8.   King of the Ring 1993    46.67%
9.   Summerslam 1993          46.50%
10. Royal Rumble 1992       44.00%
11. Royal Rumble 1989       43.75%
12. Summerslam 1989         41.11%
13. Wrestlemania III            40.83%
14. Wrestlemania VIII         40.56%
15. Survivor Series 1993     40.00%
16. Summerslam 1992         39.38%
17. Survivor Series 1992      39.38%
18. Wrestlemania VII           39.29%
19. Survivor Series 1990      38.33%
20. Royal Rumble 1990        38.00%
21. Summerslam 1990          37.22%
22. Wrestlemania VI             35.00%
23. Wrestlemania V              33.57%
24. The Big Event                 32.73%
25. Wrestlemania IX             31.67%
26. Survivor Series 1991      31.00%
27. Wrestlemania II              30.42%
28. Summerslam 1998          28.50%
29. Wrestlemania                  28.33%
30. Wrestlemania IV             27.50%
31. The Wrestling Classic     26.00%

WWF BEST PPV MATCHES (1990-1992)

1. Bret Hart vs British Bulldog - Summerslam 1992 ****3/4


2. Royal Rumble - Royal Rumble 1992 ****1/2


3. Mr Perfect vs Bret Hart - Summerslam 1991 ****1/2


4. Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage - Wrestlemania VII ****1/2


5. Ric Flair vs Randy Savage - Wrestlemania VIII ****1/2


6. Hulk Hogan vs Ultimate Warrior - Wrestlemania VI ****


7. The Rockers vs Orient Express - Royal Rumble 1991 ****


8. Randy Savage vs Ultimate Warrior - Summerslam 1992 ****


9. Roddy Piper vs Bret Hart - Wrestlemania VIII ****


10. Demolition vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1990 ***3/4


11. Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels - Survivor Series 1992 ***3/4


12. Hart Foundation vs Nasty Boys - Wrestlemania VII ***1/2


13. The Rockers vs Barbarian & Haku - Wrestlemania VII ***1/2


14. Royal Rumble - Royal Rumble 1990 ***1/2


15. Randy Savage & Mr Perfect vs Ric Flair & Razor Ramon - Survivor Series 1992 ***1/2

WWF BEST PPV MATCHES OF THE 80s

1. Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat - Wrestlemania III ****1/2


2. British Bulldogs, Strike Force, Killer Bees, Rougeau Brothers & Young Stallions vs Demolition, Hart Foundation, The Bolsheviks, The Islanders & The New Dream Team - Survivor Series 1987 ****


3. Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, The Rockers, Young Stallions & Powers of Pain vs Demolition, Brain Busters, Fabulous Rougeaus, The Bolsheviks & The Conquistadors - Survivor Series 1988 ***3/4


4. Randy Savage vs Hulk Hogan - Wrestlemania V ***3/4


5. Rick Rude vs Ultimate Warrior - Summerslam 1989 ***3/4


6. Brain Busters vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1989 ***1/2


7. The Rockers & Tito Santana vs Fabulous Rougeaus & Rick Martel - Summerslam 1989 ***1/2


8. Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Bam Bam Bigelow & Ken Patera vs Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy, One Man Gang, Rick Rude & Butch Reed - Survivor Series 1987 ***1/2


9. Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Jake Roberts, Jim Duggan & Brutus Beefcake vs Honky Tonk Man, Harley Race, Hercules, Ron Bass & Danny Davis - Survivor Series 1987 ***1/2


10. The Dream Team vs British Bulldogs - Wrestlemania II ***1/2

WWF Wrestlemania IX

WWF Wrestlemania IX

Venue: Las Vegas, Nevada
Date: 4/4/93
Attendance: 15,045
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan & Randy Savage

In stark contrast to the previous year's event Wrestlemania IX was held outdoors at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas with a Roman themed set including toga outfits for the announcers and ringside crew. It was certainly different. Due to the falling pay-per-view numbers Hulk Hogan was brought back into the fold to be a part of a special double main event as he teamed with Brutus Beefcake to challenge Money Inc for the World Tag Team Title while Bret Hart defended the WWF Heavyweight Title against Royal Rumble winner Yokozuna.

Review
In the opening contest, Shawn Michaels retained the Intercontinental Championship despite a count out loss to Tatanka in what turned out to be the best match on the show. The finish was perplexing however as Michaels tripped up the referee from outside the ring to prevent being counted out which was surely a disqualification, except Howard Finkel announced that the champion had in fact lost via count out. It was an easy way out as Tatanka could then remain undefeated without taking the title from the "Heartbreak Kid". After the bout Luna Vachon attacked Sensational Sherri who was in the corner of Tatanka. She assaulted her again in the medical room later in the show.

The Steiner Brothers defeated The Headshrinkers in a decent match-up won by Scott Steiner's Frankensteiner which didn't connect that well. There were a few cool manoeuvres in this one including Rick Steiner's belly-to-belly suplex on Fatu while sat on Samu's shoulders. This was one of two matches on the show that had a clean finish.
Crush was looking for revenge after being put out of action back in December by Doink, only he didn't get it. After a ref bump a second Doink attacked Crush from behind with a prosthetic arm allowing the original Doink to score the pin fall victory. Following the decision two referees looked for the second Doink under the ring but he was nowhere to be found. Apparently it was some kind of illusion. For a grudge match built quite well it got a pretty tepid reaction. There were some cheers for the finish which didn't bode well for Crush.

Razor Ramon beat Bob Backlund with an inside cradle in a rubbish match that did nothing for anybody. Backlund looked awful. Ramon was cheered despite being the heel and it's not hard to understand why.

Hulk Hogan's big return ended in defeat as he and Brutus Beefcake were disqualified in their tag title match with Money Inc. Jimmy Hart had switched allegiances to Hogan & Beefcake after an angle on Raw where Beefcake's nose was broken by Ted Dibiase & IRS. Hogan then made his return to television and vowed revenge for his best friend. The match however did not feel like a big enough deal for the long awaited return of Hogan. It was an okay bout but the finish was pretty stupid. After KO'ing the champions with Beefcake's protective face mask, Hogan and Beefcake apparently thought that Jimmy Hart had the authority to count the pin fall simply by turning his jacket inside out to reveal black and white stripes on the inner lining. The faces were rightly DQ'd but they celebrated regardless after the match. It should also be noted that Hogan worked the match with a nasty looking eye injury caused by a boating accident (or Randy Savage's fist if you believe the rumours). Speaking of boating accidents this was Beefcake's first pay-per-view match for three years after shattering his face in 1990.

Mr Perfect's showdown with Lex Luger was a disappointment. It was a very ordinary bout which Luger won with a backslide despite both of Perfect's feet being on the middle rope. Luger then knocked Perfect out with his steel plated forearm before Perfect tracked him down backstage only to be attacked by Shawn Michaels. This was more exciting than the match itself. Incidentally Luger had also knocked out Bret Hart during the Wrestlemania brunch event but strangely it didn't lead to anything.

The Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzales by disqualification after Gonzales decided to use chloroform to incapacitate the "Dead Man". Taker did the first stretcher job of his WWF career only to charge back to the ring soon after and take down Gonzales with a series of clotheslines. Predictably the match was awful.

In the main event Bret Hart had a decent bout with Yokozuna until yet another lame ending. Hart (sort of) locked Yokozuna in the Sharpshooter only for Mr Fuji to throw salt in his eyes which was enough to keep the champion down for the three count. Couldn't Yoko have also dropped a leg on him or something? Hulk Hogan then stormed down to the ring to protest the injustice but ended up being challenged by Fuji to an immediate title match with 'Zuna. Hogan asked for Hart's permission, which he granted, the salt trick backfired, Hogan clotheslined Yoko, dropped the leg and just like that picked up his fifth WWF Heavyweight Title. Despite the obvious flaws in the way it went down I felt this ending brought about the only memorable moment of the show. A lot of people rightly felt bad for Hart but the reality is he wasn't drawing well enough as champion so McMahon decided to pull the plug. Supposedly the idea was for Hart to challenge Hogan for the title at Summerslam but that didn't happen as Hogan would leave the company in the summer. McMahon clearly did not want to go back to Hart as champion as he instead attempted to make a new Hogan in the form of Lex Luger.

Overall
An awful Wrestlemania. The only memorable things about the show were the setting and the ending with Hogan's surprise title win which like it or not got a big pop and sent the fans home happy. The other positives were new signing Jim Ross' performance on commentary, and Bam Bam Bigelow versus Kamala being cancelled. Besides that, an abundance of dodgy finishes and average matches made this show one to forget. Wrestlemania IX drew a 2.1 buy rate equating to 430,000 buys. While still slightly down from the year before it was a much healthier number than the past three pay-per-view shows.

Results
1 Tatanka def Shawn Michaels (c) by count out. Michaels retained the WWF Intercontinental Title (18:13) ***1/4
2 The Steiner Brothers def The Headshrinkers by pinfall (14:22) **3/4
3 Doink pinned Crush (8:28) *
4 Razor Ramon pinned Bob Backlund (3:45) 3/4
5 Money Inc (c) def The Mega Maniacs to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (18:27) **
6 Lex Luger pinned Mr Perfect (10:56) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Giant Gonzales by disqualification (7:33) DUD
8 Yokozuna pinned Bret Hart (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (8:55) **3/4
9 Hulk Hogan pinned Yokozuna (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (0:21) SQ

Rating
14.25/45 = 31.67%

Wrestlemania 32 Thoughts

WWE finally broke their own all time attendance record packing nearly 100,000 fans into the impressive AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas but sadly Wrestlemania was a really underwhelming ho-hum show. That's not to say there were no big moments or good matches but this show fell far short of what a Wrestlemania should be. Fortunately for WWE the name "Wrestlemania" is almost enough for a sell out these days but how long that will continue to be the case is questionable after what the company have produced recently. Here are my positives and negatives from the big event...


+ Positives
Lita's announcement on the pre-show that the "Divas" name and championship were being scrapped was very welcome. The ladies will once again compete for the Women's Championship and like their male counterparts will be referred to as "Superstars". The awful Divas title belt was replaced by one that looks similar to the WWE World Heavyweight Title... Brie Bella was allowed to leave WWE on her own terms and even got her hand raised in the process. A pleasant surprise... The Intercontinental Title ladder match was the best match of the night. Lots of cool and crazy spots and plenty of excitement... AJ Styles versus Chris Jericho was a really good bout that was built well and the crowd appreciated it more as it went on... I liked the New Day's entrance. It was certainly unique... Steve Austin's appearance along with Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley was a great moment of nostalgia that the crowd ate up. Austin's entrance brought the biggest pop of the night. Michaels looked in a great shape... Brock Lesnar had a solid street fight match with Dean Ambrose... The Women's Title match was very good and although it seemed the right time to give Sasha Banks the belt I'm not too disappointed as I think it would benefit her more to have a longer feud with Charlotte and defeat her in a one-on-one situation... Shane McMahon's leap of the top of a very tall Hell In A Cell cage was insane. Yes there was something underneath the announce desk to help cushion his fall but it was still an incredible risk. His Coast To Coast (Van Terminator) manoeuvre was also well executed... The Rock's appearance was another cool moment and I don't think his surprise six second victory over Erick Rowan did any harm. John Cena's return was nicely timed and by and large got the desired reaction from the crowd. Rock looked and sounded as great as ever... Speaking of looking great Triple H's physique was ripped and he had obviously gotten himself into tremendous shape for the big show (either naturally or otherwise). He didn't look anything like as good as this at Royal Rumble.


- Negatives
The United States Title match taking place in front of a virtually empty stadium. Apparently fans had trouble getting into the arena due to an electronic error with tickets... Lita proclaiming that the winner of the Charlotte/Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch match would be the "first ever WWE Women's Champion" conveniently forgetting the title previously existed for over 50 years... Bizarre choice of winner in the Intercontinental Title match. Zack Ryder's victory was a huge moment for him personally but came out of nowhere and made little sense. Coupled with what happened the next night on Raw, what was the point? Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn surely should have been the focus here rather than an afterthought... Another strange choice of winner in the Styles/Jericho match. It's bad enough that they'd already wrestled three times this year but newcomer Styles should never have lost the big match at Wrestlemania as it's the one people will remember. Jericho did not need the win here and considering Styles was to be the next contender for the World Title made this booking decision even more stupid. Not to mention the fact that he went down fairly clean also... The New Day are one of WWE's most over acts and they were placed in a nothing match and lost all so the League of Nations could get beaten up by Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels. This made the League look like complete jobbers and the New Day worse for being beaten by them... Dean Ambrose's role of nearly man was cemented in his loss to Brock Lesnar. Even with weapons at his disposal Ambrose could not slay "The Beast" and spent most of the match on the defensive before being beaten... Shane McMahon taking Undertaker to a 30 minute Hell In A Cell match was simply not believable. A 46 year old non-wrestler who only took part in matches on special occasions in his prime years should not be allowed to be Undertaker's equal. And what of the "huge" stipulations in this match? They were barely even mentioned during or after the match so what was the point? Regardless of believability the match was poor and only became intriguing when they left the cage. This match appeared to be designed just to show how tough Shane is. Well he is a McMahon after all... The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was rubbish. Just a bunch of nobodies in a filler match that meant nothing. Shaquille O'Neal's appearance was a surprise but amounted to nothing. Shaq has gotten so big he looks bigger than Big Show these days... I don't think The Rock and John Cena beating up the Wyatt's was as bad as what the League suffered (Cena is a current top star and Rock has been active in recent years) but it was another case of sacrificing talent at the hands of the real stars... The main event was a big letdown. Too long, boring, predictable and the fans just weren't into it. Reigns got the expected boos but not as bad as it could have been. Triple H dominated with methodical offense which wouldn't have been as bad if the crowd were rallying behind the babyface, but of course they weren't. At the end of the match Reigns' music was turned up extra loud to cover any boos... Stephanie McMahon was sure enough given a big role in the main event from her well delivered but cringe worthy declaration to being very prominent at ringside and involved in a big spot in the match. The McMahon family are the stars you know... At nearly five hours (seven including the pre-show) the show was far too long. Perhaps the main event might've got a better reaction at the end of a four hour show with ten minutes cut from it? ... This came across as a show to put the hardcore fans in their place. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, New Day, Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose all lost despite being big favourites with the fans. Shane McMahon's loss means the never ending heel authority angle will continue and we have a number one babyface/world champion who is less popular with the masses than the polarising John Cena... Crowd cues; WWE decided to use the giant screens to try and control what the crowd chanted including "New Day Rocks", the suplex count in the Lesnar/Ambrose match and strangely "Woooo!" for Charlotte who was the heel. I've also heard many reports of WWE tampering with crowd noise levels such as turning down the mics in areas of the stadium where fans were booing Roman Reigns...  That attendance record; As is common knowledge the 93,173 indoor attendance record at Wrestlemania III was make-belief. The real number in the Silver Dome was a still very impressive 78,000. That number was beaten at Wembley Stadium for Summerslam in 1992 with 80,355 but they couldn't announce it as a new record because it didn't beat the fictitious one from 1987! So this year it would all be put to rest anyway and a new attendance record would be set at Wrestlemania 32 so they wouldn't have to lie anymore, right? Well, sort of. WWE did legitimately break their real and pretend all time attendance record on 3rd April 2016 with 93,730 fans packed into the AT&T Stadium but the number of 101,763 was not true (there were actually 97,769 in the building but that includes all staff and personnel). After proclaiming all year that they would break 100,000 for the show WWE were never going to admit to 'failing' by announcing a number under 100k. All that has happened is a new lie has replaced an old one.


Overall
A very long show that will be remembered for the attendance, Shane McMahon's crazy stunt and cameos from the big stars of the past. Bizarre and perhaps spiteful booking made an underwhelming card going in turn out to be as disappointing as expected. The matches on this show would've been fine for a Network Special but for a Wrestlemania in front of their largest crowd ever this was not good enough.

WWF Wrestlemania VIII

WWF Wrestlemania VIII
Venue: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: 5/4/92
Attendance: 62,167
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


Adapted from review originally written in 2014.


Wrestlemania VIII was held in the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis and with over 60,000 fans on hand it felt like a big deal from the get-go. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan were on commentary for what I consider to be their best effort as an announce duo. Heenan in particular was at the top of his game during this period, while Monsoon had such a great voice and a style which added so much drama to the action in the ring. The expected dream match main event between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair did not materialise as Vince McMahon was not satisfied by the numbers drawn by Hogan/Flair matches in late 1991 on the house show circuit. Instead he plumped for a "Double Main Event" of Hulk Hogan versus Sid Justice and Ric Flair versus Randy Savage for the WWF Heavyweight Championship.


Review


Opening match duties went to Tito Santana and Shawn Michaels, who had recently joined the singles ranks after his famous bust up with Marty Jannetty. The match was a good one with Michaels, the young arrogant heel managing to withstand the onslaught of the veteran who was having a little bit of a resurgence under the "El Matador" guise. The finish was a bit soft though as Santana, trying to slam Michaels back into the ring from the apron fell back as Michaels held onto the top rope and that was enough for a three count. Still, it was the correct result as they tried to push Michaels as a future contender for the Intercontinental Title. The Legion of Doom appeared for an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund. They didn't wrestle on the card due to Hawk’s suspension. They didn't say a lot of note. I guess it was just a way to introduce Paul Ellering to the WWF fans. Next up was The Undertaker versus Jake "The Snake" Roberts, minus the snake which had been barred from ringside following the shocking angle where Randy Savage was bitten by a cobra. This match was nothing more than a glorified squash as Roberts did the honours on his way out of the WWF. The Undertaker survived two DDTs before hitting Roberts with an extremely safe looking Tombstone Piledriver on the outside of the ring which they should have shot from a different angle. Anyway, Taker rolled Jake back inside for an easy three count. It was basic action really as most early Undertaker matches were due to his zombie-like gimmick.


The same could not be said of the Intercontinental Title bout which was a classic as Rowdy Roddy Piper defended the title against friend and former champion Bret "Hitman" Hart. Piper was magnificent in the pre-match interview also. The all-babyface affair started out exactly as that but as the match wore on, Piper began to resort to heelish underhanded tactics as he looked to retain the only singles title he would ever have in the WWF. Hart bladed in the match but managed to convince Vince McMahon that the blood was caused accidentally, something Ric Flair would not get away with later on the card as he was fined heavily for blading right on camera. The action was back and forth with Piper getting increasingly more desperate as Hart refused to be beaten. "This is a hell of a match!" proclaimed Heenan. The end came as the referee took a bump allowing Piper to bring the ring bell into the match with ideas of finishing Hart by any means necessary. Piper began to have second thoughts as the crowd turned on him before finally breaking out into cheers as he tossed the weapon away. It would be the end for Piper though as Hart countered the sleeper into a pinning combination to take the championship. It was all smiles at the finish as Hot Rod presented the title to the Hitman for a happy ending.

After watching Lex Luger drink a glass of milk (?) and talk about the WBF we get to the 8-man tag team match, the highlight of which may have been Family Feud Host Ray Combs slagging off the heel team before the bout. The match itself was okay for what it was with Virgil, the Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeating The Mountie, Repo Man and The Nasty Boys. Next was the match of the night as Macho Man Randy Savage challenged Ric Flair for the WWF Championship in a heated belter. The story was Flair had been claiming the love of Elizabeth and had even gone so far as to photoshop himself into pictures with her to prove it. Savage played the enraged husband brilliantly as he charged to the ring to pound the Nature Boy. The tide of the bout turned as Mr. Perfect, who was Flair's "Executive Consultant", nailed Savage in his knee with a chair and continued to get himself involved in the match. Savage sold the knee injury fabulously as he would continue to do so throughout the year. Elizabeth stormed out to the ring as various WWF officials tried to prevent her from doing so. If you look closely you'll see one of them is none other than a young Shane McMahon. With Flair distracted by Elizabeth's appearance, Savage surprised Flair with a roll-up and a handful of trunks to win the title. It all kicked off after the bout as Flair forced a kiss on Elizabeth causing the Macho Man to go ballistic! Finally things calmed down and Randy and Elizabeth stood victorious in the ring as the fireworks went off in the Hoosier Dome. The Savage-Flair feud was far from over though. The post match interview with Flair, Perfect and Heenan was fantastic.

As everyone in the arena tried to calm themselves after the "Macho/Flair Affair", Tatanka made his PPV debut and defeated "The Model" Rick Martel in a short, straight-forward match-up. Like the opener it was designed to help establish the younger talent as the Federation began to look towards the future. Next up was Money Inc. against The Natural Disasters for the Tag Team Championship in a rubbish match up. At one stage in the bout Typhoon inexplicably fell down the wrong way from a double clothesline! Just as Earthquake was about to finish IRS off, Ted DiBiase and Jimmy Hart pulled him from the ring and decided to head home with the belts. Yes, that was the finish. It was designed to gain more heat for the tag champs but an ending like that is not good enough for a title match at Wrestlemania. Just before the second half of the "Double Main Event" Owen Hart faced Skinner in a quick, throwaway match. Owen was cheap-shotted before the bell, didn't get a single offensive move in but kicked out of Skinner's finisher and beat him with a roll-up. All in just over a minute! A bad night for Steve Keirn.


Finally came the showdown between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. It was billed as Hogan's 'Farewell Match' as they teased the retirement of pro wrestling's biggest star. In reality Hogan was being moved out of the spotlight as the steroid scandal had hit the WWF hard and due to his stature the Hulkster was taking the brunt of it. This match came about as Sid had the audacity to eliminate Hulk from the Royal Rumble and Hogan took exception to it. Sid then turned into a lunatic, a part which he played very well. Hogan made his entrance to a booming ovation and looked to have a tear in his eye perhaps taken aback by the response. The match itself wasn't good but as usual Hogan's presence and charisma created a great atmosphere. Hogan sold for most of the bout and made his trademark comeback at the end. The only trouble was as Hogan hit the leg drop the pin fall was supposed to be interrupted by Papa Shango, except Shango had missed his cue and was nowhere to be seen. Sid, probably feeling he had nothing to lose as he was soon to be leaving the company, kicked out. The referee then called for a disqualification as Sid's manager Harvey Whippleman entered the ring. Shango finally arrived and helped Sid attack Hogan before the place went crazy as the Ultimate Warrior charged down to the ring to assist the Hulkster. The fans were delighted to see Hogan and the Warrior together in the ring to close the show as the fireworks exploded in the Hoosier Dome, although some questioned whether it was actually Jim Hellwig as he had lost so much muscle mass during his absence.

Overall
Wrestlemania VIII can be considered a decent show, on par with Wrestlemania VII, thanks to two great matches (Flair vs Savage, Piper vs Hart), one good one (Michaels vs Santana) and a memorable ending to the show. The rest of the card was pretty much a nonp-event. The scheduled Davey Boy Smith versus Berzerker match was cut from the line-up due to time restraints but I don't expect it would have added much to the show anyway. Wrestlemania VIII marked the end of Hulk Hogan's full time WWF career and was truly the end of an era. Hogan would continue to make international appearances for the company but would not appear on TV again until February 1993. Roddy Piper's full time WWF career also came to an end although he had already 'retired' in 1987 for two years. Piper would make a few special appearances over the next four years before signing with WCW in 1996. Wrestlemania VIII pulled a 2.3 rating meaning an estimated 390,000 buys on pay-per-view.


Results
1 Shawn Michaels pinned El Matador (10:38) ***
2 The Undertaker pinned Jake Roberts (6:39) *1/2
3 Bret Hart pinned Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (13:50) ****
4 The Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter, Jim Duggan & Virgil def The Nasty Boys, The Mountie & Repo Man (6:31) **
5 Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (18:02) ****1/2
6 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (4:33) *3/4
7 The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) by count out. Money Inc retained the WWF Tag Team Title (8:37) 1/2
8 Owen Hart pinned Skinner (1:09) 1/4
9 Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice by disqualification (12:29) 3/4


Rating
18.25/45 = 40.56%

WWF Wrestlemania VII

 

WWF Wrestlemania VII

Venue: Los Angeles, California

Date: 24/3/91

Attendance: 16,158

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan (Jim Duggan & Lord Alfred Hayes)

 

"The stars of the World Wrestling Federation are on their way to join the over 100,000 screaming fans in what will be the biggest Wrestlemania extravaganza ever!" - Vince McMahon

The Vince McMahon voiced Wrestlemania VII advert showed his grand vision for the event; the WWF were looking to smash their own (disputed) attendance record set at Wrestlemania III by attracting over 100,000 to the outdoor Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It didn't happen of course, in fact they were nowhere close. The official reason given as to why the event was switched to the much smaller Los Angeles Sports Arena was concern for Sgt Slaughter's safety having apparently received death threats for his portrayal of an Iraqi sympathiser during the time of the Gulf War. While I have no doubt Slaughter's well being was a factor, the real reason which WWE have finally admitted in recent years was poor ticket sales. By February 1991 only approximately 20,000 seats had been sold meaning the WWF had no choice but to abandon their grand plan late in the day and head across the street to the Sports Arena with their tail between their legs. Why were the ticket sales so poor? Many reasons. There was a lot of bad press surrounding the WWF at the time as government investigations into steroid abuse were gathering pace, and perhaps even worse from a PR perspective was the hugely negative reaction to the company's exploitation of the Gulf War. The Sgt Slaughter versus Hulk Hogan main event just did not attract fans like Hogan's previous main events against Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior. The original plan was in fact for Hogan/Warrior II to be the main event but McMahon had already decided to pull the plug on Warrior's failing title reign in favour of a sure fire xenophobic cash-in. It would prove to be a big mistake. This would be the start of a downward slide for the WWF which would eventually, coupled with the ascension of WCW, put the company in real danger of going out of business. It may not have been on the scale that McMahon had envisioned but there was a great atmosphere inside the Sports Arena for Wrestlemania VII with red, white and blue plastered all over for a very patriotic feel. The show would go on.

Review

The Rockers delivered a quality performance for the second consecutive pay-per-view defeating The Barbarian& Haku in the opening bout of the show. The future Faces Of Fear certainly played their part but this was another example of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty's ability to have a great match with just about any team. Michaels scored the winning fall with a high cross body block on Haku. Hacksaw Jim Duggan covered for Bobby Heenan on commentary for this match and I felt he did a decent job… The Texas Tornado scored a fairly easy win over Dino Bravo in a short match up with the Tornado/Discus Punch. Nothing much doing here... The British Bulldog power slammed and pinned The Warlord in a good power house match. These two would meet in the ring quite a lot during 1991 and usually produced good results due to their chemistry. This was their best televised match…

The Nasty Boys became WWF Tag Team Champions by defeating the Hart Foundation in one of their final few matches before Bret Hart's overdue singles run began. While different to the opener this was another tremendous tag team battle and was a great way for the Harts to go out. The Nasty Boys stole victory after using Jimmy Hart's motorcycle helmet on Jim Neidhart. The Los Angeles crowd seemed genuinely stunned at the result… Jake Roberts and Rick Martel's feud came to an end with a "Blindfold Match" which came about after Martel had temporarily blinded Roberts by spraying his cologne "Arrogance" into his eyes. Yes the gimmick match was a bit silly but they did the best they could under the restrictions before Roberts DDT'd Martel for the victory. Roberts deserves credit for ensuring the fans in the arena were involved throughout…

The Undertaker began what would years later be known as "The Streak" by beating Jimmy Snuka in what was essentially an extended squash. The match was fine for what it was and achieved the goal it was meant to, making Undertaker look strong. I particularly liked the suplex he delivered on Snuka from the ring apron. In the end the Tombstone Piledriver spelled the end for the WWF's original "Phenom"… The "Career Ending Match" between the Ultimate Warrior and Macho King Randy Savage was the culmination of a great four month feud which included Savage costing Warrior the WWF Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. This was without question Warrior's finest match but the real praise must go to Savage for a super performance in which he put Warrior over as strong as possible. Warrior survived five Big Elbows before eventually pinning Savage with one boot on his chest (Savage's idea) to become the decisive winner and send the Macho King into retirement... for eight months (actually six days if you count the WWF/SWS Tokyo Dome show on 30/3/91). After Warrior took his bow in victory Sherri attacked Savage for his failings until Elizabeth made her return (she was shown on camera in the crowd before the bout) throwing Sherri from the ring. Randy and Liz then reunited and left together to a standing ovation. It was a truly memorable moment and tears flowed from many in the crowd. How could anyone possibly follow all of that?! Well, they couldn't…

Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao appeared on the show as part of the WWF's deal with the aforementioned SWS (Super World of Sports) who were a short-lived Japanese promotion. They defeated Demolition Mk2 who were all but finished as a team. The problem here is that most WWF fans wouldn't have known who Tenryu and Kitao were and had not been given any reason to care about Demolition in months be it positively or negatively. All in all this was pointless and the match was rubbish… The Big Boss Man challenged Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental Title in a logical climax to Boss Man's feud with the Heenan Family. The match was good enough but really should have been a lot better considering both men were at their peak as workers around this time. The finish was lame as Haku & The Barbarian ran in for a disqualification in Boss Man's favour meaning Perfect retained the title. In a nice moment Andre the Giant made his return during the match to prevent further interference from Bobby Heenan. Lord Alfred Hayes filled in on commentary for this one… Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine in a filler match that was short and meant very little. Following a distraction from Jimmy Hart 'Quake took the win with an Earthquake Splash. Earthquake would struggle now his big feud with Hogan had finished. He would find himself in the tag team ranks very soon…

The Legion of Doom crushed Power & Glory in less than a minute. LOD were booked exactly the same way as the Hart Foundation the previous year; a squash win at Wrestlemania followed by a title win at Summerslam… Next was Virgil's showdown with Ted Dibiase. Or was it Roddy Piper's showdown with Dibiase? Piper trained Virgil for the match and was in his corner having persuaded him to finally turn on Dibiase at the Royal Rumble. During the bout Dibiase took some cheap shots at Piper who was on crutches after a "motorcycle accident" (a cover story for Piper's hip replacement surgery) but was so preoccupied with him he managed to get himself counted out. After the match, which was ok, Sherri made her way down to distract Piper allowing Dibiase to viciously attack Piper's already injured knee. Piper sold the agony very well and in a fit of rage actually launched one of his crutches right into the crotch of referee Danny Davis. Virgil would have to wait until Summerslam for his big moment in the ring with Dibiase… The Mountie's win over Tito Santana achieved nothing. It certainly didn't help Mountie in getting over. Santana beat up Mountie for about a minute before getting shocked with a cattle prod out of the referee's view. The 'match' lasted about a minute and a half and was a waste of time… Finally Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt Slaughter to become the first ever three time WWF Heavyweight Champion in a good main event. Slaughter took a pounding in the beginning (which was his strength) before using underhanded tactics to gain control while Hogan played on the sympathy of the crowd, something he did better than most. Hogan also bled from the forehead during the match, a rare sight in the WWF back then. In the end Hogan made his patented comeback to win the match and the 'war' (which had already ended in the Middle East) for America. Hooray! A post match angle after the show (which aired on Superstars) saw Slaughter throw fire in Hogan's face ensuring the feud would continue throughout the summer.

Overall

Putting aside the exploitation of a war, this was a good Wrestlemania from an in-ring perspective. It would have been rated a lot higher had the show been three hours instead of four with the worthless filler matches removed. Incidentally this would be the last four hour edition of the event until Wrestlemania 2000. The Savage/Warrior match was an excellent encounter that really stole the show but it wasn't alone in delivering the goods. The Rockers versus Barbarian & Haku was a cracker, the tag team championship bout was equally good and even Hogan/Slaughter was much better than expected despite the negativity surrounding the feud. The outrage could have been much worse had Slaughter agreed to burn the American flag. Thankfully he refused. Wrestlemania VII drew a somewhat disappointing 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 The Rockers def Haku & The Barbarian (10:41) ***1/2

2 Texas Tornado pinned Dino Bravo (3:11) *

3 The British Bulldog pinned Warlord (8:15) **3/4

4 The Nasty Boys def The Hart Foundation (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Title (12:10) ***1/2

5 Jake Roberts pinned Rick Martel in a "Blindfold Match" (8:34) *1/4

6 The Undertaker pinned Jimmy Snuka (4:20) *3/4

7 The Ultimate Warrior pinned Randy Savage in a "Career Ending Match" (20:47) ****1/2

8 Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao def Demolition by pinfall (4:44) 1/2

9 The Big Boss Man def WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect (c) by disqualification (10:47) **3/4

10 Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine (3:14) *

11 The Legion of Doom def Power & Glory by pinfall (0:59) SQ

12 Virgil def Ted Dibiase by count out (7:41) **1/4

13 The Mountie pinned Tito Santana (1:21) DUD

14 Hulk Hogan pinned Sgt Slaughter (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (20:26) **3/4

 

Rating

27.5/70 = 39.29%

 

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

 

 

 

WWF Wrestlemania VI

 

 

 

WWF Wrestlemania VI

Venue: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Date: 1/4/90

Attendance: 67,678

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

"Upon the examination of the galaxies of space, images begin to appear… Images of strange and powerful forces… But of all the forces in the universe, the two most powerful; Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior prepare to explode... Champion versus champion... Title for title... IT'S THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE!! IT'S WRESTLEMANIA!!"

You've got to love Vince McMahon's intros for the old pay-per-view events. That one was my personal favourite. As was the case with Wrestlemania V the original video release of this event saw virtually every match edited down to fit on a three hour tape, the exception being the main event. Fortunately I'll be reviewing the full version which can either be found on the Wrestlemania Anthology DVD series or the WWE Network. The only down side with the full version is that some of the entrance music has been dubbed over to save on paying royalties. Sadly they include the theme music for Dusty Rhodes, Demolition and Slick. On another note, this was Jesse Ventura’s final WWF pay-per-view as colour commentator.

Review
Rick Martel and Koko B Ware kicked things off with a short, passable contest. Martel won by submission with a Boston Crab... Demolition regained the tag team title from The Colossal Connection in a okay bout, which would be Andre The Giant's last due to his failing health. For this reason Haku fought almost the entire match by himself, although Andre did get one last hurrah as he turned on Haku and manager Bobby Heenan after the bout. Demolition were massively over and the result brought the house down...

Andre The Giant has finally had enough of Bobby Heenan

Earthquake scored a fairly straightforward win over Hercules as his big push continued. As had
become customary, Quake gave Hercules an "Aftershock" following the bout to further force home his dominance. The match was about as basic as it gets... Mr Perfect finally lost his 'Perfect Record' as he fell to Brutus Beefcake by pin fall in an average match. Perfect did at least avoid getting a haircut from "The Barber", The Genius was not so lucky... Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fought to a double count out in a so-so brawl. Piper and Brown fought all the way back to the locker room just as they did at the Royal Rumble...

Macho King Randy Savage with Sensational Queen Sherri

The Hart Foundation crushed The Bolsheviks in 19 seconds after back jumping them during Nikolai Volkoff's singing of the Russian national anthem. This didn't do a lot for the Harts who were soon to be in line for a tag team title shot. The nature of their victory made you feel bad for the heels, which is not the idea of course... Tito Santana put over The Barbarian in a dull encounter. On the plus side, Barbarian's top rope clothesline finisher looked awesome thanks to a great sell by the reliable Santana... In one of the feature matches of the under card, Macho King Randy Savage teamed with Sensational Queen Sherri to battle Dusty Rhodes and Sapphire in a mildly entertaining mixed tag team bout. Elizabeth made her return in the corner of Rhodes and Sapphire and was instrumental in their victory as Sapphire pinned Sherri with a roll up. As was evident here Sapphire clearly did not belong in the ring...

The Rockers prior to their bout with The Orient Express

The Rockers and The Orient Express contested a decent enough match up that was still some way below what they were actually capable of producing. The Express took the win via a disappointing count out... Hacksaw Jim Duggan scored a popular win over Dino Bravo in a poor match up after nailing Bravo with his 2x4. Duggan was made to pay for this though as Earthquake crushed him in the aftermath... Another big feature match on the card was the battle between "Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase and Jake "The Snake" Roberts for the Million Dollar belt. While perfectly acceptable, the match fell well short of the red hot grudge match many were expecting. Dibiase triumphed by count out following the same ring post spot they used at the Royal Rumble. Roberts DDT'd Dibiase after the bout and gave away some of his money to the crowd but even that couldn't mask the anticlimax here...

Jimmy Snuka leapfrogs Ravishing Rick Rude

The Big Boss Man easily beat his former tag team partner Akeem in less than two minutes despite being attacked by Ted Dibiase right before the bout. Now that's what you call a burial; Akeem was finished after this... Ravishing Rick Rude cleanly defeated "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka by pin fall after a Rude Awakening in match not unlike the opening bout. Rude was being prepared for a run in the main events over the summer...

Hulk Hogan applies a rear chinlock on The Ultimate Warrior

The match that everybody came to see was of course Hulk Hogan versus The Ultimate Warrior in a super main event with both the WWF World Heavyweight and WWF Intercontinental Titles on the line. This was the first time a main event of this magnitude would be contested by the two top babyfaces in the company but as greatly anticipated as it was, not much was expected in terms of match quality. Hogan was capable of having good matches with the right opponents but Warrior's limitations meant he usually had short matches unless he was in the ring with a super worker like Rick Rude or Randy Savage. This meant Hogan was in the unfamiliar role of carrying the match (usually the heels job) and building for his opponent’s comebacks but to the surprise of many Hogan performed the role admirably on the night. Warrior also played his part well in what was a great rollercoaster ride of a match in which you really could not tell who was going to win. As it turned out Warrior went over in what was Hogan's only clean loss of his famous second run in the WWF which was supposed to usher in a new era with the Ultimate Warrior as the top star in the company. The atmosphere was really special as the crowd was red hot throughout the match and it appeared to be a perfect 50/50 split. It's also worth noting there was no booing from either section of the support, something that just would not happen these days. The match is still very fondly remembered today as one of the great Wrestlemania main events.

Hogan presents the WWF Heavyweight Title to the Warrior

Overall

Wrestlemania VI as a whole was a letdown as everything aside from Hogan/Warrior was bang average, or worse in some cases. The setting of Sky Dome however was fantastic, a massive step up from the previous two years at Trump Plaza. The stars really aligned for the main event which was booked and executed to perfection avoiding hurting either man as Warrior got the accolades in victory and Hogan got sympathy in defeat. It was arguably Hogan's best performance of his 1983-93 WWF run and only Randy Savage would get a better match out of the Ultimate Warrior in his entire career. The even split in the crowd reactions and constant cheering was a huge bonus as it's always a risk that someone will receive boos in an all-babyface clash. The match was a massive success and saved what was otherwise a very much below par Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania VI drew 550,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 Rick Martel def Koko B Ware by submission (3:51) *3/4

2 Demolition def The Colossal Connection (c) by pinfall to win the WWF Tag Team Title (9:30) **

3 Earthquake pinned Hercules (4:52) 3/4

4 Brutus Beefcake pinned Mr Perfect (7:48) **1/4

5 Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown fought to a double count out (6:48) **

6 The Hart Foundation def The Bolsheviks by pinfall (0:19) SQ

7 The Barbarian pinned Tito Santana (4:33) *1/2

8 Dusty Rhodes & Sapphire def Randy Savage & Sensational Sherri by pinfall (7:31) **

9 The Orient Express def The Rockers by count out (7:38) **1/2

10 Hacksaw Jim Duggan pinned Dino Bravo (4:15) *

11 Ted Dibiase def Jake Roberts by count out (11:50) **1/2

12 The Big Boss Man pinned Akeem (1:49) 1/2

13 Ravishing Rick Rude pinned Jimmy Snuka (3:59) *3/4

14 WWF Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior (c) pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (22:51) ****

Rating

24.5/70 = 35%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Wrestlemania V

WWF Wrestlemania V

Venue: Atlantic City, New Jersey

Date: 02/04/89

Attendance: 18,946

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura

For the second year in a row Wrestlemania took place at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey and was headlined by the huge showdown between Macho Man Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan for the World Wrestling Federation Heavyweight Championship. Could Wrestlemania V improve on the previous year's disappointing show?

Review

To the surprise of many the opening contest between Hercules and King Haku was fairly respectable. Hercules went over in order to gain a measure of revenge against his former manager Bobby Heenan... The Twin Towers defeated The Rockers in a classic example of how two contrasting styles can produce a good match. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty sold wonderfully for the big men, the best example being Akeem's clothesline on Michaels which looks as awesome today as it did back then... Ted Dibiase and Brutus Beefcake battled to a pointless double count out and while the ending was lame at least the match itself was decent enough... The Bushwackers upset the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers in a terrible match... Mr Perfect, who was fast on the rise in the WWF, made the Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) look his equal before taking the win with the Perfect-Plex in a good little bout... Run DMC's performance of the "Wrestlemania Rap" in the ring went down like a lead balloon. It seemed the Trump Plaza crowd just didn't get it... The tag team title was defended under handicap rules as Mr Fuji teamed with the Powers of Pain to face champions Demolition. This was a big feud that had been going on for months and saw Fuji double cross Demolition at Survivor Series 1988 to join forces with the Powers of Pain. This was the big showdown with the title on the line but it was never going to be a classic. Fuji was the man who took the fall for his team which, while making sense in terms of storyline, was a bit of a cop out as the Powers didn't have to lose to their rivals...
 

The Rockers nail the Big Boss Man with a double dropkick

Dino Bravo beat Ronnie Garvin in a quick match which was rubbish. Before the opening bell sounded and with both Bravo and Garvin standing in the ring, Jimmy Snuka made his return by strolling to the ring and taking a bow. Strange... Match quality took a big step in the right direction next as the Brain Busters took on Strike Force who had recently reformed. However Rick Martel walked out on Tito Santana who had nailed him accidently with a flying forearm during the match. Santana was left to face the Busters alone which naturally ended in defeat. Martel would go on to be a successful mid-card heel following the Strike Force split... A special edition of Piper's Pit took place in the ring featuring Brother Love, Morton Downey Jr (a chain smoking chat show host) and of course Rowdy Roddy Piper. The segment went on too long, was only mildly funny and the crowd just weren't interested... Backstage Hulk Hogan gave what I consider to be one of his best interviews as he prepared to face the Macho Man in the main event. Hogan recapped the whole Mega Powers saga brilliantly in his usual over-the-top style... Another big feud came to a head as Jake The Snake Roberts battled Andre the Giant in a match refereed by Big John Studd. Towards the end of the bout Roberts attempted to bring Damien into the ring but Ted Dibiase ran down to attack Roberts and steal Damien who was still in the bag. Roberts chased down Dibiase and retrieved Damien while Andre attacked Studd in the ring. Roberts sent Andre packing, well Damien did anyway, and Roberts was declared the winner by disqualification. The match was dire and the ending settled nothing which makes you wonder why they even bothered...

Mr Perfect battles The Blue Blazer

The Hart Foundation beat Rhythm & Blues in a decent match where the Harts thwarted the heels attempt to use Jimmy Hart's megaphone as a weapon and Bret Hart decked the Honky Tonk Man with it for the win. You may have noticed in other reviews that I don't like to see faces cheating to win unless it's justified or in retaliation but as the heels own dirty tactics backfired on them here I have no problems with this finish... Ravishing Rick Rude upset the Ultimate Warrior to win the Intercontinental Championship in Warrior's best match of his career up to that point, arguably the only good match of his career up to that point! Gorilla Monsoon and Jesse Ventura did a superb job of forcing home the importance of the Intercontinental Title, a title which sadly the WWE have ensured doesn't mean so much these days. Selling like his life depended on it, Rude's performance was fantastic which in turn made the Warrior's offense look equally good. The finish came when Bobby Heenan hung on to the Warrior's leg from outside of the ring preventing him completing a suplex and also from kicking out as Rude landed on top of him. The result was a big surprise and after the decision Warrior took his frustrations out on Heenan giving him a botched Gorilla Press Slam injuring "The Brain"...

 

The Ultimate Warrior clotheslines Ravishing Rick Rude

Bad News Brown and Hacksaw Jim Duggan fought to a double disqualification in an awful slugfest that achieved nothing... The Red Rooster gained his revenge on an injured Bobby Heenan in a very quick match. Perhaps Heenan was unable to do any more or maybe they were short on time but either way it didn't do much for the Rooster... Hulk Hogan defeated Randy Savage in a very good main event to regain the WWF Heavyweight Championship. It was the climax of a superb year long storyline which started and ended in the middle of the ring at Trump Plaza. Elizabeth was an integral part of the story but thankfully she was removed from the equation mid-match enabling the two rivals to fight to a finish with a clear winner. Savage's performance was excellent as the insanely jealous outgoing champion and it was also one of Hogan's best performances of his WWF career. Hogan won cleanly and decisively which was the right decision on the big stage but don't feel too bad for Savage, he made good money with Hogan in the role of challenger over the summer of 1989.

The Mega Powers are about to explode

Overall

As with Wrestlemania IV the show suffered from being in front of a largely non-wrestling crowd and while they were a bit more receptive for the 1989 card, most notably for the main event, there were still long periods of silence throughout the show. The card itself was a touch better than the previous year but again there were too many poor or average matches which made the show seem overly long. The match that everyone wanted to see was Savage versus Hogan and thankfully it delivered in the ring as well as at the box office thanks to the tremendous build and execution of the feud. Wrestlemania V drew 767,000 buys which was a massive number especially at a time when pay-per-view availability was still quite limited. That number would not be surpassed until some ten years later at Wrestlemania 15.

For more on the Mega Powers story click here.

Results

1 Hercules pinned King Haku (6:57) **

2 The Twin Towers def The Rockers by pinfall (8:02) ***

3 Brutus Beefcake fought Ted Dibiase to a double count out (10:01) **1/4

4 The Bushwackers def The Fabulous Rougeaus by pinfall (9:10) DUD

5 Mr Perfect pinned The Blue Blazer (5:38) ***

6 Demolition (c) def The Powers of Pain & Mr Fuji by pinfall to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (8:20) *

7 Dino Bravo pinned Ronnie Garvin (3:06) 1/4

8 The Brain Busters def Strike Force by pinfall (9:17) **3/4

9 Jake Roberts def Andre the Giant by disqualification (9:44) DUD

10 The Hart Foundation def Rhythm & Blues by pinfall (7:40) **1/2

11 Rick Rude pinned The Ultimate Warrior (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (9:36) ***

12 Jim Duggan & Bad News Brown fought to a double disqualification (3:49) DUD

13 The Red Rooster pinned Bobby Heenan (0:32) SQ

14 Hulk Hogan pinned Randy Savage (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:54) ***3/4

Rating

23.50/70 = 33.57%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)