wrestling / Video Reviews
Dunn’s Countdown To WrestleMania: WrestleMania X
JD,
I think you gave UT vs Roberts a bit of a shaft in your review. Not in the snowflake dept. because it was certainly not a great match, but you just kind of breezed through the end with just causally talking about the tombstone on the floor.
The Tombstone itself was the same type of move that the regular pile driver was in Memphis, in the old days. But add in the floor and its a whole new dimension. The WWF was still treating something like a body slam on the floor as a killer move, let alone a tombstone. Obviously that doesn't change the fact that the match wasn't any good, but I think it deserved more of a mention. As it was something we really hadn't seen before in the WWF.
Mike.
This is true. I think it was a combination of me just wanting to get to the next match and the fact that moves like that are commonplace today (remember the Pedigree on the floor that Hurricane took?) It wound up being a pefect move to kill Jake’s WWF career (up to that point).
Onward…
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 babyface, 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 babyface that got in his way. Crush was one such babyface. 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 Quebecers 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 photofinish 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. Savage vs. Crush.
WrestleMania X
Stiff tie up to start. It goes nowhere, so Owen proclaims victory. Nice headscissor counter of a fireman’s carry. Owen kips up and taunts his brother. Bret drops down, sending Owen to the outside. Owen comes back in and slaps Bret in the face. Bret takes him down and works the arm. Nice reversal by Owen using a handful of hair. Bret gets two off a reverse rollup and armdrags his brother down again. Owen elbows him in the face and shoulderblocks him to the mat. Bret gets a reverse monkey flip on another attempt and clotheslines Owen to the floor. Owen gets in Bret’s face again, but this time Bret slaps him across the grill and gets two on a schoolboy rollup. Bret gets two off a crucifix. Owen comes back with a beautiful spinning leg lariat as Vince wonders if Bret has enough killer instinct to beat his brother. See, Vince may be horrible at calling a match, but he knows what story he wants to tell. To the outside, Owen rams Bret’s back into the ringpost. Back in, Owen delivers a backbreaker and locks in a camel clutch. Bret elbows out but runs right into a nice belly-to-belly. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Owen springboards into a crossbody block, but Bret rolls through for two. Owen collapses and Bret gets two more. Owen kicks out, sending Bret to the outside. Bret tries to get in, but Owen catches him on the apron and tries to suplex him in. Bret slips over his shoulder, but Owen then reverses THAT to a bridging German Suplex. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Great sequence there. Bret reverses a suplex to a small package out of nowhere for two. Owen stays on top, though, with a Tombstone Piledriver. He goes up and comes off for a diving headbutt, but Bret rolls out of the way! Bret delivers an atomic drop and a clothesline for two. The diving elbow gets two more, and Bret argues with the referee. Owen begs off and then hits an enzuigiri. Bret blocks a Sharpshooter and goes for one of his own, but Owen rolls him away. Owen with a flying leg rollup for two. They tumble to the outside, and Bret injures his knee. Back in, Owen sees him favoring the leg and stomps away on it. He wraps Bret’s leg around the ringpost to further damage the leg. Back in, he mocks Bret’s limp and delivers a Dragon Screw Legwhip. A side Indian Deathlock follows, but Bret won’t submit. Owen drops a knee on Bret’s leg and delivers another Dragon Screw. FIGURE-FOUR! Bret…just…rolls…over…to the…ropes. Owen hangs Bret’s leg on the ropes and kicks at it. He goes for yet another Dragon Screw, but this time Bret gives him a little payback with an enzuigiri. Owen takes a Bret bump off a whip to the corner. Bret drops his injured leg on Owen’s face but can’t cover in time. A bulldog gets two for Bret. He delivers a piledriver. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Bret puts him on the top rope. SUPERPLEX! Both men are groggy. Bret rolls into a cover for two. Bret delivers a pair of forearm uppercuts, prompting Owen to miss a wild swing. Bret ducks and locks in a sleeper, but Owen makes the ropes and delivers a lowblow behind the ref’s back. Bret’s helpless, so Owen locks in the Sharpshooter. Bret powers up and reverses to one of his own! Owen makes the ropes. He whips Bret to the opposite corner and charges. Bret gets a boot up to block and goes for a Victory Roll. Owen stops short, putting Bret’s shoulder to the mat for the three count at 20:19. Great pacing and storytelling. There were some cool mirror images here such as Bret moving in on a helpless Owen being repeated later with the rolls reversed. Flawless execution here. One of the greatest matches in Mania history that turned Owen into a main-event challenger for the next few months. *****
This Doink is Ray Apollo, not Matt Bourne. He does okay, but doesn’t have Bourne’s natural charisma in the role. Dink is Tiger Jackson. Bigelow jumps Doink as he gets in the ring. Bam Bam delivers a dropkick but misses a senton splash. Doink whips him to the buckle and takes him down into an armbar. Bigelow misses an elbow, and Doink tags Dink. Dink and Luna go at it in a silly comedy match. Luna does get a nice running splash against the ropes. She misses a second attempt, and Dink gets two. Dink runs circles around her, so she just kicks him in the stomach. Luna overpowers him with a slam. She misses a splash off the top. Doink tags in, but goes right back out courtesy of Bam Bam. Bigelow and Luna both miss dives at Dink. Doink comes back in with a sunset flip on Bigelow. Bigelow sits down and squashes him. Doink delivers a DDT but misses the Whoopie Cushion. Bigelow knocks him down with a pair of clotheslines. Doink goes for a backdrop suplex, but Bigelow shifts his weight and falls on top. Bigelow finishes with the diving headbutt at 6:09. Not bad for a comedy match. *1/4
The rule is that you have to pin your opponent outside the ring and they have 60 seconds to make it to the ring. Savage attacks during Crush’s entrance but falls victim to a backbreaker and a Snake Eyes on the steel crowd barrier around :30 in. Fuji takes a cheapshot with the flag as Savage is trying to get in. Savage gets back in anyway but gets tied to the tree-of-woe. Crush lays in a few shots to his exposed gut. Crush grabs some of Fuji’s powder, but Savage throws it back in his face. Savage with a few jabs and a double ax-handle. He delivers the flying elbow drop, rolls Crush to the outside, and gets the pin on the floor around 4:00 in. Crush sneaks in with help from Fuji. Savage charges, but Crush sees him coming and backdrops him to the floor. Crush gives him a few rabbit punches. Savage rams him into the ringpost and then the ring steps. Savage tracks Crush down as he tries to escape down one of the aisles. Crush surprises him with a thrust kick, but Savage counters a piledriver to a backdrop. They head to backstage area and some scaffolding where Savage gets the final pin and ties Crush up in some scaffolding. Crush can’t make it back to the ring, so Savage beats up Mr. Fuji while he waits for his win. (9:49) Good action, but the match rules were a little counter intuitive. **1/4
Blayze was pretty good at this point, having a wider moveset than Trish Stratus, but not quite the grasp on character psychology. Blayze calls for a test of strength then sweeps her legs out from under her. Blayze gets two off a sunset flip, ducks through her legs, and gets two more off another sunset flip. Kai slams her down, but Blayze comes back with a huracanrana for two. Kai tosses her over the top. Back in, Kai slams her down by the hair and gets two off a Butterfly Suplex. Blayze comes back with a spin kick and gets two off a suplex. Kai misses a swing and falls victim to a Bridging German Suplex at 3:25. Kai was about 6,000 years old here, so it was a good idea to keep it short. *
“Ow, skeet, skeet, skeet, skeet. YAY-UHHHH!” Oscar pre-dates Lil Jon by about 10 years. The Quebecers attack before the bell and knock Mabel down. Mo gets isolated, and we head into the Heel Encyclopedia of Wrestling. Jacques backdrops Pierre onto Mo. They then do the same move only into a plancha. Back in, that gets two. They double hotshot Mo for two. Mo ducks a swing and steamrolls Pierre. Jacques taunts Mabel into coming in and thus cutting off the tag. Pierre misses a senton off the top. Mabel gets the hot tag and dominates…very slowly. He delivers a Bossman sideslam. He misses a charge to the corner. The Quebecers try a double suplex, but that doesn’t work. They try again and get him over. They hit the Maple Syrup Bomb (yeah, I don’t remember the name for it) for two. Mabel comes back with a spinning leg lariat. MOM squash Jacques, but the ref is tied up with the managers on the outside. Johnny Polo pulls him to the outside for the countout at 7:43. The champs lose the match but keep the titles. Keeping the Quebecers on offense was a good idea, but even they can’t work miracles. **
Mr. Perfect is your special guest referee. Trash talk to start. They slug it out, which Luger wins. Luger runs right into him like a brick wall. Yoko misses an elbow and falls to the floor. Luger follows and has trouble rolling him back in. Yoko has to pull the ropes up and do it himself. Luger comes back in with a crossbody off the top for two. An elbowdrop gets two more. Luger tries a bodyslam but collapses for two. Yoko unties the turnbuckle pad behind Perfect’s back. Yoko settles into a nerve pinch. Luger elbows out of it but runs into an avalanche. Yoko hammers him and goes back to the nerve hold. He tosses Luger to the outside, I guess so he can rest. Luger starts firing back, but Yoko blasts him to cut off a comeback. Yoko with another nerve hold. Jesus, my clothes are going out of style. Now, they’re coming back into style. Seasons are changing. Luger runs into a belly-to-bellies suplex. Luger avoids going into the turnbuckle, instead slamming Yoko’s face into it. He explodes with a clothesline that staggers the big man. Two more put Yoko on his considerable ass. Luger slams Yoko and delivers the forearm. Cornette jumps on the apron and gets taken out by Luger. Same with Fuji. Luger covers, but Perfect is trying to get Cornette’s carcass out of the ring. Luger shoves Perfect, so Perfect disqualifies him at 14:40. Way too long and boring for that finish*. 1/2*
Earthquake saves Fink from a beatdown and finishes Bomb in :35. No point in squashing Bomb, who had some good heat as a heel. O
Probably don’t have to go into much on this one. The thing that stands out for me is that Razor Ramon’s music is just Stone Cold Steve Austin’s music played really slow. Razor ducks under the ladder prompting shock and awe from the announcers. Diesel gets tossed early on by the referee. Or what, he gets disqualified? Shawn gets clotheslined over the top like a rag doll. He dropkicks the ladder into an unsuspecting Ramon. We get the first real uses of the ladder as a weapon as Shawn drives it down into him and finally just throws it down on Razor’s back. Michaels gets depantsed and Vince wusses out on saying Shawn has made an “ass of himself.” Think about that one compared to today. Shawn splashes him off the ladder and goes up but Razor recovers just in time to push the ladder over. Shawn bounces off the ropes like a super ball. He sets up the ladder in the corner but gets whipped into it and falls all the way to the floor. Great googly moogly! This sets up the catapult into the ladder spot. UN-BE-LEIVABLE! UN-BE-LEIVABLE! Razor goes up but Shawn jumps off the top rope and pushes him off. UN-BE-LEIVABLE! (Those are Vince-isms if you’re wondering). Razor slams him off the ladder but falls down himself. He sets it up again but Shawn dropkicks the ladder forcing Ramon off it again. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music out of nowhere and nails a piledriver. He goes up but Ramon just does get up and pushes the ladder over. Shawn has no time to yell to Diesel, let alone make a wish. He falls crotchfirst on the top rope and gets entangled allowing Razor to climb up and get the belts at 18:47. One of the greatest matches to ever come out of North America. It’s lost a bit of its luster thanks to the Hardyz, Dudleyz, and Edge/Christian TLC matches, but it still ranks right up there with the best of them. *****
Burt Reynolds is your guest slurnouncer. Roddy Piper is the special guest referee, setting off bells. Remember that Bret defeated Roddy just two years earlier the same way Luger defeated Perfect one year earlier. Yoko jumps him as Bret gets in the ring. He slams him and talks a little trash. Bret comes back with a dropkick but misses a second. Piper tells Yoko to get Bret off the ropes, and they get into it. Cornette tries to argue, so Piper takes a swing at him. Yoko misses a splash. Yoko misses a swing, and Bret hammers him down. Bret covers, but Cornette pulls Piper out of the ring. Piper knocks him out with a punch. Yoko starts choking him, so Piper gets into it with him again. Yoko drops a leg and throws Bret over the top. Bret barely makes it back in. Yoko whips him to the buckle but misses a charge. Bret goes up and delivers a bulldog for two. A second-rope elbow gets two. Bret takes him down with the flying neckbreaker drop (Hart Attack). That gets two. Yoko suddenly catches Bret with the belly-to-belly. Yoko goes up for the Banzai drop but loses his balance. He collapses to the ring, and Bret crawls on top for the win at 10:33. On par with the previous year’s match. *3/4
Final Thoughts: One of the most fondly-remembered Mania’s. The first to truly turn its back on the Hogan era for good after four years of trying. Bret would have a fairly successful run as champion before the Kevin Nash era took over and things really went downhill. It works for everyone – two five star matches, sports entertainment, and the next generation of WWF superstars going over. What’s not to love?
Highest recommendation.
J.D. Dunn
