WWF Wrestlemania IX:
- Live from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV. This show has the "honor" of being voted possibly the worst Wrestlemania of all time, but I disagree, and can name quite a few others that have been much, much worse. In a Dark Match, Tito Santana FINALLY ended his Wrestlemania Suck Streak, by defeating Papa Shango.
- The Broadcast Team for Wrestlemania IX is the debuting Jim Ross, Randy Savage, and Bobby Heenan. The introductions take forever here, as we get a bunch of garbage before bringing out Randy Savage who's being fed grapes, and Bobby Heenan, who is being brought out riding on a Camel backwards. Everyone is wearing a Toga, except for Savage, who just makes fun of Heenan for a while (he smells, you know).
- WWF-Intercontinental Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels © (w/ Luna Vachon) vs. Tatanka (w/ Sensational Sherri):
This was set up when Tatanka pinned Shawn Michaels twice in Non-Title matches (a singles match on Superstars, and a 6-Man tag from Monday Night Raw). This is really Tatankas biggest challenge, as he has gone undefeated beating a bunch of low-carders and Jobbers for a year. Luna is also making her WWF Debut here, as an unannounced valet for Shawn Michaels to counter Sherri being at ringside. This also marks a record breaking mark, as Shawn has curtain jerked a third Wrestlemania in a row (WM VII vs. Barbarian & Haku and WM VIII vs. Tito Santana). I'm pissed here, because Marty Jannetty should've been in this, except he got fired thanks to scumbag Shawn. Quick observation sees Jack Doan (future referee) as one of the ringside attendants. Shawn with a single leg takedown, but Tatanka mule kicks him away, followed by a repeat performance. Shawn with a standing side headlock into a hammerlock. Tatanka reverses, and Shawn turns it into an overhead wristlock. Tatanka fights back up and throws off Michaels into the corner. Side headlock by Michaels and into a takeover thanks to the momentum off the turnbuckles in the corner. Shawn tries again, but Tatanka blocks and takes him down with a back suplex. Irish whip to the corner, but Tatanka misses a charge. Shawn to the top rope, but he comes off and goes right into an arm drag. Tatanka whips him to the corner, and chops him off the apron to the floor. Another quick observation: Sherri has managed Randy Savage (doing PBP), Shawn Michaels (1992), and is now with Tatanka... what a manager whore! Michaels pokes Tatanka in the eyes and rams him into the turnbuckle. Michaels goes to the top rope again, and takes him over with a fucked up sunset flip for a two count. Irish whip is reversed, and a criss cross sequence leads to Tatanka catches Shawn with an inverted atomic drop. Irish whip is reversed again, and this time Tatanka drops Michaels with a DDT. Wristlock by Tatanka and he turns it into an armbar. Shawn escapes, but he hurts his arm trying to put Tatanka down with a clothesline, and Tatanka goes back to working over the arm (to the delight of Sherri). Tatanka gets whipped into the corner, but Shawn misses a charge, and posting his "injured" shoulder. What is with Shawn and being injured for Wrestlemania? Michaels escapes another wristlock, but gets caught with a shoulder block in the corner. Tatanka with a big jumping elbow drop, and he goes to the top rope and nails a Steamboat-like chop to the top of the head. Tatanka goes up again, but gets caught with a reverse crescent kick to the face on the way down. Michaels dumps Tatanka over the top rope to buy him some time to recover from the working of the arm earlier in the match. Michaels comes off the apron with a clothesline, no selling the injured shoulder in the process. Shawn keeps Tatanka at bay then goes to trash talk with Sherri. Michaels with a boot to the midsection followed by a swinging neck breaker for a two count. Standing dropkick by Shawn connects, and he covers for another two count. Resthold time, as Michaels applies a reverse chinlock, giving me the opprotunity to get to the old fast foward button. Michaels hammers away on Tatanka in the corner and apparently fucks up a head scissors take over for a two count. Michaels has gotta be drunk here, because he's botching stuff and no selling his arm... or he's just being himself. Michaels goes fro the victory roll, but Tatanka drops him with an electric chair drop for a two count! Tatanka misses an elbow drop, and Shawn goes to the second rope to with a double axehandle, but Tatanka starts dancing. Tatanka! Buffalo! Tatanka blocks the super kick and chops Shawn like a bitch. Irish whip, and Shawn oversells a chop ot the chest. Tatanka goes to the top rope and comes off with a cross body press for a two count! Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Tatanka catches Shawn with a slingshot into the steel post for another two count! Tatanka goes for the Samoan Drop, but Shawn escapes with a roll up for a two count. Michaels goes up to the top rope... again, and jumps into a powerslam for another two count! The action spills outside, where Shawn misses a dive and lands right on the steel steps... ouch! Iin the middle of the carnage, Shawn attacks the referee... and you should guess the result by now. Tatanka nails the Samoan Drop/Fallaway Slam, but the referee calls for the cheap as hell finish with a Disqualification at 18:12. ***1/4 Ignore the slightly slow portion in the middle of the match, and it was quite an entertaining match. Also the last few minutes picked up the pace quite nicely, but I hate cheap finishes, especially when opening the show with them! After the match, Luna Vachon beats down Sherri like she owes her money (or was sleeping with her boyfriend, you make the call), resulting in Sherri being helped backstage.
- The Steiner Brothers vs. The Head Shrinkers (w/ Afa):
No real angle to set this match up. Someone noticed that the only tag match on the card was for the Titles, and threw in the Head Shrinkers to put over the Steiner Brothers in a Non-Title Tag Match. Both Steiners still had their talent here, and the Shrinkers were never really slouches, so I expect this to be fun. Jim Ross makes a historical statement, introducing Slobberknocker to the WWF to describe this match. Scott Steiner starts the match... eventually, with Fatu, who would later be known as the Sultan and dacing fatass Rikishi. In another weird observation, both Scott Steiner and Fatu were on the WWF Roster 10 years later for Wrestlemania XIX, but neither were booked on the show. Lockup to start, and Scott with an arm drag takeover. Fatu with a shove, so Scott with a double leg takedown into a pinning combination for a two count. Fatu hammers away on Scott in the corner, but Scott takes him over with a hip toss on a reversal. Shoveing match leads to both men exchanging rights in a cool little spot and Scott kills Fatu with a clothesline (including the over-sell). Fatu rakes the eyes of Scott and the Shrinkers double team in the corner. Rick makes the save, but gets hammered on as well before being dumped. In an AWESOME spot, both Steiners come off the same top turnbuckle and nail simultanious clotheslines to the Head Shrinkers! Scott with a wristlock ot Fatu, and Rick tags in, as does Samu. Samu with a big knife-edge chop to Rick, followed by a stomach rake in the corner. Irish whip to the corner, and Samu nails a charging clothesline. Irish whip to the corner again, and Rick comes out this time with the Steinerline. Samu eats ring post, and Rick applies a wristlock. Scott tags back in and connects with a double underhook powerbomb, followed by a dropkick to Fatu. Irish whip, and ANOTHER cool spot has Samu hot shot Scott to the floor! I suspect that they fucked up dropping him across the top rope. Afa with a cheap shot outside the corner with his walking stick across the back of Scott. Fatu with a scoop slam, and he eventually tosses Scott back into the ring. Samu rams Scott into the head of Fatu. Fatu tags in and connects with a side back breaker, followed by a headbutt from the second rope for a two count. Double headbutt from the Head Shrinkers, and Samu comes in with a spinning kick to the side of the head. Irish whip to the corner, and Scott with a boot to the face as Samu charges in. Fatu tags in and connects with a knee to send Scott to the outside. Samu rams Scott into the ring post as the referee (Bil Alfonso) is distracted by Rick and Fatu. Back inside the ring and Scott rams Fatus head into the canvas, but Fatu no sells of course, and nails a reverse crescent kick. Samu tags in and works over Scott more, and connects with a standing dropkick. Scott fights off both Shrinkers in the corner until Samu pokes him in the eyes. Modified Demolition Decapitator by the shrinkers, and Fatu with an elbow across the face for a two count. Fatu applies the vulcan neck pinch, resulting in another visit to Fast Forward Land. Scott fights free with elbows, and a double clothesline puts both men down. Thats a spot I've never liked... Fatu was far too fresh to be hurt by that and shouldn't have to pretend to be dead. Samu comes in to work over the back of Steiner and rakes the face again. Scoop slam by Samu, and he goes to the top rope and misses a big splash. Rick FINALLY gets the hot tag, and he hammers away on Fatu. Irish whip, and Rick with a back body drop. Scoop slam ot Samu followed by Steinerlines to both men. Double headbutt is no sold and they level Rick. Double front russian leg sweep (a.k.a the Stroke) by the Shrinkers, and Samu tags in legally and goes to the top rope. Doomsday Device is blocked with a Rick powerslam off the shoulders of Fatu for a two count! Scott gets the blind tag as Rick gets dumped out. Irish whip is reversed, and Scott with an overhead belly to belly suplex! Samu no sells getting his head smashes into the canvas and nails a reverse kick. Scoop slam by Samu. Irish whip is reversed, and a Frankensteiner (botched) finishes Samu at 14:22. *** Damn that was an entertaining match. Much like the opening match, the first few and last few minutes ruled, but a more methodical pace took over the middle. Lots of cool spots that I've rarely seen done also helped. The Head Shrinkers were one of the more underrated teams around this time I thought.
- Footage from a few weeks before the Royal Rumble on the Superstars of Wrestling. Doink the Clown beat the crap out of Crush with a fake arm, putting Crush out of action for several months. Doinks interview is nothing special, although dressing up a sculpture of Julius Caesar as Doink is pretty funny looking.
- Crush vs. Doink The Clown:
Now the quality of the show is going to dip. Crush was pretty over in 1993 (although this crowd is hard to hear), and I'm quite surprised he never got a bigger push than midcarder feuding with a Clown. Doink squirts Crush with his flower, resulting in a chase around the ring. Crush catches him and slams Doink on the floor. Crush rams Doink hard into the steel post and then into the security rail. Into the ring they go and Doink begs off Crush. Crush throws Doink into the corner and picks him up into a choke lift. Crush with a series of rights, followed by a hard Irish whip into the corner. Doink drags Crush outside, but his blows are no sold and Crush nails him with a headbutt. Back into the ring once again, and Crush kicks him in the chest. Rude Awakening Neckbreaker by Crush, followed by a snapmare and double rake of the eyes. Crush with a snapmare across the top rope Randy Savage style, and Doink begs him more to stop beating his ass. Irish whip, and Crush with a side back breaker. Doink stuns Crush across the top rope for his first offensive move, followed by a double axehandle off the top rope. Doink goes to the second rope with a forearm across the face. To the top rope once again, and he nails a double punch across the back of the head. Doink nails a piledriver as I notice that his makeup is almost completely gone thanks to the outdoor heat and of course getting beat on. Doink with a delayed scoop slam, and he goes up to the top rope, but comes off and eats the boot of Crush on the way down. Doink recovers in time though and goes to the second rope, but Crush catches him coming off with a powerslam. Crush with a big clothesline, and that sends Doink over the top rope. He tries crawling under the ring, but Crush catches him and throws the clown back into the ring. Gorilla Press Slam by Crush, and now we get a referee bump. Crush applies the Cranium Crunch (a.k.a Head Vice by some people), but the referee is down and out. In the confusion, another Doink (either Steve Keirn or Barry Darsow, depending on who you ask) comes out and nails Crush across the back with the prosthetic arm. The Doinks double team Crush and break the thing over his head, then do a mirrioring imitation (quite badly). The original referee finally wakes up and Doink covers Crush for three at 8:27. 3/4* Very slow match, but Crush beating the crap out of him was entertaining enough. A second referee comes out to show Morella the second Doink under the ring, but he's disappeared since the end of the match.
- Bob Backlund vs. Razor Ramon:
This is quite the random pairing, if I may say so. Backlund had pretty much done nothing on TV since the 1993 Rumble, and Ramon was in between feuds (a.k.a doing nothing), so here we go. Ramon gets quite a good face reaction, meaning either the fans don't know who he is, or he actually was getting over. Backlund offers a handshake, so Ramon tosses the toothpick at him instead. The crowd starts a "Razor" chant as he shoves Backlund into the corner. Lockup and Ramon sends himself into the corner. Backlund with a series of single leg trips followed by some Happy Dancing. Ramon hammers away on Backlund and puts him down with a scoop slam. The running Heenan joke on Backlund is that he's Opie (Ron Howard on the Andy Griffith Show). Ramon stomps away on Backlund as the crowd has seemed to have been deflated since the opening bell. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Backlund with a series of hip tosses. Backlund with a horrible done dropkick (he missed, but Ramon still sold). Clothesline by Backlund followed by a duble underhook suplex. Delayed atomic drop by Backlund, sending Ramon to the apron. He sling shots Ramon back into the ring, but gets caught with a Small Package, giving Ramon the victory at 3:44. 1/2* This match seemed much more suitable for a Superstars of Wreslting or Wrestling Challenge feature match instead of being put on the Wrestlemania card where there's only 7 other matches.
- We follow the last match with a King of the Ring commercial, the first I think to air on WWF television. We are officially half way into the show, and so far, it's been quite entertaining, although the booking decisions have made me wonder what the hell is going on. A cheap finish to open the show, and another big feud has a lame interference finish. We follow Part II, with a Money Inc. Interview. Nothing major, except they hint that Hulk Hogan isn't fit to compete.
- WWF-Tag Team Championship Match:
Money Inc. © vs. The Mega Maniacs (w/ Jimmy Hart):
The set up for this one started when the Tag Champions beat the crap out of Brutus Beefcake and rearranged his face (literally) with a smack to the head with I.R.S.' brief case. This turned Jimmy Hart face, and brought Hogan back to the WWF after "Retiring" at Wrestlemania VIII. I'm a mark for Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan (duh!), and have always enjoyed Ted Dibiase and Mike Rotundo, so please pardon the complete bias of this match. Cool effect has yellow and road smoke in the aisle for Hogans entrance. Hogan is sporting a fucked up face and a black eye, due to a sailing accident (ironic he's teaming with Beefcake). No, for anyone who thinks Savage did it... check your fucking sources please. The Heels attack before the bell, but Hogan and Beefcake fight back and dump them out on seperate sides of the ring, then pose (marks the fuck out). Beefcake and Irwin start the match after a little stalling. Lockup and Irwin with a knee to the midsection. He hammers away on Beefcake and tags in Dibiase for some open shots to the midsection. Dibiase with a series of chops in the ropes. Irish whip, and Dibiase puts him down with a back elbow. Irwin comes back in and pounds away on Beefcake in the corner. Dibiase comes off the top rope and tries an axehandle, but Beefcakes protection mask hurts his hand. Beefcake fights both men off and rams their heads together. Beefcake no sells being rammed into the buckle, then serves Dibiase up some. Hogan gets the tag in to a nice pop and he hammers away on Dibiase in the corner with mounted punches. Hebner gets knocked over in some sort of scuffle and Hogan continues hammering away on Dibiase. Irish whip, and Hogan connects with a charging clothesline, followed by more punches. Beefcake tags back in and the Maniacs nail a double big boot. Beefcake with a stomp to the face followed by a scoop slam. Hogan tags in again and comes off the second rope with a double axehandle. Hogan continues beating on the Multi-Million Dollar Man, and Dibiase gets to play ping pong before being clotheslined over the top rope. Irwin comes in for an attack, but gets caught in a game of ping pong as well, and Hogan dumps him over the top rope to a nice pop. Money Inc. threaten to walk off, but the referee pulls the magic "they lose the titles if they do" rule, forcing them to come back to the ring before the count of ten. Dibiase with a knee to the midsection of Hogan, and he chokes him across the middle rope. Irwin continues the choking with a tag rope while Dibiase distracts the referee. Dibiase then gets his shots in when Beefcake tries coming in to break up the beating. Dibiase hammers on Hogan in the corner and chokes him down behind the referees back. This is what happens when you're injured in your face... the opponents have to think of something where they don't have to touch the face a lot. After a lot of choking, Dibiase applies the Million Dollar Dream. This actually lasts for a while as Dibiase makes sure Hogan is dead on the ground with the hold. Beefcake comes in behind the referees back, and kills Dibiase dead with his own Sleeper Hold in about 15 seconds, leaving both Dibiase and Hogan down and out on the canvas. Hogan does the Undertaker situp and goes to tag Irwin... then realizes where he is and tags in Beefcake. Both teams tag out and Beefcake hammers away on Irwin. Irish whip and he connects with the running high knee. Atomic drop to Dibiase sends him out of the ring. Beefcake pounds away on Irwin with rights until Dibiase nails him in the back with the briefcase behind the referees back. Irwin with a series of elbow drops, and Dibiase tags in to get in some shots for himself. According to Heenan, If Dibiase gets the mask off, it's going to turn into a hockey game, because there's going to be a faceoff. For the first time in 15 minutes, Money Inc. actually punches the opponent(s) in the face. Sounds like a trip to the hardware store says the Brain. He's like a refrigerator, let's hang some magnets from his face to put the grocery lists. Beefcake with a double clothesline to Money Inc., and he applies the Sleeper Hold on I.R.S. We get a referee bump... and that's either the second or third on the show. Both teams tag, although it makes little difference. Hogan is in Automatic Hulk-Up, and puts Dibiase down with the big boot. Irwin gets kicked in the balls, and Hogan nails them both with Beefcakes mask. Jimmy Hart gets in the ring and turns his jacket inside out to look like a striped referee jacket, and counts three himself, but it doesn't count of course. Joey Morella comes out and the match ends with a DQ at 18:48. *1/2 Not the worst match I've ever seen like most people love to say, but it wasn't too good either. It was one of those matches that was just "there", which is the hardest to rate. After the match, The Maniacs scare off the champions, then Jimmy Hart takes out the referee by throwing him over the top rope to the floor. They then open up Irwins briefcase, revealing some tax forms, a brick, and a huge wad of cash! Hogan and Beefcake celebrate long enough for "Real American" to loop a few times while passing out money to the fans. Idiot smarks will say "hahaha, Vince is trying to pay off fans because the show was horrible omg2004~!", but I just like making fun of people who always try saying stuff like that. Heenan tries to get money from Hogan, then kisses Beefcakes ass on commentary.
- Mr. Perfect vs. "The Narcissist" Lex Luger:
Perfect fucks up in his pre-match Interview, stuttering over his words and calling Luger "the Lexissist Larc", then tries to cover it up and pretends thats what he meant to say. I guess that interview wasn't "Perfect". Lugers entrance is entertaining, although that's mainly for the asses of his valets for a day (Vince was giving people T & A in 1993?), and Lugers theme music really rules. Heenan and Savage drool over the ladies, although Savage tries saying Heenans doing that over Luger. Mr. Perfect gets a pretty nice pop, which makes me wonder why he didn't get an Intercontinental Title run in 1993... before his back started going again. One of the ladies hits on Perfect it seems during his entrance, and he kinda brushes her off, but smiles about it. Lockup to start, and Luger with a wristlock. They exchange counters, with Luger taking Perfect down, but he mule kicks Luger off. Perfect with a standing side headlock, and a series of counters with hammerlocks goes into the ropes. Luger rakes the eyes of Hennig, but gets punched hard in the midsection and Perfect follows with a knee lift. Side headlock by Perfect, followed by a shoulder block. A Criss cross sequence commences, and Perfect nails Luger with a running dropkick, sending him to the outside. Back inside, and they lockup into the corner, and Luger gets a cheap shot in. Heenan has been on all night with the commentary, now confusing a polygraph test with stuff for false teeth. Perfect blocks a big boot with a single leg trip, then connects with a knee drop across the left leg of the Narcissist. Perfect kicks away at Lugers leg, then applies a spinning toe hold. Luger continues working over the leg as Heenan, with a straight sounding voice, tries saying Lex Luger is better than Muhammad Ali. Hennig kills Luger with chops, but gets whipped hard into the corner. Irish whip to the opposite corner, and Perfect with an over-sell. Heenan makes fun of Jim Ross for being from Oklahoma, then says he should be happy Indoor plumbing comes to Oklahoma in 1994. Back inside the ring we go, and Luger hammers away on the lower back of Hennig. Luger with a back breaker and elbow drop for a two count, as the match has taken a more methodical pace. Perfect with a series of kicks to the chest of Luger followed some roundhouse rights. Irish whip to the corner, but Perfect runs into a knee, and Luger with a double leg trip pin, but the referee catches him using the ropes. Irish whip, and Luger with a powerslam for a delayed two count. Irish whip, and Hennig with a sunset flip out of nowhere for a two count. Perfect ducks a clothesline and applies a sleeper hold, but Luger backs him into the corner. Perfect slaps the skin off of Lugers chest, and hammers away on him into the corner. Irish whip, and Perfect catches Luger with an inside cradle for a two count. Irish whip, and Perfect with a back body drop. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Luger crashes chest first. Slingshot by Perfect sends Luger into the buckle, followed by some rights. Irish whip, and Perfect with a forearm across the forehead for a two count. The strap is down, and Hennig means business now. Hennig with slow mounted punches in the corner, followed by a clothesline for another two count as Heenan starts having a heart attack. Perfect with a swinging neck breaker for a two count once again. Perfect goes to the top rope and connects with a missile dropkick for a two count. Back slide attempt is blocked by Luger, and he takes him over, but Perfects feet on the ropes. However, the referee doesn't see it, and counts the three for Luger anyway, giving him the cheap victory (another one) at 10:57. **3/4 One of Lugers best matches in the WWF. Outside of a small portion near the early part of the match, they kept up a good pace, and Perfect tried his damndest to get a good match out of him, and was successful. After the match, Luger KO's Perfect with the running forearm of steel. Perfect recovers then goes after Luger backstage, but gets his ass kicked for no reason by Shawn Michaels, who suddenly was done feuding with Tatanka.
- The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) vs. The Giant Gonzalez (w/ Harvey Wippleman):
Oh... Damn. Most fans who think they are smart will say this match was put on before the main event because Vince purposely wanted to kill the crowd to make it look like Bret Hart and Yokozuna weren't over enough for the Main Event before Hogan came out to make him look stronger, but again, I hate when people make shit up like that (hypothetically speaking). The Undertaker makes his first "spectacular" entrance at a Wrestlemania, riding to the ring in a chariot with a vulture on a pirch connected to it. The Undertaker is currently 2-0 at Wrestlemania, destroying Jimmy Snuka at Wrestlemania VII and Jake Roberts at Wrestlemania VIII. Bill Alfonso is the referee of course, since he was in charge of helping Gonzalez around in WCW and WWF. They go face to airbrushed tits, and Gonzalez nails him with a series of forearms, but Undertaker no sells them. Undertaker a series of thrusts into the throat of Gonzalez, and he chokes. Gonzalez no sells and chokes Undertaker back. Undertaker goes up the ropes and chokes Gonzalez back once again. Gonzalez with a really low blow, but he misses an attack in the corner. Undertaker with a wristlock and he comes off the top rope with the clothesline across the back (a.k.a Old School). Undertaker chops away on the Giant Gonzalez and stomps a mudhole in him. Gonzalez nails Undertaker with a big boot, followed by a clothesline. Gonzalez nails Undertaker across the back with a forearm, and hip tosses him out of the corner. Gonzalez applies a sleeper hold, although it looks more like a choke. Undertaker actually sells this like death, but starts getting back to his feet and elbows Gonzalez in the midsection. Undertaker tries a charge, but throws himself out through the middle ropes. Gonzalez follows and pounds away on Undertaker with chops and forearms, followed by ramming him into a steel step. Back inside the ring, and Gonzalez lays out Undertaker with headbutts. Undertaker tries fighting back with blows to the throat, stunning the giant. They exchange blows and Undertaker takes gonzalez down to his knee. Wippleman tosses something to Gonzalez, who headbutts Paul Bearer and chokes out the Undertaker with a cloth, which apparently has cloroform on it, and the referee calls for the DQ at 7:31. Afterwards, Undertaker gets stretchered out, and Gonzalez beats up some referees after the match. However... the bell tolls, and Undertaker comes back out, and beats on Gonzalez, and floors him with a clothesline! 1/4* Please forgive me, but the match wasn't negative stars bad. The Undertaker looked like he was trying hard here, and basically was wrestling and throwing himself around enough to make it not entirely horrible. Hey, if people can give ** to NATHAN JONES vs. anyone, then I can give something above a DUD to the Undertaker busting his ass.
- Highlights from the February 6th, 1993 episode of Superstars when Yokozuna destroyed "American Hero" Jim Duggan with 5 Banzai Drops, putting him out of action. Highlights follow from last week when Yokozuna attacked Bret Hart at the contract signing (no shock) and put him out with a Banzai Drop. In something that people should've seen something come from, Mean Gene interviews... Hulk Hogan (Sporting a fucked up left eye), who isn't even part of the World Title Match. He gives the thumbs up to Bret Hart (eh...) and makes a nasty racial slurr about Yokozuna ("jap?!") while challenging the winner for the title.
- WWF-World Championship Match:
Bret "Hitman" Hart © vs. Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji):
It's time for the Main Event of Wrestlemania IX. Yokozuna makes history as he became the first person to win a Royal Rumble Match that had the #1 Contenders Stipulation, and thats all that you really need to know for this match. I could've sworn I saw Vladimir somewhere in the crowd during the show, but I guess I'll just say I did and get it over with. Hart has the rarely worn all pink and white tights on, which I guess are his "random luck" ones. Hart starts the match with a running dropkick, and he hammers away on Yoko in the corner followed by mounted punches. Yokozuna shoves him off, so Hart comes back in pounding with rights. Bret tries a go-behind waistlock, but Yokozuna shrugs him off and sends him out of the ring with a shoulder block. Bret plays smart and ties up Yokozunas ankle in the middle and bottom ropes, then comes in with a splash and mounted punches. Hart goes to the second rope and connects with an elbow drop as the referee finally unties the big man. Hart with a series of charging clothesline, but Yokozuna kills him with one of his own, and follows with a forearm across the throat. Scoop slam by Yokozuna and he drops a massive leg drop that has the crowd go groan in unison. The crowd chants U-S-A, which is funny because Bret Hart is Canadian, and Yokozuna is "Japanese". Yokozuna chokes Hart across the top rope and slings him back into the middle of the ring. Choking from Yokozuna and he turns it into the vulcan nerve pinch. Irish whip ot the corner, and Bret catches him coming in with a boot to the face followed by a bulldog takeover for a two count! Yokozuna connects with the reverse cresent kick and apparently is sucking wind (contrary to what Heenan has said). Snapmare by Yokozuna, and he goes back to work on the muscles in the neck of Hart. Hart fights back ot his feet, but gets whipped hard to the corner. Yokozuna misses the fat ass splash in the corner, and Hart takes him down with another bulldog for a two count. Hart goes to the second rope and connects with an elbow drop for another two count. Hart comes off the second rope with a clothesline, and the Hart Attack clothesline drops Yokozuna again. Hart with mounted punches in the corner, but Yokozuna pulls him out of the corner so hard, that Bret grabs the buckle and it rips off. Hart blocks being sent to the corner and rams Yokozuna into it instead, dropping him. Hart applies the sharpshooter near the ropes to a big pop, but Mr. Fuji throws salt in Harts eyes to break the hold, and Yokozuna quickly covers for the B.S. three count at 8:54 to become the New WWF Champion. *1/2 Same formula as the previosu match. Hart basically wrestled himself while Yokozuna just stood around as a target. Hogan comes out after the match to check on Hart, but of course, that doesn't mean anything. Mr. Fuji gets on the microphone in his broken english, and challenges Hogan to a match for the title... and he accepts after Bret tells him to.
- WWF-World Championship Match:
Yokozuna © (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Hulk Hogan:
The bell never actually rings, but Savage makes a pretend bell sounding with a "ding ding", and Hogan charges into the ring. Yokozuna kicks him in the chest a few times and holds him in place for another salt shot. Hogan ducks, nails Fuji with a clothesline, nails Yokozuna with a clothesline, drops the big leg, and Hogan wins his 5th (and final for 10 years) World Championship at 0:23. NR Since this wasn't an actual match, but damn the mark out value was through the roof, even today when I know the B.S. surrounding the situation. The crowd is still pretty hot as Hogan celebrates as the show comes to an end.
Side Note Special Report: Due to some unknown reasons (I forgot what WWF's excuse was on TV, but they ran short on time), the scheduled match between Kamala and Bam Bam Bigelow has been canceled. Kinda weird, how that happend three years in a row (WM VIII had Bulldog vs. Berzerker, WM IX this, and WM X had the big Ten-Man Tag, that was rescheduled for an episode of Monday Night Raw).
Final Thoughts: While the show featured a few pretty good matches, the problems are many. Most of the bad matches were rather short, but the real problem was the booking. In two of the three title matches, the finish resulted in a Disqualification. The World Title match had a lame finish, as did the match between Crush and Doink, Perfect and Luger, as well as Undertaker and Gonzalez. The only matches that did have a clean finish were the ones that had the least amount of importance. If you enjoy an average wrestling show with an awesome enviroment, I give the show a mild recommendation, but if you love matches with clean finishes and all-star performances from top to bottom, then a strong recommendation to avoid. I'll go middle of the road, slightly leaning down for the casual fans though.