wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF WrestleMania IX
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 10.01.2025
-There was a documentary about this show released on Peacock earlier in the year and I did review it. This is one of those shows that is talked about a lot for reasons other than the wrestling. It gets hated on, but it’s been a bit since I reviewed it the first time. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Jim Ross, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage
-April 4, 1993
-Caesar’s Palace, Paradise, NV
-Attendance: 16891
-PPV Buys: 430,000
-Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to the show and throws it to Jim Ross, who is making his WWE debut.
-We get the opening ceremonies with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra. Bobby Heenan makes his entrance riding a camel backwards in a moment perfect for The Brain. Savage gets carried in and has women feeding him grapes. The arena was built in a parking lot, but visually it is awesome. One of the video games let you use the arena with the blue bar steel cage and it was fantastic. I believe this is the last WrestleMania where the entrance aisle was on the right side of the screen. Mania X had the entrance from the middle behind the ring and everyone since is the traditional left hand side of the screen.
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Luna Vachon) vs. Tatanka (w/ Sensational Sherri)
-Shawn had kicked Sherri to the curb, so she is out with Tatanka wanting to see some revenge extracted. At this point of being a wrestling fan (I was about to be 12) I realized the IC Title was the “workers” championship and I assumed every IC Title Match at Mania could be like Savage/Steamboat. Kind of unfair expectations, but again, I was twelve. I also thought Shawn was toast here as I assumed Tatanka’s undefeated streak would be paid off with The IC Title. Shawn gets a hammerlock, but Tatanka counters. Shawn counters with an overhand wrist lock, but Tatanka fights back to his feet and shoves Shawn across the ring. Shawn hooks a side headlock and uses the buckles to jump off and take it to the mat. He tries a second time, but Tatanka drops him with a belly-to-back suplex. Clothesline misses in the corner, so Shawn heads up. Tatanka catches him on the way down with an arm-drag. Shawn takes a Flair Flip in the corner and Tatanka sends him flying to the floor with a chop. Sherri stands over Shawn to keep Luna from helping. Shawn tries to rush back in the ring, but Tatanka catches him with chop after chop. Shawn finally goes to the eyes and runs Tatanka into the top buckle. Shawn comes off the top with a rough looking sunset flip for two. Shawn tries a leap-frog but gets caught with an inverted atomic drop. DDT from Tatanka as Shawn set too early on a backdrop. He goes back to working the arm as Savage notes Shawn suffered a separated shoulder during a six man tag that also had Tatanka involved. Shawn tries a clothesline with the bad arm and sells it in a nice touch. Tatanka drops a leg on the bad arm and back to the arm-bar. Bobby works in as many Oklahoma jokes as possible at JR’s expense. Shawn misses a charge in the corner and goes shoulder first into the post. That sounded great! Tatanka back to the arm-bar. Savage wonders if Luna is from Oklahoma. Heenan: “No, she’s actually pretty.” Shawn tries to float over in the corner, but gets caught and Tatanka hits a shoulder breaker. He doesn’t cover though and opts to drop an elbow. He comes off the top with a chop to the shoulder, but tries it one time too many and Shawn catches him with a super kick on the way down. That spot crawled so Shawn/Shelton on RAW could run! Shawn pitches Tatanka to the floor to get a chance to recover. Sherri is there to keep Luna at bay again and we get a “Sherri” chant. Don’t hear that one often! Shawn comes off the apron with a clothesline. Back in the ring Shawn buries a right hand to the ribs and hits a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Standing dropkick gets two and Shawn follows with a reverse chinlock. Blah! Tatanka fights to his feet, but Shawn traps him in the corner and delivers a series of jabs. He goes up for a head scissors and turns it into a weird looking victory roll for two. More jabs from Shawn in the corner and he goes up again to repeat the spot. This time Tatanka gets an Electric Chair Drop. Not sure if they messed something up and repeated or it was just Tatanka learning and countering. Elbow misses from Tatanka and Shawn heads to the second rope. He comes off with a double ax to the back, but Tatanka starts his war dance. Superkick is caught and Tatanka fires off chops and right hands. Shawn does a twisting sell off a chop. Cross-body from the top gets two! Shawn tries a dropkick, but gets caught and Tatanka hits a catapult into the post. Shawn stumbles back and Tatanka gets a roll-up for two. Shawn slides out of a slam and gets his own roll-up for two. Shawn up top again, but gets caught with a nice powerslam on the way down. That was sweet! It only gets two though as Savage complains about the count. They battle on the floor as the crowd chants for Sherri again. Shawn misses a dive off the apron and hits the stairs. Shawn pulls the ref out to the floor and for some reason delays calling for the bell. Tatanka his the Samoan Drop to tease the win, but now the ref calls for the bell and we have a lame count-out (?) At 18:15.
Winner: Tatanka via count-out at 18:15
-I went back to check and I guess it was a count-out though Heenan kept saying DQ. The ref didn’t get to ten, but perhaps Shawn pulling him out stopped it. The ref also didn’t start the count over when Shawn went back outside. Just a mess of an ending to a match that was getting good in the last 5 minutes. Weird way to open a show. ***
-Luna attacks Sherri after the match.
-Gene is backstage and gets a quick word with The Steiner Brothers.
The Headshrinkers (w/ Afa) vs. The Steiner Brothers
-Over thirty years later and we have Rick’s son and Fatu’s sons Main Eventing RAW on a weekly basis. Ross introduces Heenan to the term slobberknocker. Awesome! Heenan: “I speak English.” Also awesome! I watches a lot of Steiners vs. Samoan matches in NWA/WCW Retro Reviews, so they are very comfortable facing each other. Fatu and Scott start and it takes about 70 seconds before they lock-up, but to be fair the bell was kind of early. Fatus shoves Scott, so he shoots in and gets a take down for a one count. He hooks an armbar as Macho and Ross bring up Michigan being in the NCAA Tournament. 1993 Michigan in Final Four? I’m sure nothing of note happened with that one. Scott gets a clotheslines, but The Shrinkers double team in the corner. Rick in and he gets pitched to the floor. Scott also gets thrown out. The Shrinkers play to the crowd as The Steiners climb the top rope together and come off with stereo clotheslines. That sends The Shrinkers to the floor and Afa runs their heads together to get them motivated. Ross tells us Sherri was just attacked in the first aid station by Luna. Heenan volunteers to go back and find out, but the camel is still back there. Funny! Samu and Rick have a go now and trade clotheslines. Samu gets tossed into the post and Scott back in. He hits a double under hook powerbomb. Then we get a insane bump as Scott takes a Stun-Gun with Fatu assisting and he nearly clears the ropes and hits the floor. That was wild and is a bump that has always stuck with me from this match. Kendo Stick shot from Afa on the floor. Fatu back in and he hits a back breaker and comes off the middle ropes with a fight hand. Rick breaks the count at two. Samu back in and he hits a roundhouse kick. He charges, but runs into a boot to the face. Fatu back in with a running knee that sends Scott to the floor again. Fatu suckers Rick into the ring which lets Samu run Scott into the post. Back in Fatu sets too early on a backdrop and Scott plants him face first on the mat, but it has no effect and he springs back up and hits a super kick. Nice! Samu back in and poor Ross is trying to keep this on track as Heenan and Savage continue to argue with each other. Scott tries to fight out of the corner, but a poke to the eye cuts that off. Fatu off the top with a forearm shot and he drops a head butt for a two count. Nerve hold to annoy me! Scott fights out again and we get a double clothesline to leave both men down. Bobby continues with his Oklahoma jokes and takes a shot at Bill Clinton being from Arkansas. Samu with a slam as Scott has been getting destroyed here. He heads up, but misses a head-butt and now the hot tag is made to Rick. Fatu in as well and Rick punches him in the face. Backdrop and then a slam to Samu. Steiner-lines for everyone. He makes the mistake of running The Shrinkers head first into each other and that doesn’t work. We get a double steam Stroke as that was a short rally by Rick. The Shrinkers set up for a Doomsday Device, but Rick catches Samu in mid-air and hits a powerslam. That was the other spot I remember from this match. Scott back in with an overhead belly-to-belly on Fatu, but Samu catches him with a super kick. Scott reverses a whip and hits The Frankensteiner for the pin at 14:24.
Winners: The Steiner Brothers via pin at 14:24
-The more I watch this match, the more I love it. There is something said for four tough dudes beating each other up. Some parts were sloppy, but that was part of the charm. This is the best match of the show for me. ***1/2
-Gene is backstage with Doink and we see the angle where he beat the crap out of Crash with a loaded fake arm. I vividly remember watching that at my Grandma’s house. Doink says Crush might be seeing double vision. I mean Crush used to switch off with the other members of Demolition, so he shouldn’t be that annoyed with what’s about to happen.
Doink vs. Crush
-The EVIL Doink theme SLAPPED! Doink uses the the age old flower that squirts water to start bit. I think Thesz used that to win his first World Title in 1937. Crush chases as the bell rings and he beats Doink into the ring. He mauls him in the corner and sends him hard with a whip to the opposite corner. Doink rolls to the floor and throws punches, but Crush just smiles at him. Crush sends Doink into the post and then back into the ring. He hits a neck breaker as Heenan and then snaps Doink’s neck on the top rope. Savage is a fan of that obviously. Back breaker as this has been all Crush these opening three minutes. Doink pulls Crush throat first on the top rope to take control. He comes off the top three different times with a double ax as this is turning into a Macho Man homage. Nice looking piledriver as he rocked back slow and it looked like it spiked Crush right on his head. He sends Crush into the post and then shows some power with a slam. He heads up top again but Crush gets a foot up to block. Savage: “Crush isn’t even a dentist.” Somewhere in the back Vince heard that and got an idea. Powerslam from Crush and a clothesline sends Doink to the floor. Doink crawls under the ring, but Crush pulls him back. Gorilla Press Slam! That was kind of a weak one. Crush gets the Head Squeeze, but the ref gets bumped and Doink tries to go under the ring, but Crush cuts him off again. Ugly looking spin kick back in the ring and we go back to the Cranium Crush. Here comes Doink 2 and he decks Crush with the loaded arm as Heenan talks about it being an illusion. The Doinks break the arm over Crush’s head to knock him out and we get the mirror routine before the second Doink crawls back under the ring. Doink gets the pin at 8:28.
Winner: Doink via pin at 8:28
-Not good, but a famous (infamous) ending. Bless Heenan’s heart for trying to sell it as an illusion, but that was always silly. *
-Fonzie (WWF ref at the time) comes down to show Marella that another Doink is under the ring, but they don’t see anything.
Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund
-This is Razor’s Mania debut and is kind of a step down after working PPV matches against Savage/Perfect and Bret Hart. I guess this is also Backlund’s Mania debut. This fits in with previous Mania matches where a new heel being pushed gets a win over a name from the previous generation. Go see Taker over Snuka, Michaels over Tito, etc. Backlund offers a handshake and Razor throws a tooth pick at him. Massive “Razor” chant which is why he wasn’t heel for much longer. Backlund gets a leg trip and another. Funny thing is Backlund is the one that ended up with another WWF Championship run and Ramon never got the strap. Nobody watching this match at the time would have believed that. Razor with a slam and puts the boots to Bob. Backlund with a dropkick but misses another one though we get some kind of weird selling like he did hit it. Butterfly suplex from Backlund followed by an atomic drop. This is just a weird clash of styles so far. Razor gets a small package for the win at 3:43.
Winner: Razor Ramon via pin at 3:43
-Didn’t even give us a Razor’s Edge! Again, it was a former World Champion for Razor to get a win over, but he didn’t look all that impressive. Just a weird match and finish. I wonder if they trimmed this down as we know this show was having timing issues. DUD
-Gene is backstage with Money Inc and we see them blasting Brutus Beefcake on RAW with the briefcase to shatter his once broken face. We know that IRS and Dibiase both had sons that went on to have matches at Mania. Another reminder that I am old.
WWF Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. (c) vs. The Mega Maniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake) (w/ Jimmy Hart)
-Money Inc teased that Hogan met with an accident last night. It seems we still don’t know the real story but it’s either Savage punched Hogan over issues with Liz, or Hogan got injured on Jet Ski. The on camera reason is Money Inc paid someone to beat Hogan but claimed Hogan had an accident with weight training. If you hate Hogan you believe the Savage story. If you don’t you tend to go with the Jet Ski story. The crowd goes crazy for the returning Hogan as this is his first match since Mania VIII. Money Inc attacks but The Mega Maniacs fight them off while Real American plays. It’s like New Jack! We get a lot of stalling from Money Inc to start as Hogan and Beefcake play to the crowd. We finally gets going at 1:39 with IRS and Beefcake. IRS controls and tags to Dibiase, who fires off chops. He lands a back elbow and talks trash to Hogan. They sucker him into the ring and double team Beefcake. Savage notes the only chance Money Inc has to keep their Titles is getting disqualified. Like that would happen? Dibiase comes of the ropes with a double axe, but hurts his hands as Beefcake’s protective mask blocks. Ted gets run into the buckles ten times as the crowd chants. Hogan gets the tag and the crowd is rather excited for this. He gets the ten count punches in the corner and Ted does a Flair flop. More punches from Hogan! Clothesline from Hogan and more punching. Jim Ross calling a Hogan match still sounds weird, but Good Ol JR calling them nine years later didn’t sound weird for whatever reason. Hogan goes Rocky III trash talk as he tells Ted, “you’re not so bad.” I would have lost it if he called Ted a meatball. Ted gets tossed to the floor and IRS rushes in and he gets pitched to the floor as well to pop the crowd. Money Inc decide to take a walk as they had a habit of doing that. The ref makes the decision that if Money Inc gets counted out they will lose their Tag Titles. I mean, that is kind of a raw deal for Money Inc. Heenan rightly questions how the rules can change as you go. The crowd actually does the count and Money Inc has to sprint back to the ring. Ted lands a thumb to the throat as Heenan has other reasons for Hogan’s bad eye. Money Inc. take over as they use the tag rope to choke Hogan in the corner. Ted chokes on the top rope and breaks before five. He then takes the ref away so IRS can choke some more. Million Dollar Dream gets locked on and Hogan starts to fade as he drops to a knee. The crowd starts a Hogan chant as he is basically out, but the ref hasn’t even tried raising the arm yet. Finally he gets there and it drops once and twice, but not thrice. The crowd pop as Savage and Heenan note they have seen that before. Dibiase cranks back on it and Hogan starts to fade again. IRS comes in for some reason and the ref gets him out, but that lets Beefcake come in and put Ted out with a sleeper. Both men are out as we get a double count. It’s all simple, but the crowd is buying it. Hogan sits up like The Undertaker and crawls to make the tag to Beefcake. You would think Hogan would be the better option as the hot tag guy, but maybe they felt they needed to protect Beefcake with his face issue. He gets to run wild but Dibiase decks him in the lower back with the briefcase. IRS drops elbow and another. Ted in and he puts the boots to Beefcake. He goes for the protective mask as Heenan notes “we will have a hockey game. A face-off.” He’s The Brain! The mask gets taken off and Ross and Savage do a great job of selling the potential danger. IRS and Ted take turns just teeing off with right hands to the face. Heenan makes me laugh as he wants to hang magnets on Beefcake’s face like a refrigerator. Beefcake ducks a double clothesline and gets one of his own. He hooks a sleeper on IRS instead of tagging out which seems unwise. Dibiase decks him from behind which knocks down both men and the ref. Hot Tag to Hogan, but the ref is still down. Hogan starts firing off right hands to Ted and hits the big boot. He uses the mask to deck Ted and IRS. Double cover, but not ref so Jimmy Hart is in and turns his jacket inside out to show a ref’s uniform and he makes the count at 18:15. I mean, obviously that doesn’t count. They celebrate with the Titles like morons and the crowd cheers with them. Even Savage knows this is silly. Another ref comes down and raises the hands of Money Inc, which is also stupid as I guess they win by DQ because of a ref watching in the back.
Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Money Inc. via DQ at 18:15
-Stupid ending, but it was a fine enough tag match. Very simple, but the crowd was into it. I just wish they had some better way to get out of the corner they boxed themselves into. **
-Hogan and Beefcake want to beat up Danny Davis after the match and Heenan notes Hogan will be suspended, but then notes since it’s Hogan “they may give him $350,000.” Somewhere Eric Bischoff was listening and said “hold my beer.” Jimmy gets the honor of throwing Danny Davis to the floor.
-The Mega Maniacs pose to give the crowd some what of a happy ending to the match. They open Money’s Inc briefcase to find a brick (no, not cocaine) and a wad of cash. They hand out bills to the crowd. Heenan asking Hogan for some of the money is a brilliant character touch. He hates Hogan, but he loves money more than that hate.
Mr. Perfect vs. “The Narcissist” Lex Luger
-Luger comes out with bikini clad women and the reactions from Heenan and Savage to the ass shots are tremendous. “Have you met the Macho Man?” Ross notes he has been to a dozen rodeos in Oklahoma and never seen anything like that and Heenan nearly chokes laughing at him. I just realized the last two matches have featured six future members of the nWo. Perfect controls early, so Luger backs to a corner to slow things down. Perfect with a hammerlock and they trade reversals before Lex grabs the top rope. Luger goes to the eyes but Perfect catches him with a loud punch to the ribs. A dropkick sends Luger to the floor as Savage notes that Perfect is a “bobcat.” That’s certainly a comparison. Luger gets in a cheap shot over the ref’s back. Heenan makes a joke about dentures as Savage mentions taking a polygraph test. I don’t remember the commentary being so hilarious for this show. Maybe I am just old and appreciate this kind of humor more. Perfect targets the knee and gets a spinning toe hold. Perfect with one of the loudest chops you will ever hear and it gets an amazing reaction. Man! That’s even more impressive considering it’s an outdoor arena. Luger reverses a whip and sends Perfect back first into the corner. Savage is all over the fact that Perfect has a history of a back issue. Luger goes right after it as Heenan continues to make Oklahoma jokes. I wonder if Heenan was just testing Ross with all these jokes? Back in the ring Luger gets a backbreaker and drops a forearm for a two count. Perfect fights out of the corner with kicks and right hands. Whip to the corner, but Luger gets a knee in and goes for a cover with his feet on the ropes. The ref catches him though and forces a break. Luger with a powerslam for two. Perfect back with a sunset flip for two and then he hooks a sleeper. Luger runs him back first into the corner to force a break. Perfect slugs away to knock Luger down. Backdrop attempt is countered into a small package for two by Perfect. Now he gets a backdrop and then catapults Luger into the top buckle. Right hand follows and a forearm gets a two count. The sun has popped out and the fans on the main side are resorting to covering their eyes. I’ve been there with an awful sun at events. Sucks! Perfect off the top with an ugly missile dropkick. It gets two, but Luger had his foot on the ropes. They battle over a backslide and Luger uses the ropes to block. He then gets the backslide and pushes up enough that Perfect’s feet get stuck in the ropes and the ref doesn’t see it. That gets the three count at 10:56.
Winner: Lex Luger via pin at 10:56
-This was solid if a little boring at times. Perfect was game and it was an okay Mania debut for Luger. **1/4
-Luger knocks Perfect out with a forearm after the match. We got backstage as Perfect follows and attacks Luger, who is talking to Shawn Michaels. Shawn doesn’t take that well and beats the fire out of Perfect with whatever he can find. Perfect/Shawn wrestling had people drooling but we all know what happened.
-Savage and Heenan nearly get into a fight at commentary as Ross tries to keep the peace. The crowd was ready to explode if Savage popped Heenan.
The Giant Gonzalez (w/ Harvey Wippleman) vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)
-Taker gets his first special WrestleMania entrance as he comes in on a chariot with a vulture riding along. That would be rather intimidating! Taker noted during the Mania IX documentary he was not a fan of the vulture and thought it was a horrible idea. They always say watch working with kids and animals. This match is here for the spectacle much like Brock/Omos in recent history. Only difference this Taker character was not the one to get a lightning in the bottle good match out of Goinzalez. We get the stare down and Taker being dwarfed is rather striking. Giant throws clubbing blows and Taker just stares him down. He fires off right hands, but GG grabs him by the throat and runs him into the corner. Taker climbs the ropes and gets his own choke and forces GG to break. Gonzalez goes low with a punch to Taker’s reapers. Taker back with the rope walk but Gonzalez stays on his feet. Taker walks into a big boot to the face followed by a clothesline. You know what this is already better than I remembered. Gonzalez with a biel as Heenan continues the jokes at Ross’ expense. Now the match grinds to a stop as Gonzales works a reverse chinlock. Taker end up on the mat, but the power of the urn compels him to fight back to his feet. He throws elbows to escape but gets shoved to the floor. Heavy blows and chops from Gonzales and he throws Taker into the steps. Another trip into the stairs and that looked like it sucked for Taker’s knee. Taker heads back into the ring and there’s a head-butt. He sits up though and takes another one. Another sit-up and the crowd pops. Taker starts fighting back with rights and lefts. Gonzalez drops to one knee, but Wippleman throws a rag in the ring. Paul Bearer eats a head-butt while Wippleman gets decked by Taker. We go Memphis as Heenan, Ross, and Savage complain about a smell. Gonzalez uses the rag to smother Taker as it was soaked in chloroform and that’s a DQ at 7:33.
Winner: The Undertaker via DQ at 7:33
-I mean, this wasn’t good, but we have had worse at Mania. The ending was pretty bad, but they wanted to stretch this feud out. It was also relatively short, so I will take it. Could you imagine if they had Taker lose here, how it would have changed history? 3/4*
-The crowd is rather annoyed. A stretcher gets brought down for Taker as Gonzalez choke slams a ref. I mean it is drawing good heel heat. Taker gets wheeled out but GONG and he staggers back to the ring with his eyes rolled in the back of his head to a BIG POP. He drops Gonzales with clothesline and gets pulled back by Bearer as armed security escort Gonzalez to the back.
-Gene is in the back and throws to video of Yokozuna beating down Bret. He brings in Hulk Hogan, who says he was with Bret giving him some advice. He then calls Bret a Hulkamaniac which is funny now. Hogan says he is on Bret’s side, but challenges the winner to a Title Match. I’m sure nothing will come of that challenge.
WWF Championship: Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji)
-Bret is coming into this match after being knocked out by Lex Luger at a press conference. The bell sounds and Yoko continues to go with his prematch routine. Bret rushes Yoko and hits a shotgun dropkick that sends Yoko into the corner. Bret pounds away with right hands, but gets shoved off. He fires more chops, but one shot from Yoko staggers Bret. He tries a go behind, but Yoko is too big and shoves Bret away. A shoulder tackle sends Bret to the floor. Yoko throws a kick through the ropes. He tries another, but Bret ducks and uses the ropes to trip Yoko. That gets the big man off his feet and Bret goes to work as he is stuck between the middle and bottom rope. Bret drops an elbow from the middle ropes. The ref frees Yoko, who gets to his feet. Two clothesline from Bret, but a third try is countered as Yoko mows him down. Slam from Yoko followed by a leg drop and listen to that crowd reaction. Anything this man did looked like it killed someone. Loud USA chant! I mean, Bret’s Canadian. Yoko hooks a nerve hold but thankfully it doesn’t last long. He goes for a charge in the corner, but Bret gets his feet up. He hits a bulldog off the ropes and it looked rough, but was kind of fitting as it should be a struggle to hit a monster like this with a move like that. It gets two and Yoko is up before Bret and drops him with a super kick. Yoko goes back to the nerve hold as Savage things the crowd is chanting for respect but realizes they are chanting “USA.” Heenan brings up my point that Bret is from Canada. Yoko misses a splash in the corner and Bret gets another bulldog out of the corner, but Yoko kicks out with ease. Bret drops an elbow from the second rope and again, Yoko is out at two. Bret with a clothesline from the second ropes and then a hooking clothesline drops Yoko. Bret gets the mounted punches in the corner. Yoko pushes him away and Bret rips the buckle cover off. Bret sends Yoko into the exposed steel and gets The Sharpshooter. Fuji throws salt in Bret’s eyes and Yoko covers for the pin at 8:55. They should have had Yoko drop a leg or something on Bret to protect him a little more as he just jobbed to Sodium Chloride.
Winner and New WWF Champion: Yokozuna via pin at 8:55
-The nerve hold aside this was a fun little match as Bret came up with some good ways to make it look like he had a chance against Yoko. He knew how to work a monster like this and Yoko played his part perfectly. Way short though for a Mania Main Event and I believe Bret has stated their time was cut short. I actually went back and read Bret’s book on the match and he claims Yoko cut the match short. How bad was the formatting for this show that so much was cut short and matches were dropped? In some alternate Universe there’s a four hour WrestleMania IX out there. **1/2
-Hulk Hogan is out to protest and Fuji immediately challenges him to a match to face Yokozuna. Hogan is concerned about Bret, so he helps him out of the ring. Fuji throws the challenge out again and will put the WWF Title on the line right now. Bret tells Hogan to go for it and the crowd is going crazy. This is Hogan cashing in but without the briefcase and it gets the same pop.
WWF Championship: Yokozuna (c) (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Hulk Hogan
-Fuji loads up the salt again but Hogan ducks and Yoko gets blinded. A clothesline and leg drop later, Hogan is WWF Champion for a fifth time. There was no bell so call it 24 seconds from the time Savage yelled “ding ding,” to the three count.
Winner and New WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan via pin at 24 seconds
-Yeah, I cheered like crazy watching this live so deal with it. It still makes me smile today and look at the reaction of the people in the crowd. Bret got his moment a year later and was given the closest thing Vince ever gave to a public apology for this moment. SQUASH
-Hogan celebrates with Real American blaring, fireworks going off, and the crowd going crazy. I mean, it’s Hogan’s last WrestleMania for nearly a decade. Better it end this way than a DQ win in a middle of the card Tag Match.
-Thanks for reading!
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