Empire's Look Back at Wrestlemania

**LiquidLarry2GhostWF** · 03-18-2011, 08:58 AM

The lead up to Macho-Hogan was awesome. Macho's rant was so insane. Immense, really.

Hogan's WrestleMania 4 promo is one of the greatest of all time in wrestling. You really needed to add that here.

Good stuff.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 09:55 AM

A lot of the early WM matches were bad, because the workers just saw the event as another payday, albeit the best payday of the year. The match quality and passion that the guys would bring to WM would slowly increase as the roster became populated with guys who grew up watching WM and treating it special because they respected it as the biggest show in the business.

But for guys like Hercules and Greg Valentine, it was just the next stop on the tour. Ho hum.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 10:00 AM

Oh, one other thing.

Bobby Heenan sold better for a fucking dog in those days than most of these lazy m'fers sell for humans today. When Heenan was still relatively young and in his late 40's during the early 80's, he was easily the best bumper in all of wrestling and made the babyfaces look like a million dollars when they would get their hands on him. His facials, the way he begged off, everything picture perfect.

Bobby Heenan is perhaps the most underappreciated personality in the history of wrestling. He consistantly made gold out of shit.

The best example of this is the Rick Rude/Big Bossman feud centered around Big Bossman's mother. Absurd premise, plus Rude left the WWF before the blowoff. Heenan does promos and works matches with Bossman that made the whole thing thouroughly entertaining, and it all holds up today.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 10:00 AM

double post

**LiquidLarry2GhostWF** · 03-18-2011, 10:08 AM

Originally posted by Warner2BruceTD

A lot of the early WM matches were bad, because the workers just saw the event as another payday, albeit the best payday of the year. The match quality and passion that the guys would bring to WM would slowly increase as the roster became populated with guys who grew up watching WM and treating it special because they respected it as the biggest show in the business.

But for guys like Hercules and Greg Valentine, it was just the next stop on the tour. Ho hum.

Very very very true.

You had some quality matches here and there. However, most of the early WM matches were AWFUL.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by LiquidLarry2GhostWF

Very very very true.

You had some quality matches here and there. However, most of the early WM matches were AWFUL.

Yeah.

Most of the guys were working with their house show opponents, and would just repeat the same house show match they were doing 6 nights per week.

Many things about wrestling were significantly better in the 80's, but people have short memories when it comes to the stuff that was significantly worse. There is a reason you dont see many 80's WWF guys populating the Top 100, most of these guys were lazy fucks. I dont blame them, because as long as your getting over, thats all that matters, but it doesnt mean we have to like the shit they were producing.

**LiquidLarry2GhostWF** · 03-18-2011, 10:44 AM

Originally posted by Warner2BruceTD

Yeah.

Most of the guys were working with their house show opponents, and would just repeat the same house show match they were doing 6 nights per week.

Many things about wrestling were significantly better in the 80's, but people have short memories when it comes to the stuff that was significantly worse. There is a reason you dont see many 80's WWF guys populating the Top 100, most of these guys were lazy fucks. I dont blame them, because as long as your getting over, thats all that matters, but it doesnt mean we have to like the shit they were producing.

Wasn't a big fan of the late 70's wrestlers that came into the WWF in the 80's. I liked Hogan, because he was just a ridiculous character. But most of those slow trolling type of workers were brutal. They made HHH look like Bryan Danielson.

The NWA and the still falling territories seemed to have a lock on quality wrestlers.

**CrimsonGhost56** · 03-18-2011, 06:33 PM

need moreeeeeeeeee

**CrimsonGhost56** · 03-18-2011, 06:40 PM

WM 6 is the first one i really remember watching. hogan - warrior will always be one of my favorite matches, i guess mostly for nostalgic reasons. watching the hulkster lose was beyond shocking.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by EmpireWF

The shortest WM match also took place here as the Hart Foundation beat Volkoff and Boris Zhukov in under 20 seconds.

**EmpireWF** · 03-18-2011, 06:59 PM

Wrestlemania 7 - 1991
L.A. Sports Arena
Los Angeles, California

Much like the majority of the first decade in WM history, this show was a mixed bag.

First, the venue controversy lol. They originally intended to run the huge LA Coliseum but ticket sales were the shits so they ended up moving it to the Sports Arena. The PR reason they gave for the switch was for safety reasons because of "bomb threats." Oh that crazy Vince.

This was the first Wrestlemania without Jesse Ventura on commentary as Bobby Heenan took over when he left. The theme of the show was PATRIOTISM as the Gulf War ended about a month earlier (America would return for a rematch twelve years later, but that's a story for the deep end) and Vince McMahon

as much as anybody when he could "exploit" the war for his gain. He called Sgt. Slaughter and recruited him to be Hulk Hogan's villain, believing turning Slaughter heel as an Iraqi sympathizer would make for big bucks. He was wrong. Slaughter returned in 1990 and turned heel during the summer and went on to beat the Ultimate Warrior at the Rumble to become champion (the Warrior experiment was a flop and instead of doing the rematch for Hogan to get his win back, McMahon went with this story).

Slaughter cut some hysterical promos about Hogan, America, Saddam Hussein, etc. and even burned a Hulkamania tee-shirt (I recall a story where someone wanted him to burn the American flag but thankfully for obvious reasons, that never happened). They worked for months at house shows before and after and the two actually had decent chemistry. It wasn't a classic by any means but it was a solid main event with a pretty hot crowd all things considered. Hogan bled a gusher and defeated Slaughter in the main event to win his third WWF championship. They feuded through Summer Slam but shortly after, Slaughter turned face and was gone by the following year (he wouldn't return until 1997).

Virgil fought Ted Dibiase and won by countout. He finally turned on the Million Dollar Man at the Rumble and this was their first match. It's still amazing that this feud was slowly built for nearly four years before they pulled the trigger. Granted it went nowhere but Virgil was a solid mid-card act for the next year.

The Road Warriors as the Legion of Doom made their Wrestlemania debut (they came to WWF for the first time in the middle of 1990) and squashed Power and Glory (Roma and Hercules...who had one of the best tag team finishers ever btw) in under a minute. They would go on to win the tag titles at Summer Slam.

Speaking of tag straps, this was the last Wrestlemania featuring the Hart Foundation because after this event, they began Bret's push as a singles guy. He and Neidhart lost the tag straps to the Nasty Boys...who lost the straps to LOD a few months later.

In a double dipper of roided up monsters, Kerry Von Erich made his final Wrestlemania appearance defeating Dino Bravo...who also made his final Wrestlemania appearance (both would die due to gun shot wounds in 1993...Kerry a suicide when he was facing jail time on drug charges and Bravo a murder, believed to be an organized crime hit in Canada). Then a gigantic British Bulldog beat an even bigger Warlord.

Four more worthy notes...

Jake Roberts and Rick Martel had the first ever blindfold match in WWE. It consisted of each man wearing a hood where they supposedly could not see, having to fight. It was a silly match, 'nuff said.

Tenryu and Koji Kitao beat Demolition (who were on their way out by this time) in a tag match...the Japanese team were on loan from the Super World of Sports promotion. Kitao would go on to half a brief MMA career including a fight in the UFC and on the first PRIDE card.

This was the Wrestlemania debut of THE UNDERTAKER. He debuted at Survivor Series about four months earlier and squashed Jimmy Snuka here. Absolutely nobody could have guessed what kind of career he would go on to have.

With all that out of the way, this show is most memorable for the AWESOME retirement match between the Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage (with Sensational Sherri). After Wrestlemania 5, Savage and Elizabeth were done on camera as Sherri became his manager. They remained separate for over a year and half until this show. At the Rumble, it was Savage who cost Warrior the title against Slaughter when he hit him with the sceptre. Warrior was furious and their Wrestlemania match was set with the added retirement stipulation.

It was arguably the greatest match of Warrior's career (only comparable matches were with Hogan and Rick Rude) as the two went back and forth for twenty minutes. The finish saw Savage land SEVERAL top rope elbow drops but still could not pin Warrior. Eventually, it was Warrior who pinned Savage after a few shoulder blocks. Warrior celebrated and left the ring.

Sensational Sherri was PISSED at Savage for losing and began kicking him. All of a sudden, Elizabeth (who was shown in the audience, sitting by the aisle way during the match) jumped the rail, ran into the ring and knocked down Sherri as the crowd popped BIG TIME. With Sherri gone, Elizabeth tried to get Savage's attention and when he finally realized what happened, the two embraced and the place erupted. They even showed several women in the crowd crying their eyes out, it was hilarious.

<object width="480" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x80s30"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/video/x80s30" width="480" height="360" wmode="direct" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></object> <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x80s30_wwe-wrestlemania-vii-macho-man-vs-u_sport" target="_blank">WWE-WrestleMania VII - Macho Man vs Ultimate...</a> by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/M-Gronjol" target="_blank">M-Gronjol</a>

Post Script: Warrior became a bigger pain in Vince's ass and he was fired after Summer Slam mainly for no showing dates and who knows what else (money no doubt, too). Savage turned face at the end of the match and held up the stip, turning into a color commentator. On TV, Savage proposed to Elizabeth (the two were married in real life for years by this point) and they had their ceremony at the Summer Slam 1991 PPV. On TV afterwards, they aired the "wedding party" where a bunch of other wrestlers were present. Jake Roberts' wedding gift was a snake that scared Elizabeth...Taker attacked Savage and both were chased away. Savage wanted to be reinstated to get revenge. This went on for several months until the infamous snake bite incident on an October episode of Superstars (Savage was goated by Jake, and ran into the ring to finally fight back. Jake attacked Savage with a real life snake that was apparently venemous to a degree because it died a short time afterwards (Savage was okay). Finally, Jack Tunney reinstated Savage and the two would have a match at Tuesday in Texas on PPV (it was a one-time Tuesday PPV in November 1991).....Savage won but afterward, Jake got the upper hand and berated Elizabeth leading up to the point when he actually SLAPPED her. The feud continued into 1992 and culminated at Saturday Night's Main Event in February when Savage again won. After the match, Undertaker turned face by stopping Roberts from attacking Savage and Elizabeth when they came through the curtain.

-------------------------------

Wrestlemania 8 - 1992
Hoosier Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana

Back to a HUGE building here, the production and appearance of the building was phenomenal. From a wrestling standpoint, it seems this is judged differently by everyone. While the majority of the show featured your routine WM meaningless bouts, two great matches and a pretty good opener were fun for me.

This was the first Wrestlemania for a heel Shawn Michaels as he turned on Marty Janetty months earlier on the barbershop. This also marked the third time Shawn was involved in a WM opener (5, 7, 8). His singles push continued here with a win over Tito Santana as the Matador.

Undertaker's face turn was in full effect here as he went to 2-0 at WM with a win over Jake Roberts.

In a GREAT match for the IC title, Bret Hart beat Roddy Piper to win it back. Bret was the champion in late 1991, but they had Mountie beat him with the storyline that Bret was ill with the flu. Then Piper beat the Mountie at the Rumble to win his first ever singles WWF title. Here, it was a face vs. face match and the two put on a classic for 14 minutes. Also at this time in WWF, Vince had a rule of no blading, he wanted no gushers. Bret prided himself here because during the match, he in fact bladed, but did it in a way that everyone assumed it was an accident during the course of the match. Vince wasn't the wiser and Bret didn't get in trouble (later on, Flair bladed, bled a gusher and ended up getting a talking to from Vince and he was fined). This really helped push Bret even more because Piper rarely, if ever, lost by pinfall in singles matches. Not even Hogan had beaten him on TV in a singles match by pinfall by that point.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFPhoPtAF3k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFPhoPtAF3k[/ame]

For many guys, this would end up being their last Wrestlemania for a while or forever: Bossman, Virgil, Slaughter, Duggan, Nasty Boys, Repo Man, Rick Martel, Typhoon, Skinner, Roberts, Santana. Times were changing.

Owen Hart returned for his next WM match, this time without the Blue Blazer gimmick and beat Skinner in a squash. In tag team action, Earthquake and Typhoon beat Money Inc. to win the tag belts. Plus, Tatanka's singles push continued with a win over Martel.

The two big matches on the show were Ric Flair defending the world title against Randy Savage and then Hulk Hogan vs. Sid.

Flair had made the jump to the WWF in the fall of 1991 as NWA champion, with the belt and all. I can only imagine the excitement for fans at the time. Well, they began doing Flair/Hogan matches at house shows in late 1991 and for whatever reason, the feedback was not great. Although the original plan was for Flair/Hogan at Wrestlemania, Vince changed his mind in early 1992 (they were even promoting a Flair/Hogan WM) and went with the new card.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qfIk-e9iWY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qfIk-e9iWY[/ame]

Flair began doing promos about how he and Elizabeth had been together and produced doctored photos of the two eating together, hanging out by the pool, etc. He promised he would reveal nude photos of her at Wrestlemania (or something to that effect lol). Savage and Flair had a great near-20 minute match resulting in Savage's second title run.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GTW7O6tr5I"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GTW7O6tr5I[/ame]

The main event saw Hogan beat Sid by DQ.

Originally, Vince figured Sid could be his next HUGE (literal and figurative) babyface but things changed and he was turned in 1992 (despite being cheered during the Rumble...Hogan was bood but they altered the soundtrack when replaying the footage on WWF TV). By this point in 1992, Sid had either already failed a drug test or something else was a problem because he was on his way out after WM. The planned finish was going to be after Hogan hit the leg drop, Papa Shango would interefere for the DQ. Well, Shango missed his cue and Sid had to kick out of the leg drop (which was a funny sight) and after the ref called a silly looking DQ, then Shango ran down to attack Hogan.

The big conclusion was the return of the Ultimate Warrior. He had been gone since the summer of 1991 and came back with short hair (some people believed it was a new Warrior, it wasn't). Warrior saved Hogan and the two posed as the show went off the air.

Post-Script
Flair would defeat Savage to win his 2nd WWF title in September, who then lost it to Bret Hart (who lost the IC title to Bulldog at Summer Slam) in October. It was Bret's first run with the belt. As for Flair, he was unhappy and was allowed to get out of his contract. His final two WWF dates were the 1993 Rumble and then the night after when he lost a loser leaves town match to Mr. Perfect on RAW. Flair would not return to WWF until November 2001.

Warrior didn't last long...again. He lost a WWF title match to Savage at Summer Slam and was planned for a tag match with Savage against Flair and Razor Ramon at Survivor Series. Then he was fired, believed to be due to the steroid issue (by this time, Vince was fully embroiled in a steroid trial and was forced to clean up...hence putting the belt on Bret)....Bulldog was also fired. Taking Warrior's place was Mr. Perfect who turned face and returned to the ring for the first time since being forced into retirement in 1991 due to a back injury.

In real life, Savage and Elizabeth separated and divorced in 1992 and she never returned to WWF TV past an appearance on Prime Time around August or September that year.

------------

Wrestlemania 9 - 1993
Caesars Palace
Las Vegas, Nevada

The first Wrestlemania to take place outdoors in a custom built arena. According to the new True Story of WM DVD, they shot documentary footage backstage the weekend of this Wrestlemania and they even showed some of the footage (Vince discussing thinks with Shawn and Luger....Hogan and Giant Gonzalez playing around, Yokozuna with his son, Bret goofing off).

This is widely considered one of the worst Wrestlemania's of all-time.

Jim Ross made his WWF debut at this event while this would prove to be Heenan's last WM until he returned for the gimmick battle royal in 2001.

Shawn Michaels opened up another Wrestlemania as he lost via count out to Tatanka in a pretty good match until the stupid ending. Then the Steiner Brothers beat the Headshrinkers in another pretty good match. Then the show fell off a cliff.

Doink (Matt Borne....this version of the character was actually fucking awesome as he was a heel) beat Crush, Razor Ramon beat a returning Bob Backlund, Lex Luger beat Mr. Perfect and the Undertaker beat Giant Gonzalez in a horrible match.

Money Inc. retained the tag titles by beating Hogan and Beefcake by DQ (should have been a sign). Hogan had a black eye which rumor had it, he received courtesy of Macho Man in real life because he did something with Elizabeth. In reality, he had a boating accident and that's how he got the black eye. Beefcake's face was legit fucked up because of a different boating accident which forced him to work with a mask.

The main event saw Bret Hart headline his first WM as champion defending against Yokozuna who run the rumble to get the shot (the first time the rumble winner earned an automatic WM main event spot). The short match was pretty solid all things considered but it ended with Yokozuna pinning Bret after interference from Mr. Fuji. Then the shit hit the fan lol.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkIXKsymZVU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkIXKsymZVU[/ame]

Hogan came out and with Bret's approval, fought Yokozuna in an impromptu match, winning his fifth WWF title in twenty-one seconds. It would mark Hogan's last WM appearance until his return in 2002.

Originally, it seemed that the obvious road was to have Hogan and Bret fight at Summer Slam for the belt. It did not happen as instead, Hogan lost at the show to Yokozuna and was out of the company a short time thereafter. Bret has since held some sort of grudge against Hogan for believing he refused to drop the belt to him.

-----------------

Wrestlemania 10 - 1994
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

I went to the Fan Fest at the Garden before this event and it was pretty sweet (remember getting autographs from Michaels, Vince, Blassie, the Bushwackers and seeing Bam Bam and Sean Waltman walking around and at least in Bigelow's case, standing out like a sore thumb.

This was a downtime in business as Hogan was gone and they tried to make new stars in Luger and Bret. Luger didn't pan out, but here was Bret.

Vince was acquitted of all the steroid charges in 1994 (I think it was during the summer that he was actually acquitted).

The show opened with the BEST opener in Wrestlemania history and arguably a top 10 match all-time in the show's history. Owen Hart turned heel at Survivor Series the previous year and then attacked his brother at the Rumble. Finally, Bret accepted the challenge and the two met. They put on a crisp clinic for twenty minutes ending with Owen scoring the upset pin. Great match.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A216xpgIQ_k"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A216xpgIQ_k[/ame]

Randy Savage wrestled in his final WM match ever as he defeated Crush in a silly falls count anywhere match. By the end of the year, Savage was gone and had signed with WCW. McMahon thanked him on air after he left, but he has never been brought back for unknown reasons.

Men on a Mission (Mabel & Mo) won the tag titles by beating the Quebecers in a forgettable match.

The main event was a series of two matches because Luger and Bret had both been eliminated at the same time at the rumble and both were considered #1 contenders. After a coin flip on RAW, it was decided Luger would get first crack at the champion, Yokozuna with the winner defending against Bret in the main event. This show was pretty much the end of Luger's time as a #2 babyface. Despite being pushed to the moon during the spring and summer of 1993, they did not give him the title at Summerslam for unknown reasons. All of the momentum was murdered and he just floated along. Here, he lost to Yokozuna by DQ with some funny business from the returning Mr. Perfect who was the special referee.

In the main event, Bret Hart beat Yokozuna after the latter fell off the ropes and Bret pinned him. Seriously. After winning his second WWF title, the babyfaces came out to hoist Bret on their shoulders and celebrate as the new generation had emerged.

The match that stole the show and has been talked about ad nauseum is the ladder match. It wasn't the first ladder match ever, or even the first ladder match in WWF history. However, it was the first ladder match to be promoted on national TV. What happened was Shawn Michaels was the IC champion in 1993. I forget which but it was either a drug issue or a contract issue and I want to say it was a contract issue. They took the belt off Shawn (claiming the 30-day rule) and held it up in a battle royal. After being the final two men, Razor beat Martel to win the title for the first time. When Shawn finally worked out his contract issue and returned to TV, he still carried around his IC title and claimed to be the real champion. So they decided to put both belts up in the ladder match.

Looking back, it is probably the best ladder match in WWF history in some part because it's the first and it set the bar so high. There weren't any really insane moves with the ladder besides using it as a weapon here and there. Shawn bumped around like his usual self and they stole the show. Razor won the match and became the undisputed IC champion as Shawn emerged as a legit player in the new "smaller" WWF.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHzJ4H298u8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHzJ4H298u8[/ame]

**CrimsonGhost56** · 03-18-2011, 07:21 PM

good stuff. i was at WM 10. still remember it fondly. the ladder match was pure awesome. the crowd was going nuts.

**Warner2BruceTD** · 03-18-2011, 07:57 PM

More on Slaughter/Hogan.

Slaughter left the WWF in 1984, at the peak of his poularity, just as Hulkamania was taking off. He quit over a dispute with McMahon over the Mattel/GI Joe deal, because McMahon would not allow outside licensing deals. Slaughter took the deal, walked out, and missed out on the 6 peak money making years of the Hogan era, where he likely would have been positioned as the #2 babyface or possibly a lead heel who would have gotten a big run with Hogan.

Slaughter headed to the AWA, where he was the top babyface, but the AWA was dying a slow death which was amplified by Vince stealing every single decent piece of talent they had (Hogan, Okerland, Andre, Ventura, Adonis, Martel, Zenk, and a million other guys, including people Vince didnt even want because he was determined to kill Gagne and put him out of business).

Slaughter came back in 1990, leaving the AWA in the middle of the "Team Challenge Series" (he was a team captain, so his name was plastered all over AWA tv while he was playing an Iraqi sympathizer on WWF tv), and finally got his big run, but it largely bombed. Plus he was old, fat, and couldnt work anymore.

**Dan The Man** · 03-18-2011, 08:51 PM

This thread makes me realize once again that Randy Savage is the baddest motherfucker to ever live.

Empire's Look Back at Wrestlemania

Empire's Look Back at Wrestlemania

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