Favorite Royal Rumble Moments of the Golden Era

 

    When you see the Royal Rumble above, what comes to mind?  Perhaps Ric Flair's 1992 performance, when he entered 3rd and went the distance.  Maybe it was the stare down between Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior in 1990.  How about Ax and Smash of Demolition going at it being the first and second entrants in 1989?  It could've been Diesel's impressive performance in 1994, or a year later when Shawn Michaels and The British Bulldog started first and second, lasted to be the final two competitors, with Shawn earning the victory?

    Outside the inaugural Royal Rumble in 1988, the logo above was used for Rumble from 1989 - 1995.  It conjures many memories for old school fans such as myself. One of the first pay-per-view events I was allowed to order was the 1991 event.  The next year, I invited my friend over to watch.  Little did I know how special the 1992 edition would be.  My friend left my house that night a fan, and his fandom would span for many years.  Here are some of my favorite moments from the early years of the Rumble in no particular order.

The Rumble was Fair to Flair (1992)

    It is safe to say that the 1992 edition of the Royal Rumble is the favorite, and if not, close to, edition of the event for many fans.  1992 marked the first time the Rumble match had stakes.  The prior events didn't have the winner go on to main event Wrestlemania, or in the case of 1992, win the vacant World Heavyweight Title.  

    The undercard was strong, and the story telling of not only Flair, but Roddy Piper was outstanding.  Piper had wrestled The Mountie for the Intercontinental Title earlier in the evening, earning a victory, and along with it, the IC title. He competed in the Rumble match itself, putting himself in possible contention to win two belts that night.  He wouldn't win, of course.  Instead, the victor of the Rumble match was Ric Flair.  Prior to 1992, anyone who entered the event early wasn't there at the end, or at least in contention to win it in the end.  Flair entered number 3.  

    Flair was known by NWA and WCW fans for his long matches by this point, and ability to tell a story in the ring.  He had entered the WWE in late 1991, claiming to be the "real world's champion".  At his first Rumble, he revealed what he was known for to WWE fans.  He really sold the fatigue, the struggle, and utilized strategy during the event.  I don't know how familiar non-NWA or WCW fans were with Flair when he came over to WWE, but his performance most likely made many of those fans believers after his performance.

    On a related note, Bobby Heenan performed one his finest moments in commentary calling the Rumble match.  He really sold when Flair would be in danger, and you really believed his personal vestment in Flair.  Heenan also sold other competitors in the match, including faces.  For example, when "El Matador" Tito Santana entered, Heenan brought up his accomplishments in the ring, and made a case that he may have what it takes to win.  

    The post-match interview with Flair, Heenan and Mr. Perfect is still well-known and remembered today by fans.

Diesel Power

    As a disclaimer, I did not watch the 1994 Royal Rumble until years after as part of the Royal Rumble Anthology set.  

    1994 was a year that saw the WWE navigating transitional waters.  The old guards of the Golden Era such as Hogan Hogan were either gone, or put in a reduced capacity (Randy Savage in a commentator role).  The WWE was seeking its next star, and they seemed to be banking on the future of one Kevin Nash.  Standing about 6' 10", with a billed weight of over 300 pounds, he wasn't a muscle monster of the Golden Era, but fit the bill for WWE's preference at the time for physically impressive performers.

    During the Rumble match, Diesel seemed to eliminate other match participants with ease.  Tossing competitors out left and right, he was at times alone in the ring, waiting for the next challenger.  He was the first competitor that I can recall that up to that point who did that.  His performance would set the groundwork for those who'd follow like Kane in 2001.

    Overall, the 1994 Royal Rumble seems to be overlooked in the overall history of the event, but it's overall a solid show.  

Ted DiBiase's Two Year Rumble Story (1989, 1990)

    Ted DiBiase's gimmick in the WWE was "The Million Dollar Man".  That says it all.  He was the evil man with money who used it to try to buy whatever, and whoever he wanted.  How successful he ultimately was, is perhaps questionable.  

    In 1989, a segment was shown during the event of participants drawing their entry numbers.  DiBiase drew his, then called out to Slick, who was a manager.  It was clearly implied that DiBiase didn't like his draw, and was looking to purchase a higher spot.  Sure enough, when the 30th entrant came down, it was everyone's favorite millionaire himself!

     While in 1989 it looked like DiBiase was able to use his money to better position himself, it backfired.  In 1990, when the Howard Finkel got the crowd excited to see who drew #1, it was the money man himself.  Despite his draw, DiBiase would be considered perhaps the first ironman of the Royal Rumble event.  He put on an impressive performance, lasting over 40 minutes.  

Two Superhumans Stare Off (1990)

    I won't assume, but I would think that many kids who were WWE fans in early 1990 would consider Hulk Hogan vs. The Ultimate Warrior a dream match.  Two larger-than-life figures who seemed cut from a cloth no other humans were.  They were muscular comic book heroes come to life.  They would lay the foundation of their famous match at Wrestlemania VI during the 1990 Royal Rumble.  

An Additional Observation

    As I watch the classic Rumbles now, I appreciate the storytelling moments.  How some feuds were perhaps never laid to rest.  Two examples I can think of here are Tito Santana / Rick Martel, and Marty Jannetty / Shawn Michaels.  Both pairs were in tag teams that would break up.  Martel and Santana were Strike Force in the late 80s, until Martel turned on Santana at Wrestlemania V in 1989.  Michaels and Jannetty were The Rockers from 1988 until Michaels' famous heel turn in early 1992 during an episode of The Barbershop segment.

    It would seem each Rumble Santana would take go after Martel.  They were still going at in the 1993 Rumble match.  Jannetty and Michaels had a singles match on the 1993 Royal Rumble undercard, but in subsequent Rumbles, they would attack each other.  Even as a late as the 1996 event.  Some feuds never die, and it's storytelling like that that made those early events special.

Conclusion

    It's difficult for the WWE to have a bad Rumble.  Even the 1995 edition.  While the Rumble match itself was shortened to 1 minute per entrant, and lacked star power, the undercard matches were really good. The current Rumble events are watchable in a time when the WWE for a multitude of reasons is a hard watch for me.  

    No matter how much the WWE product changes, or gimmicky the Rumble seems now (see Kofi Kingston's yearly elimination avoidance spots), the early years of the Rumble from 1989 - 1992 hold a very special place in my heart.  Those were the years I was most vested in the product, and the Rumble felt like a must-watch event.  While 1992 had stakes, it was still stand-alone in that the winner would win a vacant title.  The days before the Rumble became an adjacent event to Wrestlemania, and the winner lamely pointing at the Wrestlemania sign in the arena.  

    The classic Royal Rumbles, despite the production showing their age, have held up very well over the years.  

A Quick Take on the 2017 Royal Rumble

This past Sunday, the WWE hosted their annual Royal Rumble event, coming to us from the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, TX.  A site which hosted the 1997 Royal Rumble (trying hard not to think it has been 20 years already).  A Rumble that saw "Stone Cold" Steve Austin put in an impressive performance along his way to the top of the WWF at the time, and to being one of the most popular wrestlers of all-time.  Sadly, the 2017 didn't really have a display like that, but after the previous couple years of lackluster Royal Rumbles, this year's edition, I felt was one of the better ones they've put on in recent years.

The Royal Rumble usually provides a solid series of undercard matches.  This year was no exception.  Every match on the undercard was solid to outstanding.  The John Cena/AJ Styles match was one of the better matches I've seen in a very long time.  Despite how some fans may feel about Cena, he does step up to the plate under the bright lights, and rarely disappoints.  In the Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns match for the Universal Championship, despite how I personally feel about the endless push Reigns gets, and how drawn out this feud has been, both men put on a great match.  Having Chris Jericho (Owens' buddy), hanging above the ring in a cage was a nice old school touch.

As for the Rumble match, I REALLY enjoyed it, well 90% percent of it.  I did my best to stay away from any online sources that may've spoiled the outcome for me.  When it comes to the Rumble, I want to be surprised.  I loved what they did with Braun Strowman.  He's been booked since the brand split last year as an unstoppable monster.  His performance in the Rumble match did not disappoint.  He'd eventually be eliminated, but I felt his performance was congruent with how he's been booked.

Chris Jericho was another highlight.  Entrant number 2, he found himself in the Rumble and lasted about an hour.  I was disappointed that the announcers barely made mention of his duration.  As a kid, I used to love when Gorilla Monsoon would bring up how such and such was nearing a record.  Sure, Jericho spent some of the time outside the ring, but he's had an impressive run, and the Rumble reflects it.  For a man who's about 45 or so, and being in the business as long as he's been, he's putting on one of his best performances as a character since I first saw him back in 1995.

The Rumble was a lot of fun until about entrant 25 or so.  Prior to that, it was mainly the younger guys, and they put on an entertaining show.  From here on out, we had entrants such as Goldberg, Brock Lesnar, and The Undertaker enter the fray.  With these part-timers and legends, it felt the match had some of the air sucked out of it.  Topping it off was entrant 30.  Guess who?  Roman Reigns!  I told myself if he wins, the Rumble was a bust.

As the Rumble reached its conclusion, we had Goldberg quickly eliminate Lesnar, continuing their feud.  Then Reigns eliminated the Undertaker, getting me even more nervous.  Fortunately, Reigns did not go home winning the Rumble.  He was eliminated by Randy Orton.

Overall, despite my feelings that the WWE needs to stop relying on old-timers and continually pushing Reigns on us, they did a great job with the 2017 Royal Rumble.  It's the first Rumble in several years at least I really enjoyed.  I was nervous after the last couple Rumbles, but the WWE didn't let me down this year.  The show gets a solid 4 stars from me.

Starrcade '91: BattleBowl - The Lethal Lottery

1991 Starrcade: The Lethal Lottery

The 1991 edition of Starrcade was the very definition of a gimmick PPV event. There were 10 tag team matches, with the winning team of each match sending it’s representatives to a battle royal known as the Battlebowl. The BattleBowl was a double-ring take on the Battle Royal. As for the tag teams themselves, they were random pairings. As a result, there were heels teaming with faces, and in the case of the opening match with the Fabulous Freebirds, normal tag partners facing off against each other. There was certainly promise for this event to lay down the groundwork for stories moving forward. Unfortunately, the event didn’t seem to do that with the exception of the outcome of the BattleBowl match itself. As an admission, I caught WCW when I could back then, which wasn’t often, so I could be wrong about feuds.

My overall opinion of the event would be that while I felt the BattleBowl concept was interesting, the overall card I felt very middle-of-the-road about. The first half of the tag matches provided most of the highlights. The first match had Fabulous Freebird members Michael P.S. Hayes and Jimmy Garvin on opposing teams. The Arn Anderson and Lex Luger vs. Terry Taylor and The Z Man provided fans with the match of the night. Of course, how can we forget Rick Rude was on this card as well as part of the Dangerous Alliance. The rest of the tag matches after the first half of the event leading up to the Battlebowl could not hold my interest. However, Rick Steiner’s belly-to-belly overhead suplex to 450lb Big Van Vader was one of the event’s highlights. Arachnaman? Not so much.

The BattleBowl itself was a different take on the Battle Royal match concept. Two rings were set up side-by-side, and the elimination was a two-step process. The match starts in ring one. Competitors get tossed over the top rope into ring two. Sort of like a losers ring. When a competitor gets tossed over the second ring’s top rope and hit the floor, then they are eliminated. The first ring in due time gets cleared of everyone except for one, as does the second ring. The two remaining competitors then do battle, and whoever gets tossed over the top rope to the floor is the loser.

The BattleBowl match I felt was well paced. It took awhile for the first ring to clear, which I feel in a match like this is important for storytelling purposes. It gives the feeling that the competitors all want to survive and win the match. Once the second ring started to fill up, THEN the eliminations began to pick up pace. The two survivors were Lex Luger (first ring), and Sting (second ring). Sting and Luger would battle for a bit before Sting eliminates Luger, winning the inaugural BattleBowl match. I thought this set up the feud between Luger and Sting nicely.

Overall, Starrcade ‘91: BattleBowl – The Lethal Lottery, was an event with a lot of promise, but the execution ultimately fell flat. There was so much potential to create interesting feuds moving forward out of the tag matches, which didn’t seem to happen. The wrestling overall wasn’t bad, but lacked consistency. There are some good things to be found on this card, but it was easy for me to become bored watching a lot of it. While I give WCW credit for trying something different, they should’ve saved this gimmick idea for a card other than their biggest one of the year. Either that, or have the tag team matches occur on a series of Saturday Night shows over a few weeks, and save the BattleBowl for the PPV. I’d not recommend watching this. The tag matches made the card drag at times, and can easily cause a view to lose interest, in particular the final half of the tag matches.

Royal Rumble Opinion

The Royal Rumble, one of the premier events for the WWE, started with humble beginnings. The Royal Rumble as an event concept we all recognize aired on the USA network back in January of 1988. A variant of a Battle Royal, instead of having all the competitors start the match at once, competitors came down to the ring in timed increments. The 1988 Rumble match did not end that card, but instead was the second to last match. In addition, the 1988 Rumble was the first, and only Rumble to have 20 competitors. From 1989 on, with the exception of 2011, when the WWE tried a 40 participant Rumble match, the number of competitors has been 30. Over the years, there has been some tinkering to the Rumble event, from placement of the Rumble match itself, to the time between competitors. Perhaps the best known tinker to the event that we take for granted today is that the Royal Rumble lays the foundation for Wrestlemania. In the formative years of the Royal Rumble, it was its own standalone event.

In 1992, the stakes were raised big time. Prior to the 1992 event, there was no Road to Wrestlemania. The idea prior to '92 was the winner received a handsome payday, and got to boast of how they outlasted 29 other competitors. In 1992, the story leading to the Rumble was that the World Heavyweight Title had been vacated. The winner of the Rumble match would win more than a payday, or an ego boost. He’d go home with the title. The winner that year, Ric Flair, made history. Not only for winning the title, but he started the match as the third entrant. He broke the record up to that point for remaining in the Rumble match, which was held by Rick Martel, who set it the year before. Going forward, the Royal Rumble solidified itself as not just a gimmick event, but one of the most important ones of the year. To this day, the winner has either gone on to main event at Wrestlemania, or, in the case of 2016, win a title that was vacant (Triple H).

As a young wrestling fan, I loved the Royal Rumble. It was unpredictable. You got to see battles between tag team partners, face against face, heel against heel. It was always exciting trying to follow who was in the ring, who had been eliminated, and who had yet to come out. The Rumble match was often used to push storylines (see Hogan and Savage in 1989), and was where feuds were born (Roddy Piper and Bad News Brown in 1990). The Royal Rumble usually had very good and entertaining undercard matches. The Rockers vs. The Orient Express tag match from the 1991 immediately comes to mind. That match, to this day, stands as one of my favorite tag matches of all-time.

I have certainly enjoyed the Rumble over the years, despite weaning in and out of varying levels of fandom. There have been plenty of moments that make the Royal Rumble a must-see event. Steve Austin’s 1997 showing, which solidified his rise to the main event scene. Kane’s high number of eliminations from 2001. Vince McMahon blowing his quad running into the ring in 2005, and all three commentators participating in 2012. For the most part, it has retained some degree of surprise. In recent years there’s a surprise entrant, usually a legend. However, some of the surprise element has been ruined by the internet, in addition to overly predictable booking. Also, I wish they didn’t play the wrestler themes as they come out. Just let the buzzer sound, and let us see who comes out from behind the curtain.

With the 2017 Royal Rumble just a few weeks away, I very much plan on watching it. Despite how I feel about some of the recent editions of the event, the Royal Rumble is the only event of the year where you get a potential mixture of lower-card, mid-card and main-event scene competitors in the same ring at the same time. The format of the match stands the test of time, and while the WWE can put on a bad Wrestlemania, or any PPV for that matter, it is very difficult for them to put out a bad Royal Rumble.

Wrestlemania 31 - Press Play

I'll start this post off with a disclaimer.  My expectations for Wrestlemania 31 were extremely low.  Every year I look forward to Wrestlemania.  My buddy and I make plans to watch it and we talk about it as soon as the Royal Rumble concludes.  In fact, we attended the 29th Wrestlemania at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.  It really was our Superbowl.  This year was different though.  I became disillusioned with the product, and stopped watching it last July, except for Pay-Per-Views on the WWE Network. The overall booking leading up to this year's 'Mania was flat, and didn't give me anything to look forward to.  I went to dinner and returned about an hour after the event started, and I was pleasantly surprised.  Of course, my friend came over, and we caught the first hour on replay.  Overall, Wrestlemania 31 was a pleasant surprise.  Here are my thoughts on the good and bad of the event.

The Good

The opening Intercontinental Title match was a 7-man ladder match, with the key names in the match being the champion Wade Barrett, top contenders Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, and Dean Ambrose.  Luke Harper, Stardust and R-Truth were the other three combatants.  Overall, it served its purpose.  It had some nice spots (Ambrose going through a ladder bridge set up outside the ring), allowed Bryan to be a champion again, and was a return after a few year hiatus of ladder matches at Wrestlemania after Money in the Bank became a stand alone PPV.  It was a good match to open the card.

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins was the next match on the card, and Rollins continues to show that he is part of a very talented group of young stars that can carry the company moving forward (depending on creative getting out their rut).  One of the highlight moves came when Rollins went for his curb stomp.  Orton lifts himself up, Rollins gets airborne, and Orton hits with an RKO.

Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt.  Undertaker looked much healthier this year compared to last.  Got a much better match this year compared to last year's that ended his 21-0 winning streak.  We got a 'Mania moment in this match when 'Taker is down on the mat, Wyatt does his human spider body pose.  Undertaker sits up, and Wyatt's express said it all!  Taker would win this match.

Main Event match.  Roman Reigns was, most likely, originally going to leave Levi's Stadium last night with the title.  However, fan reaction to Reigns probably forced WWE their hand, much like last year.  The match started great, with Brock being an unstoppable beast, manhandling Reigns like he was a child.  Reigns would get a couple Superman Punches in to Reigns towards the end of the match.  As the title match came to a conclusion, both competitors battered, Seth Rollins comes down to the ring, demanding to cash in his Money in the Bank contract.  It's now a triple threat match, with Rollins giving a Curb Stomp to Lesnar and getting the pin. 

Fans got to see the NWO vs. DX in the Sting vs. HHH match.  I wasn't as crazy about this match as others were, mainly because I knew Sting would be booked to lose, because McMahon can never lose to WCW.  However, it was a lot of 1997 nostalgia with the NWO and DX going at it and looking out for the respective stars of the companies they represented back then. 

Wrestlemania is known for great entrances.  Out of them all this year, Rusev's was the best.  He entered the arena in a tank!

There was also the Rock with Ronda Rousey standing against the Authority.  Rousey did a perfect hip toss to HHH, and to be honest, she would be able to legit beat him up! 

The Bad

There wasn't much to complain about.  Being in California, the sun was out for most of the event, which kind of put a damper on Sting's, Undertaker's, and Bray Wyatt's entrances.  Those would have had a more stronger effect if it was dark, but otherwise, the last Wrestlemania that was outdoors, and under mostly sunlight, was the infamous Wrestlemania 9.  In that regard, it was different.

The stage set up.  Each year since Wrestlemania hit the big arena circuit starting at X-7, the stage set ups have been fantastic.  However, this year it seemed lacking, and looked to me very much the same one that was used at 'Mania 28 in Miami, except the font was different (or appeared to be).  I hope this doesn't become a trend.

My biggest gripe was the burial of Sting.  Yes, I knew it was coming, it was obvious, but I wonder why Sting even bothered signing with WWE.  Hopefully he got a good payday out of the deal.

Overall

Wrestlemania 31, in this fan's humble opinion, was a strong Wrestlemania offering.  From top to bottom, there wasn't a bad match on the card.  Each match, including the Diva's match, was decent at worst.  There weren't any matches that made me want to divert my attention to the guitar I had sitting by me, waiting to be played.  Of course, the WWE pulls out all the stops for Wrestlemania, and they hit it out of the park this year.  It makes me look forward already to see what they can do at next year's installment, which will be held at the massive AT&T Stadium.

Post Royal Rumble 2015 Thoughts

As most viewers of the WWE know, the 2015 edition of the Royal Rumble went over the Philadelphia crowd like the Hindenburg disaster.  This was due to two things.  Poor/outdated booking, and the mindset of the modern fan.  I'm going to provide a brief synopsis of how the two are tied together, leaving WWE creative in a corner regarding who they want to push, and how history may repeat itself after last year's, and the 2015 Rumble.

For some background, it's January 2014.  Daniel Bryan, who is the darling of fans within the IWC (internet wrestling community), and perhaps outside of it, was way over with the fans.  At the 2014 Rumble, many of them had expected he'd be competing in the Rumble match.  As the competitors came and went, only one more had yet to come out, the 30th entrant.  With much anticipation, the fans counted down with the clock...5, 4, 3, 2, 1.  The buzzer sounds and it's Rey Mysterio.  The boos became deafening as not only Bryan wasn't in the match, but it became obvious that Dave Batista was going to win it. 

After the Rumble, and leading up to Wrestlemania, fans online gave Batista a lot of flack for headlining Wrestlemania, and rightfully so, at the beginning at least.  Batista had been away from the ring for quite some time, and had returned after filming Guardians of the Galaxy (which he was great in).  His matches after Rumble saw him get gassed quickly in the ring, and it was apparent from both a conditioning and wrestling standpoint he was not ready to main event the 30th edition of Wrestlemania. 

The WWE stuck to their guns...for awhile, but they eventually changed the main event at 'Mania.  Bryan feuded with HHH in a very good underdog vs. authority storyline, culminating in a match-up at 'Mania.  The winner would go on to wrestle in the headlining match, making it a triple threat.  Despite the great match that two of the greatest technical wrestlers of their respective eras put on, it seemed obvious Bryan would get the win, which he did.  He proceeded to win the Bryan/Batista/Orton triple threat match.  His presence in the match certainly helped elevate it from the disaster it appeared to be on paper, but it wasn't something that they would've done prior to the rise of the internet.  The fans actually had a say on booking decisions, and it was something I thought I'd never see.

Let's fast forward to the 2015 Rumble.  Bryan, still darling of the fans, had recently returned to competition from an injury.  While he was gone for sometime, he certainly was missed.  He came out at #10 to his signature "YES" chant.  The crowd was very loud, and added energy to what had already been up to that point an entertaining Rumble, then something happened.  He was eliminated about ten minutes later by Bray Wyatt at the approximate halfway point in the Rumble match.  All of a sudden, viewing this on the network, you could feel the air popped right out of the zeppelin. The crowd suddenly turned on the match, booing, and chants of "bullshit" lingered for the rest of the match.

After Bryan's elimination, Roman Reigns enters the match.  Though most of us had a feeling he'd win it, it became obvious at that point by his placement after the Bryan elimination he was going to come out the victor.  The live crowd knew this, and nothing was going to draw them back into the match.  The WWE lost them, and things only got worse...

The apparent final four of the 2015 Royal Rumble were Reigns, fan favorite Dean Ambrose, Big Show and Kane.  Yes, Big Show and Kane.  Big Show and Kane easily eliminated Ambrose, then, to a very, very loud chorus of boos, Reigns took out the two long-term big men.  However, there was one participant who was not eliminated - Rusev.  He came back into the ring, and was quickly dispatched by Reigns.  Show and Kane get back into the ring, when the Rock comes in, assisting his cousin in getting them out for good.  Reigns points to the Wrestlemania sign hanging in the arena to a loud chorus of boos by fans who, some of them, were probably cheering for him just one year prior.

So what happened?  First, bad, or outdated booking happened.  The WWE has some popular stars in Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and Bray Wyatt.  All three were eliminated by two big men well past their prime with ease.  This isn't a knock on Show and Kane, but this would have made more sense back in 1999 when they were at their peak.  Wrestling fans don't believe in unstoppable giants anymore (another topic for another day).  Creative went to the old time formula of having two of their biggest guys looking strong, only to be dumped out by an unstoppable force (Reigns).  This backfired big time, as the fans voiced their displeasure.  After the match, #cancelwwenetwork was one of the top trending twitter handles.

I firmly believe that most of the fans weren't necessarily booing Reigns, but rather how the match was booked, the predictability of it, and the relative ease of how other favorites besides Bryan were eliminated.  To be honest, I don't blame them.  While there have been worse Rumble matches, the 2015 installment of the event has to be one of the worst booked Rumbles in the history of the event to this point.  Back twenty years ago, fans wouldn't have been pleased if this had occurred, but they would take it for what it is and move on.  Not any more.  With more ways than ever to get their voices out, fans aren't afraid of letting it be known how they feel.  In turn, the WWE no doubt reads some of the negative thoughts and let it influence booking decisions, as it did for the Wrestlemania 30 main event.  Time will tell how the main event for this year's 'Mania will turn out.

Who Should Be on WWE's Mt. Rushmore?

While browsing a wrestling forum, one of the posts asked a question of who should be on the Mt. Rushmore of the WWE.  It was certainly an interesting thread, and the discussion was shockingly reasonable.  The overall consensus was there were two locks, Hulk Hogan, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.  The debate centered on who should be the third and fourth on the mountain.  Three names stood out.  The Rock, The Undertaker, and John Cena.  Who would I choose if I had to choose WWE's Mt. Rushmore?

My first selection would be Hulk Hogan.  It's very difficult to discredit his contributions with assisting Vince McMahon on making the WWF a national product.  Despite a limited skill set in the ring, he more than made up for it with his look and charisma.  He made Vince, and himself, a lot of money during his peak in the 1980s.  He was a huge draw, and one can debate whether or not Wrestlemania would have been as successful as it turned out to be in its early days if Hogan was not on the card.  Hogan had universal appeal because, despite being a large man with exceptional strength, he still was the underdog in most of his feuds. Hogan was important in breaking the WWF into pop culture back in the mid-80s.

Next is "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.  Much like Hogan, he was a face for his era, not only in wrestling, but pop culture too.  Wresting during the Austin era experienced a surge in popularity that exceeded that of Hogan's era.  The late 90s were a strange time in the pop culture landscape, very loud and crass with disregard of authority.  Austin as a character played that to a hilt.  Not only that, but he represented the everyman, wearing simply black trunks and boots, he didn't need flash to get his character across.  He wasn't larger than life, which made him feel authentic. It was difficult to walk around back in those days and NOT see an Austin t-shirt.  In the scheme of things, his stay on top in the WWE wasn't very long due to injuries, but it certainly made a huge impact.

My third choice is John Cena.  Cena has been compared to Hogan, and perhaps those comparisons have some merit, but what puts Cena on the list is that he has been the biggest draw in the WWE for years now - approximately a decade.  While many fans sit silently in their seats for most of the performers these days it seems, Cena gets a reaction.  All one needs to get proof is the hear the dueling "let's go Cena" and "Cena sucks" chants.  If you happen to attend a live WWE event, most of the shirts seem to be Cena ones.  He makes money for the company, and more importantly, gets a reaction out of the fans.

For my final choice, and perhaps a surprise one, I'd put HHH up there.  Yes, the future head of the company.  There were several choices I felt were just as worthy, the Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and The Rock all have a legit argument for being there.  So why did I pick HHH?  First, he is one of the best all-around wrestlers of the past twenty years.  His ring style isn't flashy, but he can perform power moves in one sequence of the match, switch gears to a technical mat style the next, to brawling the next, and hardcore if necessary.  He is also very versatile as a character.  He can get over with the fans as a tough, rugged face, to his authority heel character he plays these days, which in fact, may be the best character work of his career.

Those are my choices for the WWE Mt. Rushmore.  The first three, from a drawing standpoint, certainly deserve their places, while there's definitely room for debate in regards to the fourth spot.  Too bad we couldn't place a 5th performer on there...

Halloween Havoc 1991: Chamber of Horrors

One of the highlights of the new WWE Network is the ability to access all old Pay-Per-Views from WWE, WCW, and ECW. One of the first events I wanted to watch was WCW's 1991 Halloween Havoc, simply for the Chamber of Horrors match. This match has been considered one of the worst gimmick matches of all time. It is essentially a gimmicked cage match. The main cage is set up so the combatants have room to brawl outside. At some point during the match, a small cage containing an electric chair is lowered to the center of the ring. The match contains eight wrestlers. The goal is for one side to get an opponent in the electric chair and pull the switch.

Before we get into this match, the commentators are Jim Ross and Tony Shiavone. The entrance stage set up looks like something from an elementary school play, with fake tombstones that read things such as “Mike got lost on his bike”, and a painted “haunted house” in the background. Then again, back in 1991, there really weren't elaborate stage set ups we've become accustomed to.

Onto the Chamber of Horrors. One one side, you had the Steiner Brothers, El Gigante, and Sting. Their opponents were The Diamond Studd (Scott Hall), Big Van Vader, Abdullah the Butcher, and Cactus Jack. One the surface looking at who was competing, you'd think the match be somewhat decent. Unfortunately, though, due to constraints on the match (see second cage with electric chair in the ring), hampered it.

This match was basically a brawl fest. There were foreign objects the competitors could use, including wooden casket tops, chains, and kendo sticks. This match was basically punching, kicking, and whacking each other with weapons. The good guys were the winners. Cactus Jack was by the switch to turn the electric chair on while Abdullah and Rick Steiner were brawling in front of it. Steiner was able to get Abdullah into the chair, and Cactus hit the switch, frying his own teammate, and causing them to lose.

Another thing with this match was the Refer-eye camera. Basically it was a camera strapped to referee Mick Patrick's head. The shots would switch to this mode quite often during this match, which made it difficult to see what was going on at times, and made a choppy view. While I give them credit for trying something different production wise, it didn't work well.

Even in concept this match was ridiculous. The execution of it (no pun intended), failed. The match was punch, kick, choke someone with a chain, punch, kick, hit someone with coffin lid... Not exactly gripping viewing. The fault of this lies in the electric chair. It took up a lot of ring space, so the wrestlers couldn't do much inside the ring. The performers were definitely doing the best with what they had, but this match is no doubt one of the worst gimmick matches ever. Sure it is good for a laugh...

The rest of the card wasn't very good either. However, the Terry Taylor versus Bobby Eaton was an excellent match, and recommended viewing. The rest of the card you could skip, and not miss a thing. I would recommended viewing the Chamber of Horrors match simply for the historic badness of it.

Wrestlemania XI: An NFL Invasion

For anyone watching the WWF in 1995, let's be honest.  It was a mediocre period for the company in terms of the product they were putting out.  In 1995, there were a slew of ridiculous gimmicks, a lack of good story lines, and competition was starting to step up to the plate for fans attention in WCW and ECW.  WWF's long-standing status as top dog in wrestling/sports entertainment was in peril, especially with WCW grabbing WWF's top stars.  With that backdrop, the company trucked along, and as such, they put on their annual spectacle of Wrestlemania.

The 1995 edition of Wrestlemania comes to us from the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut.  Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler.

Wrestlemania XI, much like X the year before, trotted out a slew of B list celebrities.  This year's batch included Nicholas Turturo from NYPD Blue, Jenny McCarthy who at the time was on MTV's Singled Out, Jonathan Taylor Thomas from the sitcom Home Improvement, the female rap trio Salt-n-Peppa, and the headline star was Pamela Anderson.  Oh, let's not forget the former NFL players too, including Lawrence Taylor, who would be competing in the ring.

The show starts with a Special Olympian performing "America the Beautiful". A solid rendition, and well done.

British Bulldog and Lex Luger vs. The Blu Brothers w/ Uncle Zebekiah
Wow, did Luger fall down the rungs of the WWF ladder.  From being in the title scene the year before to the curtain jerker in a tag match.  Another story for another day.  Luger and Bulldog were call the Allied Powers, and they took on the mountain boys/hillbillies of the Blu Brothers.  Luger and Bulldog perform a couple of nice double team moves to start the match.  Otherwise, the match plays out like a regular tag match (faces get upper hand, heels do a sneaky move to regain momentum, and faces get it back).  Bulldog wins the match for his team with a sunset flip off the top rope for the pin.  A watchable match, but nothing remarkable.  **

Nick Turturro is in a back room with Jenny McCarthy and the heels.  There are audio issues (can't hear Nick, tech glitches would be part of this show).  They return to the next match.

Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon w/ 1-2-3 Kid vs Jeff Jarrett (champion) w/ The Roadie
The WWF was struggling with having multiple feuds that fans could like and get behind the competitors.  The feud between Razor and Jarrett was one of them.  This match is a rematch from their Royal Rumble match a few months earlier when Jarrett won the title under less than honorable circumstances.  The match was interesting in the fact that the result could have gone either way, and both competitors played it up as such.  However, Razor wins the match by DQ.  As such, Jarrett retains the title.  **3/4

Another attempt at the backstage segment with Nick, McCarthy, and heels.  Psycho Sid screams incomprehensible nonsense into the microphone.

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. King Kong Bundy w/ Ted DiBiase
McMahon mentions that Undertaker has yet to lose at Wrestlemania.  Of course, at this point, he was only 3-0 going into it, but perhaps Vince had the foresight to know that in 2012, Undertaker would be 20-0!  Blah match.  DiBiase calls out at one point during the match Kama Mustafa, who steals 'taker's urn.  This match is slow, prodding, and boring.  'Taker wins with a bodyslam.  *

Nick runs into the NFL stars.  Each one calls out a member of Ted DiBiase's Million Dollar Corporation.  These ex-players are NOT good, or convincing actors!  Nick also meanders into a room where Jonathan Taylor Thomas was playing chess against Bob Backlund in a lame segment where Backlund claims the youth of the day acted like they knew everything.

Tag Team Title Match: The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) vs. Owen Hart and Mystery Partner
Owen comes down to the ring to announce who his mystery partner is.  It is none other than Yokuzuna!  We get the best match of the card up to this point, if not the whole evening here.  Owen looked great in this match, and the Gunns were performing efficiently.  They performed with fluidity and looked like champs.  Unfortunately for them though, Yokuzuna was too much.  Yoko wins the match for his team with a Banzai Drop on Billy.  Solid match.  ***1/4

Todd Pettingill, rocking a mullet interviews Bam Bam Bigelow, who says that Taylor can't defeat him in the ring.

I Quit Match: Bret Hart vs. Bob Backlund
Roddy Piper is introduced as guest referee. Backlund at this point is playing the role of crazy old man.  However, he was a strong mat wrestler, such as Bret.  One would think on paper this would be a solid match.  Sadly, it wasn't.  I believe this match pays homage to the controversial match in 1983 (I think), when Backlund lost the WWF Title when Arnold Skaaland tossed in a towel, allowing Iron Sheik to win the match.

History lesson aside, this match was mostly both men locking in submissions and Piper stuffing a microphone in their faces asking if they give up.  Bret wins by locking in Backlund's finishing move the Crossface Chickenwing on him.  Could've been better than what it was. *1/2

WWF Title Match: Diesel (champion) vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Jenny McCarthy and Psycho Sid
Michaels comes down to the ring first, being escorted by McCarthy.  He was supposed to be escorted by Anderson...  When Diesel is announced he walks down the walkway, turns around, and gets escorted by Pam Anderson.

Very solid match, and perhaps the best one of Diesel's stint in the WWF.  This match ran for close to twenty minutes, and over the course of the match, played out in the usual big vs. small man.  Michaels does his usual great selling, getting high up in the air after a back body drop for example.  They cut the camera to Anderson and McCarthy a couple times during the match, both of whom look disinterested.  At one point the commentators say Anderson looks concerned, camera cuts to her and she's waving at fans.

Anyhow, there wasn't any doubt that Diesel was going to retain the title, and he did with a Jackknife Powerbomb to Michaels for the win.  While Michaels would have better Wrestlemania matches, the fact that he got such a match as he did out of Diesel is a testament.  ***

All the build up has led to the final match of the night...

Lawrence Taylor w/ NFL All-Stars vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Million Dollar Corporation
It is hard for a wrestling fan NOT to cringe seeing an ex-pro football player in the main event at Wrestlemania going against a mid-carder such as Bigelow.  However, WWE needed to do something to generate fan interest in Wrestlemania, and we get a surprisingly good match.  This will never be considered an all-time great event, but it was much better than what was expected.  Taylor, surprisingly, or perhaps not depending on where you stand, wins the match.  **1/4

My personal opinion of Wrestlemania XI is that it is mediocre to average.  It had some good moments, but there wasn't any standout match, or happening at this event that makes it memorable.  However, taken in the context of the landscape of the WWF circa 1995 and their competitors, they did a decent job.The reality is though, WM XI probably won't be one you're going to grab from your collection for multiple viewing.  View this at your own risk.  **

Wrestlemania 28: Time to Hit South Beach!

Wrestlemania 28 comes to us from the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL in front of over 78,000 fans.  The set up reminded me a lot of WM IX.  That year, the ring was surrounded by tall pillars that held up a flat-top canopy.  This year, the ring was surrounded by giant palm trees, with a canopy that gave the appearance from a distance of action being taking place in a cabana.  The overall set up was well done, and one of the better ones they've done recently.  Except if you were sitting behind the palm trees.

Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole are on commentary.  The main draw to this Wrestlemania for many was the main event pitting The Rock versus John Cena.

The first match was Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan (champion) for the WWE Heavyweight Championship.  I was looking forward to this match.  I was watching at a friend's house, went out to make myself coffee.  The match was over before I came back into the living room.  We rewound the match.  Sheamus wins with a Brough Kick as soon as Bryan turns around from kissing AJ.  I was infuriated.  Especially when they gave more time to the divas match, a racist dance skit with Brodus Clay and a bunch of "mammas", and the MGK and Flo Rida performances.  Lousy start, and a terrible statement on how WWE views that title.

Next match was Randy Orton vs. Kane.  I wasn't into the buildup, and hence this match.  The match itself wasn't too bad, but would've worked on free television.  Kane actually wins with a nice chokeslam off the second rope. 

Up next is the Intercontinental Title match pitting Cody Rhodes versus The Big Show.  The buildup to this match was entertaining.  The match itself was okay.   Big Show wins the IC championship when he does a nice counter to Rhodes' Beautiful Disaster with a spear.

Divas Match time.  My friend and I turned to ESPN to watch the UConn women's basketball team play their Final Four game against Notre Dame.  We turned back to 'mania after close to ten minutes, and the match was finally wrapping up.  WTF!  You give the divas match where one of the performers is a host on Extra that much time, and not Bryan and Sheamus?  I give up thinking there's logic in the world anymore.

So that's the first hour of the show.  So far, it's been lackluster, I'm still seething about the opening match, and both my friend and I started to feel we were not getting the $55 we paid for the show.

The tide finally turns in the next match.  It is the Hell in A Cell match featuring The Undertaker and Triple H with guest referee Shawn Michaels.  It is AMAZING how these two can still take bumps and chair shots galore!  What really made this match was the pushing of story.  The commentators begin the match by saying how Triple H has a better Hell in A Cell record, putting some thoughts into my mind at least that Triple H could break 'taker's streak.  Shawn, perhaps the best special referee ever, gets highly emotional during this match.  Triple H keeps yelling at him at one point to "stop the match". Michaels seems tempted to, but doesn't.  At the end of the match, when Undertaker hits Triple H with a sledgehammer, Shawn turns away.  Undertaker wins in a classic.  While there were too many chair shots for my taste, the psychology and story being told in this match was outstanding.  An instant classic.

Six Man Tag Match (Team Johnny versus Team Teddy).  This match should've been the opener.  However, it was placed well considering the match that came before it, and the one that would follow.  A crowd calmer match.  This honestly was a decent match, with a ending where Eve kicks Zak Ryder in the private parts, allowing Team Johnny the win.  YES!  John Laurenitis is now GM of both Raw and Smackdown.  Should be interesting to see what direction this takes.

Next is the WWE Championship match over who is the "best in the world" between CM Punk and Chris Jericho.  This was the other match I was looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint.  Fantastic mat and counter wrestling in this match.  There was one counter where Jericho counter's an Hurricurana  off the topes into the Walls of Jericho.  That was the best counter I think I've ever seen.

Punk would win with the Anaconda Device submission in another instant classic.

Here we go...John Cena versus The Rock.  Before the match, MGK performs before Cena comes out, and Flo Rida performs before The Rock enters.  

As for the match itself, Rock did an admirable job for being out of the ring for as long as he has been.  However, it was obvious that Cena was dictating the direction and pace of the match, and the Rock definitely looked gassed towards the end.  Speaking of, the ending of the match was an unexpected surprised.  Cena goes for The People's Elbow.  However, Rock counters with a Rock Bottom for the win.  At the time I was disappointed, because I was actually invested in the buildup, and wanted to see Cena, a full-time WWE performer win.  However, now that I rested over it, the ending really was fantastic, and should be interesting to see where the WWE goes with both these guys.

Overall, the first hour didn't feel too much like a Wrestlemania, but the rest of the card definitely made up for it.  After I first watched the show I was down on it, but I had some time to wind down from my disappointment with Bryan/Sheamus, and decided to view the event with less cynical eyes.  With two outstanding matches that can be considered instant classics (Undertaker/Triple H and Punk/Jericho) and one match that was better than I had expected (Cena/Rock), the WWE put one one of, if not, the best Wrestlemania in at least five year (though XXVI was solid).

Wrestlemania hits Ten Years

Wrestlemania reaches a major anniversary.

Wrestlemania X comes to us from Madison Square Garden in New York City, the site of the original Wrestlemania.  The tag line for this event is “Ten Years in the Making”, and the show begins with short clips of the first Wrestlemania.  Between matches, they show highlights of the previous nine 'manias in sequential order up to WM IX. 

The celebrity guest hosts are Rhonda Shear, Mark Whalberg, Jennie Garth, Burt Reynolds, a Bill Clinton impersonator, and Sy Sperling of Hair Club for Men fame.

Your hosts are Jerry “The King” Lawler and Vince McMahon. 

Little Richard gets the festivities started with singing “America the Beautiful”.  On to the show!

We get a recap of the events that led to the first match of the night between Bret “Hitman” Hart and his brother Owen.

Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Owen Hart

There's a nice tease in the introductions.  The announcer for this match, Bill Dunn, says, ”from Calgary, Alberta Canada”.  A pause follows, the crowd cheers, and Owen comes out!  Owen plays the anti-Bret by coming out with a pair of Hitman shades and tears them apart.

This is a fantastic match, and Owen displayed his wide repertoire of moves.  Being both a technical wrestler with aerial ability, he was fun to watch in the ring.  Bret did a good job with ring psychology as usual. Both men looked really good here, and the finish was excellent, as Owen took a page out of Brett's counter/reversal book.  Bret attempts a victory roll, but Owen counters by stepping into it.  Owen wins in a classic. 

This is a must-see match.  Not only is this the greatest opening match to date, it's also a top-ten all-time WM match.  *****

Mixed Tag Team Match: Bam Bam Bigelow w/Luna Vachon vs. Doink and Dink

Don't know if boring is a good description of this match, but the mixed tag concept didn't really work with these four.  There is a sloppy post-match spot that's obviously botched.  Bigelow and Luna attempt to double splash Dink.  *

Falls Count Anywhere Match: “Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Crush w/ Mr. Fuji

This is a double-stipulation match, as it was in effect also a best two-out-of-three falls. Crush wins first by dropping Savage with an overhead press onto a security railing.

Macho wins the second fall with his flying elbow.  After the third pin by Savage, he ties up Crush in the back.  If any competitor couldn't get back to the ring in sixty seconds, they lost.  Crush, being tied up, was unable to. 

Watchable, but it would have been better if it ran a little longer.  **1/4

WWF Women's Championship Match: Leilani Kai vs. Alundra Blayze (champion)

Kai performed at the original Wrestlemania.  A quick, good match that's much better than most of the divas junk matches you see today.  Blayze wins with a nice german suplex, retaining the title. **

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Men on A Mission (Mable and Mo) vs. The Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre – champions) w/Johnny Polo

Decent tag match here, as the Quebecers were decent wrestlers.  As for M.O.M., that is open to debate. However, Mabel whips out a spinning heel kick.  At 500 pounds, that’s an impressive move to pull off.

Johnny Polo, who most fans would recognize now as Raven, pulls Jacques out of the ring, causing M.O.M to win via count-out.  **3/4

WWF Championship Match: Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna (champion) w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette

Mr. Perfect is the guest referee for this match.  Lawler had some great one-liners during this match.  The match itself was VERY slow paced.  Yokozuna used a nerve hold on Lex for what seemed like half the match.  The reason will be revealed shortly...

Fuji and Cornette interfere in the match in Lex disposes of them.  However, he shoves Perfect out of the way.  As a result Luger gets disqualified, and Yokozuna will go on to face Bret Hart at the final match.

Luger goes to the back to start arguing with Perfect, setting up a feud that never took off.  Boring match, but makes sense considering Yoko, and all 550 pounds of him, would be performing again about forty-five minutes later. No rating.

Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Earthquake

Whippleman bullies announcer Howard Finkel.  Finkel fights back, then Adam Bomb runs down to the ring.  Just when it looks like Fink is cornered, out comes Earthquake for the save.  Earthquake wins in a squash.  No rating, though it was nice to see 'Quake again.

Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (champion) in a ladder match

This match was very innovative for the time and a first for the WWF if I recall.  Basically, the story leading up to this match is that Michaels was the IC champ, but he was stripped of it.  Razor was the actual champion, but Michaels went around claiming he was the real champ with an IC belt of his own.

Both belts were suspended over the ring for this match, and the winner would be the one who'd climb a ladder to grab both belts to become the undisputed IC champion.

A lot of back and forth between both competitors, and they were creative in how they used the ladder!  About half-way through the match, Razor suplexes Michaels off the ladder and it warps!  Razor wins when Michaels gets pushed off the ladder and gets tangled up in the ropes.  Razor is able to take advantage to climb the ladder and grab the belts.

This match was fantastic.  While subsequent ladder matches may have had more crazy spots, etc., this one is the best.  Not only did it usher in the ladder in the WWF, but it was also a very fitting match considering Razor and Michaels had the best feud going in the WWF at the time along with Bret and Owen.

Must see match for the how well executed it was, and the historic significance.  A top ten WM match.  *****

WWF Championship Match: Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Yokozuna (champion) w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette.

This match had yet ANOTHER guest referee.  This time, it was Roddy Piper.  This match was better than the Yoko/Luger match…it didn’t nearly put me to sleep like that one did. Bret comes down to the ring selling an injured leg from his earlier match with Owen. Good match here, with both sides effectively playing their roles as injured underdog and monster heel.

Bret wins the match when Yoko climbs to the second rope to give his Banzai Drop.  Yoko slips off the rope, and Bret gets out of the way.  He pins Yokozuna for the pin.  Piper does a really good job in his role of guest referee during the course of this match. 

Much better ending than what happened at Wrestlemania IX.  **3/4.

In conclusion, this Wrestlemania got back on the rails so to speak after the cluster that was Wrestlemania XI.  WM X is very similar to VIII in the fact that it has two very strong matches, while the rest were for the most part, watchable, but nothing really above average. 

There are two all-time classic Wrestlemania matches on this card (Bret vs. Owen and the ladder match).  The only other WM card to that point that could claim that is WM III.  Both matches really are must watch for wrestling fans.

This was an interesting Wrestlemania, as the WWF really was going through a changing of the guard, and was in a down period in terms of fan interest.  All the performers who put WM, and the WWF on the map, were mostly gone by this point. It was sort of surreal at the time that Hulk Hogan wasn't performing at a Wrestlemania. 

We also get a new announcing team (Lawler and McMahon).  While I can't stand Lawler now, he was actually a rather good heel commentator back then, and had a bunch of funny one-liners through the night.  While he’s no Bobby Heenan, he worked well with Vince and this duo made a decent commentary team.

It is safe for me to state that this Wrestlemania is recommended.  Even if you just watch the Bret vs. Owen and the ladder matches, it would be worth it. Taking the card as a whole, the overall rating I'd give this WM is ***3/4

Wrestlemania IX: Time to do the Thing!

Wrestlemania IX, comes to us from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV. As such, this Wrestlemania had a Roman theme to it, with announcers wearing togas, guards, and black and gold ring ropes. This Wrestlemania was known for a couple things. It was the first Wrestlemania to be held outdoors, it was the announcing debut of Jim Ross, and would be the final one Hulk Hogan would be in for nearly a decade.

The hosts for this Wrestlemania are Jim Ross, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

The show starts with Caesar and Cleopatra welcoming everyone to the event.

Intercontinental Championship Match: Shawn Michaels (champion) w/ Luna Vachon vs. Tatanka

Very solid opening match to get the card started. Sensational Sherri came down to the ring as a neutral party before the match starts. The announcers do a good job pushing the idea that Tatanka has a chance to win the title, as he previously defeated Michaels in a couple of previous non-title matches.

We get some very nice in-ring action here, and an entertaining match. The ending was disappointing, as Michaels gets counted out, giving the hollow victory to Tatanka. Overall though, a good match, and the best one on this card. ***

The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) vs. The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) w. Afa

Ross uses his famous term “slobberknocker” at the beginning of this match. Standard tag match fare here, though it was entertaining. This is the second best match on this card. After the IC title match. Scott wins the match for his team with a Frankensteiner. **3/4

Doink the Clown vs. Crush

I've have to admit, that in hindsight, evil Doink, which he was for this match, was pretty cool. Which cunning trick would he pull out for this match? Comes at the end. The referee was inadvertently hit by Doink. While the ref was down, a second Doink comes down the ring, and hits Crush with an arm cast. This allows Doink to get the pin. Another referee (Bill Alfonso) comes down to the ring to explain to the first ref that there was another Doink. The search under the ring, and the second Doink is gone. Both referees walk to the back. Result stands.

Doink wins. **

Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund

Yawn for this match. Razor, who was a heel at this point, as actually getting “Razor” chants from the crowd. Funny when the face gets no reaction, and the crowd seems to be behind the heel. It was difficult to get behind Backlund because, well, he was boring as a face. Razor wins with a roll-up in a match that seemed it would've been better on free television rather than a pay-per-view. No rating.

Tag Team Championship Match: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and IRS) vs. The Megamaniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake) with Jimmy Hart

There was more posing by Hogan and Beefcake then wrestling with this match it seems. They dump Money Inc. out of the ring while “Real American” plays, and Hogan poses. Despite some good work by DiBiase (as he seemed to be doing the most work out of all four competitors), this match was a dud. Money Inc. wins by DQ, when the referee spots Hogan using Beefcake's protective facemask, which Money Inc. had removed, to hit DiBiase and IRS. They rough up the referee (some good guys they are), pose MORE after Hart tosses the referee (Danny Davis, ironically enough)! If Hogan didn't need to stroke his ego so much, I'd probably rate this match more favorable, but as it stands no rating.

Mr. Pefect vs. Lex Luger

The women that came down with Luger were...revealing to day the least! Luger was the “Narcissist” at this point, and he had been knocking out wrestlers cold with a running bionic forearm. Watchable match here, but it will never be considered one of Mr. Perfect's finest (not shocking as he was working with Luger). Luger wins with a backslide. Perfect's feet are on the ropes, but the ref doesn't see it, so the ref gives the three count. Another unsatisfying finish. Once Luger is declared victor, he hits Perfect with the bionic forearm. Once Perfect comes to, he goes to the back looking for Luger, where he finds Shawn Michaels, who gives Perfect a beatdown. **

Giant Gonzalez w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

One of the questions us wrestling fans will always ask, but will never get an answer to...what is up with the bodysuit Gonzalez wore? Take a look...

This match was horrible. Gonzalez either couldn't sell, or he was simply to clumsy to sell well. Undertaker did try to make this a workable match. Undertaker did well playing up the fact he wasn't intimidated by the size of Gonzalez.

Not much to write home about here. At the end of the match, Gonzalez grabs a rag doused with chloroform, and smothers the Undertaker with it. 'Taker wins by DQ. Taker is taken to the back on a stretcher, but his music plays, and he comes from the curtain back down to the ring. He takes it to Gonzalez and gets him off his feet with a flying clothesline.

One of the worst matches in the history of Wrestlemania. No rating.

WWF Championship Match: Bret “Hitman” Hart (champion) vs. Yokuzuna w/ Mr. Fuji

The WWF did a very good job telling this story. You have Hart, who was the proverbial underdog. Sure, he was a solid wrestler, but he wasn't the biggest, strongest, or most charismatic guy on the block. On the other side, you have Yokozuna. At a billed weight (at that time) of 505 pounds, he was demolishing the roster, and was an unstoppable force. This set up a true underdog vs. monster main event.

We get a decent match between these two, and it played along with Bret's never give up attitude. He took it to Yokozuna, even getting the big man off his feet a couple of times. Yokozuna had a trump card in Mr. Fuji who just happened to have a bucket of salt with him. Salt gets tossed into Bret's eyes while he had Yoko in the Sharpshooter. Yokozuna took advantage to get the win. Your new champion is Yokozuna. **1/2

If you thought the event was over, you're wrong! Hulk Hogan comes down to the ring, enraged by the injustice Hart suffered. Fuji issues a challenge to Hogan, who plays up whether or not to take it. He does, of course.

Impromptu WWF Championship Match: Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Hulk Hogan

Hogan is held by Yokozuna while Fuji gets the salt bucket. Salt is tossed. Hogan ducks, and the gets in Yokozuna's eyes. Hogan was able to leg drop a downed Yokozuna. This would be Hogan's final Wrestlemania appearance until Wrestlemania X-8 nine years later. No rating.

In conclusion, this is not a great Wrestlemania. The WWF was starting to go into a transition period about this time, and it shows. From a bunch of fresh faces performing, to Ross commentating. There was a changing of the guard for lack of a better cliché. However, that's no excuse to put on a card with a bunch of bad finishes. In addition, if the two opening matches were the best ones on the card, which is supposed to be the biggest one of the year, that's a problem.

The roman theme to this event, and another solid outing of commentary by Heenan save this event from becoming a total borefest. Speaking of commentary, while the chemistry definitely was missing from the Heenan/Monsoon days, this was still a good trio. Heenan has some very good one-liners, and Macho Man is a better wrestler than commentator, but he did have his moments and some good lines such as “tough times don't last, but tough people do”.

Overall, this is better than Wrestlemania 2, but not a strong event. A very weak Wrestlemania that starts promising, then fizzles out real quick. If you have it as part of the Wrestlemania Anthology Collection, feel free to check it out. Otherwise, don't waste your money on this, unless you can get it cheap.

Overall rating: **

Wrestlemania VIII: A Double Main Event?

Wrestlemania VIII was held at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 5, 1992. It was hyped as having a double main event, and the matches that constituted these main events were the WWF Championship match between Ric Flair and Randy Savage. The other was the final match of the night, pitting Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice. Overall, this was a solid Wrestlemania.

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. This would be the second, and final Wrestlemania they would commentate together. Their banter with each other, and Heenan's comments throughout the night, were an added attraction to this event. Ray Combs is the celebrity guest host.

The show starts with Reba McEntire singing “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

“El Matador” Tito Santana vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Sensational Sherri

This was the first Wrestlemania match with Shawn competing as a singles competitor. This match showed the star potential he had. He played the cocky heel role to a T, and was an excellent athlete to boot. Tito, performed his role well here as well, putting over Shawn while making both competitors look good. Shawn wins this match, and Heenan made a prophetic comment. He said Shawn was going to be “the star of the 90s”.

Decent opener to get the show, and the crowd, going. **3/4

Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

The background story to this was Undertaker had a feud with the Ultimate Warrior. Jake stepped in to help Warrior overcome his fears, only to turn on him. Undertaker turns face when Jake tries to hit Elizabeth with a chair. Undertaker stops him, hence Undertaker's face turn. Jake couldn't bring his snake Damien with him to the ring for this match, which made no sense as he was doing that for years as a face...

This match was a typical 'taker match of the time. Slow, methodical, no selling by 'taker. Makes sense as he was supposed to be a wrestling zombie...

Jake hits with a couple DDTs. Match goes outside the ring. Undertaker hits with a Tombstone piledriver, puts Jake back in the ring and gets the pin. ***

Mean Gene is backstage in the interview area with Bret Hart and Roddy Piper. The interview added a layer of tension between the two that would play out in the match.

Intercontinental Title Match: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper (champion) vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart

Hart had lost the IC title to The Mountie several months prior. Piper won the title at the 1992 Royal Rumble. This match was great for the in-ring psychology. All during the match, Piper was teasing a heel turn. Spitting at Bret, slapping him... It really seemed as if he would turn out for frustration for not being able to defeat Bret.

Towards the end of the match, Piper grabs the ring bell. Crowd enthusiastically boos, as it looks like Piper was going to hit him with it. Piper decides not to, much to the approval of the crowd. Piper gets his sleeper hold finisher on. Bret kicks off from a corner turnbuckle. Falling back on Piper for the pin, and the title.

Excellent match, one which has become overlooked with time. ****

8-Man Tag Match: Nasty Boys, Repo Man, and The Mountie vs. Sgt. Slaughter, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan, Big Boss Man, and Virgil

What happens when you have a bunch of mid-carders with nothing really going on, and it's Wrestlemania? Bunch them all together in a match, of course! Ray Combs makes some jokes at the expense of the heels

This is an unremarkable match. It's not terrible, but there's no incentive to get behind any of the performers. The good guys win. A filler match, but not a exactly a dud either. *1/2

We're now at the first of the double main event.

WWF Championship match: Ric Flair (champion) w/ Mr. Perfect vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage

Just the fact you have two legends in the ring that have a history of great matches is incentive to watch this one. In addition, there was also a dramatic storyline. It's basically Savage defending the honor of Elizabeth against Flair, who claimed they had a relationship in the past, and had revealing pictures that him and Perfect were going to reveal.

This match is extremely well done, and Perfect gets into the picture multiple times, trying to aid Flair to a victory. It made Savage appear as if he were almost in a handicap match. We get excellent back and forth between the two. Towards the end of the match, Elizabeth comes down to the ring. A bunch of officials come down, one of them looks like, and probably is Shane McMahon, son of Vince.

Flair locks on the figure-four leglock on Savage. Savage sells an injured leg. Elizabeth looks concerned. Flair, distracted, is rolled up by Savage; who grabs the tights. Savage gets the 1-2-3, and the championship. Post-match Flair harasses Liz while Savage is recovering. He kisses Liz who slaps him.

Great match, between two all-time great performers, with great storytelling. This SHOULD have been the final match on the card. ****1/2

Tatanka vs. “The Model” Ric Martel

Nothing much to say about this match. Tatanka wins with a flying cross-body. Crowd was quiet for this one. Not sure if it was because this match followed the championship match, or they didn't care for the performers. *1/2

Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. w/ Jimmy Hart (Ted DiBiase and IRS – champions) vs. The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon)

Boring match here. Part of it has to do with the fact you have to technical wrestlers (Money Inc.), vs a brute power (Disasters). Add to that the fact that Typhoon wasn't, well... a good athlete.

Earthquake goes for his splash finisher on IRS. Jimmy Hart pulls IRS out of the ring. Money Inc. grabs their belts and walks off. Disasters win via count out, but titles don't change hands in that situation. *1/2

Owen Hart vs. Skinner

This match lasted about a minute. Owen wins. Not much to say about this one. No rating.

Hulk Hogan vs. Sid Justice w/ Harvey Whippleman

This is the second match of the double main event. Hogan should've been the heel in this match...but NO. This feud started at the Royal Rumble. Justice, a face at that point, eliminated Hogan. Hogan, being a bad sport, grabbed Sid from outside the ring, allowing Ric Flair to elimate Sid from the Rumble.

We get a recap of the events leading to this match, which unfortunately, would turn out to be the worst main event match outside of perhaps WM II. Two big men who can't wrestle outside a couple moves...

Sid powerbombs Hogan. Hogan, of course, no sells it and kicks out at 2. Hogan hulks up. He punches Sid, gives a body slam, and leg drop. Whippleman enters the ring to interfere. Hogan wins by DQ. Papa Shango comes down to the ring to attack Hogan. Then a familiar song plays...The Ultimate Warrior's theme song, as he runs down to the ring to assist Hogan, marking a short return for him.

This was a weak, and disappointing main event. **

Wrestlemania VIII is a very solid 'mania. It's fun to watch, with few dud matches, a giant crowd, and fantastic commentary from Bobby Heenan. While this Wrestlemania has an approximate run time compared to the previous year's, this one is an easier watch. You can sit through the whole thing and not realize that nearly 3 ½ hours passed. I'd highly recommend this Wrestlemania. It's one of my personal favorites, and you may find it will become one of yours too.

Overall rating: ****

 

Wrestlemania VII: Red, White and Blue

Wrestlemania VII was held in 1991 right after the end of the first Persian Gulf War. The WWF capitalized on this and gave this Wrestlemania a patriotic flavor.  The Wrestlemania logo was in red, white, and blue colors. American flags were hung around around the arena, and the tag line for this one reflects the patriotic mood: “Superstars and Stripes Forever”.  The main event pitted Hulk Hogan vs. Sargent Slaughter. Slaughter played an former American hero turned into an Iraqi sympathizer.

Originally slated to be held at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it was instead held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, which was a better venue to hold this event in my opinion. There were a couple of theories relating to the venue change. One was a bomb threat at the coliseum. The other, and probably more accurate, were low ticket sales. That didn't stop the crowd from getting into this show though. This crowd was fantastic, as they were really into this show throughout the entire event.

The hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan. This is the first Wrestlemania without Jesse Ventura commentating.  Heenan also did double duty as a manager. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan and Alfred Hayes filled in for the two matches Heenan managed in.

Celebrity guest hosts are Regis Philbin, Alex Trebek, and Marla Maples. Willie Nelson performs “America the Beautiful” to start the show.

The matches on the card were:

The Rockers vs. The Barbarian and Haku with Bobby Heenan (winners: Rockers)

Decent opening match to get the event and crowd going . Typical tag match of big guys vs. speed and agility. The Rockers were at the peak of their popularity at this point in time. All four performers were good workers and athletes, and showed it in this match. Barbarian gets dumped out of the ring. The Rockers finish the match with a flying dropkick off the top rope by Marty Jennetty to Haku followed by a flying splash off the top rope by Michaels. ***1/2

Texas Tornado vs. Dino Bravo (winner: Texas Tornado)

Nothing to write home about in this match. Bravo hits with his sidewalk slam finisher, but Tornado kicks out at two. Bravo comes off the ropes, but Tornado is able to put the claw on him. Tornado discus punch and pin. No rating.

British Bulldog vs. The Warlord with Slick (winner: British Bulldog)

Here we have a match between a mid-carder (Bulldog) vs. a muscular jobber (Warlord). In the promo the Warlord says nobody has ever broken out of his full nelson finisher. In 1991 WWF, if a heel said his finisher can't be broken or countered, you know it would be.

With that, this was a match of two musclebound men. Heenan makes some funny comments about Bulldog (“Little twig of a neck”). Anyhow, Warlord does go for his full nelson, but Bulldog gets free. Bulldog gets Warlord up for his running power slam. *

WWF Tag Team Title match: Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys with Jimmy Hart (winners and new champions: Nasty Boys)

A good tag match here with some decent in-ring psychology. Hart Foundation looks like they're going to win it after hitting Saggs with the Heart Attack finisher. However, the ref gets distracted. Jimmy Hart, manager of the Nasty Boys, tosses in his megaphone to Knobbs, who hits Jim Neidhardt with it on the back of the head while he was covering Saggs. Saggs rolls his arm over Neidhardt for the pin.

Normally, I'm not a fan of these kind of finishes, but this worked. The Hart Foundation would part ways and enter the realm of singles competition, and the Nasty Boys were put into a feud with the Legion of Doom. ***

Blindfold Match: Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. “The Model” Rick Martel (winner: Jake Roberts)

Less said of this match the better. Slow, uninteresting, and an anti-climatic way to end the feud between these two. No rating.

Jimmy Snuka vs. The Undertaker with Paul Bearer (winner: Undertaker)

Let's get the undefeated streak started! Taker comes out to a loud pop, which was unusual for a heel at that time. Snuka's role at this point in time was to put talent over. Undertaker looks very impressive and dominant here.

Snuka tries to get some offense in, but to little effect. He tries a flying body press off the top-rope, but taker catches him, and hits Snuka with the Tombstone for the pin.

While this would seem a dud of a match, considering how Undertaker looked, and how well Snuka put him over, I'd give this match **.

Retirement Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy “Macho King” Savage with Queen Sherri (winner: Ultimate Warrior)

We get a recap of what led to this match. Before the match starts, Heenan looks off to the side, as if he sees someone he recognizes. The camera pans over, and sitting in the audience is Miss Elizabeth, former manager of Macho King.

We get a fantastic match here. Back and forth between the two with Sherri providing an assist to Savage a few times during the match. Savage gets the upper hand when Warrior misses with his flying shoulder. Savage hits Warrior with not one of his flying elbows, but five! Warrior kicks out at two, and starts getting an adrenaline surge.

Warrior starts to question his gods, but it took Savage a hit from behind to get an answer. Sherri tries to assist Macho by climbing to the top rope to hit Warrior with a shoe while Savage holds him. Warrior gets out of the way, and hits Savage instead. Warrior dumps Sherri outside.

Warrior hits Savage with some flying shoulder blocks, and pins him for the win. Sherri gets back into the ring and starts hitting Savage. Elizabeth comes down to the ring to fight her off Macho King. Macho and Elizabeth a reunited in perhaps the most emotional moment of this Wrestlemania.

Outstanding match. Best one on the card. This was the best match for the Ultimate Warrior in the WWF, and one of Savage's best as well. I usually consider Ultimate Warrior to be bad in the ring, but he came through on this match. This is an overlooked Wrestlemania classic, and one of my top ten Wrestlemania matches. **** 3/4

Demolition with Mr. Fuji vs. Tenryu and Kitao (winners: Tenryu and Kitao)

Watching this match, I wondered who the heck are Tenryu and Kitao. Gorilla Monsoon gives us some background on them. Not much happens with this match. Tenryu gives Smash a powerbomb for the win. No rating.

Intercontinental Championship: Mr .Perfect with Bobby Heenan vs. Big Boss Man (winner by DQ Big Boss Man)

The background to this match was Boss Man was defending the honor of his mother, as Heenan had constantly made fun of her. Boss Man defeated members of the Heenan Family except, one, Mr. Perfect.

Lord Alfred Hayes fills in for commentary during this match, and he's terrible.

This match was somewhat boring. It was saved by some of Perfect's signature moves. A standing dropkick, somersault neck snap, which he does again in reverse!

Who comes down to ringside? None other than Andre the Giant! Referee gets distracted, and Andre takes the IC belt and hits Perfect with it. Barbarian and Haku come down to the ring and beat up on Boss Man. Referee sees that, and disqualifies Perfect. Boss Man wins, but Perfect retains the title.

Andre beats up on Barbarian and Haku, and celebrates with Boss Man.

Another anti-climatic ending to a feud which made me feel unsatisfied, but with Perfect retaining the title, it would lead to his classic match with Bret Hart at that year's Summerslam. *1/2

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs. Earthquake with Jimmy Hart (winner: Earthquake)

Squash match here. Earthquake, while past his main event push, was dominant. Valentine gets some offense in, but gets distracted by Jimmy Hart. Earthquake hits from behind, follows up with a power slam, and Earthquake Splash. Match gets an extra half star just because of Earthquake.

*1/2.

Power and Glory with Slick vs. Legion of Doom (winner: L.O.D.)

L.O.D was getting a major push at this point in time. Power and Glory (Hercules and Paul Roma), were a half-way decent team, but got buried here. Hercules gets dumped out of the ring, and Doomsday Device to Roma. Match was over in about a minute. No rating.

Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil with Rowdy Roddy Piper (winner: Virgil)

This was really the only time that Virgil had a working storyline in the WWF. This match was boring. Virgil performed his boxing routine. Piper had a leg injury, and DiBiase goes outside to attack him. Best part of the match along with Heenan's commentary. DiBiase gets counted out. Virgil wins.

Sensational Sherri comes down to the ring, and gets her new meal ticket in DiBiase. *

The Mountie with Jimmy Hart vs. Tito Santana (winner: The Mountie)

Why was this match even on this card? Mountie sneaks in his cattle prod and hits Santana with it. Match is over in less than two minutes. No rating.

WWF Championship: Hulk Hogan vs Sargent Slaughter with General Adnan (winner and new WWF champion: Hulk Hogan)

Prior to the match we get a recap of the events that led to this match. Slaughter cuts a promo where he implies he may get himself disqualified or counted out to keep the title. Funny stuff, and makes you wonder if he's going to take the cowardly way out.

Slaughter looks good in this match. He puts Hogan in some submission holds, busts him open, and does heel tactics such as chocking Hogan with a cable wire outside the ring, etc. Despite the performers in this match, it had good flow and great in-ring psychology to it. This is highlighted towards the end of the match. Slaughter pins Hogan, and covers him with the Iraqi flag. Hogan goes into hulking up mode, and rips up the flag. He follows it up with punches, big boot, and leg drop for the win.

At first I wasn't a fan of this main event, but the more I watch it, the more I appreciate it for the in-ring psychology and how it played upon the patriotism that the United States was wrapped up in in early 1991. ***

Some other highlights to the show were Regis Philbin as one of the guest hosts. He had some funny segments, and did a good job commentating during the main event. Alex Trebek joins the fun with the funny/awkward botched line of the night.

Mean Gene: My good friend, Alex Trebek.

Trebek: Nice to be here Jim.

Thought that was funny.

From a nostalgic standpoint, this is one of my favorite Wrestlemanias, and the one I still tend to watch the most. It had an atmosphere that fit with what was going on in 1991 regarding the recently concluded Persian Gulf War. The crowd was fantastic all through the night and was into the whole card. While there was a lot of filler on this card, there were good things too. There was an outstanding stipulation match (Warrior vs. Savage), a strong opening tag match (Rockers vs. Barbarian and Haku) and a solid, fun main event (Hogan vs. Slaughter). It had funny moments with Regis, and Heenan praising the LAPD (this event took place several months after the Rodney King beating). The only downer to this event is watching it and realizing so many of the performers on this card have passed away

I recommend giving this Wrestlemania a shot. *** 3/4