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 Survivor Series 1993

WWF Survivor Series 1993
Venue: Boston, Massachusetts
Date: 24/11/93
Attendance: 15,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan


After changing the format of the previous year's Survivor Series to a regular card, the 1993 edition reverted back to all tag team elimination matches, with the exception of one. The trouble was the WWF no longer had the roster to pull off four eight-man elimination matches and going in the card looked less than exciting. The show was also massively hindered by the suspension of Jerry Lawler who was facing charges of statutory rape (later dropped) as it meant the culmination of his feud with the Hart family could not happen. Lawler had to be replaced by Shawn Michaels who himself had not long returned from suspension for failing a drugs test for steroids. The match didn't make any sense without Lawler and interest waned. The show was headlined by the "All Americans" versus the "Foreign Fanatics" featuring the hardly riveting feud between Lex Luger and Ludvig Borga, the seeds for which were sown in a backstage confrontation at Summerslam. This would also be Bobby Heenan's final WWF pay-per-view before heading to WCW, but at least he went out with a bang.


Review


Razor Ramon, Marty Jannetty, The 1-2-3 Kid & Randy Savage vs IRS, Adam Bomb, Rick Martel & Diesel


The first elimination tag team match was the best of the four on the night and was centred around Razor Ramon's feud with Irwin R Schyster. It was announced by Ramon that Mr Perfect would not be taking part and Randy Savage would be replacing him. Curt Hennig was unhappy with the direction of his character and would soon leave the company.  Savage scored the first decision of the night pinning Diesel after the flying elbow drop. Savage was then distracted by the arrival of Crush and was rolled up from behind by IRS. Crush had recently turned on Savage and so intent on getting revenge, Savage lost his job as colour commentator on Raw. Ramon then pinned IRS after the Razor's Edge but when Ramon attempted to do the same to Rick Martel, IRS struck him with his briefcase and caused the Intercontinental Champion to be counted out. Martel and Adam Bomb took control before a quick fire double elimination saw 1-2-3 Kid pin Martel with a sunset flip in the corner before Jannetty pinned Bomb with a sunset flip over the top rope. Kid and Jannetty would soon get a very brief run as tag team champions. This was a fun match to kick off the show.

Bret, Owen, Keith & Bruce Hart vs Shawn Michaels & "Three Knights of the Squared Circle"


Next up was the "Family Feud" match as Bret, Owen, Keith and Bruce Hart (along with father Stu) battled Shawn Michaels (replacing Jerry Lawler) and his "Knights of the Squared Circle" who were Greg Valentine, Jeff Gaylord and Barry Horowitz under masks. Ray Combs of the TV show Family Feud was guest ring announcer and colour commentator and personally I thought he did ok. Many members of the Hart family were also seated at ringside for the match. The match was long, boring and lost the heat it would've had with Lawler in there. The Knights were nameless and faceless nobodies to the crowd and there was little reaction when they were in the ring. Owen pinned Gaylord with a top rope dropkick, Bret made Horowitz submit to the Sharpshooter, and Owen then forced Valentine to surrender in his version of the Sharpshooter. Owen then accidentally collided with Bret knocking him into the guard rail and causing Owen to be pinned by Michaels. Michaels then continued to take a pounding before walking out on the match with the odds firmly against him. Owen returned to the ring to confront Bret and begin his heel turn. The highlight of the match was Bobby Heenan's first rate performance on commentary.

Rock N Roll Express (c) vs Heavenly Bodies - Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title


The Heavenly Bodies defeated the Rock N Roll Express to win the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title in a good match. The problem was the WWF crowd did not come to see Smoky Mountain Wrestling and couldn't care less. It was a typical NWA-style tag team bout with good action but it played out to mostly silence. Radio commentators Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon took over announce duties for this one. The Bodies victory came when Jimmy Del Rey hit Ricky Morton with Jim Cornette's tennis racket off the top rope.


"The Four Doinks" vs Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & The Headshrinkers


This match evoked more of a reaction from the Boston crowd, but not much more. The "Four Doinks" who turned out to be Men on a Mission and The Bushwackers (complete with Doink face paint and masks) scored a clean sweep victory in an abysmal 'comedy' match that made a mockery of pro wrestling. The Headshrinkers and Bastion Booger were made out to be morons with the minds of wild animals as they were easily distracted by turkey and bananas leading to their eliminations. At one point Mo rode a scooter around the ring for a laugh or something. With the rest of his team eliminated Bigelow was then also beaten as all four of his opponents lay on top of him for the pin fall. He was then mocked by Doink on the big screen. This was terrible.

Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers & The Undertaker vs Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Jacques Rougeau & Crush


Things thankfully got more serious for the main event which was decent enough but felt a bit flat for a headline match. Rick Steiner looked ridiculously weak as he was pinned by Borga early on after they botched whatever they were trying to do when Rick came off the top rope. Randy Savage came out for Crush which caused the Hawaiian to be counted out. Luger pinned Rougeau with his strangely no-longer-illegal forearm smash. Yokozuna pinned Scott Steiner. Undertaker then finally tagged in for the hottest part of the match as he battled Yokozuna, although it lasted all of three minutes and both men got counted out. Disaster was also narrowly avoided as Yokozuna almost came down on Undertaker's head as Taker sat up to avoid a second Banzai Drop. Borga then beat up Luger for a few minutes before Luger made a Hogan-like comeback for the win. Santa Claus then joined Luger in the ring to celebrate for a happy ending.

Overall
A very average show that was hurt by the lack of depth on the roster and by the lack of a climax to the Hart Family/Jerry Lawler feud, although there was little they could do about that. Lex Luger was lacking the charisma and appeal that Hulk Hogan possessed and his main event match fell flat in a way that no Hogan top liner ever did. Bobby Heenan (like Gene Okerlund before him) soon said his farewells and left for WCW after refusing to relocate to Connecticut as requested by Vince McMahon as part of the WWF's cost cutting measures. Survivor Series 1993 drew a company low buy rate of 0.82 meaning 185,000 buys, 65,000 less than the 1992 event.


Results
1 Razor Ramon, Randy Savage, Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid def Irwin R Schyster, Rick Martel, Adam Bomb & Diesel (26:58) ***
2 Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart & Keith Hart def Shawn Michaels, The Black Knight, The Blue Knight & The Red Knight (30:57) *3/4
3 The Heavenly Bodies def The Rock N Roll Express (c) to win the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Title (13:43) ***
4 Men On A Mission & The Bushwackers def Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & The Headshrinkers (10:58) DUD
5 Lex Luger, The Undertaker & The Steiner Brothers def Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Jacques Rougeau & Crush (27:59) **1/4


Rating
10/25 = 40%

WWF Summerslam 1993

WWF Summerslam 1993
Venue: Auburn Hills, Michigan
Date: 30/8/93
Attendance: 18,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan

As Hulk Hogan was to leave the WWF following the July/August European Tour, Vince McMahon decided simply to make a new Hulk Hogan in time for a big main event at Summerslam in Auburn Hills, Michigan. A big angle was set up on 4th July 1993 aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City where Mr Fuji and Yokozuna had challenged all comers to attempt to body slam the massive 550lbs plus WWF Champion. Failure to do so would of course, "embarrass America on it's most famous holiday" as put by Jim Ross. A host of NFL, NHL and NBA stars joined the likes of the Steiner Brothers, Randy Savage and Crush in an attempt to win the "Body Slam Challenge" but all failed. Just as it looked like defeat for the USA, a helicopter landed on the ship prompting big "Hogan" chants. To the surprise of most it would be heel Lex Luger who made his way towards the ring shoving Bobby Heenan aside in phase one of the quick fire face turn. Luger then cut a babyface, pro-America promo on the evil foreigners (Rodney Anoa'i was actually a Samoan from San Francisco)  and then tossed Fuji out of the ring. After a brief stare down Luger clocked Yoko with his steel plated forearm and, with Yoko's assistance, body slammed him to bring the house (or aircraft carrier) down! Babyface turn complete, the WWF set up a huge promotional tour where Luger would travel around the country in his "Lex Express" Greyhound bus in what was called a "Call To Action" campaign. The WWF really pulled out all of the stops to get Luger over as the new American hero and after a gruelling six weeks on the road, the stage was set for the big showdown at Summerslam.


Review
In a run-of-the-mill opening contest, newly turned babyface Razor Ramon defeated Ted Dibiase with the Razor's Edge. This would be Dibiase's final match in the WWF and he would retire from the ring later in the year following a short spell in AJPW.

The Steiner Brothers successfully defended the World Tag Team Title in arguably the best match of their WWF run against The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray & Tom Pritchard). Naturally the Detroit crowd were hot for the Steiners and there was some great tag team wrestling in this one.


The much anticipated clash between Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels and Mr Perfect did not deliver to the level that most expected. By his own admission Michaels was carrying excess weight around this time while Perfect was never quite the same after his back injury. The match was good from a technical standpoint but after the heated build up including a wild brawl in the street in New York City it did not resemble a grudge match at all. The cheap finish did not help as Diesel (Michaels' bodyguard Kevin Nash) cost Perfect the title and caused him to be counted out. During a backstage post match brawl designed to start a feud between Perfect and Diesel, Michaels dropped and shattered the Intercontinental Title belt and had to foot the bill for it to be replaced.

After a shock win over Razor Ramon and later Ted Dibiase, The 1-2-3 Kid was brought crashing back down to earth with a clean loss to IRS. The match itself wasn't bad but according to Sean Waltman the loss was in order to keep his ego in check.


It looked like we would be getting screwed out the battle to determine the real "King" of the WWF as Jerry Lawler appeared on crutches after being involved in a "ten car pile up". Instead Bret Hart would have to face Doink with Lawler watching from ringside. Hart had a decent battle with Doink until Lawler (genuinely) levelled him with a crutch when he had Doink locked in the Sharpshooter. After proving his injury to be phony, Lawler was forced to face Hart by Jack Tunney in a stiff and very heated brawl that unlike the Intercontinental Title bout, did feel like a grudge match. Hart won the match with the Sharpshooter but refused to release it afterwards and the decision was reversed. It was a bit ridiculous as there were at least ten people in the ring and they couldn't pull Hart off of Lawler. Overall though this was a really good angle where Hart got his revenge but Lawler remained a "King".

Newcomer Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme) crushed Marty Jannetty in a five minute squash. They clearly had big plans for Borga although he was extremely limited and didn't look particularly good here.


The Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzales in an awful "Rest in Peace" match which basically meant no disqualification or count outs. A top rope clothesline was all it took to beat this monstrous giant in the end. Paul Bearer made his return mid-match to reclaim the urn from Harvey Whippleman. Gonzales choke slammed Whippleman after the match to apparently turn face but nobody seemed that bothered.


Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns beat Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers in an entertaining six man tag team bout. The match was good fun and was won by Tatanka pinning Samu with a roll up.

After a monster push and promotional campaign to get Lex Luger over as the new American hero babyface he was unable to unseat Yokozuna as WWF Champion winning only by count out. The wind was really taken out of Luger's sails right from the start as this meant he had already failed in the eyes of the fans. Imagine if Hulk Hogan could've only managed a count out win over the Iron Sheik back in 1984. If they were really serious about going all the way with Luger he had to go over here. As it was it was still a shockingly decent match, about the best they could've had really but despite acting like Luger had secured a huge victory at the end it all fell a bit flat. Randy Savage, the Steiner Brothers and Tatanka celebrated with Luger in the ring as balloons fell from the ceiling but Luger was not the champion so there was nothing really to celebrate. The music video at the end of the show featuring clips from the "Lex Express" tour was however, excellent. The plan was to make Yokozuna versus Luger the big money match at Wrestlemania X, except Luger lost so much steam as a babyface in the coming months that Bret Hart was put back into the world title mix come January.


Overall
Summerslam 1993 was a decent show, as long as you look past the non-finishes in the three big matches. The highlight of the show was the whole Bret Hart/Jerry Lawler saga which was heated and very entertaining. The involvement of Owen and Bruce Hart helped also, not least because Bruce was wound up by being dowsed in water by Doink without knowing it was coming. That was hilarious. Shawn Michaels versus Mr Perfect was good but at the same time disappointing, and the main event surpassed all expectations, until the finish. Summerslam 1993 drew a 1.3 buy rate, approximately 250,000 buys, which was a touch disappointing considering the amount of hype for Lex Luger's big night.


Results
1 Razor Ramon pinned Ted Dibiase (7:32) **1/4
2 The Steiner Brothers (c) def The Heavenly Bodies by pinfall to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (9:28) ***1/2
3 Shawn Michaels (c) def Mr Perfect by count out to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (11:20) ***
4 Irwin R Schyster pinned The 1-2-3 Kid (5:44) **1/2
5 Bret Hart def Doink by disqualification (9:05) **1/2
6 Jerry Lawler def Bret Hart by disqualification (6:32) ***
7 Ludvig Borga def Marty Jannetty by submission (5:15) 3/4
8 The Undertaker pinned Giant Gonzales (8:04) DUD
9 The Smoking Gunns & Tatanka def The Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow by pinfall (11:15) ***
10 Lex Luger def Yokozuna (c) by count out. Yokozuna retained the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:58) **3/4


Rating
23.25/50 = 46.5%

WWF King of the Ring 1993

WWF King of the Ring 1993
Venue: Dayton, Ohio
Date: 13/6/93
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan & Randy Savage


King of the Ring was an (almost) annual tournament which ran on untelevised events from 1985 to 1991 but in 1993 the decision was made to make it into a pay-per-view event. Qualifying matches for the tournament aired on Monday Night Raw with the quarter finals, semi finals and final to feature on the pay-per-view itself. In addition to the tournament Yokozuna challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Title in a rematch from their impromptu bout at Wrestlemania IX.


Review
In the first tournament quarter final Bret Hart defeated Razor Ramon in a good contest but not quite to the level of their Royal Rumble battle after countering a super-plex... Mr Perfect advanced past Mr Hughes by disqualification in a worthless match. Perfect was not permitted to beat Hughes who was to work with The Undertaker... Bam Bam Bigelow beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan clean in another poor bout with his top rope diving headbutt... Lex Luger and Tatanka's unbeaten streaks remained intact after they fought to a fifteen minute time limit draw which eliminated them both. The match was actually fairly good. Luger wore an elbow pad to cover his steel plated err.. forearm but removed it after the bout to KO Tatanka.

Bret Hart and Mr Perfect had a good face-to-face interview with Gene Okerlund followed by an excellent wrestling match which Hart won to reach the final. Perfect played the slight heel here but shook hands with Hart after the match to confirm there was no turn. The match was similar in quality to their bout at Summerslam 1991 but with less crowd heat... Hulk Hogan's first U.S. televised match since Wrestlemania IX and his first title defence ended in a surprise defeat to Yokozuna. The slimmed down 1993 version of Hogan looked even more slight next to the massive Rodney Anoa'i. Hogan put Yokozuna over very strong in the match with 'Zuna dominating almost entirely and Hogan's comebacks amounting to little. Hogan even allowed Yoko to kick out of the leg drop. The finish however was ridiculous. As Hogan was readying himself to bodyslam Yokozuna a 'cameraman' with a very phony looking disguise (it was Harvey Whippleman) got onto the apron and fired a flame into Hogan's face leaving him prone to defeat. Yoko then crushed Hogan with a Banzai Drop to send him on his way with the crowd's sympathy. In the aftermath (and unlike Survivor Series 1991) there was no outrage and demands for justice after such a blatant screwjob. Jack Tunney bizarrely congratulated Yokozuna as if the fire spot hadn't happened.

The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers beat Money Inc and The Headshrinkers in a match which at 6:49 was not allocated enough time for an eight man tag. The Steiners barely featured as Billy Gunn pinned Ted Dibiase out of nowhere for the win. This wouldn't have been so bad except it'd be the Steiners who would win the tag team title the next night... After announcing the name of his new bodyguard Diesel, Shawn Michaels retained the Intercontinental Title over Crush in an average match with another screwy finish. Two Doinks walked out to distract Crush allowing Michaels to superkick him from behind in a spot that looked awful for the cheap win.

The final tournament match was a good one as Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a victory roll to claim his second King of the Ring crown. Bigelow initially won the bout with his diving headbutt but Earl Hebner ran to the ring to rule the match should continue because Luna Vachon had struck Hart with a very weak chair shot. It made no sense as a much more obvious injustice had been allowed to stand in the world title match. It didn't make Hart look great either. Regardless of the inconsistencies the match told a good story with Hart selling injury and exhaustion having wrestled the extra match but like any good top babyface still found a way to overcome the odds. During Hart's coronation celebration he was confronted and attacked by Jerry Lawler who claimed he was the only true king of in the WWF. This was a good angle that began a hot feud between the two although Hart claimed Lawler was a bit over zealous during the attack.

Overall
This was undoubtedly Bret Hart's night. His three tournament matches with Razor Ramon, Mr Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow really made the show because the rest wasn't much to write home about. At the time it was presumed a rematch between Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan would headline Summerslam but Hogan would leave the WWF following his match with Yoko in Sheffield, England on 6th August and not return for eight and a half years. Hart was about to engage in a feud with Jerry Lawler so a new top babyface would need to be found and quick... King of the Ring 1993 attracted a buy rate of 1.1 which was around 245,000 buys.


Results
1 Bret Hart pinned Razor Ramon (10:27) ***
2 Mr Perfect def Mr Hughes by disqualification (6:02) *1/4
3 Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Jim Duggan (4:59) *1/4
4 Lex Luger fought Tatanka to a time limit draw (15:00) **1/2
5 Bret Hart pinned Mr Perfect (18:55) ****1/4
6 Yokozuna pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (13:11) *1/2
7 The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers def Money Inc & The Headshrinkers by pinfall (6:49) **
8 Shawn Michaels (c) pinned Crush to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (11:14) **
9 Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow to become "King of the Ring" (18:11) ***1/4


Rating
21/45 = 46.67%

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%

WWF Royal Rumble 1993

WWF Royal Rumble 1993
Venue: Sacramento, California
Date: 24/1/93
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


The fifth annual WWF Royal Rumble pay-per-view took place in Sacramento, California and was headlined by Bret Hart's WWF title defence against Razor Ramon and of course, the Royal Rumble match itself. This would also be the final PPV that Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan would call together.

Review

The Steiner Brothers made their WWF PPV debut with a victory over The Beverly Brothers in a good opening match. Rick & Scott got a great reaction from the WWF fan base proving they did watch the competition's product... Shawn Michaels pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the Intercontinental Title after Sherri accidentally hit Jannetty in the face with her shoe. Sherri's hysterics after the bout were very believable as she sold being distraught over her miscue. The match may not quite have been the high flying spectacle some expected from the former Rockers but was actually a very good contest featuring a mixture of cool manoeuvres and good wrestling. This match was about a year later than it should have been due to Jannetty being fired and their planned rematch at Wrestlemania IX had to be scrapped as well with Jannetty being dismissed once again...

Bam Bam Bigelow made his first WWF PPV appearance in over five years as he defeated The Big Boss Man. Boss Man was on his way out of the company and did the clean job here. The match wasn't much cop (no pun intended)... Unlike at Survivor Series Bret Hart's WWF Heavyweight Title felt like it might be under threat as he faced Razor Ramon who had attacked Owen Hart to help build heat for this one. Like Michaels/Jannetty this was another very good bout with good heat. Hart went over by submission with not the best applied Sharpshooter. Ramon would be permanently dropped to the upper mid-card after this.

Lex Luger debuted as "Narcissus" (later changed to "The Narcissist" Lex Luger) after the WBF went down the pan. The story was that Bobby Heenan had brought in Luger to take care of Mr Perfect who had turned on him and Ric Flair back in November.

The Royal Rumble match was easily the worst to date and was massively lacking in star power especially compared to previous years. Bob Backlund, who was completely lacking in charisma (at least until he discovered his crazed heel gimmick in late 1994) was chosen as the man to break Flair's longevity record. The trouble was Backlund had no chance in carrying the match in the way Flair had done in 1992. His style was very awkward and dated and he was not over in the slightest. Flair did a decent job early on. His showdown with Perfect, although brief, was one of the few highlights of the match. Perfect was inexplicably eliminated like a mid-carder soon after. Giant Gonzales' debut was at least intriguing as he laid waste to The Undertaker and eliminated him despite not being in the match. The match came down to Yokozuna and Randy Savage which wasn't too bad until the finish which made the "Macho Man" look like a complete moron. Savage managed to take Yoko off his feet and hit his patented top rope elbow drop before going for a pinfall. Yoko then pressed Savage from the canvas up and over the top rope which was just not believable. The backstage face-to-face between Yokozuna and Bret Hart was a nice touch though.

Overall

After a good undercard the show was let down by a humdrum Royal Rumble match which at least brought to the fore a new top heel in Yokozuna. The Ric Flair/Mr Perfect feud came to an end the next night on Raw as Perfect defeated the "Nature Boy" in a match where the loser left the WWF. Flair would return to WCW where he would remain until the bitter end. Bret Hart was set to collide with Yokozuna in the main event of Wrestlemania IX for the WWF Heavyweight Title. The downward spiral continued as Royal Rumble 1993 pulled a 1.2 buy rate which was approximately 240,000 buys.

Results
1 The Steiner Brothers def The Beverly Brothers by pinfall (9:10) **3/4
2 Shawn Michaels (c) pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (14:20) ***1/2
3 Bam Bam Bigelow pinned The Big Boss Man (10:10) *
4 Bret Hart (c) def Razor Ramon by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:52) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble match (66:35) *1/2


Rating
12.25/25 = 49%

WWF Royal Rumble 1991

WWF Royal Rumble 1991
Venue: Miami, Florida
Date: 19/01/91
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Rowdy Roddy Piper

The 1991 Royal Rumble took place just days after the start of Operation Desert Storm where coalition forces entered into battle as part of the Gulf War and with heavy U.S. involvement the show began with the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. However the World Wrestling Federation was gaining lots of negative press for portraying Sergeant Slaughter as an Iraqi sympathiser who had turned his back on the United States. Many deemed this as extremely distasteful exploitation of a war that would claim many lives. Undeterred, the WWF installed Slaughter as the number one contender to the Ultimate Warrior's WWF Heavyweight Title in order to capitalise on the very real events in the Middle East thus making Slaughter a red hot heel (for a short time at least).

Review

The Rockers defeated The Orient Express in a superb opening bout featuring lots of innovative sequences and manoeuvres. The Express' Sato had been replaced by Kato who was Paul Diamond under a mask. Diamond and Tanaka had teamed previously as Bad Company in the AWA and were familiar with The (Midnight) Rockers who they'd faced many times. The two teams clearly had great chemistry and the Miami crowd was hot for this exciting tag team contest...

Sensational Queen Sherri called out the Ultimate Warrior in an attempt to persuade the champion to grant Randy Savage a title shot should he defeat Sgt Slaughter later in the evening. She tried insulting, flirting and begging but to no avail as Warrior flat out refused. Savage's reaction was fantastic...

Next up the Big Boss Man continued his war against the Heenan Family as he pinned The Barbarian in a surprisingly good encounter. Boss Man was at his peak as a worker around this time and The Barbarian was also able to pull out good matches in the right circumstances. Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect would be next in line for the Big Boss Man at WrestleMania...

Sgt Slaughter defeated the Ultimate Warrior to become the new WWF Heavyweight Champion in a super-heated title match with lots of help from Randy Savage and Sherri. There was not much in the way of wrestling but the match told a great story as a bitter and vengeful Savage ensured Warrior would not leave the Royal Rumble as champion. After interfering early in the match Warrior chased Sherri away from ringside only to be blindsided by Savage while Slaughter distracted the referee. Warrior managed to make his way back to the ring where Slaughter was able to capitalise. Just as it looked like Warrior was making a comeback Sherri and Savage returned to ringside and Savage smashed a sceptre over Warrior's head allowing Slaughter to take the championship. Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper's outrage on commentary only added to the drama. While Slaughter's offense continued to look weak it must be said he was excellent at selling a beating. Warrior and Savage were on a collision course set for WrestleMania...

Jacques Rougeau had recently been repackaged as The Mountie and was a bit more serious at this point as opposed to the comedy character he would later become. Mountie beat Koko B Ware in a boring contest that went too long. The crowd were obviously deflated after Warrior's shock title loss but I can't believe this bout would've been much better received had it been placed after the Boss Man/Barbarian match. The best part was Jimmy Hart talking trash to Frankie when Mountie was on the offense. This match did not appear on the original video release of the event, which was not a bad thing...

The Ted Dibiase/Dusty Rhodes feud came to an end as Dibiase teamed with his bodyguard Virgil to face Rhodes and his son Dustin. The younger Rhodes took a beating for a big chunk of the bout until Dusty was finally able to tag in but he was easily beaten by Dibiase which was understandable as the American Dream was just about to return to WCW. The real story in this match though was a tremendous post match angle between Dibiase and Virgil. After finally having enough of being treated so appallingly by his employer, Virgil knocked out Dibiase with the Million Dollar belt and left the arena to a huge ovation...

The Royal Rumble match itself was entertaining although it lacked in big memorable moments. Rick Martel became the new record holder for endurance clocking in with over 52 minutes and there were good showings for Bret Hart, a young Shane Douglas and the returning British Bulldog. Randy Savage would not appear as scheduled as he was run out of the building by the Ultimate Warrior. Hulk Hogan won the match for the second year running by lastly eliminating Earthquake. Hogan would now become the number one contender to face Sgt Slaughter at WrestleMania VII.

Overall
A really good show that tends to be remembered for the Ultimate Warrior's dramatic title loss to Sgt Slaughter but every match on the card is worthwhile (well, except one) and set the scene nicely for WrestleMania VII. With 440,000 buys on pay-per-view, this would be the highest drawing Royal Rumble until 1999.

Results
1 The Rockers def The Orient Express by pinfall (19:15) ****
2 The Big Boss Man pinned The Barbarian (14:15) ***
3 Sgt Slaughter pinned The Ultimate Warrior (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (12:47) ***
4 The Mountie pinned Koko B Ware (9:12) *
5 Ted Dibiase & Virgil def Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes (9:57) **1/2
6 Hulk Hogan won the Royal Rumble match (65:17) ***

Rating
16.50/30 = 55%

Star Rating Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
***    Good
**     OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1 min)