As a wrestling fan that’s the father of a toddler, I feel like it’s my obligation to educate her as early as possible on this crazy sport/art/world that I love. Almost since birth, she has been sitting on my lap and blankly staring at the screen. She knew how to hit an AJ Styles Wrestling Buddy and jump on him for the count of three right around her first birthday.
Now, as a four-year old, she totally gets it all. We have very one-sided matches in the bed a couple of times a week. She does a great, modified version of a triangle choke and her Stunner is immaculate. I’m still working on her DDT and wheelbarrow bulldog. Her selling is the shits.
This year has opened her eyes to so much. She keeps asking for Royal Rumbles after this year’s annual game (don’t worry, she participated with Goldfish). She recently became enamored with Andre the Giant and we read the graphic novel about his life. All of those things together made me want to start sharing seminal moments in wrestling as they happen in this diary.
WrestleMania X definitely fits the bill. It’s the first, big anniversary of the first, big WWF show. Two of the greatest matches in the event’s history (and wrestling history for that matter) occur and I’d love to share those with her.
Unfortunately, our timetables don’t always match up. When I’m viewing these shows, she’s normally being preoccupied in some way to not bother me or it’s when she’s sleeping. So, I had to compromise and go with the one match that I’m more certain she’ll dig. That would be the first ever PPV ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. It holds extra meaning to me as well because this set in motion the Heartbreak Kid as my favorite wrestler, a title he would hold for a very, very long time.
What will my daughter think? Read on and find out if I’m proud of her or if she’s been left on a stranger’s doorstep.
PAY PER VIEW NUMBER 71- WWF WRESTLEMANIA X
Written on 7/1/2021
THE FIRST THING YOU SEE: The WrestleMania X logo and a wave effect takes us back to WrestleMania I with corny piano and highlights surprisingly still featuring Hulk Hogan. He scrambles away (not subtle at all) for the three men in the WWF Title picture and the new Mania theme that will be for Linda McMahon in the future. MSG is LOUD and looks great. Vince McMahon is equally loud as you’d expect. My poor wife has a headache. He growlingly welcomes Little Richard to sing America the Beautiful. He calls him “the Wildman” and that’s where Marc Mero gets his gimmick in two years. A choir surrounds the ring and mood lighting drops for a sweet rendition of the song with a gospel piano. A typical USA stock image montage airs. They either own it or rent it every year. Richard makes Richard noises, but doesn’t mention meatballs and that makes me sad. Whatever announcer that’s not the Fink stands in the ring and looks very out of place. The highlight of this opener is a group of Asian fans cosplaying in the front row and one of them has a sweet Shawn Michaels jacket. Richard wraps the song up and thanks the crowd ad nauseam.
-Vince calls Richard the original king of rock and that segues into Jerry Lawler being brought back as the color commentator. This is his first PPV gig and he stumbles early, but recovers nicely. That’s very indicative of having a job right now anyway. Vince is on point, though, and he’s our first MVP setting up the brother versus brother match. Todd Pettengill narrates the video package recapping the story all the way back from Survivor Series. Owen already looks different and confident one week before the show cutting a promo against Bret.
-Very sad pyro with some random booms signal the show is really starting now. Bill Dunn is the announcer’s name and he swerves the crowd by announcing someone from Calgary with gusto, but it’s Owen Hart. Smart. I’m so glad we get the Rocket theme now. Owen enters from the shadows as Vince wisely points out to great heat. He rips up the glasses he’s wearing in the ring. MASSIVE ovation that Vladimir is a part of for Bret Hart looking like the legend that he is. That long-tail leather jacket suits him well. The kid who gets his glasses sticks his tongue out to the camera and King claims he’s an Owen fan and laughs.
MATCH NUMBER ONE: Owen Hart vs Bret Hart
-They lock up once and break and Owen immediately celebrates. Incredible. Vince actually calls holds and moves while they grapple.
-Loud SLAP by Owen on Bret that makes Prince on Charlie Murphy look tame. That and his immaculate chain wrestling supplant Vince as the MVP leader.
-Owen’s legs hit the ropes on a monkey flip and then he takes a clothesline over the top. This has been so simple and so great so far. Bret gives him a receipt for that earlier slap.
-Jerry and Vince already have great chemistry with one another. Lawler’s jokes about a notarized tongue feel fresh and Vince gets angrier than he did with Bobby Heenan.
-A spin kick and slam into the ring post puts Owen in charge. He hits a cool belly-to-belly and focuses on the back complete with constant hair yanking.
-HIGH angle German suplex by Bret. This already has better two counts than Savage/Steamboat. “See-saw” is right, Vince.
-LEAPING Tombstone by Owen. He tries to follow it up with a top rope headbutt and misses. I want to point out that Undertaker hasn’t delivered a Tombstone on PPV in over two years, but everyone else does one for him.
-Earl Hebner, for his faults, adds so much to his matches with the speed and force of his counts and action. In other words, fuck you, Nick Patrick. Every move in Bret’s trademark sequence gets a two count.
-Sharpshooter reversals back and forth before a slingshot dive to the floor by the face. He comes up lame and Owen targets the leg right away, throwing the leg into the post as Vlad yells.
-Owen hits some Dragon Screw Leg Whips that would make Tanahashi proud. He locks in a Figure Four and celebrates while he has it locked in. He may go wire-to-wire as MVP.
-Stiff kicks to the leg before Bret hits an enziguri and forces Owen to do his awful corner chest bump even better than usual. Piledriver and still only two. Superplex and STILL only two. This crowd is awesome.
-Low blow before a Sharpshooter is excellently executed by the inventor according to King. It’s reversed, but Owen instantly gets in the ropes.
-Bret tries the victory roll that won him King of the Ring, but it is scouted.
WINNER: Owen Hart at 20:21 with a victory roll counter press.
-People are shocked as is Owen with white shit in the corner of his mouth. Lawler is great at putting this over as Owen tells Bret to fuck off. “He didn’t step out of the shadow! He jumped out of it!” What an amazing line.
FINAL WORD: That might be the closest thing to a perfect match. What an incredible star making match and moment all around. Bravo.
-Todd interviews Owen backstage and gloats as the new “Best There Is…” Get that cum off your face, bro! He says Bret has no hope in hell of winning the title later on.
-The Coliseum Video WrestleMania 2 moment is the battle royal before Dunn introduces the president of the Hair Club for Men, Sy Sperling. Scraping the bottom of the barrel for celebrities, I see. His new client is the Fink and I hate it. He asks the crowd what they think and they’re largely indifferent.
-Thankfully, he’s back on the stick to introduce Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon for the mixed tag match. The crowd is even excited and buzzing for this. Muted pop for the lame ass clowns. Dink is very far away from being an asshole at Joey Janela’s Spring Break (and there’s our reference challenge!) Sy gets squirted with the flower and Bam jumps the face at the bell.
MATCH NUMBER TWO: MIXED TAG MATCH- Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon vs Doink and Dink
-Bam hits a dropkick before Doink grabs a hold and slows it down while still wearing his jacket.
-Dink tags in and still wants Bam Bam, but has to face Luna. Let’s go ahead and point this out: why does the woman equal the little person? Typical antics between these two until Luna squashes him against the ropes. I’m struck by how weird Luna’s WM resume is as she throws kicks as Dink runs literal circles around her.
-Slam to Dink and Vince says he’s a powerhouse in his own right. That’s probably an inside joke. BIG elevation on a missed splash by Vachon before the men come back in.
-Doink takes a butt drop and Dink runs some more. After shitting the bed for his team the whole time, Doink finally hits a leaping DDT. He follows it up by missing a big Whoopie Cushion. That bump has to suck.
-The little man gets knocked off the apron and the big man eats some sloppy strikes before the right result takes place.
WINNERS: Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon at 6:10 when Bam Bam pins Doink after a top rope headbutt
-Dink kicks Bigelow while Lawler makes a bunch of little and short jokes. A double splash attempt is set up, but gets botched when Dink rolls the wrong way and Luna still hits him. He’s LVP worthy.
FINAL WORD: Despite everything I just said, that was a decent amount of fun. It was fun-sized.
-Hail to the Chief means there’s a Bill Clinton impersonator in the crowd with IRS and Jack Tunney sitting with him. Vince is way too impressed about his presence. The WrestleMania III moment is Hulk vs Andre.
-Pomp and Circumstance leads Randy Savage to the ring for the Falls Count Anywhere match and his reaction is overwhelming. He’s wearing underrated checkerboard gear. Vince high fives him and puts over his ovation while continuing to demote him. A quick “OH YEAH” on the mic and Crush’s weird, evil theme plays. He barely gets down the aisle with Mr. Fuji before Macho jumps him and we’re off.
MATCH NUMBER THREE: FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH- Randy Savage vs Crush w/Mr. Fuji
-Crush gets the advantage right away with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and then press slams him throat-first on the rail like his initial turn. A fall occurs at 0:45. Now he has 60 seconds to get back into the ring. WCW has their weird Texas Death Match rules and WWF now has this.
-Savage almost gets in, but Fuji hits his back with the flag. He manages to get back in with two seconds to spare.
-Crush gets a handful of salt while Savage is in the Tree of Woe. He gets out of it in enough time to hit the salt into the heel’s face.
-What if the pin happens in the ring? Randy hits the top rope elbow and pins NOPE, I don’t find out. He has to drag Crush OUT of the ring to pin him at 4:30. Gorilla looks on from the Radio WWF table at this nonsense. Fuji slaps his charge to try and wake him up and it takes water in the face to get him up with two seconds to spare as well.
-Crush is thrown into the post hard and head first. It looks good enough for me to count it as UNPROTECTED. The brawl breaks out into the crowd and Crush hits a good superkick. He takes a backdrop on the concrete and is thrown through a random doorway into an even more random backstage area. That’s enough for a pin at 8:09
-Savage ties Crush’s feet up in a pulley and pulls him upside down in a cool visual. One kick, however, causes Crush to slink down to the floor. Macho returns to the ring to beat up Fuji while the crowd counts down.
WINNER: Randy Savage in 9:43
FINAL WORD: The rules and execution were absolutely bonkers, but the participants and audience somehow made it work in Macho Man’s WWF in-ring swan song.
-Pettengill is in the Presidential Box with this impersonator. His Clinton is no Phil Hartman or Darrell Hammond. There are some stale IRS jokes and the two men shake hands. Let’s make it clear which way the company leans as Clinton is complimented by the heel on his tax policies. IRS is an LVP as usual.
-Highlights of the WWF Fan Fest: the Dunk Doink Tank, an entire glass case of Hasbro figures, sumo outfits, Funeral Parlor pictures and Billy Gunn once again looking like BILLY BITCHCAKES holding an infant with his brother. His ability to keep this going without a match is amazing.
-Macho Man celebrates in the MSG closed circuit theater and his title win is the WrestleMania IV moment. Back live and Fink introduces Leilani Kai. King calls her a looker and I suck as a person because I almost sarcastically said the same thing. It’s PPV debut time for Alundra Blayze. She gets a decent reaction and some sparklers in the ring. Her facial expressions seem like she’s ready to throw the belt in the trash already.
MATCH NUMBER FOUR: WOMENS TITLE MATCH- Leilani Kai vs Alundra Blayze (Champ)
-Kai is dressed like the Spider Lady and she wrestles like her. She takes a couple of sunset flips and mean mugs a lot. She is not the right partner for this. LVP.
-The crowd is restless despite the former Madusa’s highspots.
-The match is just random moves that Kai seems confused how to bump for and some kicks. Lawler blatantly insinuates Alundra has a horse face.
-Before you know it, the future of three minutes Divas matches is set up right here.
WINNER: Alundra Blayze in 3:25 to retain the title with a bridging German Suplex
-Capt. Lou Albano, Freddie Blassie, Nikolai Volkoff, Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young are shown watching in the crowd. Mae looks exactly like she will every other time I see her. I’m surprised Moolah let Blayze win the match.
FINAL WORD: You know a match is bad when my highlight is Mike Chioda’s chubby cheeks.
-The WrestleMania V moment is Piper attacking Morton Downey Jr. Sounds about right. Back live and it’s tag title time. Oscar is amped, but doesn’t know any of the words to his own song while rapping Men on a Mission to the ring. The inconsequential LVP train continues.
-Randomly, Pettengill interviews Rhonda Shear backstage. HBK interrupts and, before I can reiterate the bottom of the barrel comment, Burt Reynolds pushes the camera man aside and takes Rhonda. He has a good line about Shawn’s hairy chest before some weird schtick with his busty partner. This happens instead of seeing the TAG CHAMPIONS’ ENTRANCE. The Quebecers are already in the ring. I cannot believe PCO will be back in this building 25 years later taking the dumbest bump I’ve ever seen. That would be one year after Joey Janela reinvigorated his career at Spring Break (and we have one more reference to go).
MATCH NUMBER FIVE: TAG TITLE MATCH- Men on a Mission w/Oscar vs The Quebecers w/Johnny Polo (Champs)
-Another instance of the heels jumping the faces at the bell leading to a double clothesline by Mabel. Mo hits the ropes weird, but hits a good cross body.
-Every Mabel move gets moans and “ooohs” from the crowd. Jerry has a ton of fat jokes ready, notably a comment about MOM getting baptized at Sea World.
-Pierre is backdropped over the top rope by his partner as offense. He was always crazy. Here’s the proof.
-There’s a “let’s go, Mo” chant in Madison Square Garden. You know this crowd is good. He gets the hot tag after a missed top rope leg drop. Mabel has some delicate clotheslines, but a more forceful side slam. He misses a corner splash and takes a double suplex after a couple of tries in a nice spot.
-Mabel kicks out of the cannonball finish and hits a lethargic spin kick that still impresses the crowd. The Heavy Machinery compactor from the second rope flattens the heels, but the managers scuffling distracts the ref. They do it again to Pierre on the floor, but he’s the legal man.
WINNERS: Men on a Mission in 7:43 by countout
-The winners grab the belts and still celebrate/rap in the ring like goofballs.
FINAL WORD: It wasn’t awful like you’d think, but the ending sucked the energy out of the building.
-The WrestleMania VI moment is still surprisingly Warrior versus Hogan. Fink announces the guest timekeeper, Rhonda Shear, and the guest announcer, Donnie Wahlberg of “NKOTB” to heavy boos. It’s probably because of the shitty name. He looks like quite a douche and talks in too ethnic of a tone for my taste. His announcer voice isn’t too bad when he introduces the special guest ref: Mr. Perfect. He has an all-striped outfit and is all smiles amid a great pop. I guess the insurance came through, huh?
-Yokozuna and company enter. He is entirely too big at this point. Hang on, your responsibilities are almost over. A truncated ritual is interrupted by the new Made in the USA theme for Lex Luger. You can tell by the look on his face what’s about to happen. Vince goes so hard on the shilling as soon as he is involved. Jim Cornette’s outfit caught my eye while I was looking down making my notes.
MATCH NUMBER SIX: WWF TITLE MATCH WITH MR PERFECT AS SPECIAL GUEST REF- Lex Luger vs Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette (Champ)
-“The American way is putting Arabian oil into Japanese cars.” Lawler definitely has his moments.
-Lex dominates the early portion of the match highlighted with a rare top rope cross body for two.
-Miscommunication before Lex tries to slam the champ and gets squashed to turn the tide.
-Yoko removes the turnbuckle pad and throws some chops and thrusts before settling into his patented blown-up nerve hold.
-The nerve hold is still on and looks worse by the second.
-After an eternity, Lex hulks up and ducks two shots before just running into his opponent. Back to the nerve hold. Good grief.
-They aren’t even calling their next spots. They are just doing nothing. Luger is thrown to the floor and does a double bump against the rail that was more cartoony than Hanna Barbera’s entire portfolio.
-THIRD trapezius lock. Lex’s face close up makes it seem like he’s perfectly fine. I’m actually mad this is a title match at the biggest show of the year.
-The hold is applied a FOURTH time and you can start hearing catcalls and boos before a USA chant cuts in.
-Luger powers up and gets cut off with a belly-to-belly. Before long, Yoko is sent into the exposed buckle and the overhead camera is a nice touch. It will especially be later on.
-Luger slams the big man and hits the forearm. Cornette gets on the apron and gets slung in. Fuji does the same and it’s sad to see him get beat up at this age. Luger makes the cover and Perfect tries to clear the managers twice. Lex gets upset and pushes him. That naturally makes the bell ring.
WINNER: Yokozuna in 14:40 by DQ
-Perfect walks to the back angrily as the people are pissed. The official announcement is made and Lex is devastated. Vince doesn’t believe it amid “bullshit” chants. Todd interviews Perfect and he claims that he called it right down the middle as you can’t put your hands on an official. Luger shouts at him and officials separate. Good to see Lex finally selling well.
FINAL WORD: Without question, that was the worst WWF Title match in WrestleMania history that didn’t involve Hulk Hogan getting interjected at the last possible second.
-More boos and “Bullshit” chants while King celebrates and Vince complains and a lady behind them stares at the camera before mouthing hello to someone. The WrestleMania VII moment is the blindfold match. How and why? Fink introduces Harvey Wippleman and gets interrupted and called ugly, monkey face and big ears among other things. Harvey rips his suit and is pushed in retaliation to a better pop than anything in the last bout. Adam Bomb emerges and grabs Fink. Earthquake, who is back apparently, jumps him.
MATCH NUMBER SEVEN: Adam Bomb w/Harvey Wippleman vs Earthquake
-Belly-to-belly, powerslam, throat slit, tremors, fin.
WINNER: Earthquake in 0:35 with the Earthquake Splash
-Vince says it could be a record, but it’s not. Man, fuck Adam Bomb, right? I’m shocked he’s not a joke entry into a Clusterfuck every year (and our reference challenge is done!)
FINAL WORD: That was somehow more effective than the two world titles we’ve seen thus far if only for the impact of Quake’s offense.
-Todd interviews the retaining champ and his camp in the locker room. Pettengill has been very good on this show. Cornette is a wordsmith as always and Yoko holds his presence sweating his ass off. It’s an MVP worthy promo to go with that outfit. BANZAI before the WrestleMania VIII moment being Undertaker’s entrance. Those moments are getting worse building up to last year’s show.
-Close up shot of the two Intercontinental Titles hanging above the ring. The mood just feels right. Jillian is excited. Sexy Boy plays in full effect and HBK looks like a badass walking to the ring as does Diesel. He steps around the ladder and knows he’s the coolest guy in the room. Gold lighting in the tunnel and a gold vest for Razor Ramon. Sometimes, the littlest details are the best. He steps under the ladder and threatens Tony Chimel about the safety of his gold chains before throwing the toothpick at him. He’s still ultimately the Bad Guy.
MATCH NUMBER EIGHT: IC TITLE LADDER MATCH- Shawn Michaels w/Diesel vs Razor Ramon (Champ)
-Chain wrestling and silence early, but Razor’s chokeslam wakes the crowd up. Shawn is running and hitting the ropes HARD.
-It looks like Shawn is calling spots and talking a lot. Diesel hits a clothesline on the champ on the floor and tells the ref, “Did you see something?!?!” He did and Diesel gets kicked out, livid the whole way.
-Scott Hall throws great punches and Michaels sells everything like total death.
-The Edge is called for, but he gets backdropped onto the concrete that he personally exposed prior. Shawn is the first man to grab the ladder.
-Razor intercepts, but Shawn baseball slides the ladder into his stomach for a big groan. The crowd gets it now. Another stomach shot in ring and that’s a shoot ladder, folks. It’s also the only one on hand.
-Lawler thinks the ladder weighs 100 pounds as HBK just throws it into Ramon’s back twice in vicious fashion.
-The first climb is high drama. Razor catches Shawn and pants him. HBK hits an elbow from the ladder with his whole ass hanging out. Jillian liked that. She’s now grounded.
-Iconic shot: the splash. Vince says it all: “UNBELIEVABLE!” Okay, here’s your MVP consideration, Shawn.
-The ladder gets shaken and Shawn flies onto the ropes complete with a spit effect. Jillian: “so close!” The crowd claps in respect. That overhead shot of both men down after a fast collision is just awesome.
-HUGE Irish whip into the ladder in the corner. Razor holds his own in this match with some good shots with the ladder on the floor. He slingshots HBK into the ladder and he holds on and gets squashed by it falling down.
-Top rope axe handle to stop Razor climbing up, but the ladder falls on HBK. This might not hold up compared to the ladder matches that will follow, but it is unprecedented for its time. Both climb and slug it out until Razor suplexes Michaels off and the ladder falls.
-The champ is dropkicked off the ladder and then gets it knocked over onto him. Sweet Chin Music and Jilly wants to go play. I tried.
-Gross squash from the second rope with the ladder onto Razor. He took it all on his arm. HBK is running neck and neck with Owen Hart in the MVP hunt.
-Razor shoulder blocks the ladder and Shawn gets crotched on the top rope with his leg tied up. The place is going nuts as Razor slowly climbs and Shawn amazingly sells desperation trying to escape. He gets free, but his arm is now stuck. Nobody knew how to get the titles off just by unstrapping them, so Razor pulls them down hard and falls even harder.
WINNER: Razor Ramon at 18:48 to retain the title
-Both men sell death as the place explodes. Lawler is standing up in the foreground and he seems legit excited at this match as an accomplishment. Razor scales the ladder to taunt with both belts.
FINAL WORD: Revolutionary is the only acceptable word here. It’s aged well enough compared to the dozens of bouts that will follow. That said…I still like Bret versus Owen a smidgen more.
-Vince promotes the upcoming 10-man tag, but a commotion in the dressing room with the heels is shown. They are arguing over who the captain of the team is. Jeff Jarrett is drowned out by Afa yelling. Perfect. Vince just blows this whole thing off and says the match is not happening now. The faces didn’t have this issue! That’s not fair. Here’s the match graphic just for shits and giggles.
-Pettengill is with the fake president again and Ted DiBiase is in the box now. “Clinton” wants no questions when Ted claims everybody has a price. Gross and this is the second straight Mania I want to give an actor the LVP. Speaking of WM IX, the moment from that show is the pomp of it all and Bret losing to Yoko in a good transition.
-A video package to dubbed music focuses on Bret Hart’s life and career. There are clips of some kids scrapping in the Dungeon while Stu watches. That’s weird as fuck. This is so much better than Lex’s SummerSlam montage. All of Bret’s career accomplishments are highlighted and it moves all over. It even includes clips of his match with Owen tonight. I’m always amazed at the speed of which the production team works. The effective, but repetitive, video transitions into Yokozuna killing jobbers with Banzai Drops and squashing absent stars like Scott Steiner, Undertaker and Hulk Hogan. His clips are much shorter in duration.
-The guest celebrities enter together. Jennie Garth is the timekeeper and Burt Reynolds is the announcer. Pat Patterson protects them in the aisle. Burt’s hand is all taped up and I daydream about him punching Hulk Hogan. Instead, he was apparently a victim to a mugging in NYC. He has some huge writing on his notes as he introduces Rowdy Roddy Piper to guest referee. He naturally gets a great pop and hugs Reynolds. I want that buddy cop movie in 1989 with those two just riffing the whole time. The champ enters first again and Burt is good at this gig. There’s some bad lighting and a rushed feeling to the champ’s walk to the ring. No diminishing pop for the Hitman while he limps to the ring. He gets jumps as soon as he gets in the ring.
MATCH NUMBER NINE: WWF TITLE MATCH WITH RODDY PIPER AS SPECIAL GUEST REF- Bret Hart vs Yokozuna w/Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji (Champ)
-Yoko has already given Bret more moves than he did to Lex. Piper is a very vocal ref in good ways and bad ways.
-Lawler wisely points out that Piper and Hart have a WrestleMania past. It’s interesting that it didn’t come up for Perfect and Luger. Roddy counts fast on breaks and swats at Cornette on the apron.
-Bret is trying, but Yoko is just too limited now. It’s sad and he may qualify for LVP now. Jim pulls the Hot Scot out of the ring on a count and gets knocked out cold with a punch.
-Phantom headbutt by the champ and he just doesn’t leave the mat for long stretches. Then, he throws a dangerous leg drop on Bret’s face. Yeah, he has to be in the LVP lead now.
-The corner squash is missed and a second rope bulldog by the challenger gets a believable two count. A second rope elbow gets the same and the near falls are believable because Yoko’s kick outs are slow.
-Bret is caught in mid-air with a belly-to-belly and dragged to the corner. The Banzai is set up, but Yoko loses his balance on the second rope and falls to the mat. Bret moves, but it still feels pretty cheap and shitty.
-Two things save the end of this match: King claiming Yoko hit his head to cover the moment and the fucking pop for the three count.
WINNER: Bret Hart at 10:33 to win the title after Yokozuna fell off the second rope
-MSG is rocking as Yoko can’t believe it. He stares Piper down and chases him away as pyro goes off. Bret is still down in the ring.
FINAL WORD: It won’t go down in any history books besides the one that technically lists main events and defines them as the last match on a show.
-Vince claims this is the blast off for the next decade of the WWF. It should have been last year and now it will only be for three years. Bret finally gets up and poses with the title in an iconic way. Lex Luger enters and stares him down before begrudgingly shaking hands and hugging the new champ. The look on his face later while he puts Bret on his shoulders is AMAZING. Piper, Razor, Tatanka and other faces run out to celebrate. Even Burt Reynolds gets a big hug. Sparky Plugg is very out of place. Macho Man, Gorilla Monsoon and the other celebs pile in. This is a great anointment.
-Vince joins the party and there’s no commentary for the final moments of the show. It works because look who is in the aisle: a disgusted Owen Hart. Macho invites him in, but he just shakes his head and mouths “remember me.” Incredible. Tony Garea tells him to leave as the celebration continues. The camera pans out to a wide shot of MSG as the shows ends.
THE LAST IMAGE: Wide Shot of the Arena
THE WRAP UP
FINAL MVP of PPV: Everyone says that Shawn Michaels was made on this night by wrestling a ladder. However, Owen Hart MADE HIMSELF on this night. He was masterful in every facet of wrestling you want to be in. This might be controversial, but it honestly wasn’t a hard decision for me, a man who said earlier that this match was the start of my love of Shawn Michaels.
FINAL LVP of PPV: So many bit players were annoying and distracting, but Yokozuna wrestled two matches with a total lack of fire and energy, especially compared to last year. He was probably just sad his run was over and it showed.
MY FAVORITE MATCH: Owen Hart vs Bret Hart (I know, I know…)
MY LEAST FAVORITE MATCH: Yokozuna vs Lex Luger
FINAL THOUGHTS: Having two of the greatest Mania matches of all time makes this a no-brainer. The rest of the show is either not as bad as it appears on paper or surprisingly energetic and fun. This is a show that just FEELS like a WrestleMania. MSG’s faithful was a big part of it, but the performers all stepped up to create a moment. Besides WrestleMania III, it’s the best Mania so far without question. MULLET RECOMMENDS
NEXT TIME: While we are on the subject of all-time great shows, let’s go ahead and see one of WCW’s in the inaugural Spring Stampede. Maybe Jillian will want to watch the Nasty Boys street fight.