411’s Countdown to WrestleMania 23: The WrestleMania X Roundtable Review
Posted by Larry Csonka on 03.20.2007
Two of WrestleMania’s best matches ever on one card!
Introduction~! This is one of those Machiavellian shows where everything winds up being tied together with everything else, so I need to explain a bunch of background that you need if you've never seen the show or weren't around back then.
One year ago, Bret lost the title to Yokozuna who immediately lost it to Hulk Hogan the same night on a booking whim. Hogan then decided he didn't want to wrestle anymore, but he didn't want to put over Bret either. So, Hogan dropped the title back to Yokozuna at the 1993 King of the Ring. Bret won that King of the Ring tournament and, despite losing the title months earlier, continued to garner support among the fan base.
Vince thought he needed an all-American baby face, though, so they turned Lex Luger face without any explanation and had him challenge for Yoko's title at Summerslam. Bret, meanwhile, feuded with Jerry Lawler over who was indeed "King of the Ring." Luger failed in his bid to become champion and, due to a clause in the contract, couldn't receive another shot. The crowd's loyalties were split between Luger and Bret, so much so that they tied for WWF Wrestler of the Year voting (rigged, I know, but play along).
Bret continued feuding with Lawler all the way up to Survivor Series where the King and a group of his "knights" were to take on Bret and his brothers Owen, Keith and Bruce. Real life intervened when Jerry Lawler was accused of rape by two teenage girls. Lawler was taken off of TV and replaced by the returning Shawn Michaels.
Ah yes, Shawn Michaels. Michaels had developed a reputation as both a workhorse and a problem child. During the late spring and summer of 1993, he carried on feuds with Jim Duggan, Marty Janetty, and Mr. Perfect. He walked out the WWF, still the IC champion, forcing the WWF to strip him of the title. A battle royal was held to determine the top contenders for the title. Razor Ramon and Rick Martel wound up the last two men in the ring and a week later Ramon beat Martel to become IC champ.
Where was I? Ah yes, Michaels returned at the Survivor Series to take Jerry Lawler's place. During the match between Michaels & the Knights and the Hart Brothers, Owen accidentally bumped Bret to the barrier. Shawn rolled Owen up, making him the only Hart brother eliminated in the match. Owen took exception to this, and blamed Bret for his elimination. Owen would later challenge Bret to a match, but cooler heads prevailed…for a while
Problem, Shawn still had the Intercontinental Title and a claim to it since he had never been beaten for it. WWF President Jack Tunney decided that they would hang the two belts up in the middle of the ring and have the first ladder match in WrestleMania history. Cool so far?
Yoko, meanwhile, was busy defending his title against any baby face that got in his way. Crush was one such baby face. On a memorable episode of Raw, Yoko defeated Crush and injured him with several banzai drops. Randy Savage made the save, but not before Crush was sent to the hospital. Crush came back very, very pissed off at Savage of all people. He joined with Mr. Fuji and destroyed Savage on an episode of Raw.
At the Royal Rumble, Bret and Owen challenged the Quebecois for the WWF Tag Team Titles. During the match, Bret hurt his knee and made an error in judgment, going for the Sharpshooter instead of tagging his brother. Bret's knee gave out on him, and the Hart's lost the match. Owen blamed Bret yet again and stomped on Bret's injured leg. He left Bret in the ring and claimed Bret was selfishly keeping the spotlight to himself.
Bret was injured but accepted a fill-in spot in the Rumble itself and found himself face-to-face with rival Lex Luger. In a photo finish to the Rumble match, Bret and Luger both went over and landed at the same time. The decision was the first ever draw in Rumble history.
So we have two #1 contenders, which just ain't decent. Jack Tunney decides that he's going to flip a loaded coin and whoever wins will get the first shot at Yoko, the other will have to wrestle "suitable" competition. If Bret wins, Luger has to face Crush. If Luger wins, Bret has to face Owen. Well, Luger won.
That's where we are now. Bret vs. Owen. Luger vs. Yoko with the winner facing Bret at the end of the night.
-JD Dunn
Video Reviewer
TV Reviewer
Our analysts today are…
AJ Styles' #1 fan Stuart Carapola!
ECW recapper Mike Bauer!
One third of the Triple Threat Sean Garmer!
The man behind ASK 411 and Traci Brook's #1 fan, Steve Cook!
WrestleMania X~!:
Owen Hart defeated Bret Hart @ 20:22 via pin
Stuart Carapola: I consider this to be the best opening match in wrestling PPV history, and I still think that this was even better than the Ladder Match later in the show. Owen had turned on Bret because he was sick of living in his shadow, and so Bret finally did what he said he'd never do and faced his brother in a match. Not only do I consider this a great opening match, but I still consider it one of the best matches I've ever seen, period. Both men were very talented wrestlers, and what more motivation do you need to make your opponent look good that being his brother? Bret in particular really went above and beyond to make Owen look like a million bucks here, and they had a great match where each man, knowing his opponent better than anyone else possibly could, came up with counter after counter to each other's moves, even reversing the Sharpshooter on one another. Bret made his comeback with all his trademark moves and was going to catch Owen with a victory roll, a move he's beaten many men with in the past, but Owen stepped into it and pinned Bret. Owen beating Bret was a huge shock, especially since Bret was challenging for the WWF Title later in the show, but the fact that he beat him clean cemented Owen as somebody to take seriously in the WWF. Even Owen was in shock at the victory, and Owen throwing the win in Bret's face after the match was classic.
Mike Bauer: The huge debate of WrestleMania X starts here. The debate? This match being the best of the first 10 WrestleManias or a certain match later on the card. I tend to go with the later, but his match still should be up there on one of the top 5 matches in WrestleMania history. The very jealous Owen Hart (and who could blame him) finally had a chance for a one on one contest with his older brother Bret. Now, with the history any two brothers have, especially having the Hart name, you would have to expect a good match. What we got was an instant classic and a match that should have pushed Owen to the main event status that only Bret got. That is my only complaint about this match and why I think it was the second best match on the card. Had Owen and Bret continued the feud and have it be over the WWF Title, then my friends, it would be the best match of the firs dozen or so WrestleManias.
Sean Garmer: Best opening PPV match ever, the two brothers went out there and gave everyone one heck of a match-up. Bret proved he was the better wrestler in the beginning taking control of the match-up. However, Owen through the use of psychology and based on the fact that he knows everything Bret does, was able to keep up. He first worked on the neck and back, which proved to be a sound strategy until Bret went for the Sharpshooter. Then Owen figured out what he needed to do was focus on the leg to beat his brother with his own move. Bret sold the leg really well allowing for everyone to notice the weak spot. Bret tried everything he could to keep his little brother on his toes but it was Owen that seemed to outsmart him at every turn, Owen finally got in the Sharpshooter, but Bret was able to reverse it, knowing he couldn't allow himself to lose to his own move. At the end, Bret tried for a simple move, a victory roll, but didn't have enough leg strength, which allowed Owen to counter it and get the pin. Great drama, storytelling, and wrestling action make this match one of those ultimate-wrestling classics.
Steve Cook: I was absolutely shocked when I heard the result of this one at school the next day. Bret Hart was like the best wrestler in the world to me at that point, and Owen had never really done anything spectacular as a singles wrestler in the WWF before this match. He had about as much of a chance of beating Bret as my Bengals did of winning a Super Bowl. Sadly, my Bengals are still without their championship, but Owen did score the victory in one of WrestleMania's greatest matches. This match put Owen Hart on the map and set up his push to becoming the King of Harts and a legitimate challenger for Bret's title in the summer. Something tells me I'll be talking more about this situation later....
Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon defeated Doink the Clown & Dink@ 6:10 via pin
Stuart Carapola: This is our special attraction match for the evening. It was also a really bad match, although I got about five seconds of entertainment watching Dink wrestle Luna. Bam Bam pinned Doink, and then we got the real fun out of this segment: a Bill Clinton impersonator was in the crowd, complete with fake Secret Service. The guy made a couple more appearances later in the show, and was pretty funny.
Mike Bauer: This was after the whole deal with four Doinks vs. Team Fat and Ugly at Survivor Series, which I still say was one of the funniest matches ever. But that wasn't the same match and quite frankly, the joke stopped here for Doink. The match was hard to watch, even with Dink trying to face off with Luna.
Sean Garmer: Here is your comedy match of the evening. Bam Bam is one of the most mobile big men you will ever see and could hang with the best. Luna well she was ugly and even though she could wrestle it's not like too many wanted to see her. I think this was Brooklyn Brawler Doink by this point so he wasn't as good a wrestler as Borne. The stuff between Dink and Luna was funny, with her missing elbows and top rope moves. Bam Bam pretty much dominated and won with a long distance Head butt.
Steve Cook: Well, you gotta feel sorry for these guys having to follow that opener. Some people think Bam Bam had it bad at WM XI when he had to put over a football player...I dunno, to me that seems like a step up from teaming with a "woman" against a clown and a midget clown. I'm not saying Luna Vachon was disgusting, but it looked like she fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down. Honestly, I wouldn't have minded if she was a decent worker, but she was average at best. Which probably rated her above Doink number 2 & Dink, but still.
Falls Count Anywhere Match: Randy Savage defeated Crush w/Mr. Fuji @ 9:47 via pin
Stuart Carapola: This was the blow off to the Savage-Crush feud that began when Crush turned on Savage because Savage didn't save Crush from an attack by Yokozuna on an episode of Raw. It wasn't your standard Falls Count Anywhere match where you can pin somebody anywhere, instead you pinned the guy and then had 60 seconds to make it back into the ring, so it was almost a combination of Falls Count Anywhere and Last Man Standing. Anyway, Crush beat him up early on, but Savage took over and never let go of the advantage, eventually pinning Crush in the back, and then tying him up to a scaffold, leaving Crush unable to get back to the ring. Savage got the win, and even though he'd stick around the WWF as an announcer for another six months or so, this was Savage's last hurrah as a wrestler before leaving for WCW.
Mike Bauer: So this is the end of the Macho Man at WrestleMania? My, my, how the mighty had fallen after winning the WWF Title at WrestleMania VIII. Now, he way I understand the rules of the match, since it has been a while, was that you had to pin your opponent and then get back to the ring in a minute of less. It was a very interesting concept and even until now, I have never heard of another match like it. Granted, we get pinfall then answer the ten count, but that is a different match for a different time. As for this match, Savage showed why he was such better, smarter wrestler back in the day as he got the pin and tied the big man down before getting back to the ring. I guess it was the only way the match could work out, but it was still a pretty good ending.
Sean Garmer: This was not your normal Falls Count Anywhere that we are accustomed to today. You had to pin your opponent and then hope that he didn't get back in the ring within 60 seconds to win. I like the way they started it out with Randy going right after Crush before he was even able to start entering the ramp area. Telling everyone that this wasn't going to be a normal wrestling match. This was a brawl, that didn't last too long. Each man got a pinfall early and then Savage clotheslined Crush over the guardrail and took him backstage. He got a pinfall there and then tied up Crush upside down on this scaffold looking thing. Macho Man made it back in time and got the win. This was kinda just there for me, too short to really be anything.
Steve Cook: It seemed kinda random when Crush and Randy Savage were suddenly the bestest of friends just before Crush turned against him. You know what else didn't make any sense? How the WWF was phasing Savage out as an in-ring competitor, and then he went to WCW and became a main eventer there for the next several years. Not that he was all that good during his WCW days, but it was kinda weird how he went from semi-retirement to the main event. As for this match...well, the ending spot was kinda cool. The rest is utterly forgettable.
Stuart Carapola: The WWF made a decent effort to create a credible women's division in 1993-1995 by building that division around Alundra Blayze, aka Madusa Miceli. Blayze was a good wrestler, but is unfortunately known more as the person who dumped the Women's Title belt in the trash on WCW Monday Nitro. Leilani Kai was just there to give Blayze an opponent to showcase herself against and was not a serious threat to the title at that point, although it was cool to have a participant in the Women's Title match from the original WrestleMania make her return for the tenth show. I thought it would have been cool for her to have also gotten the shot at Victoria at WrestleMania 20, but unfortunately we didn't get that novelty, which I would have much rather seen than poor Molly Hotty getting her head shaved. The match itself was really short, only about three or four minutes long, and Blayze picked up the win with a German Suplex.
Mike Bauer: Ah, women's wrestling, how I still miss thee. Well, not this as much as four-five years ago, but whatever. Alundra Blaze, aka Medusa, aka Ms. Dump the Title in the trash live on Nitro leading to the Montreal Screw job… wow, sorry, weird tangent there… anyway, she was the Trish Stratus of the early to mid 1990's as the woman to build a division around. The problem is, when you bring back someone from WrestleMania I to face her, you get a match that resembled when Trish had to face Christy Hemme about two years ago.
Sean Garmer: Alundra, later known as Medusa in WCW, was the Women's champ at the time. She was the first Women's Wrestler in the new generation and she showed it here in this match. She had a large assortment of moves and didn't fall prey to all the scantily clad stuff they make the Divas do now. Lelani Kai was a Women's wrestler from back in the day that is best known for her loss to Wendi Richter at WrestleMania 1, this was a decent women's match with Alundra retaining in the end.
Steve Cook: Speaking of utterly forgettable, how about this match? It should be noted that Alundra Blayze (Madusa without the ridiculously inflated boobs) was a pretty darn good worker around this time and had some really good matches with Bull Nakano in 1994-95. Unfortunately, she wasn't facing Bull Nakano on this night. I don't mean to completely crap on Kai...she was better than Christy Hemme as a WM challenger, but still, this was missing something. Like a reason to care.
Stuart Carapola: The Quebecois as WWF Tag Team Champions were a lot like the Honky Tonk man as Intercontinental Champion, in that they were more lucky than good, and every time they stepped in the ring you thought they were going to lose the title. Case in point, MOM was getting a good push coming into WrestleMania 10 and it wouldn't have been surprising if they won the title, but they ended up only getting a count out victory. This just seemed like a formality to get the Tag Team Title on the show.
Mike Bauer: This was a tag team title match, where we had The Mounties, Quebecois, whatever, managed by Rav… Johnny Polo as the current champs. The opponents, Moe, Oscar, and Big Vi… Mabel, forming Men on a Mission. What we got a "let's get them on the program" match that ended in a count out win and no title change. Guess they were setting up the change for later on in the night.
Sean Garmer: Oh Viscera had such a promising future it seemed. As Mabel he won the King of the Ring the next year, which is looks bad on the prestigious title nowadays. Mabel wasn't a slouch by any means, as he's shown he can move around and do that impressive Rolling kick. He had a World title feud with Diesel and went on to face Undertaker as well, but he was released shortly after that. When he came back, things were different and he became a mid-card act. Men on a Mission were led by a rapper to the ring and were basically playing very stereotypical characters. The Quebecois were a nice tag team that had been repackaged in the Mountie getups with a manager by the name of Johnny Polo. Quebecois actually showed some innovative tag team moves especially the toss to the outside and the double Superplex to Mabel. Things were going well until the very cheap count out, where Pierre is pulled out of the ring by Polo and just walk out. That is just stupid to me.
Steve Cook: Who would have thought that out of all the wrestlers in this match, freaking Mabel would be the one still employed 13 years later? Well, I guess when you consider that Mo sucked, Jacques Rougeau was about 85 years old, and Pierre eventually got turned into a pirate, it isn't that hard to believe. I guess it's more shocking to me that Mabel is actually still alive 13 years after this match. Dude's fat. Not too much worth talking about here, MOM was the favorites to get some tag team gold here, but the Quebecois weren't quite done with their reign yet. It happens sometimes.
Stuart Carapola: A bit of background: After Yokozuna won the WWF Title from Hulk Hogan, he challenged anyone who thought they could body slam him to give it a try on the USS Intrepid on July 4th. Lex Luger showed up and slammed him, and used that accomplishment to get a shot at the WWF Title. For months, he rode around on this bus called the Lex Express, which was supposed to make him look like a man of the people, and after all the driving around on the bus, after all the buildup, he only won by count out. There was a clause in the contract that Summerslam would be Luger's only shot at the title, so even though he was celebrating like he had won the title, he had really accomplished nothing. The idea was to stretch it out all year and give Luger his big win here at WrestleMania 10, but by that point the ship had sailed. Mr. Perfect was made the special referee for the match, and though Luger again was about to beat Yokozuna, he made the mistake of giving Perfect a little shove, and Perfect disqualified him even though he had barely touched him. This was supposed to lead to another Luger-Perfect feud, but Perfect disappeared from the WWF again before that happened, so Luger looked even stupider as a result. Yokozuna, in the meantime, still had Bret Hart to get through later in the evening if he was going to walk out of WrestleMania with the WWF Title.
Mike Bauer: And speaking of setting up a title change, we come to the first of two WWF Title defenses. Let me set the story here. After Lex Luger turned from an egomaniac to Mr. USA on all of us, he beat Yokozuna by count out at Summerslam. The problem is, he signed a no rematch clause and could not get another shot. After the USA vs. Foreign Power Survivor Series match, Luger ended up winning the Rumble… but so did Bret Hart. So as co-winners, they flipped a coin and Luger won, giving him the first shot and setting up the Hart brothers' epic match. So we come to this match, even after Mr. Fuji's incoherent complaining about the no rematch clause, and we get what could have been a great moment. Instead, we get a clusterfuck as somebody decided that Mr. Perfect would be a great special referee. That was fine, until Luger gave him the finger poke of doom and got himself DQed. So we had a near yearlong build and that is how it ended… and we all thought the Invasion had a crappy ending.
Sean Garmer: So this all happened because of the double elimination of Bret Hart and Lex Luger at the Royal Rumble, and Lex won the coin toss so he got to face Yoko first. The match was alright and seeing Lex lift up Yokozuna is a feat in itself. It was rather slow and kinda dragged along. I remember being happy as young boy that Yokozuna kept the title because I've never really liked Luger. The DQ makes sense in continuity because Luger beat Perfect last WrestleMania. However, this is another stretching of the rules that was done just to allow this thing to happen. Luger was never that great in the ring and Yokozuna wasn't that good in the carrying aspect. It's probably better that it ended up Bret and Yoko in the main event, not to mention, this setup a better story because both wrestlers had already competed once that night.
Steve Cook: This was about as good as it possibly could have been given the talent involved in the match...which isn't saying a whole hell of a lot. However, it is worthwhile due to the involvement of special guest referee Mr. Perfect. Bonus points for having Perfect remember his feud with Luger from last year and having that trump his previous standing as a baby face. Unfortunately Perfect didn't stick around very long, and unfortunately for Luger, this was as close to the WWF title as he would ever get. Rumor has it that Luger was going to win this match until he talked to the wrong people while drunk and got the planned result in that morning's newspaper. Whoops!
Earthquake defeated Adam Bomb @ 0:31 via pin
Stuart Carapola: This was mostly notable for Harvey Wippleman getting into a confrontation with ring announcer Howard Finkel before the match. Harvey had been ripping on Howard and intimidating him for months, but this time Harvey went over the line by ripping up Finkel's tux. Finkel had finally had enough and shoved Wippleman on his ass. Adam Bomb came out to defend his manager, but before he could clean Finkel's clock, Earthquake hit the ring, back jumped Adam Bomb, and pinned him in thirty seconds. After this, we found out that the ten man tag got cut from the show. Did they think they had an extra hour on the show or something?
Mike Bauer: Ok, so this was your filler match that wasn't even supposed to be on the card. Why couldn't we just have Harvey vs. The Fink here, since they did that anyway? Instead, of all people, Adam Bomb comes down to defend his manager against a lowly announcer. The next thing you know, he gets squashed, in every meaning of the word, by Earthquake. You would think they could have done something better than this, am I right?
Sean Garmer: Harvey Wippleman attacks Howard Finkel verbally. That brings out Adam Bomb for no reason and then Earthquake comes out to save the Fink. The match doesn't last more than a minute. Earthquake nails one slam and then sits on him for the pin. That was a useless match that looked like they set that up five minutes before it happened.
Steve Cook: One wonders who Adam Bomb pissed off to go from receiving a nice mid-card push in late 1993 to being squashed in 30 seconds at WrestleMania X. I liked Bomb a lot better than I liked Bryan Clarke's later incarnations as Wrath and one-half of Kronik. Maybe it was his hometown of Three Mile Island, his cool tights, or the weird goggles he wore to the ring. Unfortunately by this point he was no longer being managed by Johnny Polo, who was a lot more useful at ringside than Harvey Wippleman ever was. Come to think of it, that's probably what ultimately led to his downfall...people who were managed by Wippleman seemed to have a pretty short shelf-life in the WWF. Earthquake was returning to the WWF from a tour of Japan, and briefly feuded with Yokozuna before leaving the company for WCW in December 1994. It probably took you longer to read this than it would to watch the actual match.
WWF IC Title Ladder Match: Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels to become the UNDISPUTED Intercontinental Champion @ 18:47
Stuart Carapola: This match is thought of by a lot of people as the Match Of The 90s, and it's hard to argue with that. I personally thought that, in terms of the match itself, the Bret-Owen match from earlier in the evening was better. However, there was so much more to this match than just the match itself that it's hard to not give it its due. Yes, the match was a very, very good match, but it was also the most innovative match of the decade, with the only other possible contender being Hell In A Cell 97. While most gimmick matches were pretty one-dimensional at the time, the ladder became more than just the means by which Shawn and Razor could attain victory, it also became a weapon, one which they would use against each other in ways nobody probably ever thought to use it. Though later ladder matches would certainly top this in terms of mind-blowing acrobatics and sick bumps, this was the match that innovated the gimmick (to the national audience, anyway) upon which others would put add their touch. Most importantly, this was the match that made the careers of Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, especially Michaels. While both men came out winners just for having been in this match, it was Michaels that came up with the most innovative ladder spots, took the sickest bumps, and was able to carry Razor to the match of his career. I really can't do this match justice by trying to describe it, but Razor finally got Shawn tangled in the ropes and used the opportunity to climb up and grab the belts, becoming the undisputed Intercontinental Champion. Michaels was thought to be leaving the WWF after this match, but ended up sticking around after all.
Mike Bauer: Now we get to my match of night, and in my humble opinion, the #2 match of all WrestleMania's, behind only Benoit vs. Michaels vs. HHH of just three years ago. The big deal going into this is that both Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon laid claim to the Intercontinental Title. You see, Michaels didn't defend the title for a 30-day span in 2003, so he was stripped of the belt and I believe suspended. Razor Ramon wins a battle royal, followed by beating Rick Martel, to become the new champ. And everything is happy and stuff. But we have a problem. Michaels came back and claimed he was still the champ as nobody beat him. So the resolution was a ladder match between Michaels and Ramon for the IC Title. The match had everything and still to this day, the standard that every ladder match tries to live up to. Sure the spots are crazier now, but this had the spots and still wasn't a spot fest. Of course, Razor went on to lose the belt only two weeks later, bad the bad guy won here.
Sean Garmer: When you think about influential and great matches at WrestleMania this is one of them. Even though it wasn't the first Ladder match, it was a first at the grand stage, it is a match that is compared with other Ladder matches. Two friends in HBK vs. Razor Ramon for the IC titles had a great match that is still remembered to this day. I don't care if it doesn't stack up with the spot fests of today it was a match WITH a Ladder, instead of using it as a prop to do dangerous things. The match picks up after Diesel is ejected and the Ladder starts coming into to play. When HBK does that splash off the Ladder that was a crazy moment back in the day. There were a couple of times where the realism was taken away because Razor took too long to get up and Shawn had to do some acting so he didn't grab the belts. The ending was cool with HBK getting tangled up in the ropes, creating an easy avenue for Razor to grab the belts. As a young fan, I was upset that Shawn didn't win, but now understanding what this match did for later Ladder matches and what HBK has gone on to do, Razor winning probably fit better.
Steve Cook: While this was not the first ladder match, it was the first ladder match that a large number of wrestling fans saw. And while the spots in this match have been outdone by competitors in later ladder matches, they were still revolutionary for this time period. If Shawn Michaels wasn't already considered one of wrestling's top future stars, this match played a huge role in getting him to that level. Razor Ramon was one of my favorite wrestlers at the time, and this match also showcased the potential that Scott Hall had to be one of the top guys in wrestling...he would have a reasonably successful career, but one has to wonder how well he could have done if he was able to defeat his demons. It's a tossup between this and the opener for MOTN, and I could see the argument for either one.
Stuart Carapola: I remember that when I was watching this, I was so sure that Bret was going to lose because after he lost the title the year before, he'd been bumped down the card and did a few jobs to Yokozuna along the way. He had also hurt his knee in the match against Owen earlier in the evening. Indeed, Yokozuna beat the piss out of him for most of the match, and it seemed like Yokozuna's title reign would continue to go on forever as it felt like it had for the nine months since he won the title. However, luck was on Bret's side this night because when Yokozuna went up for the Banzai Drop, Yokozuna lost his balance and fell backwards off the ropes, knocking him silly and allowing Bret to cover him for the win. The certainty of Bret's failure and the freaky manner in which Yokozuna lost made Bret's title win a very pleasant surprise. The match itself wasn't very much, but the post match celebration in which first Lex Luger, then special referee Roddy Piper, then the entire locker room got into the ring to celebrate Bret's win made it feel like a really special moment. Just as great as Bret's win and celebration was the shot we got of Owen, jealously standing in the aisle staring at the party going on in the ring and mouthing the words "what about me?"
Mike Bauer: So after all the shenanigans form Lex Luger's match, we end up with Bret Hart and Yokozuna for the second straight WrestleMania main event. Oh and this one did have a special referee as well, Bret's good friend, Rowdy Roddy Piper. So, we have the rematch we had all waited for (except those like me who would have loved Luger vs. Bret, in retrospect) and much like the first, Bret was getting pounded by the Sumo Warrior. This time though, Bret had the luck in the end as he caught Yokozuna tripping over his fat and he got him for the pin. And you know, it's kinda odd that Lex Luger was the first man out to congratulate Bret. Think back to WrestleMania IX, when Bret was at the press conference and got smacked upside the end by Lex Luger and his metal plate, leading to his loss to Yokozuna. Now you see why I wanted my match to happen.
Sean Garmer: The great thing about this is that they made it look like a big deal with all the celebrities and a special guest referee in Piper. Also the way Yokozuna started this out made it a point that he needed to take advantage of Bret being hurt from the previous match he had at the beginning, but also because the longer the match went, the more it would favor the better conditioned, leaner, and more athletic Bret. So Yoko needed to get this done quick. I think this is also the first time we have a main event rematch at WrestleMania, so both of these guys know each other well. In order to sell the fact that both of these men were tired from their other matches the match itself was rather slow and didn't have many moves in it at all. Mostly it consisted of punches, clotheslines, and rest holds. Then we got the big surprise when Yoko lost his balance out of fatigue and Bret was able to muster enough to get the pin. Then to makeup for all the crap Bret was put through, winning his first WWE title in a non-major way and then losing it awfully at last year's Mania. How fitting is it that a brand new era in wrestling is celebrated with all the guys from the back coming out and lifting up Bret. Showing the world that he was the new standard bearer in the WWE, well everyone except Owen who felt he should get some celebration.
Steve Cook: After hitting rock bottom with his loss to his younger brother earlier in the night, who would have thought that Bret Hart could possibly defeat the unbeatable Yokozuna? Sure, Yoko was probably a bit worn down from his previous match with Lex Luger, and Bret had the whole night to sit and think about it, but still....Yokozuna! But on the other hand, it's Bret freaking Hart. Yoko's stamina (or lack thereof) came back to haunt him, as he slipped on the middle rope when he was about to execute the Banzai Drop. Bret covered him for the win, the title, and the adulation of the fans. Much to the dismay of his brother Owen, who could only stand in the entranceway and look on as his bigger brother had once again managed to steal the spotlight from him. I consider this one of the greatest endings in WrestleMania history, as it gave you the happy ending, paid off the main storyline of the night, and set up a future feud for the WWF title. What more can you ask for?
The Conclusion:
Stuart Carapola: WrestleMania 10 was a very entertaining show between the celebrities, the WrestleMania flashback moments in between each match, the Bill Clinton impersonator, and the tenth anniversary aspect, with it being right back where it all began in Madison Square Garden. However, in terms of the actual wrestling, this show was completely carried by three men: Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and Shawn Michaels. Those three men made this show, and they did it in a big, big way, Shawn by carrying Razor Ramon to the Match Of The Decade, Bret and Owen for their outstanding match in the opener, and Bret again for the big moment feel of his second World Title win. Everything else on the card, including the first WWF Title match, was embarrassingly bad, and it's a good thing that the WWF had Bret, Owen, and Shawn around, otherwise their tenth anniversary show would have been remembered as one of the worst PPVs of all time.
Mike Bauer: This may have been the best pure wrestling WrestleMania of all time, with two of the top five matches of all time. Bret vs. Owen was an amazing opener and Bret winning the title at the end of the night was pure gold. But it was Michaels vs. Ramon that stole the show and there no real contenders to unseat it as the best WrestleMania match ever for many, many years… except for a certain Shawn Michaels match two years later.
Sean Garmer: This was a pretty fun show with two matches in the under card that are a must see for any wrestling fan. I really liked the WrestleMania flashbacks and all the celebrities made this seem like an important show. Then having the 10th anniversary show at MSG makes it even better. The rest of the card was just enough to get you to the big ending. The main event match was not a lot but the big celebration at the end made up for it, making Bret look like he was the best thing around. That's something he totally deserves. The best opener in PPV history, the first Ladder match in WrestleMania history, and the first main event rematch in WrestleMania history leading to a cool ending, that's something any fan should take a look at.
Steve Cook: Like my colleagues have said, this is basically a two match show. But those two matches are among the best matches of the 1990s and are must see TV if you still haven't seen them yet. That alone is enough to rate WrestleMania X pretty high on the list of great WrestleMania's. Sure, most of the other stuff is pretty lackluster, but the dirty little secret about WrestleMania is that a lot of the under cards are like that. You gotta take the good with the bad, and if you're lucky the good outweighs the bad. In this case, it certainly did.
