wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WWF WrestleMania VII
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-I reviewed this show back in Feb of 2009, and since it is next on my 1991 list, I figured enough time had passed for another look. As famously noted, this show was supposed to be in the LA Coliseum, but ticket sales sucked and they switched to an arena show. I actually think it made for a hotter crowd. Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA
-March 24, 1991
-Attendance: 16,158
-PPV Buys: 400,000
-Willie Nelson sings America The Beautiful!
-Hacksaw Jim Duggan, dressed like Uncle Sam, gets introduced by Gorilla as he will be joining him on commentary for the first match.
Haku and The Barbarian (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Rockers
-THE BLOODLINE! Heyman goes way back with The Bloodline as we know, but Heenan goes back with them as well as he had The Islanders and then the future Faces of Fear. Shawn starts with Haku and he smartly tries to keep his distance. He gets too close and Haku lands one shot and hooks a side headlock. Weasel chant! Shawn tries to jump and Haku catches him and throws him into the corner. Shawn slips off the shoulders and after a series of leap frogs, he gets a leaping shoulder block. Haku goes to the throat, but misses a second shot. Tag to Marty and we get a double hiptoss and double slam, but Barbarian is in and RUNS DOWN BOTH ROCKERS WITH A CLOTHESLINE. Rockers back with a double superkick. Haku and Barbarian roll to the floor and regroup with Heenan, who tells them to bring things to their corner. Barbarian lands a loud chop on Marty and then hits a headbutt. Marty tries a sunset flip, but Barbarian throws a punch that Marty avoids. Marty goes for a Victory Roll and gets an assist from Shawn who hits a dropkick. Haku back in and Marty gets dropped with a double headbutt and then another loud chop. Marty tries a head scissors and ends up getting dropped on the top rope with a stun-gun thanks to Barbarian giving a helping hand. Back elbow lands from Haku (I keep wanting to type Meng) as the crowd is getting into this one. Barbarian back in and he powers Marty up and then down with a press slam. I always liked this team as it’s two monsters just tossing people around the ring. Marty ducks a clothesline and gets a cross-body for two, but Haku stays in control. Marty gets bounced in the corner and then two sweet backbreakers! Barbarian in for the cover, but he only gets two. Clothesline followed by a bear-hug! Marty escapes, but gets sent into the corner. He gets his feet up to block a charge and tries a cross-body off the middle ropes, but Barbarian catches and PLANTS him with a powerslam. Cool! Barbarian heads up, but misses the flying head-butt. Tag to Haku and then the HOT TAG to Shawn! He pounds away on Haku in the corner and dives onto Barbarian with a cross-body. Swinging neckbreaker on Haku gets two. Haku goes to the eyes. All four men in the ring for a second, but Haku gets sent to the floor with a double dropkick. Double clothesline to Barbarian! Marty off the top with a missile dropkick and then Shawn hits a top rope cross-body for the pin at 10:33.
Winners: The Rockers via pin at 10:33
-Fun opening tag match! They meshed well together which makes sense as Haku and Meng are at their best throwing people around the ring and The Rockers are great at taking a shit kicking. Hot crowd helped a lot as well. ***
-Gene interviews the celebrities backstage: Regis Philbin, Marla Maples, and Alex Trebek! Sadly, Marla is the only one still with us as we lost Gene, Regis, and Alex over a 19 month period from 2019-2020.
Dino Bravo (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. “The Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich
-Dino attacks Tornado as he enters the ring. Clothesline sends him over the top and to the floor. Oh, Bobby Heenan is on commentary now since he isn’t managing in this match and Duggan is out. Back in the ring Tornado gets an atomic drop and then a clothesline. Bravo blocks The Claw and fires off chops in the corner. Tornado reverses a whip, but runs into a boot in the corner. Bravo drops an elbow and gets a two count that was nearly a three. Clothesline is ducked once and twice, but Bravo catches Tornado with the side suplex. That is is finisher, but Tornado is out at two. Ugly chop off the middle ropes from Bravo. He stomps away in the corner. He comes off the middle ropes, but Tornado catches him with The Claw on the way down. Bravo gets to the ropes which forces a break, so Tornado just hits the discus punch for the pin at 3:12.
Winner: The Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich via pin at 3:12
-It was short and the crowd was happy to see Kerry. 1/2*
-Sean Mooney is backstage with Warlord and Slick. I forgot about the Terminator Phantom Mask that Warlord wore.
-Gene is backstage with Bulldog and Winston! I didn’t pay much attention to what Bulldog said as I was focused on Winston. I’m an officer manager at a vet clinic, I can’t help it.
The Warlord (w/ Slick) vs. The British Bulldog (w/ Winston)
-BIG MEATY MEN SLAPPING MEAT! Bulldog hits four shoulder blocks and it knocks Warlord through the ropes, but he lands on his feet. He regroups with Slick before heading back in the ring. Bulldog tries a crucifix, but Warlord PLANTS him with a Samoan Drop to break. Warlord fires Bulldog into the corner and catches him with a bear hug on the way out. The crowd is into this one as Bulldog claps the ears the break but gets caught with a stun-gun. Cool! Warlord gets two and complains to the ref. They start trading blows and Bulldog gets the advantage, so Warlord plants him with a belly-to-belly suplex. Again, Cool! Where was this Warlord in all the others matches I have watched with him? Chinlock which has the crowd rallying Bulldog. He gets to his feet and elbows his way out. Standing dropkick knocks Warlord into the corner where Bulldog rams his head off the top buckle. Cross-body gets a two count! Warlord back, but sets too early on a backdrop. Bulldog tries a piledriver, but Warlord backdrops out. Bulldog tries a sunset flip, Warlord sits down and flexes which lets Bulldog finish the move for a two count. Bulldog charges into a boot in the corner and that gets the crowd to rally behind him again. Warlord hooks The Full Nelson but doesn’t have his fingers locked. That lets Bulldog hang in there long enough to power his way out as the crowd cheers like crazy. He finally breaks, and floats over on a slam. That lets him get Warlord up for the powerslam and that gets the pin at 8:13.
Winner: The British Bulldog via pin at 8:13
-This is still a solid power match as Warlord seemed super motivated here, and it was kind of cool seeing Bulldog get thrown around the ring. The crowd was into it and Big E would approve of the Meat Slapping! **1/2
-Gene interviews The Nasty Boys and Jimmy Hart!
-Over to Mooney who is with The Hart Foundation and they offer their rebuttal.
WWF Tag Team Championship: The Hart Foundation (c) vs. The Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart)
-The Nasty Boys got themselves over in WCW thanks to their match with The Steiner Brothers only five months ago, and Vince immediately signed them away. Bret starts with Sags and Sags gets a cheap shot over the ref’s back. He slaps Bret in the face, but misses a clothesline and Bret gets a Thesz Press. He unloads with right hands like a certain future Stone Cold opponent. Knobbs in and Bret sends him to the floor and goes to work on Sags’ arm. Sags tries a boot, but Bret catches and gets a trip. He kicks Sags in the gut, so he tags out to Knobbs. Anvil in and he runs through Knobbs and sends him to the floor. Sags gets dumped as well. Back in Anvil controls the arm, but gets backed into the wrong corner. Knobbs lands some right hands and tags back to Sags. He sets too early on a backdrop and Anvil slams on the back of his head. Bret back in and he sends Sags into the corner and gets the 10 count punch in the corner. Side Russian Leg Sweep! Middle Rope Elbow Drop! Knobbs is in to save and eats a few right hands but he is able to blast Bret in the back of the head when he turned his back. Sags follows with a clothesline that sends Bret to the floor. I want to mention again, this crowd is great as there is just a noise even when they aren’t screaming their head off. Perhaps that Arena just has great acoustics as well. Sags sends Bret into the corner and then his a back breaker for two. He buries a knee to the back and hooks a camel clutch. Funny moment on commentary as Brain calls Jimmy a pip-squeak and Gorilla catches him, so Heenan blames it on someone in the crowd behind him. Knobbs in and he gets a modified camel clutch as well as the crowd continues to try to rally Bret. Tag back to Sags and he drops an elbow to the back. Hangman’s Neckbreaker gets two! Sweet move! Back to the modified camel clutch as this is not the star making match The Nasty Boys had with The Steiners. Bret forces a break, but Knobbs is in and cuts off the hot tag to Anvil. Bret lands another move, but this time Sags breaks up the hot tag attempt. Knobbs misses a splash in the corner and now the crowd is rolling as Bret makes the hot tag, but the ref never saw it. Megaphone passed to Knobbs and he accidentally blasts Sags. HOT TAG to Anvil! He throws Knobbs onto Sags and hits a double clothesline. Forearm to Knobbs gets a two count! Powerslam gets another two count as Sags saves. Bret knocks Sags to the floor and the chase is on. The Nasty Boys collide and that leads to a Hart Attack! The ref forces Bret out which lets Sags decks Anvil with the megaphone and Knobbs gets rolled over on top for the pin and upset at 12:10.
Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Nasty Boys via pin at 12:10
-For some reason I recall this one always being seen as a hidden gem, but I still don’t see it. The Nasty Boys kind of dominated this one and that camel clutch kind of ate up a lot of the match. The final few minutes were kicking into a high gear, but that was it. The Title change was pretty shocking at the time though. **1/2
-Recap of Rick Martel blinding Jake with arrogance.
Blindfold Match: Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. “The Model” Rick Martel
-So this is a rather famous match as both men have to wear hoods over their head and can’t see. I give them points for creativity and it works for the crowd as they are molten for this as they scream to help Jake. The silly stipulation aside, it works as a way to play with the crowd as Jake just has to point and the crowd lets him know if he is hold or cold basically. Heenan things it’s unfair. Martel crawls on the mat and Jake finds him for a moment. Martel stumbles over Jake and then start grappling on the mat. Funny spot as Martel sends Jake to the ropes and sets for a backdrop which has the crowd laughing. Gorilla even notes that was pretty dumb and isn’t sure what Martel expected there. They bump into each other, so they run and Martel goes throat first into the top rope. I give them both props for rolling with this and making the most out of it. These men are getting WrestleMania pay days with a molten crowd without having to take any real bumps. Good on them! Martel tries to drop an elbow, but nobody is there. The crowd continues to get Jake in the right area, but he is off still. Martel accidentally grabs the ref, but can feel a shirt and knows it is the ref. Heenan comes up with the idea of Martel putting on a shirt to confuse Jake. He’s The Brain! Jake starts clapping to get Martel’s attention and then circles back to that spot and gets hold of Martel. Cool! He slips away, so we start again. Martel is crawling around again and touches the snake bag and freaks out. We go again with the crowd playing hot and cold to help Jake. He finds Martel and gets a side headlock, but Martel shoves off and Jake spills to the floor. Martel crawls out and grabs a chair and wildly just starts poking around hoping to hit someone. He backs into the post and swings the chair into the post. Back in the ring we get a back breaker from Martel as he found Jake. He gets a Boston Crab, but Jake powers his way out and Martel staggers backwards into a DDT. It takes Jake a few minutes to find Martel and he gets the pin at 8:33.
Winner: Jake “The Snake” Roberts via pin at 8:33
-The more I see this match, the more I appreciate what they were doing. It probably ran a bit long, but I give them an A for effort and you can’t deny the crowd was into this. This is in no way the worst match in Mania history like some will try to tell you. **
-Marla Maples is backstage and is in the middle of the Nasty Boys celebrating their Tag Title win with Jimmy Hart and Earthquake. Champagne is popped! I always liked seeing celebrations like that when a World Title is won.
”Superfly” Jimmy Snuka vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)
-Taker is already starting to get face pops! He attacks Snuka from behind and sends him into the top buckle. He lands some right hands and chokes on the top rope. He stares down the ref as he dares count for Taker to break the hold. Leaping clothesline! More choking in the corner! Snuka gets dumped to the floor. Taker brings him back in with a sweet suplex! Taker misses an elbow and Snuka starts a comeback with right hands and a head-butt. He fires off some chops and tries a dive, but Taker ducks and Snuka crashes and burns on the top rope and to the floor. Snuka tries to spring if off the ropes, but Taker awkwardly catches him. He then sets him down and then picks him up for The Tombstone and pin at 4:19.
Winner: The Undertaker via pin at 4:19
-Just a SQUASH for Taker over a big man from the previous generation. It was sloppy at times, but it was the right result. It was kind of a passing of the torch as Monsoon often called Snuka, “The Phenom,” and that ended up being Taker’s nickname. Snuka is also the answer to the trivia question of who was the 1st man to lose to Taker at Mania to start his streak. SQUASH
-Recap of the awesomeness that is the Savage/Warrior feud! That scepter shot at The Rumble is still amazing!
-Somehow Bobby Heenan is able to spot Elizabeth across the arena from the announce table, but I will allow it because of what it is going to lead to.
Career Match: “The Macho King” Randy Savage (w/Queen Sherri) vs. The Ultimate Warrior
-Monsoon notes that Miss Elizabeth being here is fitting since she is such a huge part of Savage’s career. Warrior actually shows some smarts here as he doesn’t run to the ring and just walks to conserve energy. Even Heenan points out this is not what we usually see from The Warrior. He is rocking tights with The WWF Title Belt on the back and it reads, “Means Much More Than This.” That just add more gravity to this match. The crowd is rocking early as they start a Warrior chant. I love this match so much and I am going to enjoy every second of it again. Cautious start from both men which makes all the sense in the world. Lockup and Warrior backs Savage against the ropes. Savage tries to play mind games, but Warrior shakes it off and knocks him on his ass. Savage buries a knee to the ribs and lands a right hand. He clubs Warrior on the back, but gets knocked down with a shoulder. Savage bails to the floor and attacks from behind as Sherri distracts. Warrior shrugs that off and knocks Savage down again. He lifts him off the mat with a choke and then hits a reverse atomic drop. A regular Atomic Drop has Savage bouncing around the ring. Sherri in, so Warrior tosses Savage on her, which sends her to the floor. Savage eats another right hand and ends up tied in the ropes for a second. Warrior sets too early on a backdrop and Savage boots him in the chest. Clothesline from Savage! He heads up top as the crowd freaks out, but Warrior catches him. He calmly puts Savage on his feet and SLAPS HIM IN THE FACE! Awesome! Savage freaks out because being disrespected is even worse than punching him in the face. He tosses a chair in the ring, which seems to be him freaking out, but he uses it as a distraction so he can attack Warrior from behind. Cool! Warrior shakes that off though and stomps the piss out of Savage in the corner as the crowd counts along. Heavy right hands drop Savage as he is bumping like crazy! Whip to the corner but Warrior misses a splash and spills over the top to the floor. Sherri is right there and slaps Warrior in the face. Savage up top and comes down with the double axe. Nice! Sherri goes to the eyes and Warrior shoves her on her ass, but Savage attacks from behind and sends Warrior into the post. Sherri is relentless as she lays the boots into Warrior. Savage gets a two count back in the ring as Gorilla notes they have been told this is the largest PPV audience in history. Man, Vince just straight having Gorilla lie like that. Warrior back with a clothesline as he shakes off Sherri trying to distract him. He runs the ropes multiple times waiting for Savage, but misses a leaping shoulder as Savage side-stepped and helped drive Warrior into the mat. That gets a two count, so Savage hooks a chinlock. Warrior to his feet and he runs down Savage. He is up and we get a double clothesline. Sherri, showing great desperation, drags Savage over to her as she does all she can to wake Savage up. Sherri distracts the ref again as Warrior has Savage pinned with a small package. The ref gets there late and it ends up being a two count. Savage with a knee that sends Warrior into the ref, knocking him down. Sherri up top and tries to use her heel, but Warrior moves and Savage gets caught with it. Warrior is dumb and chases after her, which gives Savage a chance to regroup. He gets his hands on Sherri, but Savage is able to get a roll-up for two. Savage pulls the tights to send Warrior into the top buckle and drops Warrior throat first on the top rope. Savage uses the top rope to clothesline Warrior and then a slam for two. Here we go! SAVAGE OFF THE TOP WITH THE ELBOW AS THE CROWD FREAKS OUT! We aren’t done as Savage drops a second one! Hey, how about a third one! If you liked that, here’s a fourth one. Well, if you went that far, might as well drop a fifth one. The crowd reaction is great and somewhere little Bronson Reed was watching and got an idea. Warrior KICKS OUT THOUGH! Now Savage is baffled and isn’t sure what to do so he just starts throwing strikes. Warrior gets to the ropes and start shaking them as the crowd is losing it. Clothesline and another! He gets Savage up with The Gorilla Press Slam and drops him down as Liz sells her anxiety. The Splash that beat Hogan connects, but SAVAGE IS OUT AT TWO! OH MAN! Now Warrior is the one questioning life and starts talking to his hands as Gorilla talks about destiny. I love all this so much! Warrior decides it’s time to leave and the crowd stunned. The ref tries to talk sense into Warrior, but he won’t listen. Savage decks him to get his attention though. Sherri holds Warrior neck first on the railing as Savage heads up. Warrior pushes Sherri away and Savage ends up coming off into the railing in a beautiful camera shot from the floor. Savage is a pile of goo at this point. Warrior his the leaping shoulder and it knocks Savage to the floor. Warrior fires him back in the ring and hits another one that again, sends Savage to the floor. If Macho is going out, he is making sure he is selling everything like a champ. Warrior with a third one and again, Savage spills to the floor, but Warrior catches him sooner and pulls him back into the ring by the hair. WARRIOR PINS SAVAGE WITH ONE FOOT ON HIS CHEST TO END THIS ONE AT 20:49. FANTASTIC!
-Oh we aren’t done yet as everything that happens next only adds to the match! Warrior puts his jacket back on to celebrate as the ref checks on Savage. Warrior puts one more boot on Savage before taking his leave while Sherri freaks out on the floor as she has lost her meal ticket. She enters the ring and starts berating Savage and starts kicking the man while he is down. The crowd is pissed! Even Heenan is questioning what Sherri is doing at this point. The camera keep cutting to Liz and she finally has had enough, climbs over the barricade and sprints to the ring. She grabs Sherri by the hair and throws her to the outside as the crowd loses it. I can’t help by smile watching this and I have seen this hundreds of times. Savage comes to and isn’t sure what to think as he had no clue Liz was even there! Sherri is still bitching at him on the floor and Savage puts two and two together. Liz is crying as she stares as Savage and Heenan calls it sickening. SAVAGE AND LIZ HUG TO SEND THE CROWD INTO UTTER JOY! We see women in the crowd crying and again, I can’t help but smile every time I see this. Savage puts Liz on his shoulders like he did at Mania IV. More shots of women crying as Heenan questions if their shoes are too tight. Ha! “Must of had the chili dog with onions.” Liz holds the ropes for Savage like she always did, but not this time as Savage opens the ropes for her and it gets one the biggest pops of the night. Randy Savage just went from most hated to one of the most over faces they ever had and after he lost a retirement match. This is just brilliant!
Winner: The Ultimate Warrior via pin at 20:49
-This is one of my favorite matches of all time and it still rules. Some will say everything after the match shouldn’t affect the rating, but skip that. This was all part of a beautiful story. The match itself told a great story as both men were cautious and then threw everything they could at each other and both questioned what they had to do to get the win. In the end Warrior realized he just needed to beat Savage into a pile of goo to get the win. Then we had the next chapter in Savage’s WrestleMania career arc and it delivered one of the greatest and most emotional moments in WWE history. *****
-Intermission time as we get a medley of interviews. Regis interviews Taker and Paul Bearer and they measure him for a casket. Over to Trebek, who gets tormented by Demolition. Back to Regis who tries to interview Tenryu and Kitao and that goes nowhere. They seem to be Kathie Lee fans. Back to Alex who gets to deal with Jake and Damian.
-The joke is paid off when we learn Heenan set up all the interviews.
Demolition (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao
-As a kid I thought this was a weird match and Demolition was going to steamroll this team. Crush attacks Kitao from behind. Smash in to help and things seem kind of wonky. The crowd is burned out from the last match and angle as well which won’t help this one. More clubbering from Demolition. Smash with a belly to back suplex and more clubbering. Crush back from the top with a shot to the ribs. He gets a slam and this crowd doesn’t care. Smash chokes Kitao on the top rope as Heenan and Monsoon entertain themselves on commentary. Not a good sign when people are getting up to head for concessions. Kitao gets a clothesline and makes the tag to Tenryu and he runs wild. He misses a back elbow off the top rope though. Crush back in and he gets a back breaker. Heenan notes he has a business deal going with the Japanese and sure it’s a joke, but I believe that actually went somewhere in WCW. Crush up for their finisher, but Kitao knocks him down. Enziguiri Teynru gets a pop and then a powerbomb gets an even bigger pop and the pin at 4:43.
Winners: Tenryu and Kitao via pin at 4:43
-A big styles clash, but it was short and the crowd popped for the powerbomb. *
-Gene interviews Boss Man backstage and he makes police related puns.
-Over to Mooney who is with Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan. They offer their response and more police references are made.
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Mr. Perfect (c) (w/ Bobby Heenan) vs. The Big Boss Man
-Lord Alfred Hayes joins Gorilla on commentary since Heenan is out there with Perfect. The main issue here is between Heenan and Boss Man as Heenan had been making jokes about Boss Man’s mom for months. Boss Man worked his way one by one through the Heenan Family and now gets this shot at Perfect. Boss Man catches Perfect’s towel and wipes his ass with it before throwing it back to him. Perfect with a slap to the face. The crowd is back into things as the last match apparently was a solid bumper. Boss Man lands a slap out on the floor and Perfect does a 360 off it. Back in the ring Perfect continues to bump like a mad man off a clothesline and then another one sends him to the floor. “Weasel” chant from the crowd. Cool! Back in the ring Boss Man misses a charge in the corner and Perfect goes to work on the back. He lands a loud chop, but gets sent into the corner off a reversal and does a 360 off that. That’s our Perfect! Boss Man removes his belt and gets in a lash, which should be a DQ, but no dice. The ref does get the belt away from Boss Man. Perfect with another loud chop and Boss Man punches him in the face. Perfect back with another chop and then hooks an abdominal stretch. Heenan tells the keeper to ring the bell but he’s not Vince and this isn’t Montreal. Perfect releases the hold and gets a dropkick. More chops and Boss Man responds with another punch to the face. Perfect hits his neck snap and goes for the Perfect-plex, but Boss Man counters with a small package for two. Perfect up first though and regains the advantage. He heads up top but Boss Man gets a boot up to block. Boss Man throws Perfect across the ring and pulls him balls first into the ring post. Gorilla: “That will give you a negative attitude.” Boss Man fires off punches in the corner and an uppercut sends Perfect over the top. Boss Man makes the mistake of going after Heenan and Perfect sends him into the steps. Heenan lands a few kicks, but Andre The Giant walks down to a huge pop. Well, sucks to be Heenan now! Andre stalks Heenan around the ring as Perfect removes the buckle padding in a corner. “Andre” chant from the crowd and good for The Giant! Perfect has the IC Title in his hand as he continues to follow Heenan. Perfect wants his belt back and is kind of cautious about yelling at Andre. I don’t blame him! Gorilla: “Who is going to tell Andre to put the belt down?” Perfect then gets dumb and tries to grab the belt and Andre decks him with it. That leaves both men down as the ref starts his 10 count. Boss Man sits up first and gets a cover for a two count. Here’s Haku and The Barbarian and we have a DQ at 10:46.
Winner: The Big Boss Man via DQ at 10:46
-This should have been better, but the ending hurt and in the end it seemed to be more about giving Andre one final Mania moment and having him give Boss Man a rub. **1/2
-Andre decks Perfect from the floor which lets Boss Man get to his feet. The Heenan Family dumps for Andre on the floor as he gets one final WrestleMania moment. Boss Man raises Andre’s hand, but Andre turns that around and raises Boss Man’s arm before offering a hand shake. That’s a heck of an endorsement there!
-Mean Gene interviews future US President and WWE Hall of Famer, Donald Trump, who is in the crowd. Next he interviews Chuck Norris, who is a fan and his days of wrestling go back to Gorgeous George. Henry Winkler next and he is a Warrior fan. Lou Ferrigno next who says this is better than The Olympics. That is quite a foursome of celebrities!
Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine
-We all know Hammer needs at least 15 minutes to get warm, and that’s not going to happen here. Quake had been making all the money with Hogan for nearly a year, and this is just a way to keep him heated. Lockup and Hammer gets forced to the corner. He throws some shoulders and lands a chop. Powerslam from Quake, who then flexes before getting a two count. Only 14 minutes to go Hammer! Quake misses a splash in the corner and Hammer starts throwing elbows. He rocks Quake with a shot to the head and knocks him to a knee with one to the back of the head. He starts firing off jabs and then a clothesline. Quake is standing, so Hammer comes off the middle ropes with an elbow and that knocks Quake down. He tries for The Figure Four, and yeah, good luck with that. He goes for it again, but Jimmy Hart is on the apron. Quake slugs Hammer down and drops an elbow. Earthquake Splash finishes at 3:15.
Winner: Earthquake via pin at 3:15
-Valentine got in more offense than expected, but gets SQUASHED in the end. This was similar to Taker/Snuka as a current monster got dominate a known star from the previous generation. *
-Mooney is with The Legion of Doom and Hawk notes tonight Power and Glory will be known as Sour and Gory.
Power and Glory vs. The Legion of Doom
-Power and Glory were turning into a solid team as they had a feud with The Rockers the previous year, but they are TOAST here. They attack before the bell, but that’s the extent of their offense. Roma off the top and Animal catches him with a powerslam on the way down. Hawk takes care of Hercules on the floor and Doomsday Device finishes Roman at 59 seconds.
Winners: The Legion of Doom via pin at 59 seconds
-Thanks for coming Power and Glory! SQUASH
-Recap of The Dibiase/Virgil feud and how it all built to a fantastic moment at The Royal Rumble, where Virgil finally had enough and decked Dibiase with Piper losing his mind on commentary. Virgil even got a fluke win on Haku thanks to interference from Piper as well.
”The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase vs. Virgil (w/ Roddy Piper)
-Piper hobbles down on crutches as he was coming off a motorcycle accident. Virgil comes down without any entrance music, but it’s kind of a cool as the crowd chants his name once he hits the ring. Virgil uses boxing to control early and flusters Dibiase by avoiding all his kicks. A roundhouse sends Dibiase to the floor. Another loud “Virgil” chant. More boxing from Virgil and Dibiase bails to the floor again and pounds on the apron in frustration. Back in the ring Virgil lands more punches and Dibiase goes flying over the top to the floor. Virgil makes the mistake of going after Dibiase and gets caught coming back in the ring. Ted gets a clothesline, but Virgil is back on him with his boxing and again, Dibiase bails in frustration. Back in Virgil starts to use wrestling and it frustrates Ted some more. The story is solid so far as Dibiase came in cocky and wasn’t ready for this. He gets desperate and just starts pounding on Virgil in the corner. He fires off chops and hits a back elbow as Piper yelled for him to duck. Piledriver from Dibiase gets a two count. Brian plugs a WrestleMania Party at Caesar’s Palace coming up in a few days. Maybe they can have a WrestleMania there one day. Ted with a gut-wrench suplex for two. He sends Virgil to the floor and fires off chops against the railing. Ted sends Virgil back into the ring and shoves Piper on his ass. That may have been the biggest bump of the match. Heenan gets to work in, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” Dibiase gets a powerslam in the ring, but Piper gets to his feet and uses the crutch to low bridge Dibiase and send him to the floor. Ted attacks Piper again and ends up getting counted out at 7:41.
Winner: Virgil via count-out at 7:41
-Great heat, but a so-so match. Virgil had to wrestle like a newbie, but the story of Dibiase being over confident was solid. The ending was whatever, but I think they wanted to give the fans the happy ending without actually beating Dibiase. It also works as Virgil had been costing Ted matches against jobbers by getting him counted-out. **
-Ted is a rather bit peeved and puts Virgil in the Million Dollar Dream. Piper is able to crawl into the ring and blasts Dibiase with his crutch and it didn’t break. Sherri is out and she steals the crutch from Piper, which lets Dibiase deck him. With Savage retired, Sherri has quickly found someone new. Really strong beat down here as they attack Piper’s damaged hip with the crutch. Virgil finally makes the save, but the damage has been done. Piper sells the hip like a crazy man as you would expect and Virgil yells at him to get up. The student has become the teacher! Piper gets to his feet and Virgil gives him a hug to the delight of the crowd.
-Mooney is backstage with Sgt. Slaughter and General Adnan. We see Slaughter burning a Hogan shirt and I think I remember reading they thought about burning an American Flag, but came to their senses. I could be wrong though. Slaughter notes he is playing with his set of rules.
The Mountie (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Tito Santana
-Another case of a character they want to get over versus a credible name from the past generation. Tito runs Mountie and Jimmy into each other on the floor. Back in the ring Tito gets an atomic drop and lands a right hand. Mountie gets the cattle prod and catches Tito in the gut to get the pin at 1:21.
Winner: The Mountie via pin at 1:21
-The crowd didn’t care and poor Tito got stuck with this match. The Mountie looked weak and his only offensive move was the cattle-prod. Not sure if they were running long, but this really wasn’t needed on the show. DUD
-Gene is with Hulk Hogan and we see Slaughter attack Hogan while he was having a match with Adnan. He whips Hogan with his crop and hooks the camel clutch, while Adnan holds the WWF Championship in Hogan’s face. Hogan notes he has done a 360 after hearing Slaughter’s rules. Well, that’s a full circle but I get what he meant.
-The Fink brings out the celebrities for the Main Event: Ring Announcer: Alex Trebek, Time Keeper: Marla Maples, and Commentator: Regis Philbin, who joins Heenan and Monsoon.
WWF Championship: Sgt. Slaughter (w/ General Adnan) vs. Hulk Hogan
-The crowd explodes for Hogan’s entrance as you would expect! He comes down to the ring with a giant US Flag! Hogan immediately chases Slaughter on the floor as the “USA” chant is deafening. Again, the angle was in poor taste, but it got the crowd reaction they wanted for this match. Slaughter takes his time to get out of his military uniform, which just lets the crowd get even louder as they start a “Hogan” chant. We are over two minutes in and they haven’t touched yet but the crowd doesn’t care. Lockup and the jockey for position. They end up in the corner and the ref separates them. Another lockup and man, this crowd is great! Hogan shoves Slaughter across the ring and Slaughter complains of a hair pull. Another lockup and Hogan hooks a side headlock. Slaughter shoves off and they collide in the middle of the ring and Slaughter stands his ground. Another go and this time Slaughter gets knocked down and he rolls to the floor. Hogan goes out and hits a double ax to the back. He fires off a chop and Adnan hits Hogan in the back. Slaughter grabs a chair and hits Hogan, but no effect. My guess is the coat stuck on the chair softened the blow. Sounds logical! Slaughter begs off in the corner and goes to the eyes. USA chant again! Slaughter rams Hogan into the top buckle and gets a back elbow. Hogan avoids another elbow and starts firing off right hands. Adnan eats one as well. Hogan gets the clothesline in the corner. Heenan explains to Regis why he hates Hogan. Atomic drop gets a two count for Hogan. He follows Sarge to the floor and rakes the break as he breaks out his Hollywood Hogan offense. Hogan sends Sarge into the top buckle one, twice and then a third time. Backdrop out of the corner! Hogan with right hands and Sarge gets sent stomach first into the corner and takes a big bump. Hogan follows with a high knee and then catapults Sarge into the ring post. Cool! Monsoon notes we are seeing the Hogan of the 90s here. Just wait! Running clothesline for a second time. I always liked that move! Hogan punches away in the corner and gets another two count. HOGAN TO THE MIDDLE ROPE and gets caught with a right hand coming down. He shakes that off though and gets a slam. He drops two elbows and now decides to head TO THE TOP ROPE! Adnan grabs the leg and that lets Slaughter slam Hogan down from there. HULK HOGAN BUMP MACHINE! To the floor and Slaughter finds a chair without a coat on it, and blasts Hogan in the back. This match wasn’t announced as no DQ, but Hebnar is just letting it go. Back in the ring Slaughter goes to work on the back with kidney punches. Backbreaker gets a two count! Slaughter hooks the Boston Crab and makes sure he is close enough to the ropes so Adnan can push on his head for extra leverage. CHEAT TO WIN! Regis rightly questions why Hogan doesn’t just reach out for the ropes. He eventually does to force a break, though Slaughter thinks he won. Slaughter heads up top and comes off with a knee to the back. Not the match where I was expecting both men to come off the top rope. Slaughter gets two as Adnan had the ref distracted for some reason. Slaughter heads out for another chair and smashes Hogan in the head, which has Hogan bleeding. Good blade job too as the blood is pouring. Hogan stumbles around the ring to sell the blood loss. Came Clutch and we get the cool visual of Hogan’s bloody face. It’s not Austin at Mania 13, but it’s still pretty good. Hogan knows what to do to break this hold and he uses the crowd’s energy to fight to his feet. He tries to do what he did in 83, but Sarge is hip to his game and runs Hogan into the corner. Sarge then gets a bit cocky and buries Hogan under The Iraqi Flag. He covers for two, and HOGAN IS PISSED! He rips the Iraqi Flag and it’s Hulk Up time! The crowd is on fire right now! Big Boot! Leg Drop and Hogan is a 3 time WWF Champion at 20:25.
Winner and New WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan via pin at 20:25
-I still enjoy this match. Hogan didn’t go 20 minutes all that often, but always put in work at WrestleMania. He had a run of very good to great Mania matches starting at V with Savage to this one. This one is the weakest of those three, but still a good match. The crowd helped a bunch as they were biting everything they were doing. There was no other ending besides Hogan going over clean as a sheet. ***1/2
-Hogan celebrates and wipes his bloody face with an American Flag, as I assume he forgot what he was holding when he had to get the blood away. Gorilla closes the show as Heenan is worried about who is going to show up to his party now.
-Thanks for reading!
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