Connor McGrath
On April 6th, 2014 at the SuperDome in New Orleans; Daniel Bryan an undersized and to some, under appreciated star, overcame the odds to win the WWE Title. To do so, he had to go through to two matches. Fans had been clamoring for the torch to be passed to Bryan for months if not years. It was an impressive feat but not the first time in WWE history this had happened.
This time, a little over twenty years ago at WrestleMania, another undersized but widely beloved superstar had to go through almost the exact same thing. Very few people thought Bret Hart could ever become WWF World Champion. Even Bret Hart never thought he’d get the honor but in October ’92, the veritable torch was passed to him when he won the belt from Ric Flair in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. However, just as quickly, the torch was taken away as Hart lost the title at WrestleMania IX to Yokozuna under controversial circumstances and Yokozuna lost the title seconds later to Hulk Hogan. Hart’s time as the Face of WWF was taken away from him just as quickly as it was handed to him. The more things change…
WrestleMania X is one of the most influential WrestleManias of all time. So today, a few weeks after its 20th Anniversary, we’ll take a look back at the show and its stars!
March 20th, 1994
Live from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York
Ring Announcer: Bill Dunn, Howard Finkel, and Burt Reynolds (main event only)
Interviewer: Todd Pettengill
Current Champions WWF World: Yokozuna
WWF Intercontinental: Razor Ramon
WWF Tag Team: The Quebecers
WWF Women’s: Alundra Blayze
We open with a video package looking back at the very first WrestleMania, with hokey overdubbed commentary by Gorilla Monsoon and Howard Finkel (God Forbid, they pay Jesse Ventura his royalties!) Then we get footage of the three participants in tonight’s WWF World Title Matches (Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna, with the winner facing Bret Hart in the main event).
Vince McMahon is in the ring to intro WrestleMania like he did for WrestleManias 2 and III. He introduces the singer of “America The Beautiful,” Little Richard featuring a gospel choir. Not one of the more memorable WrestleMania anthems unfortunately since I’m 99.8% sure he’s lip synching. Richard, if you’re reading this and weren’t lip synching, please feel free to come over to my house and slap my Mama for badmouthing the King of Rock N Roll! WOOOOOOOO! (That’s a Little Richard “woo”! Not a Ric Flair one by the way)
Vince McMahon introduces his broadcast partner, Jerry “The King” Lawler, returning after a four month absence due to a statutory rape charge against him that was dismissed (vintage Lawler!) They run down the show’s main events before throwing it to our opener between the man who will compete against the winner of the first WWF World Title match, Bret Hart, and his brother, Owen!
Bret Hart Vs Owen Hart
Background: At the 1993 Survivor Series, The Hart Brothers (Bret, Owen, and their out of retirement big brothers, Keith and Bruce) teamed up for the first time in the WWF to take on Jerry Lawler Shawn Michaels and His Knights. The Hart Brothers were victorious but Owen was infuriated over the fact that he was the only Hart eliminated from the match (after being accidentally hit on the aprong by Bret) and challenged his older brother Bret to a one on one match. Bret refused, saying he’d never fight family and him and Owen made up. Bret sacrificed his own aspirations of winning back the WWF World Championship by teaming up with Owen and going for his third WWF Tag Team Championship. These hopes were dashed at the ’94 Royal Rumble, when Bret (kayfabe) injured his knee during a match with the Quebecers and the referee was forced to stop the match. Infuriated over losing another golden opportunity, Owen attacked his big brother’s injured knee (he kicked his leg out from underneath his uh, leg. *grimace*) . In the ensuing weeks, Owen berated his brother and accused him of holding him down. Finally, Bret snapped and agreed to take on his brother one on one at WrestleMania X.
Bret is 4-2 at Mania and was runner up in the battle royals at II and IV while Owen is 1-1 at the event.
Match: Owen Hart and Bret Hart lock up and trade take downs. Owen celebrates like a goof after one takedown. He’s such an awesome heel. Bret gets a takedown and Owen cries about it before he grabs the ropes. Bret puts Owen out of the ring. Owen is enraged and gets back in the ring and slaps his older brother in the face. The two trade wristlocks. Owen takes Bret down but Bret reverses and works on Owen’s arm, he rolls up Owen Hart 1-2-HE’S GOT HIM! NOOOOOO! TWO COUNT, JERRY LAWLER! Sorry, just trying to replicate Vince McMahon’s commentary style. Bret works on Owen’s arm some more but Owen cheapshots him. Bret and Owen criss cross, monkey flip and Bret sends Owen out of the ring again with a clothesline. Owen gets back in and the two brothers have a shoving match and then Bret rolls up Owen for two and goes for the armbar. Brett and Owen do another criss cross and Owen whacks The Hitman with a leg lariat. Owen throws Bret outside the ring and then tosses him back in where The Rocket hits a backbreaker on his big brother. Owen humbles his older brother with a camel clutch. Owen gets a two. Bret whips Owen into the corner, Owen gets out of it with a bodypress but Bret reverses for two. Owen tosses Bret but Bret gets back with a rollup, Owen Hart reverses with a bridged German suplex for two. Legdrop (,brother) on Bret gets a two count. Owen goes for a suplex but Bret reverses into a small package for ONE TWO BRET HART’S WON THE MATCH! NO! (tm Vince McMahon) Bret goes for a piledriver but Owen reverses into a tombstone. Owen Hart goes up top but misses a splash. Bret comes back with a clothesline for two and hits the Russian leg sweep for a two count as well.
Owen comes back with the Sharpshooter but Bret counters with one of his own and Owen cheapshots to break it. Owen rolls Bret up for two. They go outside of the ring and Bret hurts the knee that he injured a few months earlier. Owen attacks it. Owen wraps Bret’s knee up against the post and slams into it. Owen heads back and Bret limps after him. Owen takes Bret down with a leg drag and stomps at his knee. Owen locks in a figure four leglock (WOO! Ric Flair not Little Richard) but Bret manages to reverse it. Owen makes the ropes and they break the hold. Owen tries to go back to the leg but Bret blasts him with an enziguri and punches him in the corner. Owen gets thrown into the turnbuckle and Bret drops the leg. Bulldog on Owen gets two. Bret hits a piledriver for two. Bret gets a superplex for two but just can’t seem to put his feisty little brother away. Brett pounds his brother with forearms and locks in a sleeper. Owen kicks Bret in the nuts to break. Owen locks in the Sharpshooter again but Bret reverses. Owen grabs the ropes to break the hold. Owen charges at Bret but gets hit with a boot to the face. Bret goes for a victory roll but Owen blocks it and gets the pin at 20:19. This is a MAJOR UPSET and the crowd at MSG is silenced. The arrogant little brat just outwrestled the best wrestler in the world. Just a fantastic, fantastic match with great storytelling of Owen trying to goad his big brother into an all out brawl while Bret struggled to keep it a technical wrestling match. Brilliant work by both men and for that, it becomes the second ***** match in WrestleMania history and to this day, still could very well be the best opening match in WWF history.
Todd Pettingell talks to a gleeful Owen Hart in the backstage area of MSG. Owen Hart gloats over his win. Somebody should have told Owen to wipe away that loogie or something on the side of his mouth…
We get our second WrestleMania moment of the night, a look back at WrestleMania 2?s WWF/NFL Battle Royal. Interesting to note that this is the first WrestleMania to really play up the past history of the show. Every one before this was sort of its own singular event and the only references to past WrestleManias would be the obligatory “This is by far the best WrestleMania of all time” references during the show.
Ring announcer Bill Dunn introduces Sy Sperling, not a just member but the President of The Hair Club For Men. Sy introduces the latest member of the Hair Club for Men…the WWF’s own Howard Finkel. Howard Finkel asks the crowd how they like his new look and they’re somewhat ambivalent. Fink’s Toupee’s career was about as long as Braden Walker’s run in WWE.
Mixed Tag Team Match: Doink The Clown and Dink Vs Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon
Background: Doink The Clown had transformed from It like villain to lovable (insomuch as a clown can be lovable) babyface after hitting Jerry Lawler in the face with a pie. He also adopted a little sidekick named Dink The Clown and together, they regularly tormented monster heel Bam Bam Bigelow (who had returned in early ’93) and his lady Luna Vachon. Bam Bam Bigelow is determined to make the joke stop and pummel Doink and Dink at WrestleMania X. Bam Bam Bigelow is 0-1 at WrestleMania while Luna, Doink (Matt Borne was fired from WWF around the time Doink turned face and thus it’s another guy under the facepaint here), and Dink are all making their debuts at the show.
Match: Mixed tag rules here, of course. Bam Bam and Doink have to wrestle each other and Dink and Luna can only wrestle each other as well. Jerry Lawler really, really wants to see Bam Bam squash Dink. Considering what happened, the last time there was a midget match on WrestleMania then I’d say the odds of that happening are OK. Bam Bam and Doink start it out. Bammer pummls Doink and follows up with a big dropkick but misses a senton. Doink tags out to Dink. Dink and Luna square off. Dink slaps Luna’s butt and Luna chokes the little perv. Luna misses a charge. Luna slams Dink but misses a splash. Tag. Bigelow clotheslines Doink out of the ring. Dink does some comic shenanigans. Doink tries to get back in with a sunset flip but Bigelow blocks it by sitting on him. Doink comes back and goes for his finisher, The Whoopee Cushion but whiffs on it. Bigelow knocks Dink off the apron and blocks a backdrop supplex attempt by Doink. Bam Bam hits the Flying Headbutt to win at 6:09. After the match, Bam Bam and Luna beat down poor Dink but luckily, Dink avoids being Little Beaver’d and Doink makes the save for his little buddy. This match was what it was. *1/2. Surprised that they opened a WrestleMania with two matches where heels went over cleanly!
All of a sudden, “Hail to the Chief” plays over the P.A. and we see WWF’s resident President Clinton impersonator hanging out in the Presidential Box! I’m not sure why but WWF intermittently had “President Clinton” show up at shows. Mostly so Jerry Lawler could make jokes about Clinton’s poor diet habits (which is obviously ironic considering the King’s heft) and McMahon could make veiled jabs at him. Speaking of veiled jabs, evil TAXMAN IRS is in “Bill Clinton’s” Presidential Box!
WrestleMania Moment: Hulk Hogan bodyslams Andre The Giant in front of 93, 173..78,000? A veritable CRAPTON of… people at WrestleMania III.
Falls Count Anywhere match: Crush (with Mr. Fuji) Vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage
Background: Randy Savage had spent most of 1993 in semi-retirement, wrestling on the occasional untelevised show but mostly focusing on his color commentary duties on Monday Night RAW. He had struck up a friendship with the laid back but powerful Hawaiian Crush. But that friendship turned sour when Crush was attacked after Yokozuna following a match between the two and hit with multiple Banzai Drops. Several Crush was out for several months. When he returned, he accused Savage of not doing enough to help him and chided the United States for turning their back on him. Crush shockingly aligned himself with Yokozuna’s manager Mr. Fuji. He then proceeded to attack Savage, throwing him against the ringside guardrail before Yokozuna waddled out and Banzai Dropped Savage. A few weeks later, Savage got revenge by attacking Crush when he came to the ring on an episode of Monday Night RAW but that attack led to Savage getting suspended indefinitely from color commentary by WWF President Jack Tunney for involving himself in the in-ring action. Ultimately, Savage decided to return to the ring at WrestleMania X to challenge his friend turned foe to a Falls Count Anywhere match. Savage is 6-4 at WrestleMania and Crush is 0-2.
Match: This is not a really a Falls Count Anywhere match persay. It’s kind of a weird hybrid between that and a Texas Death match. A wrestler can pin his opponent anywhere in the arena and after the pin, his opponent has a minute to get back to the ring to resume the match. Randy Savage jumps Crush at the bell but this backfires as Crush overpowers him and Savage gets dropped throat first on the railings and gets pinned in the aisleway at 0:42. Macho is barely able to make it back into the ring within the minute and the match continues. Crush continues working on Savage’s throat. I’m not sure if it was intentional but I like that ironic touch to the match since as a heel, Savage always went after his opponent’s throat (see III against Steamboat and VII against Ultimate Warrior) and he’s getting a taste of his own medicine. Crush hangs Savage in the Tree of Woe. Crush grabs some salt to throw in Savage’s face but Savage gets up and kicks it in Crush’s face. Savage hits the Flying Elbowdrop and throws Crush outside of the ring to get the pin at 4:25. Crush is knocked out silly but Mr. Fuji grabs Vince and Lawler’s pitcher of water and dumps it on Crush’s head and the big man stumbles back in. Savage chokes Crush on the ropes but misses a charge and Crush backdrops him to the floor. Savage and Crush brawl over the arena floor. Savage clotheslines him into the crowd but ends up eating a superkick from Crush. Savage blocks a piledriver and they fight into the backstage area. Savage throws Crush into some scaffolding and pins him at 8:00. Ever resourceful, Savage then ties Crush up by the legs to the scaffolding and runs back to the ring to get the win at 9:36. Neat finish, fun match. ***.
One of my WWF nerd friends can correct me if I’m wrong but I think this was the first No DQ match at WrestleMania (outside of steel cage matches which are always DQ) .
A nervous Todd Pettingell interviews “President Clinton”. Pettingell asks why IRS is in the Presidential Box, IRS shakes Clinton’s hand and thanks him for raising the taxes! BOO TAXES! YAY CONSERVATISM! “Clinton” doesn’t want to talk politics though, he’s just here to see the rasslin!
We get a video package dedicated to WrestleMania Fanfest, which took place all weekend in New York City. There had been WrestleMania weekend activities practically since the beginning but this was the first time they made the weekend of WrestleMania an event in and of itself. Though there was the WrestleMania V Fun Run (won by Mr. Fuji under dubious circumstances…)
Macho Man” Randy Savage celebrates his big victory at the Felt Forum where a number of fans who couldn’t get into the show at the Garden are watching the show on closed circuit. Vince throws it back to another great Macho Man moment!
WrestleMania Moment: Macho Man wins four matches in one night to become WWF World Champion at WrestleMania IV
WWF Women’s Championship match: Alundra Blayze (c) Vs Leilani Kai
Background: The WWF Women’s Division had returned after an almost four year absence in December ’93 and former WCW star Alundra Blayze cruised through the tournament to win the new WWF Women’s Championship. At WrestleMania X, she’ll be facing off against a returning former champ in Leilani Kai. Fun fact: Kai is the only wrestler to compete in a match at the first WrestleMania and WrestleMania X. Blayze is making her Mania debut and Kai is 0-1 at the show.
Match: Kai jumps Blayze at the bell but Blayze gets a rollup in the corner for two. Lawler makes a bunch of really mean “horsefaced” jokes about Blayze. I hate Jerry Lawler on commentary. Great, underrated wrestler but I’ve never dug him in any incarnation. Whether it’s the lame, mean spirited Bobby Heenan ripoff of this era, the unrepentant horn dog of the late ’90s/early ’00s or the WWE shill of present day. It’s not fair that he’s gotten to announce three times as many WrestleManias as Jesse Ventura. Blayze got a nose job not long after this and I’m sure all of Lawler’s horseface jokes played a part in that. Although I’m sure all of those lines were fed to him by McMahon
*rant over*
Blayze hits a sunset flip for two. Kai comes back with a bodyslam. Blayze hits a hurracanrana. Kai tosses her out and back in the ring with a hair toss that gets two. Blayze comes back with a suplex and finishes Kai off with a German Suplex at 3:23. *. Nothing match.
We get a shot of WWF Legends applauding in the crowd for Blayze’s victory. Among them is Captain Lou Albano, Classy Freddie Blassie, Nikolai Volkoff, The Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young. Lawler is flabbergasted that Moolah is still alive. She’d still be kicking for another decade and a half! And her best buddy, Mae Young was alive for almost another twenty years after this.
WrestleMania Moment: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper sprays a fire extinguisher in Morton Downey Jr’s face. Being pretty generous with the definition of “WrestleMania Moments” here. Yeah, it was a moment that happened at WrestleMania but not one, I’m particularly fond of remembering. Though a good reminder for me to check out the recent documentary on Morton Downey Jr that’s on Netflix…
Shawn Michaels grabs a photo opportunity with the host of the USA Network’s Up All Night, Rhonda Shear and Shear coos over The Heartbreak Kid but a supremely hammered Burt Reynolds wanders in and steals her away from Michaels. Burt Reynolds: The Original Heartbreak Kid!
WWF Tag Team Championship match: The Quebecers (c) (with Johnny Polo) Vs Men on a Mission (with Oscar
Background: The Quebecers had quickly dominated the tag team competition, winning the Tag Team titles a little over a month and a half after debuting in the WWF. However, they’ll face a tough test at WrestleMania X against WWF’s favorite humongous hip hoppers, Mo and Mable… Men on a Mission. Quebecer Jacques (formerly Jacques Rougeau and DA MOUNTIE!) is 1-3 at WrestleMania with an appearance in the WrestleMania IV Battle Royal while Quebecer Pierre and MOM are making their debuts at the show.
Match: Oscar gets the fans wavin’ their hands in the air like they don’t care. Pier six brawl to start. Jacques and Pierre try to double team that mountain of a man, Mable but he ends up double clotheslining those amazing French-Canadians. MOM work over Pierre in their corner. Mable drops a big (and I mean) big legdrop on Pierre and they both hit elbows on him. Jacques interferes and the Quebecers work over Mable’s buddy Mo. They toss him out of the ring and Jacques cannonballs Pierre out of the ring onto him. They throw Mo back in for a two count. The Quebecers were a capital T Tremendous tag team. Most underrated WWF tag team of all time in my book. Just awesome double team moves. Hotshot gets two for Jacques. Mo hits him with a Somersault Kick but can’t make the tag. Pierre whiffs on a legdrop of the top rope and Mo finally tags Mable. Mable hits a spinning side slam on Jacques. Mable misses a charge and The Quebecers work him over. The Quebecers amazingly manage to double suplex the 6’9”, 480 pound Mable and hit him with their finisher, The Cannoball. Somehow, this only gets two. Mable fights back and MOM hit a double splash on Jacques but the Quebecers manager Johnny Polo is distracting the referee. Oscar pulls Polo off the apron. The Qubecers get out of dodge and MOM gets the countout win at 7:59. OK match with an awful finish. **
Howard Finkel introduces our special guest celebrities for our first World Championship Match. Rhonda Shear is our guest timekeeper and New Kids on the Block NKOTB’s Donnie Wahlberg is our special guest ring announcer. Wahlberg is our first guest celebrity to get booed in a while. I guess rasslin fans don’t appreciate the music of New Kids on the Block.
Donnie Wahlberg introduces our special guest referee, Mr. Perfect, making his first appearance in WWF in five months. Lawler complains that Perfect will be biased towards Luger. Yeah, because it’s obvious someone would be biased towards a guy who knocked me out with his steel plated forearm last year.
WrestleMania Moment: The Ultimate Challenge sells out The SkyDome in Toronto!
WWF World Championship Match (Special Guest Referee: Mr. Perfect): Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) Vs Lex Luger
Background: On the 4th of July, 1993, Yokozuna challenged any American athlete to bodyslam him on the deck of theUSS Intrepid, which was docked in New York Harbor. Athletes from not only the WWF but the NFL, NHL, and NBA failed to slam Yokozuna. Hope for America was seemingly lost. Until a helicopter landed on the ship and the former Narcissist Lex Luger showed up to defend the good ol US of A and slammed Yokozuna’s tubby butt. Luger defeated Yokozuna at SummerSlam 1993 but failed to win the WWF World Championship because he won the match as a result of a count out. Foolishly, he had not included a rematch clause in the contract thus was unable to get Yokozuna to agree to a one on one rematch. That was until he was one of the two winners of the ’94 Rumble and thus guaranteed to get a title shot. Now he’s looking back to win the WWF World Championship for America. Lex Luger is 1-0 at Mania and Yokozuna is 1-1.
Match: Yokozuna and Luger slug it out to start. Luger hits a clothesline but Yokozuna comes back with one of his own. Yokozuna has really, really ballooned weight-wise since becoming WWF World Champ. When he debuted in WWF a year and a half earlier, they padded his tights to make his rump look huger but he certainly didn’t need any padding at this point. Lex knocks Yoko to the floor and follows with ax handle from the apron. Lex tosses the now 568 pound Yoko back into the ring. Luger gets a flying bodypress for two. Elbowdrop also gets two. Yokozuna chokes Luger and blocks a bodyslam attempt by Lex. Yokozuna pummels Luger and removes the turnbuckle padding but somehow forgets to use it. Yokozuna uses the most boring move in wrestling, the dreaded nerve pinch and holds it for four minutes. Even describing this match I’m starting to doze off. Yokozuna dumps Luger out of the ring but back in the ring, he applies the nerve pinch again. And ugh…I’m getting a bit tired.
*snore* ZZZZZZZ umpth! Uh..huh? Oh, right! This match is still going. Luger finally breaks out of the nerve pinch but he gets hits with a belly to belly suplex. Luger fights back with some clothesline to knock Yokozuna on tubby butt. Luger slams Yokozuna and hits the running forearm. Fuji and Cornette get on the apron and Luger pummels them. Luger covers Yokozuna but Perfect refuses to make the count. Luger gets frustrated and shoves Perfect and Perfect DQs him at 14:35. That’s what you get for messing with Perfection! Howlingly awful match with a goofy finish. Easily the worst WWF World Championship match at a WrestleMania to date. 1/2*. The crowd chants “Bullshit” at the finish and even Vince sort of implicitly acknowledges that the finish (and the match) kind of sucked.
Todd Pettingell talks to Mr. Perfect who tries to justify his actions. Luger storms after him and gets into a shoving match with an accuses Perfect of holding a grudge. Perfect denies such a claim but really, considering Luger knocked him out last year after a match, could you blame him?
WrestleMania Moment: Rick Martel and Jake “The Snake” Roberts have a blindfold match at WrestleMania VII. I don’t mind this match as much as some people but this is another “highlight” that was less a great WrestleMania moment than just a thing that once happened at a WrestleMania, for some reason.
Earthquake Vs Adam Bomb (with Harvey Whippleman)
Background: Adam Bomb, the man from Three Mile Island, was Harvey Whippleman’s latest protege and looking to set off an explosion in the WWF. Man, this era of WWF could be cheesy. He’ll face a tall task against the returning 450 pound behemoth Earthquake. Bomb is making his first WrestleMania appearance while Quake is 3-0 at the show
Match: Harvey Whippleman harasses Howard Finkel and makes fun of Finkel’s new toupee. Finkel has had enough of Harvey’s razzing for the past two years and shoves him to the ground. Adam Bomb tries to attack The Fink but Earthquake makes the save and hits a slam on Adam Bomb. And the Aftershock finishes the match at 0:28. Zero Stars.
Todd Pettingell talks to Jim Cornette and Yokozuna. Cornette proves how much of a dork he is at heart by quoting Jethro Tull’s “Bungle in the Jungle”. And I prove how much of a dork I am by recognizing that he’s quoting Jethro Tull lyrics. Cornette and Yokozuna don’t think Bret Hart will be able to compete in the main event with his bum knee.
WrestleMania Moment: The Undertaker appears at WrestleMania VIII at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. This is actually the only reference to Taker on this show, who was taking a hiatus for the birth of one of his kids.
Ladder Match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship: Razor Ramon (c) Vs Shawn Michaels (with Diesel
Background: Then WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels was stripped of the title and fired from the company in September of ’93 for failing a drug test. In his absence, a battle royal was held on RAW to determine the top two contenders for the belt and the final two in that battle royal would face off the next week on the show. Well, Razor Ramon eventually came out on top, defeating Rick Martel to become WWF Intercontinental Champion. However, the celebration was short lived as Shawn Michaels would soon be rehired by the WWF and when he returned, he claimed he was the rightful holder of the Intercontinental Title. So, it was determined that the two champions would face off in the first televised Ladder Match in WWF history. In a ladder match, the title(s, in this case) are hung on a rope, 15 feet above the ring and the first person to climb the ladder and retrieve them wins the match. Ramon is 1-0 at Mania and HBK is 2-3.
Match: This is the first televised ladder match in WWF history (Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart had one that appeared as a Coliseum Video Exclusive that appeared on a VHS release a year and a half earlier) and is one of the most famous matches in WWF history. It’s basically on every other WWE DVD release. Shawn Michaels blocks a hiptoss from Razor Ramon by poking Razor in the eyes. Shawn eats a chokeslam from Razor in return. Razor knocks HBK down with a shoulderblock but HBK tosses The Bad Guy out of the ring. Razor gets pummeled by Shawn’s bodyguard Diesel outside. The referee sends Diesel to the locker room.
Razor back in, slugs Shawn Michaels in the corner. Razor clotheslines HBK out and they brawl on the floor for a bit. Razor sets up for the Razor’s Edge but Shawn backdrops him onto the floor. Shawn retrieves the ladder for the first time. This is a normalish sized ladder rather than the supersized one we’d see in later matches. Razor grabs it away from him and Shawn Michaels runs back in and baseball slides into the ladder and shoves it into Razor’s gut. Inside the ring, Shawn whacks Razor in the chest with the ladder and then tosses it at The Bad Guy’s back. Shawn tries to climb the ladder but Razor stops him by pulling Michaels’ tights partway down, exposing HBK’s heartbreak butt to the delight of the teeny boppers in the crowd. Shawn Michaels elbows Razor, puts the ladder in the corner, climbs it and does a huge splash off of it and onto Razor. This would go on to be one of the iconic moments of WrestleMania. Shawn goes for the belt again but Razor pushes it over and Shawn clotheslines himself on the top rope. Shawn and Razor knock into each other, Shawn gets up first and sets the ladder up in the corner. This backfires as Razor gets up and throws Shawn Michaels into the ladder and Michaels bumps dramatically to the floor. Ouch. Razor follows and uses the ladder to ram Michaels into the post. Double ouch. Back in, Razor catapults Shawn into the ladder and then spears him to the outside of the ring with the ladder. Ouch again. Razor climbs for the top but Shawn dives in from the top turnbuckle to stop him.
Razor and HBK climb for the top and slug it out. Razor slams Michaels off the top but bumps himself off as well. The ladder almost breaks which would be very bad because unlike modern ladder matches, there aren’t countless reserve ladders underneath the ring. Razor climbs again but HBK dropkicks him off the ladder and then lands the Sweet Chin Music right in the kisser. Ramon is out cold but Michaels hits him with a piledriver just in case. Michaels climbs the ladder in the corner and then drops it and rides it down and lands on top of Razor. WrestleMania moment #2 in this match. Shawn Michaels props the ladder in the center of the ring with Razor underneath and HBK climbs to the top but Razor shakes the ladder down and Michaels falls off and gets his leg tangled up in the ropes. Razor climbs the ladder unopposed and “unifies” the WWF Intercontinental titles at 18:45. On rare occasions, I ask myself if this match still lives up to the hype considering how much praise it’s gotten over the years and after not watching it for a few years, I can say with full confidence that it absolutely does. One of the most important matches in WWF history, bar none and a lot of the high spots still hold up. More importantly, not only do those hold up but it has a great story as well. This is the match that cemented Shawn Michaels as a superstar. Razor as well. So for the second time this show and the third time in WrestleMania history, we get what I would call a ***** match.
We go to the back and we see the participants on the heel side of the ten man tag coming up next. But uh oh! All of them are arguing over who gets to be the captain and I guess that match is canceled!
Ten Man Tag: Irwin R. Schyster, Rick Martel, Jeff Jarrett, and The Headshrinkers Vs Tatanka, Sparky Plugg, 123 Kid, and The Smoking Gunns
DAMMIT! Should have went with IRS, he had experience as a Captain. Then again so did Rick Martel…
Todd Pettingell is in the Presidential Box and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase shows up and tries to bribe “President Clinton” but Clinton has none of it. He’s goin’ to rasslin. GOIN’ TO RASSLIN! R-A-S-S-L-I-N, that’s Rasslin!
WrestleMania Moment: The Controversial Main Event Finish of WrestleMania IX…which transitions nicely into… a video package to build up Bret Hart Vs Yokozuna. They’re obviously dubbing over some copyrighted song here and despite having seen this show a gazillion times, I can’t put my finger on what was here originally. Perhaps Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ “Makin’ Some Noise”.
Bill Dunn introduces our special guest celebrities. Our special guest timekeeper is Jennie Garth from 90210 (who turned down the Rhonda Shear role in the segment with Burt Reynolds in HBK…bitch) and Burt Reynolds is our guest ring announcer.
Burt Reynolds, it should be noted is a huge wrestling fan and was allegedly a subscriber to the insider wrestling journal, Wrestling Observer. The more you know. Burt, if you’re reading this, give me a holler! Burt is wearing a cast on his hand because apparently he broke it, rumbling with muggers. Could that man get any more awesome?
Burt introduces our special guest referee, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, who gets a nice ovation. He was, it should be pointed out, involved in the first WrestleMania main event. Unfortunately, he doesn’t wear the kilt to officiate.
To show that it’s 1994, he’s wearing a No Fear shirt in the same font and color as his classic Hot Rod shirt. To make it super 1994, the shirt also has Taz (Looney Tunes not ECW) on the back.
WWF World Championship Match (Special Guest Referee: “Rowdy” Roddy Piper): Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) Vs Bret Hart
Background: Bret Hart had lost the WWF World Championship to Yoko at WrestleMania IX and had been unsuccessful in his attempts to regain the title. Worse yet, it seemed like everybody from Jerry Lawler to Doink The Clown to Shawn Michaels to his own brother was gunning for him. Bret Hart overcame the odds to be a co-winner of the ’94 Royal Rumble and won the coin toss to be in the 2nd WWF World Championship match at WrestleMania X. He’ll be facing a weary Yokozuna but remember, Bret himself lost in a massive upset in an extremely tough fought contest against his younger brother Owen earlier tonight. Yokozuna is 2-1 at WrestleMania while Bret is 4-3 at the event with appearances in the battle royals at 2 and IV.
Match: Yokozuna attacks Bret Hart before the bell even starts. Roddy Piper has to get the stinking drunk Burt Reynolds out of the ring. Yoko chops Bret down but Bret fights back with some punches. Bret misses a dropkick and Yokozuna chokes him against the ropes. Yokozuna misses a big splash and Bret goes for a headbutt but Yokozuna’s head is so fat that Hitman hurts himself more. Huh, Bret hurt his head so much trying to headbutt the guy, you’d think that Yokozuna was Samoan! Bret pummels Yokozuna until Yoko lands on his keister. Bret covers for a two count. Cornette yanks Piper out of the ring. Piper decks Cornette and gets back in the ring. Even as a referee, Roddy Piper can’t help but ham it up for the crowd. Back in the ring. Yoko chokes Bret some more and hits the Hulkbuster legdrop. Yokozuna tosses Bret out of the ring. Bret quickly makes it back in. Yokozuna misses a splash into the corner. Bret hits a bulldog for two. Elbow drop off the middle rope gets a two. Clothesline by Bret also get a two count. Bret goes off the top again but gets caught by Yokozuna with a belly to belly suplex. Yokozuna goes for the Banzai Drop but can’t find his footing and slips off the ropes. Bret makes the quick cover and becomes a TWO TIME TWO TIME WWF WORLD CHAMPION at 10:38 and Madison Square Garden goes wild.Yokozuna chases Roddy Piper to the back. Too bad that match never happened! After the match, Lex Luger saunters out and stares down Bret Hart. Luger offers Bret his hand and raises his hand in victory. The babyface locker room empties out and Roddy Piper comes back (must have whooped Yoko’s ass backstage) to join in the celebration. Stars of the past (Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Gorilla Monsoon, and Pat Patterson), present (Razor Ramon, Lex Luger, Tatanka), and future (123 Kid and Spark Plugg Bob Holly) all congratulate Bret Hart. This is a “goosebumps” moment. I particularly love Randy Savage climbing the turnbuckles to point at Bret (being lifted on the shoulders of Lex and Razor) as if to say that Bret’s now the man and Mach’s passing the torch as the face of WWF to him. Vince McMahon proudly declares that this is the birth of a New Generation of WWF Superstars.
Owen Hart saunters out and stares at this victory celebration. Randy Savage and Gorilla Monsoon hold the ropes open and invite Owen in the ring but Owen just angrily glares at the whole event before leaving. Another goosebump moment. This is still, in my book, the greatest ending to a WrestleMania ever. Mediocre to average match but an awesome, awesome ending. **1/2.
Match of the Night: This is a tough one. Shawn Michaels-Razor Ramon and Owen Hart-Bret Hart are both amongst the greatest matches of all time and there’s no wrong choice here. I’m going to cop out and say they’re both winners and declare it a tie.
Worst Match of the Night: Lex Luger-Yokozuna
Celebrity of the Night: I’m not not going to give this award to a hammered Burt Reynolds, who seemed really happy to be there. He even joined in on Bret Hart’s WWF World title celebration.
