Connor McGrath
WrestleMania IX
April 4th, 1993
Live from Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, NV
Commentators: Jim Ross, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Bobby Heenan
Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel
Interviewers: Todd Pettengill and Mean Gene Okerlund
Then Current Champions
WWF World: Bret “The Hitman” Hart
Intercontinental: Shawn Michaels
Tag Team: Money Inc.
Gorilla Monsoon welcomes us to WrestleMania IX, the world’s largest toga party and introduces our head commentator for the night, in his WWF debut, “Good Ol'” Jim Ross. Nice passing of the torch from WWF’s voice of the ’80s to the WWF’s voice of the ’90s. Quite an inauspicious debut here as per the show’s theme, he’s very uncomfortably dressed in a toga.
Jim Ross introduces the hosts of this show, Caesar and Cleopatra. Amidst all of the excitement, a circus elephant comes out, much to the delight of the crowd. If you want a show where you can hear Jim Ross pontificate on the role of elephants in Ancient Rome then this is the one for you! Ross then introduces his colleagues, Two Time WWF World Champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage, who comes out carried to the ring in a throne (Macho King flashback) by “gladiators” while being fed grapes by “vestal virgins.” Bobby Heenan comes out with much less fanfare, accompanied by weird animals, riding a camel backwards and screaming in terror. He stumbles off of it in a wacky manner. Savage lifts up Heenan’s toga to reveal blue briefs and gives a big thumbs up to the camera.
I’m dying laughing at all of this. No accounting for taste with my humor. With all of that out of the way, let’s go down to ringside with our announcer for the evening, Finkus Maximus for our first bout. I love the entrance way for this show. They spent tons of money redesigning Caesar’s Palace to look like an actual Roman Coliseum. Definitely one of the coolest looking WrestleManias, in my opinion.
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (c) (with Luna Vachon) Vs Tatanka (with Sensational Sherri)
Background: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels launched himself into singles super stardom by winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship on the last episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event for fourteen years in October ’92. He’ll be defending the title against Tatanka, the Native American Sensation who has been undefeated in WWF since debuting in January ’92. Tatanka has Michaels’ former manager Sherri in his corner. Sherri had turned on Michaels and became a babyface as a result of HBK’s constant mistreatment of her. WrestleMania IX kicks off with a clash of two of the hottest up and comers in the WWF. Michaels is 2-2 at Mania and Tatanka is 1-0.
Match: Luna Vachon is making her WWF debut here. In a somewhat rare for the era of WWF moment of continuity between different wrestling promotions, Heenan immediately points her out as a member of the Vachon Family, who dominated the Canadian and Midwest circuits in the ’60s and ’70s. Michaels starts off the match by trying to take down Tatanka but Tatanka powers out. Michaels tries a top wristlock but Tatanka breaks out as well. Michaels tries a headlock, Tatanka tries to break out but Michaels walks the ropes to maintain the hold and Tatanka suplexes him. Michaels gets hit with dropkicks and some chops by Tatanka. Michaels gets a Sunset Flip off the top for two. Tatanka hits an inverted atomic drop and DDT then works on Michaels’ arm for a few minutes. Michaels slugs out but misses a charge and rams into the post, allowing Tatanka to continue putting him in armlock. Shawn tries to lift out in the corner but Tatanka hits him with a shoulder breaker. Tatanka goes up top for a flying chop to the shoulder. He goes too the well again but gets caught and hit with the superkick (not HBK’s finisher for another two years). Shawn tosses Tatanka out of the ring. Sherri chases Luna away. Shawn Michaels hits Tatanka with a clothesline off the apron. “Macho Man” Randy Savage contemplates Sherri’s chances of becoming Intercontinental Champion. A woman Intercontinental Champion? Preposterous. Tatanka makes it back in the ring. Shawn hits a neckbreaker for two. Standing drop kick gets a two. Shawn goes for the chinlock and then hits a victory roll for two. He attempts it again but goes to the well one too many times and Tatanka drops with an electric chair for a two count. Tatanka misses an elbow and Shawn Michaels goes up top for a top rope axehandle but Tatanka is fired up and no sells it. Tatanka blocks another superkick and knocks Michaels down with chops. Tatanka gets a high cross for two.Catapult into a rollup gets a two as well. Tatanka goes for the Papoose to Go but Michaels blocks it Shawn goes off the top but Tatanka hits him with a powerslam. Shawn throws Tatanka out of the ring and goes for a big dive outside but misses and whacks against the ring steps. The ref counts him out and Michaels pulls him out of the ring in frustration. Back inside, Tatanka finally hits the Papoose to Go but the ref tells him it’s over. Tatanka wins by countout at 18:18 but doesn’t win the title since it can only change hands by pinfall or submission.
Michaels gets the hell out of dodge. Luna viciously attacks Sherri and Tatanka helps her to the back. This is one of the more underrated matches in WrestleMania history. Shave 3-4 minutes off and give it a decent finish and it’s a classic. ***1/2
Mean Gene talks to new tag team sensation The Steiner Brothers. The Steiner Brothers are All-Americans from the University of Michigan and the Michigan Wolverines will be in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Finals the next day. Will the Steiners maintain that Michigan magic today at Mania?
The Steiner Brothers Vs The Headshrinkers (with Afa)
Background: If the opener was the clash of two of the hottest young singles stars then this is a clash of the two best, young tag teams. The Steiner Brothers were WCW stars who had recently made the transition to WWF while The Headshrinkers come from a great Samoan wrestling tradition. Their manager Afa was a member of the Wild Samoans, three time WWF Tag Team Champions. No feud here. Just two bruising teams looking to knock heads. Both teams are making their Mania debuts.
Match: Jim Ross uses the term “slobberknocker” for the first time in WWF to describe this upcoming match. Heenan then offends him by saying he doesn’t care about college sports. Scott Steiner and Headshrinker Fatu start it out. Scott takes Fatu down with an armbar and then hiptosses him. The Headshrinkers double team Scott and toss Rick Steiner out of the ring. The Steiner Brothers collect themselves for a moment then come off the same turnbuckle to hit the Shrinkers with flying clotheslines in a neat spot. Rick and Headshrinker Samu are in. Samu pounds Rick into the corner and hits him with a clothesline. Rick fires with a clothesline and sends Samu into the post. Scott tags in and hits a butterfly bomb but Samu hits him with a hotshot and Fatu pulls the top rope down so Scotty flips over the top. To add insult to injury, Afa whacks Scott with a bamboo stick outside of the ring. Inside the ring, Shrinkers double team Scott. Fatu hits Scott with a backbreaker and diving headbutt for two. Samu tags in and hits a spinkick but misses a charge. Fatu back in to punt Scott in the skull. Samu rams Scotty into the post. Scott tries a comeback by ramming Fatu’s head into the turnbuckle but ya can’t hurt Samoans by hitting them in the head in pro wrestling so Fatu no sells it and drills Scott with a superkick. Scott tries to fight out of the Headshrinkers corner but gets poked in the eyes. Fatu hits a backbreaker for two. Fatu and Scott Steiner clothesline each other and both go for the tag. Fatu makes it first and Samu cuts the tag for the Steiner. Samu misses a big splash which allows Scott to finally make the hot tag to Rick. Rick hits a backdrop and a bodyslam and knocks The Headshrinkers out with some Steinerlines. He makes the mistake of ramming their heads together and they knock him down with a double forward Russian legsweep. The Headshrinkers go for a Doomsday Device but Rick amazingly catches Samu and hits him with a bodyslam off of Fatu’s shoulders.Scott gets back in and suplexes Fatu. Samu whacks him with a superkick but Scotty finishes him off with a Frankensteiner at 14:20. This was just two of the toughest teams of the era doing what they did best. ***
Mean Gene is with Doink The Clown, who has defaced the interview set’s statue of Julius Caesar with clown makeup. We get the awesome footage of Doink beating the hell out of Crush with a prosthetic arm. Doink promises that by the end of the night Crush will have double vision and then squirts Mean Gene with a watergun.
Doink The Clown Vs Crush
Background: Crush, the former Demolition star, had taken off the makeup and revealed himself to be a laid back but powerful, Hawaiian brah. His mellow had been severely harshed by an evil clown named Doink. Crush had gone to confront the clown over his cruel pranks on children and ended up twisting the clown’s arm. Two weeks later, the seemingly injured clown showed up in the aisle during a Crush match wearing a sling. Crush confronted the clown and Doink sprayed water on his face and then removed his “arm” (a plastic prosthetic) and beat Crush with it, taking Crush out of the ’93 Royal Rumble. Now Crush wants to make the clown to stop laughing and pay for his devious pranks. Crush is 0-1 at WrestleMania and Doink (long before donning the face paint had wrestled as Matt Borne) has the same record.
Match: Bobby Heenan cackles at Mean Gene getting squirted with the flower. I yell out Crush’s goofy catchphrase “Shaka, brah!” at the same time Randy Savage does on screen. Crush pummels Doink outside of the ring. They head inside and Crush chokes Doink. Big Hawaiian hits a neckbreaker for two. Crush pummels Doink some more but the evil clown comes back with a necksnap and a series of forearms. Doink gets a piledriver and Crush goes out to catch a breather but Doink pulls him back in. Doink goes off the top but Crush hits him with a big boot. Crush clotheslines Doink out the ring. Outside, Doink tries to hide under the ring but Crush pulls him in. Big press slam on the evil clown but Doink decks the referee and tries to run underneath the ring. Crush hauls him back in again and puts him in the Cranium Crunch. However, another Doink shows up from underneath the ring and whacks Crush with the prosthetic arm. The two Doinks do a mirror act and the other Doink gets out of dodge and the ref wakes up in time to count the original Doink’s pin for the three at 8:27. A second referee (none other than future ECW manager Bill “Fonzie” Alfonso) tries to point out the second Doink but both Doinks have disappeared. A lot of people Most People Most everybody hates this match but I think it’s a guilty pleasure of mine. I like the storyline of the evil, devious clown outsmarting the powerful but kind of dumb brute. **1/2
New, “hip” WWF correspondent Todd Pettingell trolls some Japanese photographers in the bleachers of Caesar’s Palace. I thought it was bad when Regis made fun of Tenryu a few years back.
Razor Ramon Vs Bob Backlund
Background: Another match with two men making their WrestleMania debuts. Both men took very different routes in getting to the big stage. Razor Ramon had floated in and out of various federations (AWA and NWA in the ’80s, a misguided run in WCW in the early ’90s) under his real name of Scott Hall and had never really clicked in any of the gimmicks given to him. But upon signing to WWF in Summer of ’92, he became a superstar under the guise of a Scarface-esque Cuban baddie named Razor Ramon. His opponent Bob Backlund was actually WWF World Champion for over five years from 1978 to 1983 and is attempting to reach the mountain top again with a surprise comeback run.
Match: The announcers are still flabbergasted over the finish of the Doink/Crush match. Bobby Heenan suggests it was an illusion, perhaps done by Vegas star David Copperfield. Macho Man: “If that’s true, Crush is gonna beat up David Copperfield!” The crowd LOVES the cool heel Razor and seems slightly annoyed by goody two shoes Backlund. Backlund ducks and dodges Razor to start but Ramon catches him and pummels him down and stomps him. Bob hiptosses him, misses a dropkick then he hits a butterfly suplex on The Bad Guy. Bob Backlund gets an atomic drop and slingshots Razor but Razor gets an inside cradle to get the win at 3:40. *. Just a nothing squash.
Mean Gene talks to Money Inc, who talk over their plan of re-re-breaking Brutus Beefcake’s face in their match against The Mega Maniacs. We get the footage from Monday Night RAW of them rebreaking Brutus Beefcake’s face with IRS’ briefcase. Money Inc allude that they roughed up Hogan before the match as well.
WWF Tag Team titles match: Money Inc (c) Vs The Mega Maniacs (Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake (with Jimmy Hart)
Background: Brutus Beefcake made his return to the WWF in early ’93 after being sidelined for almost three years after a para-sailing accident that crushed his face and nearly killed him in July ’90. In his return match against Ted DiBiase on the February 15th edition of RAW, he was attacked by DiBiase’s partner IRS, who smashed Beefcake’s surgically restructured face with his steel briefcase. Horrified by this, Jimmy Hart had a change of outlook on life and shielded Beefcake’s body from further attack. Jimmy Hart aligned himself with his former enemy, The Barber and Hulk Hogan was called out of retirement to defend his best friend and challenge Money Inc for the WWF Tag Team titles at WrestleMania. DiBiase is 3-3-1 at WrestleMania, IRS is 1-2, Hogan is 6-1-1, and Beefcake is 3-1-2.
Match: Hulk Hogan has a nasty lookin’ black eye here, which triggered a ton of internet rumors in the ’90s. The official story is Ted DiBiase’s goons assaulted him that Hogan got it in a jet ski accident but popular rumor is that “Macho Man” Randy Savage decked him after Hulk Hogan told him about a relationship Savage’s estranged wife Miss Elizabeth was having. That rumor was perpetuated as fact by wrestling columnist hacks and bitter wrestlers with agendas against The Hulkster but it almost certainly actually Ted DiBiase’s goons a jetski accident that actually did it.
With that out of the way, Beefcake and DiBiase start out the match. MDM elbows him down but goes off the top and hurts his hand when he tries to go off the top with a double ax handle and hits Beefcake’s protective face mask. DiBiase rams Beefcake face first into the turnbuckle like a doof but that has no effect either. Hogan tags in. Hulkster is lean as hell here, even more so than last year. Obviously off the juice. Physically, he looks just like a middle aged dude in decent shape rather than the oversized cartoon of yesteryear. He slugs away on DiBiase. Hogan clotheslines DiBiase out of the ring. IRS in. Hogan gives him the same treatment. And Money Inc decides to take a walk. The referee tells Finkus Maximus that if Money Inc get counted out, he’ll reward the titles to the Mega Maniacs. I always hated when they spontaneously changed the rules for no reason. This isn’t the last time we’ll see this with Hogan tonight! Money Inc heads back in and DiBiase cheap shots Hogan and puts him in the Million Dollar Dream. Beefcake breaks it up by putting DiBiase in his sleeper while the referee is distracted. Hogan and DiBiase are knocked out but Hogan gets the hot tag to Beefcake first. Beefcake hits the high knee on IRS and sends DiBiase out of the ring with an Atomic Drop. DiBiase gets frustrated and whacks Beefcake with the briefcase and IRS drops an elbow on the Barber. They rip off his face mask and go to work on his reconstructed face. Beefcake makes the comeback and puts IRS in the sleeper. Referee accidentally gets knocked out in the process. Hogan gets a big tag even though the ref is konked out and it’s not necessary. Hogan whacks Money Inc with the mask and him and Beefcake make the count the ref is knocked out. Jimmy Hart reverses his jacket to reveal its pinstriped and counts the three and Hogan and Beefcake celebrate like idiots with the title belts. The actual ref wakes up and DQs The Mega Maniacs and gives Money Inc the win at 18:48. Awful finish, mediocre match. *1/2. After the match, The Mega Maniacs pose despite having lost the match and find out DiBiase has left his briefcase behind and they hand out money to the crowd.
Todd Pettingell badgers singer Natalie Cole, who is in the front row and surprised Hogan and Beefcake were handing out real money. Pettingell also talks to the CEO of Caesar’s Palace who puts over the event and hugs it out with Todd. How nice!
Mr. Perfect talks to Mean Gene about his match with “The Narcissist” Lex Luger and trips over The Narcissist’s name, calling him the Lexercist and The Larcissist. I guess he doesn’t have Perfect pronunciation. Ba dum
Mr. Perfect Vs The Narcissist
Background: Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan’s long term friendship ended suddenly when Savage offered Perfect the chance to be his tag team partner against Razor Ramon and Heenan and Perfect’s protege Ric Flair at Survivor Series ’92. Heenan insinuated Perfect (who had been retired for nearly two years) couldn’t wrestle at the level of Flair and Ramon, angered by this, Perfect accepted Savage’s offer and turned babyface for the first time in his WWF career. Things turned from bad to worse when Mr. Perfect beat Ric Flair in a Loser Leaves Town match on the 3rd episode of Monday Night RAW and sent Flair out of WWF. Heenan discovered a new talent that was “better than Perfect” and would get revenge on Perfect for wronging the Brain. That would the arrogant Narcissist (former WCW World Champ Lex Luger). Narcissist was undefeated and vowed to put an end to Perfect’s career. Perfect is 1-2 at WrestleMania and The Narcissist is making his debut at the show.
Match: Luger enters with a bunch of babes in thong bikinis, who hold mirrors for him to admire himself in. Bobby Heenan claims everybody in the crowd is wolf whistling at The Narcissist, which gets a big chuckle out of me. Perfect starts off by headlocking Luger and the two trade hammerlocks and Luger grabs the ropes. Perfect hits him with a kneelift and dropkick and Luger leaves the ring to stall for time. Luger goes back in and cheap shots Perfect. He rams Perfect into the turnbuckle but a big boot gets blocked. Perfect works on Luger’s leg. Perfect chops him in the corner but Luger overpowers him and whips him into the turnbuckle. Luger hits a backbreaker and an elbow and gets a two count. Luger pins him in the corner for another two. Powerslam on Perfect gets another two count. Perfect hits a sunset flip for two then puts Luger in a sleeper. Luger runs him into a corner to break it. Perfect pummels Luger and gets a small package for two. Perfect catapults Luger into the corner and puts him down with a forearm for a two count. Perfect hits another forearm and a neckbreaker, which both get two. Perfect hits a sloppy looking missile dropkick which gets a two but Luger’s foot is in the ropes. Perfect tries a backslide for a pin but Luger grabs the ropes and reverses for the pin at 10:55. Definitely one of the more disappointing matches in WrestleMania history. Both guys were capable of of great matches and you think Luger’s powerhouse style would mesh well with Perfect’s insane bumping ability but they never clicked. I think Perfect was still a bit gunshy after that back injury that put him out for a year and a half. **
After the match, Luger knocks Perfect out with a running forearm. When Perfect comes to his senses, he chases Luger to the back but gets jumped by Shawn Michaels and the two brawl backstage.
We go back to our host Gorilla Monsoon who hypes the last two matches of the show (Giant Gonzalez/Undertaker and Bret Hart/Yokozuna)
Giant Gonzalez (with Harvey Whippleman) Vs The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer)
Background: At Survivor Series ’92, The Undertaker had locked Whippleman’s #1 client Kamala into a coffin, forever traumatizing him. Enraged, Whippleman enlisted the help of a 7’7” beast named Giant Gonzalez to end the career of The Undertaker. The Undertaker is 2-0 at Mania and Gonzalez is making his debut.
Match: We get the first truly memorable Undertaker WrestleMania entrance as he enters on a chariot while carrying a vulture. Gonzalez hammers The Undertaker but it has no effect on the Taker. Gonzalez chokes Taker but Taker climbs the ropes and chokes him back. Gonzalez hits a low blow to break. Taker comes back and slugs Gonzalez in the corner. Gonzalez gets a clothesline and a hiptoss. Gonzalez hits a standing chinlock on Undertaker and holds for a long time. Gonzalez breaks it and throws Taker outside of the ring and throws him into the ringsteps. Gonzalez throws Taker back in the ring and hits him with headbutts. Taker fights back with punches. Paul Bearer and Harvey Whippleman get on the apron and Whippleman tosses Giant Gonzalez a chloroform soaked rag! Gonzalez smothers Taker with the rag and gets DQ’d at 7:47. Hideous match with an awful, awful finish. One of the worst WrestleMania matches of all time. Zero Stars.
Mean Gene shows us footage of Yokozuna murderizing “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan few weeks earlier and also mentions that Lex Luger knocked Bret Hart out the loaded forearm at the WrestleMania Brunch (though we don’t see footage of it during the show). Mean Gene intros somebody who will be watching the match closely, four time WWF World Champion Hulk Hogan. Hogan passive aggressively puts over Bret Hart and says all of the Hulkamaniacs will be behind him. But whether it’s Bret or “The Jap” (Hogan’s words not mine), Hogan wants the first title shot at them.
WWF World Championship match: Bret Hart (c) Vs Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji)
Background: Yokozuna had won the 1993 Royal Rumble to win a WWF World title shot at WrestleMania IX. The 505 pound Samoan Japanese sumo sensation had dominated the competition in WWF and the reigning upstart champ was a massive underdog. During the contract signing for the match, Yokozuna attacked The Hitman and hit the champ with his finisher the Banzai Drop. For my money, this is probably the most threadbare storyline for a WrestleMania main event ever. We are going to some surprises here though. Bret Hart is 4-1 at Mania with appearances in the battle royals at 2 and IV while Yoko is making his first appearance at the event.
Match: Bret has been played up as the underdog all show long, being injured by Luger earlier in the day and being outweighed by almost three hundred pounds. Being under respected was the main drive of Bret’s character even when he was Champion. Bret hits Yokozuna with a standing dropkick then pummels him in the corner. Yoko takes him down and throws Bret to the floor. Bret trips up Yokozuna from the floor and slingshots himself back in the ring. Bret hits an elbow drop from the second rope. Yokozuna hits a clothesline and a bodyslam then follows up with a big legdrop. Yokozuna chokes Bret and then locks in the dreaded nerve pinch. Yokozuna throws Bret in the corner and goes for a charge but Bret gets out of the way and Yokozuna rams into the turnbuckle. Bret gets a bulldog for two. Yokozuna squashes Bret’s momentum with a superkick and then goes back to the nerve pinch. Yoko misses another charge, Bret gets another bulldog and another elbow off the second turnbuckle for a two count. Bret knocks Yokozuna down with a clothesline. Bret punches Yokozuna in the corner but Yoko gets an atomic drop, as Bret yanks off the turnbuckle pad. Bret recovers and throws Yokozuna into the uncovered turnbuckle and locks in the Sharpshooter. Fuji grabs a fistful of salt and throws it in Bret’s face. Yokozuna pins Bret Hart to become your NEW WWF World Champion at 8:49. Rock solid match. Probably the best of Yokozuna’s career. ***.
Hulk Hogan comes out to try and tell the ref what went down and help Bret to the back. Mr. Fuji stupidly challenges Hulk Hogan to a match against Yokozuna right then and there. Bret Hart tells Hogan to go get a doctor avenge him and Hogan accepts the challenge.
WWF World Championship match: Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji) Vs Hulk Hogan
Match: Fuji tries to throw salt in Hogan’s face but The Hulkster ducks and it goes in Yokozuna’s face. Hogan hits the Legdrop and covers Yokozuna to become Five Time WWF World Champion at 0:25. The announcers are flabbergasted and the audience goes wild. Undoubtedly, it’s still one of the most shocking WrestleMania endings ever. Not really in a good way though. Zero stars.
Match of the Night: Shawn Michaels-Tatanka
Worst Match of the Night: Giant Gonzalez-Undertaker
Unintentional Comedic Moment of the Night: My review of Macho Man as a color commentator?
WrestleMania IX has proved to be one of the most maligned WrestleManias of all time. WWF had an opportunity to put over two new stars on the biggest stage in wrestling. Bret Hart could have overcame the odds and ended the 505 pound behemoth’s undefeated streak and be presented as the new conquering hero of WWF. Yokozuna could have beaten Bret Hart and become the new unstoppable heel. Instead they chose the basest rout and had Hulk Hogan wander in the scene to save the day. The same scene we had seen at WrestleMania V and VII. The act was getting old.
It’s really too bad Hogan’s ego and the horrible Undertaker-Giant Gonzalez semi main event had to ruin everything. WrestleMania IX wasn’t going to go down as one of the great cards in the show’s history or even a good one but it was an eminently watchable show that took place in a fun atmosphere. However, Hogan winning the WWF World title again and the truly horrible Undertaker-Gonzalez match instantaneously made it one of the absolute worst WrestleManias of all time.
Next Time on Connor’s WrestleMania Retrospective: WWF returns to the home of the first WrestleMania, Madison Square Garden for WrestleMania X. It’s a star studded affair with not one but two WWF World Championship matches (both scheduled this time, thank the Lord) and two different Bret Hart matches. Plus the final WrestleMania appearance of “Macho Man” Randy Savage and one of the most influential matches in the history of the World Wrestling Federation. We got stars alive, we got stars galore, you’re gonna see a show like never before, The Mission wants the titles and they will win (…maybe) but Conn Man’s gonna blog WrestleMania Ten.
