On the Marc Reviews: WrestleMania X

“On the Marc” Reviews: WrestleMania X

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Madison Square Garden, New York, NY; March 20, 1994

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

Little Richard sings America the Beautiful

I was at this show, my first and only WrestleMania and I got treated to Mr. Perfect’s return (a personal favorite of mine), WWF title switches and two 10/10 matches in one night!

The Bushwhackers vs. The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) dark match: This is from my memory from my seat and my photos I took. The Whackers clear the ring in the beginning, the Bodies take over on Butch and eventually a hot tag is made and the battering ram is hit on one of the Bodies (guessing Jimmy Del Rey) and Tom Prichard attacks the Whacker who is pinning him while the referee is trying to put the other Bushwhacker out and the Heavenly Bodies win. 2/10 Bushwhacker dark match. This is why it’s a dark match.

Quick explanation on this show: Bret Hart and Lex Luger both won the 1994 Royal Rumble on a simultaneous elimination. A coin flip determined Bret would wrestle Owen Hart while Luger got first crack at WWF Champion Yokozuna with Bret facing the winner later on.

Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. “The Rocket” Owen Hart: The history here is Owen felt he was in the shadow of Bret. His jealousy eventually got the better of him and turned on Bret at the Royal Rumble. They trade a series of amateur wrestling counters with Owen gloating and celebrating every time he does anything positive. Bret uses Owen’s momentum to fling him to the floor so Owen slaps Bret and retreats to the ropes. Bret works an arm wringer and Owen uses he hair to get the advantage. Bret tries a reverse victory roll for two. Bret locks in another armbar. Bret works in some leapfrogs and dropdowns and flings Owen with a monkey flip. They get into a shoving match and Bret slaps Owen for a two count. Bret hits a crucifix and reapplies the armbar. Owen escapes and runs his leapfrogs and dropdowns and nails a spinning wheel kick. Owen rams Bret’s back into the steel post on the floor. Owen hits a nice backbreaker and applies a Camel Clutch; Bret counters but runs right into a belly-to-belly suplex. Owen tries a second rope high-cross body but Bret turns it over for two. Owen immediately attacks Bret after the kick out and applies a reverse chinlock. Bret keeps countering slowly frustrating Owen. Owen tries to suplex Bret back into the ring but Bret counters; Owen counters that into a German suplex for two. Bret blocks a suplex and rolls up Owen for two. Bret reverses Owen into the ropes for a backbreaker but Owen flips out of it and hits a jumping Tombstone piledriver; Owen ascends the buckles but misses a splash. Bret starts to comeback with an atomic drop, side Russian leg sweep, pendulum backbreaker and second rope driving elbow for two. Owen hits a desperation enziguri. They fight over the Sharpshooter so Owen attempts a reverse victory that sends Owen to the floor off the kick out. Bret hits a piscato but hurts his leg on the landing which Owen immediately takes advantage of. He twists Bret’s leg in the ringpost. Owen hits a dragon screw, an inverted figure four and then a standard figure four leg lock. Bret reverses so Owen rolls into the ropes. Owen grabs Bret’s leg but gloats too much and Bret returns the enziguri favor. Owen takes Bret’s usual corner chest bump. Bret kills him with the bulldog and a perfectly executed piledriver. Bret hits a top rope superplex that gets two. What a match. Bret applies a sleeper and when Owen makes the ropes he reverse kicks Bret in the nuts as the referee just misses it. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter; Bret solves the puzzle and reverses it. Owen grabs the rope. Bret goes for an off-the-shoulder victory roll but Owen counters mid-move for the three count. 10/10 Twenty minutes of awesome. This win “rocketed” Owen up the WWF rankings as he stepped out of Bret’s shadow. This is THE best opening match in WWF history and one of the best at WrestleMania; the first 10/10 WrestleMania since Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.

Owen Hart gloats and says he beat his brother and is the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be.

Cy Sperling shows off Howard Finkel’s new hair.

Doink the Clown & Dink the Clown vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon mixed tag match: This is the severely neutered face Doink that everyone remembers and hates. Bam Bam smashes Doink and hits a dropkick but misses a Senton splash. Dink tags in and Luna must come in. Dink runs around and slaps Luna’s ass. She chokes him in the ropes. Dink runs around Luna and she kicks him. Dink tries a top rope move and misses. Luna slams him but misses a top rope splash. Doink and Bam Bam return and he puts Doink on the floor. The heels try to lunge at Dink but fall on their faces. Doink tries a sunset flip but Bam Bam sits on him. Doink counters and hits a jumping DDT. Doink goes up and misses the whoopee cushion. Dink inadvertently gets knocked off the apron by Bam Bam who takes control and hits the diving head-butt for three. Post-match the heels abuse Dink someone messed up and Dink gets splashed and they all leave. 4.5/10 Decent comedy match. Do not know what happened at the end there.

A Bill Clinton lookalike is in the crowd.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) no DQ, falls count anywhere: The rules are a little different than the usual falls count anywhere. After the pin the loser of the fall has 60 seconds to return to the ring. Crush turned on Randy Savage after he felt Macho Man did not help him while Yokozuna repeatedly banzai dropped him after a match. Savage attacks in the aisle; Crush comes back with an atomic drop, a 360 backbreaker and a press-slam onto the steel railing. Savage just beats the 60 second clock into the ring. Crush attacks immediately and head-butts him and ties him in the tree of woe. Mr. Fuji hands Crush some salt but Savage pushes it into Crush’s face. Savage hits the double axe and the flying elbow drop, he rolls Crush to the floor and pins him. That is the only drawback to the weird rules it looks kind of silly rolling him out to pin him. Fuji douses Crush with water to revive him and he beats the count. Savage charges but gets backdropped over the top. Savage tosses Crush into the crowd where Savage backdrops out of a piledriver. They brawl into the stage area where Macho Man pins Crush and ties his legs with camera cable and wins the match when Crush cannot return to the ring in time. 4/10 The silly rules hurt this match but it was an innovative way Savage used them to his advantage.

Todd Pettengill talks with Bill Clinton who is sitting with IRS and Jack Tunney; IRS thanks Clinton for raising taxes.

“Macho Man” Randy Savage celebrates with the fans in the Paramount Theatre.

WWF Women’s Championship Alundra Blayze vs. Leilani Kai: This is the WWF’s attempt to rekindle women’s wrestling. Leilani Kai was the Women’s Champion at the first WrestleMania. Kai hits a few moves and Alundra tries a victory roll and a sunset flip to no avail. Kai continues to dominate; Alundra hits a desperation hurracanrana but Kai stays on top. Leilani hits a butterfly suplex but misses a clothesline. Alundra comes back with a clothesline and a leg clothesline. Blayze hits a German suplex for three. 3/10 Not a very good match; Leilani was years past her prime and Alundra got about five moves in.

Shawn Michaels hits on Rhonda Shear but Burt Reynolds cock-blocks him.

WWF Tag Team Championship The Quebecers (w/Johnny Polo) vs. Men on a Mission (w/Oscar): It’s weird seeing Raven as Johnny Polo. The Quebecers attack early and take Mabel off his feet. He comes back with a double clothesline. Mo drop-toe holds Pierre and Mabel leg drops him. The Quebecers hit some unique double teams like Jacques backdropping Pierre onto Mo once in the ring and once to the floor. They double flapjack Mo off the top rope. Mo hits a rolling Senton to almost make the tag. Pierre misses an Off-ramp and Mo tags Mabel. Mabel cleans house but misses an avalanche. The Quebecers double suplex Mabel, quite impressive. They go for the top rope assisted cannonball but Mabel kicks out. They seemed to have forgotten what to do for a while as everyone meanders around the ring. Mabel hits his spinning wheel kick. MOM hit the double team splash and Johnny Polo and Oscar have the referee distracted. The Quebecers miscommunicate and MOM hit the double splash on the floor and there is a bell. MOM wins by count-out and celebrates with the belts like idiots. 3.5/10 Good match in the beginning including Quebecers double teams until it all fell apart in the end.

WWF Heavyweight Championship Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) vs. Lex Luger: Donnie Wahlberg is the guest ring announcer; Rhonda Shear is the guest timekeeper; the returning Mr. Perfect is the guest referee wearing his referee pajamas. This is the first of the two title matches. Cornette’s sequence outfit is really something to see. Luger pounds away but Yoko reverses the clothesline and Yoko misses an elbow drop. Yoko goes to the floor where Luger rams his head into the steel steps twice. Luger hits a tope rope cross body for two. Luger tries a slam but Yoko collapses onto him and regains the advantage. Cornette distracts Mr. Perfect meanwhile Yoko removes one of the turnbuckle pads. Yoko applies a trapezius hold and that goes for a while. Luger makes his way to his feet but Yokozuna uses his girth to keep the advantage and chops Luger down and reapplies the trapezius hold. Yoko tosses Luger to the floor. Luger reenters and winds up in yet another trapezius hold. Luger escapes; Yoko pounds, trapezius hold. I remember the fans in my section were totally bored at this point. Yoko hits a belly-to-belly and tries to put Luger into the padless turnbuckle but it is reversed and Yoko tastes the steel. Luger fires up and slams Yokozuna. Luger hits the bionic forearm and beats up Cornette, Mr. Fuji and goes for the pin but Mr. Perfect refuses to count. Perfect tries to get Cornette and Fuji out of the ring. Luger spins Perfect around questions Perfect who immediately DQ’s Luger. Payback’s a bitch Luger. 2/10 This match is too long and too boring. The trapezius hold(s) goes on forever. Apparently Luger was supposed to win the title but he blabbed the results to a local New York paper so the show has to be rebooked at the last minute.

Mr. Perfect says you never put your hands on a WWF official. He and Lex Luger get into a shouting match over it.

Earthquake vs. Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman): Prior to the match Harvey gets in Howard Finkel’s face and TEARS HIS TUXEDO; Finkel pushes Harvey down and Adam Bomb shows up to help his manager. Earthquake attacks Adam Bomb from behind and powerslams him and hits the Earthquake splash for three. 1.5/10 Squash match. Do not understand the burial of Adam Bomb here.

Jim Cornette says tough luck for Lex Luger and Yokozuna is aware of Bret Hart’s knee injured and Yokozuna is ready for him. Yoko is going to have a feeding frenzy at Bret Hart’s expense.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) ladder match: The reason for the two titles is because Shawn left the WWF while still champion. Razor Ramon and Rick Martel won a battle royal on Raw to wrestle for the vacant title the next week. Razor won; Shawn returned later on in the year and claimed to be the real champion since he was never beaten. So the ladder match decided to “unify” the two Intercontinental championships. For those who do not know the rules of a ladder match; the titles are hovering over the ring the object is to use the ladder to retrieve the titles. Razor blocks a hiptoss but when Shawn flips to counter Razor chokeslams him. Shawn comes back with a swinging neckbreaker. Shawn sidesteps Razor and tosses him to the floor where Diesel clotheslines him. Referee Earl Hebner tosses Diesel from ringside. Razor clotheslines Shawn to the floor and pulls up the floor pad; Shawn Michaels tosses Razor back into the ring. Razor goes for the Razor’s Edge right by the ropes and gets backdropped onto the floor where he removed the padding from elbow first. Shawn introduces the ladder but Razor attacks and steals the ladder. Now the fun begins. Shawn baseball slides the ladder into Razor’s stomach as he tries to put it in the ring. Shawn jams the ladder into Razor’s stomach. He then slams it into his back and tosses the ladder into Razor’s back. Shawn starts climbing; Razor pulls his tights down and Shawn knocks him off and drops an elbow. Shawn slams Razor into the center of the ring and dives off the ladder onto him. Shawn climbs again but Razor pushes the ladder over clotheslining Shawn off the top rope. Shawn sets the ladder in the corner and tries to whip Razor into it and Shawn goes into the ladder and winds up on the floor. Razor sandwiches Shawn between the ringpost with the ladder then sets the ladder against the ring and slingshots Shawn into it. Razor rams the ladder into Shawn’s jaw sending him back to the floor. Razor sets up the ladder and climbs. Shawn jumps off the top and knocks Razor and the ladder down, which lands on Shawn. Both start climbing simultaneously; Razor slams Shawn off the up of the ladder and the ladder crumples under the weight. Razor sets up again and climbs; Shawn dropkicks the ladder and Razor falls off again. Shawn Irish whips Razor into the Superkick. Shawn piledrives Razor; he then sets up the ladder in the corner and rides it down on top of Razor. Shawn sets the ladder over Razor and climbs. Razor shoulder blocks the ladder over and Shawn crotches himself on the top rope and gets his leg caught. Shawn frees himself too quick so he improvises and gets his arm caught. Razor grabs the belts and Shawn just dives for the ladder but he is just short as Razor falls off the ladder with both belts and becomes the undisputed Intercontinental champion. 10/10 Incredibly innovative for the day; no one had ever seen a match like this. The people in my section were speechless once it was over. The spots may seem trite considering what the ladder match became in the Attitude era but this is the match it all stemmed from. Wow, two 10/10 matches on one card.

The ten-man tag match between IRS, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel and The Headshrinkers vs. The 1-2-3 Kid, “Sparky” Plugg, Tatanka and The Smokin’ Gunns because the heel team could not decide who will be team captain; or they ran short of time.

Ted Dibiase visits Bill Clinton and says everyone has a price.

WWF Heavyweight Championship Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) vs. Bret “Hitman” Hart: Burt Reynolds is the special guest ring announcer; Jennie Garth is the special guest timekeeper; “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is the special referee. Bret hobbles to the ring and Yoko attacks before he can get through the ropes. Yoko dominates and slams Bret and bites Bret in the ropes. Cornette jumps up on the apron; Piper shoves him down. Meanwhile, Yoko misses a big splash. Bret punches his way back and connects with a head-butt but that knocks both guys down. They are selling the exhaustion of their prior matches. Bret hammers away on Yoko since he is too big to toss around with wrestling moves. Cornette pulls Piper out of the ring on a pin attempt so he knocks Cornette out. Meanwhile in the ring Yokozuna continues to choke Bret Hart then he hits the Hulkbuster leg drop but he misses the butt avalanche; Bret hits a second rope bulldog for two. Bret nails the driving elbow for two; Bret nails the Hart Attack clothesline for two. Bret jumps off the ropes right into Yoko’s belly-to-belly. Yoko drags Bret to the corner for the Banzai Drop. Piper looks as if he was going to shake the ropes but Yoko just falls backwards off the ropes Bret rolls on top for three and the title. Post-match all of the faces in the WWF celebrate in the ring including Lex Luger, Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage. They hoist Bret on their shoulders and Owen Hart appears in the entrance way, looking on jealously. After the show went off the air all of the faces celebrated and then left the ring. 6.5/10 Decent main event match with a slow pace but that remains consistent with both guys selling the exhaustion of wrestling earlier in the night; so it works.

The 411: WrestleMania X is one hell of a show. Not just because I was personally there but because of two 10/10 matches on one card. One was an excellent wrestling match the other was a pioneer of an entire wrestling style. The undercard is not too shabby either, except for a few duds and squashes. This was also the beginning of the New Generation Era for the WWF.
Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]