Taking a beating in the reviews and I know why weaker than Mania 2 the worst to date of The Wrestlemania. What I will say on the positive side is for good or bad reasons this one is memorable. With moments that stand out that even in pictures you instantly know It's this mania.
21 Reviews
Gimmicks Have Taken Over
kevinc568010 June 2006
To me, this was the beginning of the end for the WWF in the 1990's. I absolutely love wrestling, but a few more years of this and I was watching something else on my spare time. And that's exactly what happened. It's not a surprise the WCW finally caught up with the WWF after years of putting out these kind of matches. Luckily for Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, there was some life left.
Wrestlemania IX had some good matches, but to me some of the characters killed the mood. For instance, Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka. Credit Tatanka cause he's a good wrestler. But I just couldn't get passed the Indian character and to me, it ruined a good match. Same with Crush vs. Doink the Clown. Doink as a villain was more tolerable than as a baby face, but coming off Wrestlemania VIII, I was hoping for a little bit more classic wrestling matches and not a real life cartoon. Now Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect was good. I did enjoy that match. The Mega Maniacs (Beefcake and Hogan) vs Money Inc (DiBiase and IRS) was good, simply because the spotlight wasn't completely on Hulk Hogan. Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales was the birth of the Undertaker's typical match. Big guy with no skill comes and beats up the Undertaker. Undertaker recovers and challenges/stalks the big guy. Big guy fights at PPV and is never seen again. Until the late 1990's and after 2004, this would be exactly the storyline you got out of the Undertaker. The Undertaker is great, but like Hogan, I got tired of seeing the same type of match. But for the sake of the time, this was one of the first. The Steiner Brothers had a pretty good match with the Headshrinkers. But the biggest disappointment comes in the main event with Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. When this "finale" happens, even at age 13, I was upset. Those two wrestlers had a pretty good match, only to be wasted by the end. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into detail.
Wrestlemania IX was okay, but I had a hard time being convinced of much when a clown or an Indian were the point of interest. Fortunately, it gets better years later.
Wrestlemania IX had some good matches, but to me some of the characters killed the mood. For instance, Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka. Credit Tatanka cause he's a good wrestler. But I just couldn't get passed the Indian character and to me, it ruined a good match. Same with Crush vs. Doink the Clown. Doink as a villain was more tolerable than as a baby face, but coming off Wrestlemania VIII, I was hoping for a little bit more classic wrestling matches and not a real life cartoon. Now Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect was good. I did enjoy that match. The Mega Maniacs (Beefcake and Hogan) vs Money Inc (DiBiase and IRS) was good, simply because the spotlight wasn't completely on Hulk Hogan. Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales was the birth of the Undertaker's typical match. Big guy with no skill comes and beats up the Undertaker. Undertaker recovers and challenges/stalks the big guy. Big guy fights at PPV and is never seen again. Until the late 1990's and after 2004, this would be exactly the storyline you got out of the Undertaker. The Undertaker is great, but like Hogan, I got tired of seeing the same type of match. But for the sake of the time, this was one of the first. The Steiner Brothers had a pretty good match with the Headshrinkers. But the biggest disappointment comes in the main event with Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. When this "finale" happens, even at age 13, I was upset. Those two wrestlers had a pretty good match, only to be wasted by the end. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into detail.
Wrestlemania IX was okay, but I had a hard time being convinced of much when a clown or an Indian were the point of interest. Fortunately, it gets better years later.
There were lot of weak points
amanwhorocks3 August 2013
Warning: Spoilers
First, what I saw was "Caesar" and "Cleopatra" on an elephant, how childish...
1. Intercontinental Championship: Champ-Shawn Michaels (go first, blah) Vs. Tatanka - Most of the match was average, end was way better, but stupid count-out ending. 6/10
2. HeadShrinkers Vs. The Steiner Brothers - Some nice moves, but Steiners could do it better 6/10
3. Crush Vs. Doink - That was average bout, but with funny ending. 5.5/10
4. Razor Ramon Vs. Bob Backlund - Quick fresh match. Razor finishes with Cradle Pin. Crowd chant for heel Razor! Funny, isn't it? 6/10
5. Tag Team Championship: Champs go first...-I.R.S./Million Dollar Man Vs. Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake - Yes, Brutus "Ridiculous" Beefcake without charisma is back. *SIGH :-/ Match was boring old-school wrestling. BUt Hulkamania running wild, lol. 4/10
6. Mr. Perfect Vs. Lex Luger - Luger is terrible wrestler and he beats Mr. Perfect in a match, that was quite boring. Shame. 5.5/10
7. Giant Gonzales (THE GREATEST LOL) Vs. The Undertaker - Fu*k, that was bad, Gonzáles should never wrestle. 4/10
8. WWF Championship: Yokozuna Vs. Champ-Bret Hart - It was so predictable that Bret drop the belt for Yokozuna, and that set belt for Hogan, but why that happened in 1 evening? Pfff. 6/10
For Hogan's next title reign -5/10
1. Intercontinental Championship: Champ-Shawn Michaels (go first, blah) Vs. Tatanka - Most of the match was average, end was way better, but stupid count-out ending. 6/10
2. HeadShrinkers Vs. The Steiner Brothers - Some nice moves, but Steiners could do it better 6/10
3. Crush Vs. Doink - That was average bout, but with funny ending. 5.5/10
4. Razor Ramon Vs. Bob Backlund - Quick fresh match. Razor finishes with Cradle Pin. Crowd chant for heel Razor! Funny, isn't it? 6/10
5. Tag Team Championship: Champs go first...-I.R.S./Million Dollar Man Vs. Hulk Hogan/Brutus Beefcake - Yes, Brutus "Ridiculous" Beefcake without charisma is back. *SIGH :-/ Match was boring old-school wrestling. BUt Hulkamania running wild, lol. 4/10
6. Mr. Perfect Vs. Lex Luger - Luger is terrible wrestler and he beats Mr. Perfect in a match, that was quite boring. Shame. 5.5/10
7. Giant Gonzales (THE GREATEST LOL) Vs. The Undertaker - Fu*k, that was bad, Gonzáles should never wrestle. 4/10
8. WWF Championship: Yokozuna Vs. Champ-Bret Hart - It was so predictable that Bret drop the belt for Yokozuna, and that set belt for Hogan, but why that happened in 1 evening? Pfff. 6/10
For Hogan's next title reign -5/10
worst wrestlemania ever
metalrox_200027 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
For any wrestling fan, this is the wrestlemania to forget. No logic to the matches, some garbage gimmicks (doink the clown, and the Giant Gonzalez) this was a forgettable PPV something rare for the WWE(F). The logic of Hogan winning the world title at the end made no sense, and many people feel that alone help put the nail in the PPV. From the meaningless gimmicks of the roman soldiers, to simply some real bad wrestling (doink vs Crush being the worst match) to simply bad match making (Scott "Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund, how can you have one of the greatest mat wrestlers, making a comeback, and working his first wrestlemania, face a power wrestler who was undefeated at the time), this is a PPV that even the WWE has since admitted, was way below what the expected. just all around a stinker
Worst Wrestlemania ever
Yourfriendan21 October 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I liked the whole set up with Ceasar's Palace, the Roman guards, and announcers in togas. This event also marked "the passing of the torch" as far as the voice of the WWF goes. Gorilla Monsoon who had done the play by play for every WWF PPV up to this point opens up and gives the typical introduction making it look like he's there to announce another PPV. But then introduces Jim Ross who is making his WWF debut and JR continues to do the WWF commentary to this day. But outside of that, this event is pure garbage. Good ol scientific wrestling has been thrown out the window and enter the birth of gimmicks. This to me was the event that the WWF started to go down the toilet, and didn't recover until the attitude era of the late 90's. Here's a review of the event.
IC title match: Tatanka (Challenger) vs. Shawn Michaels (champ): An okay opener, but given what Shawn is capable of, it was very disappointing. I have no idea why the WWF was hell bent on putting Tatanka over. They should of realized that Shawn was the future and Tatanka was just some hyper wrestler in an Indian Gimick. The ending of the match itself was very lame. Shawn grabs the ref and pulls him out, then gets called for a count out. While it was fun watching Sherri get beat up afterwords, this match just was forgettable. Shawn had to carry this match and had trouble doing it.
The Stenier Brothers vs. The Headshrinkers: Steiners get the win via a Franknsteiner. This match had it's moments, but the crowd just didn't seem into it. There was no heat behind it, I think it was a match just to throw two tag teams in.
Crush vs. Doink the Clown: TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! This match completely sucked. Two very lame gimmicks. A clown and a Hawaiian dressed in bizarre colors. The ending caught everybody by surprise. In the upcoming months, Crush turned heel and Doink turned face, but none of the fans seem to care. Sadly, this was not the worst match on the card.
Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backland: You got a brand new heel that is very over going against a wrestler who was forgotten about 10 years ago. The fans snicker and laugh when Backlund comes out. And like Hogan/Rock in WM18 and HHH/Owen in WM14, the heel wrestler gets louder cheers in the face. Thankfully this match was short. The right guy won, but I wish they had Razor totally beat the crap out of and squash Backlund rather than winning by a small package out of nowhere.
Tag Team Champion Match: Ted Dibiase and IRS (Champs) vs. Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake w/Jimmy Hart I still would like to know the full story on what happened to Hogan's eye. Oh well. The crowd was really into this match, but it had no flow to it what so ever. Hogan and Beefcake were clearly suffering ring rust given that both wrestlers had been on the shelf for at least a year. Dibiase, being the great technical wrestler that he was, did help to carry the match from being a complete waste. The ending was a surprise with Dibiase and IRS getting the win via DQ. But to please the crowd, Hogan and Beefcake did their usual playing to the crowd at the end like they had won the match.
Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect: The best part of this match was the four hot chicks that accompanied Lex Luger to the ring. Other than that, this was completely forgettable. The Mr. Perfect gimmick was born for a heel role and he just lacked the heat as a face. And Luger is just a waste of time no matter what gimmick he's in. Luger wins via a backslide despite that Perfect's feet were in the ropes. Then Perfect spends the post match getting his butt kicked. First Luger knocks him out with the running elbow. Then when Perfect regains consciousness he goes back to the dressing room to find Luger only to get the crap beaten out of him by Shawn Michaels, setting up an HBK/Perfect feud that had the potential to be a classic but the WWF misused.
The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales: ABSOLUTE CRAP!! What was the WWF thinking bringing in such a horrible wrestler as Giant Gonzales. Sure he had size, but I'd rather watch the Brooklyn Brawler in a match than him. This isn't even worth commenting on.
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Bret Hart (champ) vs. Yokozuna (challenger) You have one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time going against a guy who's only advantage is that he's a gigantic lard ass. Bret was able to carry the match, but a rather predictable ending with Mr. Fuji throwing salt in Bret's face.
POST MATCH: Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan Pure crap right here. Hogan comes down to the ring for no apparent reason and Mr. Fuji challenges him to a match after Yoko just won the title. Even the die-hard Hulkamaniacs find this to be total BS.
IC title match: Tatanka (Challenger) vs. Shawn Michaels (champ): An okay opener, but given what Shawn is capable of, it was very disappointing. I have no idea why the WWF was hell bent on putting Tatanka over. They should of realized that Shawn was the future and Tatanka was just some hyper wrestler in an Indian Gimick. The ending of the match itself was very lame. Shawn grabs the ref and pulls him out, then gets called for a count out. While it was fun watching Sherri get beat up afterwords, this match just was forgettable. Shawn had to carry this match and had trouble doing it.
The Stenier Brothers vs. The Headshrinkers: Steiners get the win via a Franknsteiner. This match had it's moments, but the crowd just didn't seem into it. There was no heat behind it, I think it was a match just to throw two tag teams in.
Crush vs. Doink the Clown: TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! TERRIBLE! This match completely sucked. Two very lame gimmicks. A clown and a Hawaiian dressed in bizarre colors. The ending caught everybody by surprise. In the upcoming months, Crush turned heel and Doink turned face, but none of the fans seem to care. Sadly, this was not the worst match on the card.
Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backland: You got a brand new heel that is very over going against a wrestler who was forgotten about 10 years ago. The fans snicker and laugh when Backlund comes out. And like Hogan/Rock in WM18 and HHH/Owen in WM14, the heel wrestler gets louder cheers in the face. Thankfully this match was short. The right guy won, but I wish they had Razor totally beat the crap out of and squash Backlund rather than winning by a small package out of nowhere.
Tag Team Champion Match: Ted Dibiase and IRS (Champs) vs. Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake w/Jimmy Hart I still would like to know the full story on what happened to Hogan's eye. Oh well. The crowd was really into this match, but it had no flow to it what so ever. Hogan and Beefcake were clearly suffering ring rust given that both wrestlers had been on the shelf for at least a year. Dibiase, being the great technical wrestler that he was, did help to carry the match from being a complete waste. The ending was a surprise with Dibiase and IRS getting the win via DQ. But to please the crowd, Hogan and Beefcake did their usual playing to the crowd at the end like they had won the match.
Lex Luger vs. Mr. Perfect: The best part of this match was the four hot chicks that accompanied Lex Luger to the ring. Other than that, this was completely forgettable. The Mr. Perfect gimmick was born for a heel role and he just lacked the heat as a face. And Luger is just a waste of time no matter what gimmick he's in. Luger wins via a backslide despite that Perfect's feet were in the ropes. Then Perfect spends the post match getting his butt kicked. First Luger knocks him out with the running elbow. Then when Perfect regains consciousness he goes back to the dressing room to find Luger only to get the crap beaten out of him by Shawn Michaels, setting up an HBK/Perfect feud that had the potential to be a classic but the WWF misused.
The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales: ABSOLUTE CRAP!! What was the WWF thinking bringing in such a horrible wrestler as Giant Gonzales. Sure he had size, but I'd rather watch the Brooklyn Brawler in a match than him. This isn't even worth commenting on.
WWF CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH: Bret Hart (champ) vs. Yokozuna (challenger) You have one of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time going against a guy who's only advantage is that he's a gigantic lard ass. Bret was able to carry the match, but a rather predictable ending with Mr. Fuji throwing salt in Bret's face.
POST MATCH: Yokozuna vs. Hulk Hogan Pure crap right here. Hogan comes down to the ring for no apparent reason and Mr. Fuji challenges him to a match after Yoko just won the title. Even the die-hard Hulkamaniacs find this to be total BS.
Kind Of A Mess
zkonedog5 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Wrestlemania IX begins with well enough intentions, what with Shawn Michaels and Tatanka battle in a pretty crisp match. After that, however, the event takes a nosedive, with no matches even approaching entertaining until the Yokozuna/Hart finale (and even that is ruined by a Hulkster-sized ego).
Usually on an event like this, I list my personal highlights. For this WM, the only "highlight" at all is the debut of Jim Ross at the microphone. Even that, though, is set off by the horrific "commentary" by Randy Savage. He should never be allowed near a mic after this debacle.
Some of the other "lowlights" include:
-Giant Gonzalez vs Undertaker, quite possibly the worst match in WM history. What a joke Gonzalez was. -The stupidity of "The Narcissist" Lex Luger character. You have to have the malleable mind of a child to find him at all appealing either as heel or babyface. -A match like Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund, two wrestlers who should have really "popped" at the vent, but instead just fall flat.
Finally, the inflated ego of Hulk Hogan, which deserves a paragraph all its own. Clearly, the Hulkamania Era had run its course by this time. Hulk suddenly looks a lot less mammoth (gee, could that little steroid scandal have had something to do with that?), he has to tag-team with a gimmicked ("face-shield") Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and he even comes to the ring with a swollen shut eye (a jet-skiing accident...or getting punched by Randy Savage over accusations of an affair with Miss Elizabeth?). Yet, even with those signs so clearly written on the wall, Hulk refuses to let Bret Hart "get over" and set up a mega-confrontation down the road. Nope. Instead, in a rather pathetic moment, he steals the spotlight all to himself. There is a reason he will be nowhere to be found on the next WM card.
The only reason I give this event two stars is because of a slight childhood nostalgia factor (I got sucked into Doink, Crush, Tatanka, etc.). Other than that, though, this is the worst WM since the inaugural event.
Usually on an event like this, I list my personal highlights. For this WM, the only "highlight" at all is the debut of Jim Ross at the microphone. Even that, though, is set off by the horrific "commentary" by Randy Savage. He should never be allowed near a mic after this debacle.
Some of the other "lowlights" include:
-Giant Gonzalez vs Undertaker, quite possibly the worst match in WM history. What a joke Gonzalez was. -The stupidity of "The Narcissist" Lex Luger character. You have to have the malleable mind of a child to find him at all appealing either as heel or babyface. -A match like Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund, two wrestlers who should have really "popped" at the vent, but instead just fall flat.
Finally, the inflated ego of Hulk Hogan, which deserves a paragraph all its own. Clearly, the Hulkamania Era had run its course by this time. Hulk suddenly looks a lot less mammoth (gee, could that little steroid scandal have had something to do with that?), he has to tag-team with a gimmicked ("face-shield") Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and he even comes to the ring with a swollen shut eye (a jet-skiing accident...or getting punched by Randy Savage over accusations of an affair with Miss Elizabeth?). Yet, even with those signs so clearly written on the wall, Hulk refuses to let Bret Hart "get over" and set up a mega-confrontation down the road. Nope. Instead, in a rather pathetic moment, he steals the spotlight all to himself. There is a reason he will be nowhere to be found on the next WM card.
The only reason I give this event two stars is because of a slight childhood nostalgia factor (I got sucked into Doink, Crush, Tatanka, etc.). Other than that, though, this is the worst WM since the inaugural event.
Ick...
RepoManRules24 May 2003
Terrible! The Worst WrestleMania ever! WrestlMania IV even beats this out! Too much Hogan at the end really ruined it as he was just too old. Match Of The Night ironically though, went to Hogans match (**3/4). The Doink stuff was horiific.
Not Recommended.
Not Recommended.
See it for Doink!!!
unbend_544021 April 2002
This was without a doubt the best Wrestlemania of it's time period. That period being the first half of the 90s. This is of course just my opinion. Being one of only 2 outdoor WWF events (and the only outdoor Wrestlemania) this one had a distinctive look that sets it apart from the others. It also had the smallest crowd of any Wrestlemania, since Caesers Palace doesn't seat many people. There is one big flaw here, though. The cheesy "Ancient Roman Times" theme. All the commentators were forced to dress in togas and enter the stadium riding on camels. WWF promoted the show as "The World's Biggest Toga Party", and hoped the fans would wear Togas too. That didn't happen of course. What fan would want to humiliate themself on live Pay Per View by wearing a bed sheet? Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan were the only fools dumb enough to do that.
Getting past the cheesy theme, the rest of the show was fantastic. Tatanka and Shawn Michaels kicked off the show with an entertaining IC Title match that went almost 20 minutes. Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect were brilliantly matched opponents. Their match ended with Luger nailing Perfect with his Running Forearm, which WWF promoted as being an illegal weapon due to Luger's steel plate he had surgically implanted. Who else remembers that gimmick? Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez's match was a great show. It would have been entertaining even if they just stood there. Seeing the 6'10" Undertaker in the ring with the over-7 foot tall Gonzalez was a sight to see. Of course Bret Hart delivered an amazing math as always, against the challenger Yokozuna. It seems to be a forgotten fact that Yokozuna was the fastest rising World Champion ever. It took him only 5 months in the WWF to take the belt. Bret was an averagely sized 230 pound man, and Yokozuna was 500 pounds, which makes them an unlikely pairing. But both make the match work.
Ultimately there is one reason above all else to rent Wrestlemania IX. That reason is DOINK THE CLOWN! A sadistic and violent evil clown. When I think professsional wrestling, sadistic and violent evil clown is what I think. Rent Wrestlemania IX and you get 2 Doinks for the price of one. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that's the highlight of Wrestlemania....... maybe I am alone in thinking that. Who cares. DOINK RULES!
Getting past the cheesy theme, the rest of the show was fantastic. Tatanka and Shawn Michaels kicked off the show with an entertaining IC Title match that went almost 20 minutes. Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect were brilliantly matched opponents. Their match ended with Luger nailing Perfect with his Running Forearm, which WWF promoted as being an illegal weapon due to Luger's steel plate he had surgically implanted. Who else remembers that gimmick? Undertaker and Giant Gonzalez's match was a great show. It would have been entertaining even if they just stood there. Seeing the 6'10" Undertaker in the ring with the over-7 foot tall Gonzalez was a sight to see. Of course Bret Hart delivered an amazing math as always, against the challenger Yokozuna. It seems to be a forgotten fact that Yokozuna was the fastest rising World Champion ever. It took him only 5 months in the WWF to take the belt. Bret was an averagely sized 230 pound man, and Yokozuna was 500 pounds, which makes them an unlikely pairing. But both make the match work.
Ultimately there is one reason above all else to rent Wrestlemania IX. That reason is DOINK THE CLOWN! A sadistic and violent evil clown. When I think professsional wrestling, sadistic and violent evil clown is what I think. Rent Wrestlemania IX and you get 2 Doinks for the price of one. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that's the highlight of Wrestlemania....... maybe I am alone in thinking that. Who cares. DOINK RULES!
Wrestlemania IX
wrestlingsitewebmaster11 August 2005
The worst Wrestlemania ever.
This had no must see bouts and many crap ones at that. This took place in Las Vegas and WWE made it's employees dress up like Egyptian gods! They even changed Howard Finkels name to Finkus Maximus, which probably doesn't mean anything. The sight of seeing Jim Ross in that terrible gown still gives me nightmares to this day and I'm 21 years old, so you could imagine it when I was 7 years old! Bobby Heenan was funny though.
Matches included The Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales in a p*ss poor match, The Headshrinkers vs The Steiner Brothers in a useless match, Doink vs Crush in a comedy match and a boring match featuring Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund. Hulk Hogan teamed up with Brutus Beefcake to battle Money Inc. You could clearly see Hogan had a black eye. In storyline purposes Ted DiBiase and IRS beat up Hogan while he was playing poker or something like that in the casinos, which is a poor storyline, but in reality, Macho Man Randy Savage hit Hogan because Savage thinks he's like The Hulk (no pun intended) no not the wrestler but the film character.
The main event consisted of Bret 'Hitman' Hart facing off against Yokozuna in a very boring main event match. Mr Fuji threw salt in the face of Hart and Yoko won, but not until Hogan came down and squashed Yoko in 21 seconds.
Overall Grade - E
This had no must see bouts and many crap ones at that. This took place in Las Vegas and WWE made it's employees dress up like Egyptian gods! They even changed Howard Finkels name to Finkus Maximus, which probably doesn't mean anything. The sight of seeing Jim Ross in that terrible gown still gives me nightmares to this day and I'm 21 years old, so you could imagine it when I was 7 years old! Bobby Heenan was funny though.
Matches included The Undertaker vs Giant Gonzales in a p*ss poor match, The Headshrinkers vs The Steiner Brothers in a useless match, Doink vs Crush in a comedy match and a boring match featuring Razor Ramon vs Bob Backlund. Hulk Hogan teamed up with Brutus Beefcake to battle Money Inc. You could clearly see Hogan had a black eye. In storyline purposes Ted DiBiase and IRS beat up Hogan while he was playing poker or something like that in the casinos, which is a poor storyline, but in reality, Macho Man Randy Savage hit Hogan because Savage thinks he's like The Hulk (no pun intended) no not the wrestler but the film character.
The main event consisted of Bret 'Hitman' Hart facing off against Yokozuna in a very boring main event match. Mr Fuji threw salt in the face of Hart and Yoko won, but not until Hogan came down and squashed Yoko in 21 seconds.
Overall Grade - E
the worst ever
jimjam20-230 July 2000
UGH!...this is the worst Wrestlemania hands down....no good matches.....Hulk Hogan rears his over tanned bald head yet again in the main event, the spot light hoggin scum!....not one thing note worthy on this tape, oh..I take that back...this is Jim Ross's first WM...but other than that....it has nothing worth seein....a major bust...
1 out of 10 stars WOOF!!!
1 out of 10 stars WOOF!!!
The most laughably bad WrestleMania ever!!
morantjavonte16 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
WrestleMania IX thoughts
WrestleMania IX was the 9th Annual WrestleMania taking place in 1993 at the Caesars Palace in Paradise Nevada. It was the first WrestleMania to take place outdoors and the last WrestleMania during the Hulk Hogan Era. Many also consider this as the first of the New Generation Era as most legends from the previous WrestleManias were out by this time. Guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and Lex Luger were up coming on the competitors on the card. Along with WrestleMania 11 and 2 this is considered one of the worst by many. It was also criticize by it's lackluster card and it's cheesey roman toga theme of it's presentation. The two most important matches build were Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna and Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez. How did they deliver. Last this is the debut of the greatest PLAY-BY-PLAY announcer in pro wrestling history.
The Good - Unpopular opinion but I really liked the Mega Maniacs vs. Money Inc. It was the most fun match on the card and the crowd seemed most happy and loudest during that entire match. The ending was pretty dumb and thing's were a little bit of a mess but it was good. Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers was a pretty good Tag Team clash. There were a lot of botches though. Oh and the Undertaker had possibly my favorite WrestleMania entrance of all time. TBH that was probably the best thing on the show.
The Meh - Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was surprisingly alright. Yokozuna wasn't a good performer but he put up a decent match. Well Hart carried it and according to him, Yoko wanted to end it earlier. HBK vs. Tatanka was decent but it carried on far too long and the ending just let it down.
The Bad - Giant Gonzales vs. Undertaker is sooo bad that I actually was laughing so hard. Gonzales couldn't sell and the crowd just didn't even care. It's no wonder when they show highlights of this match they only show like 2 shots. Doink vs. Crush was just plain stupid and a waste of time. As for the ending.... well... Hulk Hogan despite being the best Babyface of all time really deep down did a selfish act. Already on the process of leaving the WWE at the time, why walk out of the show as WWE Champion when you could have let an upcoming star look bright. Him challenging Yoko is probably the worst ending in the WrestleMania history.
Overall - A terrible show but hey, unlike other bad WrestleManias, this is laughably bad. It's the Batman & Robin of pro wrestling. This is a show I would love to watch if I'm drunk.
0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the best of all time:
1. Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka: Intercontinental Championship - 2.5/5
2. Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers - 3/5
3. Doink vs. Crush - 1/5
4. Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund - 1/5
5. Money Inc vs. Mega Maniacs: World Tag Team Championship - 3/5
6. Mr Perfect vs. Lex Luger - 2/5
7. Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales - 0/5
8. Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna: WWE Championship - 2/5
9. Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna: WWE Championship - 0/5
Best Match - Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers
Worst Match - Giant Gonzalez vs. Undertaker
Most Memorable Moment - Undertaker's Entrance
Top 5 Performers
1. Bret Hart 2. Shawn Michaels 3. Tatanka 4/5. The Steiner Brothers
Score 2 out of 10: Terrible.
WrestleMania IX was the 9th Annual WrestleMania taking place in 1993 at the Caesars Palace in Paradise Nevada. It was the first WrestleMania to take place outdoors and the last WrestleMania during the Hulk Hogan Era. Many also consider this as the first of the New Generation Era as most legends from the previous WrestleManias were out by this time. Guys like Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker and Lex Luger were up coming on the competitors on the card. Along with WrestleMania 11 and 2 this is considered one of the worst by many. It was also criticize by it's lackluster card and it's cheesey roman toga theme of it's presentation. The two most important matches build were Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna and Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez. How did they deliver. Last this is the debut of the greatest PLAY-BY-PLAY announcer in pro wrestling history.
The Good - Unpopular opinion but I really liked the Mega Maniacs vs. Money Inc. It was the most fun match on the card and the crowd seemed most happy and loudest during that entire match. The ending was pretty dumb and thing's were a little bit of a mess but it was good. Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers was a pretty good Tag Team clash. There were a lot of botches though. Oh and the Undertaker had possibly my favorite WrestleMania entrance of all time. TBH that was probably the best thing on the show.
The Meh - Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna was surprisingly alright. Yokozuna wasn't a good performer but he put up a decent match. Well Hart carried it and according to him, Yoko wanted to end it earlier. HBK vs. Tatanka was decent but it carried on far too long and the ending just let it down.
The Bad - Giant Gonzales vs. Undertaker is sooo bad that I actually was laughing so hard. Gonzales couldn't sell and the crowd just didn't even care. It's no wonder when they show highlights of this match they only show like 2 shots. Doink vs. Crush was just plain stupid and a waste of time. As for the ending.... well... Hulk Hogan despite being the best Babyface of all time really deep down did a selfish act. Already on the process of leaving the WWE at the time, why walk out of the show as WWE Champion when you could have let an upcoming star look bright. Him challenging Yoko is probably the worst ending in the WrestleMania history.
Overall - A terrible show but hey, unlike other bad WrestleManias, this is laughably bad. It's the Batman & Robin of pro wrestling. This is a show I would love to watch if I'm drunk.
0 = Terrible: 1 = Bad/Lackluster: 2 = Decent: 3 = Good: 4 = Awesome: 5 = One of the best of all time:
1. Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka: Intercontinental Championship - 2.5/5
2. Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers - 3/5
3. Doink vs. Crush - 1/5
4. Razor Ramon vs. Bob Backlund - 1/5
5. Money Inc vs. Mega Maniacs: World Tag Team Championship - 3/5
6. Mr Perfect vs. Lex Luger - 2/5
7. Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales - 0/5
8. Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna: WWE Championship - 2/5
9. Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna: WWE Championship - 0/5
Best Match - Headshrinkers vs. Steiner Brothers
Worst Match - Giant Gonzalez vs. Undertaker
Most Memorable Moment - Undertaker's Entrance
Top 5 Performers
1. Bret Hart 2. Shawn Michaels 3. Tatanka 4/5. The Steiner Brothers
Score 2 out of 10: Terrible.
One of the best WrestleManias ever
Dinokid227 March 2008
OK, you have got to admit it, wrestlemanias don't get more better than this one. There are superstars at their best, and major ones to, such as Bret 'The Hit Man' Hart, Crush, the Hulkster ( Hulk Hogan) and Yokozuna! There is also Doink the Clown, in fact TWO Doinks! Also, you can see Randy Savage squaring of against the Ultimate Warrior! WrestleMania holds spectacular battles and also an Undertaker and Jake 'the snake' Roberts. You can watch these battles in "The History of WrestleMania," a DVD which comes free in a smackdown vs. Raw game for the PS2. There's all kinds of matches at WrestleMania, but whatever you do, please, don't try this at home!
Not good. But no worse today than it was in 1993
bh_tafe36 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
1993 was a time of change in the WWE but for this Wrestlemania they decided to wind back the clock as Hulk Hogan returned, along with his good friend Brutus Beefcake, who had been out of wrestling since a paragliding accident in 1990.
This was not a great event. Only two matches had any real build and the whole thing came off as being rushed. The in ring action wasn't great and the twist at the end, which I'll discuss later, really wasn't the earth shattering moment the WWE hoped it would be.
This forgettable night started off with Shawn Micheals defending his Intercontinental Championship against the undefeated Tatanka. Tatanka had beaten Michaels a couple of times leading into the fight. Michaels had a new manager, Luna Vachon while Tatanka was accompanied by Michaels' former manager and future WWE Hall of Famer Sherri Martel. Tatanka won by DQ. Michaels kept his title and went straight back into his feud with Marty Janetty, which had been put on hold just for Wrestlemania. Why, I have no idea.
Next up saw the Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick) defeat the Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) with Scott scoring the pin after hitting Samu with the Frankensteiner. Good match.
Doink the clown needed help from another clown to win his match against Crush. A second Doink distracting Crush when he was in complete control and allowing Doink to get the pin and the victory. Doink was an entertaining gimmick character, who got old rather quickly.
Razor Ramon easily defeated the returning Bob Backlund in the next match.
This brings us to the first in our double main event. As the Mega Maniacs Team of Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake, with the newly turned good guy Jimmy Hart in their corner, took on Hart's former buddies Money Inc (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R Shyster). This was a fairly sketchy finish. Beefcake, as mentioned, had been in a paragliding accident requiring full facial surgery and had wrestled the match with a face mask on. Shyster ripped the mask off him and beat Beefcake to a pulp. The ref went down, Hogan grabbed the face mask and knocked out DiBIase and Shyster and then Hart, who was wearing a referee shirt, counted the three. Another ref came down and reversed the decision, declaring Money Inc winners by DQ.
Next up Lex Luger or the Narcissist as he was also known at the time defeated Mr Perfect. This match came about because Luger was being managed by Perfect's old manager Bobby Heenan. Perfect had is feet on the ropes when he was pinned, but the ref missed it.
The Undertaker picked up a lacklustre DQ victory in a pretty poor match against the Giant Gonzales. THe Undertaker had earned the ire of Gonzales' manager Harvey Wippleman in 1992 and Taker had defeated his big monster Kamala at Survivor Series. Wippleman vowed revenge and took it at the Royal Rumble as Gonzales attacked Taker, costing him the match. Gonzales dominated Undertaker in this match, but was DQ'd for choking Taker out with chloroform. Weird finish to a bad match.
This bought us to our main event as WWE Champion Bret Hart, seriously challenged as champion for the first time, put his title on the line against Mr Fuji's unstoppable monster Yokozuna. Yokozuna controlled the early going, but Hart resisted and then took control. He had Yokozuna in the sharpshooter, surely he would give in and Hart would be established as an heroic hero after taking out the big monster. But Fuji had other ideas, throwing salt in Hart's face, rendering the Canadian helpless as Yokozuna got the pin.
What a downer ending. But wait here comes Hulk Hogan. He's checking Hart to make sure he's OK. Suddenly Fuji challenges Hogan to a WWE Title right then and there. Hogan accepts. Fuji throws salt towards Hogan, but hits Yokozuna instead. Hogan hits the leg drop and wins the match and the title. What did I just watch? And so, what most fans thought was going to be the night we either saw Hart establish himself as a giant killer, or Yokozuna establish himself as an unstoppable monster, we instead saw Hulk Hogan pick up a meaningless title win. A title that he would not defend for three months. As a matter of fact this was the only match Hogan wrestled for the WWE before the King of the Ring PPV in June 1993.
This was not a great event. Only two matches had any real build and the whole thing came off as being rushed. The in ring action wasn't great and the twist at the end, which I'll discuss later, really wasn't the earth shattering moment the WWE hoped it would be.
This forgettable night started off with Shawn Micheals defending his Intercontinental Championship against the undefeated Tatanka. Tatanka had beaten Michaels a couple of times leading into the fight. Michaels had a new manager, Luna Vachon while Tatanka was accompanied by Michaels' former manager and future WWE Hall of Famer Sherri Martel. Tatanka won by DQ. Michaels kept his title and went straight back into his feud with Marty Janetty, which had been put on hold just for Wrestlemania. Why, I have no idea.
Next up saw the Steiner Brothers (Scott and Rick) defeat the Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) with Scott scoring the pin after hitting Samu with the Frankensteiner. Good match.
Doink the clown needed help from another clown to win his match against Crush. A second Doink distracting Crush when he was in complete control and allowing Doink to get the pin and the victory. Doink was an entertaining gimmick character, who got old rather quickly.
Razor Ramon easily defeated the returning Bob Backlund in the next match.
This brings us to the first in our double main event. As the Mega Maniacs Team of Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake, with the newly turned good guy Jimmy Hart in their corner, took on Hart's former buddies Money Inc (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R Shyster). This was a fairly sketchy finish. Beefcake, as mentioned, had been in a paragliding accident requiring full facial surgery and had wrestled the match with a face mask on. Shyster ripped the mask off him and beat Beefcake to a pulp. The ref went down, Hogan grabbed the face mask and knocked out DiBIase and Shyster and then Hart, who was wearing a referee shirt, counted the three. Another ref came down and reversed the decision, declaring Money Inc winners by DQ.
Next up Lex Luger or the Narcissist as he was also known at the time defeated Mr Perfect. This match came about because Luger was being managed by Perfect's old manager Bobby Heenan. Perfect had is feet on the ropes when he was pinned, but the ref missed it.
The Undertaker picked up a lacklustre DQ victory in a pretty poor match against the Giant Gonzales. THe Undertaker had earned the ire of Gonzales' manager Harvey Wippleman in 1992 and Taker had defeated his big monster Kamala at Survivor Series. Wippleman vowed revenge and took it at the Royal Rumble as Gonzales attacked Taker, costing him the match. Gonzales dominated Undertaker in this match, but was DQ'd for choking Taker out with chloroform. Weird finish to a bad match.
This bought us to our main event as WWE Champion Bret Hart, seriously challenged as champion for the first time, put his title on the line against Mr Fuji's unstoppable monster Yokozuna. Yokozuna controlled the early going, but Hart resisted and then took control. He had Yokozuna in the sharpshooter, surely he would give in and Hart would be established as an heroic hero after taking out the big monster. But Fuji had other ideas, throwing salt in Hart's face, rendering the Canadian helpless as Yokozuna got the pin.
What a downer ending. But wait here comes Hulk Hogan. He's checking Hart to make sure he's OK. Suddenly Fuji challenges Hogan to a WWE Title right then and there. Hogan accepts. Fuji throws salt towards Hogan, but hits Yokozuna instead. Hogan hits the leg drop and wins the match and the title. What did I just watch? And so, what most fans thought was going to be the night we either saw Hart establish himself as a giant killer, or Yokozuna establish himself as an unstoppable monster, we instead saw Hulk Hogan pick up a meaningless title win. A title that he would not defend for three months. As a matter of fact this was the only match Hogan wrestled for the WWE before the King of the Ring PPV in June 1993.
Wrestlemania 9
born_naughty21 March 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I watch all of these shows from 1993 on, Raw included, for the first time. So I'm reviewing these as a new fan, not knowing what's going to happen for the most part.
Intro: Roman theme. The whole broadcast is in togas and they make a big deal out of that for some reason. I don't like open air/outside arenas because it's distracting in my opinion. The focus should always be on the wrestling and controlled lighting can make sure it is, that's not possible outside when it's light out.
Opening match: Shawn Michaels (c) vs Tatanka for the Intercontinantal Championship They present Howard Finkel as Finkel Maximus or something like that. They're going too far with this Roman theme. Tatanka had a long winning streak at this point, I want to say it lasted a year but I'm not sure. Didn't know he was ever this over. That explains his comeback in the 2000's. What happened to valets these days? Oh... nevermind forget I asked. WWF is cartoon wrestling at this point, though the match itself was serious and basic (in a good way) for the most part. A bit boring maybe. This match was 18 minutes long I'm reading which is about twice as long at it should have been. The ending was stupid. 4/10
Match 2: Headshrinkers vs The Steiner Brothers I'm not going into much details on these matches because I don't feel like it. I know the Steiners are legends and everybody loves them but I've never been a fan. They're not anything special and I haven't seen any blowout match out of them yet. This was your standard fare. 5/10
Match 3: Crush vs Doink This show doesn't feel like a big ppv at all so far, let alone Wrestlemania level. This was fine as a tv match and maybe a filler on a lower ppv but why this match is on wrestlemania is beyond me. 5/10
Match 4: Bob Backlund vs. Razor Ramon Again, why? Short match, stupid ending. Nuff said. 3/10
Match 5: WWF Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. (c) vs. The Mega Maniacs This is the first match that feels like it belongs on a ppv, it even belongs on wrestlemania, how about that? Problem is, the champions feel like jobbers here. Even though they're big names, Hogan and Beefcake were going to win anything here no matter what. Made for a lackluster boring match that lasted about 20 minutes with a stupid finish. 2/10
Match 6: The Narcissist vs. Mr. Perfect The Narcissist is Lex Luger who was presented by Heenan as being a perfect human specimen. Hence he goes against Mr. Perfect here I guess. Perfect was a pretty good babyface at this moment. This match never got going, it was slow and boring. Every time Perfect tried to pick up the pace, Luger brought it back down. Another screwy finish. 2/10
Match 7: Giant Gonzalez vs. The Undertaker I would be impressed by Gonzalez's physique if he wasn't wearing this stupid bodysuit. Who's idea was that and worse, who signed off on it? One of the worst looks ever in professional wrestling. This match is a stain on Undertaker's streak because it was a DQ victory. That would have been fine if it led anywhere but it didn't. This is known to be one of the biggest disappointments of Wrestlemania. Honestly, I disagree. I can only imagine that this was supposed to setup some idea or story that never came to fruition. But I was fine with this as I never expected anything more. Though at only 7 minutes long it was still too long and the aftermath also took too long. Can't really rate this as it wasn't a match but an angle.
Match 8: WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Yokozuna I was looking forward to this one. Yokozuna was an unstoppable monster and Bret Hart was Bret Hart. The match was short and lackluster. The only reason it gets some points is because Hart was hot at this time and got some crowd reaction.
Because Hogan is gonna Hogan we get another match though. This makes no sense but here it is: Match 9: WWF Championship: Yokozuna (c) vs Hulk Hogan Hogan wins. F this.
Total: 0/10
Intro: Roman theme. The whole broadcast is in togas and they make a big deal out of that for some reason. I don't like open air/outside arenas because it's distracting in my opinion. The focus should always be on the wrestling and controlled lighting can make sure it is, that's not possible outside when it's light out.
Opening match: Shawn Michaels (c) vs Tatanka for the Intercontinantal Championship They present Howard Finkel as Finkel Maximus or something like that. They're going too far with this Roman theme. Tatanka had a long winning streak at this point, I want to say it lasted a year but I'm not sure. Didn't know he was ever this over. That explains his comeback in the 2000's. What happened to valets these days? Oh... nevermind forget I asked. WWF is cartoon wrestling at this point, though the match itself was serious and basic (in a good way) for the most part. A bit boring maybe. This match was 18 minutes long I'm reading which is about twice as long at it should have been. The ending was stupid. 4/10
Match 2: Headshrinkers vs The Steiner Brothers I'm not going into much details on these matches because I don't feel like it. I know the Steiners are legends and everybody loves them but I've never been a fan. They're not anything special and I haven't seen any blowout match out of them yet. This was your standard fare. 5/10
Match 3: Crush vs Doink This show doesn't feel like a big ppv at all so far, let alone Wrestlemania level. This was fine as a tv match and maybe a filler on a lower ppv but why this match is on wrestlemania is beyond me. 5/10
Match 4: Bob Backlund vs. Razor Ramon Again, why? Short match, stupid ending. Nuff said. 3/10
Match 5: WWF Tag Team Championship: Money Inc. (c) vs. The Mega Maniacs This is the first match that feels like it belongs on a ppv, it even belongs on wrestlemania, how about that? Problem is, the champions feel like jobbers here. Even though they're big names, Hogan and Beefcake were going to win anything here no matter what. Made for a lackluster boring match that lasted about 20 minutes with a stupid finish. 2/10
Match 6: The Narcissist vs. Mr. Perfect The Narcissist is Lex Luger who was presented by Heenan as being a perfect human specimen. Hence he goes against Mr. Perfect here I guess. Perfect was a pretty good babyface at this moment. This match never got going, it was slow and boring. Every time Perfect tried to pick up the pace, Luger brought it back down. Another screwy finish. 2/10
Match 7: Giant Gonzalez vs. The Undertaker I would be impressed by Gonzalez's physique if he wasn't wearing this stupid bodysuit. Who's idea was that and worse, who signed off on it? One of the worst looks ever in professional wrestling. This match is a stain on Undertaker's streak because it was a DQ victory. That would have been fine if it led anywhere but it didn't. This is known to be one of the biggest disappointments of Wrestlemania. Honestly, I disagree. I can only imagine that this was supposed to setup some idea or story that never came to fruition. But I was fine with this as I never expected anything more. Though at only 7 minutes long it was still too long and the aftermath also took too long. Can't really rate this as it wasn't a match but an angle.
Match 8: WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Yokozuna I was looking forward to this one. Yokozuna was an unstoppable monster and Bret Hart was Bret Hart. The match was short and lackluster. The only reason it gets some points is because Hart was hot at this time and got some crowd reaction.
Because Hogan is gonna Hogan we get another match though. This makes no sense but here it is: Match 9: WWF Championship: Yokozuna (c) vs Hulk Hogan Hogan wins. F this.
Total: 0/10
Godawful mess but things get better
badbones77723 May 2012
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this back earlier today. I believe the last time I watched it was 1994. Time has not been kind.
First and foremost while the outdoor setting and Roman Colosseum theme are quite cool but it's all papering over the cracks-the venue is rather small, which it has to be as the attendance was under 17,000. Also, the booking was terrible. Granted, WWF was struggling somewhat at the time, but given the high status the 'mania should have, some of the participants are shocking. The commentary really saves it and makes each match far more enjoyable than it actually is. Coming to this fresh for the first time in over a decade I was astounded by how bad things must have been for the WWF. Crush vs Doink the clown. Read that back and savour it. Not to belittle either performer (as they were good enough performers in their time) but they were on the mid card of Wrestlemania! The whole sordid mess is capped by Hogan's massive ego stroke. Bret Hart dropped the belt to Yokozuna in a not too shabby match, and Hogan, with his backstage politicking, won't leave it at that. Oh no. That's not good enough for Bollea, who comes out and defeats Yoko in 30 seconds and bags another title reign which he clearly felt he needed to have for the, oooh perhaps 5 minutes, maybe 10 before leaving WWF. Frankly, it pisses on the effort and reputation of Bret and Yoko and really didn't need to happen.
More positive things in evidence were a genuinely solid 20 minute opening match (no, really, 20 mins! For an opener!) between Shawn Michaels and Tatanka, and the Steiners had a pretty good match. Also as mentioned, Jim Ross (debuting for the WWF) Heenan and the Macho Man on commentary is a laugh riot.
In summary: Lacklustre card
Absolutely disgusting finish
Flat and rather small crowd
And an absolute shocker of a match with 'taker and Giant Gonzalez -granted, Taker was hardly a top performer back then in terms of work rate and consistency but still, this match stunk to high heaven. Proof that Vince's obsession with big guys could actively hurt his promotion.
Just a general bad "feel" to the whole thing. It just didn't feel at any point during watching it that it had that big-event mania magic.
Overall the worst thing you can say about WM 9 is that you could skip it and not really miss anything. Even the other poor manias generally had at least one or two matches that were worth catching. This had Great commentary and Shawn Michaels in his midcarder days showing glimpses of the performer he would become and that's just not a good enough reason to bother with this. The only real good points are that this was the lowest point in the history of 'Manias and things would pick up. If you are having a marathon few weeks of watching all the manias sequentially, take heart, you are just 8 away from X-7!
On the other hand I could well see this achieving 7 stars if viewed with alcohol and friends!
First and foremost while the outdoor setting and Roman Colosseum theme are quite cool but it's all papering over the cracks-the venue is rather small, which it has to be as the attendance was under 17,000. Also, the booking was terrible. Granted, WWF was struggling somewhat at the time, but given the high status the 'mania should have, some of the participants are shocking. The commentary really saves it and makes each match far more enjoyable than it actually is. Coming to this fresh for the first time in over a decade I was astounded by how bad things must have been for the WWF. Crush vs Doink the clown. Read that back and savour it. Not to belittle either performer (as they were good enough performers in their time) but they were on the mid card of Wrestlemania! The whole sordid mess is capped by Hogan's massive ego stroke. Bret Hart dropped the belt to Yokozuna in a not too shabby match, and Hogan, with his backstage politicking, won't leave it at that. Oh no. That's not good enough for Bollea, who comes out and defeats Yoko in 30 seconds and bags another title reign which he clearly felt he needed to have for the, oooh perhaps 5 minutes, maybe 10 before leaving WWF. Frankly, it pisses on the effort and reputation of Bret and Yoko and really didn't need to happen.
More positive things in evidence were a genuinely solid 20 minute opening match (no, really, 20 mins! For an opener!) between Shawn Michaels and Tatanka, and the Steiners had a pretty good match. Also as mentioned, Jim Ross (debuting for the WWF) Heenan and the Macho Man on commentary is a laugh riot.
In summary: Lacklustre card
Absolutely disgusting finish
Flat and rather small crowd
And an absolute shocker of a match with 'taker and Giant Gonzalez -granted, Taker was hardly a top performer back then in terms of work rate and consistency but still, this match stunk to high heaven. Proof that Vince's obsession with big guys could actively hurt his promotion.
Just a general bad "feel" to the whole thing. It just didn't feel at any point during watching it that it had that big-event mania magic.
Overall the worst thing you can say about WM 9 is that you could skip it and not really miss anything. Even the other poor manias generally had at least one or two matches that were worth catching. This had Great commentary and Shawn Michaels in his midcarder days showing glimpses of the performer he would become and that's just not a good enough reason to bother with this. The only real good points are that this was the lowest point in the history of 'Manias and things would pick up. If you are having a marathon few weeks of watching all the manias sequentially, take heart, you are just 8 away from X-7!
On the other hand I could well see this achieving 7 stars if viewed with alcohol and friends!
Hogan wins for the 5th time!
Spawn Devil1 July 2002
Tatanka defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels by DQ
The Steiners defeated the Headshrinkers via pinfall Doink defeated Crush via pinfall Razor Ramon defeated Bob Backlund via pinfall Tag Team Champions Money Inc. defeated Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake via DQ Lex Luger defeated Mr. Perfect via pinfall Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzales via DQ Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the World Wrestling Championship Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna for the World Wrestling Championship
Overall Mark: C- (Minimum Pass)
The Steiners defeated the Headshrinkers via pinfall Doink defeated Crush via pinfall Razor Ramon defeated Bob Backlund via pinfall Tag Team Champions Money Inc. defeated Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake via DQ Lex Luger defeated Mr. Perfect via pinfall Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzales via DQ Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart for the World Wrestling Championship Hulk Hogan defeated Yokozuna for the World Wrestling Championship
Overall Mark: C- (Minimum Pass)
HOGAN'S LAST WRESTLEMANIA
Big Movie Fan1 May 2002
Warning: Spoilers
This was a brilliant card for two reasons in my opinion-BRET HART and HULK HOGAN!
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)Hogan had 'retired' at the previous WrestleMania and when he showed up at this event I was very pleased being a Hogan fan and all. Hogan teamed up with Brutus Beefcake at this event to face Money Inc. for the tag team belts. Hogan and Beefcake didn't take the belts but Hogan would make his mark that evening...
In the main event WWF Champion Bret Hart faced the late Yokosuna. Bret had won the title in late 1992 and had been a very good champion. He put up a good fight against Yokosuna and put on an entertaining match...but then he lost after some shenanigans on the part of Yokosuna's manager Mr Fuji.
Then Hogan came down to the ring and beat Yokosuna in an impromptu match for his fifth WWF Title. The crowd were really into it after Hogan won the belt and I was cheering loudly at the time. I was looking forward to Hulkamania Phase 2. Little did I know back in April 1993 that Hogan would be gone from the WWF four months later and would not return for nine years.
If you're not a Bret Hart or Hulk Hogan fan then there are some pretty decent undercard matches as well.
(POSSIBLE SPOILERS)Hogan had 'retired' at the previous WrestleMania and when he showed up at this event I was very pleased being a Hogan fan and all. Hogan teamed up with Brutus Beefcake at this event to face Money Inc. for the tag team belts. Hogan and Beefcake didn't take the belts but Hogan would make his mark that evening...
In the main event WWF Champion Bret Hart faced the late Yokosuna. Bret had won the title in late 1992 and had been a very good champion. He put up a good fight against Yokosuna and put on an entertaining match...but then he lost after some shenanigans on the part of Yokosuna's manager Mr Fuji.
Then Hogan came down to the ring and beat Yokosuna in an impromptu match for his fifth WWF Title. The crowd were really into it after Hogan won the belt and I was cheering loudly at the time. I was looking forward to Hulkamania Phase 2. Little did I know back in April 1993 that Hogan would be gone from the WWF four months later and would not return for nine years.
If you're not a Bret Hart or Hulk Hogan fan then there are some pretty decent undercard matches as well.
A solid wrestlemania until the ending (spoiler)
Sugar Salvador27 April 2002
Warning: Spoilers
This was an alright Wrestlemania it had an outdoor setting and a different atmosphere. The good: Tatanka vs Shawn Michaels, this was a great way to start the card and the crowd was into it sherri and luna didn't take away from the match they added to it, the only thing, it should have been a clean finish. Steiners vs Headshrinkers was another great match, Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect's styles clashed well and they did a good job of setting up the feud between Perfect and Michaels.
Razor Ramon began to emerge as a fan favourite even though he was still a heel (listen to the fans chant his name). The bad: This was another time Bret Hart "got screwed" as Hulk Hogan stole the spotlight from him and he didn't belong anywhere near the main event that night. Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez was forgettable. Doink vs Crush was memorable for the finish only, but Crush really should have gone over, he could've been big. Money Inc. vs Hogan and Beefcake the match was ok but what happened later
Razor Ramon began to emerge as a fan favourite even though he was still a heel (listen to the fans chant his name). The bad: This was another time Bret Hart "got screwed" as Hulk Hogan stole the spotlight from him and he didn't belong anywhere near the main event that night. Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez was forgettable. Doink vs Crush was memorable for the finish only, but Crush really should have gone over, he could've been big. Money Inc. vs Hogan and Beefcake the match was ok but what happened later
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
