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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Mr. Wrestlemania – Disc 1

March 28, 2015 | Posted by TJ Hawke

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Views from the Hawke’s Nest: Mr. Wrestlemania – Disc 1

We saw footage of Shawn Michaels watching his Wrestlemania matches on a iPad. “Marty and I were good together.” Regarding the zipline spot, “I don’t think I would ever do that again.” He hinted that Vince McMahon refused to put his hands up for a ladder shot in their match.

There was an interview with Shawn talking about working for Mid-South during the first Wrestlemania. He says he already saw “going to New York” as “making it.”

Shawn talks about how immature he and Marty were in their early WWF days. They had the mindset that they should only be judged by their in-ring work.

Wrestlemania V
April 2, 1989

The Rockers (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) vs. The Twin Towers (Akeem & Big Bossman) (w/ Slick)

Akeem is YOUR heel in peril to start the match. The Twin Towers cut off Marty soon enough and then worked him over. Marty caused Akeem to crash into Bossman, and Shawn then made a hot tag. The Rockers worked together a bunch. They did a table-top spot on Bossman and hit (somewhat) stereo dropkicks on him. Shawn went for a diving attack on Bossman, but it was reversed into a powerbomb. Air Africa from Akeem: 1…2…3

This was an enjoyable undercard tag match. The match was definitely missing a spark needed to make it good, but it was inoffensive at worst.

Match Rating: **1/2

Wrestlemania VI
April 1, 1990

The Rockers (Marty Jannetty & Shawn Michaels) vs. The Orient Express (Sato & Tanaka) (w/Mr. Fuji)

The Rockers hit stereo pescados early on. I would have figured that a stereo pescado spot would get a bigger reaction in 1990. Mr. Fuji interfered to cut Marty off. Marty actually managed to tag out after that, and Shawn ended up getting worked over for the heat. Shawn escaped of course, and Marty made the hot tag. Salt got thrown in Marty’s eyes. That blinded him, and he fell over a guardrail. Marty officially got counted out.

This match featured some cool spots and whatnot, but it never came together as a whole at all. The match was also flat as all hell on top of that. I definitely preferred the match with The Twin Towers.

Match Rating: **

Wrestlemania VII
March 24, 1991

The Rockers vs. Haku & Barbarian (w/ Bobby Heenan)

It’s Raining Meng!

The Rockers had a lot of success early on. Marty eventually got cut off. This went on for a while, but it was enjoyable. Shawn eventually made the hot tag. The Rockers had all the momentum. Haku ate a missile dropkick from Marty and then a diving crossbody from Shawn: 1…2…3!

Super fun match! A real gem.

Match Rating: ***1/2

Shawn tells a story where The Rockers felt they got short-changed on a commercial. “We worked ourselves up into a shoot.” This DVD is VERY real. They decided to leave the company, but Vince called Shawn up and teased a singles run. Shawn started to cave. Marty was not happy. Shawn said he was looking out for his wife as well. The barbershop spot was discussed.

Wrestlemania VIII
April 5, 1992

Shawn Michaels (w/ Sensational Sherri) vs. El Matador

This should be good.

Tito dominated this one for the longest time. Shawn finally got control after dumping Tito to the floor. Tito threatened to come back, but Shawn caught him with a superkick. Tito started his comeback shortly after that though. Tito tried to scoop slam Shawn from the apron into the ring, but Shawn held onto the ropes to reverse the leverage. That allowed Shawn to catch Tito with a pin: 1…2…3

The work here was solid enough, but the moments that grabbed me were few and far between. The anti-climatic finish certainly did not help.

Match Rating: **1/2

Shawn talks about being in the opener in 1992 was fine, but doing it again in 1993 was not satisfying. He also talks about the roster’s internal concern with Hogan leaving the show with the WWF Championship.

Wrestlemania IX
April 4, 1993

Shawn Michaels(c) (w/ Luna Vachon) vs. Tatanka [WWF Intercontinental Championship]

Sensational Sherri came down to the ring after Tatanka and appeared to be in his corner. Tatanka was undefeated going into this match.

The most notable moment early on was Tatanka reversing a dive into an arm drag. Thumbs up. Tatanka proceeded to dominate the match for a bit. He went after Shawn’s arm. Tatanka went to dive off the top rope, but Shawn caught him with a superkick. Shawn was then in control. This went on for too long. Tatanka then did his own Hulking Up spot. He made a comeback. WWE loves making minority characters defined as an other. Shawn tried to fight back. Shawn got fed up and took out the official. That didn’t result in a DQ for some reason. Tatanka hit a Samoan Drop, but the ref then finally disqualified Shawn. El oh el. Dumb. Wait, Tatanka was ruled the winner as Shawn officially got counted out.

This finish was exceptionally annoying and absurd given that the match was a Wrestlemania opener. The work itself was fine-ish, I guess. Tatanka’s arm work went nowhere though, and that was the majority of the match. A compact match with more energy would have been a better idea for these two.

Match Rating: **1/4

Shawn makes sure to refute the idea that Scott Hall did nothing in their ladder match. Shawn gives Scott all the credit in the world for their match.

Wrestlemania X
March 20, 1994

Shawn Michaels© (w/ Diesel) vs. Razor Ramon© [Undisputed Intercontinental Championship

Razor ended up on the floor early, and Diesel then took him down with a lariat. Earl Hebner kicked him out of the ringside area. Ramon had the advantage after that. He pulled up a ring mat, but Shawn managed to dump him on the concrete. Shawn got the ladder, but Ramon attacked him. Shawn then did the now-cliché baseball slide ladder spot. Shawn then used the ladder as a weapon to get the advantage. Shawn started to climb, but Razor pulled his pants down. Shawn came back with an elbow drop with his ass out. Shawn then hit the Superfly Splash off the ladder. Shawn climbed the ladder, but Razor tipped the ladder over. Shawn tried to send Razor into the ladder, but Razor reversed it. Razor then used the ladder as a weapon. Razor started to climb, but Shawn dove off the top turnbuckle to stop him. They both climbed and then traded shots. Razor tossed Shawn off, but his momentum brought him down, too. Razor climbed, but Shawn dropkicked the ladder. Shawn then caught him with a superkick. Shawn then rode a ladder down onto Razor’s chest. Shawn climbed again, but Razor gave the ladder a shoulder tackle, and Shawn crotched himself on the ropes. Razor climbed and got the belts!

While this match did not feature the lunacy that later WWE ladder matches would contain, it was still very fun even if you don’t have any nostalgic feelings tied up to it. They really pulled off everything they did quite well, and the drama of it translates well to modern eyes.

Match Rating: ****

Shawn Michaels describes Wrestlemania 11 as his “kissing your sister” moment. He was in a title match, but it was not the main event. Shawn buries Vince for making Diesel kicking out at 1 when they all said it would backfire. Shawn then buries Vince for often compounding mistakes by doubling down for said mistakes.

Wrestlemania XI
April 2, 1995

Diesel(c) (w/ Pamela Anderson) vs. Shawn Michaels (w/ Jennifer McCarthy & Sid) [WWF Heavyweight Championship]

Jonathan Taylor Thomas was the special guest time keeper. Nicholas Turturro was the special guest ring announcer. What a time to be alive this must have been.

Diesel actually dumped Shawn to the floor before the match even started. Diesel continued to dominate once the match started. Shawn finally cut Diesel off with a plancha. Shawn worked him over for a while. Shawn targeted the ribs. Diesel finally started to fight back despite the injured ribs. At one point, the ref got held up on the floor while Shawn caught Diesel with a superkick. Sid tossed the ref in: 1…NO! Maybe that was a two-count? Maybe. It was close. Shawn went to use an exposed turnbuckle, but Diesel hit a back suplex. Shawn jumped into a sidewalk slam. Diesel tried to send Shawn into exposed top turnbuckle, but he really just ended up sending him into a the regular middle turnbuckle. Diesel started to Hulk Up. Excuse me, he was revving the engine. He then hit a shit jackknife, and Shawn landed on his ass: 1…2…3

Diesel held a party with all the celebrities. I’m trying to think of a good vaccine joke with Jenny McCarthy. Sometimes I’m just not clever enough. Listen to science and vaccinate your damn kids, people.

This match was fine in theory, but the execution left a ton to be desired. Kevin Nash is just not an interesting performer except in the very best of circumstances (and this was clearly not that). On top of that, the idea of presenting him as this giant babyface hero that was surrounded by celebrities just felt so cynical and pathetic. Shawn did a solid job of bumping all around for Diesel at the right points but also making himself look credible enough to win. That wasn’t enough to save the match though. The final minute of the match with Diesel “revving the engine” and then doing a shit powerbomb just really made the whole thing seem so much worse. This was honestly sad to watch. Can’t imagine being a WWF fan at this time.

Match Rating: **

Watch free Shawn Michaels matches:

Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair

Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart

Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho [Last Man Standing]

Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. John Cena & The Undertaker vs. The Big Show & Chris Jericho

Shawn Michaels vs. John Cena vs. Kurt Angle [Great match]

Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin [One of my personal favorite Shawn matches]

Shawn Michaels vs. Batista

Shawn Michaels & John Cena vs. The Undertaker & Batista [This is fun. Recommended.]

Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart [Title vs. Title]

Shawn Michaels, Goldberg, & RVD vs. Randy Orton, Batista, & Kane